The meeting with Sefare hadn't changed much, even when it had felt like Blanche had faced her past directly. The next few days passed in the same manner as the previous ones.

Blanche had become rather productive despite being quite relaxed at all times. After all, she had learned a lot. Her lessons with Leon and the occasional reading of some official documents with Theodore were enough to busy her while she felt like she did something useful. She could have done more, but the others held her back a bit, so she still had a lot of free time.

She didn't mind that much though. Being lazy was fun, especially when she got to cuddle with her lover at all times and could eat delicious food.

But she was still a bit taken aback when Theodore proposed staying inside their room all day all of a sudden. He wasn't even asking properly and had just wrapped his arms around her and kept her confined to the bed. After having breakfast without moving from that spot, Blanche had expected him to let go, but she hadn't been correct about that.

Theodore was still clinging to her with as much conviction as before. He might even be a bit more persuasive than before. He used all kinds of tricks to stop her from trying to tell him that he had to work and that she had to attend a lesson. From gentle kisses on her lips to steamy ones on her collarbone and stories of his childhood or his reign before he had met her, everything was used.

Of course, Blanche was interested, but she still felt odd about still lying in bed when it was about time for lunch. She let her lover finish his narration of how his coronation had gone before slowly sitting up. She became a little dizzy from moving after having lain there for so long, but she fought the urge to complain about that. “It seems to be about time for lunch. We need to get dressed before my maids come in. I don't want them to see what is mine after all.”

Theodore sat up as well and wrapped the blanket tighter around them while effectively trapping her in his arms. “We will cover ourselves like this again. Then they can bring the cart here and place it next to the bed. We don't need to stand up to eat.”

The concubine glanced up at him and scanned his expression. She was rather sure that he wouldn't listen to her today, even if she had no idea why. She let her head fall onto his shoulder and stared at the clock. “Theo, we can't just sit here for the rest of the day. It's been at least four hours. Don't you want to stand up and play a board game with me? We'll surely find a chessboard here somewhere. Or you can ask Leon to bring us some documents so that you can go through them here. We don't need to leave the room, but we could at least act like normal people and get dressed and washed.” She actually hadn't believed that he would listen to her at all, and she was right.

The emperor just buried his face in her neck and placed his lips on the spot below her ear. He nibbled on her skin until she gave in and let out a deep breath. Only then, he lifted his head again and replied. “I think staying in bed sounds more endearing. I don't want to let go of you for a single second today. Please do me the favor. I will make sure to entertain you.” He returned to leaving red marks on her neck.

Blanche sighed and wasn't sure whether she was annoyed or pleased by this. “Again? We already distracted ourselves three times. You're insatiable.” She absentmindedly brushed her fingers over the darker spot on his shoulder that had been left by the attack during Duke Lamont's birthday. It was almost fully healed now, but the scar still stood out to her.

Her lover chuckled at that and replied in a playful tone. “Of course. When it comes to you, I can't have enough. So, please let me take care of you.” He slowly let his lips wander downward and stopped when he reached her collarbone. “I won't stop looking at you for the rest of the day.” From the way that he acted, it didn't seem like this was a lie.

Blanche simply allowed herself to relax at that and enjoyed his small displays of affection. “I don't mind that. I just think that taking a break in between might be nice. For both you and me. Mainly for you though. We could also go bathe together, just so that we leave bed at least once today. If we stay here, I might fall asleep soon.”

Theodore used a bit more energy to nibble on her skin and she jolted. He pulled back for a moment and grinned at her. “That wouldn't be bad, but I can do something against it if you want me to. I will keep you from falling asleep. Trust me.” Slowly, he turned them and guided her to lie down again. Then he positioned himself over her and continued to press so many kisses onto her upper body that her skin began tingling.

Blanche ranked her fingers through his hair and sighed. “You really are addicted to me. I must be-” She cut herself off to prevent an extremely embarrassing noise from coming out of her mouth as soon as he reached an overly sensitive spot. “You're really pushing me to my limit today. I should have gotten used to this by now, and still, you keep surprising me. In addition, it seems like you are very cheeky today. Will you really confine me to our bed for the whole day?”

Theodore made her shiver with another kiss before raising his head to look at her. “I intend to do that. Please give me this one day.”

“I don't mind spending the whole day with you. Not wanting to leave the room is fine too. I just feel like lying around here the whole time will not help us much. We could use the time to try out something new. Like playing a game, or you could read a book to me if you want something to do. But me being your only source of entertainment has to be boring.”

Her lover shook his head. “You will never bore me. If you feel like we need more excitement, there are some things we could try. We could get documents from Leon. But I have a few ideas about more fun things we never did. I will make sure to take care of everything, so you don't have to do anything.” He lowered himself again and rested his head in the crook of her neck.

Blanche reached up to put her arms around his neck. “I don't doubt that you have more than enough endearing ideas. But we could at least stand up to eat in between, right?”

Theodore was quiet for a moment as if he was seriously pondering it. Then he replied in a whisper. “Just today. Until midnight. Please.” He sounded way more uncertain than he should be due to the relaxed situation in which they were right now.

The concubine slowly but surely began to worry a bit. She stroked over his head and decided to let him stay in his position for a while longer. “Alright. I don't know why, but it's fine. You can tell me if something worries you.” If she heard what this was about, she wouldn't have to be concerned the whole time. She was already wondering about what was going on today. For some reason, her lover was way more clingy than normal. But if he had a bad day, she wouldn't push him to do anything he wasn't comfortable with. Even if that might cause her body to ache tomorrow because she hadn't moved at all.

Theodore seemed to be very content with her answer and immediately rewarded her by continuing to trail small kisses across her skin. Before he could finish his path, a knock sounded from the door. He sat up at that and quickly pulled the blanket over the both of them. He gazed at her and waited for her nod before speaking up. “You may enter.”

The door opened, and Stella moved her head inside. The maid greeted her mistress with a little smile while she explained. “Two letters just arrived. One is for Your Majesty and one for My Lady. In addition, the cooks prepared lunch and wish to ask whether you would like to eat now.”

Theodore was silent for a little moment before replying. “You can bring the letters and lunch inside. We'll eat in bed again.”

Stella nodded and pushed open the door. She walked over to the bed and handed over two envelopes to the emperor while Darlene and Angelica pushed in a cart with the meal. It seemed like they had prepared everything before to not let the couple wait. As always, the maids were way too motivated for their job, which was probably the case because they currently had something to do for once. This would probably be one of the last tasks they would fulfill today. If they got lucky, they could help for dinner again. Darlene grinned at the concubine while she left, and Angelica exited the room with a smile as well. Stella was the last one that returned to the door.

Theodore stopped her before she could get out though. “You can take the time until dinner off. We'll probably eat at eight like always.”

The maid's lips twitched for a moment as if she could barely hold back a smirk. She glanced at her mistress before bowing. “We will be ready. Thank you, Your Majesty.” Then she left after showing the concubine her extended thumb.

Blanche let out a mix of a sigh and a laugh before gazing at the food. Seemingly, every single servant here had a clear picture of what was going on inside. But she didn't care much as long as she didn't have to talk about it later, which she surely would thanks to her caring maids. Right now, she had another issue though.

Surely, lunch would be kept warm under the covers even if they took a few minutes longer until eating, but the fresher it was, the better it tasted. And to be honest, the concubine would feel a bit embarrassed upon asking her lover to delay the meal now after she had just repeatedly told him that they should get dressed first. But at the same time, it was his fault that she was conflicted now. She gazed at him with a pout.

Theodore, who was already inspecting the letters, put them aside upon seeing her expression. “If you're hungry, we can eat first.”

She tried to hold her comment back, but she couldn't keep herself quiet. “I am indeed hungry, but that this goes two ways is your fault. You made me all tingly, and now we have to eat first. You meanie.”

A wide grin spread across her lover's face. “Really? How strange.” He slowly climbed above her again. “Then we obviously have to do something about this first. What exactly is my angel hungry for?”

Blanche was unsure how to answer. There were some rather tempting choices, and each and every one was wonderful. She didn't want to decide yet. She only knew one thing. If he wanted to tease her, she could do the same to him. “I think that it might be...you.” She tangled her hand in his hair and pulled him down to kiss her. She only needed a little passion, and Theodore would melt for her immediately, which was only fair since he did the same to her.

The longer their kiss went on, the more sure she became that their food might end up being cold by the time they finished.

In the end, this incident only proved that the palace's cooking equipment was unusually good. Blanche fully expected a cold soup when she uncovered her dish but was surprised to see that it was still steaming. Apparently, the covers were of high quality. Inwardly, she congratulated herself for making the right choice. She had gotten the best of both without needing to choose one over the other. She happily lifted her spoon and was ready to devour her meal when her lover intervened.

The first thing Theodore did was switch their bowls and spoons. He ignored her confused look and moved her new bowl closer to her. “Come on. It will get cold if we wait for too long.” She didn't know what to say about that. For the last half an hour, he hadn't paid much attention to the food's temperature. Apparently, he suddenly did care now.

But Blanche didn't let that bother her. She happily gulped down her soup, which earned her a worried gaze from the emperor.

“Please don't burn your tongue. It's still rather warm, so be careful.” That was his concern?

The concubine had already swallowed three spoonfuls of soup by now, and everything was fine, so she gave her lover an encouraging smile. “It's not hot though. You don't have to be so worried. I won't hurt myself with my own food.”

Theodore didn't look completely convinced. As soon as they finished their soups, he took her plate and cut her steak for her. Then he took a bite from her plate and chewed on it for a while before swallowing and picking up a portion for her.

Blanche let out a chuckle at that. “You aren't going to let me eat by myself?” He already had cut everything for breakfast, and it seemed like he intended on doing it again. Today, he truly was even more cuddly than usual. But she didn't stop him and just took the bite he offered.

Theodore gave her a bright smile and gently brushed over her head once. “Exactly. Today, I will take care of you without exceptions. You won't have to do a single thing.”

She finished chewing her bite and swallowed it. “Does that mean you will carry me to the bathroom?”

Her joke was met with a wide grin. “Of course. I won't let you walk around today. And more importantly...” Theodore put the knife he had been holding before far away. “You won't get a knife today. We don't need you to cut yourself.”

Blanche pretended to pout at that. “I'm not that unsteady with knives. The last time I cut my fingers was at least four months ago. As long as I don't have to cut a lot of vegetables, which I don't do while baking, I'm fine. I also managed to cut all the cakes I made you, you know? You should trust me at least a little bit.”

Theodore picked up another portion of her food for her and brought it to her mouth. “I do trust you. Just not today. I don't want to risk anything.”

Blanche wanted to ask him what he was referring to, but she didn't get to do that. She already had a piece of steak in her mouth, and when she finished chewing, her lover offered her some mushrooms. Apparently, he didn't want to talk about it, and she would accept that. For now at least.

They ate lunch in silence, and Blanche barely had to move since her lover fed her the whole time. She had insisted on returning the favor, and after some reluctance, he had agreed. Still, he hadn't broken his promise of refusing to give her a knife. He had moved all the sharp objects far away so that she didn't even have a chance to grasp anything. When they finished the main course and moved on to the desert, he finally let her eat by herself and took a look at the letters in the meantime.

Both envelopes looked similar and had been written by the same person. Theodore only needed a glimpse of the sender's name, and his face scrunched up. “It's our favorite duke.”

Blanche's expression darkened. She swallowed her portion of pudding before speaking up. “What would he want from me? If he asked for an audience, he would only send a letter to you. Besides, this can't be the letter asking for the audience. He already sent that one a while ago, right? You already set the date.”

The emperor scanned the envelopes with a grim expression. “Exactly. The fact that he actually dares to write something to us after all the recent incidents only proves that he is completely stupid. He seems to lack every single part of a normal brain. Why would I forgive him now after I told him that I would ruin him? He seems to be naive and arrogant as well. He should be happy that I accepted the audience, which I only did to embarrass him.” He sounded rather angry while saying that even as he tried to keep his voice from shaking.

Blanche let her spoon disappear in her mouth and moved closer to her lover to look over his arm while he opened the letter. She finished her bowl and put it away before replying. “Maybe he wants to apologize before coming here. He should be quite scared after all.”

Theodore ripped open the rest of the envelope with more force than before. “Oh, he is scared. After all, I closed down three quarters of his stores and made sure that ancient debt to one of my supporters' family got revealed. In the future, he will have problems with money if he keeps bribing people everywhere and has to settle that debt and the costs of the ongoing trials. It would be better for him to give up and let himself be banished so that his family can stay safe. But I fear that he doesn't care for his relatives that much. He would rather pull them down with him than go without his wealth and let them keep their status. Normally, the choice should be clear, but he won't put anything above his own well-being. Egoistical bastard.” He unfolded the letter and read over it before letting out a dry laugh. “It's an invitation to the party for Duchess Vasquez's daughter. The duke seems to be convinced that I am looking forward to meeting his youngest child. She is my cousin after all. I actually just don't want to go because that would embarrass him in front of everyone. But we could probably anger them even more by showing up and causing some trouble. What do you say?”

Blanche glanced at the paper in Theodore's hands and then gestured to her own letter. “Did I get an invitation too? I doubt that he wants me there. I'm not only his number one enemy, but he also kept insulting me and looking down on me because I'm a baroness. Sending me an invitation is hypocritical, isn't it?”

Theodore picked up her envelope and opened it for her. He handed her the letter after glancing at it for a moment. “It's the exact same. He just didn't say that it's your cousin but rather the daughter of a dear friend. And the note at the bottom is interesting too. If you want to stay in a good mood, don't read it.”

Blanche obviously didn't have much of a choice. She took the letter and read through it. When she reached the end, she immediately prepared to rip the invitation apart and could barely stop herself. “That bastard.” Claude had actually had the nerve to write how he had misunderstood her, and now that her past had been revealed, he allegedly felt bad about treating her so coldly. The worst thing was him expressing his condolences regarding her family. If he really had been the one causing them to be executed, he deserved to burn for writing this. “I hope he falls off his balcony and breaks every single one of his bones.”

The emperor carefully took the invitation from her to put it aside. “If you don't trust fate, we could arrange for that to happen after his trial. I will make sure that he gets convicted, and if he stays in prison for the rest of his life, he might as well get into an accident before he can be arrested.”

Blanche was almost tempted to agree. Surely, a good person wouldn't do this, but she was morally gray at most. If people did bad things to others, she didn't care whether they were met with horrible fates as well. It would be different if her words directly caused another person to suffer, but a single thought about how Claude had been acting until now erased most of her doubts. “If...” She could barely believe that she would say this now. “If he did get involved in my family's demise, then he deserves the worst you can offer him.” She didn't dare to look up while saying that.

Wasn't Theodore always praising her for being so considerate? Suddenly asking him for such a favor would probably worry him. But before she could even regret voicing her thoughts out loud, her lover cupped her face with his hands.

Theodore guided her to look up and brought his face right in front of hers. “I will gladly fulfill that wish. Say the name of any person that hurt you, and I will take care of them. I don't mind using their methods to repay them. You can be honest and don't need to hold back. No matter how powerful their family is, I will crush them for you.”

Blanche slowly met his gaze and took a moment to make sure that she wasn't just imagining the determination in his eyes. “Really? But then we might not be the good ones anymore. If that's what it takes to be with you, I will gladly become evil, but right now, we are together, and there aren't any problems. What if we ruin our own happy ending by doing something bad?”

Her original counterpart in the novel had done that. Because of her jealousy, she had attacked Seraphina and committed crimes while only seeing her own personal gain. That had caused a bad ending for the villainess, who had been so twisted that her current version could barely even recognize herself.

Now that Blanche had given her best to stay on the rightful path and support Theodore, she had been able to reach her goal and could stay with him. So, maybe stooping to their opponents' level would only hurt them.

Theodore kept his hand on her cheeks and made her look at him while he replied with absolute certainty in his voice and gaze. “That won't happen. We are the good ones. You were always good, and now I'm finally on your side. Getting revenge on the people that harmed you is perfectly fine, and I will support you during the whole process. If Duke Vasquez is the worst enemy right now, we will take him down first. You don't have to worry about us not having enough time for everyone. We can slowly go from one to the other.” That almost made it sound like there were dozens of people who had tried to hurt them.

“There aren't that many. Sefare will be put on trial now and Duke Vasquez too, and both can be executed later. Then there are only the dowager empress and the second prince left. And I feel like you don't want to treat Cedar too harshly, so you'll just put him in confinement again while his mother rots in some cell.” Blanche had to admit that she liked that choice more than any other options. “We barely have anyone left.”

Her lover was quiet for a moment. His smile came a little too late. “If you say so. There were some others I was thinking about. But if you don't count them, I won't either. For now.” He was silent, and his fake smile slowly faded as he looked at her. He gently brushed his thumb over the side of her lips before just staring at her in silence.

Blanche was more than taken aback by that action. “Theo?”

The emperor took a moment before responding in a hoarse voice. “You are perfect, do you know that? I love you so much.” In an instant, he threw his arms around her and pulled her against him.

She basically fell forward and was almost crushed in his hold. After getting over the initial surprise, Blanche quickly returned the hug and leaned into him. “Theo, what's wrong?” He had sounded so vulnerable and desperate again. There had to be something bothering him that he refused to tell her. But the longer she was clueless, the more she would worry. “Please tell me what's wrong. Theo.”

Her lover just shook his head. “I'm fine. I just need you here. I need you to stay safe, no matter what. Without you, I couldn't-” He didn't finish that sentence and gritted his teeth instead. He continued to hide his face in her neck and refused to look at her even when she patted him multiple times.

As she had thought. It wasn't just a coincidence. Something about this day wasn't right.