“If you hadn't been Theo's enemy from the very beginning, you would never have been targeted. You are only here because of your own decision to disrespect everyone around you while telling yourself that you are so much better than them. Don't blame me for that pathetic mindset.”

Duke Vasquez seemed to have reached his breaking point. Even if his opponent was sitting next to the emperor, he could only take so much. He stopped trying to keep his voice quiet and spoke much louder now. “You are awfully brazen! It doesn't matter whose pet you are, I'm still a duke!”

Theodore had expected that such a situation might arise at some point. He hadn't given his lover the exact words, but he had told her to scold Claude.

Just weeks ago, Blanche would have never believed that she would dare to do that, but now she was fueled by anger. Anger about Duke Vasquez insulting her and then demanding an apology. Anger about him opposing the emperor and even wanting the ruler's death. And nothing but pure wrath about him using everything in his way to increase his wealth, even if a family had to die in the process. It was easy to yell at him. “Pull yourself together! Your rank doesn't mean a thing when you're in the royal palace to apologize for committing a grave offense!” It was clear what kind of reaction this would provoke.

Claude's face scrunched up as he was overtaken with rage. He yelled back at her with no holding back. “Who do you think you are? You-”

She didn't let him continue and hurried to interrupt him. “I could ask you the same thing. Who are you to dare to raise your voice in the presence of the emperor?”

Duke Vasquez gritted his teeth and glared at her with much more anger than before. “You are doing the same thing, and you are just-”

Once again, Blanche cut him off. She forced herself to speak in a calmer tone now. “Do you think you can compare us two? Have you not understood that the most powerful man in the nation is on my side?”

Claude had no way to argue against that. He looked at her with wrath in his eyes and forced himself to stay quiet. Without a doubt, he had more than enough insults in mind and was just waiting to use them. But he couldn't do that without upsetting the emperor even more. So, he resorted to the worst thing that he believed would hurt her. “You will never be as powerful as you want to be. Just because you sit on a throne and wear a tiara, you aren't the empress.”

It was tempting.

It was too tempting to destroy all of his arrogance by revealing Theodore's insane plan. But there was no way that Blanche could just say that now. If she did, the news would spread within hours, and then everyone would know about the divorce that hadn't happened yet. Still, she was fighting herself. Two words could crush Claude's pride in an instant. She wanted to say them so badly.

In the end, it wasn't a problem for her not to voice them though. As if Theodore had read her mind, he said exactly what she had been thinking about. “Not yet.” It had barely been loud enough for her to hear.

Duke Vasquez certainly hadn't been able to understand it, but he had seen the emperor mouth something. And the way that a deep frown suddenly appeared on his face made it seem like he might have been able to read the other man's lips. His mouth opened, and he could just stare at Theodore without saying anything. That was risky.

Blanche couldn't leave it like this, or the rumors might actually spread. So, she did the only thing she knew that could distract Claude enough to make him forget about this. She had to anger him so much that he couldn't think about anything else anymore. To do that, she forced herself to put on a wide smirk and spoke in the most mocking tone she could muster. “Oh, I know that I'm not the empress. But don't you think that that position is relatively unimportant when Theo is doing everything I ask of him? Do you know what they call me within the palace? I just heard that some servants gave me the nickname ‘secret empress’. After all, I'm at Theo's side and recently started helping him with some of his work. That is rather amusing, is it not, Your Grace?”

Duke Vasquez glared at her with both anger and disbelief. He couldn't comprehend why she would have such influence when she was actually just a commoner that had been picked up by the emperor. To know that someone he had seen as nothing but a pawn, a mindless tool, suddenly opposed him had to have been a traumatizing event for him.

But the concubine didn't have a spark of sympathy. She knew how intimidating it felt to stand in front of the huge thrones, so she could be rather sure that Claude wasn't too happy about her sitting there. Looking down at him from up here felt great though. Theodore was by her side, and she could speak without being too close to the man she despised so much. With a little smirk and some mocking words, she could easily make him explode, and he still couldn't do anything about it.

It was almost too easy.

The duke was silent for a while and clenched his jaw and fists the whole time. He was probably really mad now but still couldn't do anything. It had to be so frustrating, but he didn't have the chance to fight back against her. Not when the emperor was sitting next to her. But Claude's self-control still wasn't the best. So, he didn't see that keeping his mouth shut might have been the better option and turned to Theodore. “Your Majesty, don't you hear what she is saying? I know that you care a lot about her, but she just admitted to using your power for her gain. Is she not taking things too far?” That was a question that no one should ask the emperor.

The concubine could already imagine how the reply would look, and she wasn't disappointed.

Theodore gave the other man a little smile before beginning his speech. “It would be awful if my lover couldn't trust that I will always support her, wouldn't it? That is why I made it clear whenever someone asked me or the topic came up in some other way. I told Blanche that I would fulfill her every wish and that all that belongs to me is hers as well. I didn't just say that for fun either. If you ask any servant here, you could easily find out that she is allowed to enter every single room whenever she wants to enter. She can also take everything from every room and keep it or bring it into our chambers. She can even go inside my office and read every single confidential document there.” Theodore's grin was much too bright while he happily explained what Duke Vasquez certainly didn't want to hear. “I will do everything for Blanche and put the world to her feet if that is what she wishes for. I don't mind crushing her enemies even if she doesn't ask for it. If she asks for it, I will be even happier to do it. All of me belongs to her. From my mind, body and soul to everything else. My life is hers. Does that answer your question?”

Claude looked like he had just realized that he was gazing at a person that had lost their mind. To some extent, that wasn't too far off. Any normal person that heard Theodore's declarations of love would worry. In Duke Vasquez's situation, he might have needed to worry even more than anyone else though. After all, he might have understood how much he had messed up now. He had insulted the one person that seemed to own the emperor's entire being.

The duke paled at that realization and took a small step back. “But... Your Majesty... Saying that is ridiculing the entire royal family. You are the most important person in this entire nation. Everyone bows to you and is required to serve as your loyal subject. How can you submit to anyone else? Don't you notice that this woman has poisoned your mind so much that you are ignoring all of your duties?”

Theodore furrowed his brows. “Since when am I neglecting my duties? Believe me, if I had as little of a consciousness as you believe me to, then Blanche and I would have left long ago. I have enough funds to secure an extremely comfortable life outside Artias. If I didn't care for my citizens, I would just step aside for my brother. Cedar could rule and figure out how to keep the dowager empress from ruining everything. But I do care, so I need to stay away from Blanche for two hours a day. Do you know that that feels like torture?” In reality, it was completely fine for them to be apart for a while if they could hug each other after that again, but saying this fulfilled the goal.

Claude could only stare at the emperor in complete disbelief. “Your Majesty, you surely must be jesting. Saying that is-”

Theodore happily finished the sentence for him. “Nothing but the absolute truth. I adore Blanche, and she has all of my attention unless I need to sacrifice a few minutes for the nation. But even that might change since she's often in my office with me now. In the past weeks, she helped me a lot, and she always encourages me to work hard, so you need to thank her for Artias' well-being as well. We are doing quite well, aren't we?”

Duke Vasquez wasn't even truly mad anymore. He was way too confused for that. Slowly but surely, his panic set in too. He was probably realizing that he might not be able to escape the consequences of his actions. He might be forced to face a few more problems than he had hoped for after his failed apology. So, he changed his strategy. “Yes, Your Majesty. Indeed. I did not pay attention to the fact that Lady Blanche is an important pillar for the nation since she supports you the whole time. I sincerely need to apologize for that. From now on, I will keep in mind that she is an important person for Your Majesty and that she also is important to Artias because of that.” He didn't get the reaction he had hoped for.

Theodore narrowed his eyes at him and replied in a cold voice. “Blanche's worth isn't dependent on what I feel about her. She is perfect because she is herself and not just because I love her. But I doubt that you would be able to understand that. I truly feel sorry for my aunt. After already being cursed with a vile older sister, she now also has a cruel husband. I am rather convinced that she could have been with another man that really cares for her.”

Claude's anger returned at that as well. “Your Majesty, with all due respect. You are saying impolite things. Of course, I care about my wife. Selena is my dear beloved. I would never hurt her.”

The emperor continued to glare at the other man. “But you would force her to drink alcohol while being pregnant despite her telling you that she didn't want to multiple times. I actually thought that we were going too far by pressuring her like that, but we would not actually have made her drink it. Blanche took away her glass before she could even take a sip. As you can imagine, the both of us don't like your family very much. But it seems that we cared more about your wife and unborn child than you did. That says a lot about you, doesn't it?”

Duke Vasquez wasn't ready to give up at that though. “I already said that I did not know that alcohol would be that bad for a child. I would have never-”

Blanche cut him off this time. If there was one thing she despised most, it was people treating their own families without any love. Especially their own children. Maybe that was why she despised Camille more than anyone else in this world. “It is common sense that pregnant women should not drink any alcoholic beverages. If you did not know about that, you are plainly stupid. Your wife already had your oldest son, so you should at least have learned the basic things to ensure that your children will stay safe. To me, it just seems like you didn't care much. You just wanted to distract us from the fact that you had disrespected me first. That you put your own selfish interests above the safety of children is more than just vile.” She surely had overdone it now.

Claude yelled at her. “What do you know, you arrogant-”

“Shut your mouth.” Theodore raised his voice just for a moment and effectively silenced the other man with that. “It seems like you didn't learn a single thing since you keep trying to insult Blanche. Maybe I wasn't clear about how that makes me feel. Maybe I should find a better way to show you that I am really upset. How does that sound?”

Duke Vasquez pressed his mouth into a thin line and glared at the emperor.

This made Theodore add another thing to his already effective provocation. “Since you refuse to respond to me, which is rather insolent, I will just take this as a yes. From now, on you can look forward to even more trouble. Maybe you'll finally understand just how angry I am then.”

Claude froze for a moment as he seemed to process what this actually meant for him. He only replied after a few seconds. “So, you will declare war on me just because of that woman's fake tears and a few of her pretentious words?”

The emperor narrowed his eyes at the other man. “It's funny to hear you say that when everyone here knows who the real actor is. But I feel like something else should be pointed out first. I can't declare war on you, merely because you are not the ruler of a nation. Maybe you should try to keep that in mind. But I fear that you may not understand it without me spelling it out for you. I am more powerful than you will ever be. The same holds true for Blanche. She holds more power than you do. So, you should act a bit more meek if you want to convince us not to use the harshest methods at our disposal.” The look in his eyes became filled with even more hatred at that. “Otherwise, we might crush everything you hold dear until we eradicated your entire existence. Understood?”

Claude actually looked like he slowly became scared of those threats. He tried to keep his hands from shaking, but he barely managed to do that, and he didn't keep his expression under control either. “Your Majesty, please do not overdo it. This is still a personal issue. Using your position to deal with your personal grudges means that you are abusing your power. There is no way that a wise and competent ruler like you would actually try something like that.”

Theodore had already planned how he would respond to something like this before. He delivered his response with a cold expression in the exact way that he had envisioned it to be. “To me, it seems like you didn't pay much attention to abusing your power in the past either. We know what you did. We know who you hired, what they were supposed to do and how they carried out your plans. We are aware of how much you bribed them with and how your servants met with them without being recognized thanks to your special circle. Do you finally comprehend now? You will be accused of treason.”

Duke Vasquez took a step back and paled, but he desperately tried to keep his expression neutral. Still, his forehead was covered in sweat, and he could barely force himself to meet the emperor's gaze. “You cannot know of anything that didn't happen, Your Majesty. I am a loyal subject of this nation, and treating me like this is-” At this point, he was almost at his limit without having any excuses left.

That was what Blanche had been waiting for. She tried her best to seem as bored as possible while speaking up. “This conversation is going in circles. I think it would be best if we ended it here. You may leave, Your Grace.” A baroness telling a duke to leave the royal palace was more than audacious.

And this was exactly what Claude didn't need to hear now if he wished to stay calm. So, it had been obvious that his rage would flare up as he raised his voice. “How can you talk to me like that?”

Once again, this was what Theodore had been waiting for. He yelled back at the other man with much more fury than before. “How can you even dare to speak to her? That is the real issue here. I already told you that you should bow to her and beg for her forgiveness multiple times, and you are still too stupid to remember that. That you raise your voice in my presence also proves that manners aren't important to you, so don't you dare to criticize her for doing what she is entitled to. This is her home. The royal palace belongs to me, and everything that is mine is hers too. That means that she is the owner of this estate. If she tells you to leave, you will disappear from her sight immediately. Have you heard me?”

Duke Vasquez tried to look somewhat calm but failed miserably. His eyes were still glinting with anger even as he flinched upon being scolded by the emperor. He probably would like to deny the other man a response, but that obviously wasn't an option. So, he pressed out a few words between his gritted teeth. “I heard you in no uncertain manner, Your Majesty. Please forgive my insolence. I am a bit beside myself today.”

The concubine probably should have left this to her lover, but she spoke up anyway. “Not just today. You seem to have a lot of bad days lately, Your Grace. If stress causes you to act like this, you need a vacation. But when you come back, things might have changed a little, so be careful.”

Claude held back his response with all of his self-control. He balled his fists and took a few deep breaths before turning to the emperor. “Are you truly sure that these kinds of methods are necessary for our conflict? I understand that you believe me to be a criminal. But if you give me a chance, I will prove that I am an innocent citizen. I would never betray Artias or the royal family, especially not you, Your Majesty. Please do consider rethinking this matter. I can work hard to offer Lady Blanche a more convincing apology if you would like that. I will prepare as many gifts as needed to pacify your and her anger.”

Theodore made a dismissive gesture with his hand. “You can rest assured. Even if Blanche had forgiven you, I wouldn't have. You insulted my lover right in front of me. You proved that you have a death wish by doing that. I will be happy to support you in that regard. I just wanted to hear you apologize because I guessed that you don't understand where your place is.” A small grin appeared on his face as he looked at the other man with pure mockery. “You understand that I can't just leave you alone now, right? I promised that I would crush you in front of a crowd. If I don't realize that promise, people will lose trust in me and call me unreliable. That isn't something an emperor can risk, correct? Besides, I need to make sure that everyone understands that attacking Blanche is equal to signing your own death warrant. That is easy to comprehend, is it not?”

Duke Vasquez almost looked like he shivered at that. By now, it should be clear that arguing didn't help him at all. Still, he didn't give up. Somehow, it was understandable that he didn't want to lose everything that belonged to him. But it seemed rather pathetic how such an arrogant man still didn't bow his head to his enemy despite him already being in the guillotine's shadow. “You can't do that, Your Majesty. Ruining all I worked for is too heartless.”

The emperor gazed to the side and replied without looking at the other man. “I will take that as a compliment. In the past, I was too kind, and the one I love got hurt because of that. So, I will be as cruel as necessary to ensure the safety of everything I care about. You don't have any arguments to convince me that you aren't a threat to Blanche, me and Artias in general. In fact, I feel like I might be doing the country a favor if I get rid of a duke that was hoarding money that he had gained by committing crimes. Innocent people have come to harm because of you, and aside from getting revenge for them, don't you think that we will also protect others from you?”

Claude hurried to shake his head. “No, no! I am important to Artias, Your Majesty! After all, I am directly related to the stability of our whole nation. The Vasquez household is crucial for the stability of the power balance among the nobles since we ensure that no one becomes influential enough to harm the royal family. You admitted that much already. Even if your goal isn't to eliminate the Vasquez family, you will undoubtedly harm them by causing issues for me. As the head of the family, I hold responsibility for the funding after all. If you want me to lose all of my money, you would have to drain all of the household's resources as well! That would ruin the entire family, much like my disappearance would as well. I am too important for this family, so my troubles will bring the whole household to the brink of ruin.”

Theodore sighed quietly and shook his head. “Your son is rather good at doing business, right? If he cares about his family, he will put in some effort and regain enough money to survive at least. Then he could expand his influence slowly, and in a few generations, everything will be like before. Of course, that will only happen if he chooses not to obstruct me. Otherwise, he will follow after you quickly. But I don't think that he is that reckless since his mother and sister are in need of protection. I doubt that it will happen, but let's assume that I would be forced to destroy your entire household. That still wouldn't cause trouble for me. Do you know why? I never said that the Vasquez family was necessary for our nation.”

Claude froze in place and scanned the emperor with worry in his eyes. He seemed to have noticed that he wouldn't like what followed next.

“I said that your presence was beneficial. Ensuring that the power is split between at least three influential families, who have sworn their honor to the royal family, is indeed important to prevent chaos. After all, any signs of betrayal would be uncovered by one of the other households because they hope to gain power through this. Right now, the situation is a bit different thanks to the dowager empress and Cedar, but that doesn't matter for the explanation. Like I said, having three powerful households here is important. But the Vasquez family doesn't necessarily have to be one of them.” A wide smirk spread on Theodore's lips. “I could use the Bellfaux family too. I think they will be much more loyal. It doesn't even have to be them. It just has to be someone I'm comfortable with, and unfortunately, I cannot say that I feel that way about you. Maybe it would be better to replace your family.”

Even now, Claude didn't fall to his knees nor did he beg. It would have been expected, but it seemed like he wouldn't do anything that would force him to bow again. He just continued arguing. “But, Your Majesty! That is-”

At this point, the couple had already said everything they wanted to voice. That meant that it was time to end this hopeless conversation. Blanche would do the last thing to upset Duke Vasquez even more. She leaned her head to the side so that she barely managed to rest it against Theodore's arm. “Theo, I'm bored. Can we go back and eat cake already? Even that is more important than this here. You keep hearing the same things.”