The concubine stared at the broken teacup on the floor for a moment before lifting her head to meet the furious Briana's gaze. It had just been a small accident, so there was no need to make a big deal out of this, right? Blanche might have accidentally offended the girl who was the daughter of Duke Duremont's friend and the sister of Seraphina's close confidant, but she could avoid a conflict by apologizing, couldn't she? Judging by the other's expression, she was wrong about that assumption.

“You...” Briana growled and gnashed her teeth.

Of all the people Blanche could have run into, it had to be the one with the worst temper, and this girl also had indirect connections to the Duremonts. Great. The concubine bowed down in a quick motion. “I apologize for my carelessness. I did not mean to run into you, Lady Bellfaux.” When she looked up again, she immediately realized that her words hadn't pacified the person in front of her in the slightest.

“Is that supposed to change the situation? My dress is still ruined because of you and your incompetence. Why would I be satisfied with a halfhearted excuse, you damned-”

Before Briana could finish that sentence, Madeleine rushed between the two women to whisper to her sister.

That only deepened the wrinkles on Briana's forehead. “I'm not causing a scene. She is the one who made me spill tea over myself.” She pointed at the concubine.

Blanche directed her gaze at the other woman's attire, on which a small wet stain was barely visible. She held back her annoyance at the girl's exaggeration and spoke up again. “As I previously said, I truly am sorry. However, I still can't go back in time to prevent my error. But if you name the price of this dress, I will ensure that you will be paid the corresponding amount or that you will be provided with another exemplar.”

As if the concubine had struck a weak point, Briana's eyes narrowed even more, and her voice trembled when she responded. “Of course you just assume that everything can be replaced, but that's impossible.”

Once again, Madeleine interrupted her in a quiet voice. “I know that this is painful to you, but we can't do anything about it now, and troubling Her Majesty won't change that fact either. Please just come with me, and we'll clean the fabric. The faster we do that-”

This time, it was Briana's turn to cut her sister off. “I won't be silent only because you fear harming your reputation. I won't keep my mouth shut while Mother's dress is destroyed because of her inability to walk properly! This, this wh-” If the other guests hadn't noticed what was going on, they surely had heard her booming voice now.

In this situation, Blanche should stay composed and quiet. But the anger that had started to boil up from the very beginning of the tea party merged with her unwillingness to be portrayed as the evil-minded party despite her trivial mistake. So, she spoke. “Watch your words. I only bumped into you slightly, and you dropped the cup on your own. You should follow your sister's advice and clean the liquid before it stains. That would be what you should do if you really care about the dress.” Her attempt of regulating the rage that accompanied her voice failed as she spat out these words.

Blanche almost regretted that a second later, but she had no chance to take it back.

At that moment, a third voice already chimed in. “Oh, it seems that a quarrel developed. Unsurprisingly, Lady Blanche is involved again.” Of course, she was here. Evelyn stood next to the concubine with a contemptuous smirk. The tutor shook her head in disappointment, but her grin didn't disappear. “Such uncivil behavior is exactly why our collaboration regarding your lessons ended so quickly. Now His Majesty is upset with me for not being able to do the impossible and teach you manners.”

The concubine saw red after this remark and whirled around to face the repulsive woman with narrowed eyes. “It seems very normal for you to run your mouth about something you haven't even witnessed, and your habit of lying hasn't stopped either. I remember that you were thrown out of the palace because you were stupid enough to insult me in front of Theo. Distorting the facts just to protect your pretense of being a courteous lady won't bring you far.”

Now it was already too late to avoid a conflict. Thankfully, someone that could end this came quickly.

Seraphina approached the group that was involved in the dispute. She had restored her stoic expression again and scanned the small crowd in her usual stern manner. “I am asking everyone to be quiet for a short while, except for the one person who can tell me what has occurred.”

The following heavy silence remained until Briana spoke up with a breaking voice and gave a very one-sided description of the conflict. Madeleine interrupted her quickly and added a few sentences to paint a more objective picture.

Blanche just stayed quiet while trying not to draw attention to herself. She didn't want this to become an even greater mess, so she would rely on this being solved quickly. Thankfully, she didn't have to wait long.

The empress nodded when the women finished narrating the story and decreed her response. “In that case, the royal family will compensate you for your loss since the incident took place during an event that I hosted. I fear that we cannot replace the emotional value this item holds for you, but I will instruct a skillful tailor to make sure that the dress maintains its appearance. I am certain the servants will be able to get rid of the stain though. Please rest assured that we will do everything in our power to solve this problem. In addition, I would ask Lady Blanche to apologize once more so that we can bring an end to this occurrence once and for all.”

Even though the concubine was unwilling to repeat herself to the person who had disregarded and almost insulted her the first time, she wanted to move on from this quarrel as well. Undermining the empress' words wasn't her goal. So, she apologized again, and Briana accepted it out of necessity under Seraphina's watchful eye.

It seemed like the conflict was resolved until Evelyn, who put on a hurt expression, raised her voice. “Your Majesty, I do not wish to push the matter. However, Lady Blanche has insulted me a minute ago too. While I am not the person to take something like this to heart, she still slandered me, so I would like to receive an apology as well.”

Blanche barely managed to keep herself from snapping at the tutor and took a few deep breaths. She didn't need to speak up since the empress was a righteous person. There was no way that she would have to apologize. Seraphina wouldn't agree to her aunt's demand since Evelyn had the one to be offensive first.

Normally, that should at least be the case. But the empress turned to the concubine and spoke up. “Please apologize to Lady Lemares, and we can move past this event.”

Blanche's eyes widened at that, and she couldn't keep her voice from raising on octave when she spoke. “What? Why?”

Seraphina's expression remained stern upon hearing that. “You have insulted Lady Lemares, so naturally, you will have to stand up to your words and take responsibility for them.”

A realization came crashing down on Blanche like a wave that trapped her underwater. Even if she wasn't at fault, others made her out to be the guilty one. Of course the empress, who despised the concubine as much as Blanche hated her, would blame her nemesis. But this time, Blanche hadn't even done anything. Wasn't that unfair?

The concubine knew that giving in now would be so much easier than refusing. Starting another fight with the heroine just because of a few words was unnecessarily endangering any progress that she might have reached with her action in the last two months.

But one glance at Evelyn's abominable smirk proved that it was impossible to accept that woman's success.

Blanche lifted her chin and met Seraphina's eyes while trying her best to be polite. “I did not insult Lady Lemares. She made some impudent remarks, while I only told the truth. I don't understand why I should apologize for that, Your Majesty.”

The empress' expression grew colder upon that refusal, and she massaged her temple for a moment. “Please do not over-complicate this matter with an incomprehensible excuse. You should be able to voice the words ‘I apologize’ when you have done something wrong without being convinced that my request is an attack aimed at you.” She was the one to say that.

Blanche increased the pressure on her balled fists to keep her arms from trembling. Even now, the heroine didn't take her seriously and ignored her justified interjection. Of course that upset her. “My testimony is only ‘incomprehensible’ because Your Majesty didn't listen to my version of the story. Isn't that what you are supposed to do to bring things to a fair closure? Your Majesty is always righteous and makes her decisions with great care. So, why don't you attempt to do that this time too?”

A shiver ran down the concubine's spine as the air around them seemed to cool down. Still, she forced herself to stay motionless as trembling would reveal her bitterness to the guests, who had previously watched in silence. Now a murmur went through the crowd while Blanche maintained eye contact with Seraphina, which felt more like a silent battle.

After a few seconds, the empress replied in an icy tone. “Does that mean that you are ignoring my instruction?” This went in a horrible direction.

Before Blanche thought about it, her mouth opened on its own. “I refuse to apologize for something that I haven't done. I never offended Lady Lemares and only spoke the truth. Meanwhile, she did say insulting things and still wasn't asked to apologize, not even once.”

There her chance of having a peaceful event disappeared.

For a moment, the empress kept quiet, with only her eyes being the indicator of the resentment towards the concubine. But after a while of the two women meeting the other's gazes, Seraphina's voice finally cut through the silence. “It would be better if Lady Blanche were to go rest now.”

Like a knife that was pressed onto Blanche's neck, the empress' warning had seemed to pose a threat. The message was clear.

‘Do not talk back to me.’

Even though the rational part of Blanche screamed to listen, the cork keeping her fury contained broke as she got louder. “Why am I the one being punished even though I didn't do anything wrong? Shouldn't Your Majesty keep her personal grudges out of her judgment before-” Her mind jumped to Theodore, who would definitely support her when everyone else was against her, which made her stop and her eyes widen in dread.

She was acting exactly like in the novel right now. She was refusing to follow the heroine's order and undermined her power in public. And then she considered involving her lover to solve this conflict for her, which was also something her original counterpart had done frequently. Right now, she was on the path that would make her pride her downfall.

She didn't want to die. So, she would have to swallow one bitter pill after the other. She had known that already. Now she also had to accept it.

Still, it felt so bitter to give in when she was in the right.

Blanche let her head fall forward and focused her eyes on the floor. She forced her throat to follow her commands and managed to speak despite her voice cracking a bit. “Please forgive me for my insolence, Your Majesty. I'm not in a state that allows me to think clearly right now. I'll take my leave.” She made a small curtsy before spinning around and rushing off.

The concubine followed the path around the palace and rounded the corner as fast as possible in an attempt to keep whatever was left of her reputation intact. Once she was out of sight and audible reach, a single tear rolled down her face. She had to admit that even she was irritated by her own incapability to stay dignified in a fight. How fitting it was for her to react like this under pressure.

Blanche wiped over her cheeks and steered towards the rose bed. She plopped down onto the bench and stared at the blossoming flowers in front of her while trying to clear her mind.

The tea party had been a disaster.

Everything that could have gone wrong had developed so much worse than Blanche could have imagined. Without Theodore, she was without any protection against the rest of the world, which seemed to have decided to hate her. It was unfair but proved one of her greatest fears true. Unless she was able to improve the public's opinion of her, everyone would be on Seraphina's side. They would treat Blanche like the villainess, which would ultimately lead to her death. Even if her reputation was better at that point, it might be necessary to crawl on her knees to pacify the heroine to prevent her execution. Her life was the most important thing, so why was throwing her pride away for something as trivial as an apology already so hard? She would have to do that in the future anyway.

The nobles had to view her as nothing more than an insignificant woman that happened to live in the palace. The rumors and implications about her being the emperor's lover had always been around, but this party had proved that the nobles didn't have qualms about voicing them anymore. So, the rumors had to disappear under any circumstances. Otherwise, similar scenarios that only fueled the heroine's hatred for the villainess might repeat.

This meant that Blanche had to act differently around Theodore in public. She had to put more distance between them and make sure to spend less time in his company at events than Seraphina. Though all of this already made her heart ache when she was considering that possibility, it would have to be done.

In that second, her thought process was interrupted when footsteps came from one of the hedges. She whirled around while trying to hide her red face.

Sophia stepped out from behind a few bushes. She was fiddling her hands and biting her lip as she stepped towards Blanche with obvious uncertainty. “I…uhm...apologize for disturbing you, Lady Blanche. I wanted to see whether you were fine.”

The concubine stared at her speechlessly for a moment, which made Sophia speak up again.

“I have to apologize for my aunt's behavior just now. She normally doesn't act this disrespectful. I'm sure that she only did that because the whole year and especially the last weeks have been very stressful to her. And the tea party in itself also didn't end up like it was planned.” Sophia interlocked her fingers and lowered her gaze to the floor. “Hopefully, you could forgive my sister as well. After the many offending remarks today, she had to maintain a composed expression and show an example of her authority. There was a lot of pressure on her, and that's why she was this harsh to you. She isn't an unfair person, so I'm convinced that didn't want to react like this.”

Sophia was so trusting towards her family that she even excused their wrongdoings, which only proved what a gentle attitude she had. However, it was also naive of her.

Seraphina might have been too emotional, but she wouldn't regret it either. After all, she was fed up with all the times that Blanche had forced her to get involved in conflicts and resolve them. Once again, the concubine had been part of a quarrel and refused to follow the empress' demands, which justified sending Blanche away to not ruin the event fully. The heroine resented her nemesis anyway, so she wouldn't care about hurting her. Not when she would calmly observe the villainess' execution later without feeling the slightest amount of guilt.

Evelyn was a completely different topic. Her vile side was hidden so that even her niece believed in her kindness, which would result in the death of Sophia's child. At least if the concubine was unable to prevent it.

Blanche quickly forced herself to smile despite the rather unpleasant situation she was in. “You don't have to apologize for actions that aren't your own, Lady Ravillot. I'm sorry for interrupting the tea party. I shouldn't have talked back to Her Majesty.”

Sophia was quick to refute this and shook her head. “You didn't do anything wrong. You felt like you were treated unrighteously and spoke up about that, which is your right as a citizen of Artias.” She scanned the other woman before speaking again. “Would it be alright if I sat with you?”

The concubine moved to the side to make space on the bench next to her. Sophia sat down, and for a while, they remained silent. But it wasn't an unpleasant silence like before. It was somehow a bit calming, even though the two women couldn't have been more different.

After a short moment, Sophia addressed her neighbor once more while sounding a bit more uncertain. “You seem to be a bit...dejected. Do you perhaps want me to distract you? You could greet my baby?”

That sentence caught Blanche off guard, and she looked at the other woman in surprise.

Immediately, Sophia lifted her hands and waved them around in the air. “I didn't mean to say something strange to startle you. I heard that touching a baby bump has a calming effect, so I thought that... Anyway, you naturally don't have to do that if it makes you uncomfortable. I'm sorry.” She averted her eyes in embarrassment and began fiddling with her hands.

A part of Blanche wondered why Sophia was so concerned for her well-being when she was her sister's enemy. But the curious half of her won over her uncertainty. She slowly turned to face the woman. “May I?”

A soft smile grew on Sophia's lips as she nodded and put her own hand on the side of her belly. It was odd for her to be this trusting. At least she hadn't met the wrong person.

With the greatest care she could muster, the concubine placed her palm onto the other's baby bump. Within a second, memories about Blanche's siblings rushed through her mind. It quickly reminded her of a beautiful and dejecting thought at the same time. She loved her family so much.

Blanche's initial reaction to her mother's pregnancy had been jealousy, but that had quickly vanished. When her mother had been carrying the twins, Blanche had often leaned her head against the round stomach in hopes of hearing something. After the birth, she had stood next to the babies' crib whenever her parents were asleep to watch them and see their cute faces. Back then, the fact that a woman could give birth to such tiny humans after nine months had seemed like a miracle to her, and that still hadn't changed.

Now Sophia would also give birth to the little Grace, who would be the most adorable baby in this whole capital. It should happen sometime before the summer vacation, so it couldn't be that far away.

Blanche's face lit up before she knew it. “When will she be born according to the doctor?”

The beaming Sophia' only smiled even more at that. “I'm in my seventh month, so the birth should be in two months, around the hunting festival. I hope that it won't overlap with that event, but well. We can't do anything about the timing. I can't wait to meet our little angel.” She seemed so content while explaining the next part. “I'll make sure that our baby has a peaceful childhood with as much happiness as possible. My husband and I will smother our child with love.”

And in an instant, bad feelings outweighed the nice ones again.

It was like a sting had pierced Blanche's chest. She felt an ache in her heart that made her want to turn away from the young mother, which barely allowed her to keep her smile. It was obvious how much Sophia loved her child and the fact that Evelyn would kill the infant to push her niece into a spiral of despair only fueled the growing urge to throw up in Blanche. “The baby is very lucky to be born into such a devoted family. I'm sure that she will have an untroubled childhood. She...” While she spoke, a small motion inside Sophia's stomach made her pause and widen her eyes. “Did you feel that just now?”

Sophia let out a chuckle. “My angel seems to be fond of you. My baby stirs whenever it meets someone it likes.”

The concubine almost laughed at her remark. It would be quite amusing if the little girl who was born from a family who despised Blanche enjoyed her presence. “That is nice to hear. I'm not sure whether she won't change her mind soon after her birth though.”

Sophia's expression became more serious upon hearing this. “Why would that happen? Children are often better than adults at guessing what kind of attitude someone truly has towards them. Since you are kind, our child will definitely like you. But I must ask... You keep addressing my baby as a girl. Why is that?”

Blanche froze for a second and retracted her hand. She had used her knowledge from the novel without noticing it. At this point in time, the gender of the baby hadn't been determined yet. That was only possible after the birth, and still, she had voiced her assumption that it was a female child. Blanche evaded eye contact for a moment as she nervously voiced an excuse. “Oh, I didn't even notice that. It must have been some kind of feeling.”

Sophia began smiling brighter again. “How astonishing such a coincidence is. For some reason, I also believe that my angel is a girl. Two women's intuition can't be wrong, can they?”

The concubine let out a deep breath in relief. She had been able to steer the other party's attention away from her error without irritating her. “We will see. I'm sure we are right.” After all, the little Grace would most certainly be a girl.

Sophia caressed her stomach and stayed quiet for a short moment before she turned to the woman next to her. “I will be happy with either result, so let us wait patiently.” She waited for a few seconds while scanning the concubine's expression. Then she carefully resumed. “Say, you seem to be fond of children judging by the way that you behave. Do you plan to have some later as well?”

These words wrenched into Blanche's heart like a sword. Of course she did. She had adored children since the birth of her siblings and always hoped to have babies in the future. After meeting Theodore, it had been clear to her that he was supposed to be their father too. She had only wanted to wait a few years until a pregnancy would naturally come to her. But now she wasn't convinced that her desire would ever come true.

If Theodore and Seraphina got together, they would have a child, which was the cherry on top of their happy ending. Yet, the concubine wouldn't have that chance. Theodore would never cheat on his wife after he devoted his life to her. At that point, it wasn't possible for Blanche to become pregnant anymore.

And another thought that had wormed itself into Blanche's mind upon hearing Lucille's comment at the tea party also nagged at her consciousness. From Theodore's birthday two years ago onward, she had been by his side for seventeen months now. That wasn't very long, but it wasn't overly short either. Aside from the last weeks and the firsts weeks, in which they had become lovers, they had spent many nights together. Still, she hadn't shown any signs of pregnancy.

Surely, they were young and wouldn't be in a hurry to have children, at least if it weren't for the novel's developments. Nevertheless, that worried the concubine a little. Marriages in the early twenties were common among noble society, and heirs were often born only a year after the wedding, so her age wasn't the problem.

Maybe Blanche just wasn't able to get pregnant. Infertility could occur without any specific cause, and doctors had very limited possibilities to detect this. In a way, this would make sense as well.

After all, Blanche had been created to be the villainess in a story about Seraphina and Theodore. She was never supposed to give birth to a baby or fulfill her dream of having a family with her lover. Maybe her body wouldn't allow her to do that for this reason.

She looked back at Sophia, who was nervously shifting around on the bench. The concubine not answering had to have made the other woman uncomfortable.

Quickly, Blanche forced her lips into a small smile despite being rather depressed when it came to this topic. “I would like to have children. But I don't think that this is going to happen in the close future.”

Sophia returned a smile as well. “You are young and still have the biggest part of your life in front of you. Don't pressure yourself, and take your time. My husband and I didn't plan to have our baby this early either. We just agreed that we both wished for one, and then it suddenly happened. A child is a gift of the gods. It will come when it's ready, and that moment may come earlier for some and later for others.” Sophia reached over to take one of the concubine's hands in hers and stroked over it. “So, you don't need to worry about something like the moment when it is destined to happen. I'm sure that you will be a wonderful mother in the future.” She was so kind, but that was odd in itself.

It didn't make sense for such a wonderful person to be so kind to the villainess. Sophia and Blanche had never even talked much before. Why was the countess trying to cheer the other woman up?

Blanche slowly pulled her arm away as the corners of her lips dropped. She almost didn't want to speak, but Sophia's questioning expression made her. “Why are you so kind to me?”