Chapter 44 - CHAPTER 42. UNCHANGED ESSENCE

“…”

That was so. The Duke of Efreni would choose Rosemond, and the Duke of Witherford, on the contrary, chose her. Whether the Duke of Witherford wanted Rosemond and chose Patrizia, or whether he wanted to choose her in the first place, the only thing that was certain was that he supported Patrizia, at least at this point. And Patrizia also felt that no further reason was necessary.

The important thing was that she was being supported by his side, and she was also willing to protect them. All the other emotional things are unnecessary and worthless.

Patrizia would not be tied down by these things in this fight, and even if someone offered it, she would refuse. Those things are rather disturbing. At least she thought for now.

“I also do not care to pay mind to all of you that have sided with me. I do not want to try to show them a good side as well. Since I already have all of you. Am I wrong?”

“Not at all, Your Majesty.”

As Lucio recovered from the state he had been in, Patricia spurred on with her work. When he had been unconscious, she had only been in charge of a portion of the work anyways, but she wanted to pass on the work in the most suitable way. She was going to do her best so that he could return to his work after one week had passed without any issues. Her hard work had paid off, as Lucio returned to his duties without any awkwardness.

Considering she had returned to being an Empress from the Regent, her workload had lessened only by a little bit. She still hadn’t finished the most important work of all. Patrizia drank the still steaming cup of tea as she waited for someone to arrive. A maid announced his arrival.

“Your Majesty, the Duke of Witherford has arrived.”

“Escort him in.”

At those words, he walked in full of confidence. She greeted him with a bright smile.

“Welcome, Duke. It has been quite a while.”

“Yes, Your Majesty.”

Truthfully, it hadn’t been all that long, but this was just said out of courtesy. Patrizia looked at him with amused eyes and asked him a question.

“So, you wanted to meet with me?”

“Indeed, Your Majesty.”

“I thought there would only be one reason for why you would want to meet with me, correct?”

“It is as you had expected, Your Majesty. A confession has been procured.”

“Who is it?”

“A maid that served in the Vain Palace, Your Majesty. I have chosen a smart child who is good at judging situations. She will testify with the evidence that has been moderately fabricated.”

“The afterwards?”

“I offered the conditions while putting her family back in her hometown on the line, so she will not try anything foolish. Please put down your worries.”

“Sounds good. Who else knows of this fact besides you and myself?”

“As of right now, nobody else knows. I plan to announce the results at the advisory council meeting tomorrow.”

“It is done. You have worked well, Duke.”

“Not at all, Your Majesty. I am only apologetic that the results took this long.”

At the Duke of Witherford’s words, Patrizia smiled contentedly. Whether it had taken a long time or not, if the results were the same, she didn’t care at all. She spoke to the Duke of Witherford in an unusually bright voice.

“Anyways, the important part is for this to be completely finished.”

The next day. Patrizia headed towards the Loen Palace to completely bring this case to a close. At that place, the witness’ testimony would take place, and the punishment would be decided on. She walked with a fairly tense expression on her face when by chance, she discovered Lucio who was also heading in the direction for the Loen Palace. Patrizia preferred not to run into him and tried to turn around to avoid him, but it was already too late. He had discovered her first.

“Empress.”

He called out to her and headed towards her direction. Patrizia wondered why he didn’t continue on his way and had to stop, and secretly made an unwelcome expression. But soon, she showed no signs of that as she headed towards him and bowed her head in greeting.

“I greet the Emperor. Glory to the great Sun of the Empire.

“Were you on the way to the Loen Palace?”

“Yes, I am.”

She answered shortly. After that, a shocking reply came in response.

“Let us go together.”

“…”

Was there anyone in this Empire that could dare show any signs of rejection to that? To dare with the request from the Emperor of this Empire. Patrizia sighed inwardly and responded that he should do as he pleased. To be honest, it was quite an uncomfortable situation, but there was nothing that could be done about it.

“…”

The two of them were walking together, but there were absolutely no words exchanged between them. Patrizia preferred to save her words, and the reason for that was because she worried she might slip up and ruin the crucial moment that lay ahead. Lucio was not aware of this situation and continued to only think that she just hated him. So he only said these words.

“Today is the day that the investigation comes to a close.”

“Yes, Your Majesty.”

“So a witness has appeared.”

“Yes, Your Majesty.”

“Will you be putting her to death?”

“Yes, Your Majesty.”

HALT. Lucio stopped his footsteps. Naturally, Patrizia’s footsteps ceased as well, and she looked at his face for the first time. He stared at her with a face that was hard to read, but it wasn’t a look of resentment or hate. He just blatantly stared at her.

At that moment, Patrizia felt that his gaze was like that of a small child, and she subtly turned away, as the gaze felt like a burden.

Patrizia wanted to ask him exactly why he had looked at her that way, but she couldn’t bring up the courage to do so. And so, the two of them began to walk again without any words.

“His Majesty and Her Majesty have arrived.”

The door opened along with the servant’s words. Patrizia stared with emotionless eyes at the heads that were bowed towards them. She walked along with him to the area that had their thrones and took her seat next to him.

Only the Empress of the Empire could have this privilege. This was probably the first time that she sat alongside him like this. Patrizia was about to open her mouth first and felt she would be acting overboard and stopped, as he spoke to her first.

“Empress, you are in charge of this whole thing, so why not start this?”

“Gratefully, Your Majesty.”

Patrizia expressed her thanks shortly and gave the orders to the Duke of Witherford in a low voice.

“Duke, report on the incident.”

“Yes, Your Majesty. A while ago, there was an unfortunate situation where the Emperor and the Empress went missing during the hunting competition. Both of Their Majesties returned to the Palace not long after the competition had ended, but the Emperor had been hit with a poisoned arrow from the assassins, and his life was on the line, while the Empress had also been ambushed.

Her Majesty became the Regent on His Majesty’s behalf as he was unconscious, and placed me in charge of the investigation, and as I received Her Majesty’s command I questioned the most likely suspect, the Lady Phelps, along with those that served in the Vain Palace.”

“Today is the day that the investigation comes to a close, Duke. Have you revealed who the true culprit is?”

“I have, Your Majesty.”

“Who is it?”

The Duke of Witherford did not respond to Patrizia’s question. Instead, he said something else.

“Bring the witness in.”

The door opened as soon as his words finished, and someone came inside. The maid wore a red dress that was the symbol of the Vain Palace, and while she looked exhausted from the long interrogation, she didn’t look as if she was hurt to the point of fainting.

She looked slightly withdrawn as if she felt intimidated by all the people of high status gathered in the room, and as soon as she locked eyes with the Duke of Witherford, her body began to shake uncontrollably. He ordered her.

“Come closer.”

She did as she was told while her body continued to tremble. Patrizia watched objectively as she decided to look on to see what happened. Soon, the Duke of Witherford’s mouth opened up again.

“Both of Your Majesties, along with my fellow nobles. The real culprit that tried to assassinate both of Their Majesties is Lady Phelps.”

It was already an expected outcome, but as that became a reality, there was slight murmuring in the space. At that, Lucio raised his hand to quiet them down and asked the Duke of Witherford a question.

“Duke, are you sure this is the truth?”

“Indeed, Your Majesty. The Vain Palace maid’s testimony has been procured.”

As he said this, he glanced at the maid with eyes encouraging her to speak. And then the young maid’s mouth barely opened.

“The Duke’s words are true, Your Majesty.”

“Is there not even one shred of falsehood? Perjury will be paid for by death.”

“It is true, Your Majesty. I saw it myself. Lady Phelps has always hated Her Majesty the Empress and had hostile feelings toward her. When the Empress happened to decide on entering the hunting competition, she thought this was a good opportunity, and hired assassins to scheme this conspiracy.”

“Your Majesty, how could you believe her words? You cannot kill the Emperor’s concubine with only one testimony from a maid.”

“Yes, Your Majesty. This case cannot be closed with just one witness.”

The Duke of Efeni’s closest allies raised up a fuss, and the Duke of Witherford made movements with his eyes again. This time, the one who interrupted was the one in charge of the search party, Rafaella.

“This is the piece of evidence.”

What Rafaella raised was a seemingly broken in half accessory, that was covered with dirt. Rafaella continued to speak on without her voice shaking.

“This is something that was found at the scene of the search. I chose not to report it as to not cause a commotion, but through that maid’s questioning, the fact that this belongs to Lady Phelps has been revealed.”

“This was an accessory that the Lady wore often, and suddenly one day she did not have it on anymore, Your Majesty. If you cannot believe my words, please search through the Vain Palace. Surely the other half will be discovered.”

“If that is so, then the results have been decided.”

Patrizia murmured without any expression on her face, and Lucio did not say a word while not revealing what he was thinking. She stared at Lucio with serious eyes, and then looked around at the nobles that were in a state of panic at the testimonies from both the Vain Palace’s maid and Rafaella.

“What do you all think about this situation? Will you still require further evidence?”

Everything was a lie. That maid’s testimony, a quickly made dirty hairpiece. Honestly speaking, however, was there a need for any more evidence than this? No, could a more exact piece of evidence be made up? Patrizia was sure of her victory. None of the nobles spoke, and Patrizia was sure that the moment she had long been waiting for had finally arrived.

“It seems the conclusion has been made. Your Majesty, as the Imperial wife, I request the beheading of Baroness Phelps who dared to try to murder the Imperial Family…”

“It is a lie, Your Majesty!”

It was then that someone cut off her words with a sharp voice. At that moment, Patrizia felt an enormous amount of rage and turned her body to confirm who had interrupted her. Someone had opened the door and walked over to where they all gathered, and it was a familiar face. Patrizia’s face froze in shock when she saw who the opponent was, and let out a laugh.

“Duke of Efreni. I wondered why you had not shown up, and finally, you have.”

“Your Majesty the Emperor. Those testimonies and that witness are all fake.”

He continued on with a voice that was steady, and Patrizia looked at the woman that was standing behind him. She was also wearing a red dress. Lucio asked him.

“What do you mean, Duke of Efreni? That the revealed testimonies and witness are all fake.”

“Your Majesty, the real culprit is someone else. It is not the Baroness Phelps. Please lay down your wise judgment.”

“I am also quite curious, Duke Efreni. With what proof do you say such words?”

Patrizia glared at him as she asked, and the Duke of Efreni briefly glanced at her and spoke as if he was going to give her what she wanted.

“This broad is the proof.”

As the Duke of Efreni spoke these words, the woman in the red dress standing behind him went down on her knees.