Chapter 27 - CHAPTER 25. ARE YOU REALLY IN THE RIGHT?

“… I.”

“…”

“What do you want me to do?”

“You are saying that as if you will do whatever I want.”

“Are you trying to tell me to kick her out?”

“If that is so.”

Patrizia spoke with a slightly trembling voice.

“If that is so… Will you do that?”

“Empress.”

He sighed briefly.

“I cannot discard her.”

“…Why is that?”

She asked as if it was a bit strange. She had felt that it was a bit strange before. It was hard to describe in words, but something seemed strange. In other words, it was a kind of intuition.

The Emperor loved Rosemond. She knew this so far, and everyone knew of this fact.

But Patrizia sometimes thought that there was something else in the relationship between the two of them that she and others didn’t know about. She didn’t know exactly what it was. To guess that, she knew too little about the two. Lucio, who hesitated, slowly moved his lips.

“She is…”

“Your Majesty!”

At that moment, a familiar voice was heard through the rain. Patrizia was amazed and raised her body from her spot without realizing it. Raphaela appeared in front of them through the heavy rain. She called out to Raphaela in an embarrassed voice.

“Sir Rafaella.”

“Your Majesty, are you okay?”

She urgently got off the horse and ran under the tree. Patrizia stood up from her position and met with her. Rafaella quickly asked her.

“Your Majesty, are you okay?”

“I… am okay, Sir.”

“Oh, there was also His Majesty.”

Only then, Rafaella discovered Lucio and quickly bowed to greet him. Lucio lightly received her greeting and asked her, “Why is Sir Rafaella all the way here?”

“I came because Her Majesty had not returned by the appointed time. In addition, it was raining, so it was difficult to guarantee the safety of Her Majesty… But, what is your Majesty doing all the way here?”

“I haven’t had a chance to ride my horse for a while, so I came out to exercise a bit.”

“I see. It seems best that Your Majesty also returns to the palace. It is unlikely that the rain will cease soon, and if you stay wet, you will catch a cold. I’m going to cover you, so please get on top of your horse.”

“Okay.”

Lucio, who replied calmly, climbed on the back of the horse that was by his side. Patrizia, with the help of Rafaella, climbed carefully on top of the horse. Soon the three people on their horses began to move slowly, but not too slowly.

“…”

“…”

“…”

All three of them were silent. Rafaella wanted to ask Patrizia a pile of questions, but Lucio was next to her, making it difficult to open her mouth. Patrizia was curious as to what Lucio was about to say, but it was awkward to ask him again at this point. Lucio was in his own thoughts about Rosemond. Eventually, the three of them covered the long distance without saying a word.

“What happened, Your Majesty?”

Rafaella, who had returned to the Empress Palace, asked Patrizia who was drying her wet body in front of the heater. Patrizia drank the hot rosemary tea that Mirya had brought while saying nothing, and then she opened her mouth as if she had finished thinking.

“I went into the depths of the forest and met His Majesty. It was without luck that I had met His Majesty, and also thought it was unreasonable to move right away when I was injured. That is how this happened.”

“I was worried. It was a good thing that nothing happened because if there were those that had impure intentions, something bad might have happened.”

Nothing had happened as a result, but she wasn’t quite in the right to push out these facts. Patrizia looked sorry and apologized to her.

“I am sorry, Sir Ella. It is my fault.”

“Anyways… I’m glad that nothing happened. Nil was very worried.”

“Yes, Lizzy. It’s only been a few days since I’ve been here, and you’re already worrying me this much. In addition to hurting your hand.”

When Petronilla scolded her with a slightly pale face, Patrizia apologized to her as if she could not even lift up her face.

“I am sorry, Nil.”

“I am going to have to retrain that horse. If you want, I can blame the person in charge.”

“That is too much. You do not have to go that far. Just give a fair warning.”

“Okay.”

As soon as she finished speaking, the palace physician that Mirya had summoned was brought into her residence. He gave the proper greetings to Patrizia, and then immediately began treatment. The white handkerchief that had been previously tied by Lucio was already hardened with dried blood. The palace physician spoke while in the midst of treating.

“I am glad you stopped the bleeding right away, Your Majesty. It could possibly lead to a scar, but I will try to stop that from happening as much as possible.”

“Please do.”

Patrizia responded shortly and soon fell back into deep thought. What was he doing now? How would the story she had just talked about influence him?

Patrizia didn’t expect her words to have a big impact on him, but she thought it would be enough if it could even cause a small wave. She just wanted the situation to flow in a direction that favored her.

On the other hand, Rosemond had no chance to welcome Lucio who visited Vain Palace, as she met him immediately after taking a bath.

“Your Majesty. What would you have done if you had caught a cold like that?”

Lucio stared silently at Rosemond who embraced him and spoke in a tone that showed her feelings full of being upset. Lucio, who remained silent for a while, then opened his mouth and called out to Rosemond.

“Rose.”

“Yes, Your Majesty.”

Rosemond, who appeared as an obedient woman, soon raised her head and looked at Lucio. While hesitating, he finally opened his mouth and asked her a question, “That day there was an interview with the wives of the envoys.”

“…”

Rosemond’s complexion paled slightly as soon as these words were brought out. ‘Why was he suddenly bringing up that day?’ The shocked Rose asked him in return, “Yes?”

“What happened on that day?”

“…What happened, Your Majesty? Your Majesty knows better than me.”

She replied to him with a trembling voice.

“I was hit on the cheek by the Empress. You also saw this, Your Majesty.”

“Before that. The Empress would not have hit you for no reason. Is that not true?”

“Your Majesty.”

Rosemond panicked. There had never been a situation like this. Rosemond’s word had been the law for Lucio. He loved her like he was her father. He forgave her for any wrongdoing and even forgave her for any action she had taken. But this time why..? Lucio sighed as Rosemond’s eyes trembled in confusion.

“Are you really in the right, Rose?”

“…If I say no.”

She asked him back with a hurt look.

“If I say no, would you forsake me?”

“Rose.”

“Your Majesty, do you not love me?”

She asked in a crying tone, and Lucio felt his head begin to hurt. But he did not express this, and he comforted Rosemond.

“It is not like that, Rose. But this issue…”

“SOB.”

She just sat down on her spot and decided to cry. In this kind of situation, tears were the best. The fact that Lucio was vulnerable to her tears was something she knew better than anyone else. He looked taken aback as she had expected.

“Rose.”

“I’m… SOB, I thought if it was you, then you would understand me.”

“I would?”

“SOB… If it was you…”

“Rose, I can understand anything else, but this is related to the Empire. If it affects things even outside of the Empire, then even I would not be able to do anything.”

“Your Majesty.”

Rosemond felt her hair stand on end. He already knew everything! Rosemond looked at him with shocked eyes. He was approaching her with a complicated expression. Rosemond looked up at him. He reached out his hand to her, and without realizing, she stood up holding onto his hand.

“Your Majesty…”

“Rose, I love you.”

“…”

“But this time… I really do not know.”

“Your Majesty?”

Rosemond looked at him with surprised eyes. He still had a look of dismay in his eyes. Sudden anxiety came over her.

Why was Lucio looking at her like that? At least he, of all people had to understand her. At least he had to love her. As she had understood and loved him, shouldn’t he do the same for her? That was love. Returning what you had received.

“You were the only one to have understood and comforted me, so I loved you, and tried to understand everything you did. But… Really not this time. It was dangerous. I do not know what kind of chaos would result if this was to be publicized. If the Empress decides to expose this to the surface, you will be finished. You have exceeded the limits that I could protect you.”

“Your Majesty, but this was the only way to become Queen.”

“Making you into the Queen did not entail this in the least. There were many nobler methods than that. A way everything could be quietly resolved without anyone getting hurt. What is the reason you used this method?”

“This was the fastest way to be a queen.”

She swallowed her tears and replied. There were many other good methods, nobler ones that he had mentioned. But those kinds of methods were not enough. She had needed one of the biggest opportunities, but it was difficult to include a nobler way in there. She laughed with a bizarre expression.

“How long did you think you were going to keep me in the position of Baroness?”

“…Rose, everything has a step to it.”

“So you would have made me Queen just before I died of old age?”

“Rose, you know this best, but the Empress is infertile. With that excuse, I would have been able to take care of everything quietly. Can you not even wait until that? Even the Emperor would need a good enough reason to bring down the Empress, it would be impossible to do so without such a cause.”

“…”

All of his words were true, and Rosemond understood all of this with her head, but not with her heart. By the time it would be revealed that the Empress could not give birth to a child, she would already be old. At that time, it would be uncertain whether or not a child could be born from her as well.

However, following his words, it would not be an easy feat to dethrone the Empress without any legitimate cause. So that is why she had created this scheme… She bit her lips without realizing she was doing it.

Yes, she admitted that this had been a bit irrational. As he had said, it was a matter of possible diplomatic dispute.

But it was rare to have such an assured opportunity such as this. But first, she apologized to him with sunken eyes. At least for now, this was the time to fold.

“I am sorry.”

Even with her broken voice, his expression remained unchanged. He was not sure whether his feelings were really right for her now. She was the only one who understood and embraced him. He believed that it was true love since he wanted to repay the favor and give her everything she wanted.

But even this… was it really true love? He felt that his essence was being threatened by materialistic goods. So Lucio… felt skeptical about his relationship with Rosemond for the first time. He had never felt any suspicion and frustration like this before.

He was afraid. Was this relationship that he had believed to be true, getting defiled? In this way, this relationship he had with her, a bond people that did not know about, was possibly breaking.

“…”

He stared at her. She was looking up at him with tears in her eyes. It instantly came to his mind that he could not look at her face right now. Eventually, he walked a step or two towards her with a painful expression and left a small kiss on her forehead. He hesitated for a bit, then turned around, and left her place.

Rosemond was left alone after he left, and her expression quickly became cold, as if she had never been in tears moments before. She distorted her face with an expression of frustration. A rough curse exploded out of her mouth.

“Sh*t.”

Somehow, she didn’t have a good feeling.