During the next days, Blanche didn't attempt to leave the royal estate, even though she had become bored with sitting around in her room quickly. With Stella being away, she had nothing else to do and regretted wanting her maid to leave. It hadn't even been a week, but she missed the other woman anyway as she desperately tried to pass the time in some way.

Blanche let out a sigh and leaned her forehead against the window as she observed the garden through the glass. She expected to see a few servants and no one else. But today she was surprised to see that Seraphina walked down the tiled path. Blanche moved away a little to avoid being visible from the outside and kept her eyes trained onto the empress, who was accompanied by a man.

It looked like Allen had come to the palace to visit his sister. The two moved towards the terrace, which probably meant that their destination was the labyrinth. In the book, that had been the heroine's favorite place for private discussions. Gossip spread faster than anything else in noble households, so this was actually a good idea. And as expected, the siblings approached the maze and stepped inside, which left Blanche without a source of entertainment again.

The concubine focused on the inside again. She let her gaze roam through the room and searched for something else to busy herself with. She froze when she saw the guidebook that Leon had given her. A scowl formed on her face. Was she really bored enough to consider reading? Unfortunately, the answer was ‘yes’. She grabbed the book and sat down on the window sill again.

She skimmed through the topics that interested her and arrived at the chapter about table etiquette. Pictures depicted the correct positioning of the utensils as well as how forks, knives and spoons were supposed to be held. Surprisingly, the explanations were easy to understand, and Blanche ended up flipping through all the pages. Contrary to Evelyn's demands, the content of this book wasn't very hard to memorize. Most of the things one should pay attention to were logical, like the proper treatment of nobles of a higher rank. All in all, Blanche was confident that she would be able to follow these rules without major problems.

Blanche shut the guide and put it next to her when a motion outside caught her eyes.

Seraphina and her brother had returned and were having a conversation just below the concubine's window.

Blanche first thought was to open her window so that she could listen to them, but she quickly scolded herself for being nosy. She hated others prying into matters that didn't concern them, so she wouldn't do the same. Besides, hearing the heroine's voice also wouldn't improve her mood.

She prepared to turn away as she realized that Allen was staring directly in her direction. Their eyes met for a moment. Of course he had caught her right in the act of observing him and his sister. Great. The concubine cursed her bad luck as she felt warmth rushing to her cheeks.

Presumably because of Allen's sudden silence, the empress raised her head to gaze at the window as well. Suddenly, the situation was much different.

Blanche's body acted before her brain did. She jumped away from the window and barely got away from her seating place, which caused her to trip. Her legs gave in, and she crashed onto the floor with a loud thud. She winced at the noise and stayed on the floor for a few more seconds. Hopefully, the siblings hadn't heard or seen her accident just now. If they did, that would be an embarrassment she wouldn't forget anytime in the close future.

For a moment, Blanche just covered her face with her hands while trying to calm her rapidly beating heart. Why had she been so panicked upon seeing the empress just now? They might be fated enemies, but she couldn't lose her cool like this. Blanche sighed before she finally found the energy to stand up. She knelt next to the window and raised her head as slowly as possible.

This time, no one was to be seen in the garden.

Blanche let out a breath of relief and got onto her feet. Her spine ached slightly, but otherwise, she was fine. She brushed off her dress to get rid of any dirt that might have clung to the fabric and looked at the window sill. She didn't want to sit down again and do nothing for the rest of the day. But except for taking walks and talking to Stella, she had never done much.

In hindsight, her life sounded pretty boring, but when her maid was present, she didn't pay much attention to that. Still, Blanche had to admit that it was true that she didn't act on her own often. The last time she had done an unusual activity within the palace, she had gone into the kitchen to bake a cake.

This thought almost made her raise her fist in victory. She could simply bake another cake. While she didn't remember the other recipes as clearly as the one for the citrus-blueberry cake, some of her mother's favorites were still fresh in her mind. Making them would be fun and allow her to pass the time in a way that was a little more fulfilling than doing nothing. With newfound motivation, she left her chambers and steered towards the kitchen.

Blanche knocked on the door twice and then entered. Unlike during her last visits, the chef wasn't anywhere to be seen. Instead, a significantly smaller number of servants than usual were inside the kitchen. They also weren't running around and working but standing at a counter to chat with each other. This scene was very different from the typical hectic rush that always ruled in the kitchen so that the concubine froze in the doorway.

As if she had intruded into a secret space, the four servants stopped their discussion to stare at her. Simultaneously, their carefree faces turned into cautious ones, and they exchanged a few glances with each other. Those were some of Stella's friends, weren't they? The concubine was rather sure of it, but in the end, that didn't matter. Seemingly, none of them wanted to speak up and greet the emperor's lover, so everyone stayed silent.

Blanche's gaze roamed across the room in hopes of finding the cook that had given her permission last time. If he was present, she wouldn't need to explain that she wanted to use their utensils to bake to others. But he wasn't there. So, she forced herself to speak up despite the somewhat hostile atmosphere. “Uhm, is one of the chefs somewhere here?”

At first, the servants remained quiet, and the concubine feared that she wouldn't receive an answer, but eventually, one of the two women responded. “He isn't.” This curt reply was voiced in a much sharper tone than the question should have evoked.

Inwardly, the concubine groaned. If the staff disliked her, getting their permission to bake in the kitchen would be much harder. But her only other option was giving up and returning to sit in her room all day, which she wasn't ready to do. “Alright then. Would you mind if I used the furnace and a baking form?”

The servants were as surprised as she had imagined them to be. They had been skeptical of her intentions from the beginning and were even more on edge now. The one to talk was one of the men now. “For what do you need that?”

Blanche ignoring his lack of polite speech and just answered. “I would like to bake a cake. I did that a while ago too, and the chef allowed me to do so. Since he isn't here, I wanted to ask you whether that was alright.”

Three of the servants were bewildered by her statement. Only the man who had spoken just now narrowed his eyes. “You can bake?” The disbelieving tone in which he said this was actually more insulting than them treating the person who they should serve without any respect. Though he couldn't know that the concubine had prepared food often before. He had only witnessed how she lived in the palace, where she didn't do anything on her own. So, his skepticism was logical.

Blanche shrugged and replied. “It seems like it. The cake wasn't perfect last time, but it tasted good. Anyway, may I work with your utensils?”

The servants looked at one another before another woman raised her voice. “You just need them for now, right?”

The concubine affirmed this with a nod.

The other party kept her mouth shut for a moment and then reluctantly agreed. “That should be fine.”

“Thank you.” Blanche didn't want to waste more time. She approached the cabinet from where she had taken the tools at her previous visit. She sorted out the utensils she needed and did the same with the ingredients afterward. For today, she had thought about making an apple pie and became sure of her decision when she found a few of the juicy, red fruits she needed. Since she hadn't done this in a few years, peeling them took longer than she had expected. But after she finished that, the rest of the steps were almost too easy. During the whole time, she felt the servants' gazes on her back and heard their low whispering. Despite this, they didn't address her until she was in the middle of pressing the dough into the baking form.

At that point, one of the women slowly walked in the other's direction and then stayed closely behind the concubine in silence.

Blanche glanced over her shoulder to look at the servant. “Is something wrong?”

Upon being spoken to, the maid was startled and took a step backward. “I didn't mean to interrupt you.”

“It's fine. You didn't disturb me in any way.” The concubine turned back to her work. She mixed the apple pieces with cinnamon and put them into the baking form as well. Then she used gloves to place the dish into the furnace.

While she did this, the servant stepped next to her and crouched down slightly to inspect the unfinished cake. “How did-” The woman began but stopped midway.

Blanche looked at her again, only to not receive a full question still.

The maid's face showed conflicting emotions. On the one hand, she seemed to be interested in what the emperor's lover was doing. However, she also didn't want to openly ask the person that she disliked so much. She was unable to decide what she wanted to do and just stood there in silence. After a few seconds, this began to feel strange, but the servant didn't have the intention to move. Without an impulse, she probably wouldn't speak up at all.

So, Blanche made direct eye contact with her. “Yes?”

Suddenly, the previous confidence to ignore the concubine was gone, and the maid's gaze began flickering to the side. “I...uh. I was just wondering how you learned to bake. Because you never prepared food before... Well, at least we didn't see you do that. And you look like you know how to...” The servant's voice trailed off without her finishing her sentence.

Blanche decided to stick to the same excuse as before. “I read about the recipe in a cooking guide. It sounded like it would taste good, so I tried it out. I liked it, so I started to bake more often.” All of that was a lie since she had only used the kitchen of the palace once before. But no one would be able to find out about that unless they interviewed all members of the staff.

“Really?” The maid seemed to have forgotten about her own tension as she stopped fidgeting with her hands.

From the corner of her eyes, Blanche saw that two of the other servants had come closer and tried to catch a glimpse of her creation as well. This proved to be difficult since they couldn't get to the furnace without passing by her. So, they attempted to lean to the side to have an unobstructed view. Their efforts, which most likely were supposed to go by unnoticed, resulted in a rather strange posture, which forced the concubine to conceal a chuckle. Upsetting them because they thought that she made fun of them was the last thing she wished to do, so she stayed quiet.

After their contortions went on for a while, Blanche finally decided to offer them a more simple solution though. “If you want to look at it properly, you could do that when it's out of the furnace. That would be easier for you.”

Immediately, the two servants stopped their movements. The male blushed while the female let out a nervous laugh. Their obvious embarrassment reminded Blanche of the twin's reaction when they were caught trying to nibble on sweets without their parents' permission.

Before Blanche realized it, a soft smile appeared on her face. For her, it was just a normal expression, but the people in front of her froze to stare at her. For a moment, she feared that she had somehow offended them and quickly added something else. “Of course, you can take a look now as well. I just believed that you would be able to do so more easily when the cake is standing on the counter. I didn't mean to order you around.”

Her words hadn't served to lessen the servants' surprise. On the contrary. Now they observed her as if wings suddenly had grown on her back. But, admittedly, hearing these words while they still had the former impolite Blanche in their mind made this response understandable.

The following silence was only accompanied by the quiet crackling of the fire of the furnace, which reminded the concubine to check on her cake.

Blanche leaned down to look into the furnace. She was content with the golden hue that was beginning to slowly spread over the apples and hummed to herself. She hadn't tasted the result yet, but if the appearance and the scent of the cake were an indication, it would be delicious. She prepared to stand up when the maid who had approached her first crouched down next to her.

“How long do you think that it will take until it's ready?” The maid scanned the cake with obvious interest.

This question caught Blanche off guard. She hurried to reply while her mind was already engulfed in the memories of her siblings' impatient nagging. It was strange that she thought about this so often now. Before awaking with the book's knowledge she had rarely thought about her family but definitely not because of her lack of care, as “To Be Empress” had described it. Her reason had probably been that she didn't wish to rip open the barely healed wound that her family's death had left. Though she couldn't know that for sure.

Since the moment the novel had appeared in her life, she had felt such a strange disconnection from her previous self. Before all of this, she had been unaware of the fact that everything she loved would be taken away from her within a year, so that was logical. The only thing that seemed even more distant from herself than her previous personality was the book's depiction of her. The villainess had committed such a large number of vile crimes, which she normally wouldn't consider in her wildest dreams. Working together with Evelyn, who had been a child murderer at that point, was only one of the many deeds that the concubine found despicable. Why would she act like that?

But this question quickly disappeared from her mind as she imagined Seraphina and Theodore on the balcony. Even now, when the spouses didn't have any feelings for each other, jealousy was almost killing her upon seeing them together. If they fell in love in front of her eyes, it wasn't absurd to assume that she would eventually snap.

The male servant spoke up, which pulled Blanche back into reality. “You really memorized that from a recipe? I've been working in the kitchen for three years now, and I still haven't been able to get any numbers right. Neither the weight of the ingredients nor the time the dish needs to cook. I always have to read them up while I prepare the meal, no matter how often I repeat it beforehand.”

Blanche looked up at him with a questioning expression. “How is that a problem at all? I mean, if you put the book or note directly next to you, it would only take a few seconds.”

“Normally, it would be fine, but we're in the royal palace. The requirements are pretty hard to meet when everyone else is working faster than you. Because when I look at the recipe again, I lose the exact amount of seconds that the others finish before me.”

One of the maids chimed in at that too. “Most people don't make a big deal out of it, but there are a handful of mean colleagues here.”

The second maid added something else. “There is one girl who keeps taking George's notes away when we aren't looking. We are often in a hurry, so this happens regularly. Since he can't just ignore the recipe or leave the room to find another written version, he has to ask one of the cooks. Most of them are kind, but when it's stressful, they're really harsh.”

Blanche tried to hide her surprise upon hearing the servants talking to her openly. She wouldn't complain about progress though. She leaned against one of the counters while speaking. “Why does she do that? Does she gain anything from such petty actions?”

The response by George came immediately. “We're both trying to get a promotion and thus, fight for the same position. If she can make me seem bad, she will do anything, including something stupid like this. Maybe she wants the cooks to get annoyed with me, maybe she wants me to yell at her, maybe both. It doesn't matter as long as she ends up appearing like the more competent and collected person.” While narrating he struggled to keep up his neutral expression, with bits of anger, frustration and also resignation shining through his facade.

Blanche considered just listening to his story, but she couldn't help but think about herself. This situation was too similar to the relationship between the heroine and the villainess in the novel. Her original counterpart had also left out no opportunity to harm Seraphina's reputation. She had even caused a scene because of trivialities just to blame the empress for something. But these endeavors had only led to the opposite of what she wanted, her downfall and the other woman's happy end.

Upon thinking that, Blanche spoke up. “I see. That's an unfavorable situation. Have you tried talking to her?”

That made George take a deep breath.

Instead of him, one of the maids answered. “He did. She just accused him of pretending to be kind to take her by surprise with some evil scheme.”

George crossed his arms before adding more to that explanation. “I have to admit that the dislike isn't one-sided. I also wasn't too friendly to her since we always disliked each other. But I mostly ignored her and only got revenge when she started to stir up trouble. With time, this went from insignificant quarrels to what she is doing now, hindering me in my work. At this point, others are affected by this as well because they have to do some of my work when I can't finish it without my notes. For a while now, I didn't bother her at all, but she still didn't stop.”

Blanche searched her brain for some piece of advice she could give him, however, she remained unsuccessful. “That's difficult. Can you-” Her eyes wandered to the side, and the silhouette of the furnace reminded her that she had almost forgotten the cake.

The concubine stormed forward to grab the gloves before quickly pulling the baking form out. In her hurry, she nearly burned herself but managed to put the dish down safely without feeling more than a little sting from the heat. She waved her hands in the cool air and took a deep breath in an attempt to ease the pain a bit.

“Are you alright? I can get you cold water.” One of the maids was ready to rush into the neighboring room, but the concubine stopped her.

“No, no. It's fine. I retracted my fingers just in time.” Blanche set aside the gloves, lifted her arms and moved them around to show that her palms were unharmed before turning back to her creation. To her relief, the rather harsh impact hadn't harmed the cake. A confident smile spread on her face as she leaned forward to inspect the result closer.

The golden-brown apples were framed by a crispy layer of dough, and the delicious fragrance rising with the steam didn't leave any doubt that she would love this pastry. Blanche was barely able to sprinkle some cinnamon over the cake before the three servants arrived by her side to look at it.

“Oh...” One of the women murmured while her eyes widened in awe. “You're really good at baking. It smells so tasty!”

The other maid added similar phrases. “Cinnamon and apples are such a perfect combination. My mouth waters just by looking at it.”

A second later, George nodded as well. “I know... Mine too. It's been so long since I've had apple pie. My mother used to make one when I was small, but now I'm barely home to eat it.”

Their longing stares didn't take long to convince Blanche to offer them the food of their desire. A smile grew on her face as she addressed. “If you want to, we can eat it in about five minutes. Then it should be cooled down slightly but still warm, which is the ideal temperature for this cake.” She only noted her mistake only after she had spoken and hurried to correct herself. “At least I read that in the recipe.”

Instead of showing the same caution as before on their faces, the servants' eyes began to twinkle. “You'll give us a piece?” George questioned that in an almost unbelieving tone.

Blanche nodded. “Of course. This is way too big for me alone. So, you can even have more than one piece.”

George's expression lit up even more. “Honestly? Thank you!”

One of the maids opened her mouth as well, only to be interrupted by a voice coming from the back of the room.

“So, a cake is all that you need to be bribed?”

Along with the others, the concubine turned around. She had completely forgotten about the second man, who was still standing at the counter, where the group had chatted before. His arms were crossed in front of his chest, and his head was slightly tilted upwards, which gave him a somewhat arrogant aura.

While his words had only irritated Blanche slightly, they had affected his colleagues more. They lowered their gaze to the ground or looked to the side while scratching one leg with the other.

The man strode over to them until he stood in front of the concubine and eyed the steaming pastry on the counter. “I'm surprised. At least it looks like an apple pie.” Pure mockery dripped from his voice, but his statement hadn't come across as the insult it was meant to be. He had accidentally complimented the concubine's work after all.

Blanche shrugged. “Well, it's supposed to be one, so that makes sense. Besides, baking a pie isn't that hard. Naturally, I would be able to do that too. I'm pretty sure that even a child can recreate this.”

In just an instant, the prideful expression on the servant's face faltered, and he evaded her gaze.

The smaller maid snorted at his reaction and began teasing him playfully. “I happen to know someone who is a prodigy in the kitchen but still manages to burn every single apple pie that was ever in his grasp. I can't quite remember who that was, can you?”

George quickly chimed into the banter. “I know what you're talking about, but I forgot the name. Isn't he known throughout the whole staff because of his so-called curse, which only affects the apples on a cake even though all of his other sweet pastries always come out fine?”

“Oh, now I realized who-” The second maid began, only to be cut off by the discussed person.

“I am very much aware of that. You use every opportunity to remind me of it, not that I would forget about that in the first place.” Once again, the servant crossed his arms, but his pout and flushed cheeks didn't allow him to radiate the same self-confidence as before. It was somewhat cute to see his arrogance disperse into nothingness.

Observing that interaction made Blanche smile. She didn't know these people at all. But these four were close to Stella and seemed to be great friends just from the way that they treated each other. While the one man's accusation towards the others hadn't been very polite, she doubted that he had been serious about it. Within a few seconds, she had grown to like this group.

The concubine turned to her cake and loosened the pastry from the baking form before moving it onto a plate. Then she grabbed a knife and cut the cake into ten pieces. Originally, the slices were supposed to be of the same size, but apparently, her hand wasn't steady enough to be successful. Yet, she managed to finish without cutting off her own finger. She took out five more plates and put the bigger pieces onto four of them before addressing the servant who had arrived last. “Do you want to be ‘bribed’ too?”

His bewildered face was amusing, to say the least.

Blanche replied with a chuckle. “I'm asking whether you want to have some cake. I can't guarantee that it won't be bad, but you could take that risk.”

The man stayed silent for a moment, in which his gaze continued to flicker from the concubine to the pie.

While he remained indecisive, Blanche handed his friends a piece each and took a plate for herself. Then she gave him another chance. “And?”

From the outside, it was apparent that the gears in the servant's head were turning. His answer had been obvious from the point on at which his colleagues had begun devouring the cake while gushing about how good it tasted. He replied without meeting the concubine's eyes once. “I think I should take a bite to see whether they are complimenting you for nothing.” That was an excuse.

But Blanche didn't force him to be honest as the hungry glimmering in his eyes spoke louder than any words. She prepared another piece and gave him the plate, which he received eagerly.

After one of his friends cleared her throat, the man muttered a small “Thank you” before taking a bite. Within a minute, the piece disappeared inside his mouth, and he finished even faster than his colleagues.

That made George grin. “It wasn't that bad, right?”

The other man pressed his lips together in response. He only spoke again to affirm when the concubine offered him a second helping.

Blanche took a slice of pie for herself and had to agree with the others' judgment. The fruity flavor intertwined with the taste of cinnamon and resulted in a mouth-watering experience. While the apples were mushy and wet, the dough was crispy and thus, created an ideal contrast between the two parts. She was a little proud of herself for her work and for getting the servants' approval.

These people were so happy with the cake that each of them asked for a second piece, which she gladly handed over. As they ate, the servants began to talk about their job as well as their likes and dislikes. They even introduced themselves as George, Angelica, Darlene and Clark. With every minute they relaxed more, even Clark, who had been more hostile at first, but he still evaded the concubine's gaze continuously.

Blanche listened to their conversation and chimed in occasionally while keeping an eye on the clock. She had spent the whole afternoon in the kitchen and now only had less than twenty minutes before it was time for dinner. She had reserved the last remaining piece of the cake for Theodore and didn't plan on arriving too late or being forced to run to the dining room again. She wasn't willing to risk tripping while she held the rest of the pie, so she bid the servants goodbye earlier than she had to, which allowed her to go slow.

The servants waved her when she left, which painted a smile on the concubine's lips. The atmosphere now was way more pleasant than it had been when she arrived. This proved that she could influence the future by changing her actions for the better, didn't it? If she could even have such nice conversations with others in the process, it was perfect.

Blanche walked to the dining room while humming, and her evening only became more brilliant after that. Theodore praised her baking once more, and they parted after a long embrace. These events truly had raised her spirits, which she had needed after the stress with Evelyn, Luciano's bewildering behavior and her boredom.