“Leon, back off now.” Theodore had become quite authoritarian while ordering that.

The man named Leon frowned at that, but he stopped in his tracks. “Your Majesty, I don't trust this at all. It's obvious that this is way too suspicious, isn't it? She couldn't have entered on her own, and her amnesia is awfully convenient. Have you at least searched her for weapons?”

Theodore froze at that, as if he hadn't considered that at all. “No. That would have been...” He gazed down at Blanche for a moment. “Inappropriate.”

Blanche almost shivered at that. Surely, Theodore searching her for weapons would have included him putting his hands all over her. It was logical that he hadn't done that. But she wouldn't have complained if he had either. That thought made her look at the ground as she tried to hide her reddened face.

She was shameless, truly shameless.

Leon put his hand on his forehead and began massaging his temples. “This is ridiculous. How come that our cautious emperor suddenly lowered his guard like this?” He glared at Theodore. “You owe me a very, very long explanation. I still have the right to know what's going on here. Did you see her and fell in love or something?”

Almost immediately, Blanche lifted her gaze. She could only pray that the emperor wouldn't laugh at that, or she might end up crying. She braced herself for some mean comment that her freshly enamored heart wouldn't take and was surprised to be met with silence.

Theodore just averted his eyes while opening his mouth without saying anything.

Leon waited for a moment, and when no response came, he looked like he lost his will to live. “Are you kidding me? You've known her for five minutes! You even gave her your cape, and now you cuddle with her. I can't believe it!” His gaze snapped to the woman that clung to the emperor. “Who are you?” His voice was so strict that she didn't dare not to respond.

“My name is Blanche. I don't remember more than that.” She bit the inside of her cheek and hoped that this would satisfy the other man. She was met with a cold stare.

Leon scanned her from head to toe, and it seemed like he assessed whether she would be a threat to the emperor. When he was done with that, he spoke up. “Marquess Leonard Astame. His Majesty's personal advisor and right-hand man. If I find out that you did anything to him or even plan anything, I will make sure that you regret it. Understood?”

Before she could respond, Theodore chimed in. “Stop bragging. You don't think that she's a threat either. If you did, you would have moved already instead of letting me stand so close to her. Your intuition is never wrong, is it? So, stop whining. You are making Blanche uncomfortable.”

Leon narrowed his eyes at that and glanced at her. “That doesn't matter much. I still have to confirm whether she plans on something like, I don't know, murdering you in your sleep.” He narrowed his eyes and scanned Blanche once more. “Surely, you don't plan on doing something like that, right?” His tone revealed that there was only one correct answer here.

Blanche hurriedly shook her head. “I really don't have any bad intentions.” She might be a bit selfish and hope to stay here longer so that she could talk to the man she loved. But in the end, she wouldn't hurt anyone with that, right? Theodore seemed to like her too, at least a little. She probably imagined him having a romantic interest in her, but she certainly couldn't make up him touching and hugging her. As long as he didn't find her insufferable, she could cling to him a little, couldn't she?

Leonard stared at her as he crossed his arms. It felt like his eyes pierced her very soul as he attempted to read every trace of vile intentions off her face. But since she didn't have any bad intentions like that, he wouldn't find anything. He couldn't blame her for falling for someone that was completely out of her reach. After a short moment, he gave up. “By the gods.” He ran his fingers through his hair and skeptically scanned the emperor and the woman in front of him. “It seems like two people of the same kind found each other here. I never heard about someone hugging and cuddling after they exchanged a few words for five minutes. It seems like none of you care that he's the emperor either.”

Only now, Blanche realized that she was holding onto Theodore's clothes and dug her fingers into his jacket. That certainly wasn't appropriate. He was still the most powerful man in the nation even if he didn't act like it around her. She forced herself to let go even if she didn't want to.

Theodore took his hands off her back as well and avoided eye contact before clearing his throat. “Well then. It's late. It would be better to go inside now. I need to talk to Gloria for a moment. First, we will go to the doctor though. He needs to examine Blanche so that we can be sure that she is healthy.” He paused for a moment before turning to her. “I will bring you to the doctor's office immediately. He is a kind, old man. You don't need to be uncomfortable around him.”

Blanche nodded at him. “Thank you.” Hopefully, that doctor didn't have a way of finding out that her amnesia was just based on a lie.

The emperor seemed to notice her reluctance and interpreted it in the wrong way. “It may be uncomfortable for you to be examined by a man though. One of his assistants is a woman. She can take care of you if you would favor that.” It seemed like he would truly do everything in his power to make her feel better.

She felt her heart melt at that and immediately felt the need to show the emperor a bright smile. “I'm fine with the doctor. Thank you for your concern.”

Theodore stopped in his tracks for a moment again before coughing. “Alright. Then...we will go there now. The palace may look confusing, but if you see it tomorrow in the daylight, everything will be much easier to identify. For now, I will only show you the direct way, but I can give you a quick tour of the whole building tomorrow. If you want to see it, that is. But it's rather late now. We should get you inside. It's too cold out here, isn't it?”

Thanks to Theodore's warm velvet cape, Blanche wasn't freezing at all anymore, but she nodded anyway and sheepishly averted her eyes. She had immediately thought that it would be nice if he could hold her hand again while showing her around, but that was an impudent idea. So, she quickly hid her face.

When Theodore led her to the building, she followed quietly while trying to ignore how her every step was being watched by Owen and Leon. She still got uncomfortable after a while and caught up to the emperor to walk beside him. For some reason, that gave her some safety. She felt protected when she was next to him. Now she also had the courage to look around their surroundings.

It was true that the palace was overwhelming. It was overwhelmingly beautiful. Just being here felt like a dream. The palace was way too big to seem real. It had looked gorgeous from the outside, and the garden was wonderful too, even in the darkness under the faint moonlight. But the inside was even more impressive. Blanche could only blink at the luxurious interior. There were so many different ornaments and decorations placed everywhere. She had never seen so much gold and so many paintings in her whole life.

Aside from that, she was also taken aback by all the people that were running around here. There were guards at every corner, and dozens of servants were busy carrying things or preparing something. Still, all of them stopped to bow to the emperor as soon as he passed.

That was the first time Blanche understood that she might have ignored his status for too long. Everyone else seemed to freeze in place when Theodore came, and she had just held his hand and hugged him. If anyone heard that, they would tell her that she was crazy. It seemed like everyone here thought that anyway. After all, every single person they passed gawked at her with unveiled curiosity. Some even whispered as soon as the emperor had walked by.

At some point, she shrank in herself. Had she done something wrong? Did she look too out of place in this fancy building? She would understand it if people thought that it was odd for a random woman to suddenly run around here with the emperor, but she could just be another servant, right? Why was this so odd to them? The staring wasn't pleasant, but the whispers were worse and pretty intimidating.

Blanche glanced at another group of women in maid uniforms that gossiped about her even though she could clearly identify that this was about her.

Her expression had probably given it away since Theodore spoke up at that. “You can ignore them. It's normal for them to chat about every little thing. They don't have anything better to do. And when it's boring, they come up with weird stories.” He gave her a little smile that almost made her trip.

She hurried to catch herself again and replied in a quiet voice. “I see. But what's so interesting about me? I'm just walking around here.”

Leon from behind her chimed in at that. “Few people dare to walk next to His Majesty, so that would obviously seem strange. Maybe it's because you are wearing the emperor's cape too. Didn't you think about this attracting attention?” The frustration was basically dripping out of his voice.

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Blanche flinched at that. Was here walking next to Theodore really that bad? She hadn't even touched him this time. She quickly brought her hands to the cape and prepared to take it off. “Should I give this back then?”

Theodore quickly stopped her by putting his hand on her shoulder. “No, no. It's fine. We can do that when we are alone.”

Behind them, a sigh was heard, and Leon mumbled to himself. “Do even more things that can make people misunderstand, will you?” That earned him an annoyed look from the emperor, but he didn't seem to care.

Blanche understood why he had complained too. A single touch for a little more than a second had caused the people around them to freeze. Even the guards were now openly staring at her, but no one dared to say anything. One could have heard a needle drop in this silence. She lowered her gaze and quickly followed the emperor when he moved toward the doctor's office again.

The doctor wasn't any less surprised to see her. Blanche was on edge while telling him about her amnesia the whole time, but she was lucky. The doctor only examined her, and when he couldn't find any wounds, he let her go again. He told her to search for a doctor in her vicinity so that that person could offer her long-time treatment, and she only nodded at that.

When she left the room to see Theodore, who had gone out to give her some privacy, she found the emperor quickly. He was discussing something with a middle-aged woman with a gray bun and a stern expression. “Prepare the biggest guest room on the second floor for her. The one in the eastern corner. Get it ready for her to sleep tonight and do the rest tomorrow. She may stay for a longer time, so it would be best to give her a capable maid. A woman at a similar age would be good.”

This caused the woman to bow her head. “With all due respect, Your Majesty. May I inquire what made you decide to take in this person when we do not even have her full name? There is a high chance of her being related to those people.”

Theodore shook his head. “No, she isn't. I have no real proof for that, but something about her tells me that she isn't dangerous. You will see it when you meet her, Gloria. She is definitely a kind and innocent person. Even if I agree that us not knowing about her past is a bit...” He cut himself off when he saw Blanche from the corner of his eye. He turned to her. “There you are. That was fast.” He walked over to her even though she had already begun approaching him. “Did he find anything?”

Blanche shook her head. “Nothing. Even if your advisor asks him again, he won't tell him more than that.” She glanced at Leon, who had immediately rushed to the doctor when she left. “He didn't find any wounds nor any illnesses. Since I'm not feeling unwell, that was to be expected.” She still hated the fact that she was worrying the emperor by lying about her amnesia, but she had no choice for now.

Theodore seemed relieved to hear the news and gave her a little smile. “That's good. Then we can let you sleep without any worries. I will show you to your room. But it may take a little while until everything is prepared for you to live comfortably. In the meantime, I could-” He was cut off by someone clearing their throat.

Leonard, who had seemingly finished bothering the poor doctor after just a few seconds, interrupted him while leaning against the door frame. He crossed his arms. “Your Majesty, aren't you forgetting something?” When he received a confused look, his expression darkened, and he resumed with suppressed anger in his voice. “Your birthday ball. You know, the one with the countless guests that are waiting for you? Shouldn't you attend that event or at least say goodbye before running off?”

Blanche inwardly scolded herself for forgetting that. “Ah. Right.” She turned to Theodore and showed him a blinding smile. “Happy birthday!”

For a moment, Theodore froze and just stared at her. It took him a few seconds before he returned the smile and replied. “Thank you.” He was silent for a few seconds before glancing at his advisor. “I'll just bring her to her room, and then I'm coming back. You can go first. I will be back in a minute.”

Leonard furrowed his brows at that. “I certainly won't leave you alone with her. I have no idea what tricks she has up her sleeve. Maybe she'll-”

“You can go first.” This time, Theodore didn't allow any complaints. He watched as Leon narrowed his eyes until the secretary rushed off. Then he turned to Blanche again. “I apologize for that. He is always in a bad mood when he needs to host festivities for me. He is rather harsh when he is stressed, but he is kind once you get to know him. Even if he is very sarcastic. Please excuse his caution around you. He is used to...working with more dangerous people.” The fact that he was actually telling her this so that she wouldn't feel bad made her heart skip a beat.

Blanche smiled at him. “I understand that he is suspicious of me. I would find it strange too. Because I suddenly appeared here, it would be natural to be worried. I really don't want to do anything bad though.” Except maybe for running her fingers through Theodore's hair, which looked so soft that she could bury her face in it. Or touching his face, which looked even more handsome now that she saw him in the candlelight that allowed her to discern more of his features.

Theodore's lips formed a small grin as well. “I know. If you had wanted to try something, you wouldn't have given up the perfect opportunity that you had. We were alone a while ago, and I have yet to receive a knife in my shoulder.” That he even had to expect that was a bit rejecting.

Blanche's face fell. She was a bit more serious when she replied. “I would never attack another person like that... Unless they attacked me first.” Aside from the fact that she was so weak that a frail elderly woman could defeat her in a fight, she also didn't have the desire to see anyone bleeding. But she would defend her own life in an emergency.

The emperor seemed to like her response. “That's a good attitude to have. You will not need to worry about that while being in the palace though. There are countless skilled knights here. Everyone will protect you from whatever could threaten you.” He said that, but he seemed to be the only one to wish for her safety.

The skeptical gaze that the woman named Gloria gave Blanche was enough to prove that the staff members would rather treat the unknown guest like a threat.

But Blanche understood that. After all, her presence here truly had to be strange. So, she would do her best to be inconspicuous for a while. For now, that luckily included being nice to the emperor. “Thank you. I feel much safer after hearing that.” Especially since those guards wouldn't arrest her as long as the emperor protected her.

Theodore smiled at her again, which made her heart skip a beat. “That is good to hear. You will be able to live here calmly for as long as you want to. I shall bring you to your bedroom now. Today was an exhausting day, so you should rest.”

Blanche nodded and accompanied him when he led her to their destination. While they walked around, she gawked at the gorgeous interior and the brightly illuminated hallways, of which hundredths seemed to exist. It almost seemed like they had taken some detours just so that she could see a bit more of the palace, but she wasn't sure about that. She could swear that Theodore smiled at her looking around with widened eyes though, which quickly made her embarrassed.

She shouldn't get so excited because of her small delusions. There was no way that the emperor, the man that could have any woman he desired, would fall for a commoner like her. Not just because she had been enchanted by him after one glance.

But she did know that he liked her a little. He had hugged her, held her hand, defended her from others, and now he was bringing her to her room after he had allowed her to move in with him. Everything went much faster than it should have, but she wouldn't complain. After all, she was content just being able to spend a little more time with him. That was why she was actually a bit disappointed when they reached her room.

This emotion quickly disappeared when Theodore opened the door for her though. She only took one step into the room and already froze in awe. What had been called a room was actually more of a small apartment. There was a big main room and some smaller ones, including a bath and a second seating area. The main room had a sofa with two armchairs, a small table with cushioned chairs and a huge bed that looked too fluffy to be real. There was a massive wardrobe by one of the walls, which were white with golden ornaments near the floor and ceiling. The room seemed to be illuminated by a big chandelier made out of glass and gold as well as countless candleholders that were golden as well. There were few decorations aside from that, which was probably the case since this was a guest room, which wouldn't be used too often.

But that only raised more questions. How could anyone that owned such beautiful chambers refrain from living in them? Most likely, this was only because the emperor was used to much more luxury. That might be why he grinned at her reaction upon seeing those huge chambers.

When Blanche was done admiring everything, she spoke up. “Are you sure that I can really sleep here? It's so beautiful.”

Theodore just showed her a bright smile. “I'm glad that you like it. Since no one ever uses this, I would be happy to let you spend the night here. You can stay as long as you want to.”

Blanche almost couldn't believe that. Julien's mansion had been pretty, and his furniture had looked expensive, but this was on a completely different level. Blanche couldn't help but inspect the room with shiny eyes. She hoped that she didn't seem too much like a poor commoner that had seen such a gorgeous room for the first time, but she probably couldn't hide the truth. Even if her family had been wealthy, something like this was reserved for the royal palace. Since she had never been here, it was only natural for her to admire the interior. And being able to spend a night here was like a dream come true.

After a moment, Blanche turned to the emperor and smiled at him while doing her best to ignore the tingling in her stomach. “Thank you for your hospitality. I won't touch anything to make sure that it stays clean and unscathed.” She didn't trust her own clumsiness after all. The furniture here was way too expensive for her to leave a scratch somewhere.

Theodore didn't seem to worry about that though. “Oh, no. There is no need for you to act like this is just for decoration. It's a normal guest room. You don't have to be too careful. This room is supposed to be yours, so use it like you would normally.” He paused at that before adding something. “Well, or how you feel like using it now.” He was thinking about her fake amnesia again. He worried about saying the wrong thing because she had lied to him.

Blanche lowered her gaze for a moment. No matter how often she told herself that this was only for her own protection, she still felt bad. It would probably be fine since she couldn't stay here forever anyway, but it was still a bit concerning.

The emperor seemed to have misinterpreted her gesture though. He immediately gave his best to reassure her. “There is absolutely no need for you to worry about anything.” Theodore met her gaze with confidence and showed her a little smile. “We will find out who you are. I promise that I will help you locate your family. And then we will see what we can do.”

Blanche lifted her hands to her face and hid her cheeks to cover the slight blush. How could someone seem so wonderful just because of a few kind words? She truly had to be out of her mind to react like this. But she didn't have the will or strength to fight back against her first love. For now, she was happy to be able to feel such a heartwarming emotion.

Still, a part of her mind was trying to approach this logically. There was absolutely no reason for the emperor to be kind to her. He probably hoped to gain something from this. And even if she would love to give him everything he desired, she didn't have even a single copper coin. There was no way for her to give him anything except for a few kind words. Maybe it would be better to tell him that from the beginning instead of keeping quiet until he found out. Even if that meant that he might stop being nice to her.

Blanche lowered her gaze again before she forced herself to speak up. “I don't have any money, so...” She barely realized that saying things like this when she officially had no memory of her past life was a bit stupid in time. So, she hurried to correct herself. “I mean... I don't remember it even if I had some. And I also can't contact my family. That means that I can't pay you back or gift you something back out of courtesy. So...” She barely dared to look up at the emperor and almost expected annoyance.

But she was only met with Theodore's tranquil expression. “I know that. I would not even ask for anything if I knew that you had more than enough to give. I offered to help you of my own free will, so I require nothing in return. I can sleep calmly as long as I know that you are safe and not wandering around aimlessly.”

Blanche was dumbfounded by such a kind response. This wasn't good at all. If the perfect man in front of her was also selfless and loved to help others, she wouldn't ever be able to develop feelings for another person again. She might just be stuck with liking this man that was completely out of her reach.