Like last time, countless guests had already arrived before the concubine and were chatting happily in the illuminated venue. Blanche had to admit that the decorations had been worth all the invested time. The whole room was adorned with flowers and velvet curtains, as expected for the empress' birthday. Next to the platform with the two golden thrones, which were as awe-inducing as always, the same massive table from last year stood. Once again, it was covered in so many boxes with fabric and glittering objects that one had to fear that it would give in after a while. Naturally, the table was surrounded by men in white uniforms with ornaments in blue and gold, which made it obvious to anyone that they were part of the royal guards and would protect the gifts with all of their experience and phenomenal skills.

Blanche ignored the gazes that landed on her as soon as she stepped inside the ballroom and steered toward the usual spot, even though she stayed a bit further away from the platform than she had done the last time. Later, all attention would be focused on the empress, who would inspect the presents while she was sitting on her throne. The concubine didn't want to appear in the corner of anyone's eyes by standing too close to that. She was about to pass the table when a voice stopped her.

“Lady Blanche!”

She turned around and made eye contact with Noah, who apparently had been ordered to watch the gifts as well.

Noah walked the few steps towards her and greeted her with a bright smile that immediately soothed her. The heroine's protector truly had an incredible aura. Though it might have influenced her more if she hadn't noticed the other knights behind Noah, who were exchanging looks that seemed like they expected him to get yelled at by Blanche.

Their expression became even more amusing when the concubine returned the smile despite being addressed without concern for her rank. “Sir Aldis, good evening. How are you?”

The corners of Noah's lips twitched slightly as he replied. “I was quite surprised to hear that Lady Blanche was able to identify my last name too. It seems that you don't only know my first name.” Now that he mentioned it, she had messed up that night by calling him by name despite him never introducing himself. Fortunately, coming up with an excuse for that wasn't too hard.

“Everyone in the palace has heard about your great accomplishments already. You are the most promising of the younger knights after all. Though I still have to apologize for addressing you inappropriately. In my tired state, I wasn't able to think clearly.”

Noah beamed back at her. “You do not have to apologize. I didn't mind you calling me by my first name. I just hadn't expected you to know who I am. I'm honored by the fact that you do.” He bowed his head forward slightly, to which she hinted a small curtsy in return.

Blanche was glad that this excuse was believable and just continued being polite. “I was honored to have you accompany us. I believe that I said that already, but with you by our side, we could focus on the stars completely without having to worry about anything rustling in the bushes.”

The longer the conversation went on, the more obvious the confusion on the faces of Noah's colleague became, which irritated Blanche a bit. What was so strange about her talking to a kind person without causing a scene? Just because she had never interacted much with a knight before, that didn't mean that she had a problem with doing so.

In contrast to her, Noah didn't pay any attention to them and just continued to show his calming smile. “If Lady Blanche wants to repeat something like that on that evening, I will gladly join you again to make sure that nothing happens. It was a very pleasant night for me and-” He stopped himself from using a name that wouldn't help her and resumed with other words. “My friend. The atmosphere was very peaceful during that trip. You may invite us any time, and we will guard you again.” He bowed once more. “Since this ball will go on for quite a while, I do not wish to bother you any longer. Have a delightful evening.”

Blanche was almost a bit sad that he would end the conversation here as that would leave her with nothing exciting to do, but right now, she didn't actually need excitement. The ball would already tire her, so she needed to take it as slow as possible to avoid over-exhausting herself. At this moment, she wasn't feeling too unwell, however, that could change within minutes, and she still had to last the entire evening. Aside from that, a noble lady chatting with a guard could also seem odd to some people, and her goal was to avoid attracting all kinds of attention. So, saying goodbye and going to her spot in the corner was the best option.

The concubine replied with that in mind. “You didn't bother me at all. It was pleasant to talk to you. Most likely, we will meet again soon. I hope that you will have an enjoyable evening too.”

They nodded at each other and went separate ways. Blanche glanced over her shoulder to see how a couple of Noah's colleagues immediately circled him and began asking him questions, which made her grin widen. Seemingly, the guards were as curious as the aristocrats and servants were. She didn't watch them for long though and focused on her own issues.

Blanche and Stella arrived at their destination without being involved in any other conversation and halted there.

The maid looked around for a while before informing her mistress. “I haven't found Marquess Sefare yet, but right now, I can't see half of the guests, so that doesn't mean anything.” Hopefully, it didn't.

Blanche couldn't afford to wait until the next ball that would lie some time in the undefined future. She had already sacrificed three months because of Sefare's absence during the last event. Repeating this was way too risky. The novel had covered the time span of a year, so she had already used up a quarter of her time, and she wasn't willing to give up another one. If Sefare wasn't here, she would have to come up with another possibility of contacting him. But she couldn't tell whether Sefare attended this ball yet. She would have to wait until it was his turn to hand Seraphina his gift, and then she could be sure.

Blanche didn't have more time to worry about that since one of the guards by the main entrance raised his voice to announce the arrival of the hosts.

“His and Her Majesty, the emperor and the empress of Artias.”

Instantly, all conversations in the room died down, and everyone faced the double doors, which were being opened from the outside.

Theodore and Seraphina came into view, and once again, Blanche noticed what a perfect image they offered.

The emperor was wearing another one of his navy uniforms with a golden sash that was covered in his medals. As usual, a heavy crown rested on his head, but his face didn't show how unpleasant that had to be. Instead, a polite smile graced his lips and still somehow exuded an aura of power, which made his already handsome appearance even more alluring.

The empress had a similar expression on her face. She wore a dark blue gown with the typical puffy ballroom skirt and a masterfully decorated neckline, which only emphasized her flawless physique. The blue velvet skirt flowed around her legs, and numerous accessories, including the royal crown, adorned her body and added gold to her attire.

Any woman would feel self-conscious after seeing such a gorgeous person, and Blanche surely did. Wasn't it unfair to make the main characters so attractive? Everyone else paled in comparison to that, which made clear who the author's favorite characters were.

But the concubine forced herself to stop wallowing in self-pity and focused on Seraphina's skirt again. This definitely wasn't the exchanged dress that the heroine should have worn. Instead, it seemed like the empress had put on the more conventional attire, which she had originally planned to wear in the novel before the villainess had destroyed it.

Blanche let out a breath of relief at this. By not cutting the empress' gown, she had changed the whole scene that was connected to Seraphina getting praised for her interesting dress choice, meaning that she had successfully avoided a conflict with the heroine. Though it was hard to be content with this while observing how Theodore was linking his arms with his wife.

Blanche bit her tongue to distract herself from the ache in her heart. She wanted to look away but reminded herself that she had to accommodate to that view. Right now, she wasn't even confident that she was able to save her own life since Sefare definitely wouldn't accept her ruining his plan because she suddenly changed her mind. Consequently, she couldn't dream about keeping the fated couple apart. First and foremost, she needed to survive, and to do that, she had to refrain from intervening in their relationship.

One might believe that three months had been enough for her to get used to that thought, but that wasn't the case. She was pretty sure that she wouldn't ever be able to accept that her love had no chance of lasting just because someone had decided to make her the villainess in their book. Every interaction with Theodore convinced her that she could stay with him once again. Their reconciliation had also overjoyed her for the moment, but there was no guarantee that it influenced the future at all.

At this point, Blanche allowed herself to believe that she could avoid her lover's resentment by not attempting to hurt his wife, however, that wouldn't keep him from leaving her. Maybe she could survive despite that though. If she continued like this, the heroine probably would still dislike her but not want her dead. So, she might be able to stay in the palace. Though the events of the tea party didn't make it seem like the empress would be fond of that.

Just at that moment, the royal couple stepped forward, and Seraphina spoke up with a small but still charming smile. All the guests showed their respect by bowing or making a curtsy until she began to speak to them while making a large gesture with her hand. “I would like to thank all of you for coming such a long way to attend today's ball. It is a pleasure to spend the last hours of my birthday with you, and I am honored to see all of those familiar faces again. May you have a wonderful evening and enjoy yourselves to the fullest.”

While his wife spoke, Theodore made eye contact with Blanche and gave her a bright smile. It was only for a second, but it sufficed to lift her spirits a bit.

The concubine imitated his expression, however, she might have been too sick and dejected to look happy.

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Her lover's smile faltered and returned to his facade of politeness, which proved that she hadn't managed to convince him. Blanche could only hope that he wouldn't find the time to ask her about it during the ball. If he realized how much her illness affected her, he would certainly complain about her coming anyway and order her to leave immediately.

But she couldn't go back to her room without finishing the two tasks that she had intended to take on today. She had to give the empress her gift and let Stella hand the letter over to Sefare. So, Blanche gave her best to keep a neutral expression to hide how unwell she felt.

The empress finished, and Theodore raised his voice to address the guests. “Naturally, I share this sentiment. We put in our greatest efforts to ensure that each of your needs should be satisfied. If there is anything that is not to your liking, please do not hesitate to tell any of the servants. They will be glad to take care of any problem that you might have.” After he ended his speech, the royal couple strode to the thrones in the most graceful manner that one could imagine.

At a normal ball, they would dance first, but since this was Seraphina's birthday, they would receive the presents and dance after that. So, they climbed the few stair steps onto the platform, where Theodore finally let go of his wife. They sat down on their thrones and exchanged a few words with each other. Now the different families would step forward one after the other, with the most influential one starting, and have a short conversation with the couple before presenting their gifts.

The greatest portion of the nobles didn't have anything to do until it was their turn, so they slowly began to chat again. The orchestra started to play, and some people took that as their cue to dance as well. This made the atmosphere much less strained and allowed Blanche to relax a bit as well. Since she was the only baroness at the ball and thus had the lowest rank, she would be the last one to meet the empress. That wasn't very convenient for her as everyone would watch her then, but they would probably do so whenever she and Seraphina interacted.

Until then, she would have to busy herself with something, which normally was pretty boring. Today, it wouldn't be extremely entertaining either, but at least she could observe the other aristocrats talking to the royal couple. Blanche stood too far away to listen to their conversation, so she would miss out on all the possibly interesting topics they would discuss, but that also meant that she was far away from the spot that everyone was staring at.

The Duremonts were the first ones to approach the thrones, and they bowed to the emperor and the empress. Blanche scanned how they interacted with each other and quickly realized that this wouldn't keep her from being bored either. It didn't help that that family didn't seem to want to leave and spent minutes conversing with the royal couple. That was logical since they probably hadn't seen Seraphina for a long time, but it still felt like torture to the concubine.

Blanche couldn't do anything until Sefare would step forward and was trapped here until everyone else had finished their chat. Right now, she was alright, but she doubted that that would last for very long. The first family was still with Theodore, and she had already held back the desire to sneeze three times, which was starting to become exhausting. Luckily, Stella was there to distract her with some stories about any imaginable subject, but nevertheless, Blanche only wanted to fall into her bed and sleep.

After a while, she looked at the platform, and the Duremonts still hadn't moved, which made her choke back a groan. Then, as if her prayers had finally reached the gods, Seraphina asked the servants to bring the presents and hand them over to her. As expected, the Duremonts had brought a lot of them, and many of the presents seemed rather expensive.

Seraphina took her time to inspect each of the items, and it looked like she voiced her thanks multiple times before her family bowed once more and turned around to walk away.

Blanche's initial joy at that was quickly replaced with irritation when she met Allen's gaze. For a short moment, they made eye contact in an oddly uncomfortable manner until he faced his parents again. She was a bit embarrassed at being caught while staring at them but focused on watching the next guests instead.

The entire Vasquez family was present today, and they chatted with the royal couple for a few minutes, but fortunately, they didn't take as long as the Duremonts. After presenting their gifts, they left and made way for the Lamonts.

The Lamonts only spoke with the rulers for a very short moment, but it was enough to annoy Blanche. Fiona was blinking at Theodore the whole time, and anyone with functioning eyes would notice that she was acting this odd on purpose. It wasn't like that would help her though. She was destined to fail no matter what.

The concubine was still glad when the Lamonts left and finally allowed the marquesses to greet the empress. The less influential nobles wouldn't stay as long with the royal couple as the dukes, and Blanche had to pay attention to Sefare now, so she hoped that waiting would be less frustrating, but her body didn't play along. Her forehead was beginning to feel hot, and she was freezing. If Theodore looked at her now, he would definitely notice that something was wrong, so she turned to face the wall.

Stella only took this as a sign to insist on returning to their chambers early. “See? Your fever was gone for two days, and now it's back. Just because you insisted on forcing yourself to attend. I'm just going to search for Sefare, give him the letter, and then you can ask His Majesty to allow you to leave.” That suggestion was very tempting.

Blanche needed to remind herself why she had to stay here, or she would seriously consider agreeing. “I would, but I really have to-” While speaking, she had taken a small step backward. That shouldn't have caused a problem since the area around them had been empty from the event's beginning, so the collision made her heart skip a beat. She jumped away from the person, which had been a movement that was too fast for her state. “I apologize, I wasn't-” She had to interrupt herself and take a few seconds to allow her head to stop spinning before looking up.

A smug grin greeted her. “Again? Lady Blanche seems to have a habit of running into me. Though that might be my fault for approaching you from behind.” Why did Luciano have to be the one she had met again? No one else was in this corner of the room, so he had to have come here to talk to the concubine specifically. Despite her conviction to avoid him and his family, it seemed like she wouldn't be able to do so.

Blanche forced herself to smile when her head finally stopped spinning. “Lord Vasquez, I apologize. It wasn't my intention to bump into you. I didn't expect anyone to be in close proximity to me. I will be more careful from now on.” She made a small curtsy to underline her apology, and Luciano returned a bow with the same eerie smirk on his face.

“Oh, You should pay attention not to do that with anyone else, but I do not mind. It's been a while since we had the pleasure of meeting each other. How have you been doing?”

Blanche was feeling terrible. She hated attending balls when Theo wasn't with her, she was sick, and now she had to interact with a member of the Vasquez family. However, she naturally wouldn't say that. “I cannot complain about anything. The past weeks have been very calm. How about you?”

“Actually, I have been busy with numerous things for the most part. My father has assigned some duties of our dukedom to me, and I am giving my best to fulfill them in a satisfactory manner. Right now, I'm still glad to have someone to support me, but I am learning as quickly as I can. After all, I will have to take care of those tasks in the future too, and no one will be there to help me then. Though I doubt that Lady Blanche is interested in economics and politics.” Luciano probably hadn't meant to annoy her, however, his remark still came across as belittling.

It might not be beneficial to allow him to provoke her like this, but Blanche couldn't help herself and boasted a little. “Well, I am not as literate on these topics as you are. Though I did have some lessons with Lord Astame, and his explanations were so thought-out that I believe that I have a good overview of the most important subjects. Recently, we talked about-” She cut herself off as she remembered Leon's words. He had advised her to act clueless while conversing with Theodore's enemies, and there she was, trying to prove the opposite to Luciano. She cleared her throat to stall for time and think about a way to alter what she was going to say before continuing. “A bit of politics. I have to admit that I still don't understand some things about what he told me, and the topic isn't exciting enough to me, so I didn't ask him about it again. That means that you were right with your first assumption.”

For a moment, Luciano just smiled at her in a manner that made her feel like she was a salmon dangling on a fishing rod. Did he see through her improvised excuse? It shouldn't matter whether he did since her lies wouldn't have any consequences. Still, she felt uncomfortable at the thought that he might have realized that she was being dishonest.

But the silence ended after a few seconds, and Luciano simply nodded. “I see. Not everyone has the patience to deal with complicated things like this. I, myself, also have times in which I would rather hand these tasks over to someone else, but as the future Duke of Vasquez, I can't ignore my duties. So, I understand why you do not wish to concern yourself with such topics. It's admirable that you still attended those lessons despite not being interested and not being forced to do so either.” In some way, his words had been a compliment, right? Or was he hinting that it didn't make sense for her to be taught about politics if she hadn't wished for that herself?

Blanche was unsure, but she only smiled back at him. “It wasn't that exhausting, so it's not special in any way. It's way more praiseworthy that you take on so many of your father's duties despite your young age.”

Luciano replied without skipping a beat. “In my family, it is rather common to involve the children early in business so that they won't be overwhelmed when they become an adult. So, that is nothing I should receive praise for, but I still thank you for your appreciation.” He finished, and once again, they were both quiet.

The silence caused Blanche to grow more and more uncertain with every second that passed. Was Luciano expecting her to say something? There wasn't any topic that she felt was necessary to discuss with him. Hadn't he been the one to approach her in the first place? Why wasn't he addressing whatever was so important? Though Blanche wasn't convinced that she would like what he wanted to talk about either.

Still, making eye contact with Luciano unnerved her more than the fear of his intentions, so the concubine forced herself to speak up. “I do not mean to seem impolite, but didn't Lord Vasquez come here with something specific in mind?”

For a moment, Luciano's smile faded and left behind an expression of confusion. “Did I?”

That was enough to render Blanche speechless. There was no way that he had walked through the whole ballroom to meet her for no reason. It also seemed unrealistic that he had just passed by coincidentally while she took a step backward. He also shouldn't have forgotten why he had approached her in such a short time. Though she couldn't be sure about any of that. “I, uhm...” She muttered her response while the embarrassment, or possibly her fever, made her cheeks burn up. “I assumed that you did because you... There is no reason for you to go here after all, so...”

Before she could ponder about that even more, the playful smirk returned to Luciano's face. “You are too gullible, Lady Blanche. Of course, I came here intentionally. I just couldn't help but tease you a little. I apologize for that.”

His words immediately replaced her uncertainty with annoyance. She knew that the Vasquez family used their facial expression to get others to fall for their fake politeness, but she hadn't expected them to do it in such a manner. Normally, their smiles were obviously dishonest, so she had believed that they wouldn't put in more effort to be convincing with their other expressions. Either Luciano had found irritating her amusing enough to act better, or she truly hadn't paid attention.

Blanche was annoyed either way, which she didn't even try to hide. “If that's the case, what did you wish to tell me?”

Luciano chuckled a bit at her frown, which caused her to deepen it even more. “Please, do not be angry. I didn't mean to upset you.” He paused to glance over his shoulder before looking back into her eyes and continuing. “I approached you to ask you for a dance.”

Blanche froze at that. No one had ever wanted to dance with her at a ball, except for Theodore, whom she could never join though. This was a huge problem. Not only was she bad at waltzing and would trip over her own feet, she was also sick. Her sense of balance was already disturbed, and twirling around for a longer amount of time certainly wouldn't help her regain it. And even if she did bring herself to dance, she would do it with her lover or anyone that she liked and not Luciano. But a baroness couldn't refuse the invitation of a duke's son unless she was married, which Blanche wasn't.

Her only chance was convincing him that that wasn't a good idea, or Blanche wouldn't be able to get away from this without being impolite. “Uhm, I would love to, but... There is a reason I never dance at balls. I'm a horrible dancer. I would only step onto your feet and embarrass you in front of the guests, so you really should ask another woman. But I'm sure that nearly all the other noble ladies here would be glad to join you.”

Even while she talked, Luciano's unwavering smile told her that her suggestions would remain ignored. She didn't believe that he would be kind enough to let her avoid the humiliation that was connected to her being unable to do a simple waltz for one second. And she was right. Luciano just continued grinning while he disregarded her excuse. “Oh, no. The person I want to dance with is you, Lady Blanche. You do not need to worry as I am not very skilled either. We would be perfect partners in this situation.”

“Still, this is a bad idea. I don't think that you are going to enjoy this. I-” Blanche's last attempt at refusing was repelled by him extending his arm and offering her his hand.

“I have to insist.” Luciano replied in a low voice without allowing her to think about her answer. Not that she had much of a choice.

A short look around quickly made Blanche aware of all the eyes that were following them. Due to the concubine's former tendency to break any rules and conventions of noble society, she was always being watched by many aristocrats. Now that she conversed with the second most influential duke's son, they would be even more interested in how the interaction would unfold. She didn't like being judged by all of those people, but as long as she didn't make any mistakes, that wouldn't be more than an inconvenience.

But while rejecting Luciano's offer wasn't a grave offense, it was still something that would cause nobles to wrinkle their noses. In her current position, in which Blanche was dependent on the public's opinion about her, she couldn't risk turning him down. Not after he had made his offer so obvious with that stupid, exaggerated gesture. Dejectedly, she put her hand in his, which caused his smile to widen.

Luciano promptly spoke up. “Thank you. I promise that you won't regret it.” He bowed down and moved her hand to his face to hint a kiss onto the backside of her fingers. Then he straightened his posture again and led her towards the middle of the room, where a few other couples were already waltzing.

Blanche hated it already.