As soon as the concubine left the room, Stella approached her mistress with curiosity. “And? Did His Majesty like your cake?”

Blanche replied with a wide grin. “He adored it. He said that I did a great job and that he would love to eat more I bake.”

That seemed to make Stella happy too as she responded while beaming. “See? I knew that His Majesty would love it!” She was a bit louder than before while saying that, which attracted the knights' stares.

The women ignored that and walked towards the concubine's chambers.

On the way back, Blanche realized that she was humming to herself. Getting Theodore's approval was such a small thing, but it meant the world to her. It probably wasn't normal that her psychological well-being was so dependent on him, however, she couldn't bring herself to care about that. She would enjoy every second with her lover to the fullest before it would inevitably end. As she recounted the events of the meal in bliss, she stopped in her tracks.

This almost made her maid run into her. Stella, who had barely stopped before the collision, quickly questioned whether there was something wrong. “My Lady?”

Blanche frowned when she addressed her worry. “Do you know what the empress likes?”

In an instant, Stella's expression changed from concern to showing complete confusion. “What?”

“I mean as a present. Theo reminded me of her birthday. I need to prepare a gift that the empress will like at least a little bit for that. I know that she often reads, but I can't simply give her some book when she has the royal library at her disposal.” Blanche explained that as she continued to move towards her room.

Stella adapted to her mistress' pace and held her chin while she pondered. After a short while, she responded. “I'm sorry. I have no idea what Her Majesty would enjoy. I believe I know less about her personality or interests than you. But her birthday is still two months away, right? So, that means that you have enough time to find something fitting.”

They arrived at their destination and entered the room before closing the door behind them.

Blanche sat down on her bed and nodded. “Yes, but I don't have a clue where to begin. That's why it might be good to start searching now. Perhaps I should ask someone close to her.”

“That would be helpful.” After a pause, Stella spoke up again. “Maybe you could also go into the city and look at some stores. You don't only have to take a look at the boutiques and luxury shops either. Of course, you can't buy something for Her Majesty in the stores of commoners, but you might get some inspiration there.”

After hearing this, the concubine perked up. After staying in the palace for a long time, she had only needed an excuse to go outside. Finding a present for the empress was a perfect reason to go out. Theodore would definitely allow her that, and she could go out with guards.

Though this would sate her curiosity, it wouldn't give her a chance to inspect the secret passageway. She still hadn't attempted to look at it after Allen had interrupted her, but securing an escape route for an emergency was necessary, even if it was just to find out whether their enemies could use that hole. However, that was hard to accomplish with all the guards patrolling the garden and impossible with her maid watching her at all times.

Blanche glanced over to the other woman. “Stella, didn't you tell me that you will visit the sea during your free days? Won't that be this week?” This was almost too perfect. Since when was Blanche this lucky?

Stella didn't notice what her mistress was thinking and nodded excitedly. “Yes, I look forward to going to the coast. I haven't been there for a few years and saved money to pay for the carriage ride. Now I will finally see the fruits of my hard labor. I'll leave in two days, you know? You should have remembered that.” She beamed before she paused for a moment and then talked in a more serious manner. “Have you reminded His Majesty to assign another servant to you for that week? He might have forgotten that considering how many duties he has at this moment. If you don't point that out, you could be on your own for the time that I'm away.”

The concubine made a rejecting hand gesture as she replied, “I'll do that tomorrow during breakfast.” She wouldn't. For one, Blanche wasn't keen on being waited on by an unknown person, who probably disliked her. The servants couldn't insult her, but most of them displayed their opinion on the emperor's lover very openly, like Gloria did. The concubine could accept being ignored or refuse to acknowledge gossip, but she didn't want to spend a whole week with someone who hated her.

In addition, while she considered Stella a good friend, she was glad to have some time for herself. She would be able to get lost in thoughts whenever she wanted and could examine the passage in the wall without being forced to hurry to finish before the maid came back. Blanche should be able to take care of herself for a few days. She could simply wear less complicated dresses, which she could put on herself, and everything else should be a piece of cake. Since she ate with Theodore, she also didn't need to ask someone to bring her food to her chambers, and she was capable of walking there alone.

The prospect of possibly leaving the royal property on her own was thrilling enough to fill the concubine with slight excitement that slowly grew with each time she thought about this option.

The wait for Stella's vacation felt like an eternity. Whenever Blanche thought about visiting the city, she began fiddling her hands and pacing around on the same spot while being filled with anticipation and worry. Luckily, her maid was just as excited because of the joy about her upcoming journey since she didn't seem to notice what her mistress was plotting.

And so, that day finally arrived with Blanche feeling much more uneasy than she cared to admit to being.

When Stella prepared to leave, the concubine saw her off at the main entrance. The maid had given her baggage to the coachman and talked to a couple of her colleagues while her mistress stood farther away to give them some privacy.

Blanche tried not to listen, but a few words still reached her even when she turned away.

One of Stella's friends, a young woman, suggested something in a cheerful tone. “You should use your vacation to relax once in a while. You deserve a break.”

A second servant, a smaller woman, chimed in. “Yes, you always work so hard and pull us along with your energy. Without you, it's much harder to stay motivated.”

A third man spoke up at that point. “Well, that's because you always push your duties onto her whenever you can.” This joke caused the group to break out in laughter while the addressed girl pouted playfully.

This joyful banter continued for a moment before Stella took a look at the coachman, who was becoming impatient. “I should go now so that we will arrive on time.” She glanced back at her friends. “Thank you for coming here. I'll miss you.”

The first maid hugged Stella right after that. “We'll miss you too! Enjoy your vacation, and tell us about the sea afterward.” Her actions seemed to have lured the other ones in.

One after the other, all of the servants embraced their friend and told her goodbye.

In the end, Stella hugged them back for a while. Then she let go and said something to them before. She turned to her mistress and approached her while her colleagues watched with confusion. When Stella stopped in front of the concubine, she put on a somewhat shy smile. “I'm sorry for letting you wait, My Lady. I should have talked to you first so that you could have left earlier.”

Blanche dismissed her worry with a small gesture. “I wouldn't leave early either way. I'm going to wave as you ride off into the distance.” Her smiling expression became a bit more serious as she added something. “I really hope that you have a lot of fun, but most importantly, have a safe journey.”

Her maid beamed in return. “I will. When I come back, I'll give you a vivid description of the sea so that you can look forward to seeing it for yourself when His Majesty takes you to the summer residence.”

“But only if you don't make me too jealous with your story.” The concubine responded with a grin that was supposed to hide her uncertainty. She had a very life-like image of the sea in her mind, but that could only be based on other's stories. And unfortunately, she couldn't be sure that she would be able to catch a single glimpse at the real ocean at all. Not when the novel progressed.

For a moment, the women stood before each other in silence, which made Blanche focus on the presence again.

Sending Stella off without anything else seemed cold, but Blanche didn't know whether her initial thought went too far. She wanted to hug her servant as the others had done it, however, there was a great difference between them. The people standing there had been the maid's friends for years. Blanche, on the other hand, had only begun to improve her relationship with Stella less than two months ago. Before that, they hadn't exchanged words aside from greetings, orders and short replies in a distant or even hostile tone. Would an embrace be too sudden or unpleasant for her servant?

Much like the concubine, Stella also seemed as if she still wanted to say something. She stayed quiet for a couple of seconds before slightly lifting her arms to the side and thus, offering her mistress a careful hug without forcing her into it.

Blanche's surprise was quickly shoved aside by glee. So, Stella did consider her as a friend, which proved that the conversations of the last weeks had meant as much to the servant as they did to the concubine. After this invitation, Blanche didn't hesitate to pull the maid into an embrace but still moved slowly to avoid startling the other woman.

They put their arms around each other's bodies and remained like that momentarily. Within an instant, the gazes of everyone present were on them, but the women didn't let the attention interrupt their interaction. When they pulled back, a bright smile adorned both of their lips.

Blanche couldn't help but say one final goodbye. “Have a joyful journey.”

Stella nodded at this and glanced towards the coachman, who had already taken a seat on the carriage. “Thank you. I really have to leave now. We'll see each other in a week.”

“I will wait right here at the entrance.”

The maid chuckled at the promise and climbed into the coach, from where she waved the people bidding farewell to her. “Goodbye!” The servant's exclamation was returned by her colleagues while the horses started to move towards the tiled pathway, which led away from the palace.

Blanche stayed at the same spot and waved until the coach had disappeared onto the broad street, which wasn't visible from behind the main gate. Suddenly, she felt really alone. While she was confident in being able to live on her own for a week, another problem became noticeable immediately. As soon as she turned around to return to her chambers, she realized that she hadn't imagined that all the servants were staring at her. Their friend's intimacy with the hated concubine had probably surprised them. But Blanche wouldn't be the one to tell them how this had come to be.

The concubine tried to ignore the people that were watching her and entered the palace through the main entrance. However, just after a few steps, she understood that walking through the corridors without Stella trailing behind her made her feel less protected. The staff's cautious gazes and their indiscreet whispering intimidated her more than she wanted to admit. Normally, she could focus on a conversation with her maid, but that wasn't possible now. She felt exactly like when she had come to the palace first. It was awful.

Every time someone gazed at her for too long, she had to fight the urge to shrink under their judgmental looks. This was more than enough to make her take the shortest route back to her room. Even though she had impatiently awaited Stella's departure before, sitting on her bed alone without someone to talk to made her feel lonely after just a few minutes. Luckily, the time for dinner arrived soon so that she could join Theodore for a bit.

None of the guards or other servants whom the concubine met on the way asked her about the absence of her maid, and her lover didn't notice anything either. This filled her with a little confidence. Maybe luck was on her side at least once. Hopefully, her journey to the capital would be possible without any unpleasant occurrences as well.

She didn't keep this optimistic stance for long.

The first thing Blanche noticed the next morning was that her luck was as unreliable as always. She had gotten up in the middle of the night to drink something. She had wanted to close her eyes again after that, but since her maid wasn't here, she feared that she would sleep in. That wouldn't be a problem if Theodore wouldn't wait for her at the breakfast table, but he would. Thus, the concubine stayed awake despite yawning and her eyelids becoming heavy.

When the sun began to illuminate the room, she stood up and dressed. This took her long enough as she wasn't used to binding the corset on her own behind her back. After trying this unsuccessfully for a while, she gave up and put on a very simple dress instead of one of her favorites. Brushing her hair proved to be even more of a challenge. During the biggest part of her life, another person had taken over this task for her, so Blanche hadn't done this alone in ages. Normally, that would have been fine, but her hair seemed to like troubling her, so she took a while. In the end, she managed to untangle her locks but not without pulling out more hairs than she should have.

A look at the clock then also informed her that she was late despite being awake since the middle of the night, and she hurried to the dining room. On the way there, she almost tripped over her dress and barely regained her balance in the last second, which even made Owen, who was waiting before the door, prepare to catch her.

Theodore was already at the table when Blanche came, so he, once again, didn't notice that she had arrived alone. The meal went by without anything special except for the emperor asking if she hadn't slept well, which she had to affirm.

After parting ways with her lover, Blanche was eager to search for the secret passageway, but luck still wasn't on her side. A couple of gardeners were cutting the bushes just across from her destination. Even if the novel hadn't described anyone but Seraphina finding the passageway, this worried the concubine a bit. Should these gardeners check on the wall for some reason, they would locate the passage, and it would be closed immediately. Naturally, she couldn't investigate her secret escape route while they were working. But the hidden hole was in their field of view, and she couldn't avoid them.

So, she had to wait another day.

The following night, Blanche was able to sleep until it was time for breakfast. She was fully awake today, however, a glimpse of the time made her jump out of bed. To be punctual, she had to get ready in less than five minutes, which wasn't nearly enough time. She had barely put on a dress and made her hair look acceptable when she already stormed out of her room. With this, she managed to scare the maid, whom Theodore had sent due to his lover being tardy, and needed to apologize multiple times, which only seemed to worry the amid even more.

The concubine was out of breath when she arrived in the corridor by the dining room and earned Theodore's questioning expression with that. Unsurprisingly, he asked what happened, and she responded with a lie about Stella having missed waking her. Apparently, that excuse was good enough.

After breakfast, she went into the garden, only to realize that the gardeners were still there. Blanche was slowly getting frustrated as she stomped back to her room, which almost led to a collision with a servant, who was carrying a pile of clothes. The man gave her an annoyed look that quickly turned into a bewildered one when she apologized three times and hurriedly closed the door behind her.

In the end, she had wasted another day.

During the next day, Theodore explained that he couldn't join his lover for lunch since he had to attend a meeting with the ministers. This was perfect for Blanche's plan, but that could be easily ruined if the gardeners were still present. So, she almost didn't dare to look at her destination.

But for once, the garden was empty.

Blanche spun around multiple times to make sure that no one was anywhere close to her and then approached the wall. She carefully lifted the hem of her dress and moved between the bushes without stepping on them. She bowed down and put her hands on the cool stone of the wall to detect any cracks. Every few seconds, she turned around to confirm whether someone had come closer as she didn't want to repeat the situation with Allen. After she had done that three times, her fingers brushed over a part of the wall that felt like something had broken off.

The concubine crouched down and shoved the leaves to the side to reveal a hole in the stone. It wasn't too big, but the size was great enough to allow a person to fit through with some squeezing. Blanche could hear her heartbeat pounding in her ears as she whipped her head around. She was still alone with no one present to stop her. She was free to go into the city if she wanted to do so.

For a moment, she hesitated. Was it a good idea to try this? Surely, the capital was safe as long as she stayed in the wealthy parts of the city, but was this really necessary? Technically, Blanche had decided that she would stay with Theodore, so examining a way to go out wasn't really helpful. But it would still be good to have a clue of how the capital and the way there looked, right? Just so that Blanche could avoid the heroine if it truly became necessary. While she went out, she could also confirm whether the one way to make money she had come up with would work for her. She was pretty certain that she wouldn't need gold coins when she stayed with Theodore, but she had to admit that her curiosity won. She could just take a small step out to check whether it was safe first, right?

Adrenaline shot through her veins as she lifted her dress higher to avoid dragging it across the floor and stepped in front of the passage. She slowly crawled through the hole. After just a few steps, she had overcome the impassable walls of the palace. She had to squeeze through the gap between the stone and a great bush on the other side. When she straightened her posture, her eyes darted around her surroundings.

No one was to be seen. That was stupid. Surely, the area on this side of the wall didn't belong to the royal estate, which meant that people could technically move around here, but there were still many guards that liked to send outsiders away. Why couldn't she see any of those?

Uncertainty began nagging at Blanche's brain. Was it truly safe for her to be here? Surely, there weren't any dangers close to the royal estate. The worst that could happen was being caught by guards, who would bring her back and ruined her chances of having a secret escape route, which she had decided to not use anyway. There also weren't many crimes in the part of the city she wanted to visit, and no one would recognize her as long as she didn't yell her name loudly. While the commoners had heard rumors about the emperor's lover, they had never seen her and had a vague description of her in mind at most.

The most dangerous part was probably the way from the palace into the city. If she could cross that distance, she would actually be able to justify her trip.

Blanche remembered that the novel had described how Seraphina had paid the owner of a cart to drive her to her destination with a few gold coins. If that had worked for the heroine, it should be fine for Blanche too. She was confusingly sure about that, which was enough for her to make her decision.

She climbed back inside the walls and approached her room while taking care that the servants didn't notice her. She opened a small chest in her wardrobe and pulled out a velvet sack. The concubine took a few coins from her emergency stack, which wasn't too big but just great enough for her to buy something in the city. She put those inside the sack, which she hid in her hand, before changing into the most inconspicuous dress she had. Blanche couldn't quite hope to look like a poor commoner like this, but at least no one would suspect that she was rich enough to be a good target for thieves. Along with the fact that she wanted to go to a neighborhood with a more wealthy clientele, and thus many guards, that was enough to keep her safe.

She confirmed whether she had everything she needed once again before climbing downstairs and exiting the palace. After waiting for some guards to pass by and making sure that she was alone now, she left the estate through the hole again. It seemed like the gods were gracious with her today as her path was cleared by some magical coincidence.

As Blanche stepped away from the royal walls, she found herself on top of a hill from which she had an unobstructed view of the outline of the capital. For a moment, her lungs let out all air, and she forgot to breathe. Since the last time that she had seen the city, it had grown so immensely that the difference was even visible from a distance. In just a year, the world around the royal estate had changed completely while time seemed to be stopped inside the palace.

When Blanche caught her breath again, her gaze wandered to the little marketplace that was located between the capital and the palace. This was where Seraphina had found her ride, and the concubine intended to try that too. She began walking down the hill. The grass below her shoes felt as strangely familiar as the breeze, which made her hair whirl around in the air. It seemed like she unconsciously remembered her childhood outside the palace better than she noticed. But had she ever been here at this marketplace? Blanche doubted it.

After a few minutes, she arrived at the tiled square, which was covered with a few stalls where the vendors were presenting their goods. She let her eyes roam around until she found an old man with a cart, which was pulled by two horses. After she watched the trader chatting with a few of his colleagues, she came to the conviction that he seemed like he would gladly help someone for some gold coins. That familiar man's cart matched the novel's description with its green and red flags tied to the back, so it should be fine.

Blanche approached the man with slight uncertainty, and his gaze met hers.

A bright smile appeared on the man's face as she reached him. “Good day, young lady. Can I help you with something?” This was definitely the person that brought people around on his cart. He had the same gap between his teeth, which was the only thing the concubine had memorized about this person's appearance.

Blanche returned a beam and responded. “I wish a good day to you too. Yes, I would like to go to the capital. Are you willing to bring me there for a few cold coins?” She lifted the sack up and shook it so that a clinking was audible.

The man gave her a nod and pointed to his cart. “If the young lady is fine with riding in this run-down thing, I'm glad to bring you to your destination.” He helped her with climbing onto the seat and sat down next to her as he seemed to do it with everyone that asked him to bring them somewhere.

Unsurprisingly, Blanche had made the right decision in this regard. The man was nice and joked a bit about her avoiding her parents' watchful eyes and him remembering his wild youth as well, so the ride was pleasant and quick. The horses were way faster than the concubine would have been while walking.

After about half an hour, they reached the city gate. The streets were filled with masses of people, who were going through their daily schedule and scurrying around.

The cart wasn't suitable to move past the crowd, so Blanche jumped off. She didn't know how many coins she should give the man, so she handed him five. She had thought that being generous would make him more likely to help her in the future. But apparently, that amount had been too much since it made him stare at her with wide eyes. She had overdone it with those stupid gold coins. This would make her more memorable than she wanted to be, but taking some money back now wasn't polite either.

Thankfully, the man was very grateful. He offered to bring her back in the evening, and they set up a meeting point by the gate. Then he left her alone amongst the cramped roads after giving her some tips on where to go.

Blanche nodded but ignored his words. She knew where she needed to go. At first, she had trouble orientating herself and squeezing through the small gaps between the vendors, but as she moved forward, fewer citizens ran around. As soon as she spotted the main street, she followed it while humming to herself. Blanche had managed to find the part of the town where the stores for the more wealthy clientele were located. The boutiques and luxury shops were in yet another district, but even here a significantly smaller amount of people was present.

It should be possible for her to find a pawnshop here. In an emergency, which she knew that she would be very reluctant to accept, she might be able to give away some of her jewelry in exchange for enough money to keep herself afloat for a few weeks. Surely, this wasn't going to help her in the long run though. Handing over too many valuable items would require her to name a household that would vouch to pay back the money in the future, much like selling too much jewelry at the same time would make people ask for a proof of ownership. But if she could get enough money to pay for food for a couple of days, and possibly buy some nice, small gift for Theodore, that was the best she could do at the moment. First, she would have to find that pawnshop though.

Or a store in general, where she could search for an idea for Seraphina's present. That was much more important. After all, Blanche was aware that her needing to attend the empress' birthday party was a million times more likely than her actually running away.

She shouldn't take too long to find either type of store though, so it didn't matter what she did first. This was a place that Blanche had visited a few times in the past with her parents. She knew the general layout of the streets and could probably find her way around as long as she paid attention to the stores she had been to in the past. Back then, she had never had an issue with orienting herself, so she was sure that it would be fine. And for the most part, it truly was fine. The surrounding area was familiar.

Still, Blanche had to admit that she took longer than before. She scanned the buildings and inspected the signs that showed the street names, but quickly noticed that she wasn't that close to her destination. Now that she was in the midst of the labyrinth of roads, she had to admit that storming into the city without preparation might not have been the best idea. She had no choice but to find the stores she knew to figure out how to move forward from there, even if that meant taking a detour. She stared at the facade of one of the shops and took a step backward to read its name.

That had been a stupid idea though. When she ran into another person, she realized that wasn't alone at this intersection like she had previously believed.

The sudden impact almost made Blanche trip, and she only managed to avoid that because the figure behind her had grabbed her shoulders to stabilize her. The concubine spun around and hurriedly apologized. “I'm sorry, I didn't-”

The words died in her throat when she came face to face with a pair of golden eyes. It was like she was staring directly into a pot of melted gold, and she was mesmerized for a second. But the air left her lungs for another reason.

“Lady Blanche?” The other party's voice sounded as startled as she was.

Why was that man here? Luciano Vasquez, the son of Duke Vasquez, was one of the people she definitely shouldn't meet.