“I sincerely thank you for saving my life, allowing me to live with you and teaching me some basic knowledge. But from this point onward, I do not wish to have any contact with you, the Vasquez family or any of your allies.”
Blanche expected Sefare to react with one of two emotions. Either he would be shocked and struggle to believe that the meek and indecisive woman suddenly developed her own will. Or he could snap and yell at her with fury for threatening to ruin his plans.
Thus, she was startled when he began laughing. He didn't even stop after a second but continued until held his stomach.
Blanche watched him with a frown and kept herself from letting the frustration that was bubbling inside her out. Admittedly, she was still a bit hurt at not being taken seriously, but her anger outweighed that. “What's so funny about this?”
That finally made Sefare calm down. He chuckled a few more times and wiped tears out of his eyes. “I apologize. You see, you almost tricked me. You have become quite the good actress, so you really confused me for a second. I have to say that this is a very amusing joke. Though it's still a bit mean. We didn't meet each other for a quarter year, and then you claim that you don't want me in your life anymore. If I had believed you, I would be extremely hurt now.”
Blanche balled her hands into fists. Back then, she might not have realized it, but Sefare had always treated her like a child, as if she was intellectually below his level. That he did this again didn't increase her desire to help in any way. Instead, she actually looked forward to seeing his arrogance break into a thousand little shards when he noticed that she was serious about refusing to work with him. “I agree that it would be a cruel joke. But since it's not a joke, I don't care much about that.”
Sefare's smile faded slightly at that, and he lifted the corners of his lips to hide it. “Blanche, it was comical the first time. However, you need to learn that you have to end a joke when someone found you out.”
She had to keep herself from faking a grin just to spite him and maintained her expression of annoyance instead. “No. You need to learn to listen to other people. I just said that it was not a joke. I'm cutting off all contact with you. I won't write you letters. I won't tell you anything about my life. I won't even talk to you except for the minimum that is required at social events. And most importantly, I won't listen to your demands anymore.” She could pinpoint the exact moment that he scanned her face and realized that his tool wasn't trying to entertain him.
Sefare's smile vanished as he gave up his acting and left behind an expression of disbelief. “What are you talking about? Why would you-” He interrupted himself and closed his eyes for a while. When he opened them again, the aura around him had changed. His features revealed that he was beyond furious. “Are you aware of how much I invested just to get you into the position in which you are now? Do you think I will just allow you to throw all of that away because you decided that you aren't in the mood anymore? Don't act like a little brat! I saved your life. You should be thankful and try to pay me back. Instead of that, you do the opposite and attempt to intervene in things that you don't even understand.”
He was almost yelling but not loud enough to alert anyone outside the labyrinth, and he didn't have to. He wasn't nearly as intimidating as Theodore, however, when he jumped up and towered above Blanche, that thought didn't calm her. It was hard to believe that a mere lackey that the Vasquez family used was this menacing. Sefare might have seemed like an average actor before, but he didn't have to be any better when his anger could easily get most people to subdue.
Blanche would favor stepping away from him, but as soon as he saw how much he scared her, he would attempt to use this to his advantage. So, she focused on keeping her feet at the same spot and lifting her chin to appear at least a little confident. “I'm thankful. I know that you saved my life, and as I previously said, I will never forget that. However, that still doesn't mean that I will allow you to hurt Theodore out of gratitude. I won't take part in anything that jeopardizes his health or his power no matter who asked me to help.”
To her surprise, Sefare's fury seemed to ebb away after he listened to her. “Oh, I see. This was a misunderstanding.” His expression neutralized, and he gave her another half-fake smile as he stepped back to give her some space. “It's touching to hear how much you care for His Majesty, and I appreciate your loyalty to him. But you defending him isn't necessary at all. Neither I nor Duke Vasquez wish to harm him or cause any problems for him.” That he mentioned Claude now already said everything about who was connected to this plot, but Sefare even continued his lies. “His Majesty is a very competent emperor and only has the best intentions for our country. Every noble in the capital is supporting him fully, so you do not need to fear that anyone would try to harm him. What would we gain from getting rid of the person that allows Artias to flourish? Both his deceased father and His Majesty have our unlimited respect for their accomplishments and abilities as exceptional rulers.”
Blanche only glared at him in response. It infuriated her that this man, who had had the nerves to act like he cared about her in order to use her, acted like she was dumb. She knew she was in the right, so she didn't even have to think about how to react to this farce.
Sefare held his hand to his chest and pretended to be sad about Blanche's righteous mistrust. “Even considering the possibility that we would think about troubling His Majesty is ridiculous. I'm a bit hurt that you believe me to be such a bad person. After all, he is the esteemed emperor, the successor of the bloodline of the Estien household that has cared for our nation for centuries. Our goal is not to hurt him but to allow you to stand by his side as the empress. You remember that, right? We're doing everything in our power to let you marry the man you love and take your rightful place as his wife.”
Every of Sefare's excuses made Blanche's fear decrease and her frustration rise. She had pointed out the truth, and he knew that she was right. Despite this, he insisted on keeping his facade upright. At first, she hadn't wished to upset him any more, but now she didn't care about that. Did he truly think that he could manipulate her by promising her power? How had the original Blanche not realized that Sefare offered her things that he had no control over? Because of that, she was angry at herself and at the marquess. Even to this day, Sefare seemed to believe that she would trust his lies. He was convinced that she was still an uninformed little girl that would follow all of his orders, and she just wanted to make him understand that that wasn't the case.
“Lord Sefare, how old am I?”
He blinked at her in confusion a few times before realizing that she actually waited for a response. “If I'm not mistaken, you should be twenty-two now.”
“Exactly.” Blanche allowed her anger to show on her expression so that she glared up at him. “The coming of age for aristocrats is at the age of sixteen, and they are considered a legal adult at the age of twenty. Do you know what that means? I'm not a child anymore by any of the laws in Artias. Still, it seems like you expect me to be as naive as one. I'm not the most intelligent person in this country, but I'm not stupid either. Stop wasting my time by lying, and at least be honest in this matter.”
Sefare furrowed his brows slightly, and she could see how his wrath began to grow again. Right now, he was still calm, but it seemed like he would lose his composure soon. “I do not know what you are talking about, Blanche. Did you hit your head when you collapsed at the ball? What would I be lying about?”
She snorted at his pitiful refusal to let go of his pretense and put her free hand onto her hips. Right now, her annoyance at him treating her like a brainless pawn was bigger than her uncertainty, so she had to use it before she would become too scared to speak her mind again. “Making me the empress can't be your goal. Why would that be it? You keep repeating that you admire what Theo has done for our country, but you don't care about the nation's well-being at all. We have a very competent empress, who gives her best to protect the citizens and improve their lives. Getting rid of her just to give her position to me would be reckless. I wasn't educated in manners, politics or economic topics, so I wouldn't be able to represent Artias or introduce new laws. That would make me completely useless and increase the burdens that Theodore has to shoulder.”
Blanche paused for a split second to give Sefare time to understand before continuing. “In addition, I am a commoner. Have you ever heard about the emperor marrying a person with no aristocratic background? That wouldn't be possible because all the noble households would protest against that decision and thus ruin Theo's reputation. If you cared about the future of our country, you wouldn't think about dethroning the current empress at all. Besides, me grasping more power also wouldn't help you, and I can't imagine you doing anything for the sake of others. What would you gain if I had a crown on my head?”
Sefare stayed quiet after her speech, and for a moment, she believed that he would drop the facade. In fact, he stopped faking a smile, and his anger began oozing out, but he still didn't give up. “Are you even listening to yourself? I took you in and treated you like my own daughter. Do you truly believe that I did that because I had some goal in mind? No, I protected you because I care for you and want you to live the best life imaginable. Naturally, being the most influential woman in the country and being loved by the most powerful man in Artias will allow you to have a wonderful life in the midst of luxury. So, I tried to grant you that. I'm not doing this because I want something in return from you but because I wish to give you a chance to become truly happy. Haven't I always supported you and helped-”
When he began to rant again, Blanche cut him off. “I do believe that you won't do anything without being sure that you will gain a greater benefit in return later. We lived together for two years, so I had enough time to see your true personality.”
Sefare was finally quiet after that. It wasn't for more than a minute, but it satisfied Blanche to know that she had made him speechless. Though his reaction quickly made her cautious again. He was furious, that was pretty obvious. Judging by the way that his balled fists whitened and how his body trembled, it seemed like he was still trying to hold back. But she didn't trust that he wouldn't lash out at her soon, so she took a small step backward.
Then Sefare spoke up. “Alright. We can talk like adults now. Even if I was trying to gain something in return, how is that bad for you? You'll still become the empress, the woman that everyone looks up to, and the wife of the man that you are so devoted to. After your coronation, I only want you to remember me as the person that saved your life and took you in when no one else would. The person that brought you into the palace in the first place so that you could meet your dearest lover. It wouldn't hurt you to make a few decisions that would benefit me, right? A trade there, a law here. Of course, none of my demands would harm the nation or be especially grand. So, I'm unsure why you are bothered by that.”
“Because you are still lying.” Blanche tightened her grip around the lantern's handle and clenched the other fist while ignored the way that her fingernails dug into her palm. At this point, she was glad to have the novel's memories. Otherwise, she would have allowed Sefare to lull her in or raise doubts regarding her decision in her minutes ago. Luckily, she was determined now. “This plan isn't only your own. Surely, you came up with it, but the one benefiting the most from it is Duke Vasquez. I know about your connection, and you kept mentioning him in the past too, so you don't have to lie again. I met him and his son often enough to be sure that they are hostile towards Theodore and not very pleasant people in general. And if it doesn't convince you that I know more about this situation than you think, I can also add something else. This plot is supposed to get the emperor and the empress divorced. Then you intended to use me to kill Theodore, which would leave the second prince as the only successor to the throne. Naturally, the Vasquez would back him because-”
She interrupted herself as she saw how Sefare's eyes widened at that. This had been a mistake. She had already revealed that she knew too much, which would make her even more of a target. After all, letting her go wouldn't only be a risk for the marquess, but also the Vasquez family and the dowager empress. Silently, she cursed herself for being so careless and pressed her lips together tightly.
This story originates from Royal Road. Ensure the author gets the support they deserve by reading it there.
Still, the damage had already been done.
Sefare was glaring at her, and slowly, all of his shock disappeared to leave behind murderous intention. “Since when have you researched something about us? Politics never interested you. Why did you go out of your way to suddenly investigate and ruin everything I worked for in the last years?”
Blanche opened her mouth, but she didn't get a chance to speak.
Sefare forced himself to be a bit quieter, but this didn't make him seem any less furious. “It doesn't really matter though. It's a fact that we have a problem here that will make both of our lives significantly harder. After all, you can't just walk away. Did you truly believe that I would simply let you leave after the years I sacrificed to break you out of prison, raise you in my home and smuggle you into the palace? You can't even imagine how much time and money I lost because of that. And now you know too much. If that confidential piece of information was revealed to the wrong people, I would be in big trouble, you know? So, if you decide to go through with this, which I wouldn't recommend, I would have no choice but to make sure that you won't spill the truth to anyone else.” He stepped closer to her, and she fought against the urge to back away.
Blanche couldn't be submissive now, or Sefare would think that he was able to control her with fear. Instead of looking away, she straightened her posture and tightened her hold on the lantern. In the worst case, she could use it to hit him and stall enough time to run out of the labyrinth and alert the guards. She tilted her head backward to meet his gaze. “Are you threatening me?”
A small grin appeared on Sefare's lips, but his anger hadn't vanished either. “Oh, no. I'm not reckless enough to dare to harm the emperor's beloved. Though it's questionable whether he would still call you that after he found out about your origins. You came into the palace with the sole purpose of gaining his favor and lied to him about having amnesia to be pitied. If that wasn't enough, you are a convict that fled from prison. And your family was executed for treason, weren't they? Along with the fact that a marquess that is friends with the emperor's enemies smuggled you inside the royal estate to gain more power for himself, this will also strike him odd. He would definitely lose all of his trust in you and think that you are going to betray him. From what I heard, His Majesty doesn't like traitors much, does he? So, I would be careful with the way that you talk to me. Just like you are ruining my plans with your disobedience, I can ruin your life with a few words. By now, you should have learned to not antagonize those with more power than you.”
Every one of his arguments pierced Blanche's heart like an arrow. If even a few of those things got revealed, Theodore would have more than enough reasons to abandon her, and she couldn't blame him for that. The facts truly made it seem like she had never loved him and only intended to betray him. She had known that from the start, but being reminded of this grim possibility still hurt.
A shiver ran down her spine, and Blanche tried her best to hide that from Sefare. Though her trembling voice probably revealed her fear anyway. “Well, if that piece of information was spread, it would also harm you. Theodore would definitely hear me out, but your involvement in the intrigue would be obvious as well, and he surely won't give you a second chance.” She wasn't sure of that at all, so she didn't even know why she brought it up.
Sefare's response crushed her further. “I haven't done anything illegal. I wasn't the one to try to manipulate the emperor. Naturally, I would lose my chance to have the empress' support on my side and wouldn't get the wasted money back, but I wouldn't be put on trial. My position wouldn't be endangered by that either. So, you see, you are the one that would have problems because of your past, not me. For that reason, I have a proposal.”
He paused shortly to confirm whether she was listening and moved on when she remained quiet. “As you previously said, you aren't stupid. So, we'll do the only intelligent situation in this dilemma. We will choose the option that is better for both of us. We'll forget about this conversation completely and pretend that it never happened. I will give you some time, maybe a month, to calm down. After that, you will act normal again, and we'll continue with the plan as it had been intended. You spend time with the emperor and upset the empress until they divorce. Then you take her crown and help me with a few small things. That's all. This won't have any disadvantages for either of us or His Majesty. So, unless you want to lose everything that you hold dear, you will listen to me. Understood?”
It wasn't that simple. Sefare wanted to kill the emperor, even if he kept denying that this was his intention. No matter how terrible the prospect of him revealing her secret to Theodore was, the concubine wouldn't continue to betray her lover and risk him getting harmed.
“I can't-” Blanche was interrupted before she had even finished the first sentence.
“You can and you will. For now, you might still be too confused. That is why I proposed to give you a break. In a couple of weeks, you will be able to think clearly and comprehend that my plan is the best solution for all of us. Originally, I wanted to talk about the important person that wants to meet you as soon as possible today. Luciano told me that he mentioned them already, so you should be aware of that. Unfortunately, it seems like you aren't able to behave yourself at this point, which means that we will have to postpone that meeting for a while. We'll come back to that later. Admittedly, I don't have the patience to deal with your childish antics, so I will take my leave now. Send me a letter through the usual tree when your tantrum is over. Until then.”
Before Blanche could say anything else, Sefare turned around and rushed out through the rose arch. He disappeared in the labyrinth and left her alone with the rising uncertainty in her stomach.
Sefare had completely ignored her attempt to cut off her contact with him. He had dismissed her complaints by acting as if she was a child that just didn't cooperate with her parents. That was the one response that she hadn't expected. Though she didn't know whether to be happy about that or whether she should be resentful. Of course, it was unpleasant to be treated like a brat, and she couldn't be sure that he had understood her true intentions and would take them seriously.
But on the other hand, Sefare had held back his anger because of that, which allowed Blanche to get away without being hurt. It wouldn't have been clever of him to attack her within the place, but the glint of fury in his eyes had made her question whether he would even remember that in his aggravation. Blanche was a bit ashamed to admit that his wrath might have caused her to be quieter, so she was glad that him thinking that she was joking had allowed her to voice most of her thoughts.
Though in the end, it didn't really matter how Blanche felt. She would have to face Sefare soon again and prove that she wouldn't change her mind. Doing that at an event might be the best choice since they would be surrounded by nobles, which wouldn't give him an opportunity to harm her physically either. Still, the danger of him revealing information about her past remained.
But for some reason, Blanche didn't believe that he would actually do it.
Sefare was right about the fact that her secrets alone wouldn't be enough of a reason for him to be executed or receive any punishments on a similar harsh level. However, he had still broken the law by getting Blanche out of prison when she had originally been sentenced to death and by bringing her into the royal estate. In addition, depending on how the judges were interpreting his role in bringing the concubine to the palace, they might call him out for treason since he wanted to intervene in the royal couple's marriage.
If he was put on trial for either one of those, Blanche would have to give her testimony as a witness. Due to her knowledge about Sefare wishing for the emperor's assassination, he wouldn't get out of the court without a penalty. Even if he wasn't convicted, his reputation would be ruined, which would almost eliminate his chances to trade with most merchants or to build a relationship with other noble families. If he was convicted, which was to be expected due to Theodore's caution regarding enemies, he would be arrested or executed for posing a danger to the royal couple. It was unlikely that Sefare would take either one of these risks.
So, Sefare's only chance of silencing Blanche after he found out that she was his opponent now was to get someone to kill her. But would he actually be willing to do that after he had lived with her for two years while she had seen him as some sort of mentor? She wasn't sure, but she had to be. Rather than thinking about the problems her past could cause, the concubine had to focus on that.
Blanche was lost in thoughts as she began to walk toward the exit of the labyrinth. She imitated the heroine's way of leaving the maze and put her right hand against the hedges as she followed the maze's course.
Since Sefare would soon see her as an enemy and a danger to his plan, she had to worry about him sending someone to attack her. Originally, she had believed that the royal estate was completely safe, but his appearance inside had proved that it wasn't. Could he perhaps know about the secret passageway in the wall? That would explain how he had entered. If that was the case, Blanche should tell Theodore about the hole so that it could be closed. While that would take away her emergency escape route, it would also eliminate a possible entryway for people that planned to hurt the inhabitants of the palace.
Aside from that, Blanche had to come up with other ways of protecting herself too. She couldn't fight, so she would have to get others to protect her. If she always made sure that a knight was in close proximity, she should be fine, right?
And wouldn't it be even better to avoid being threatened at all? Maybe she could convince Sefare that she wouldn't reveal his secrets, even though she doubted that he would trust her. Or she had to get rid of him first. Blanche dismissed that thought as soon as it had appeared in her mind. How was she supposed to do something about that? Before considering whether she should get a marquess on trial, she had to have concrete evidence against him, and her memories of the novel surely wouldn't count. She also wouldn't begin to falsify evidence since she neither had the skill to do that, in contrast to some other people, nor the desire to be caught and portrayed as the villainess.
In the novel, Sefare had been accused of treason after Blanche had been executed, which would be in over nine months. She couldn't simply wait until then and wasn't even sure whether he would be put on trial at all as long as her evil deeds, which would hopefully be nonexistent now, weren't discovered. So, she could kiss the thought of letting Sefare be arrested goodbye.
Her only option was protecting herself from his lackeys. Since she had warned Theodore about Sefare in the past, she could possibly trust in his overprotectiveness and the palace guards to keep her safe. At least she hoped that she could.
Blanche was surprised that she wasn't crying despite her decreasing confidence, which became smaller with every step as she came out of the maze. It had gotten way darker in the past few minutes so that she could only see because of her lantern and had to squint her eyes to recognize the figure in front of her.
Stella had waited in the darkness by the entrance and immediately approached her mistress when she saw her. “My Lady, how was it? He didn't hurt you, right?”
The concubine nodded at her with a smile to calm her down. “I'm fine. He believes that I'm just joking. And he informed me that he would tell Theodore about my past if I didn't calm down from my tantrum soon or get rid of me because I know too much. Theo will hate me if he finds out, and maybe my life is in danger now. But otherwise, I'm perfectly fine.” Those words, spoken in her shaking voice, were necessary to make her fully grasp the situation she was in.
She didn't want to die. Not at her lover's hands nor at Sefare's. Why did this terrible world have to leave her in such an inescapable dilemma? Of course, she wouldn't help the marquess' intrigues anymore, but now she would have to be scared for her life. She didn't even know whether Sefare was honestly this heartless or just wanted to make her obedient through her fear.
Blanche's hands began trembling, so she moved the lantern over to Stella. “Take it quickly, please. Before it falls.” She spoke quieter than she had intended to, and her voice had cracked, but her maid had understood.
Stella immediately extended her arm to grab the handle, and Blanche hurried to hand it over. But the concubine hadn't expected her muscles to be this weak and shaky. The lantern slipped out of her hand before the other woman could even touch it. The lantern fell to the ground, where it landed on the tiled stone. The metal parts had surely remained undamaged, but now that the candle wasn't burning anymore, Blanche couldn't see anything in the darkness.
Only the sound of shattering glass that tore through the silence proved that the lantern was broken.
Blanche let out a noise that was a mix out of a laugh and a sob. “Great. Now I am destroying your possessions too. This evening is just great. I'm sorry.”
Stella's hand brushed over her arm and slowly wandered down to her hand. The maid squeezed her once before speaking in a soft voice. “This isn't my lantern at all, and even if it was, I wouldn't be angry. This belongs to the palace and thus His Majesty. He won't be upset if one of his hundreds of lanterns gets damaged. We servants break things constantly, and they always get replaced without anyone complaining. We'll tell someone to clean this up and then return to our room. Then we can either talk about this, play a few games or go to bed. Are you alright with that?”
Blanche sniffled a bit and nodded before realizing that her maid could barely see her. So, she repeated a small “Yes” and squeezed the other woman's hand.
They slowly moved forward while trying to avoid stepping onto the glass shards or tripping over any uneven cobblestones. At first, it seemed like they would reach the part of the terrace that was illuminated with the faint light from the palace windows without problems. But of course, the concubine wasn't lucky enough for that.
Just as Blanche took another step forward, she collided with something. Since she had been slow, the impact shouldn't have been strong, but it pushed all air out of her lungs, and she let out a yelp. The worse part was that it had also pushed her off her feet so that she let go of Stella in an attempt to regain her balance. That didn't help her at all. She was already falling to the ground.
All of that couldn't have taken more than a second. But it felt as if the time was slowing down when a pair of arms was wrapped around her back and pulled her up against another person's body.
Her first instinct was to cling to this person to keep her head from splitting open on the cobblestones, and she wasn't in any state to think about whether that was a good idea. So, she put her arms around their body, and surprisingly, this was enough to allow her to stand upright again.
The only problem was that Blanche was now pressed against the unknown man's chest. Her face was directly in front of his, and still, she could only roughly make out his features. But she was glad about that since that meant that he couldn't see her either. She already felt the blood rushing to her head, so she could imagine how red her cheeks had to be.
Who was running around here in the middle of the night? She could only come up with one person that would visit the labyrinth at this time, and she wasn't happy about that man's presence at all.