Blanche was already fed up with her enemies' lies, but she didn't bother stopping them. She couldn't help looking around to determine whether the royal guards were still close and was relieved to see Stella cautiously watching her. Only when she was sure that she was secured, did she focus on the conversation with Luciano and Sefare again, even though she knew that it was pointless when they kept lying.

Even though Blanche's expression didn't budge, Luciano just continued without a pause. “Like I said, my family is the second-ranking one in Artias. We couldn't risk our position to go up one spot. It is true that more power is always good, but we wanted to do that in a subtle, legal way that won't harm His Majesty. So, all of your worries are completely useless. Our true goal is making you the empress so that you can help us out in return.” While he spoke, he stepped closer to her and put his hand on her back.

This time, Blanche was too frustrated by their repeat denials of the truth to hold back. She backed off and smacked his hand away. “Stop touching me.” For a moment, she thought she might have overdone it when Luciano suddenly looked rather annoyed.

But he didn't hurt her. Luciano just stared at her and shook his hand that was reddened from the rather harsh impact. “Ouch.” Then he forced his polite smile onto his face, but it wasn't as gleeful as usual and just made Blanche take another step back. “Why are you so on edge today? I just wanted to remind you that we have the same goal. To make you the empress, we will have to get rid of the woman currently holding that position though. We can only achieve that by creating a scenario in which His Majesty has to choose between you and her. Me touching you worked like a charm to inflame his jealousy, didn't it? That was enough to make him abandon his wife in the middle of a ball to take care of you. Repeating something like that will be necessary to end their marriage.”

Sefare spoke up when the other man finished. “Exactly. We will plan out everything, so you don't have to think. Just continue to play your part. Be the emperor's little pet, send us the new information you received, get rid of that woman and become empress yourself. Nothing about that should be bad for you, correct? But if that doesn't convince you, I can be a little more direct too. I don't know what caused you to believe that you can suddenly defy us and go your own way, and I don't care. You should remember that you are only in your position because of our help. As quickly as you gained your comfortable life, as fast you can lose it again. I assume that you don't want that, right? Then don't make us your enemies.”

With every sentence, Sefare came closer to the concubine, which made her back away. That was completely useless since the marquess was faster than she was. Blanche was about to turn around and raise her hand to alert Stella when Luciano stepped between them.

Luciano stopped Sefare by extending his arm in front of the other man before speaking up with his charming smile that had fully returned now. “Don't scare Lady Blanche. Being mean won't do anything about this situation. Especially since it seems like she isn't as naive as we thought she would be.” He faced the concubine. “You don't believe a single one of our words, do you?”

Blanche nodded. “I know that you back the dowager empress. You can drop the pretense.”

“Alright then.” Luciano lowered his arms after he was sure that Sefare wouldn't move before turning to her. “Then let's be honest for once. You caught us in the act. You know what we really want to do. I don't know how you managed to find that out since no information in your vicinity should allow you to come to such conclusions, but apparently, we just underestimated you. So, now the problem is that you know a lot of things that could possibly harm us. We haven't done anything that we could get convicted for yet, but this would still ruin our reputation, and His Majesty would certainly dislike this plot too. At the same time, we don't want to hurt you. After all, you lived with Sefare for two years. He loves you like he would love a real daughter, and we have grown fond of you as well.”

Blanche let out an unamused laugh at that, but Luciano didn't let her interrupt him.

“This means that we are in a dilemma. In the end, the best solution would just be to persuade you to rethink your decision. The main reason that you don't want to help us is that you love His Majesty, right?” That was a surprisingly simple question.

Blanche replied with conviction. “Yes. And that's why I don't need to ‘make you my enemies’ either. You have been my opponents from the moment that you decided to harm Theo.”

Luciano closed his eyes and sighed before waving his hand in the air. “That's the problem. You see, you don't love him. You love the influence and the power that he gives you. That's almost the same but not quite.”

Blanche froze. She was caught off guard by that and took a few seconds to process that ridiculous statement before her anger set in. “What?” She almost yelled as her mind already jumped to the most horrible thoughts she could have. Why did everyone keep doubting her love for Theodore? Even he would do the same if the novel progressed as intended, and Blanche couldn't stand that thought. She balled hands into fists to keep herself from doing anything rash. “You don't know anything about me. How can you dare to say something like that? You-”

Luciano cut her off with a frown. “Don't be so sensitive. It's better this way. After all, you'll only get hurt if you love the tyrant emperor. It would be a shame to lose your head just because he blames you for a little misstep.”

Immediately, Blanche's fury calmed down and left behind pure confusion. “What are you talking about? Theo isn't a tyrant.” She despised the very mention of this title anywhere close to her lover's name. “He is the righteous ruler of Artias and never did anything unnecessary cruel. The nobles and citizens love him, and he gives his best to improve our nation's situation. He never once treated me with malice either.” She was sure of that, and still, she felt the blood drain from her face.

A wide grin grew on Luciano's lips at that, and it was the most terrifying one he had shown her yet. “Oh, you don't know? Of course, he would hide that from you. Both the aristocrats and the commoners call him the tyrant emperor behind his back. There are a few reasons for that. His harsh treatment of people he deems traitors and accuses of treason for example. Or how he cold-heartedly insists on group punishment. Does that ring a bell with you? It should. But the most crucial reason for that is the rumors that he is responsible for his fa-” At the very moment that Luciano was about to say the most important thing, a woman began yelling almost as if it was a bad joke.

“Lady Blanche! There you are.” All the three present people whipped their heads around to see Sophia rushing towards them. That was something neither of them had expected.

Luciano blinked at her before speaking up. “Lady Ravillot?”

Sophia came to a halt in front of them and quickly made a curtsy. “Excuse me for interrupting your conversation, but it's urgent. Her Majesty wishes to see Lady Blanche, so she sent me to get her. I apologize, but we can't lose any time.” That statement was very surprising, but she didn't even leave a second for anyone to think about this. She linked her arms with the concubine's and led her away while repeatedly apologizing to the dumbfounded men they left behind.

When they had put some distance between them and the others, Sophia looked over her shoulder before speaking up. “Please forgive me for interrupting like this, but you seemed so uncomfortable that I couldn't help myself. My sister said that those people are not to be trusted, and I believe in her judgment. Are you alright?”

Blanche took a few seconds to get over her speechlessness before replying. “Yes, thank you. That was exactly what I needed.” She glanced over her shoulder. The men were still glaring at her, but she could finally relax now. She had repeated her decision, which put her in danger but finally made her side clear. From now on, she didn't have to explain herself anymore. With that in mind, she turned back to Sophia. “How did you even find us?”

“I saw you by accident when I wanted to take a look at one of the prettier tents. Or rather, I saw your maid standing by the tents while looking rather distressed.”

Blanche whipped her head around. She had to search for a moment before she found her maid by the tents that were the closest to the forest.

Stella was about to cry and almost lost her self-control when her mistress returned. “My Lady.” She whimpered a bit while trying to calm herself. Sophia offered her a handkerchief, which the maid refused since she managed to hold herself together just barely.

Blanche quickly attempted to console the servant. “Thank you for helping me, Stella. As you can see, nothing bad happened, so I didn't need you to do anything. We're both fine, so everything is alright. Thank you very much.”

Stella sniffled quietly before she replied. “I wanted to follow you, but you told me to wait. And I wanted to tell a guard the whole time, but you didn't give me a signal. I thought that you would get hurt, I really did. Don't do that anymore, My Lady.”

Blanche hurriedly nodded. “I won't. I said all I needed.” She remembered that Sophia was there and quickly added something else. “To be polite. I don't have to show more consideration.”

Sophia just watched that with a frown before addressing the concubine. “Say, did these people bother you in some way? If so, you should inform His Majesty so that he can punish them accordingly.”

Blanche hugged herself and averted her eyes. “They bothered me a little. It's nothing severe. They are merely a bit...pushy, and I do not favor them very much. This is something I will have to deal with myself. I can be sure that they won't do something reckless for now though, so don't worry. If the situation got worse, I would tell Theo.” Would she? She wasn't certain of that herself. She still had to figure out whether losing Theodore or facing the Vasquez family was the bigger threat.

Surprisingly, Sophia accepted that answer. “Alright. If you need help, you are free to send me a letter, and I will assist you to the best of my abilities.”

For a moment, they were silent. That was enough to make the concubine remember Luciano's baseless lies that still bothered her to some extent. How could he say something so awful about such a great emperor? She was tempted to ask whether Sophia was aware of gossip like that but decided against it. Those alleged rumors couldn't be very well-known, or she would have overheard people talking about it a few times already. So, that title was probably completely made up to make her question her commitment to her lover, no matter how familiar it sounded. She cursed Luciano inwardly for that but gave her best to stay calm to not irritate the other women.

Blanche let her eyes roam across Sophia to confirm whether she succeeded. At that moment, she noticed a big difference and wondered why she hadn't noticed that yet. The countess wasn't pregnant anymore. It made sense since Seraphina had mentioned that, but this was the first time that Blanche had seen Sophia again after the birth. She made eye contact with the other woman before speaking up. “It's almost embarrassing that I only remembered this now. How is your baby? Did the birth go through without any difficulties?”

Immediately, Sophia began to beam. “Yes. But even though it's been two weeks, I could cry out of happiness every time that I see our angel. Both your and my intuition was right. Our Grace is a healthy little girl.” The young mother's bliss was contagious.

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Blanche couldn't help but grin as well. “Congratulations. Is it safe for you to run around here already? An event like this is rather exhausting, and your daughter can't stay without you for long either.”

Sophia made a dismissive motion with her hand. “I'm perfectly fine. I haven't been this energized in a long time. And my daughter is here too. At the moment, she is sleeping peacefully next to my sister. When she wakes up, I have to be there, so we should go there now. Otherwise, those unpleasant men might notice that you aren't meeting the empress at all.” Before the concubine could refuse, Sophia linked their arms again and led her across the venue.

Blanche glanced to the side to scan the countess and addressed a random topic to keep herself from thinking about her upcoming meeting with the empress, who was probably still boiling due to a specific handkerchief. “You just gave birth, so don't over-exhaust yourself. You almost ran over to me earlier, and I'm not sure whether your body is ready to do that so soon.”

Sophia rolled her eyes, but her soft smile didn't fade. “You sound like my husband. I am a healthy young woman, so I can deal with walking around for a bit. I've been sitting around for so long, and now I can finally move normally again. I won't ignore that opportunity. But don't worry. We will leave as soon as the competition's victor is announced so that Grace can rest.” She kept chatting about how happy she was to be able to act freely again, which sadly didn't keep Blanche from getting nervous.

They passed the grand table in the middle, and the concubine used that opportunity to make eye contact with Fiona, who nodded in her direction before turning to Lucille again. Seemingly, the duke's daughter wasn't a completely awful person and had worried about the concubine to some extent. That didn't make her sympathetic, but at least she didn't seem to be a completely self-centered villainess.

Though unfortunately, Blanche couldn't distract herself with that for long. With every step, she began to panic more, no matter how hard she tried to calm herself. The pit of uncertainty within her stomach grew with every passing second so that she worried about becoming nauseous for a moment.

What did the empress want from her? If Seraphina went as far as to call her nemesis to the royal family's table, she was probably so furious that she couldn't wait before scolding the other woman. This might be because of the handkerchief or because of the discussion with Henry. Or because of Theodore's endless conversation with his lover or the unfavorable argument between Allen and Lucille.

In fact, Blanche had given the empress more reasons to be angry than to be relaxed today. Even though none of that was really her fault, she doubted that Seraphina would care about that. She unwillingly tightened her grip around Sophia's arm when the royal family's tent came into view.

Sophia patted her hand for a moment before glancing over her shoulder and whispering. “They are keeping their eyes on us, so we have to meet my sister. Don't worry, she will be nice to you.”

The concubine let out a nervous chuckle at that. It was obvious that Sophia wouldn't know how icy her sister could become when she met people that had antagonized her. Blanche reluctantly lifted her gaze and made eye contact with the empress.

As expected, she was met with the same frosty glare that the heroine seemed to have reserved for her.

Elaine and Evelyn, Seraphina's mother and aunt, were present as well. The duchess managed to keep the most neutral expression of all of them. At the same time, Evelyn stared at the concubine with a mocking smile that quickly disappeared when she realized that Sophia was leading Blanche to them.

The concubine would have liked to disappear into thin air as they approached the royal family's table, especially since it seemed like everyone at the venue had turned around to observe them. This was only logical. After all, they were in the middle of the glade so that most people from the grand table and the other spots where nobles gathered to chat had an unobstructed view of the empress' seat. So, in contrast to the conversation with Theodore, Blanche couldn't depend on their rather secluded location to avoid being watched. Naturally, she couldn't run away though, no matter how much she wanted to do that.

So, Blanche just focused on keeping her legs steady as they approached their destination. She used the minute of silence to remind herself of what she could say to be polite and avoid causing another scandal today. After what felt like an eternity, they reached the little wooden platform on which the table stood.

Sophia led her up the stairs and let go of her to curtsy, which the concubine immediately imitated.

Seraphina calmly took a sip from her tea in a graceful manner that might have seemed peaceful if she hadn't had this cold look in her eyes. Slowly, she set down the cup on the table and turned her head to the women. “Lady Ravillot, welcome back. Lady Blanche, what brought you here?” Her dissatisfaction with the concubine's presence was painfully obvious, and she didn't even attempt to hide it. But since she had asked her sister to fetch the other woman, that didn't make any sense, right?

Blanche was a bit irritated as she glanced at Sophia, who was chuckling nervously.

Sophia straightened her posture and interlocked her fingers while giving the empress a sheepish look. “I apologize, Your Majesty. I saw that Lady Blanche was feeling very uncomfortable as she was speaking with some rather unfriendly men, so I stepped in. I might have used your name as an excuse by announcing that you had wished to see her.”

The concubine felt how her blood froze in her veins and stared at Sophia, who smiled at her in a supposedly encouraging manner, with shock. How could someone, even if they were the empress' sister, give false information about the royal family? Abusing the rulers' name was insolent and bordered on an open insult.

Thus, it wasn't surprising that everyone at the table lost control of their facial expression for a moment. Elaine buried her face in her hand while Evelyn directly spoke up. “How can you dare to-”

Seraphina cut her off with a wave of her hand. She massaged her temples before asking one of her maids to come to her and whispering something to her, which made the servant nod and hurry into the tent.

All of them were silent after that so that the tension in the air thickened with every passing second.

Blanche took a few seconds to get over Sophia's carelessness before she tried her best to deescalate the situation as much as she could. Since the empress had already addressed her, in a very cold manner but that didn't matter, she had to greet her anyway. She curtsied again and spoke up. “Good day, Your Majesty. I sincerely apologize for this uncomfortable situation. I thought that you had asked Lady Ravillot to bring me here. That was the only reason why I was so disrespectful to approach you.”

Before she could add the other thing she wanted to say, Seraphina interrupted her. “If I wished to speak to you for some reason, I would have done so in private and would have sent a servant instead of Lady Ravillot.” That was true, but her tone was unnecessarily sharp. The heroine hadn't even looked in the concubine's direction while speaking, so it seemed like the previous events had upset her so much that she didn't even care about politeness.

Blanche bit her tongue and refrained from rolling her eyes. It wasn't like she was to blame for these circumstances, but naturally, she had to stay calm. She took a deep breath before replying. “Yes, I should have thought about that before, but considering whether I should decline Your Majesty's request didn't cross my mind. I apologize for that. Since this was just a misunderstanding, I will take my leave now if you would-”

She was interrupted by a servant that carried a chair and placed it in between Evelyn's and Sophia's seats.

When she glanced at Seraphina, the empress just gestured to the chair. “Please sit down.”

Before the concubine could help herself, she was already frowning. Why would she sit when she was clearly not wanted here? She couldn't refuse now, and that was rather unfavorable.

Now the empress finally looked toward her and explained. “We are already being watched. If you leave now, they will only talk about this even more. Sit down.”

Blanche hadn't planned on rejecting the empress's demand either way. “Of course, Your Majesty.” She gave her best to hide her dejected expression and took a seat on the chair while being extremely careful not to trip or plop down too quickly.

Instantly, one of Seraphina's maids came to her side. “Would you like some tea, Lady Blanche?” The attendant was a bit more friendly than normal, but her smile seemed forced.

Though, the concubine wouldn't complain about that. She was struggling to put on a polite expression as well. She was about to decline to avoid getting green tea, which was too bitter for her, but after noticing that the other woman all drank from their cups, she gave in. “Yes, that would be very kind of you.”

The maid didn't even ask what flavor she wanted and just turned around and disappeared into the tent.

This left the whole table in silence, which only served to make everything more uncomfortable. Why couldn't the other women just talk about some unimportant things so that it wouldn't be this quiet? Blanche didn't even want to be included, she just hoped to endure the few minutes that she had to sit here to keep appearances. The only person that didn't seem bothered by her presence was Sophia, and maybe Noah, whom she had spotted standing in the tent a few steps behind the empress, so trying to chat with the others would just be stressful.

Blanche gave her best to mirror Noah's smile, but the continuous quiet made her feel even more out of place than before. She tried to stay there without making a sound or moving too much. At the same time, she glanced at the other women from the corners of her eyes without really looking at them for longer out of fear of being caught. Still, she found herself staring at Seraphina, or rather, at the tiara on top of her head. Blanche quickly lowered her head when the empress turned to her to hide the hint of satisfaction she felt.

The heroine was wearing her gift again.

That could only mean that Seraphina liked the accessories more than she hated the concubine, which gave Blanche some feeling of victory. Even though the rest of the birthday ball had been awful, she had at least brought the best gift by far. Hopefully, that would make the empress resent her a little less. It didn't seem that way when Blanche cowered under the heroine's watchful gaze, but she could still hope.

Only a little while passed, but it felt like it had been an eternity had gone by before a maid came out of the tent but not with tea but with a bundle of blankets in her arms. “My Lady, the little mistress is awake.” She approached Sophia and carefully handed the bundle over. Only now the concubine realized that Grace had to be hidden inside these blankets.

Sophia's face lit up with a radiant beam when she pulled the baby closer and spoke up. “Have you slept enough, my sweet girl? This is all very exhausting, isn't it? Still, you're so calm and composed. You're really our little angel.” She seemed like she was completely immersed in her own world, which was extremely adorable.

The only thing that was even more lovely was how Grace made some undefinable noises and a small hand rose from the blankets to reach for her mother.

Blanche felt her own lips form a grin at that, and she wasn't the only one. Both Elaine and Seraphina began smiling as well, even though the latter one's was barely visible. Evelyn lifted the corners of her lips too, but she did that after almost glaring at the infant, which no one except for the concubine seemed to have realized. That threatened to ruin Blanche's mood quickly. How sick could a person be to be angry at a baby because of their envy of the child's grandmother? She couldn't voice her disgust in any way though, so she tried to distract herself.

The concubine watched how Sophia made high-pitched noises at the little girl, which made Grace let out some quiet sounds as well. She was content just with doing that, but the other woman soon lifted her head to smile at her. Blanche immediately knew what the countess would propose and opened her mouth to refuse, but Sophia was faster.

“Lady Blanche, do you want to hold her? You haven't seen Grace, and she doesn't know you yet, so we can solve both of those issues at the same time.”

Blanche still wanted to reject the offer, but seeing the other's beaming smile, she couldn't risk being at fault for making it fade. It had been a long time since she had held a baby, so she wasn't completely averse to this either. Though, she didn't even have time to reply.

Evelyn had chimed in before anyone else could even open their mouth. “You shouldn't give your child to strangers, Lady Ravillot. As a mother, you have to be a little more cautious. Your carelessness is only going to hurt Grace. I taught Lady Blanche the basics of etiquette before she, well, became discontent with my criticism... Let's just say that she was rather clumsy in those lessons. She could drop your baby.”

Blanche attempted to hold herself back, but the other woman's audacity made that impossible, and she snapped back before she knew it. “I don't mean to offend Lady Lemares, but if I remember correctly, it was different. You were dismissed because Theo entered the room while you were in the middle of voicing some rather unkind things about me. I do admit that I might have been clumsy as well since you tended to use a bit too much force to put the books onto my head for posture training.”

Sophia's eyes widened at that. “Really? Aunt, you did that with me too when I was younger. You need to control your strength a bit more.” It was odd how she still believed in Evelyn's goodwill despite her aunt's vile intentions being so obvious. Evelyn looked like she wanted to respond, but Sophia just resumed. “Either way, you don't have to be so cautious around Lady Blanche. She isn't a stranger. We met for tea two times already, and Seraphina, I mean, Her Majesty joined us the last time too.”

Elaine raised her eyebrows at that. “You did?” She glanced at the empress, who drank some of her tea before replying.

“I coincidentally passed them while I was on a stroll and thought that I could use that opportunity to speak to Lady Ravillot again.” It should have been obvious that Seraphina would emphasize that that had been an accident.

Sophia didn't seem to be fazed by that though. “Yes, and then we had a chat about the marquess at my fourteenth birthday. The one that Seraphina stopped by-”

The empress cut her off by clearing her throat.

Sophia paused for a moment before her grin returned. “In any case, Lady Blanche isn't a stranger, and I know that she likes children. We had a long discussion about that before.” She turned to the concubine. “Right? I'll introduce you to Grace now.”

Blanche shrank a bit under the skeptical looks of the rest of the women while Sophia turned her chair to move closer to her. Maybe it would be better for her to refuse after all, or the others would blame her if something went wrong. So, she spoke up after letting out a nervous chuckle. “I don't know, Lady Ravillot. Grace is rather young, so it would be best not to make her uncomfortable. She can't get used to too many people at the same time, and she might not even like me.” If Grace resembled her aunt or uncle or grandparents, she certainly wouldn't. “Besides, I didn't hold a child for years, so...”

Sophia just faced the other's concerns with a beam. “Our angel is very calm and loves to meet new people. It's almost a bit scary how calm she is. She has never disliked anyone either, so don't worry about that.” She leaned forward before the concubine could refuse and slowly moved the bundle over to the other woman's arms.

Blanche was caught up in her admiration immediately. Grace was just too adorable.