In every minute that her lover wasn't with her, Blanche focused on sewing to make the handkerchief as wonderful as she could with her little experience and unsteady hands. The closer the date of the hunt came, the more worried she got about offering it to him at all, no matter how often Stella insisted that it actually looked very good. Blanche felt like every little mistake became more obvious the longer she looked at her work and hid it in the depths of her desk to make sure that Theodore wouldn't accidentally find it. Still, she tensed whenever he got too close to that piece of furniture, which he seemed to have noticed quite early. After all, he always went there in the few moments that they were in her room and joked about opening the drawers, which she had forbidden him from doing.
Slowly but surely, the preparations for the hunting festival became hectic. Whenever Blanche walked through the corridors on the first floor, she saw servants carrying decorations out of the storage area. Often, small carts or carriages stopped in front of the entrance so that the required items could be brought to the forest behind the royal estate, where the first tents should already have been built.
Other than that, the days passed without any special occurrences until there were only three days until the event left. Theodore had warned his lover that he would have to leave earlier to attend a meeting with the ministers, in which he wished to discuss the assassination attempt as well as a few of the urgent decisions that had to be made.
So, Blanche had known that he wouldn't be there when she would eat breakfast. However, she hadn't expected him to disappear without waking her. He had to have been completely silent, which was rather strange since he had never succeeded to do that once during the past nineteen months.
Apparently, he was lucky today, which was great since he would need all the help he could get while arguing with the ministers. It was hard to believe that these old men would be swayed by Seraphina's heartfelt speech later and stop insisting on doing the best for themselves only. For now, they would certainly remain unreasonable and cause Theodore problems.
For that reason, Blanche decided to visit him after breakfast. Just when she rounded the corner to the hallway, she saw how the ministers left. It seemed like she had chosen the perfect moment to check on her lover. She waited until the men went down the staircase to avoid any unpleasant meeting with Duke Vasquez or Duke Duremont before approaching the office. Like last time, the guards didn't announce her presence, so she knocked herself.
The reply came immediately. “Come in.”
She pushed open the door and stepped inside without looking first, which she regretted this time. “Theo, you disappeared before I could-” She froze as she noticed Henry, who was still sitting at the table with Theodore.
Apparently, entering a room was enough to make Duke Duremont glare at her, which was a stark contrast to the radiant smile her lover gave her.
Blanche certainly wouldn't rely on Theodore's good mood here and would rather avoid the conflict. So, she quickly prepared to withdraw. “Uhm, I can come back later if I'm interrupting you. I apologize. I did not know that you were still here, Your Grace.”
Henry's cold stare pierced through her despite her attempt to be polite. “That would be kind of you, Lady Blanche.” His icy tone rivaled his expression in a way that it would make others back off.
But before the concubine could even consider listening, Theodore spoke up. “Your Grace. I fear that this is my office, so you hold no authority over who enters and leaves. I am aware that you meant no harm, but I still have to insist on that level of formality.” Theodore was grinning, and his voice seemed upbeat, but in reality, there was a warning undertone. He was reminding Duke Duremont to not overstep his boundaries while sounding more polite than he actually felt like being.
It was obvious that Henry noticed this, but how could he refuse when the emperor was right? Even from afar, one could see that he clenched his jaw and held back from voicing his true opinion. “I apologize, Your Majesty. It wasn't my intention to seem insolent. I merely wished to ensure that our conversation could continue without interruptions. We are discussing matters of utmost importance and confidentiality after all. Surely, Lady Blanche would not be interested in topics like this.” His resentment for the visitor was oozing out, and it remained questionable whether he was even trying to hide that. Considering that he was similar to his daughter but valued his pride more than any rules or conventions, he probably didn't care whether the emperor noticed that he disliked the concubine.
With every passing second, Blanche felt more unwell by the door and thought about offering to go back on her own, but her lover had a different idea.
Theodore's voice was dripping with sarcasm as he began. “Oh, I know that your intentions are only to do the best for the country.” He quickly changed his tone to sound more polite again, but he still didn't say very logical things. “However, this conversation won't go on for too long. She won't mind sitting with us for a few minutes and certainly doesn't have the desire to interrupt you, Your Grace. And she wouldn't reveal any confidential information to anyone either. So, it will be fine if she stays here. Right, Blanche?” Seemingly, he had misspoken but didn't feel the need to correct himself and just smiled at his lover.
Henry didn't say anything about the missing title but only clenched his fists and glared at the grinning emperor. “If you insist, Your Majesty.” Then he turned to show the concubine the cold anger in his eyes. “Good day, Lady Blanche.”
Blanche didn't even want to reply, but she had to. “Good day, Your Grace. I hope that you have been well.” Only pressing out these words was hard enough when she was almost nervous enough to throw up. Maybe leaving would be the better option, but now that Theodore had already angered Duke Duremont, that would be useless too. Blanche gave her best not to make a sound as she moved over to the table.
Before she could think about where to sit, her lover pulled back the chair next to him, which made her shrink in herself. Henry wouldn't be pleased by that. One glance at the duke proved that to be true, but the emperor didn't seem to mind.
Theodore just waited until his lover had sat down before continuing. “So, Your Grace. You wished to ask why I suddenly brought forward these new ideas.”
Henry didn't veil his annoyance but moved on with the conversation as well. “Yes. I support most of Your Majesty's decisions, but some of them are rather controversial. I might agree and be able to convince two or three of the other ministers, however, we all know what happens when Duke Vasquez opens his mouth. Within a few sentences, he is able to convince the majority of his opinion. I doubt that he will agree, so Your Majesty is quite confident to try such a venture with unclear chances of success. I would like to understand what caused you to be this trusting.”
Theodore's smile turned into a more honest one at that. “If those decisions seem controversial to you, Your Grace, you won't like my future plans.”
Henry indeed didn't like that. He seemed even more careful now. “Would you care to elaborate on that, Your Majesty?”
While the men spoke, Blanche attempted to be as silent as possible to not draw any intention to herself, but she couldn't deny that she was curious too. She turned her head to watch her lover while he began to speak.
As always, the emperor easily began a speech without even a second of hesitation. “During the last months, many issues appeared. The conflict with Northern Ocrea, the threatening war between Travuan and Clatos in the country of our ally and the drought that we need to expect in the south due to the lacking rain. These are only a few of the problems on a seemingly never-ending list. Thus, I was working the whole time and could barely focus on other important topics like our economy and new trading routes within Artias and between us and other nations. I will attempt to make up for that now by not simply maintaining but immediately improving our current situation. However, to do so, I need more time.”
Theodore paused to drink something from his cup before very setting it down very slowly. He was quiet for a few more seconds before resuming. “Since that would be impossible with my previous schedule, I looked over the documents I signed last year again. A little overview was enough to show me that I took care of work that the merchant guilds would normally have to deal with themselves. I'm not willing to continue doing this since I won't sacrifice my valuable time instead of using that on more urgent issues. The rest of my ideas is connected to similar problems, and a few other laws have to be implemented so that I can make changes to the tax system faster. After all, I still plan on introducing the luxury tax by the end of the year.”
Henry appeared to be taken aback by that. He was quiet for a short moment before responding. “I comprehend how that would help our nation and that it would not cause any significant issues that outweigh the advantages. However, the last time that Your Majesty brought up that system, most of the ministers refused. Especially Claude Vasquez made it very clear that he would never agree, and he persuaded the others to refuse as well. I'm quite certain that four of us will reject your proposal, and thus, the law can't be implemented. Even if your plans would be the best alternative for Artias, you cannot simply ignore the ministers ”
Theodore put on a mischievous smile before lifting his cup to sip on his tea. When he replied, his voice was full of certainty. “Frankly speaking, I can if the worst-case scenario arises. How long has it been since you read the constitution in its entirety, Your Grace? Or at least the part about the relationship between ministers and the emperor?”
Both Blanche and Henry froze at that. There was no way that this was true, right? If the emperor could actually decide on his own, it would solve many of Theodore's problems, and he could stop discussing every single matter with the group. But then again, this was unlikely. Blanche knew little about politics, but she certainly would have known about such a law if it had ever been mentioned before.
Duke Duremont leaned forward at that and pressed his hands onto the table. “Your Majesty, you must be joking. If you could ignore Duke Vasquez's constant meddling, you would have done so a long time ago. The ministers' role is to make sure that the ruler of Artias does not abuse his power to harm the citizens of our country. The emperor being able to dismiss their opinion would oppose the reason that this position has been implemented.”
Theodore seemed to enjoy this a little too much. He leaned against the backrest of his chair as he gave Henry a knowing smile. “Their opinion isn't the only thing I can dismiss, actually. Your Grace, I have to admit that I was not fully aware of every single line describing the minister's tasks. I regret not taking my time to read about it earlier since that would have spared us a lot of trouble, but it's relieving that I found out now. You see, the emperor that was pushed to implement the law regarding the post of a minister by the aristocrats wasn't very pleased by the thought of giving up some of his power. So, he added a little paragraph that would allow him to get rid of anyone who bothered him too much. What is the duty of a minister, Your Grace?”
Stolen content alert: this content belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences.
Duke Duremont was irritated at that question but still played along. “Naturally, it is to support the emperor in his efforts to do what's best for our nation. During our appointment as ministers, we have sworn to put Artias' well-being above everything else, including our own lives.”
While Henry spoke, Blanche was so immersed in the conversation that she didn't notice that Theodore had moved before his hand landed on her thigh. She wasn't sure whether her cheeks were flushed red at that or whether she had paled, but in any case, she was terrified. It was bad enough that she was sitting here. If Duke Duremont saw what the emperor was doing, he would probably attempt to kill them.
Quickly, she grabbed her lover's hand and attempted to move it away from her, only for him to intertwine their fingers. Even after she squeezed his hand multiple times, he didn't let go and just gave her a bright smile when she whipped her head to the side to face him. Surely, she could rip her arm away, but that would be more obvious than just staying like this. Blanche bit her tongue and made a mental note to scold him for that later.
She concentrated on Henry, who had finished by now and was looking at the emperor expectantly.
Despite risking a giant fight, Theodore was calm and continued as if nothing has happened. “Correct. A minister swears to do what is best for the nation. The concerned paragraphs are hidden in countless pages of useless information, so I didn't realize until now, but if a minister breaks that oath, they will immediately be dismissed from their position. The only question is who decides what the best for the nation is. Judging by the text in the first book of the constitution, that would be the emperor. Meaning that if I feel like one of the ministers is valuing his own interests more than Artias' well-being, I don't have to do anything but sign a little paper that says that they lost their position. And that isn't even everything.” He made a pause right at this moment.
The emperor stalled for long enough to make Henry, who was staring at him in disbelief, speak up. “Please continue, Your Majesty.”
Theodore complied after drinking another sip from his cup. “In another hidden paragraph, the emperor that wrote these laws also added that he is not required to nominate another minister to fill the empty spot until two years have passed. If all ministers have been dismissed at the same time, there is even a special rule that would allow the emperor to modify the laws on his own. Then he could reign without anyone else being involved. Reading that did shock me as much as it surprises you right now, Your Grace. It seems like the ministers are only a formality after all. But you can rest assured. I do not have any intention to act on these laws unless I'm left with no other choice. And in the end, the only person that would really have to worry about their position is Claude Vasquez.”
That both seemed ridiculous and too perfect to be true at the same time. How could no one have read about such a law that basically made the emperor the sole ruler again? Theodore sounded so satisfied as well. Blanche couldn't imagine that he would lie about something like this just to fool Henry. After all, the Duke of Duremont was his greatest supporter and certainly not stupid. There was no way that Henry would just believe this without checking whether it was the truth later. Any lie would become apparent within a few hours. So, Theodore had no benefit from making this law up either.
But if those paragraphs really existed, why hadn't they found out about it in the novel? Seraphina had spent hours upon hours trying to come up with a solution to give the ministers more work without weakening the emperor. She would definitely have noticed something like this. Had she just refrained from mentioning it because she wanted to use the ministers to unburden her husband instead of dismissing them? Had she overlooked those paragraphs? Or had other interests been involved in her decision-making?
Duke Duremont regained his composure before Blanche did. He drank something from his cup for the first time before speaking up with a frown. “I can barely believe that a rule that completely eliminates the ministers' chance to control the emperor exists.”
Theodore, who had probably noticed that his lover tensed at the surprising news, squeezed her hand before replying with an unwavering smile on his face. “It does exist, Your Grace. You are free to read about that as soon as you come home. I would never lie to you about such a serious matter. Since I don't plan on using that law for now though, you don't have to concern yourself with it unless you truly want to. I will just focus on introducing the luxury tax and talk until the others have to agree with me. I'll simply stress how horrible the drought in the south will be and that we can expect that a third of the harvest in those regions will be missing this year. In addition to that, Northern Ocrea is threatening us, so we need to prepare for the worst case.”
Blanche was still stunned by the sudden change in her lover's confidence while facing the ministers and the fact that laws no one had ever mentioned before existed. Granted, she didn't know much about the laws of Artias, but it was still shocking to learn that such paragraphs were in the constitution since she had never expected this to be possible. She really had to ask Leon about this as soon as he gave her another lesson. Maybe he would have time for that after the hunting festival.
Theodore paused after speaking so much. He lifted his cup to drink a sip and took his time before resuming. “Due to the drought and the possible war, we need more money. We certainly won't take it from the starving farmers.” With that, he sat down his cup in a way that was much louder than usual. He added the rest with more emphasis. “So, the aristocrats swimming in their wealth are the only option. I'll just insist that more expensive luxury goods have the advantage that their new owners, who were only trying to boast with those items anyway, can now name an even higher value. Would you rather do that or demand even more from the poor citizens that would only end up in jail because they can't afford higher taxes? After I said that, the ministers will be a little more willing to give up a small fraction of their prosperity to save the lives of our people. And if they don't, which I highly doubt since they all care for their reputation, using the law I explained would be justified, wouldn't it?”
Henry seemed to have gotten over his shock by now and responded with a neutral expression that still looked pretty cold. “I have nothing to add to that, Your Majesty. At the first glance, that is a flawless plan, even if I find the existence of those laws to be strange. However, I wouldn't trust that the Duke of Vasquez will give up because of logical arguments no matter whether you can use that rule. He might even attempt to use that rumor about you to fight back if you do decide to dismiss him.”
“I'm not too concerned about that. I'm in the seventh year of my reign now. If people don't trust me by now, they will never do so.” Theodore was quiet after that and turned to Blanche to smile at her.
The concubine was a bit disappointed that none of the men had mentioned what kind of rumor this was since she had no idea what they were referring to. Though it appeared like they wouldn't enlighten her in the future either. The emperor and the duke stayed silent for a while, in which her lover didn't even look at the minister.
The unpleasant situation only ended when Henry finally spoke up. “It seems like it is already time for noon. With Your Majesty's permission, I would leave now.”
Theodore nodded at him. “Naturally. Have a relaxing ride home. May you and your family stay as healthy as you are now.”
Duke Duremont rose from his chair and bowed. “Thank you, Your Majesty. I wish that you and Her Majesty will have a chance to calm down after that horrible incident. It is very unfortunate that I was unable to come here earlier, however, I understand that the security measurements must be increased in such a time. Goodbye.” His icy expression didn't even soften when he said that, which was probably supposed to emphasize his anger upon not being allowed to see his daughter for the last ten days. Without waiting for a response, he turned around and strode to the door. When he grabbed the handle to open it, Blanche was about to relax, but Henry was stopped.
Theodore seemingly didn't think that he had already caused enough trouble. “Your Grace, isn't there something that slipped from your mind?”
Henry came to a halt and turned around. In the very moment that he did, his expression became even colder than it had been before.
The concubine took a few seconds, in which she was about to hide behind her lover, before she realized that Theodore was still holding her hand. Until now, Duke Duremont hadn't noticed, but after moving to the door, he was at a spot from which one could see that the couple was touching each other without the table obstructing his view.
Why had the emperor thought that this was a good idea? Taking her hand in his and then letting Henry, who despised their relationship, see this was the most provoking thing he could do without directly insulting anyone.
Only a few seconds passed in silence, but it was enough for Blanche to squirm on her chair as she wished to disappear into thin air despite already holding her breath to not make a sound.
Then Duke Duremont finally spoke up. “May you have a wonderful day, Your Majesty. Goodbye, Lady Blanche.” This had to be the most threatening way that one could say those titles, with every syllable being pronounced in great clarity but with a sharp edge. With that, Henry left the office, and the door fell shut behind him.
Immediately, Blanche let out a deep breath and relaxed her muscles. She leaned against the backrest and slouched her shoulders before glancing at her lover. She was about to scold him for unnecessarily making Henry angry when she saw his expression.
Theodore's smile had vanished and left behind pure annoyance. “He's finally gone. Now he'll probably rush to the empress and complain about us before running home and reading up on these laws. I assume that he won't find a fault with my words since that part of the constitution can really be interpreted this way, but I still worry. I don't want to argue about some legal gray areas with such a stubborn person. That man is infuriating. If he wasn't so influential, I wouldn't even invite him anymore.”
Those words startled Blanche. Of course, these two men had been fighting a lot recently because of the emperor's mistress, but the tension between them shouldn't be strong enough to destroy the bond of mutual support that they had formed over the years. “That I'm worried about these laws that suddenly appeared out of nowhere should be obvious, but let's not focus on that now. You sound awfully angry when talking about Duke Duremont, but he is backing you, right? You agree with him on most topics, and you two have had a good relationship ever since you ascended to the throne. Your father worked with him too.”
“That doesn't make him less annoying. Ever since he started seeing you as a threat for some reason, he has become unbearable. He believes that everything the both of us do is supposed to insult his beloved daughter. I wouldn't care about that much if he didn't keep on bothering me with his baseless accusations.” It made sense for Theodore to be frustrated because of that.
Yet, Blanche tried to be reasonable since they did need the duke's support. “But he is right about me having done things that offended the empress in the past. He only wishes to protect her.” Her lover's expression only soured at that, so she gave up on defending Henry. If Theodore wouldn't listen to her, she could just be honest. “I have to admit that I feel like he overdoes it a little though. He is pretty resentful. I almost started to shiver when he was glaring at us like that. How were you able to keep smiling the entire time?”
Theodore turned on his chair so that his whole body was facing her, and she mirrored this. He gently brushed a strand of her hair behind her ear without letting go of her hand. “You don't have to be scared of him. No, you don't have to be scared of anyone. I'm right by your side and won't let anyone, no matter who they are, harm or insult you. Alright?” The way that his eyes pierced into hers as if he was looking right into her soul made her nod immediately. Theodore began smiling softly in a manner that made her heart melt. “Good. And you asked about that fake smile, right?”
She nodded again.
Her lover let out a low chuckle as his grin widened. “I have to admit that the smile had no other reason but to infuriate him. If you appear like you are genuinely carefree while the other party is shocked or angry, it only upsets them even more.” The corners of his mouth sank. “I stole that idea from the person that has been on the list of people I hate for the longest time. Now the number one spot is occupied by five or even more people, but that person is still up there. They tend to act friendly with everyone and smile no matter what happens. They might even smile if their own mother died, though that wouldn't be a great loss in their case. Since I was extremely annoyed by that myself, I can guarantee that it will make your opponents lose their composure sooner or later. I hate stealing that strategy as it reminds me of that person, but it's effective, so I'll use it for people I really want to frustrate.”
For a moment, Blanche wanted to ask whom he was referring to, but she stopped herself and just replied without making the topic even more serious. Maybe she should ask about why he thought that provoking Henry was a good idea too, but she avoided that subject as well. “I can imagine that grinning being very annoying. In fact, I have met people who did the same. They all smiled for different reasons, but it's infuriating nonetheless.” Like Evelyn, Fiona and Harris put on a polite smile to curry favor and appear friendly or submissive while having vile or selfish intentions. Or how Claude and Luciano Vasquez were grinning to intimidate the other party.
Theodore let out a sigh at that. “It seems like the society of nobles is just full of infuriating people. There are more frustrating characters than kind ones are. I'm glad that I made the right decision to pick out Leonard as my advisor. If I had to work with someone like Duke Duremont all day, I would snap. But Leon has been my friend for seven years, and I trust him with my life, so I can even give him more rights than he would normally have as the secretary. It's the same with Owen, the steward and the head maid. They are all very skillful people that will never betray me. Though there is still one person that I trust more than all of them together.”
Immediately, Blanche's curiosity grew. But at the moment that her lover leaned forward to kiss her forehead, she realized whom he meant.
Theodore looked breathtaking while he added the final word. “You.”
Despite that being exaggerated, Blanche couldn't help but grin. “I love you, Theo.”
Theodore was quick to steal another kiss from her. This time, he pressed his lips onto hers for longer than she had expected him to and pulled her into his arms. When they eventually separated, he refused to let go and whispered countless professions of his love into her ear.
Blanche was still scared of the novel's ending, but today his words didn't make her sad but filled her with determination. No matter what, she wanted to stay by his side, and she would face all kinds of troubles to do that. Even if fighting against her fate might just make her the empress' enemy again.