Chapter 66 - CHAPTER 64. A HUSBAND’S GREATEST DUTY

“That time! The carriage! Right?”

It was the lad, who was riding in the carriage that had bumped into hers while she was on her way to the Duke of Efreni. Petronilla wants to greet him with a happy expression, but before that, she saw the hand that he had put out first.The man spoke to her in a friendly voice.

“First, hold on and rise up, Lady.”

“Ah… Yes.”

Petronilla quickly followed his words as the feeling of shame creeped up after. Petronilla stared at the man as she placed the spilled cocktail on the table. The man, who seemed to be about a yard taller than her, was clearly a well-educated man. Of course, it was the same with Petronilla in the other’s eyes.

“I apologize, Lady. I should have been more careful, but I have inconvenienced you.”

“No, Sir. I also own some negligence. Then I will take my leave…”

At the moment, Petronilla remembered a certain moment and then tried to hurry on. But the man was surprisingly stubborn.

“Wait.”

The man caught on to Petronilla. Petronilla looked up at the man with a flustered look. The man smiled softly and spoke to her.

“This is also fate.”

“…”

“Do they not say it is fate when even clothing happens to graze past?”

‘Do you believe that?’

Petronilla secretly laughed at the man internally. It must have been that man has not yet tasted the bitter taste of the world. What a terrible illusion. Despite her thoughts, the man introduced himself.

“I am Rothesay Isle Bradington.”

“…”

Ah, this was the eldest son of Count Bradington who had returned home from abroad. Petronilla deeply questioned whether she should have to provide her full name with only two meetings by coincidence, but it was difficult for her to escape the situation because the man had already provided his name. Eventually, she sighed deeply and said her name.

“Petronilla Laura Les Grochester… that is who I am.”

Petronilla, who introduced herself timidly, really wanted to leave this time and said ‘I will be taking my leave…,” but unfortunately Rothesay quietly ignored her wishes.

“One moment, my Lady.”

“…”

Why again… Just let me go. Petronilla stared at the man with an expression of annoyance. However, the reason she couldn’t maintain her expression for more than 3 seconds was because Rothesay’s expression was overly affectionate. Petronilla’s expression, which had never seen such a friendly expression on a man in her life, went blank. Rothesay spoke in a voice that was overly apologetic.

“The dress is wet…”

“…”

“I would be too apologetic to let you leave this way.”

“No, it is alright…”

“I am not alright.”

Rothesay was adamant. Petronilla stared at the man with an expression of half being taken aback, and half annoyance, and continuously repeated that, “it is alright.” Eventually Rothesay raised the white flag.

“You are a stubborn lady.”

“Yes, I think so.”

“I’m not that strange of a person…”

“I never said you are a strange person, Sir.”

“Then why do you continue to try to avoid me… it is because I am truly apologetic, my Lady.”

“…”

Petronilla closed her eyes tiredly and opened them again. In the end, her choice was to quickly meet the demands of this meddling, caring man. She asked him.

“Alright, Sir. What in the world would you like to do for me”

She was also quite curious. Petronilla’s words brought a bright smile to Rothesay’s face. Ah, this was a man with a good smile that befitted him. Petronilla thought this, and waited for his reply.

“First of all, I will reimburse the dress you wore today.”

“… It is okay because it is a dark color…”

Petronilla tried to say that it was okay, but she stopped as she wanted this situation to be over quickly. Let him just do whatever we wanted.

“Yes, then please send it to the Marquis of Grochester…”

“There is one more thing.”

“… What is it?”

In response to Petronilla’s question, Rothesay knelt in front of Petronilla with the world’s most affectionate smile. Thanks to him coming down to her eye level, Petronilla was taken aback, and Rothesay’s relaxed voice lingered in her ear.

“Will you dance with me today, Lady?”

Patrizia was curious about the cold breeze outside. If Mirya was by her side, she might have been nagged into putting on her clothes right away with a threat of a cold. Fortunately, there was no Mirya next to her. Patrizia walked slowly around the terrace, covering her mouth and yawning. This space was created for nobles who might want to rest quietly by themselves, and ultimately it was for those who didn’t enjoy the party very much. Patrizia had been hanging out on the terrace for a long time, and felt that it was getting cold and thought she should go in.

“… went there?

At that time, Patrizia felt her whole body harden due to the familiar voice. It was Rosemond’s voice. She pressed herself against a pillar, and hid herself so no one could see her. She looked around her surroundings, and figured out where the voice was coming from. A woman was talking to Rosemond not far away, and she could only see Rosemond’s back view, and the woman had reddish-brown eyes with striking hair. Patrizia eavesdropped on their conversation, thinking she was quite a flamboyant woman.

“Indeed. I think she did something.”

“Damn it, why are you handling things like that?”

“Is that my fault? In the first place, the woman went there due to her own will.”

“Shut up. Are you actually talking back right now?”

Rosemond said this in a very angry voice.

“The fact that it is missing, are you insane? Do you not know what will happen if it is discovered in the world?”

“That is why I am looking for a way too! It’s not only you who would die, I would die too. We are conspirators anyway. So shut up and think up a way out of this quickly.”

“…”

She could only see their backs, but she could feel each other glaring. Conspirators. What was it that they had conspired with? What else did Rosemond do…

“Empress?”

At that time, Patrizia turned with surprised eyes towards the familiar voice she heard. Lucio, who seemed to know nothing about what was going on, was right there.

“What are you doing here alone…

“Shh!”

The flustered Patrizia quickly covered his mouth and hid him behind the pillar. Lucio, too, was taken aback by her strength, and hid behind the pillar with her together. He had an expression full of curiosity, but Patrizia had no time to think about his circumstances in the present situation.

“Please be quiet.”

“…”

Meanwhile, Rosemond and the woman finished their conversation and quickly separated. Seeing that they were so carefully in their ways, she thought that it was probably not a proper relationship. Patrizia finally released her hand away from blocking Lucio’s mouth. Patrizia resentfully voiced her complaints to Lucio, who had absolutely no idea what was going on.

“I did not get to hear more because of Your Majesty.”

“… What in the world is it for you to be like that?”

“It was an important matter.”

Patrizia sighed, and Lucio showed that he was still curious. In response, Patrizia spoke with cynicism.

“We are not intimate enough for me to tell you all the details, right?”

“…”

It was the correct answer. Lucio didn’t say anything, and Patrizia bit her lips as if she was the one that had become a bad person for some reason. As the mood was getting awkward, she barely managed to open her lips and asked him.

“… Why are you here?”

“I thought it was too late, so I came here to see if something had happened. I am relieved that nothing seemed to have happened.”

“… You were uselessly worrying.”

“Well. I will be the one to judge if it was useless.”

At the firm voice, Patrizia remained silent. It was awkward. Then, Patrizia’s body was wrapped in something. Patrizia was surprised and raised her head. She spoke in a sharp voice.

“What are you doing…!”

“If you catch a cold, it will be a nuisance, so just cover yourself with it.”

“…”

Why did he keep… Patrizia called out to Lucio.

“Your Majesty.”

“What?”

“I have to point out one thing.”

With a serious look, Patrizia asked.

“Why are you acting this way to me?”

“…”

“Why are you acting this way all of a sudden? Is it not awkward this way for us?”

Patrizia continued to speak in a trembling voice.

“Is it not something you should do for the newly adopted daughter of Efreni? On our first wedding night, the one that said he would never love me was you, Your Majesty.”

“…”

It was all correct. Lucio had nothing to say, even if he had ten mouths.

“That is why you hurt me and made me insulted by a mere mistress…”

Ah, oh my. As she continued to speak, she strangely felt sad. Patrizia bit her lips as hard as possible to avoid crying.

“That is why, with my foolish mind, I do not know why Your Majesty is doing this suddenly.”

“… Alright.”

Lucio replied quietly.

“Because I am also foolish, I cannot answer.”

“… I beg your pardon?”

“I am just fulfilling my duty as a husband to my wife.”

“Ha, the duty as a husband.”

Patrizia burst into laughter. It was not a husband’s duty to act as such, Emperor of the Marvinus Empire.

“A husband’s greatest duty is…”

Patrizia reached out and grabbed the pillar. Lucio, who unintentionally backed up to the wall, stared at Patrizia. Patrizia smiled coolly and whispered to him.

“It is about being faithful to your family and doing your best in your marriage.”

“…”

“Your Majesty was not able to do any of that for me. Am I wrong?”

“… Empress.”

“So it would not be too bad to live like you had wanted on our first day. You should suddenly not pretend to be a good husband, or a kind Emperor now.”

Patrizia spoke to him in a suppressed voice.

“… If.”

“…”

“If I can do both of that, what would happen then?”

“No, Your Majesty.”

Patrizia resolutely drew a line.

“You cannot do anything for me. The trust between both of us was already broken on the first night of our marriage.”

“…”

“Even if Your Majesty begs and desires it, we cannot return to that. Also, it is a denial from my side. I definitely provided a chance from the beginning. We could have… just lived as if nothing had happened.”

“Empress.”

He called out to her with a sad voice, but she was determined. She continuously reprimanded herself, who had been drawn to him, even in this very moment. And this was correct. Patrizia thought so at least.

“Please fulfill the contract, Your Majesty. I only need one Crowned Prince as the heir to the throne.”

“…”

“… I will be taking my leave.”

Patrizia turned around, and walked towards the banquet hall. She had said all the words she had wanted to say from before, and she discarded all the feelings that shook her will since then. It was all that she had been waiting for, and promised to herself continue with. But why…

‘How upsetting.’

…Did she feel so uncomfortable?