Chapter 52 - CHAPTER 50. DOES NOT LOOK SO GOOD

“I know the reason why the Duchess made this request, Lady.”

“… I know as well.”

Petronilla sighed inwardly and asked the butler.

“No one will like me going in and out of here. So please do the best you can as the butler.”

“Don’t worry, Lady. I will make sure you won’t have any sort of hassle.”

“I believe you. Since you are a vassal from her Marquis family.”

Petronilla smiled a bit, and then closed the carriage window. As the carriage departed, Petronilla leaned back against the seat, and slowly closed her eyes.

“Lady, would you like to go to the Imperial Palace?”

Petronilla replied briefly to the driver’s question.

“No.”

She wanted to rest a little today. It had been strangely tiring these days, and since Rosemond was gone, there wouldn’t be too many situations where she was needed.

Petronilla decided to rest a bit. She spoke slowly.

“Let us go to the Marquis of Grochester.”

“Your Majesty, Lady Grochester said today that she is going home early today.”

“Really?”

Patrizia, who was taking a walk in the garden, muttered with a puzzled look.

“Strange. She used to stay in the Imperial Palace until the evening.”

“She said she was a little tired. Besides, there is no Rosemond today.”

“Yes. Nil must need a break too.”

Patrizia nodded her head with a voice of understanding. After a long time, she was taking a leisurely stroll around the garden with a relaxed heart. The fact that the absence of Rosemond within the palace made her so comfortable was slightly annoying, but it was unavoidable. She helped herself and plucked a small red flower that was in bloom.

“The Emperor must be bored today.”

“He probably does not have any time to do that. He is very busy these days.”

“He was always busy, but still looked for Rosemond.”

After Patrizia responded in a cynical manner, she continued her walk casually. After a few more minutes of doing so, Patrizia found him in her favorite part of the garden. Patrizia sighed and turned around. She had no luck.

“Oh my, is that not His Majesty?”

Rafaella asked this untactfully. Mirya panicked but soon responded nonchalantly.

“It seems so.”

“Hmm…”

Rafaella observed Lucio from a distance and muttered in a strange voice.

“It seems a little strange”

“What is?”

“His Majesty.”

Rafaella continued to speak to Mirya in a surprised voice.

“He does not look so good?”

“What do you mean?”

“His complexion. It seems not so good.”

Rafaella murmured while asking ‘Is it not?’ At those words, Patrizia also showed interest. She slightly glanced towards Lucio. He stood still and stared at the flowers that were in full bloom, but as Rafaella had said, his face was pale, like a man who looked sick. Patrizia was interested in him for a very short time but soon shook her head.

“Let us go now”

She was not the one that should be interested in anyways. Patrizia thought this way and turned her steps around calmly.

Patrizia fell asleep a little earlier than usual that night. Normally, it would have been some time later, as it was the time to work hard with the international event’s preparations, but it was due to the fact that there hadn’t been much progress. She closed her eyes in bed, thinking her body felt a bit heavy.

She was a person who usually did not have insomnia, but she had not been able to sleep steadily since she had become Regent. She found the cause was from excessive stress after she had entered the Imperial Palace. Moreover, since being the Regent, she was under more stress than when she was the Empress.

When Patrizia was barely about to fall asleep, she opened her sleepy eyes. Patrizia kicked the blanket off with a nervous look. When she got up and sat on the bed, Patrizia muttered with an unpleasant voice.

“This… what is this sound?”

Something kept stimulating her ears. If it was a good sound to hear, then it would have been fine, but it was very annoying. Patrizia couldn’t stand it anymore and called out to Mirya. Mirya heard her voice and quickly entered the room.

“Yes, Your Majesty. What is it?”

“Have you heard as well?”

“Yes? What do you mean…”

She made a look that showed she could not understand and cocked her head, and Patrizia spoke in a tired voice.

“This sound. Can you not hear it? Is it only in my ears?”

“I can’t hear anything in my ear, Your Majesty. Perhaps, did you hear wrong…?”

“No, Mirya. If so, then I would not have called for you in the middle of the night. Be quiet and listen.”

At Patrizia’s firm voice, Mirya closed her mouth and focused her attention on her ears. Oh, and then it seemed like she could hear something. But it was a really faint sound. She was impressed with Patrizia’s ability to hear, and Mirya spoke.

“I hear it, Your Majesty. But it’s really faint. Does it bother you?”

“I am sorry, Mirya. I am actually a bit sensitive, so I wake up easily even with these small sounds.”

“There is no need to be sorry. Your Majesty is struggling these days, and who couldn’t understand the situation? I’m going to find out what’s going on.”

It was impossible to fall back asleep again after she had already been awakened. She made a thoughtful expression for a moment, and soon got up from the bed, putting on only one shawl over the pearl-colored silk dress she was wearing. Patrizia spoke to Mirya, who was staring at her actions with surprise.

“It is already too late to go back to sleep, so I think it would be better if I go find out. I wonder who in the world can make such a sound in the Imperial Palace at night?”

“Will you be alright? If there are any problems regarding Your Majesty’s safety…”

“It should be fine because there are escort guards. Could you bring me some lanterns?”

“Yes, Your Majesty. Please wait for a moment.”

Mirya soon brought the lamp, and she accepted the lamp with a sunken expression, then left the room with only Mirya and Rafaella in tow. Who dared to make a commotion in the Imperial Palace at night? She started walking down the hallway with a neat gait.

“…”

To focus on the sound, the three of them did not say a word while walking. Obviously, the sound was heard within the Empress Palace. So did one of the maids make that sound? Patrizia continued to walk with an expression that did not know.

The Empress Palace was not a small place, so it was a very time-consuming task to walk around it. However, Patrizia walked towards the sound, and fortunately, it didn’t take much time.

At some point, the sound began to grow louder. It sounded like someone was crying. Who in the world? It was not known whether it was a man or a woman crying, but whoever it was, surely cried so sadly.

“Your Empress Majesty.”

Someone called out to her then. Patrizia turned around and found the owner of the voice calling to her. A woman who seemed a little tired was running hurriedly toward her. One of Patrizia’s eyebrows, which recognized her, rose slightly.

“…A maid from the Central Palace?”

She remembered her as a woman who worked as a maid in the Central Palace. When Patrizia looked at her with a puzzled look, the woman gasped for breath and asked her.

“Where… Where are you going?”

“I do not need to report to you where I am going.”

She replied to the maid in a suspicious voice, and the reply resulted in the maid trembling. Patrizia felt slightly bad for this and spoke again.

“While I was trying to sleep, I heard a strange sound. Is there a reason you are asking?”

“That is…”

The maid bit her lips silently and then replied.

“You don’t have to…”

“What do you mean?”

“That, that… You can ask the maids to do that.”

“Of course. But that is definitely my choice. I do not think that is something you should dare to intervene with.”

“For-forgive…”

The woman couldn’t finish her words and closed her eyes. Patrizia moved one eyebrow as if it were strange. The woman’s behavior is strange. As if to…to block her, she could feel it. Patrizia asked her in a questionable voice.

“Rather, why is the maid of the Central Palace here in the first place? Did His Majesty send you?”

“That… that is…”

“Why can you not answer? Who on earth if not His Majesty…?”

At that time, Patrizia stopped talking. The sound was louder than before. Patrizia glanced at the maid shivering in front of her and spoke again.

“You have something more to say to me?”

“Your Majesty, but you should not go over there…”

“If it is not important, you can tell me later. I am a little busy right now.”

After that, she continued to move on. From the back, she could sense that the maid was restless, and she intuitively knew that the maid had called out to stop her.

But why? Was there something in the Empress Palace that was so dangerous that the maid of the Central Palace would stop her? Or was there something in her palace that she couldn’t look at?

Either way, it was questionable to the point of being dangerous. Patrizia hastened her footsteps. Eventually, the sound began to grow louder, and Patrizia’s face, guessing the identity of the sound, began to harden along with her feet. Surely… this…

“… Mirya, Rafaella.”

She called out to two people in a hardened voice. Then the two replied to her.

“Yes, Your Majesty.”

“Please speak.”

“…Wait here.”

The two of them looked startled as if they thought it was unexpected.

“Your Majesty, but…!”

“Are you going alone? Your Majesty, it is dangerous.”

No, it was not dangerous if her thoughts were correct. Rather the dangerous thing was… maybe her side was the one that was dangerous. Patrizia once again spoke in a quivering voice.

“It is an order. Wait here. I… nothing will happen, so do not worry.”

“…”

Both of them showed that they did not want to follow the order, but they had no choice. Patrizia didn’t use the word ‘order’ very often. Even though she didn’t have to use those words, the two of them had followed her instructions well. So if she spoke like that… it was really inevitable. The two stopped on the spot.

“Probably… I will not make you wait long.”

Patrizia, who spoke and hurriedly moved on. Rafaella and Mirya stared at her retreating back with frustrated eyes.

What the world was she thinking about to act like that?