“I told you to shut up. Are you deaf?” Leon sounded so furious that it wouldn't have been a surprise for him to kill the dowager empress right now.

Moments after Leonard had raised his voice, the response came. Camille's voice sounded through the hallway as she yelled back. “How dare you speak to me like that? I'm the-”

Leon cut her off immediately at an even louder volume. “I know. You keep saying that so often that no one could forget how stupid you are. Your title means nothing when you commit treason.” It was rare to see Leonard this mad. Apparently, he was rather upset about the scene he had witnessed too.

The dowager empress' mouth fell open as if she was outraged about being accused of such a crime. “What are you talking about? I never once attempted to harm a member of the royal family!”

Again, Leon snapped back. “You do it more often than you don't! You did just now, and that was the hundredth time this year! And seven years ago, what did you do then?”

Camille attempted to argue back again, but Theodore yelled before she could. “Shut up! If I hear you utter one more word, I will cut off your tongue myself.”

Even though the dowager empress lifted her head and raised her chin after hearing that, she didn't dare to speak anymore.

Seraphina watched that scene with concern before turning to the concubine. “I fear that right now is an unfitting moment. I would ask you to tell me what happened in detail later. For now, I will return to the party and take care of the guests. Can I announce that Duke Vasquez is being arrested for treason?”

Theodore responded in a quiet voice without looking at her. “Yes. And say that he and the dowager empress were hurt in an unfortunate accident while he struggled against the guards. He managed to free himself and fractured her leg before he was caught.” He was just loud enough so that the empress had heard while Camille didn't.

Seraphina nodded at that. “I understand. I will do that. Be subtle.” She turned around and walked toward the ballroom.

Only moments after she had disappeared behind the corner, Harris appeared with Duke Vasquez at his side. Claude's smile only lasted a second before he spotted the concubine in her lover's arms.

Blanche narrowed her eyes at him and spoke up to make sure that he understood that she was very much aware of her surroundings. “I believe we have a visitor. We should greet him accordingly. After all, he is very sensitive when it comes to being made fun of, as he'd call it.”

Theodore slowly set her down and pressed a kiss onto her forehead while whispering to her. “Please look away if I lose my composure. I don't want you to see me murdering him.”

The concubine quickly stood up on her tiptoes and planted a kiss on his lips. “I wouldn't hold it against you. But you want him to rot in prison, right?” She had to force herself not to kiss him again and ignored the growing urge to tell him to touch her. That stupid aphrodisiac would have to wait.

The emperor replied while staring into the distance as if he was trying to convince himself. “Yes. He will only get rotten bread and a cup of water per week. And I could let Leon test some poison on him. That is much better than ending it now.” He focused on reality again and patted Blanche's head before turning around and taking his hands off her, which felt like the greatest loss this evening. He only took a few long strides to reach his goal. While moving forward, he brought his hand to the sheath on the side of his hip and pulled out his sword in a fluent motion.

When Duke Vasquez was about to back away, the blade already touched his neck, so he was forced to stop. He just lifted his hands and gazed at the other man with fear in his eyes.

Theodore glared at the duke with murderous intent and spoke up in a freezing voice. “Give me one good reason not to kill you right now.”

Claude let out a nervous chuckle and averted his eyes while speaking. “This...has to be a misunderstanding, Your Majesty. I was hosting the party the whole time, I-”

The emperor cut him off. “You're not so high and mighty now, right? You were so arrogant and dared to look down on me. Now you are completely at my mercy. You will regret ever having made fun of me. You will be the one begging for my forgiveness.” He emphasized every word with so much wrath that it made it seem like he would gladly slaughter Duke Vasquez right here.

Claude became as stiff as a stick as he listened to the emperor and recognized the words he had said to Blanche earlier. “You-”

“Listened to every single word. The only reason you aren't dead right now is that Leon physically held me back.” Theodore used a bit more force to press the blade against the other's neck so that it broke the skin. “Is that enough to make you stop using excuses? I asked you for one reason why you deserve to live.”

Apparently, Claude was rendered speechless by that. He had no idea what to say. There was no way for him to avoid his punishment now, and he knew it.

But the fact that the emperor was currently threatening another person was enough to give Camille the courage to speak up again as she held her head up high. “I certainly hope that you have a reason to aim your sword at one of the most influential men in our nation.”

Leon replied in a voice that was dripping with anger. “He committed treason today by poisoning Lady Blanche and asking someone to hurt her. You should be aware since you proposed the same thing.”

The dowager empress was silent for a little moment. She couldn't deny that much when there were so many witnesses, but she still found a way to argue. “Lady Blanche is not a member of the royal family. Harming her cannot be linked to treason unless Theodore was attacked in the process. So, whether that whore-”

This time, Theodore spoke up, not even glancing at Camille but revealing all of his hatred for her. “Leon. Now.”

Leonard responded immediately. “With pleasure.”

Blanche spun around to see what would happen, but it was already over when she caught a glimpse of the people behind her.

Camille was leaning against the wall as she doubled over in pain. Apparently, she had also let out some noise of pain, but Leon had effectively stiffened all sounds with his glove and unceremoniously let go of her when she quietened down. Camille sank to the floor while holding her right leg and glared up at the secretary with a mix of pain and wrath. “You...you... This is treason! You will-”

Leonard responded without a hint of emotion in his voice. “You mean Duke Vasquez will be put on trial. He is the one that attacked you after all. Everyone here saw that. He really should have done this much earlier. He has to feel extremely satisfied. But this will definitely be added to his never-ending list of crimes. He is one of the vilest criminals Artias has ever seen. So, you surely wouldn't try to protect him by lying, right? That would make it seem like you were working together with this vile criminal. Which you didn't do, right?”

Only now, Blanche took a moment to look around. The hallways here were completely desolate, which had probably been planned by Claude to ensure that nothing went wrong with his foolish plan. The only people here were Theodore, Leon, Owen, Harris, Camille, Claude and the concubine herself. Out of those, only the dowager empress and the duke would even try to accuse Leon of hurting Camille. But as long as the other five said the opposite, not much could happen to Leonard. Especially since the emperor could simply pardon him by saying that it had been an accident during Claude's arrest.

It seemed like the dowager empress had understood that too. She lowered her gaze and glared at the floor. She knew that trying to insist that the ruler's advisor had committed this crime while five witnesses stated the opposite would make it seem like she was trying to protect the actual perpetrator. But obviously, she couldn't reveal any relation to Duke Vasquez, or she would risk being connected to his crimes. She wouldn't speak up about this.

But of course, Claude still didn't want to be accused of a crime he hadn't committed. He didn't dare to move, but he raised his voice. “I did not do anything! I was standing-”

Theodore cut him off in a tone that betrayed that he might just kill the other man if he didn't listen. “Shut up. Unless you want to answer my question, you will not speak. And don't start with me not daring to kill a duke. I can bet with you, but you won't like the result. Your rank is unimportant when you will be charged with treason anyway. There are enough witnesses to immediately convict you. The witnesses are me, the emperor of Artias and every single one of my most trusted companions. My advisor, Lord Astame. My personal guard and the leader of the royal knight, Sir Maillont. And most importantly, my beloved fiancée, Blanche, whom you dared to touch with your filthy hands. I should cut off those fingers right now one after the other.”

In comparison to that icy threat, Leonard's voice sounded unreasonably happy. “Do you understand why this is treason now? Lady Blanche has been His Majesty's fiancée ever since his birthday. That means that the incident on her birthday counts as slandering royalty too.” He glanced down at Camille, who was staring at the concubine with widened eyes, only for utter rage to come over her.

The prince hadn't told his mother after all. Maybe because he had known how Camille would react. Even this small revelation was enough to fill her with so much hatred that she couldn't even hide it.

Blanche should probably have held back, but she gave the other woman an icy glare. “And I will certainly file a charge against you for both incidents. Along with the case about the assassination attempts from seven years ago, that should slowly tighten the noose around your neck. When will the floor below you collapse and let you dangle in the air, Your Majesty?”

Camille's face only turned more hateful, so much so that it looked like she had fully lost her mind. When she opened her mouth to hiss at Leon, Blanche could have sworn that she said Cedar's name, but the concubine didn't listen to her.

While that conversation had taken place, the discussion between Theodore and Claude had gone on too. Duke Vasquez was tripping over his tongue in an attempt to save his life just as Blanche focused on him. “That's why your reputation will suffer, Your Majesty. So, you can't kill me.”

The emperor still looked at the other man with nothing but rage. “Not yet at least. I promised that I would cut off your fingers first after all.”

Claude's voice was an octave higher now. “You can't do that!”

“Who will stop me? There is no one in this nation that could order me around.” Theodore actually looked like he would do it at this moment. His hate-filled expression and the fact that blood was already running down the duke's neck were pretty unambiguous indicators.

Leonard, who had seemingly already taken care of Camille, took a few steps forward and stopped next to Claude to address him with a smile. “You should be thankful if he decides to deal with your fingers and then kills you immediately. Cutting off your head is quick. I would be less kind. If you end up in prison, I will ask His Majesty to put you in our cells. And then I will be responsible for you. I am the person in the palace that takes care of the dirty work, you know? You won't like being my responsibility one bit. That would be the worst case. But I believe that Owen would be a bit sloppy if he got his hands on you too. He should be able to break a few bones before ending it. Of course, we will try to make sure that I can take care of you though. Then we can show you what being at someone's mercy means.” There was more malice in his eyes than the concubine had ever seen.

Blanche slowly began to worry that they might truly kill Claude right now. Surely, they could lie about it having been self-defense, but the emperor's reputation would definitely be damaged. And even if she didn't want to admit it to herself, this was too easy. If Claude was responsible for her family's execution, he deserved much worse. The concubine slowly closed the distance between them and wrapped her arms around Theodore from behind. For a moment, she pressed her mouth shut to keep herself from making a strange noise at the way her oversensitive skin tingled at this contact. She only dared to speak up after a moment. “I asked you to let the person that murdered my family suffer. If you kill him now, it will be too quick and painless.” She lifted her head to check the reaction.

And a moment later, her blood ran cold.

Duke Vasquez's eyes were wide as he stared at her. He opened his mouth a few times before closing it. “That is... How?”

He wasn't even denying it. He wasn't confused about this accusation either. That finally proved their suspicion true.

Claude Vasquez had killed her family.

For a few seconds, Blanche almost ran over to attack Claude. To hit him until he was covered in bruises and blood came from his broken nose. She barely managed to hold back.

Blanche's hold on her lover tightened as a way to keep herself in place as she glared at the duke with more hatred than she had ever felt for him before. “Sefare told us where to search, and we found it out easily. We learned that you traded with the people that used to trade with my father. That arises suspicion, does it not? I wonder if some of your documents prove that you consulted the owner of the prison to bribe them into speeding up the process.” She had just wanted to scare him, but the way Claude flinched made her believe that there might actually be something hidden there.

At that moment, she prayed to the gods.

If that document existed, Duke Vasquez's fate was sealed. If he had gotten involved in a trial and caused a commoner family to die when the execution hadn't been set then just to gain a trading contract, he would never be able to justify it.

Claude panically looked around before raising his voice. “But he can't have told you! Because Sefare is dead! He was poisoned during the ball, didn't you see that?”

Theodore spoke a bit louder at that. “Leon, add him poisoning Sefare to the list of his crimes.”

Duke Vasquez's face fell, and he immediately refuted that. “What? No, I did not! Why would I do that?”

The emperor moved his blade a bit and quietened the other man with that. “You weren't present during Blanche's birthday. You didn't see what happened to Sefare then. The nobles only saw that he collapsed. How did you know about him being poisoned when it was never publicly announced?” Everyone had known after the ball. But whether his arguments made sense didn't matter anymore when the opponent was unable to argue back either way.

Claude took a step backward, which earned him a deeper cut on his neck. He quickly stopped and raised his hands higher. By now, his panic was slowly beginning to boil over. “Please, Your Majesty! Don't kill me!”

Blanche was sure that her lover wouldn't kill anyone while she was clinging to him. Especially not since she still wasn't done pressuring that monster. If Claude had killed her family and poisoned Sefare, this would certainly be useful in a trial against him. Along with this incident today, that would be enough to crush him. And maybe, just maybe there was even more.

To find that out, Blanche would gladly act like she knew exactly what she was talking about. There were two more things that seemed to have been linked to him, and she would confirm this now. “I also wonder whether the poison you used on me is still somewhere in your house. I believe its name was ‘Midnight Sleep’, and you brought it home from Travuan, right? We might find a few vials by searching around.”

Claude gritted his teeth, and he got even shakier. Once again, it seemed like she had guessed right. That was perfect. If they convicted him of smuggling poison inside the royal palace, he would definitely not get away with anything less than a lifetime in prison. Now that they could be sure about that, there was only one more thing that she needed to confirm.

If Duke Vasquez was this mysterious third party, who had tried to bring war to the nation to become emperor, he was responsible for even more crimes. If he was charged with treason against the entirety of Artias, he would be executed. There was no other way.

Knowing that made Blanche want to confirm it even more. A mix of bitter hatred and determination filled her and made her speak. “And you haven't coincidentally bribed a servant into dropping a chandelier on Crown Prince Linden during his visit? There were some poisoning incidents too. Say, were you perhaps connected to that and the messenger who happened to falsify the letters to Northern Ocrea's king?”

Claude froze in place for a moment. Then he gave in, and his panic took over. He began yelling with wide eyes. “How do you know all of that?”

The concubine scanned his expression without saying anything. Until a few minutes ago, they hadn't known anything and had just guessed based on Cedar's words. But the duke's reactions had been very helpful when it came to uncovering what kind of deeds he had really committed.

Instead of her, Theodore replied in a freezing voice. “You truly seem to look down on your enemies. I'm the emperor. Do you think I'm completely helpless? The more you plot, the more I will find to crush you. That was what I told you during the hunting festival. But you didn't listen. You also didn't listen when I told you to keep your hands off Blanche that very day. Now you will pay for that.”

The other's reaction was way too satisfying to stop now. Blanche leaned to the side to stare at the duke and added another bit, letting all of her hatred ooze out with her words. “We are aware of every single crime you committed. We knew about your plan today too. That's why I took an antidote before. By the way, you shouldn't choose a little girl without acting skills as the perpetrator. That will only hurt both of you. But I assume that her fate will be much kinder than yours. I hope you remember what you did to my family when you die in the most horrible way imaginable. I will be happy to hear how you rot alive while insects eat your organs.” Inside her, anger was boiling up so that it felt like her veins were burning. She couldn't keep her emotions from taking over and glared at the duke with all of her wrath.

For the first time, Claude genuinely seemed to be scared of her in some way. He lifted his hands a bit higher again and hurriedly began to make excuses. “I didn't hurt them! The execution was going to happen anyway! I just-”

It took all of Blanche's self-control not to ask Theodore to move his blade forward. She dug her fingers into her lover's clothes and clung to him while raising her voice. “You just prevented Sefare from saving them! You knew that he wanted to bring them back home, and you made sure that it wouldn't happen! You killed them, you monster!” There was no other way to describe it. Slowly, her eyes began to prick, and she felt the familiar sensation of tears welling up. She didn't want to cry in front of Duke Vasquez, but she wasn't able to hold back either. So, she buried her face in her lover's back.

For a moment, it was silent before Theodore spoke up. “If you move, you are dead.” He meant it and faced Claude with all of his rage. In contrast, he fully changed as he gently pushed his lover away for a second, just so that he could turn to her and pull her into his arms. Blanche gladly accepted his embrace and leaned into him.

A few seconds passed before Leonard opened his mouth. “I believe that this is all we need to take care of for now. Duke Vasquez will be arrested for treason and a big number of other crimes. His belongings, including this mansion, will be seized for investigation for the time being. May I arrest him and give the order to send the guests home?”

The emperor replied in a voice that was dripping with resentment. “Please do. I don't have to say how you should do it, right? Unfortunately, he struggled a lot during his arrest.”

“I see. How horrible.” Leon walked a few steps before a yelp from Claude came. But the secretary didn't pay attention to that and just spoke up. “Harris. Tell the knights' second-in-command that they shall dissolve the party. Marguerite Besseta will be arrested as well and brought to the palace for interrogation. Her Majesty should already be announcing the rest.” Footsteps hurried away after that, which made it seem like the servant had obeyed. Leon raised his voice so that he almost yelled. “You may come out now.”

Blanche slowly lifted her head to see a group of knights approaching them. It seemed like they had stayed hidden before to ensure that they wouldn't be seen but could still intervene in the case of an emergency.

Owen turned to them and added another instruction. “Ensure that Her Majesty, the dowager empress is brought home immediately. It seems that His Grace lost his temper and hurt her, so she will need help.”

Camille narrowed her eyes when the guards assist her in standing up, but she didn't dare to murmur a single complaint. At the same time, a couple of knights approached Duke Vasquez and circled him to make sure that he wouldn't move.

Thus, everything seemed to be resolved for Theodore. He didn't even turn around to face the duke once and just pulled his lover away from the scene while engulfing her in his arms. He even ignored Camille, who called for him with anger in her voice and swore that her son would get revenge for her. Theodore just led Blanche down the corridor, with only Owen and a few guards following them while the rest of the people remained there.

The concubine looked over her shoulder a couple of times, but the emperor put his hand on the back of her head to keep her from doing that until they rounded the corner. About a second later, a dull noise sounded, and it was followed by a muffled scream that echoed through the hallway. It had sounded like Claude wasn't being treated nicely at all.

Blanche didn't feel even a pang of pity, especially not when her scalp now tingled like after a nice massage. She didn't try to turn around again and just leaned against her lover, who still clung to her with all his power. “You don't need to worry, Theo. I'm alright. We'll just focus on the arrest now.”

Theodore only pulled her a bit closer to her. “I know that no one hurt you, but they tried to. In the vilest way imaginable.” He pressed this out between gritted teeth. “I will ruin them, I promise you that.” His promise was completely unnecessary when his expression already said everything.

By the end of the trial, Duke Vasquez would be finished, and Camille would have a hard time recovering from this too. Surely, proposing a crime that hadn't been carried out wasn't enough to crush the dowager empress, but every little bit would harm her reputation and lessen the support she was given. Even Cedar, the most important member of her faction, had gotten upset with her today. This would be the beginning of her end, which she would spend in confinement while knowing that her hated son was reigning happily.