It wasn't a surprise that Theodore didn't visit his lover during the following days. He had written one last note and apologized for not being able to send more in the foreseeable future after all. Apart from that, the concubine hadn't been in contact with him, which filled her with melancholy. The only positive aspect of this was that she didn't have to worry about hiding her fear of being replaced while getting intimate with him. Though that didn't make her happier when all she could think about was how restless her lover had to be while she was sitting around and did nothing. It was pretty pathetic to miss him so much after so little time. If she wasn't able to live without him for more than a week, how would she survive when he focused his attention on Seraphina?

The weather seemed to mirror Blanche's state of mind. It rained constantly, which made going outside impossible if one wanted to stay somewhat dry. Luckily, Blanche was still able to go to the kitchen and bake. Otherwise, she might have gone mad with boredom.

Her strategy of staying inside for the last few days to avoid rumors seemed to have worked better than she had calculated. A couple of servants gave her an odd look, but no one acknowledged her presence more than on any other day. Apparently, the incident in front of the emperor's office had become unimportant in the face of a possible war with Northern Ocrea.

Even the concubine's friends addressed that looming threat and asked her whether she knew more about it. Blanche gave them an explanation without many details to not disregard the trust Theodore had put into her when he told her about such confidential things. The others were understanding and quickly moved on to a different subject, which allowed Blanche to thank Clark for the cake she had received. The servant stuttered a bit and insisted that he didn't need to be thanked and blushed more with every of his friend's comments about how adorable the tart had been.

Seeing these interactions made Blanche smile to herself, and fortunately, she had the chance to witness them more often now. When any person out of the four servants had free time, they joined her and Stella in trying out some recipes from the library. After that, they ate whatever dessert they had prepared together, for which all of them came when they were able to.

In the end, Blanche spent most of her time baking until the sun finally broke through the clouds a couple of days later.

Hearing the birds chirping and feeling the warmth from outside through her open window made her look forward to taking a walk again after she hadn't done so for over a week. “Ahh...” As soon as Blanche stepped out of the building, the rays of the sun caressed her skin and caused her to let out a content sigh. “Finally, it stopped raining.”

Stella, who was walking next to her, smiled at that. “The plants need water. It has to rain sometimes, or they would die.”

“Of course, but too much water can kill them too. It has been pouring for almost a week. I'm surprised that no random priest appeared at the gate to warn the emperor about a great catastrophe that was sent by the gods.” While Blanche said that, the two women walked forward.

They passed by the terrace and were about to follow the path around a corner when two men beat them to it. Blanche was barely able to refrain from muttering a dejected “No” as she recognized them as Henry Duremont and Claude Vasquez.

Those two were both ministers and currently stayed at the palace to attend emergency meetings with the emperor, so it was normal for them to be here. But why did Blanche have to be the one to run into the dukes? One of them hated her, and one saw her as a pawn to gain power. Both were her enemies, and she was all alone if one didn't count Stella, who wouldn't exchange a single word with these powerful nobles. Unfortunately, turning around and ignoring the men wasn't an option either since they had seen her at the moment that she had noticed their presence.

For some reason, Claude spoke up before the more influential duke and ruined the whole situation even more. “Ah, Lady Blanche. What a coincidence! We were just talking about you.” His infuriating grin reminded her of his sons. It was just as unsettling and gave off the same aura of fake kindness as Luciano's smile had.

In contrast to that, Duke Duremont looked at the concubine as if she was the person responsible for every single mishappening in his life, which made her want to run away even more. However, that wasn't possible since she would have to excuse herself and the person with the higher status had to acknowledge that before she could leave.

That didn't keep her from wishing that she could vanish into thin air though. They were one sentence into the conversation, and Blanche was already in a dilemma. The most influential aristocrat had to greet the other party first, and Claude had ignored that to address her. She would have to reply and thus disregard Henry's right to speak up. Duke Vasquez had done the same thing with her and the empress at the ball, only that Theodore had been there to intervene and Blanche was on her own now.

Paying attention to this order of ranks wasn't as important in private interactions as it was at events. Still, it was part of the social norms, and not following the protocol would cause the by-passed person to feel displeasure. But if Duke Duremont's expression was to be trusted, he didn't intend to greet the concubine either way. Since her only other choice was staying quiet and evoking a nauseating silence, she didn't truly have many options.

Blanche struggled to keep her face straight at Duke Vasquez's vague comment about her having been the topic of the conversation and put on a polite smile. “Good day, Your Grace. That is surprising. I am not that special, so there isn't much to talk about me.”

Claude's grin widened, which caused her to feel like she was in danger despite being in the royal estate and thus in the safest place imaginable. “Oh no, Lady Blanche is a very interesting person.” He turned to the other duke. “Don't you agree, Your Grace?”

Blanche followed Claude's gaze. Thinking that making eye contact with Henry couldn't be any more uncomfortable than looking at the other duke's smirk had been wrong. She immediately regretted having turned.

Duke Duremont's eyes narrowed into the freezing glare that his daughter loved to show the concubine as well.

Blanche suppressed a shiver and made a small curtsy to greet both men.

Duke Vasquez reciprocated the gesture with a slight bow of his head, while the other man remained motionless.

In reality, it probably had been seconds, but the following silence felt like minutes passed without anyone making a noise until Henry finally spoke. However, his booming voice carried a sharp edge with it, which seemed to let the temperature drop and wasn't much better than the silence. “I do not care for your ambiguous remarks. The reason for our visit to the royal palace was not to chat but to maintain peace between Artias and Northern Ocrea. If you do not state your business with me and won't stop wasting my time, I will leave at once.”

Claude grimaced at this, though that expression also looked fake. He turned to Blanche and made a dismissive motion with his hand. “Please excuse Your Grace's behavior. It seems like he is in a bad mood. You have to know that older men often have trouble remembering things. He didn't even greet you properly.” His insult had been less hidden than normally this time. Most likely, because only the three of them were present, and he didn't believe that Blanche would complain about his lack of respect towards a man who was one of her greatest enemies.

Duke Duremont's response followed immediately. “I do not see the need to greet her.” He hadn't in the past either. When the emperor wasn't around, Henry would never dream of showing respect to the person his daughter's husband had an affair with. In those few cases in which they had met accidentally, he had ignored her or warned her about not getting in the way of the empress.

Blanche knew that but still almost flinched at the resentment that his voice was layered with. Today he seemed to be filled with even more wrath than he was normally. Had she done something wrong during the conversation? Or had she offended him at the ball already? She recounted her actions of the last days and came to the conclusion that she had baked for most of the time, so she couldn't have caused many rumors either.

But then a memory flashed through her mind, and the air around her seemed to freeze. That Blanche came out of Theodore's room hadn't been seen by anyone but the servants, so that wasn't it. However, two people from outside had witnessed a part of her discussion with her lover.

One of them was Marquess Bellfaux, Henry's best friend. Of course, he would tell Duke Duremont about the uproar in the palace. And that uproar had been caused by Theodore running after his lover, yelling her name and then ignoring his ministers in favor of pulling her away.

Blanche had to keep herself from voicing her initial reaction out loud in the form of a curse word. Why did she have to meet Duke Duremont directly after he had heard about something upsetting like that? This man was boiling with hatred for her, and the gods' reaction was to make her run into him as soon as she went out? Only a small amount of people could be as unlucky as her.

Claude's presence didn't serve to ease the tension in the air either. Henry probably liked Duke Vasquez as much as he liked the emperor's concubine, and his icy stare while the other man talked revealed that didn't attempt to veil that at all.

Duke Vasquez didn't care and just talked anyway. “Oh my, that is quite rude, Your Grace. You shouldn't say this to His Majesty's esteemed guest.”

Those words only infuriated Duke Duremont even more, and his face made Blanche fear that he would explode at any moment.

The concubine tried to keep the situation from escalating and waved her hand around in a dismissive gesture. “It's fine, I do not mind. From the beginning, it wasn't my objective to interrupt your conversation, so I should take my leave now.”

But Duke Vasquez didn't intend to allow her to retreat so easily. With fake concern written on his features, he scolded the other man. “See? You offended Lady Blanche, and now she feels unwelcome. Is that how the most powerful duke of our nation should behave?”

Henry glared at him in response. “I do not care whether she feels unwelcome. I have no interest in being associated with her in any way.” The exasperation in Henry's voice indicated that his fury was boiling directly behind the fragile facade of aloofness. When his eyes locked onto the concubine, every fiber in Blanche's being screamed at her and pleaded her to finally spin around and put distance between herself and this hostility. But under his bitter gaze, she didn't dare to move the slightest bit to not anger him any further. Their eyes met, and she wanted to look away more than anything else.

Though before she could do that, Duke Duremont turned his attention to something behind her. Instantly, his rage-filled expression was replaced with a soft smile that made it seem like he had become a completely different person. Blanche didn't even have to look to be sure who the person standing there had to be. Only Henry's beloved daughter could make her doting father forget the presence of two people he despised from the bottom of his heart.

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This encounter couldn't have proceeded any worse.

For a moment, Blanche considered using this as an excuse to retreat, but not greeting the empress wasn't a valid option. At least not if she didn't want to antagonize the Duremonts even more. She held back a sigh and reluctantly turned around.

Unsurprisingly, Seraphina was the one approaching them. Upon seeing her father, the heroine's stoic expression softened, and a little smile graced her lips. Apparently, the joy of meeting him outweighed the annoyance at being forced to interact with her husband's concubine and Duke Vasquez. The empress stepped forward, and the two attendants accompanying her fell back to keep some distance from the nobles.

The maid that had fought with Stella stopped next to the concubine's attendant, and the women exchanged aggravated gazes.

Blanche would have loved to pull Stella away from the tension that seemed to build itself up between the servants, but that was beyond her power. She had to focus on not making an error while greeting the empress. She made a curtsy as the men bowed until Seraphina spoke up.

“Your Grace, it is a pleasure to see you again.” The empress was as perfect as always while she greeted her father.

Henry neutralized his expression before replying. “The pleasure is entirely mine, Your Majesty. I apologize for not arriving earlier. On my way here, I was halted due to some minor difficulties.”

Blanche almost expected that Duke Vasquez would complain about being addressed like this and act hurt, but it seemed like that man had enough common sense to not talk unless the empress spoke to him first.

Seraphina replied while seeming calm despite the unpleasant company. “That is not a problem. Since I do not have many duties to take care of for the rest of the day, delaying our meeting for a short time will not change much.” The heroine took her eyes off her father to acknowledge the other duke. “How are you, Your Grace? Are you enjoying the royal garden in its full beauty after the week of rain?”

Claude affirmed that with a nod. “You are correct. I was using my short break from the minister's meeting to visit the capital's most gorgeous landscape. It had been a while since I had the opportunity to do so. During my walk, I encountered Lord Duremont, so I fear that I am to blame for his tardiness. I didn't expect to be blessed by Your Majesty's presence, but naturally, I'm honored to have met you.” Claude's speech was strangely formal and lacked the usual hidden insult. Maybe he had paid attention to Duke Duremont's growing irritation and realized that provoking the other man wouldn't be a wise decision.

The empress remained as polite as the other man had been. “I am pleased to hear that you have such high regard for me. Do not worry. As I stated before, I do not mind that my father arrived a couple of minutes later than intended. I, myself, was not ready at the appointed time, so I do not intend to scold him for that. Since you did not wish to keep him from being here purposefully, I will not blame you either.” After Seraphina finished, she remained quiet for a short moment, but it was enough to make Blanche shift her weight from one leg to the other.

Would the empress ignore the other woman like her father had? If she did, this conversation would become even more strained than it already was. Normally, the heroine adored rules and followed society's norms right down to the last detail, however, Theodore wasn't here. So, it was her opportunity to disregard the concubine completely.

But even though her personal feeling most likely told her to do so, Seraphina once again proved that she would never put them over the conventions of noble society. She looked at the other woman and spoke up. “Lady Blanche. I wish you a good day. I hope that your week was pleasant.” The difference in how the emperor's lover was addressed in comparison to the others was more than obvious.

Nonetheless, Blanche wouldn't complain. She was grateful that the empress had acknowledged her at all and that she wasn't forced to stand by while the rest of the group talked. “Good day, Your Majesty. It's a pleasure to meet you. The past few days have been very relaxing, and there were no complications.” Since the heroine hadn't said more, she wouldn't respond with longer sentences or the more formal greetings either.

Once again, silence filled the air until Seraphina began chatting with her father. This was a way to show the others that they wished to be alone, but it relieved Blanche. Excusing herself now gave her the chance to get away from the conversation without being disrespectful. She observed the two for a moment to avoid being too insolent and thought about how similar they actually looked and acted.

Seraphina had inherited her father's blue eyes and also copied his strict glare flawlessly. Their manner of speaking was also almost identical, which indicated that they had to have spent a lot of time together in the heroine's childhood. Just this short interaction showed clearly how much Henry cared about his daughter. He would do absolutely anything to protect her, and that was why the concubine couldn't dare to cause the slightest inconvenience for her.

And the longer this discussion went on, the higher the chances of Blanche messing up were. She knew how sensitive the empress was when her husband's lover was involved. A minor mistake could evoke the other's anger. To avoid that, the concubine waited for a while until she decided that had stayed for the required amount of time to not be discourteous. She was about to open her mouth to ask for permission to leave when Claude spoke up before she could.

“It is truly wonderful to see how well Your Majesty and Your Grace get along. Not every child has such a beautiful relationship with their parents, especially not in the royal family.” It shouldn't have been surprising that Duke Vasquez couldn't stay peaceful for the whole conversation. He didn't attack the empress directly but made remarks about Theodore instead.

The emperor might have joined his father during many political meetings while the now-deceased former ruler was still alive, however, they had never been as close as Seraphina was to her relatives. Both Theodore's mother and brother were even worse. They had attempted to kill him to make the second prince the ruler, and this naturally meant that they didn't care for Theodore. Thus, he was left without support from his whole family since they were either dead or his enemies, which was the reason that he was so dependent on the Duremont's support.

It was cowardly to attack that weak point. That little comment was enough to make Blanche tense as she tried to hide her anger.

Henry seemed to be a bit upset as well, but he hid it somewhat well and replied after a second of silence. “We have always had a strong bond. No one in our family will hesitate to protect our relatives with everything that we have to offer.” Henry's words sounded more like a threat than a statement, and it felt like it was directed at both Duke Vasquez and the concubine.

Claude grinned at that. “Oh, I don't doubt that. What a lovely household you are. Though mine is in no way inferior to yours. How delightful it is that our capital is home to so many happy families.” He replied in a tone that was as filled with fake friendliness as it was with menace.

Seraphina's expression didn't budge at this, and she addressed Duke Vasquez in her usual calm voice. “Ah, now that you mention it. How is your son? I remember that he was sick during the winter ball. That was over two months ago, so I assume that he has recovered in the meantime?”

Claude let out a booming laugh before answering. “Of course he has! My son isn't so weak that a little cold would keep him confined to his bed for more than an evening. He was feeling better only a short while after he began showing symptoms. I believe that he returned to his usual schedule after three days already, so it wasn't anything alarming. Your Majesty probably isn't aware of that, but Luciano is a very competent and intelligent young man, which is remarkable for his age. He takes care of some of my duties like collecting the taxes from some of the stores we have bought. To do that, he travels to the capital every week and-” He interrupted himself, and a bright grin lit up his face, but it still didn't reach his eyes.

Slowly, Claude turned to Blanche, and at that moment, she knew that whatever he said next would not be in her favor. “That reminds me. Weeks ago, he came back after his usual visit and surprised us with the news that he had met Lady Blanche. What were you doing alone in the city? It is quite dangerous to go without any servants or guards. Luciano found you out of pure luck, but another person might have had less kind intentions.”

This story elicited a reaction out of the Duremonts, who were previously keeping a straight face. Henry just furrowed his brows, but his daughter forgot to hide her emotions momentarily. Seraphina's eyes snapped to the concubine, and her mouth opened, only to be closed again. That reaction had only been there for a split second, but it showed recognition. It had to have dawned upon her that there was only one way to leave the estate without being seen by the guards, and that was her secret pathway. Realizing that it was likely that her nemesis also used it was probably made the heroine fear that she would lose her chance to slip out of the palace. Nevertheless, she didn't speak up.

So, Blanche was left with no choice but to respond while hoping that the heroine wouldn't address this. “I remember. You don't need to worry about that, Your Grace. I won't be so reckless again, and I'm grateful to have met your son. It was very courteous of him to bring back to the palace, so I would like to thank him once more.”

“I don't think that you need to thank him at all.” Claude spoke with an ominous grin that caused Blanche to shiver.

Now she was convinced that the man still had an ace up in his sleeve, and it wouldn't be to her liking. It was as if she was looking at a mountain of doom, which was slowly building up in front of her and would crash down onto her soon without giving her a chance to protect herself.

Duke Vasquez happily continued while ignoring what she thought about this. “I believe that your presence was enough to satisfy him. After Luciano came back, he couldn't stop talking about you. He praised everything about you from your beauty to your speech to your politeness. Only your lack of care regarding going out without a knight unsettled him a bit. He was really worried. It seems like this one interaction was enough to cause him to be enamored with you.”

Blanche would have been grateful if the gods allowed her to sink into the ground to avoid being forced to deal with Duke Vasquez's infuriating games. Why was he so keen on putting her into uncomfortable situations? He had done so at the ball already, and now he was doing it again.

She was a pawn in Claude's schemes to dethrone Theodore. Ensuring that she was feeling unwell didn't grant him an advantage but rather obstructed his own goals. He didn't seem like a stupid person. No, he was intelligent, so it didn't make sense for him to trouble her. Even his wife had embarrassed the concubine at the tea party. In that case, it had been done to anger the empress, but currently, Claude hadn't voiced anything that would hurt Seraphina's feelings. So, why would he do this?

A dreadful thought appeared in Blanche's mind. Maybe he wasn't finished yet. Claude's infuriating smirk could be seen as a hint that he would continue his little plot.

The concubine attempted to take the wind out of his sails she replied with a nervous chuckle. “You must be exaggerating, Your Grace. I haven't exchanged more than a few sentences with your son during the carriage ride. How could I have left such a great impression on him in such a short time?”

It should have been to be expected that Claude would continue his game anyway, and he did just that. “Oh, I'm afraid I have to disagree. If you meet the right person, a couple of minutes are more than enough to make you fall in love. In some cases, seeing a woman cry and consoling her can be all that is necessary to get a man to ask her to move in with him.”

That sentence knocked the air out of Blanche's lungs. Her mind raced to find a reply that didn't worsen the situation even more, but Claude wasn't finished.

“And we all know that Lady Blanche has the abilities to enchant any man she wants. So, it isn't surprising that Luciano is impressed.” That bastard.

Why? That question was the only thing that Blanche's brain came up with. She didn't dare to look at Seraphina or Henry, who wouldn't be pleased by the reference to how Theodore met her. Instead, she kept her eyes on Duke Vasquez. Did that man truly feel gratification at making her despair? What was his reason for doing that? Until now, acting like his words were a hoax might have helped, but at this point, she had to object, or it might get more awful.

Blanche forced herself to reply quickly. “Your Grace, don't you think that your jokes are going a bit far? If you say something like this, people will misunderstand.”

Any hope that Duke Vasquez would give up at that was crashed when he put on an expression of fake concern. “I did not mean to offend Lady Blanche, but I wasn't joking either. Is Her Majesty's brother not the perfect example for that?”

A gasp escaped the concubine's lips before she could hold it back. In her irritation, she made the mistake of turning her head to see the other's reaction. Both Seraphina's and Henry's glare reminded her of a glacier that threatened to freeze her to death. She quickly put her focus back onto Duke Vasquez and didn't let her gaze roam again even when the empress spoke up.

“What is Your Grace talking about?” Seraphina's voice was icy enough to be like a threat.

The fake surprise on Claude's face didn't cover his satisfaction at the question. “You truly didn't notice?” He let his gaze wander between the three people around him before continuing. “At the very beginning of the last ball, Lord Duremont went through the whole room to greet Lady Blanche. He only returned to his family when His and Her Majesty entered and continued to glance into her direction for the rest of the evening. It was very peculiar, so I assumed that everyone would have paid attention to that, but it seems that I was wrong.”

Blanche felt dread rising in her stomach. “No, no!” She already began as her mind struggled to form a coherent sentence that would put Claude's narration in a more objective context. “You are twisting the facts, Your Grace. Lord Duremont was merely thanking me for showing him the way to Her Majesty's chambers when he was lost in the palace.”

Claude acted as if her comment had been completely unimportant. “But that doesn't explain why he kept looking at you whenever he felt like he wasn't being watched. Well, that isn't important, is it? Let's move on to another topic.”

Unsurprisingly, Seraphina's expression didn't lighten up just because he had changed the subject. It appeared like her patience was wearing thin since she didn't allow Duke Vasquez to finish. “I apologize for interrupting you, Your Grace. However, my father and I arranged a meeting because our time alone together has been sparse in the last few months. I do not wish to offend you, but we would like to continue our conversation in private.”

A wave of relief crashed over Blanche, and she almost let out a loud sigh. She could finally run back to her room and lock the door behind her. With a curtsy, she quickly excused herself. “In that case, I will return to my chambers now. If Your Majesty excused me, I will take my leave.”

“Very well.” Seraphina nodded at her. Finally.

The concubine spun around without pausing for a single second.

But after just one step, Claude stopped her. “Lady Blanche, please wait for a moment.” By the gods, no. What did he want?