Stella sounded pretty angry as she talked about that unnamed, unpleasant person. “Though I fear that I might hurt him if I have to talk to that person one more time and he is careless with his words again. I get angry just picturing his ugly face.”
“Who are you-” Blanche stopped mid-sentence. There was only one person that came to her mind when she thought about servants who encountered her friends with hostility. “Was it Harris?”
Her assumption was proved to be right when all the others nodded.
Angelica replied first. “He has always been unbearable, but since their fight, he has made it his task to provoke her at every opportunity. It's infuriating that none of our superiors ever catch him in the act of stirring up trouble.”
Darlene continued the narration after her colleague was finished. “Harris doesn't just insult people mindlessly. He picks on their greatest weaknesses until they snap and then blames everything on them. I saw him talk to Stella multiple times, but I wouldn't have thought that he dares to attack a person that is ranked higher than him.” She crossed her arms and looked at the concubine. “As your personal attendant, she has more liberties than the rest of us. I was sure that he would try to flatter her instead.”
Stella placed her elbow on the table and rested her head on her palm. “In some way, he did attempt that. The first time we really spoke to each other was months ago. He started the conversation by asking how stressed I must be because I'm forced to serve My Lady. When I told him that I wasn't going to complain about my position, he seemed surprised but left me alone after that. I'm convinced that he talked badly about me behind my back, however, I didn't care because he didn't approach me again. And then, the thing in the kitchen happened.” She took a deep breath, which caused Angelica to put a piece of cake on her plate. Stella smiled at that and thanked her friend, but her visible frustration hadn't disappeared.
Blanche quickly chimed in here. “Is that the same argument you told me about? The one with the empress' maid?”
Stella hesitated for a short moment before she nodded. “I entered the room, and Harris was there with that girl. He asked about the incident with His Majesty. Apparently, he saw you running past him and His Majesty following you. He assumed that you were ‘causing a scene to replenish your desire for attention’ since you ‘wouldn't be able to go without having all eyes on you for more than a week’.” Stella lowered her voice into a darker, nasal tone while repeating Harris' words. She poked around on her plate as the annoyance became more and more present on her expression.
George got a cake piece from Angelica as well and thanked her before chiming in. “All of that played out right in front of us. Many of the others had actually observed the fight with His Majesty for a bit longer and felt bad for you since you looked like you were absolutely devastated. So, most didn't agree, but since Darlene wasn't there and those two were speaking to each other in the far corner no one spoke up. Well, Clark told Harris to be quiet, only to be belittled after that. And then, Stella came in.”
Stella took over again. “Harris addressed me and wanted to know whether I felt ashamed for having to witness your tantrums, as he called them, from close proximity every time. I then replied that your matters were none of his business. Her Majesty's attendant made another snarky comment after that, and Harris also didn't keep his mouth shut. So, I just told them to be careful with their words, which they ignored since they claimed that you didn't have any authority over the staff. At that point, I only wanted to leave, but Harris insisted that I was running away from the truth like that. So, I replied that they could complain to His Majesty if they were bothered by his guest and ask him whether he thought that the servants should listen to you.”
Obviously, none of the servants would dare to do that. That didn't seem very calming to the maid though.
Stella stabbed her fork into her cake with a loud clink. Her fingers that were grasping the utensil were getting whiter with every second until she loosened her hold. “They didn't care. They insulted you the whole time, but then that maid overdid it by claiming that His Majesty wouldn't allow you to order the servants around. She said that he would try to deescalate the situation secretly because he would be embarrassed to let others know that you troubled the staff again.”
Stella attacked her slice of cake once more before finally putting a small piece into her mouth and angrily munching on it. Though it didn't help her ease her anger at all. When she finished, she resumed in a tone that was as resentful as it had been from the beginning. “Then Harris added that His Majesty was ashamed of you either way and called you a... No, I won't repeat that. But at that moment, I was so furious that I just wanted to wipe these smirks off their faces. So, I said that His Majesty cares more about you than about his wife.”
Blanche could already imagine how the heroine's maid had reacted to that. The empress' companions always supported Seraphina and despised the concubine's mere existence. Addressing Theodore's affair would make their blood boil, and Stella had taken advantage of that.
Stella seemed a little content when she continued, but her anger still remained. “That didn't make her very happy, so I got exactly what I wanted. She was too mad to speak properly. But Harris intervened and claimed that His Majesty only sees you as a plaything and won't even show his affection in public to not embarrass himself for his ‘low standards’. Since I knew that this wasn't true, I couldn't help but say that he loved you and bet that he wouldn't let the presence of others keep him from showing that. And...” A satisfied grin appeared on Stella's lips. “When His Majesty hugged you in front of a whole crowd, I won.”
Angelica spoke up in a skeptical tone. “Shouldn't they have realized that they would lose that bet? His Majesty never hid that he cares for Lady Blanche.”
That caused George to shrug. “Maybe they were aware of that but too cowardly to back down.”
Darlene gulped down some of her cake before adding her own part. “That must have been it. Everybody saw how His Majesty and Lady Blanche act around each other, especially when they think they are alone.” Before the concubine could ask whether they had been watched secretly, the maid resumed. “However, Stella screamed at them in front of half of the staff, so giving up would make them seem like the idiots that they are. Their fragile egos wouldn't be able to take that. But since everyone heard about their lost bet, they will be embarrassed now too.”
George grinned at that. “They deserved it.”
The other servants nodded.
Only Blanche remained unsure whether that had been a good idea.
Provoking Seraphina's companions, who could possibly complain to the heroine, might cause problems in the future. If that maid wanted to trouble the concubine, she would be able to, and with the empress' backing, she wouldn't even have to fear being punished harshly. Though for some reason, Blanche didn't see her as the major threat.
The concubine had no evidence that supported her guess, but to her, Harris seemed more like he might do something unpredictable. He hadn't done that in the novel, right? He had never been mentioned after all, which proved that his role had probably been rather unimportant. But she could swear that there had been something about him getting revenge. Was that related to Stella? No, Blanche didn't think so. Since it hadn't been in the novel, it couldn't have been crucial to the story either. It was better to be careful though.
The concubine wasn't sure, but she spoke up while making eye contact with Stella. “I'm grateful that you are defending me so strongly. But you don't have to risk turning those people against you for me. You can simply let people like that talk and ignore them.”
Darlene spoke up before Stella could. “No, stopping them was the right decision. If I had been there, I wouldn't have allowed them to run their mouths either. I only heard what they said from others, but that was enough to make me mad. Very mad. They keep repeating the same insults and manage to upset us anyway despite not even being the one they talk about. It's almost ridiculous how easily they can play us.”
To be fair, most of the troublemaker's comments were probably true or at least had been true in the past. That didn't justify their words, but it meant that Seraphina's maid probably hadn't intended to pick a fight with Stella and had only stated her opinion too.
Harris' case was completely different. Most likely, he had attempted to gain the sympathy of his colleagues by voicing what the greatest portion of them thought, and annoying a person in the meantime was just additional fun to him. Apparently, he had found the right people to satisfy his ever-constant need of infuriating others.
Darlene and Stella had begun to list everything that was terrible about Harris, and both Angelica and George chimed in occasionally. Hearing them being so preoccupied with their anger proved that Harris had fulfilled his goal. Getting people to hate you was so much easier than getting them to forgive you, and Blanche had first-hand knowledge about that. Why on earth would Harris be content with being hated? She couldn't comprehend that, but she would not amuse him by playing along.
Blanche's voice made the others stop their complaints. “It's obvious you dislike him a lot, and for that reason, you shouldn't give him the satisfaction of showing him how much he angered you. Talking about him now is fine, but in public, you should be overly kind to him. That will probably upset him more than any of your rebuttals would.”
Angelica agreed quickly agreed. “We came to that conclusion as well. We believe that avoiding contact with such a person is better in any case. We shouldn't waste our time with being mad.”
George nodded, and he and Angelica of them looked at the second maid.
Darlene let out an exaggerated groan and rested her chin on her hands. “I guess you are right... But if he starts spouting nonsense in front of me, I won't stay quiet.”
Their gazes turned to Stella, who was lowering hers onto the table. “I can't promise anything... However, I also won't act the way that he wants me to and fight with him, so I'll interact as little with that man as possible.”
This compromise was enough to make Blanche breathe out in relief. She was more comfortable with the thought of her friends staying away from Harris, even if it wasn't guaranteed that he wouldn't seek their attention anyway. To be honest, she was worried. After all, she could swear that this man had played a role in the novel, but she didn't remember it despite everything else being clear. What had been his purpose in the story? No matter how much she thought about it, she didn't feel like he had been close to the empress. Had he interacted with the villainess then? Probably. But she couldn't remember a single scene with him. He had probably been a background character, so he shouldn't cause too many issues. For now, Blanche had no choice but to keep an eye on him while continuing her original plans.
The room was completely silent for another few seconds before Angelica changed the topic. “We talked about that too long already. Let's have a chat about more pleasant things. George is getting better at remembering numbers.”
George laughed dejectedly. “I was so bad in the beginning that this improvement still doesn't change much.” He began talking about his last attempts at baking and how he had been able to guess a few ciphers out of luck, for which his friends continued to tease him.
Fortunately, the rest of the conversation was about matters with similar lighthearted themes.
Blanche had been so immersed that she was shocked to see that it was already past noon as she looked at the clock. While it wasn't a problem for her to forget the time, the servants jumped out of their seats and stormed off to apologize to their superiors. The concubine had offered to excuse them for the three hours that they hadn't worked, but they declined for the moment.
In the second, that the visitors had disappeared, all excitement was gone with them, and it wouldn't return for the rest of the day. Blanche didn't leave her room and only opened the door to exchanged notes with the guard. Theodore's texts were adorable as always and made her heart swell with love, which raised her spirits despite the boredom.
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The next day was filled with the same amount of inactivity, which caused Blanche's patience to deteriorate with increasing speed. It was already evening when she lay on her couch and complained to her maid. “Waiting until tomorrow will be enough, right? I won't endure staying in this room for another whole twenty-four hours. It's been five days since the fight and four since the staff saw me leaving Theo's chambers. The rumors will have cooled down by now, won't they?”
Stella lifted her head and stopped sewing the piece of cloth in her hands to give her mistress a doubtful look. “You care too much about gossip. Even if they talk about nothing else, that won't be a disadvantage to you. You want to go out, so you should just do it.”
Stolen from its original source, this story is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings.
The concubine started to think that she really should. Her attempts at limiting the rumors' spread had probably been useless anyway. The emperor's affair was the most interesting topic in the palace, so it was clear that people would talk about it at every opportunity they got. “I will tomorrow. We could go to the library and take some of the board games you mentioned too. That-”
A knock interrupted her, and both women jumped a little. Stella stood up from the armchair “That must be the guard. I already wondered why he didn't appear yet.”
While the other woman opened the door, Blanche went to her desk to prepare a piece of paper. But her maid's silence stopped her, and she turned around to the other woman bowing and stepping aside.
Theodore entered the room, and in an instant, the concubine's mind pushed away any other thought.
“Theo!” Blanche rushed to her lover and wrapped her arms around him, which was promptly returned.
“At least someone's happy to see me.” Theodore murmured that in a tone that made him sound dejected.
The door shut behind them, which signaled that Stella seemed to have taken her leave.
So, Blanche turned all attention to her lover. When she looked up to see Theodore's smile, her worries faded a little. The shadows under his eyes weren't too dark, and he didn't have trouble keeping his posture straight, so he was in a better condition than during other times in the past. He still didn't appear to be completely healthy, but at least he didn't seem like he could lose consciousness every second either.
And after days of not seeing him, he was finally in front of her again. Though she didn't understand why he was able to sacrifice time by visiting her when his duties had to be piling up. If he was here, maybe that meant that he had finished most of them. A little seed of hope appeared in her mind.
“Did you find a solution for the problem with Ocrea?” Blanche didn't really believe that he had. After all, the conflict would end in a war, and she had no idea how he was supposed to prevent that.
But despite this, Theodore's weakening smile and that he shook his head made a pit of disappointment form in her stomach. If it weren't for that conflict with Northern Ocrea, the emperor could take breaks, rest properly and focus on the other political issues in Artias. Then his lover could also claim greater amounts of his free time without feeling guilty for keeping him from getting his sleep. But sadly, the novel didn't intend for that problem to be solved until in a few months.
Theodore replied with a grim expression. “Unfortunately, nothing has changed since the king's letter came. I summoned the ministers, and they should finally arrive in one or two days. It took them long enough despite me announcing that it was an emergency. I guess that they had to sort all of their documents and take care of their household's urgent business first. But they seem to forget that our country is on the verge of a war that could potentially ruin our nation. Sometimes, it feels like I'm the only one who truly wants to prevent that.” Unfortunately, he wasn't fully wrong.
One or two of the ministers weren't opposed to involving the military in hopes of claiming new territories by the border. Only when they got their desired war, they would realize that they had wished for a catastrophe.
Blanche scanned him with worry before she replied. “Maybe you should remind them of the consequences that might have for Artias. If you show them a comparison between our and Ocrea's forces, they should see that we have a very similar amount of weapons and soldiers. Winning a war will be nearly impossible for both parties. Once they know that, they won't risk losing part of their wealth due to never-ending combat.” Hopefully.
Her proposal made Theodore raise an eyebrow. “Since when are you that invested in military topics? You'd have to have read a few books about Ocrea's army to be able to estimate that they are on our level strength-wise despite their farmers' poverty.”
Blanche averted her eyes. “Uhm, you must have mentioned that in the past. I don't like reading, so I doubt that a book was my source of information.”
Seemingly, her excuse had been convincing enough since the emperor smiled and ruffled her hair gently. “You have a good memory. I would love to be able to repeat everything I heard once. That would make my work way easier. Though most likely, I would be too frustrated by all the things stuck in my head to do anything. I get annoyed just when remembering bits of a conversation with some narcissistic aristocrats.”
“I have a few people in mind who you could be referring to. You do have to deal with them way too often. Maybe you should simply avoid them in the future?”
A smile appeared on Theodore's face as slowly let go of her to hang his jacket onto the clothing rack by the door. “It would be amusing if the emperor suddenly started to run away from a duke and some marquesses at a ball. They'd declare me insane, and I'd lose the respect of everyone present. But imagining their dazzled expressions almost makes me consider doing that. It would spare me a lot of nuisances.” He came back and stopped in front of his lover with a slight grimace. Being forced to talk to slimy liars daily still seemed to lower his spirits, even after he had taken over the throne years ago and should be used to it already.
Blanche hoped to distract him a little and led him to the table while thinking about his problems. Obviously, the emperor couldn't ignore members of noble society just because of his personal dislike for them. As the ruler, he had to control every aristocrat and treat them with respect. In return, they were required to accept his unrivaled power and pledge their loyalty to him, even though numerous people didn't truly support Theodore.
But no matter whether the emperor and the nobles liked each other, they still had to pretend to get along in public, and thus, interactions at events under the watchful eye of countless observers mostly passed by without open hostility. Since both parties had to stay calm no matter what and wanted to keep their flawless reputation, no one would stir up a big fight there.
The discussions in the emperor's office were a completely different matter. It wasn't uncommon for even the ministers, with whom he got along rather well except for Duke Vasquez, to dismiss Theodore's deliberate thoughts. Sometimes, just because of their own egoistic interest, a few ministers put their well-being above the nation's. This had been the case for the luxury tax, which they had been opposed to since they weren't willing to share some of their prosperity. Despite the emperor's logical arguments and his level-headed approach, they often didn't give him a chance to convince them and tried to persuade him to change his mind with unbalanced explanations and half-truths.
Those discussions took their toll on Theodore's patience as well and could actually be avoided as the novel's ending had proven. Seraphina had pointed out that the constitution hadn't granted the ministers as much power as they believed to have, meaning that their opinion on many subjects didn't matter at all. Then she had proposed to hand a portion of the power to each of the ministers in return for a vow that they wouldn't act against the ruler's wishes.
Thus, a new form of governing the nation was born, in which the ministers handled the affairs of the section that had been assigned to them. The final decisions, signing contracts and determining the general direction of the country's development, were still the emperor's task, but the ministers took care of the rest. Like this, they felt like they were having much more authority, and after an emotional speech of the heroine, they accepted that it was their duty to protect their country, which made them amenable to Theodore's words. After all, they knew that he always had the best for Artias in mind.
In just a few months, this system would be introduced and abruptly take away the biggest portion of the emperor's duties and his stress. So, he would only have to endure it until then.
Even though Blanche knew that, seeing his frustration worried her. It wasn't healthy for Theodore to be upset constantly for the following ten months. “It's not possible to always avoid them, but you might be able to limit the time that you have to spend with them to the absolute minimum.” The words left her mouth before she could think about how she wanted to explain herself.
Though her lover didn't seem to be bothered by her naive stance. “Unfortunately, it's not simple.” Theodore lowered himself onto the chair and leaned his body against the backrest. He stared at the ceiling for a moment before looking at his concubine, who had taken a seat on the opposite of the table. “I can't take care of the government affairs on my own and their-” He cut himself off and let his gaze roam across the room. Then he focused on the empty chairs that were standing next to them. “Say, did you have guests? Normally, there aren't as many seats here, or am I wrong?”
Apparently, Stella had forgotten to put the chairs away after the other servants left, much like her mistress hadn't acknowledged that they were still there.
For a second, Blanche hesitated. Would her lover be uncomfortable if she let random servants into her room? Theodore normally was of the conviction that the staff shouldn't lose their respect, and he had already warned her to not let Stella get too close, which she had disregarded. Wouldn't he express his uncertainty about her treating servants like friends again?
Blanche considered hiding it for a moment but quickly reminded herself to stop overthinking. Last time, that had caused a huge problem, so she wouldn't do it again. “Yesterday, three servants visited me to see how I was doing. They are the ones I meet in the kitchen every time I bake, and we usually have many pleasant conversations there. I didn't go downstairs for a few days, so I was happy that they visited me.”
Contrary to her expectations, Theodore's expression changed into a smile. “I see. Did you have a nice conversation with them?” She affirmed this, which made him nod contently. “That's good.”
She returned the grin and grabbed the pot with steaming tea from the table. “Would you like some tea? It's the one with apricot flavor. I can tell Stella to get you anything else from the kitchen too.” A realization made her pause. “Oh, I didn't even ask how long you were planning on staying here. Do you still have duties that you need to take care of today?”
Theodore's face answered before he could even speak up. His eyes lit up, and his grin widened. “Actually, I worked a bit more for the last few days, which means that I can take a little break until tomorrow. Since the ministers aren't here, I can't do more than what I finished already. After they come, I will have to concern myself with other matters though.” He moved his cup closer to Blanche so that she could pour tea into it. “Thank you.” Theodore took a sip before resuming. “I'm almost a bit nervous about taking a break. I don't want to lose too much time, but without the ministers, I can't make the final decision. I still hope that convincing Ocrea's king to prevent war is possible, so the response letter has to be perfect.”
Both of them sat in silence for a couple of seconds while they drank some of their tea.
Her lover finished his cup quickly, and Blanche filled it up again before speaking. “You don't have to pressure yourself. You always find the right words in your letters.” The corners of her lips twitched as she continued in a playful tone. “The ones I get might not be about a war, but they are pretty convincing. You could sweetly ask me to do anything, and I would do so without hesitation.”
“If a letter is all that is needed to influence you that much, I should write more, shouldn't I?” Theodore chuckled quietly at something he seemed to have imagined. He reached for her hand and brushed his finger across her skin. “I did send you a lot of notes for the last few days. Was that enough to convince you to allow me to spend the night here, or do I need to add another dozen?”
Blanche's heart skipped a beat both out of anticipation and anxiety. Her lover's gaze made his intention clear, and she was torn between her conflicting emotions. It had been over two months since they had become intimate for the last time, and she missed him. Of course they still cuddled regularly, but sleeping with him meant even more. To her, it corresponded with the ultimate act of love, and she wanted that. How could she not yearn for her lover's embrace when so many issues had prevented an opportunity from coming up for so long?
After Blanche had become aware of the storyline of “To Be Empress”, she hadn't been comfortable sharing all her love with Theodore. Not when she knew that he would give his heart to Seraphina. She still feared that she would begin to cry in the middle of it because she remembered how he would abandon her and that the heroine would claim her position at his side in the future.
But more than that, she longed to be close to Theodore. She wanted to be in his arms and forget that their relationship had changed due to her knowledge just for a moment. Refusing him hadn't been her wish either way, so it was good that her own desires overlapped with his in that aspect. However, no matter how much she pushed back the bad memories, they kept rushing back into her mind.
Blanche gently squeezed Theodore's hand and forced herself to erase all thoughts about that wretched novel to focus completely on her lover. She gave him a half-fake smile and began talking to keep him from noticing. “I'm not sure. You haven't reached the number of letters that I originally wanted. So, I have to think about whether I'm in a generous mood.”
The emperor's teasing smirk quickly took away the need to act. He moved her hand to his lips and pressed a kiss on it without breaking eye contact. “That means that I have to work a little harder to convince you. Do you have a suggestion?” He whispered in a tone that made Blanche glad that she was sitting. Otherwise, her legs might have given in.
She quickly replied. “There might be something that could make me decide in your favor.”
“And what could that be?”
Her mind raced to come up with a small task that she could make him do for fun, which was nearly impossible when his eyes were still trained onto her. She could barely form a coherent sentence while being pierced by his unmoving gaze.
“Well?”
Just as she was about to open her mouth to stall for time, a knock interrupted them.
Immediately, Theodore's expression darkened. “I swear to the gods if that is-” He cut himself off and spoke up louder. “You are allowed to enter.”
The door swung open, and Leonard came into view. The secretary was out of breath and hurriedly bowed to the emperor. “Your Majesty, the ministers arrived.”
Theodore's eyes narrowed, and he let go of Blanche's hand to turn to the man at the door. “Now? First, they can't come to the palace to protect our nation at short notice and don't reply. Then they finally make some time and arrive after the sun has set without sending a note beforehand? Despite me specifically ordering them to inform me of their visit first? And let me guess, they expect me to cast aside whatever I'm doing to greet them? That almost makes me want to refuse to see them until tomorrow.”
Leon shook his head, and only now Blanche noticed the terror that was painted onto his face. “That isn't the problem. Another letter is-”
“What?” The emperor jumped to his feet and slammed his hands onto the table in the process, which caused the dishware to clash. “From the king?”
Leonard nodded. “Yes. The king claims that some of our soldiers that are stationed by the border ambushed a group of Ocrean merchants. We have to institute a meeting right now.”
“You're joking.” Theodore muttered under his breath as he ran a hand through his hair. “There is no way that our troops would attack them for no reason, especially not civilians! None of the commanders wrote anything about an incident. They wouldn't keep quiet if something happened. Why is-” He stopped and closed his eyes to take a deep breath before he opened them again. He moved around the table and pulled Blanche onto her feet to hug her. “I'm sorry, I have to leave.”
Blanche was actually quite upset with herself for being any tiny bit relieved since this would give her a chance to think again before getting too close to her lover, but she couldn't help it. She cupped Theodore's cheeks and planted a kiss onto his lips. “I know. Go meet them. I'm right here if you need me.”
“There will never be a moment in which I won't. Sleep well.” Theodore reluctantly separated from her and hurried to the door. He and Leon rushed down the hallway and began discussing the letter on their way.
Blanche stood by the door and looked after them while hugging herself. The situation was really terrible, wasn't it? The war shouldn't begin yet, but this still sounded alarming. It might not be so good that this had given her some spare time after all.
Just at that moment, Stella stepped into her mistress' field of view as she reentered the room. She seemed concerned while she spoke up. “It sounds like it is rather serious this time. Hopefully, His Majesty will be able to calm Ocrea's ruler so that we don't have to go to war.”
Blanche replied without removing her eyes from Theodore's back. “How much do you know about that conflict?”
Her maid looked in the direction of the corridor as well. “Only the rough summary. No one except for the people in political positions has access to confidential information like this. The staff is aware that the king of Ocrea sends distressing letters and threatens to involve the military and nothing more.”
Blanche tried to stay quiet for a short moment, but she couldn't hold back. “I hope that I'm wrong about this, but I don't believe that we can prevent it.”
“What?” Stella turned back to the concubine and was met with a dejected expression.
If the novel progressed as it was intended to, military combat would begin in half a year despite all of Theodore's efforts. He would be forced to declare war and send Artias' troops after Ocrean soldiers had ambushed the villages near the border.
Blanche pressed her lips into a line before replying. “I don't think that Theo can avoid engaging in combat if our enemies attack first, no matter how much he wants to.”
Stella's lips formed a small “Oh” upon hearing this bad premonition. “Still... Maybe they won't attack. Then everything will be fine, right?”
Blanche could only hope that her maid was correct in her assumption, but she wasn't convinced of that at all.