Chapter 33 - CHAPTER 31. I DESPERATELY NEED YOU

Rafaella ran and ran again. She searched for almost every section to find Patrizia, but she was not visible anywhere. When the situation turned to this, Rafaella who was the owner of a usually optimistic personality, was naturally worried. Had they missed each other while crossing paths? Rafaella prayed for that. The hunting competitions would be over in three to four hours.

If Patrizia still did not appear until then…

Rafaella, who thought this far, shook her head and got rid of her delusion. These thoughts were useless. She must have been hunting while riding her horse freely somewhere in the woods.

But because there was always a maybe, Rafaella decided to look around a little. Even if the ‘maybe’ situation came, nothing could be done right now.

Then, something came into Rafaella’s line of sight when she was about to turn around. Rafaella approached the shape in a familiar figure doubtfully, and as soon as she noticed the identity, she screamed with amazement, “Patrizia!”

When Patrizia opened her eyes, an hour had passed. When she objectively judged the condition of her body that had been exposed to a lot of rain earlier, it seemed that she hadn’t caught a cold.

At least so far this was the case, but it was the norm not to know what the human body would turn out to be like, so Patrizia thought she would have to rush to return in a hurry.

To do this above all, he had to be alert, but he was still lying there as if dead. Patrizia carefully leaned away from him, and then looked over Lucio’s condition.

When she touched his body with her hands, she could feel the warmth at her fingertips.

Oh, thank goodness. Patrizia was relieved. The crisis had passed. Someone who would soon die could not get this warm. Patrizia thought she wanted to cry at that moment and buried her face against her knees. It was a very difficult time when she had to go through everything herself, with no one helping her.

It was still raining, but there was no more thunderstorm, and the rain had thinned out from before.

Due to the heavy weather however, it was impossible to measure the time, she could estimate that only about a couple of hours remained until the end of the hunting competition.

Anyways, it was only possible to head out after the rain had stopped. Moving in the rain would adversely affect the state of all three of them.

Patrizia tidied up her hair that had been messed up with a weary expression and then turned to Lucio again. He was still asleep. She muttered.

“Please wake up.”

“…”

Naturally, he did not wake up. If this had happened in the first place, she would be a wizard. But she wasn’t even a wizard, and she didn’t even know how to perform magic. Patrizia released a long sigh and murmured to herself.

“If you do not wake up quickly, my life is but a second priority, and Your Majesty’s position will be at risk. You know this best, so why do you do this?”

“…”

“Please wake up, Your Majesty. What should I do more for you from here?”

Her resentful voice was saddening. Patrizia honestly wanted to cry. Would it have been easier if she had to deal with this situation by herself?

He may have acted in a way to help her, but to be coldly frank, he was now a burden for her. But that didn’t mean she was going to cut down his heart that wanted to get poisoned in her stead.

Patrizia was not so cold.

“Rosemond…”

Patrizia’s interest then turned to Rosemond, the driving force behind all of this. When she thought of her, Patrizia’s eyes burned fire with anger. Obviously, she had given the warning last time. That it would be better not to do that kind of stuff again. But was this the result of a compassionate warning? This situation could eventually lead to everything being taken away.

Patrizia mocked herself. Her foolishness had created this situation after all. Rosemond was just the type of person that wouldn’t have taken her warning seriously.

She had been so ignorant. Patrizia wanted to hurl her tongue out at her own stupidity.

Anyway, the situation had already happened, and Patrizia finally had to admit it.

That she couldn’t escape the fight against Rosemond. Initially, the plan was to stay as if she was not there in the Imperial Palace and become the Dowager Empress, but in the present situation, it was almost impossible to be “as if not there.” If she continued to ‘be as if not there’, she would be murdered or abolished as ‘as if she was not there.’

It wasn’t just a matter of herself alone. The Empress of the Marvinus Empire was not overthrown for any reason. So, if she was dethroned, it meant the fall of her family. The family crest would be no more, and the necks all cut at the guillotine. She never wanted to go through that again.

Patrizia stared into the empty face with a relaxed face.

She would never be beaten again. She would never experience something like this again. Again, again! Patrizia laughed, holding her breath with a cold look.

It was fortunate to have heard Rosemond’s name in their mouths. If they hadn’t revealed the true culprit, the good girl that she was would have been in a bit of anguish. Because of that noble and useless reason that there was a suspicion but no evidence. However, that sapling had been completely removed, and now there was only one option left for Patrizia.

War, and victory. Patrizia bit at her lips with a cold expression. She wanted to live like a wildflower as if there but not there, but it seemed she would have to become a weed. She couldn’t be too sad about it since there was no choice in the matter. She didn’t want to survive as if she was a weed, but she hated dying as a wildflower more. So…

“Please wake up, Your Majesty.”

Now, she desperately needed him, more than ever before.

When Rafaella returned to headquarters, leaving the set amount of time for an hour or so, she completely fell into a panic when she realized that both the Emperor and the Empress were not there. Then someone caught onto her strongly.

“Sir Rafaella!”

“Ah… father.”

It was her father, Marquis of Bringstone. As soon as she saw her father, Rafaella was so startled that she almost dropped what she was hiding in her hand. The Marquis of Bringstone took her to a private place that had nobody around. After confirming that no one was around, the Marquis of Bringstone questioned Rafaella with a quiet voice.

“What happened? Both Majesties are not visible. Let’s say it’s fine with His Majesty, but even then, what happened to Her Majesty?”

“Father, that is… Her Majesty said she wanted to ride alone…”

Rafaella replied frankly while being intimidated, but what returned was a severe reprimand.

“So, you call yourself Her Majesty’s knight, and yet you let Her Majesty go off on her own, alone? Are you sane right now? Do you not know how the situation is going, for you to be taking it so easy like this!?”

“I am sorry, Father.”

Because all these words were correct, Rafaella genuinely had nothing to say in response. There was nothing wrong with how the Marquis of Bringstone was saying she was being overly comfortable. Originally, the compassion she felt for the life that Empress Patrizia had to lead was the reason for her actions.

Rafaella had to see Patrizia as a Queen rather than a Lady, but as a young woman, it was hard to see her as a woman in such a serious position.

Only then did Rafaella fully realize the current situation, and soon there was a tremendous regret about what she had done.

The fear was then unleashed and she began to shake her hands, but the Marquis of Bringstone gave her an order with a stern look that was different from usual.

“It is a command not to my daughter, but Knight Rafaella. Find Her Majesty no matter what. If this somehow goes wrong, you will know what kind of chaos will come to the Imperial Family, even if I do not tell you. Right?”

“…”

She nodded silently, and the Marquis of Bringstone sighed. It wasn’t just anyone but the pair of man and woman who supported the empire, that had disappeared at the same time. Fortunately, there was still time left, so there weren’t any strange rumors floating around, but after an hour or two, the time for commotion would be an instant.

Then there would be nothing good for the authority of the two of them. The Marquis of Bringstone struggled to shake off the anxiety that was creeping in and asked his daughter a question.

“It’s an order and a favor, Ella. It’s very urgent. If you don’t find and bring back both of them, as your father, I don’t know exactly what will happen in the future. You know?”

“Yes, Father. I must… I will definitely return with them.”

Fortunately, the surrounding forest that was designated as a hunting ground was only cloudy and not raining, unlike the place where Patrizia was, and Rafaella hid Patrizia’s hunting suit without revealing it.

It should not be made public. As soon as this was to be revealed, it was obvious that it would cause the waves that the Marquis of Bringstone said would happen. Rafaella was determined to look for the two, and she firmly resolved her will.

As time passed, Patrizia became increasingly nervous. The rain was close to stopping, but Lucio was still asleep without any movement. Patrizia nervously looked alternatively at him lying and stared up at the sky outside.

“Damn it. I feel like I am going crazy.”

Patrizia touched her forehead and facially expressed a headache. She felt like she wanted to move him on her own, but she didn’t know what kind of variables she would face, and she wanted to avoid them because she didn’t want to appear suspicious.

Slowly, she walked towards the side where he was. He was not some kind of a sleeping prince in a forest, and the princess certainly had done something like a kiss, so with this much, he should wake up. Patrizia’s expression changed strangely, as she had a frustrated heart mixed with an unknown kind of sorrow.

“…”

To be honest, it was a lie if she said she didn’t feel sorry. That she didn’t feel guilty, this was also a lie. Whoever the other person would have been, she would have been sorry. It would never happen, but even if that person had been Rosemond. Patrizia let out a complicated sigh and put her face on her knees. What if… What if he didn’t wake up like this? How…

“Haaa…”

At that time, a slight sound of breath stimulated her ears.