Chapter 21 - CHAPTER 19. HAVE YOU GONE CRAZY

It was a familiar voice. She didn’t hear it often, but it was definitely a voice she had heard before. She turned around and looked at the other person.

“Emperor… Your Majesty?”

“What are you doing in a place like this at night?”

Patrizia wiped her tears out of embarrassment. She had shed tears in front of the one person who she didn’t want to show the most in the world. For some reason, her pride dropped, and she opened her eyes wide and looked at the Emperor approaching her.

“…What is Your Majesty doing here?”

“I have asked first.”

“…”

Needlessly obstinate. She just tried to make something up.

“Just… I liked the moonlight, so I was basking in it.”

“Tears on the cheeks, still remain.”

Patrizia’s face blushed at being called out and wiped away her tears. Anyways, those useless eyes sure were good. In an embarrassed voice, she tried to make excuses for him.

“It is saliva.”

“…”

He showed he was taken aback, and she became more embarrassed. ‘Damn it, I dug my own grave.’ She sighed, but something was abruptly pushed out in front of her. He had handed out his handkerchief. She refused it with an expression of unwillingness.

“I am fine.”

There was a saying that if someone did things they hadn’t done before, it was their time to die, and this shouldn’t be true. The man in front of her had to be alive until she had at least produced the imperial heir.

Despite her blatant rejection, Lucio continued to push out with a handkerchief. Patrizia accepted the handkerchief without refusing until the end, as she realized that would not be polite of her. Patrizia, who was almost done wiping her cheeks dry, suddenly felt a rise of retaliation and blew her nose with a handkerchief.

In a very strong way at that.

Patrizia, who felt amused watching Lucio being taken aback in front of her, chuckled inwardly and then talked to him.

“I will wash it and return it back to you, so you don’t have to use it to make that face as if you’re going to die.”

“… It is a precious handkerchief. You must return it.”

A precious handkerchief. Maybe he had received it from Rosemond. She asked him begrudgingly.

“Did Lady Phelps give this to you?”

“… No.”

If one gave a denying answer, then one had to tell her about who had given this handkerchief to him, but that just didn’t happen. She thought he was a very unkind person, and carefully folded the handkerchief that was now wet from her runny nose. Well, whoever gave him the handkerchief, she had used it, so she had to quickly clean it and return it back to him.

“Thank you.”

“You, have you cried?”

“…”

Look at him brazenly asking, when he had seen it all. She exercised the right to remain silent, hiding her feelings about how absurd this was. Eventually, silence passed on for a long time, until she couldn’t stand the awkwardness and decided to leave first. To be honest, this atmosphere and this situation were uncomfortable right now.

As she turned to her side and tried to go out of the garden, by chance, she saw Lucio’s face reflected in the moonlight. And Patrizia was shocked when she saw it.

‘Originally was… his face that pale?’

A face that looked more tired than usual. And then she saw the sweat on his forehead. It was enough to arouse her curiosity, but she, unfortunately, was not interested in his circumstances or stories. She was too exhausted, busy, and had no mind to show interest in such a thing.

So she was able to turn around and walk away without regret. That is, until he caught her.

“…Do not go.”

“…”

An empty laugh escaped. Did he just tell me not to go right now? Why? For what reason? She finally turned around. His expression continued to not look good. He seemed to be very troubled by something.

“Your complexion is not good, Your Majesty.”

“…”

“Go to Lady Phelps. Is she not the woman Your Majesty loves so much?”

“…”

“Whether it be comfort or something else, she will not hesitate and definitely serve you better.

Patrizia, who said these words coldly, turned around without hesitation. There was no mercy or mind to give him. As she had said before, she was too exhausted to provide such goodwill.

How long did she run like that? Raindrops began to fall, drop by drop, and then began to worsen. Patrizia took off the shawl she was wearing and put it on her head and started running.

While she ran like that for a long time, she momentarily remembered Lucio, who Patrizia had left in the garden. She frowned, making a crease on her forehead.

He should have left right? However, to say this, the surroundings were too silent. The path towards the Central Palace was solely by the way she was taking.

She put on a steadfast face as she continued to run on, but this was for just a moment.

Patrizia bit her lips without realizing it. Don’t give any mind, Patrizia thought. He has nothing to do with her. She began to run again with a determined look, but this was only brief. Patrizia’s feet finally stopped.

Raindrops slowly began to wet Patrizia with her stopped body. She spits out a little bit of curse words.

“Screw it.”

Can she not be bothered? It would have been better if she had not seen it. It was obvious he was getting hit by this rain right now. She was frustrated back and forth with an insane look and eventually turned to where he was. Internally she constantly reprimanded herself, ‘insane woman, care about yourself, why would you care that far about that man?’ But it was inevitable. Patrizia wasn’t strong enough to pretend she didn’t know the man who would be facing the rain alone.

“Haaa. Haaa”

When she finally reached the pretty long distance by reaching the original lakeshore, she found Lucio standing and staring blankly near the lakeshore. She had no idea why he was standing there like a man who had given up on the whole world with such a lost expression, but the situation was not good enough to directly ask him.

She walked over to him, splashing the water as she walked with her heels. Only then did he lift his gaze and look at her. His eyes were empty and that’s why she was frustrated at the moment, but she still asked him without showing any of that.

“Are you crazy?”

“…”

“And if you catch a cold this way, You are going to blame you.”

“…”

“Go on ahead. What are you doing? Did something actually happen to your head?”

“…”

Patrizia was on the verge of bursting, seeing him as a doll that didn’t move, but soon grasped on to her emotions and took off the shawl she was wearing and covered him with it. She didn’t forget the detail to cover his hair meticulously.

She wondered why she had to do this when she was not Rosemond, and felt guilty from this but had no choice in the matter. She felt like she should just call Rosemond right now and take His Majesty to her, but that just couldn’t happen right now. Patrizia took off the thin muslin she was wearing and wrapped her head with it as she told him.

“Go ahead.”

“…”

“Your Majesty!”

It was crazy. This man must have decided to let himself die. Or perhaps, did he want her to catch a cold here? Get a cold and die? Patrizia did not hide her frustrated expression and shouted at him.

“The rain is getting stronger. If you want to catch a cold, get it alone. Don’t worry an innocent person about this.”

“… ”

Patricia grabbed onto Lucio and his hands, who still stood there silently like a stone as if she could no longer bear to see it. Even if she left him behind, she had to throw him away in an alley where many people passed, and if she did leave him here, she would have to take responsibility.

She continued to mutter internally, ‘I’m crazy, I’m crazy,’ as she used her strength, she constantly dragged him forward. Strangely, he moved lightly by her hand, which was different from usual. When finally out of the garden, Patrizia looked up into the sky. The rain that started late at night didn’t know how to stop.

Patrizia looked down this time and stared at Lucio’s face. It was still an expression that looked like a screw was missing. How in the world could a person go this crazy like in such a short time? Patrizia made an expression as if she could not understand anything, and asked him a question, “I don’t have to take you all the way to the Central Palace, right?”

“…”

Still silent. She was going crazy. She was really curious at this point if something had really gone wrong with him. She asked as if rushing him, “Can you speak a bit, Your Majesty? Are you trying to kill me by making me feel this frustrated? Or you’re thinking, let’s all die from the cold, is that it?”

“…”

She was going crazy. Was he always this frustrating of a person? She decided to act without asking anymore. If both were to remain in this position, they were more likely to catch a cold.

She wanted to take this man straight to the Central Palace, but the distance to the Central Palace was too far for that. In the end, she decided to choose the option that she didn’t want to choose the most.

“Once you go to my palace, you can leave after letting your body dry. It would be a big deal for both of us if we continue like this.”

“…”

Once again, there was a silent answer, but this time, Patrizia inadvertently dragged him to the Empress Palace. Naturally, the ladies and maids of the Empress Palace reacted with surprise, firstly because she had appeared with the Emperor, and the second, because they were both wet.

Regardless of those gazes, she dragged him to my room. Naturally, Mirya asked how this had come to be with a startled look.

“Your, Your Majesty… What in the world is this …?”

“Explanation later. Light a fire in the room and bring out dry towels and tea, please. Generously.”

“Yes, I understand.”

Mirya responded with an urgent expression, while she took off her shawl from Lucio, who was still wearing an expression like a dead person. Naturally, it was extremely wet underneath. He also seemed colder because he happened to be only wearing pajamas.

The thin silk had gotten wet and clung to the body, revealing his curvature. However, Patrizia didn’t care much about that, and she took off the muslin dress that she had been wrapped up in. Of course, the dress clung tightly on her body as it was so wet.

“…”

While the other person didn’t seem to care, Patrizia was still embarrassed, so she thought she should change clothes as soon as Mirya returned.

Fortunately, Mirya and the maids brought in the items she had asked for earlier than expected, and soon dried the Emperor up, following her instructions. Patrizia told Mirya to bring some clothes she could change into and carried a bunch of towels to the dressing room.

Shortly thereafter, Patrizia was dressed in a dry white dress, and while touching her wet hair, returned to her room, where she saw Lucio fast asleep without a care. Patrizia was shocked at this, and asked Mirya, “Why in the world is His Majesty sleeping in my room, Mirya?”

However, Mirya only shrugged her shoulders with a sheepish face, as if she also didn’t know that far. No matter how uninterested she was in this man, it was impossible to force a person awake when he was asleep so deeply. In addition, the rain kept coming without showing any plans to stop. After a long sigh, she instructed Mirya, “Mirya, move His Majesty to the bed.”

“But what about Your Majesty? Where are you going to sleep?”

“There is an empty room next door, right? I can sleep there. Do not worry. Oh, please light up a fire in that room.”

“I think you both could sleep together…”

Mirya wanted to elaborate that the bed was large, but her mouth was soon closed shut by Patrizia’s gaze. Regretfully, Patrizia had no intention of sharing such a bed with him, at least not now.

It would be enough to spend the night together with him in one bed to produce an heir later on. She spoke to Mirya with a tired expression.

“Please take care of His Majesty. So that I don’t need to worry about this room. It’s been raining a lot, so he may get sick in the middle of the night.”

“Yes, Your Majesty. I will do that.”

After that, she left her room without any care. It seemed to be almost like an act of evangelism, so she didn’t feel very good about it, but it was unavoidable. In any case, even this Empress Palace was owned by the Emperor if one was to speak strictly.

With a tired look, she laid down on the cold bed in the next room that had not been lit with a fire yet. Right now, she felt like she had caught a cold, so it was important to fall into a deep sleep tonight.