Hearing this made it sound much less like the dream that she had imagined it to be.

Blanche was as pale as a ghost as she listened to Julien's instructions. Why was he talking about execution all of a sudden? As far as she remembered, he had only said that she needed to talk to the emperor a bit before gaining his trust. How had it gone from that to being beheaded if she messed up? Tears rushed to her eyes before she could do a single thing. “Julien...”

The marquess in front of her sighed. “It's Lord Sefare from now on. I told you that a hundred times already. Spare your crying for when our target arrives. You won't be harmed if you just do as I say. I repeated it thrice now. It shouldn't be too hard to remember. Don't say anything about me or your past in general. Say that you have amnesia and are lost. Cry a bit and gain his sympathy. That is all you need to do today. As long as you don't offend him or act like you want to kill him, it will be fine. He will ask the guests whether someone knows you, and then I will come to the rescue and take you in. If you just flatter him with a few sweet words, you'll be home by midnight and get your salmon. So, stop whining and tell me whether you understood.”

Blanche could only look up at him with round eyes. Of course, it sounded so easy to him, but she was the one whose life was on the line. After all, Julien had just told her that this emperor might lose his temper and beheaded her if he got upset. “You...” She barely found her voice and needed two attempts to speak. “You won't really leave me here now, will you? What will happen if a guard finds me first? What if the emperor doesn't come out at all or if he is in a bad mood and-”

Julien ran his hand through his hair and sighed with more frustration. That was enough to shut her up. He crossed his arms and looked around for a moment. “The longer you discuss with me, the higher the chances of us being found will be. Just do as I say. He will step out like he does for every ball. You only need to wait here and cry when he comes. He is the only one that ever takes the detour to take a break in here. If you stick to the plan, everything will be fine. You want to be empress, don't you? Your goal is right in front of you, you just have to reach for it.”

By now, Blanche wasn't sure whether she really wanted that anymore. Surely, not working for a lifetime and being surrounded by jewelry and luxury was great, but right now, she feared for her survival. Staying in Julien's mansion would have been just fine. Especially since this emperor seemed to be a terrifying person. This wasn't a fairy tale in which she was guaranteed to have a good ending. She might die if she offended that man. The young woman was silent for a moment and wiped a few tears away. She didn't want to stay here. “Julien-” Her last attempt was shut down immediately.

Whining only made the marquess angrier. “Don't argue with me. Stop being bratty and just stick to the plan.” Julien turned around without looking at her again. “Don't forget. Cry. Be flattering and act defenseless. Cling to him when he likes it and stay distant if he gets angry. You have amnesia and only remember your name. You should be able to remember that. Do your best. Our plan depends on this. At least try it once, and we'll see the result. You owe me this much for feeding you for two years.” With that, he stepped out of the pavilion and disappeared behind the hedges.

Blanche stumbled backward and plopped down on the bench. She buried her face in her hands, and a sob escaped her throat. The scenery was beautiful, but that didn't help her when she felt like she might have eaten her last meal today. If she ended up being thrown into a cell, she might starve. Or be beheaded. Or hanged. The possibilities were endless, and each one was as terrifying as the others.

And yet, all she could do was cry.

Great. Being a crybaby truly paid off. Now she was just sitting here and pitied herself again. She put her feet onto the edge of the bench and pulled her knees to her chest while lowering her head. Every few seconds, a sob came out of her throat, and she could barely even attempt to calm down. She knew that her crying wouldn't solve anything, but she was scared.

What if a guard heard her and came inside to check who the person here was? Then she would definitely have a huge problem. She could either end up in prison again or be executed. She had only escaped death narrowly last time, and she had no intention of going into a dark and dirty cell again. But she doubted that her opinion would matter much when she had intruded into the royal palace. She couldn't be found here under any circumstances.

Blanche desperately tried to stifle her sobs by pressing her hands onto her mouth. She hated this, all of this. It was dark, and the previously enchanting garden only seemed terrifying when she was alone. It was cold, and her thin white dress didn't protect her much at all. And the worst of all was that she risked losing her life because of one wrong word.

Why had she even agreed to this stupid idea? What had made her think that she could ever impress a random man she had never met before? She would just end up annoying the emperor, and then she would lose her head.

The palace was as beautiful as in a fairy tale, but that didn't help her one bit. The gorgeous roses and the silver moonlight wouldn't protect her if she was arrested by someone that came here by accident. Blanche only increased her efforts to stay quiet at that thought. Anyone that saw her right now would immediately see that she was trying to be so silent that she almost choked on her sobs. She probably looked lost and pathetic, but since no one was here, it didn't matter.

Hopefully, it would stay like this. As long as that emperor didn't come here, she couldn't risk doing anything wrong. Then Julien couldn't blame her for messing up.

Blanche froze when that thought came to her. Her situation wasn't that bad, was it? Until now, no one had come anywhere close to the pavilion. If the emperor didn't enter, which he probably wouldn't if she stayed quiet, nothing could happen. She just had to be silent for a bit, and then she would end up going home at the end of the day after telling Julien that no one had come. He would certainly pick her up, and when they got back, she could take a warm bath and go to sleep. Yes, that sounded good. She sniffled a bit and wiped her tears away before putting on a smile to cheer herself up.

Unsurprisingly, her face fell quickly again.

The last time she had dared to hope for something, it had ended with Julien coming home and explaining that her family was dead with a pained expression. The gods weren't on her side when it came to fulfilling her wishes. It wasn't as easy as she wanted it to be.

She could only go home if Julien took her in again. He wouldn't be so cold-hearted that he would just throw her out, right? But then again, he had said something about being in debt because of her, hadn't he? He had wanted to send her here so that she could become empress and help him pay it back. Now that she hadn't gained a single copper coin, he might not wish to assist her at all. It would be understandable. What should she do then? Live on the street and beg for money?

Blanche knew well that she would never find a job in the capital, so she could forget renting a home and buying food. She would starve after two weeks at most. She was dependent on Julien's help once again. It wasn't even certain whether she would live long enough to ponder that later too.

Just one guard had to come into the pavilion by coincidence, and if she was found by that person, she wouldn't leave the palace alive again. That much was clear.

In the beginning, she had thought that the emperor coming here quickly would be the best option, but by now, she was sure that this wasn't it. There was no way that her snotty crying would get anyone to worry about her. That man would just wrinkle his nose and tell a guard to get rid of her.

That thought was enough to make Blanche whimper again. She didn't want to die. In fact, dying was the scariest thing to her. Being dead wasn't the problem but the painful ways in which her life could end were disturbing.

But...

If she did end up losing her life here, wouldn't she be able to stop worrying? Her family was dead too. If she died now, she might be able to be with them again. She hated herself for thinking that because she knew that she was too cowardly to admit the truth to herself. She couldn't deal with this uncertainty, and the prospect of living a life without anyone to help her scared her. That was the only reason that she thought about it possibly being better if she had died along with her parents and the twins.

But it wouldn't have been better. Her parents had begged her to flee. She could still remember their crying faces as they had told her that. Her family wanted her to live, so she couldn't give up. But that was easier said than done.

Right now, Blanche was slouching on a bench in the middle of an area that was absolutely deadly. Even a single person that saw her could mean her death. She wiped away a few tears before resting her chin on her knees. She missed her family. That thought always came to her when she was alone, and the soft moonlight that illuminated the flowers around her only made her think about that more. Maybe it wouldn't be too bad if she just...

No.

She stopped herself from thinking that and forced herself to sit upright. She would survive this. If she was silent and didn't make the slightest noise, no one could find her here. Probably.

Blanche put her hands onto her cheeks and tried to get herself to ponder something else. She didn't want to cry anymore. Maybe distracting herself would be the better option. What would she eat for dinner? If she had a choice, she would take salmon. Then macarons for dessert. At least if she was still alive by then.

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Seemingly, distracting herself didn't help much. Not when she had thought about her family and saw their faces in front of her inner eye. No matter what she did, more tears rolled down her cheeks, and her bottom lip quivered. She wanted to wail loudly, but then she would definitely be found. The young woman took a deep breath and made a last attempt to calm down. She closed her eyes and listened to the distant laughter and chattering.

The nobles all seemed to have a great time while she was out here and thought about how she would die. How unfair. Their voices sounded so happy, without worries. As if they had never been forced to experience the same heartbreak Blanche had been through. It was truly unfair. But at least listening to them allowed her to keep herself from realizing that she was here all alone and waited for her death.

Luck wasn't on her side this time either though.

Aside from the chattering, she also heard something else and this was much closer to her than the voices. There were footsteps coming closer from right in front of her as someone walked over the gravel on the path to the pavilion.

Blanche jumped to her feet in a panic.

‘No!’

That was all she could yell in her mind. That person would arrest or kill her as soon as they saw her. She needed to hide somewhere. There had to be something she could crouch down behind. She whipped her head around, and her eyes darted across her surroundings.

There wasn't anything. Why wasn't there anything here? Just a bench and an otherwise empty pavilion. There wasn't even a pillar that she could stand behind.

Blanche felt a cold shiver run down her spine. Was there really nothing she could do? She looked around again. The area around the pavilion was full of flowers, so there was nothing stopping her. Maybe she could just jump over the railing behind the bench. She would land in the hedges and possibly destroy the plants, but she could go out like that.

And then? She would without a doubt make way too much noise that way. The guards would find her immediately.

Prison and execution. Those were the only things that could follow then. She would really die.

She turned to the entrance with wide eyes. A shadow was visible at the end of the pathway. That person would step forward and be able to look past the hedges in just a second. It was too late.

Blanche sank to her knees and stopped trying to hold back her tears. It was over anyway. She began sobbing relentlessly and buried her face in her hands. She was only twenty. She didn't want to die yet. Why did she have to go through such horrible things over and over again? It was only a matter of seconds until that guard was here and arrested her. She couldn't even hear their steps anymore because of her own crying, but that didn't matter. She wouldn't get out of this anymore.

A few seconds passed, and then a male voice spoke up in a calm and polite tone. “Please pardon the intrusion. Is there anything the staff could assist you with? If so, please do not hesitate to ask for help.”

He wasn't threatening her? He wasn't even accusing her of anything? Then...

Blanche almost couldn't believe her luck. It sounded like the person with this heavenly voice thought that she was a guest. Shouldn't she just agree? With this huge amount of guests, the odds of not every face being recognizable were big. Blanche had a chance. If she played along and just said that she was sick and wanted to leave, she could probably get out of the estate without any issues, right? She slowly dared to lift her head and made eye contact with the man.

At that moment, she froze, and it seemed like time stopped.

She knew that person.

He was the man from the portrait. He looked a bit older than in the picture, and now he was even more handsome than he had been during his coronation. His navy uniform with countless medals and a long velvet cape made his role even more obvious. No normal person would wear such a flashy attire unless they were the main person of this event, the birthday child.

This man was without a doubt the emperor.

Blanche should tremble in fear and hurry to bow to him while trying to avoid his anger, but she couldn't. She was paralyzed. It felt like she had been hit by something with full force. She could only stare at the emperor with wide eyes and take in his features. It was like a fairy tale. She had never been the type to gawk at men, but she had to admit the truth with all honesty.

The emperor was the most attractive person she had ever met. His face was illuminated by the silver moonlight, so it looked like even heaven wanted to shine its light on him, which certainly made sense. But even more than his handsome face and his tall build, his eyes captured her. It felt like she was staring into a river of soft blue waves.

She couldn't say a thing, and her mouth opened slightly as she looked at him. He looked like the flawless prince that had come right out of a fairy tale to pick up his beloved princess. Such thoughts were definitely audacious when the man in front of her was the esteemed ruler of their nation. Hopefully, he wouldn't execute her for admiring him.

Luckily, the emperor didn't seem to get angry though. He only stared back at her with wide eyes as if he was in shock as well. For a few seconds that felt like an eternity, the both of them were silent and just looked at one another.

Blanche's heart was pounding so quickly that her chest felt constricted. She had no idea why she couldn't take her eyes off that man. She had never felt something like this before. She couldn't think clearly. The only thing she told herself was that this man was perfect in each and every way. It was easy to understand why people followed him without a second thought. As she stared at him, nothing about the world around them bothered her. She knew that she would without a doubt be captured by whatever he could say.

As if he had read her mind, the emperor addressed her at that moment but didn't even finish the sentence. “You are...” Even his voice sounded absolutely perfect. He spoke in a low baritone, but his voice still sounded warm in some way. He stared at her for a few more seconds before he moved forward.

Blanche should probably have done her best to come up with an excuse about why she was here now, but she didn't have the time to think about that. She just stared at the man in front of her. Blanche wanted him to come closer. She wanted to hear his voice again. She wanted to touch his smooth skin even though he was a complete stranger. The longer she looked at him, the warmer she felt despite the cool breeze that had made her hair stand on ends just a few minutes ago.

She understood now. She had never felt this herself, but her mother's talks about romance novels had told her one thing.

This was love at first glance.

It was rather pathetic to fall so hard for someone because they had made eye contact once, but Blanche had no way to fight back against her feelings. Her heart was already skipping many beats and hammered in her chest as she awaited the arrival of the man.

The emperor reached her and crouched down in front of her without breaking eye contact for one second. It felt like an eternity until he finally lifted his hands and brought them to her face. She should have flinched, but she didn't when he gently cupped her cheeks and wiped away her tears. “Everything is fine. There is no need for you to cry.” His voice sounded even more calming than before.

Blanche believed him immediately even though none of her problems had been solved. Right now, she could only desperately try to breathe while her lungs refused to work properly. His fingers stroked over her skin, and they left behind a prickling sensation that almost felt like a pleasant burning where he brushed over her. That little touch was enough to reduce her to a defenseless mess. She was pretty sure that that man could do whatever he wanted now, and she would just stare at him with admiration.

The emperor gazed back at her with his beautiful blue eyes. He still wiped away her tears and carefully brushed his fingers over her cheeks. For a moment, the both of them were silent again before he spoke in the same calming tone that made her trust him with her life. “You don't have to worry about a single thing. Everything will be fine. I will take care of it, so you can calm down. You will be safe, and no one can hurt you.”

Blanche wanted to reply with much more, but she could only nod at him. Her mouth still hung open. She wanted to tell him something about why she was here or that she was happier to meet him than he could imagine, but it was impossible. Her brain didn't work correctly.

The emperor stared at her and still stroked over her cheeks even though all tears should be gone by now. “Is...everything alright? Are you hurt? Do you need medical treatment?”

This time, she shook her head. She tried to speak, but only incomprehensible syllables came out, so she quickly stopped herself.

He still caressed her face and gazed into her eyes as if he was looking into her very soul. “What is your name?” His voice sounded a bit hoarse now, and that only made him even more alluring.

Blanche almost forgot to respond. She closed her mouth and opened it again while trying to get her brain to work. “I...” She took a moment to remember how to speak, which only made a warm rush of embarrassment flood her face. She stuttered around a bit before replying. “I'm...Blanche.”

The emperor slowly moved his hand to the side of her face and pushed an alabaster-colored strand of her hair away from her face. “Blanche...” The way he said her name made another shiver run down her spine, and she couldn't help but tremble for a moment.

She could only bring herself to respond after a short moment. “Yes?” She looked up at him and scanned his face for any traces that helped her understand what he was thinking. Blanche doubted that she was reading the right thing off his face though.

Would he kiss her?

The way that he looked at her and glanced at her lips almost made her feel like he would. She wouldn't complain if he did do it, which was a bit concerning. Would she seriously give her first kiss to a man that she had met a minute ago? The answer was yes. She definitely would as long as it was him. But this was probably just her own childish desire to live a life like in a fairy tale.

Just because she had fallen for him at first glance, that didn't mean that he was swayed so easily as well. She knew that. Still, she was a bit disappointed when that kiss didn't happen. But she was quickly compensated with something else.

The emperor's expression was soft when he replied to her in a whisper that almost seemed absent-minded. “You're beautiful.”

Blanche felt like her whole body stopped working at that. Her heart skipped a beat before beginning to pound so vigorously that it almost hurt. She could hear her own blood rushing through her veins, and her cheeks got so warm that she knew that she was blushing. She stuttered around a bit before managing to reply. “Thank you. You too...” Panic rose inside her as she said that. She couldn't just, go ahead and call the emperor beautiful. There was no way that he would react kindly to that. So she hurried to correct herself. “I mean...handsome. Very much so. And nice. And, and...” She didn't know what to say anymore. She would have averted her eyes long ago if she had control over herself, but she could only stare at him. Blanche almost wanted to cry at this embarrassing comment and quickly forced herself to continue. “You're...”

“Theodore.” He responded before she could finish.

Blanche froze at that again. This all felt like a dream. She had met the emperor, and he was currently stroking over her hair after telling her that she was beautiful. And now he had given her his first name. Surely, it wasn't right to think about addressing a member of the royal family like this, but her mouth worked before her brain. “Theodore?”

The emperor slowly nodded without taking his eyes off her. “Yes...” His voice trembled a bit as he said that. “That's...” He stroked over her cheek again and then blinked a few times.

Only now, he really seemed to notice what he was doing. He jolted his hands away and backed off a bit, acting a bit shocked upon fully comprehending the situation.