Blanche walked back to the corner of the room with unsteady steps as she prayed that no one aside from Luciano had seen her stumbling after the dance.

There, Stella was already waiting for her with a deep frown. “My Lady... You really shouldn't stay here any longer.”

“I know.” Blanche groaned and slowly sat down on one of the chairs. She leaned forward and rested her face in her palms for another couple of seconds before straightening her posture again in an attempt to look less pitiful. “But it's almost over now. Sefare should step forward, and after that, you can approach him. Then I'll hand over the gift, and all will be fine. Since I won't dance anymore, I also won't feel like I'm about to vomit again.”

Stella gazed at with concern in her eyes. The maid opened her mouth as if she wanted to say something, but she closed it again without voicing a single word. It was obvious that she didn't approve of her mistress' decision, so Blanche was thankful that the servant didn't insist on discussing with her. An argument wouldn't help the concubine in her current state and rather worsen her condition.

Blanche had other worries. She felt miserable and would like to make that better as quickly as she could. “Stella, could you get me some water?”

Her maid immediately complied and rushed toward the buffet.

As soon as the other woman had moved away, Blanche buried her face in her hands again and let out the bottled-up frustration in a quiet sigh. Why did she have to be in this terrible situation? Her dialogue with Luciano had only reminded her that her former allies weren't naive. If she betrayed them, they wouldn't just ignore it. A small part of her considered not giving Sefare the letter in fear of what the consequences might be. But, of course, she knew that that wasn't an option. There would be problems no matter whether she took care of it now or later. And she had to take care of it. Continuing to work with Theodore's opponents and the possibility of him finding out that she was a traitor at the end of the novel would ruin everything. She could only hope that Sefare and the Vasquez family didn't intend to kill her when they realized that she wouldn't help them anymore.

Blanche lifted her head to gaze at the platform, in front of which a marquess was bowing. She recognized him as the person who always appeared before Sefare. That meant that she would only have to wait a few minutes to find out whether the man she was searching for was present or not. She didn't have the chance to take a break though.

Footsteps approached her, and she looked in the direction of the sound, expecting to see Stella, but a couple was there instead.

Sophia and her husband were slowly walking towards her. The heavily pregnant woman had a worried expression on her face while the man was grimacing slightly, probably because he thought about his family's previous interactions with the concubine. Though Blanche had to admit that she didn't even remember anything about him except for his marriage with Sophia and his undying love for his wife. Had she ever fought with him? Possibly. But she couldn't imagine it since he seemed to be the soft type, who would only get involved if Sophia was threatened.

And the concubine had never had any problems with the gentle-natured Sophia. Unless they had had a dispute about Seraphina. In that case, Blanche might have been less friendly, but she didn't recall ever fighting with Sophia. In general, she hadn't had many conversations with the heroine's sister in the past despite actually being fond of her caring personality.

Normally, Blanche would be glad to talk to Sophia, however, right now she would rather be left alone. Still, she forced herself to smile when their gazes met.

The couple stepped forward a bit more before stopping. Sophia made a curtsy, and her husband imitated the greeting by bowing. Then Sophia spoke while patting her husband's hand. “Good evening, Lady Blanche. We don't mean to disturb you. I just thought... I don't want to offend you, but are you perhaps feeling unwell?”

Blanche inwardly sighed. It would have been a pleasant surprise if no one had noticed, though the concubine's poor acting skills hadn't made that possibility very likely from the beginning. Still, being caught after one glance was a bit embarrassing. “It's good to see you, Lord and Lady Ravillot. Is it that obvious that I'm not feeling my best?”

Sophia was silent for a moment and scanned the other woman's face. “Well, you seem a bit pale. Is there anything we can do for you?”

“No, thank you. Stella is already getting me water.” Just then, Blanche's eyes fell onto someone she was happy to see. “Ahh.”

As if she had waited for her cue, Stella came back and carefully handed the full glass to her mistress, who wanted to gulp down the liquid but realized that she should do this at a slower pace just in time.

The concubine had been struggling to not throw up minutes ago, so she shouldn't fill her stomach too fast. After remembering that, she didn't dare to take more than a sip of the liquid before facing the couple in front of her again. “I apologize for being disrespectful, but I had to drink something. I didn't mean to ignore you.”

Sophia gave her a warm smile and then shortly glanced over at her husband. “It's perfectly fine. I can only hope that this helps you feel a little better.”

Surprisingly, it did. At least Blanche imagined that her stomach had calmed down now and that her head finally stopped spinning. It might not have been because of the water but the time that had passed, but she didn't care as long as she wasn't feeling that miserable anymore. “Oh, it's nothing serious. I'll just sit down for a while, and then everything should be fine.”

“Hopefully. We...” Sophia paused for a couple of seconds to look at her husband before gazing back at the concubine. “No, I wanted to talk to you about the suggestion that I made at, well, after the tea party. But if you would rather do that at a different time when you have recovered fully, I would understand.”

In all honesty, Blanche was unsure what the other woman was referring to. They had chatted for quite a while and addressed multiple topics. A couple of them had been serious like the subject of having children, and she didn't know whether she was able to participate in such a conversation now. However, she didn't think about dismissing Sophia, who had shown her so much compassion, because of that. “No, it's alright. Though, I fear that I am not in a state in which I can voice very intelligent things.”

Surprise appeared on Sophia's features, and she shook her head. “Oh, it's nothing like that. I was talking about...” She paused again and stayed quiet for longer this time. She didn't seem to be comfortable stating her intention directly, which worried Blanche a bit. Was it something concerning?

If it was, the concubine definitely didn't need to hear it now. But she didn't say that out loud. “You are free to tell me what is on your mind, Lady Ravillot.” After another pause that made her fear that she had pressured the woman too much, she added another sentence in a low voice. “Only if you want to, of course.”

Sophia began fidgeting her hands and lowered her head for a moment. She glanced over her shoulder before seemingly having gained the courage to make eye contact again. “Well, the last time, we mentioned that..,we might have another conversation in the future so, uhm... I wanted to inquire whether you were, maybe, still willing to drink some tea with me at some point.”

The suggestion took Blanche off guard. She vaguely remembered saying that she would love to talk to Sophia again but hadn't actually expected the other woman to be serious about it. For a couple of seconds, she was speechless, and that had to have shown on her expression since the countess raised her hands in a manner that indicated that she intended to dismiss her words. The concubine quickly spoke up before Sophia could. “I would be delighted to meet you. I was just a bit surprised since your sister, I mean, Her Majesty and I aren't... Well.”

“Of course I know that. But that doesn't change the fact that I have my own opinion on people. So, you wouldn't mind it if I visited you? Naturally, I would write a letter first shortly before that so that I won't disturb you.”

In fact, Blanche didn't mind at all. She was happy to bring some variety to her everyday life. When she could bake, she wasn't bored, but it was still enjoyable to do something else for a change. Especially if she could talk to Sophia again.

That woman seemed to be a saint with her tender and caring personality as well as her ability to forgive every single mistake. Despite knowing about her sister's conflict with the concubine, Sophia had put in the effort to follow Blanche and consoled her, which definitely wasn't a reaction one could expect.

So, Blanche agreed wholeheartedly. “No, I wouldn't mind. I would be thrilled. There is not much for me to do in the palace, and-” She cut herself off when she realized that mentioning that Theo was busy and that she had a great amount of free time because of that probably wasn't a good idea. That would only be a reminder of the emperor's affair and wouldn't exactly serve to brighten Sophia's mood, even though she most likely wouldn't complain anyway. So, Blanche rephrased it. “I have no duties to fulfill, so I would be able to prepare everything as long as you announce your arrival earlier.”

Sophia beamed at that and folded her hands. “I will. I look forward to it.”

Her husband stopped her carefully by putting his hand on her shoulder. For the first time during the conversation, he spoke up, and his soft voice seemed pretty unfamiliar to Blanche, so he probably didn't talk much at all. “It's almost our turn to greet your sister.”

Sophia's eyes widened, and she whipped her head around to look at the platforms, where the last marquess and his family were about to hand over their presents. As the family of the most influential count, they would have to meet the royal couple now, and it would be better to move over there earlier to not let the rulers wait. Sophia faced the concubine again and made a small curtsy. “I apologize for the sudden departure, but we will have to leave now.”

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Blanche didn't have an issue with that. Due to her sickness, it would be better for her to be alone. “That's alright. It was a pleasure to talk to you. Have a nice evening.”

Sophia smiled at her one last time. “I share that sentiment. I hope that you will recover quickly. Goodbye.”

Her husband muttered a quiet “Goodbye” as well before he and his wife walked towards the thrones.

The concubine was almost relieved, but she didn't get a single second of rest since Stella immediately moved close to her and started whispering. “My Lady, there are two important things that I need to tell you. First of all, Sefare is here. He spoke with His and Her Majesty a few minutes ago. I will bring him the letter as soon as I can.”

That was good. If the marquess was present, Blanche wouldn't have to ponder over another way that didn't include sending a letter through an unreliable messenger to contact him. And she wouldn't have the time to reconsider her decision and risk being too cowardly in the last moment but rather finish this once and for all. But the concern that was written onto Stella's features, and the fact that there was a second part worried the concubine.

Blanche didn't trust her luck, so she asked quickly. “Thank the gods. What is the other thing?”

“Sir Maillont approached me to ask whether you were fine. Apparently, His Majesty saw you earlier as you were feeling unwell, and since he can't see you well from his position, he sent his personal knight to check on you. Sir Maillont would have insisted on talking to you in person if I hadn't kept on saying that you would have to greet His and Her Majesty in a few minutes anyway. I thought that this might have been better than allowing him to come here while you weren't expecting it.” Definitely.

When Blanche met the royal couple later, she would be prepared to hide her sickness as well as her unsatisfactory acting skills enabled her to. But if Owen had surprised her, she would have been unable to veil the slightest emotion from him. She was still sitting on a chair, which was unusual to do at a ball unless one was eating, so that might have been enough for him to tell that she was feeling under the weather. As soon as he suspected that, he would inform the emperor, and she certainly did not want that.

“Thank you. Theo would send me to my room instantly if he realized that I was sick. And in front of all the guests, I couldn't even argue with him. I can also imagine that he won't be too happy about that afterward and scold me for coming here.”

Stella crossed her arms at that. “As he should. I'm of the conviction that you should be resting in your room too. You are simply over-exhausting yourself with this, so I'm glad that we can leave in a couple of minutes.”

Blanche ignored that remark and focused on the thrones as well. She couldn't see much since she was sitting, and a few guests and decorations obstructed her view. But she was able to make out that the last marquess just finished his conversation with the empress. Once he was gone, only three or four other families remained before it was her turn. This would leave her with more than enough time to move over to the thrones, at least if she trusted her legs.

She would rather stand up earlier and walk slower instead of risking becoming nauseous again. Though her anxiety at the prospect of facing Seraphina while everyone was watching already served to make her stomach turn, she didn't have a choice.

Blanche reminded herself that she would be able to lie down in her bed in half an hour if nothing bad happened and forced herself to rise to her feet at a leisure pace. “I will slowly make my way toward them. It might be better to get over with it.”

Stella nodded at her. “I will be right behind you.”

Unfortunately, this didn't calm Blanche much. She inhaled and exhaled deeply a few times before starting to walk toward the platform with great care not to bump into anyone again, especially not Briana. She ignored the gazes that suddenly seemed to follow her now that she was moving and concentrated on taking one step after the other and searched for an empty spot, where she could wait for her turn. She didn't want to stand too close to the thrones to not seem impatient, nor too far away to not make the empress wait. Though she didn't have to worry about that at all since she had taken a while to walk here. When the concubine had walked through the whole room, the last viscount had just turned around to leave.

Even if Blanche had anticipated this moment for the whole evening, the air seemed to have thinned now that it was here.

That everybody was staring at her didn't make the situation better either. The guests probably thought that they would view a similar scene as the one from last year, where Blanche had provoked the empress in front of all the aristocrats of the capital. They definitely wouldn't see her mess up that badly, but she still hated the feeling of being watched and knowing that each of her mistakes would be noticed. She would have loved to stay away and simply stall for more time, however, letting the emperor and the empress wait would also be considered insolent.

Blanche took another deep breath and began moving forward. Many of the nobles made way for her, most likely to observe her better. She didn't care about that as long as they allowed her to pass by without any problems. It already took a lot of focus to not trip as she took her last steps toward her destination, and running into another person wouldn't simplify that, so she was happy to be given space.

As she walked by the table, she glanced at it to confirm one last thing. It was empty except for her box, which was logical since she was the last one to hand over her gifts. Good. It was calming that her gift hadn't somehow disappeared.

Preferable, Blanche would have just left it there for Seraphina, but she couldn't do that. Before presenting her choice, she had to interact with the royal couple. Only a few sentences were sufficient, however, she felt as if even that was impossible as she stopped in front of the thrones.

The thrones were already impressive enough with their golden surface that was adorned with countless gems, and since they stood on a platform, they were even higher so that she had to look up to see them. Naturally, the people sitting up there weren't any less intimidating. They both wore their huge crowns, which were decorated with the same materials as the thrones.

And while Theodore was smiling at his lover, Seraphina's expression seemed like it would be fitting at a battlefield.

Making eye contact with the empress had been an error. Seraphina already expected the other's arrival and probably prepared to deflect some insults and accept an offending present. Thus, the frosty disgust in her eyes was all too obvious. It was supposed to remind her nemesis that she was the powerful one and wouldn't hesitate to put down any attempts to challenge her for that power. Though she couldn't know that the concubine was too shaky to even come up with an appropriate greeting.

Blanche shrank in herself, and her mind was blank for a moment. Her mouth felt dry, and her face was burning up. What was she supposed to say again? Out of pure luck, she remembered the rules Leon had taught her. She didn't have to begin the conversation. Her head really didn't work right now, did it? She focused all of her energy on her trembling legs and tried to perform a somewhat elegant curtsy while her mind raced to lay out some polite words. She used that opportunity to tear her eyes away from Seraphina and stared onto the floor instead. However, not meeting the empress' hateful gaze didn't make the tension ebb away.

On the contrary, it was worse than before. The concubine could feel how the heroine's glare was burning into her, which caused her to tremble slightly before she managed to steady her muscles.

It felt like an eternity until Seraphina spoke up, which made it seem like the empress forced her to bow down longer on purpose. “I am pleased to welcome you to this wonderful event, Lady Blanche. Have you enjoyed the evening until now?” The heroine was unusually polite even for her standards. It also seemed strange for her to give the concubine a chance to make fun of her party by questioning her. Maybe she took into account that Blanche would trouble her anyway and that she could at least keep face as long as everybody saw that she had followed the protocol. In either way, she proved that she wasn't to blame for any conflict that might arise.

Blanche slowly lifted her head to meet Seraphina's gaze again. Like this, she wouldn't over-exhaust her already strained sense of balance but also stall time to think. Now her moment to greet the royal couple had come, and while no one expected her to pay attention to the rules, she had been pondering about them for hours. She couldn't make any mistakes, so she confirmed it twice more to be sure. Normally, the emperor would speak first, however, on the empress' birthday, Seraphina would be the person to start any conversations and thus had to be acknowledged first too.

So, Blanche did just that. “Greetings to Her Majesty, the empress of Artias. As any other event in the royal palace, this party has been a very joyous occasion. How could Your Majesty's birthday not be? I am honored to have been invited.” Blanche was surprised with herself for not tripping over her own tongue. She had been overly formal, so it should have been fine.

Theodore would have to address her now, and he didn't let her wait long. “It is delightful to hear that, Lady Blanche. May the rest of the evening be as wonderful as the first half.” Hopefully not. Until now, the ball had been a disaster because of Luciano, who seemed to take pleasure in forcing the concubine into uncomfortable situations.

But naturally, Blanche didn't say that. Instead, she had to voice one more uncomfortable thing. “Greetings to His Majesty, the emperor of Artias. Thank you for your consideration. I do not doubt that the ball will continue to be as magnificent as it has been previously.” She did her best to ignore the slight grimace that showed on Theodore's face for less than a second as she called him by his full title. She had to remind herself that she had no choice in that matter. She couldn't simply not acknowledge his rank and use his first name and thus destroy the otherwise perfect introduction.

The only part that was missing now was Blanche straightening her posture again.

Unfortunately, she wasn't sure whether she would be able to do that as her legs were already threatening to give in under her weight. She would have to raise from the curtsy soon, or she might collapse in the process, but that she couldn't do that yet.

Traditionally, the emperor and the empress had to allow the visitors to rise before they could do so. Neither Theodore nor Seraphina had ever demanded that of their subjects, however, in Blanche's situation, she to make sure that no one could accuse her of disrespecting anyone. So, she overdid it with her politeness. The concubine remained in her position with slightly bent legs and didn't even dare to lower the hem of her dress again. She stared into the empress' eyes and could see the growing irritation that was veiled by the other's usual stoic expression.

For a moment, all three of them were quiet, and it seemed as if the whole ballroom had fallen silent as well. It was unclear whether the heroine was purposefully not giving the concubine permission to stand up straight or whether she truly didn't think about having to do that. After all, the royal couple hadn't insisted on the convention for the whole time of their reign.

Most likely, only a few seconds passed, but to Blanche, it felt like an eternity until the liberating words followed

“You may rise.”

The concubine would have loved to simply jump up to relieve her muscles, which were already starting to ache. But she was aware that the rest of her body wouldn't allow her to do so. Even while she raised her torso slowly, her legs began shaking, and she could barely stand up straight without using her arms to help her balance herself as a new wave of nausea hit her. It seemed like her sickness might have been a little worse than she had anticipated. Either that, or spinning around for half an hour during a waltz was enough to confine her to a bed.

Despite her efforts, Blanche had to do a sidestep to keep herself upright. That naturally wouldn't go unnoticed by any spectator, but she hoped that the royal couple wouldn't take note of that. She attempted to keep her expression neutral, though she doubted that would change anything about her face, which was like an open book to anyone glancing at it. But maybe the rulers would be generous enough to ignore it for the sake of not calling her out in front of all the guests.

Her unrealistic expectation was immediately crushed when she looked up at Theodore, who was frowning at her. It was strangely hard for Blanche to focus on reading his expression when the world seemed to spin around her. Wasn't her sight a little blurry too? Still, she could make out that he opened his mouth, only to be cut off since Seraphina had spoken up first.

“Lady Blanche, it seems to me that you do not feel too well. If you convey your discomfort to a servant, they will take care of you.” Why did the empress sound so cold suddenly?

The concubine hadn't done anything wrong. She hadn't said or moved much, so making an error had been almost impossible. The only time she had messed up had been while rising from her curtsy, and this hadn't offended the empress in any way. Did Seraphina think that Blanche was doing this to attract attention? Maybe. The concubine's previous self might have attempted something like this.

Proving that this wasn't the case was impossible, and frankly, Blanche didn't care for that either. She just wanted to hand over her gift and leave as soon as possible, so she tried to speed this up. “It is true that I am a little unsteady on my feet right now, however, it is nothing concerning. Though I will remember to approach a servant if it should become worse, which I doubt.”

A glimpse of irritation flashed in the empress' eyes, but luckily, she wasn't keen on continuing the conversation either. She nodded and gestured towards the table. One of the servants picked up the last remaining box and brought it over to Seraphina, who received the gift without any further words.

Blanche remembered that she should say something before the empress opened the box just in time and quickly pressed out the simplest phrase. “From the bottom of my heart, I hope that Your Majesty will take a liking to this humble present.”

“Thank you very much. I'm certain that it will be wonderful.” The empress gave a quick response before pausing for a moment, most likely to brace herself for the mocking item that she was sure she would find upon looking inside the box. Then she opened it.