As soon as they arrived at an empty guest room, Leonard shut the door behind them and began the lesson. In contrast to Evelyn, he actually saw the need to give Blanche a quick overview of the basic steps for the waltz and showed them to her before asking her to repeat them.
Despite her genuine efforts to memorize them, she was unable to do so for the most part anyway.
It was only after she had failed for the fifth time in a row that Leon made an offer. “Maybe you aren't good at imagining the movements in your head. We could try to dance instead of just mimicking the movements.”
Anything would be better than repeating the same six steps another dozen times, so Blanche agreed.
Leonard held his hand in her direction, and she took it while each of them put their arms on the other's back. Even though his guidance didn't turn her into the perfect dancer, it was easier to do the waltz with a partner.
Her movements were still far from graceful, but after a few attempts, Blanche was able to go through all the steps without hesitating. It almost felt like magic to her. She beamed at that. “I'm actually waltzing! See, I can do it with some help. I knew that Lady Lemares was just incompetent.”
Leon snorted at her excited tone and continued to dance while replying. “That's very good. But this is the basic dance that every child of a noble learns. They are expected to be able to do that when they are around the age of ten, so it isn't a great accomplishment.”
“I know. But for me, it is. Dancing wasn't my specialty before, and well, it still isn't. However, I can do a waltz without embarrassing myself now. I don't believe that I will have to do it in public, but I could.”
The secretary quickly replied. “Oh, I wasn't trying to make fun of you for that. Since you weren't, or at least we assume that you weren't, raised in an aristocratic family, it would be unusual for you to have learned how to ballroom dance. Even if that was the case, you wouldn't remember because of your amnesia, right? So, don't worry. For not having danced for over a year, you were able to accommodate quite fast. It doesn't look like...” He paused when she almost tripped over his foot and cleared his throat before resuming. “It doesn't look like you have been waltzing since your childhood, but it's good enough.”
Blanche herself was more than content with her progress. She didn't want to dance at a ball in general, so she didn't mind making mistakes. As long as she could dance alone with her lover in private, she was satisfied.
The lesson ended as quickly as it had begun, and Leonard didn't seem to want to waste any time before returning to the office. Though his sense of duty didn't erase his annoyance at having no opportunity to take a break. On his way out of the guestroom, he cursed in a muffled voice, which reminded Blanche of something she had never thought about. Not only Theodore was suffering because of this massive workload, his secretary was too.
And in the end, the country would be negatively influenced as well.
After all, the emperor didn't have the chance to take care of the smaller issues that he would normally solve. His exhaustion also wouldn't serve to make him more concentrated while he worked on his document. The more tired he was, the more prone he was to making errors that could possibly cause problems later. Surely, this would change at the end of the novel, but until then, there were still ten months left. During that time, many issues could arise. Wouldn't it be better to try to unburden Theodore a bit, even if the concubine was helpless?
Blanche spoke up without finishing her thought. “Leon, before you go, I have a short question.”
Part of her didn't expect him to stay longer, but Leon halted his movement. “Yes?” This meant that this was her opportunity to tell him something, anything that might lessen the suffocating amount of work the emperor had to face.
Blanche should have laid out the words in her mind first, but it was too late now. She couldn't let Leonard wait when he felt pressured to return to Theodore's side as quickly as possible, so she stuttered around a little. “Uhm... I don't know a lot about politics, so this might sound stupid, but... Why are you two working so hard, and why do the ministers get to spend all of their time with their families when you don't?”
Leonard froze at her inquiry. Naturally, he wouldn't expect her to criticize the monarchy's system that had been active in Artias for centuries. It wouldn't be strange for him to dismiss her interjection completely, but he didn't. “That is not a simple question. To explain that, I would have to give you a lot of background information. I don't know whether you are really that interested in this topic. If you are, I wouldn't mind telling you about it in the carriage tomorrow. We'll have about two hours during the travel to the capital and back to the palace, so filling these with a conversation might not be a bad idea.”
She gladly agreed, and seconds after he said goodbye, Leonard had already left the room.
Immediately, Stella stood up from the sofa on which she had waited and hurried to her mistress' side. “A carriage ride? Are we going out tomorrow?”
Only now Blanche noticed that she had almost forgotten that her maid didn't know anything about their plans yet. “Oh, I should have told you sooner. Theo allowed me to travel to the city with Leon and a few guards so that we can buy a present. We'll depart at noon but won't stay out long since Theo needs his secretary back as soon as possible.”
A beam adorned Stella's face upon hearing this. “It's been a while, hasn't it? I can't remember the last time that we went into the capital together. I leave the palace so rarely that it feels like the whole scenery has changed whenever we see Esora from afar. Aren't you excited too?”
Blanche couldn't tell her that she had visited the city only a few weeks ago and didn't expect that it looked very different in comparison to her memory, so she smiled. Luckily, she didn't have to fake that expression because she anticipated the trip nonetheless. Her life in the palace was fulfilling, and she adored every day here, except for the ones during which she had to interact with unpleasant people. But still, a little variety couldn't hurt. “Of course. How couldn't I-” Before the concubine could finish, she had to interrupt herself and turn away to sneeze. Her maid offered her a handkerchief, which Blanche rejected. After sniffling for another second, she continued her previous sentence. “Where was I? Ah, I meant to ask why I shouldn't be excited. The last time I went out was months ago. We should definitely go to bed earlier so that we are well-rested tomorrow.”
Stella cheerfully agreed and seemed to be eager to skip to the next day while complaining that time was passing too slowly.
For Blanche, however, the following morning seemed to arrive rather fast. She had barely opened her eyes when Stella already dragged her out of her bed. At first, she was irritated by that since they still had hours until the departure, but she quickly realized why her maid was so intent on rushing her. After eating breakfast and dressing in a long lilac dress with rose ornaments and loose tulle sleeves, which Blanche found to be too elegant to go out in, she was pushed onto the stool by the dresser.
For this special occasion, Stella had decided to style her mistress' hair in a complicated manner instead of leaving it open like usual. The concubine almost dozed away while the other woman was busy combing each streak on its own and fastening them with countless small clasps that would be invisible later.
When Blanche focused on the mirror again, her maid was already finished, and the result had absolutely been worth the time. Her hair had been loosely braided and was now flowing down over her left shoulder in a way that looked way more graceful than she had ever thought was possible. After staring at her reflection in awe, she met her maid's eyes in the mirror. “You're incredibly good, Stella.”
The compliment was enough to make a grin appear on the servant's features. “Thank you, My Lady. I'm glad that you like it. Though I should have been a little faster. We'll have to get ready to leave now.”
“That's fine. We didn't have to-” A tingle in her nose cut Blanche off. For a few seconds, she thought that the sensation would disappear again, but in the end, she couldn't prevent a sneeze from coming out.
Stella observed the clasps in her mistress' hair with worry and was only calmed when she made sure that they were still in place. “It sure seems to be dusty in the palace. The rooms are being cleaned almost every day, but it doesn't appear to get rid of everything.” The maid stayed silent before adding another sentence. “Maybe it was too cold when we went stargazing. You aren't getting sick, are you?”
“No, I'm not. I just sneezed twice. That's all.” Blanche pretended to be sure about that, but she was rather scared of that possibility. If she had truly infected herself with some kind of disease and started to show symptoms now, that would ruin the ball. Either she would have to go there while feeling terrible or stay in her room.
Though there wasn't much of a choice for her to make since she couldn't afford not to attend the empress' birthday party. Anyone else could excuse themselves, but Blanche would definitely be accused of lying to avoid having to bow to Seraphina. She had to prevent negative rumors of that sort in any case, or she could forget being able to survive the book's ending. The tea party had proved that she would be punished just because the heroine loathed her, even if she was innocent. So, Blanche had to work hard to improve the empress' opinion about her until the other woman, and also the rest of noble society, tolerated her.
Choosing a gift that Seraphina liked would give Blanche an advantage in that regard. However, insulting the heroine by not coming might erase any progress that she had previously made. Any errors that could occur would also cast a bad shadow on the concubine, so she had to show her best side at the ball. That would be much more difficult to do while she was sick, which meant that she had to avoid catching a cold under any circumstance.
After all, the ball was important in more than one way. The concubine also needed to tell Sefare that she wouldn't support his schemes anymore, and leaving this opportunity unused would only risk that she was forced to wait for even longer. And time was the one thing she didn't have in this race against the original storyline.
So, even though it was warm outside, Blanche decided to take a coat with her in case that it would be colder in the afternoon.
The women left the room at a time that made it impossible to be tardy and thus arrived in front of the palace before Leonard was there. Still, the carriage was already standing by the entrance, and five knights were waiting in front of it. Once again, Theodore had exaggerated in terms of the number of guards that he had assigned to his lover. In the past, Blanche might have laughed about that, but after being aware of the many times that the inhabitants of the palace were in danger, she was glad to be protected by numerous skilled fighters.
A moment after the women looked around, Leon's voice sounded from behind her. “Lady Blanche, you're here already.”
Blanche turned around to greet him and opened her mouth, only to freeze at the sight of the servant that was accompanying Leon. Stella next to her had a similar reaction and let out an angry huff when she made eye contact with the other man.
Why did Harris have to be the one attending Leonard? There were hundreds of servants in the palace, and still, the secretary had chosen him for some reason. Couldn't it have been anyone else?
Despite her irritation about seeing that servant, Blanche gave her best to maintain a neutral expression, even though she assumed that she had failed. “Good day, Leon.”
Leonard returned the greeting with a small smile. “Good day. It seems like everything is prepared already. Shall we head off then? I do not wish to rush you, but I need to return to His Majesty's side as soon as possible.”
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“That's understandable. Since all of us are here, I have no problem with us departing now.” The only real issue was Harris' presence, but speaking up about that and forcing Leonard to sacrifice time to find another servant would make Blanche feel stupid.
So, she didn't say anything else while approaching the carriage. Still, it became increasingly harder not to narrow her eyes at Harris when he opened the door for her and offered her hand to help her climb into the coach. However, since rejecting this might make the situation more uncomfortable, Blanche accepted his assistance but refused to meet his gaze and didn't thank him, even though this gesture made her stomach tingle in a strangely familiar way. Her dismay grew as she saw how Harris didn't help Stella, who had to latch onto the door frame to not fall. The two women exchanged an annoyed gaze when the maid took a seat next to her mistress.
Leonard was the next one to enter the carriage and sat down on the bench across from them, after which Harris did the same. Blanche couldn't see the guards but assumed that two of them would stand on the footboard at the back of the coach while the other three accompanied them by horse. With this, they were all ready.
Leon waited for a moment before speaking up. “Do you have a specific store in mind? If not, I know some with more expensive items.”
Blanche looked at her maid, who pulled out Luciano's note and handed it to Leonard, which the concubine commented on. “Someone recommended this store to me. It might be worth it to visit this one, but I'm not sure.”
The secretary took a few seconds to read the address and nodded. “I know this one. I've been there a couple of times. I don't know much about it, but they have all kinds of jewelry for wealthier customers, so you might find what you are searching for there.” He turned around and pulled the curtain, which covered the window to the coachman, aside to pass on their destination.
The carriage began moving, and they left the royal estate through the golden main gate, where a group of servants was positioned to open and close it again. When they drove onto the broader street that led to the city, the horses started to run faster, but still, the bumps of the road were unnoticeable.
After a minute of silence, Leon spoke up. “Now that we have some time, we could readdress the topic you asked me about yesterday. I can't go into any details.” He glanced at the two servants that were with them. “But I can still give you an overview about the way that our nation is being governed.”
Blanche immediately nodded. She couldn't let go of this chance when such a long conversation would normally not be possible with her teacher. “That would be kind of you.”
Leonard complied and once again proved how good he was at making inexperienced people understand something. He explained how the monarchy in Artias originally was established and how it had developed over the years in an astonishingly simple way. Surely, he used some complicated terms, but these were the ones he had defined for Blanche during the last lessons or ones that were common enough for her to understand them. Even though the concubine had been aware of the most important parts of the country's history, her knowledge obviously hadn't covered everything, so it was fascinating to learn more.
For the last four centuries, most of the laws had remained unchanged, and Theodore's grandfather had been the first emperor to make smaller changes, which his son and the current emperor had also been doing on a greater scale. Still, the basic rules would be hard to alter, but as far as Blanche knew, her lover didn't intend to do so anyway.
The current system bestowed the predominant part of the power upon the emperor and a smaller but nevertheless impressing influence upon the empress.
Although some rulers required the support of at least one of the mightiest aristocratic households, this was only necessary if there were clashes within the royal family regarding the succession to the throne. Sadly, this was what Theodore had to deal with since his mother, the dowager empress, and his brother were opposing him and could attempt to overthrow him with the help of other nobles. Aside from the danger of losing their authority to another contender to the crown or a riot of a majority of the aristocrats, emperors were basically untouchable though.
To prevent the emperors from abusing their power, the position of the minister had been implemented into Artias' government. There were usually six of them, and they came from the most influential households, who were mostly residing in the capital. They were the ones to attend meetings with the emperor and could offer advice to him, voice criticism and give their approval or disapproval regarding the initiation of new laws. If more than half of them, in this case four, denied these laws, the ruler wouldn't be able to establish them. For this reason, the ministers were often the people that the emperor believed to have similar political stances as him. There were other cases too though. Duke Vasquez, for example, had only gained this title because he had too much influence to be left out of the council.
Leonard was ready to evaluate this system even more when Blanche interrupted him. He had moved the conversation to the exact direction that she had wanted. She could address the topic of the workload now.
So, the concubine began talking. “I understand how the power is distributed, and it's good that Theo has most of it, but he also has to the greatest amount of duties. Without you, he wouldn't be able to finish all of them, and still, he barely has time to sleep or eat.”
Leon nodded, which she took as her cue to resume.
“And I know that it's been like this for centuries, however, I doubt that the previous emperors sacrificed themselves to the extent that he does it. They simply didn't make any alterations to the laws and lived their lives in luxury. For them, this system might have worked, but currently, you can see that it doesn't work. Not for a ruler that cares about his country and tries to find the best solutions for every little issue despite already having to prevent a war. That means that some changes have to be made, no matter how long this form of government has existed.” Blanche knew that Seraphina would have to be the one to make that change eventually, but it couldn't hurt to mention something like this a little earlier, right? After all, it pained her to see how Theodore and Leon wrecked themselves when she knew that there was a simpler option.
The more she talked, the more Leonard's frown deepened like he got lost in thoughts while staring into the distance.
Blanche would have favored it if Harris did the same, but instead of looking away, his gaze was trained onto her, and that didn't change during her whole speech. She attempted to ignore this and focused on her words. She was trying to propose a solution that would unburden her lover and his secretary. It should be similar to Seraphina's but not the exact same so that the heroine could still introduce hers in the future. A simplified version of that plan, which Blanche could explain with her lacking knowledge, wouldn't change the novel's storyline too much, right?
Well, even if it did, the concubine had already made a lot of alterations. She had gotten closer to Theodore after their reconciliation, warned him about his enemies and wouldn't play her role as the villainess. At this point, she didn't mind changing another aspect if it meant that she could help Theodore.
Blanche took a deep breath before trying to explain it properly. “You should have noticed it by now. We have to change something soon. The emperor can't take care of as many things as he does right now. So, you would have to transfer a portion of his duties to someone else while still granting him full authority over everything. The ministers are the ones who seem to be most competent to manage a section of affairs of the state. Wouldn't it be possible to make them more helpful like that? Right now, they only exist to complicate the emperor's work by dismissing all of his efforts with a ‘no’. Of course, Theo would have to get rid of the ministers he doesn't trust first before introducing this rule, but it could be helpful to make some changes. There has to be a way to hold the ministers responsible for a few more duties while still maintaining the emperor's right to make the final decision, right? You could make them manage smaller sections of Theo's task, like the military or economy, while still letting him sign the final documents so that he can still steer the general development. ”
When she finished, Leon didn't reply immediately. He kept staring out of the window, and only after a few seconds of silence passed, he turned to Blanche. “We've...never considered something like that. I don't think that this would work in a manner that is similar to what you are imagining. That would require a very complicated set of new laws.”
“Oh.” Just like that, all of her thoughts were rendered futile. It should have been obvious that Blanche wouldn't be able to convey this idea as convincingly as Seraphina, whose knowledge of politics was significantly broader than the concubine's. She lowered her head to not let Leon see the defeat on her face. Her one attempt at making the situation for Theodore better was dismissed, and now she had no idea how to help him in any other way. It seemed like she truly had to leave that task to the heroine. Did she really have to watch him in silence while her lover was about to collapse from exhaustion for the next ten months?
Just as she balled her hands into fists, Leon spoke again. “It might not be possible like that, but...maybe we...” He muttered to himself before he lifted his gaze to meet hers and continued in a louder tone. “It's certainly an interesting approach. I wasn't aware that you care about governing that much. How did you come up with that idea?”
“I...uhm...”
On the one hand, Blanche didn't want to claim the heroine's accomplishments for herself. But now, she would have to name a source. She had never talked to anyone about politics except for Theodore, Leon and possibly Stella. Suddenly explaining that she chatted with other nobles about such crucial topics was almost out of the question since Leonard knew that she didn't have any friends outside the palace. However, she also couldn't tell him that she had read it in a book. He was well aware of how much she despised reading, and it would be hard for anyone around her to believe that she would touch a book about politics.
So, Blanche had no choice but to state that she had come up with this concept on her own. The heroine would survive having one moment with a bit less glory than originally intended, so it should be fine for Blanche to say this. “I just thought that Theo has to work too much and that the ministers were useless. The rest somehow appeared in my mind while you talked about our government's history. These are stupid reasons to try to change the oldest laws in our nation, aren't they?”
Leonard's lips formed a slight smile before replying. “Actually, most laws are based on such simple thoughts. You notice that there is a problem and attempt to solve it. That's how the whole constitution originated. So, these aren't stupid reasons at all. It's never worse to think about how to improve the world than to just accept it how it is.”
These words created a warm tingle in Blanche's chest and painted a grin onto her face. Her idea might not have been helpful, but at least Leon had praised it, which meant that it couldn't have been completely unrealistic. Her beam didn't falter even after her teacher had begun to talk and gave her a more detailed explanation of Artias' form of government. This joy might have lasted for the rest of the ride too if she hadn't had the constant feeling of a pair of eyes observing her.
Sure enough, whenever she glanced over at Harris, he was still focused on her, which increased her annoyance quickly. Didn't he have anything better to looked at? The carriage passed by countless different terrains ranging from a forest to a wide field, and the view was certainly more interesting than staring at the same person was.
It also didn't help that Blanche couldn't turn away since she wanted to show Leon that she was paying attention to what he was saying and thus always saw Harris from the corner of her eyes. She gave her best to ignore the servant and concentrated on her teacher's voice, but that was easier said than done.
Consequently, Blanche was a little relieved when they arrived at the city gate and Leonard stopped talking so that she could focus on the view of the capital's streets. The scenery didn't seem familiar to her, so she assumed that they had entered the town through a different gate than the one she had used the last time. A surprisingly small amount of people crowded on the roads, and most of them were dressed in clothing that was more expensive than any commoner could ever afford. Seemingly, Leon had been right about the store being in a wealthy district.
The carriage had no problem passing through the almost empty streets and stopped in front of a building with a cream-colored facade, which was decorated with countless ornaments. Massive display windows offered an unobstructed view of the items that were currently on sale.
One glance was enough to realize that this store relied on selling jewelry to a few very prosperous customers since the greatest portion of citizens of Artias probably wouldn't be able to buy the cheapest showpiece. This meant that anything that the concubine chose here would have the value that was required to not offend the empress, which relieved her immensely.
The door of the carriage was opened from the outside by one of the guards. The two servants climbed out first, and Blanche followed them. Luckily, the knight was the one to offer her a hand, and she thanked him, which painted a perplexed expression on his face. She grinned at that, but as soon as Blanche let her gaze roam across her surroundings, the corners of her lips sank again, and her stomach twisted in a nauseating manner.
Had they broken some kind of rule by halting in front of the store? Otherwise, it wouldn't make sense for every other person on the street to stare at them.
Leon, who had left the carriage as well, seemed to notice her uncertainty and moved closer to her. “Is something wrong?”
Blanche looked around once more to confirm that she hadn't imagined it and spoke up when she saw that everyone's eyes were still following them. “Why are all the people watching us? We didn't offend anyone by coming into this part of town, right?” That wouldn't make sense since the stores needed customers to survive. And the spectators didn't appear like they were angry either, just curious.
Leonard took his time to look around once and then faced Blanche again. He wasn't intimidated by the many gazes directed at them, or at least his expression made it seem like he wasn't. “No, I don't think that they dislike us being here. They are simply excited to see someone from the palace.”
“How would they know that we're from the palace? Because there are so many guards with us?”
He gestured to decorations on the carriage. “The royal crest makes it pretty obvious that we are connected to the royal family in some manner, and I assume that most of the people here are aristocrats. They are capable of concluding that a woman in extravagant clothes that comes from the palace and isn't the empress might be the person they heard rumors about.” He was right.
It was logical that the gossip about the emperor having an affair had spread into the lower ranks of nobility, to the people who didn't necessarily attend the events in the palace and thus had never met Blanche. That was just great in terms of trying to limit the rumors.
“I see.” Even though these people didn't mean any harm, Blanche felt unwell with knowing that they watched her every movement. She would rather enter the store quickly to be shielded from their gazes, and apparently, Leon had the same thought.
He approached the building at a slow pace so that she didn't have any trouble catching up to him. The servants and two guards trailed behind them while the other three knights stayed to protect the carriage.
Leonard spoke up again before they had even reached the entrance. “So, you think that five is a big number for guards that are accompanying you?”
Blanche was a little taken aback by that and turned her head to see the small smirk that had formed on his face. “Yes. I mean, we are only two people and two servants. Even if one knight attends one person, one guard still has nothing to do. And we are in a safe part of the capital, right? So, bringing this many people with you isn't necessary at all.”
“You do know that our emperor doesn't travel with less than twenty knights that are just there for his protection?”
A frown appeared on Blanche's face. What did Leon want to tell her with that? Wasn't it obvious that Theodore, as Artias' ruler, was in far greater danger than she was? “Well, as you just said, he is the emperor. It would be reckless to go out without that much protection, and the empress is in a similar situation. I don't have much political power, so I don't have to worry about anything but a coincidental attack by bandits.”
Her argument caused Leonard to let out a quiet huff, which made her pause. Had she said something funny? She wasn't sure, and the secretary didn't react to her confused expression. They arrived at the door, and Leon opened the door for her while he turned to her again. “You can rest assured that your lover is more concerned for your well-being than you are. If I wasn't here, there would be no way that you could travel without at least fifteen guards.”
Blanched looked at him with bewilderment. She didn't want to doubt his words, but how would anyone be able to replace ten of the most skillful knights in the whole country?
Leon didn't give her a chance to question him as he vanished into the store, and she hurried to follow him.