Blanche tried not to think about her nightmare as she walked down the stairs with Stella trailing behind her, but it was hard. With every step, she came closer to Theodore, and her nervousness rose. Still, she refused to slow her pace and advanced like before.

The women reached the dining room that was guarded by Owen and two other knights. This could only mean that the emperor was already present.

When the concubine approached them, she averted her gaze to keep herself from making eye contact with the people that might drag her off to prison soon. “Good morning, Sir Maillont.”

Owen bowed his head. To her surprise, he also spoke in return. “May you have a wonderful morning, Lady Blanche. I'm glad that you arrived safely. His Majesty already considered sending me to confirm your well-being.”

His remark was enough to make Blanche even more uncertain. “I didn't mean to worry him. Is he inside?”

Before the head knight could answer, the door swung open and confirmed her assumption.

“Owen, can you-” Theodore cut himself off as he spotted his lover, and the concern on his features was overtaken with a bright smile. “There you are. I already wanted to make sure whether you were fine. I'm overly cautious, aren't I?” He stepped into the corridor and lifted his hand to reach for her.

Blanche's first instinct was to close the remaining distance between them, but the image of him staring down at her with nothing but rage flashed before her eyes.

And for a moment, she was filled with fear.

Theodore's devoted side was kind, but his hateful side was horrifyingly cruel. The image of him towering above her with that hateful expression had already done its damage.

It was just a thoughtless impulse, but Blanche turned her head to the side and took a step backward to avert her eyes.

But of course, this hadn't been a good idea despite it only being a quick reflex.

Her little motion was supposed to be barely noticeable, but Theodore caught onto it immediately. His beam was replaced with a frown in an instant, and he came towards her to grab her hand while cupping her cheek with the other hand. “Did something bad happen?”

And in an instant, Blanche was reminded of how this world wasn't the book's yet. She had done something rather stupid a moment. Ago. It was true that Blanche had only evaded her lover's affection when she was angry and sulked about it. Was that always so obvious to Theodore when she was mad? If so, she hadn't been a good lover, had she? And still, her Theodore had put up with her for so long. His considerate behavior wiped away the terrifying images from her nightmare again and left behind her love for him. That her lover immediately noticed that something was wrong and wanted to help her proved that she actually didn't deserve Theodore's kindness at all.

The heroine was a better person than her and matched the emperor's intellectual level, so she was the more fitting partner for him without a question.

But Blanche was still too selfish to accept that. She was unable to suppress her feelings when it truly mattered, and that made her weak. Even now her determination to keep her lover at a distance in front of others was fading as well. She leaned into his touch and stroked over the back of his hand. “No, no. Everything is perfectly fine. I hope you didn't wait too long? I took a lot of time to get ready this morning.”

“I'm relieved to hear this. I thought that something might have happened while you were in your room.” Theodore's expression completely changed within an instant for the third time today as he smiled at her with relief. His emotions really seemed to alternate quickly, much like they had in her dream, but this time they were much more pleasant to witness. Theodore, who didn't know anything about the turmoil of fears in her head, pulled his love into the dining room and closed the door behind them.

Blanche eyed the room to make sure that they were alone, and when she confirmed this, she put her arms around his neck. She needed his comfort now, even though she couldn't give him the reason.

Theodore returned the embrace in an instant and allowed her to bury her face into his chest. “Is something wrong?” He spoke in a much softer voice than he had used before.

“I'm sorry for letting you wait.” Her murmur was almost inaudible since she was pressed against him so tightly, but he understood her words anyway.

The emperor patted her head carefully before putting his arm around her back again. “You don't have to be. You were only late by five minutes. Normally, you are here before eight o'clock, so I simply worried too much. But since you are here now, let's eat.”

Once again, Blanche gave in to her emotions. She was unwilling to separate from him as if he would slip away if she let go. So, she shook her head.

Her movement was restricted by his body, but he was able to identify her gesture and chuckled at her clinging to him. “So, you don't want to eat?”

Without budging her arms, Blanche lifted her head to meet his eyes. “I do, but I don't want to let you go.”

“Then we don't have a choice.” A wide grin was etched into his features when he moved. Theodore began walking backward until they stood next to the table. He loosened his hold on her to pull back his chair before sitting down. As he did this, he put one arm onto her back and one under her legs to lift her onto his lap. After a bit of shuffling around, she sat comfortably, and he rested his chin on her shoulder and whispered into her ear. “Is this better now?”

Blanche nodded as warmth flooded her heart. Theodore was always giving his best to make sure that she was satisfied even though this probably wasn't comfortable for him. She was blessed to have such a wonderful lover. Unfortunately, the novel didn't intend to let her live in this bliss for much longer. Of course, she refused to let that ruin her day and focused on the present.

The emperor moved the chair closer to the table so that she could reach it, and she began to fill her plate with food. She happily lifted a croissant and bit off a piece, which caused Theodore to clear his throat. “It seems like I can't move my arms with you here. How will I eat?”

For a moment, she considered teasing him but then decided that she wasn't in the mood. “In that case, I'm going to have to feed you.” She held up the croissant to his lips so that he could take a bite as well.

After Theodore swallowed, he pressed a small kiss onto her cheek. “Suddenly, everything tastes way better. We should do this more often.”

Blanche took one of the strawberries off the plate and put the fruit into his mouth when he opened it. “I don't think me sitting on you is that comfortable. Wouldn't be cuddling on a sofa be more practical?”

Her lover let out a snort. “Should I ask someone to put a couch into the dining room? I think they might really believe that I'm crazy if I do that.” His words had been a joke, but he was actually right. The people in the palace liked to gossip about anything, especially things they didn't fully comprehend. A confusing order of the emperor was one of the topics that would spread like a wildfire. Theodore wanting to have a sofa in the room that only he and his ‘guest’ used would make them assume that he intended to sit closer to the concubine. That would be interpreted as an obvious sign of an affair for sure.

“It's better if you don't do that.” Blanche turned her head to make eye contact with Theodore.

He hummed in agreement and grinned at her. “I won't. When we want to cuddle, we'll have to do that in another location.” He slowly moved his head to nuzzle his nose into the crook of her neck while whispering in her ear. “How about I stay the night soon again? It's been a while, and I think that I might be able to take an evening off next week so that I don't have to work until past midnight.”

Blanche tensed up as soon she heard his first sentence and understood what he was referring to. She quickly forced her muscles to relax again. “It really has been a long time, hasn't it? You simply work too much. You need to go to bed earlier, or you'll damage your health.” Her attempt at changing the subject seemed to be successful as the emperor began complaining about this year's amount of stress.

“I want to sleep more, believe me. I would, but as I told you already, every imaginable catastrophe comes true at the same time right now. I would love to postpone all of those negotiations and take a break from writing all of those letters and contracts, but I can't. The only thing that keeps me sane is that all of this has to be over in a few months, and then we can go back to spending more time together.” By then, Theodore would definitely have less work. After all, the book described how he spent hours upon hours with Seraphina just because she asked him to. “But don't worry about my well-being. I've always needed less sleep than most others.”

“That might be true, but don't overdo it.” Blanche took another strawberry and offered it to him.

Theodore replied with a bright smile. “I won't.”

Blanche spent the rest of the meal alternating between feeding her lover and eating while avoiding any thoughts about his plan for next week. She knew that she couldn't keep him from wanting to visit her and didn't really want to do that either. After all, they hadn't gotten close since the day that the novel's memories appeared in her mind. But spending the night with her lover in her current state was impossible. Being this intimate would only remind her of their wavering love, and Blanche would be reminded of the fact that he would share all of these emotions with Seraphina in the future instead.

It seemed almost ridiculous to think about it like this, but in the end, the heroine would truly get everything the villainess had ever wanted. She would win the emperor over, be happy with her family and ruin all of her enemies. She would even have the child that Blanche had never been granted by the gods.

That thought was so depressing that Blanche refused to acknowledge it. She pushed that to the farthest edge of her mind while feeding Theodore and letting him prep kisses all over her face, even more so than usual. The fact that the heroine had never had such a scene with Theodore in the novel was only a small victory that Blanche had, but as long as her lover held her close like this, she might be content with this much.

After the couple finished their breakfast, Theodore let her stand up and kissed her goodbye. “I will have to go back to the office. Leon is already in the middle of outlining a contract that we'll have to get ready and sign by tonight. So, I don't think that I'll be able to join you for lunch and dinner today. I'm sorry.” He gave her an apologetic smile, which caused her to put her arms around him in response.

“I know that you're busy, so don't feel bad. We'll see each other tomorrow, right?”

“Yes, we will. Have sweet dreams later.” It would be nice if his words were enough to keep those traumatizing nightmares away.

“You too.” Blanche held still as he planted a kiss on her forehead and opened the door. For a moment, she saw his smile faltering before he walked down the corridor along with Owen and left her field of view after he rounded a corner. The prospect of working the whole day had to bother him more than he admitted.

And for a second, Blanche considered being petty enough to steal the empress' minister rule just to make sure that Theodore could have more free time a few months earlier. Then she remembered that she couldn't just begin talking about politics like she had a clue about a law she had barely heard about and had to give up. She turned to Stella and made a small gesture to signal that she wished to move too.

Her maid followed her command, and they walked away.

When they had put some distance between them and the knights guarding the door, Blanche spoke. “Theo won't have time to eat with me today, so we'll have nothing to do until the evening. Do you have an idea of how we could spend these hours?”

Stella stepped closer to the window and looked outside for a moment before responding. “Normally, I would suggest taking a walk, but it's a little rainy today. The clouds also make it seem like that won't change much for now.” The maid turned back to her mistress. “Maybe we can go into the kitchen? You've baked a few times, but I don't remember ever seeing you cook. Preparing warm meals is a little different from creating pastry. Still, it's somewhat similar and can be pretty enjoyable. I can help you make something.”

“I didn't think about that before.” Blanche had often helped her mother with cooking lunch and dinner as a child. While she had fun doing this, her true passion had always stayed baking. But varying her activities a bit seemed like a good idea. “I'm going to have to ask the chef whether they'll let me do that first though. I don't want to disrupt the staff because I take up their work-space.”

Stella nodded in approval, and the women steered towards the kitchen.

Just when Blanche put her hand on the handle, the door was pulled away, and she was face to face with Clark.

The servant was carrying a tray with fruits, which he grabbed tighter at the prospect of almost dropping it. Before she could say anything, Clark looked to the side and gave her a nod. Then he walked past her and rushed down the hallway.

Blanche's gaze followed him until he disappeared. She turned to her maid in confusion. “Did I accidentally do something?”

Stella shrugged. “You didn't. He always behaves a little strangely, so don't worry. Maybe he is just in a bad mood. I've seen him like this often enough.”

Either way, Blanche couldn't do anything about it. She focused on entering the kitchen again and quickly found out what the issue might have been.

Inside, Angelica, Darlene and George were immersed in a heated conversation. Normally, seeing them would have been a joyful occasion since the concubine could spend some time with them. However, today they weren't alone, and they looked like they were quite angry.

Harris, the male servant who had openly slandered Blanche just a while ago, was also present and involved in the discussion. Right now, he was the one speaking so that the concubine could hear him. “How sensitive he is... Is running away always his strategy when something doesn't go like he wants it to? That's annoying.” The mocking tone in his voice revealed quickly who was responsible for upsetting the others.

Even the normally peace-oriented George was balling his fists and seemingly struggling to keep his voice down as he snapped back. “You're the one who provoked him. From the very beginning, all of your remarks had the intention of making him angry. You're attacking his weak spots and then expect him to stay calm?”

Harris waved his hand around in the air in a dismissive motion. “I didn't start the fight. He refused to back down from demanding that I should euphemize it instead of stating the truth.”

Darlene stepped closer to him, only to be pulled back by Angelica, who quickly spoke up. “Don't get angry. He isn't worth it.”

Harris pressed his hand onto his chest and faked a hurt expression. Still, the smug grin didn't leave his lips. “How cruel. We're colleagues, aren't we? I don't understand why you hate me this much.”

Darlene clenched her jaw at his taunting act but didn't move from her spot again. “We hate you because all you do is mobilize the others against a person who hasn't done anything to you in ages. Get over your childish grudge, and behave like an adult for once! The thing you call truth consists out of nothing but insults, and you wonder why Clark tried to stop you? Do you only live to frustrate others on purpose? You're disgusting!”

The corners of Harris' mouth lifted even more. His smirk already showed that his response wouldn't be kind as he observed the people in front of him with a derogatory look. “Disgusting? It's pretty ironic, hearing something like this from you, isn't it? You and your whole-”

It had been more of an impulse than anything else, but Blanche rushed forward to cut him off. She stomped onto the ground loudly enough for them to notice her and whirl around.

Immediately, Harris' whole personality seemed to change. He put on a polite smile that seemed way too genuine and bowed down while waiting for her to raise her voice. Why did this seem so familiar?

Blanche could have sworn that she had seen that smile often enough, but she didn't remember it. For some reason, she didn't want to get angry at this man, and that only annoyed her even more. She put her hands onto her hips and stared at him without trying to hide her frustration.

For a moment, everyone was silent as Blanche gave her best to choke down any of the aggressive comments that had formed in her mind. Even if she was mad, she couldn't lash out at that servant, or she would damage her previous efforts to increase her reputation. Though with every second, his strangely familiar face upset her more so that she could already feel her self-control breaking. She raised one of her hands and pointed at him. “You. Get out.” She had voiced that in a somewhat calm tone, so it shouldn't harm her reputation and had still done its intended damage.

The look on Harris' face was almost amusing enough to make the concubine forget why she was furious. Almost. At first, he appeared like he wanted to play the victim and talk back to her, but then he remembered who he was talking to again. Harris bowed once more before darting out of the room.

Blanche waited until the door fell shut before she took a deep breath and turned to the other servants.

Angelica gazed at her with amazement while Darlene's face was adorned with a gleeful smile, and George relaxed his tense posture.

Still, the concubine wasn't able to calm down immediately. She crossed her arms and mumbled to herself. “Such an unpleasant person. How does someone like him work here?” She was almost sure that Harris had messed up rather badly at some point. Were those memories from the novel? Perhaps. She couldn't quite put her finger on it though. It couldn't have been important, or she would remember.

Darlene was fast to agree with the concubine. “That's exactly what we have been questioning as well! He should have been dismissed long ago. But except for us, no one seems to realize that he's a hypocritical bas-”

Angelic cut her off. “Don't say things like that.” She warned her colleague in an admonishing tone, which caused Darlene to purse her lips.

“I know, but he's driving me mad with his self-righteous behavior!”

Blanche had only witnessed Harris' actions two times now, and still, she fully agreed with the others. However, that didn't stop her from questioning why the relationship between them was so tense. Somehow, it didn't seem logical for Harris to hate someone for no reason. “I'm not sure if I understood this right. Did this happen more often already? He stirs up trouble and then puts on a submissive stance when your superiors come?”

The others nodded in affirmation.

Stella frowned at that. “Really? I always had an unreasonable dislike for him, but I thought that I was being strange. He was always a very helpful person.”

George leaned his back against the counter while being careful to not tip over the pot standing behind him before responding. “To most, he might be. But unfortunately, it seems to be his idea of fun is to make some people despise him while he gets everyone else to adore him. When you complain about him, no one believes you, and neither the head maid nor the steward have ever seen his ugly side. They even believe the rumors he spread about the people he dislikes because he is so very reliable. We can only hope that he messes up soon. Normally, he is too perfect to let anyone notice, so it's surprising that you managed to catch him in the act twice already.”

Blanche sighed quietly and glanced at the door. Why didn't she remember the part about Harris in the novel? By now, she was sure that he had done something bad for another person, as if we wanted to use the wrong method to help someone. Had he failed? She wasn't sure, and that only made her more frustrated. “I really do attract conflicts. For some reason, aggravating people like to appear wherever I go.”

Her words had only been directed at herself, but the servants all seemed to ponder over them. They remained silent after hearing her, which quickly began to feel strange.

So, Blanche decided to change the topic to a more positive one. “Well, anyway. I actually came to the kitchen because I wanted to try cooking something. I have the whole day for myself, and learning a new skill might be more productive than wasting these hours. Are you very busy today, or can I claim a workplace without taking away your space?”

The servants looked at each other before Angelica replied. “I think the kitchen should be big enough for you to prepare a meal without being in anyone's way. Are you cooking for the first time, or did you secretly master it like you did with baking?” The maid finished her question with a contagious smile that raised Blanche's spirits again.

“I never cooked before, so I'm going to need some assistance.” That was only partly a lie. It had been a while since Blanche had been cooked after all, so she did need guidance. “Stella was kind enough to promise to help me, but I still require some utensils and a recipe. Do we have ingredients for a delicious meal that even a beginner can make?”

“Naturally.” George opened his mouth to continue, but his gaze fell onto the grandfather clock. Instantly, he jumped up and lifted a tablet with a handful of wine bottles. “I almost forgot that I have to bring this to the steward. I'm sorry, but I'll have to leave now!” He hurried out of the room and left behind a silver item that had slipped off the tablet.

Darlene groaned at this and moved to the counter to pick it up. “He didn't only forget his duties, he also forgot the bottle opener. The steward is going to love this. I'll bring it to him quickly, goodbye.” She waved at the group before following her colleague, only to return a second later to whisper something to Angelica and then left.

Angelica rolled her eyes but began beaming. For a moment, she was lost in thoughts before she turned to the two visitors. “Well, then. Should I help you with the ingredients? The storage area can be very confusing if you aren't used to it.”

Blanche thanked her and trailed after the maid when she began moving. They exited the kitchen through the back door and reached a long staircase, which led down into the cellar.

Up until then, everything had been fine, but now Blanche froze. The cool stone walls and the dim lightning reawakened the memories of her nightmare, which she would have rather forgotten. She forced herself to put on a smile when Stella gazed at her inquiringly and continued to follow Angelica downstairs, even if she felt like the air had gotten much colder all of a sudden. To distract herself, she spoke up. “Say, for no specific reason... Are there cells in this part of the palace?”

Angelica had already gone to the bottom of the stairs and stopped to turn back. “No, not here. These are located on the other side of the building. The only rooms that are here are storage spaces for food, weapons, cleaning utensils and similar things.”

Blanche was a little relieved to hear this but still observed every detail of her surroundings as Angelica led her to a corridor with countless doors.

The maid didn't notice the other's dismay as she explained where they were going. “The different ingredients are sorted into categories, and each one is put in another room. This is mostly based on the temperature that is best for the food. In this one, most vegetables are stored.” Angelica unlocked the door and opened it to step inside.

The concubine stayed directly behind her and squinted her eyes in an attempt to see in this darkness. She was only able to recognize the contents of the room when Angelica lit multiple of the candles on the wall. The chamber was filled to the brim with crates, barrels and jars. Wherever one looked, all kinds of vegetables were present. Of course, Blanche had known that a lot of food was kept inside the palace walls, but she would have never guessed that the amount was this big. For a moment, she was speechless before addressing the maids. “How often do you buy new ingredients? This looks like it could sustain us for more than five years. Isn't this only for the royal couple and their guests? You might need this much at banquets, but on every other day...”

Angelica moved through the narrow spaces between the containers and picked up different vegetables, which she stored in a small crate. She interrupted her activity to grin at the concubine. “Officially, it is. But naturally, all the guards and servants are being fed too. You know how many people work here, so that explains why we have to store and prepare so much. To answer your question, a shipment comes every two weeks, but we don't always use up everything. If the chefs notice that some ingredients won't be processed before they're too old, they distribute them among the staff to avoid throwing anything away. Still, we check everything a hundred times before putting it in a meal. We can't risk poisoning His Majesty after all.”

Ultimately, managing such a great number of people was a great challenge that Blanche had never thought about. From her perspective, the food had simply been on the table when she arrived. Seeing all the work that was required to make sure that nothing in the palace went wrong made her admire the steward and even Gloria, the head maid, a bit more. But those thoughts were quickly lost as she was distracted by the other women.

Surprisingly, both Angelica and Stella were competent and patient teachers. After they had collected the ingredients for a soup, which the maids had suggested since it was a simple dish, they returned to the kitchen and began cutting the vegetables up.

Blanche had branded using a knife as easy in her mind, but in reality, she struggled the whole time. Maybe she had lost most of her skills over the course of the last four years, or she might have never had them in the first place. Either way, she had so much trouble that Stella begged her to let them cut the ingredients out of fear that her mistress would hurt herself. Blanche pouted but gave in anyway after Angelica agreed with her colleague.

Around noon, more servants began working on meals, and the three women moved to the side to avoid disrupting them but could continue after a short break, in which they had a snack. The only problem was that there weren't many tasks, and since the two maids didn't trust the concubine with dangerous utensils, they did almost everything on their own. In the end, Blanche had only seasoned the dish and stirred it a few times.

The soup came out very delicious, but Blanche had to admit that she liked baking more even now. Though her initial goal had still been fulfilled since she spent the whole day in the kitchen and had received a tasty dish as well.

In the afternoon, Clark, Darlene and George had visited them. Clark argued that he still had some unfinished duties and ran away while the two others sat down with them at the table and ate a portion of the soup too. Over dinner, they mostly chatted about their work and their colleagues, of which some sounded like friendly and others like less friendly people. This image had confused a lot of the present servants, who had observed them with differing emotions.

In the early evening, Harris entered the kitchen as well. His bewildered expression upon seeing the people he enjoyed making fun of eating with the emperor's lover caused Darlene to grin the rest of the day.

After they finished eating, Blanche and Stella bid the group farewell and returned to their chambers with smiles on their faces. The day had begun horribly, but it had become much more relaxed after that.

Still, Blanche had been extremely worried about dreaming again, but she was lucky. When she lay down in bed, she fell asleep despite trying to stay awake for as long as possible, but no nightmare followed. She thanked all the gods she knew for allowing her to make it through the night without anything awful appearing in her mind.