Chapter 74 - BECAUSE I AM IN LOVE WITH YOU

Petronila was feeling very awkward now because this was the first time for her. She glanced up at Rothesay, walking by her side with a smile on his face. The moderate sunlight was shining on his face, and Petronilla felt like it was like the light from a halo. Then Rothesay asked her.

“Is there anything on my face, my Lady?”

“Ah, no.”

The flustered Petronila quickly made up an excuse.

“I was just looking because the clothes you wore today are cool.”

“I am glad you like it, my Lady.”

He sighed with relief and said to her.

“I was very worried. What if you do not like me… and so forth.”

“… Then I would not have accepted your offer.”

“Thank you, my Lady.”

Rothesay spoke tenderly to her.

“Is there anything my Lady would like to do?”

“What I would like to do?”

“I plan to spend time all day together today. I want to do whatever my Lady wants to do.”

“Uh…”

As Petronilla didn’t even think this date would have been so forward, she was very taken aback by Rothesay’s words. She murmured with a flustered expression on her face.

“Actually… I have never thought about it.”

“Oh dear. Is that so.”

Rothesay continued in a voice that felt bad

“Then you can think about it from now on. Do not worry about it too much.”

“Is there anything that you would want to do?”

“Did I not tell you?”

Rothesay laughed with his charming face.

“I enjoy everything as long as I am with my Lady.”

“…”

“It does not matter what we do as long as I am by my Lady’s side.”

“… Yes.”

This man talked about these embarrassing things very well. Did he go somewhere and receive lessons on this? Petronilla muttered this to herself after thinking this. What could she do to make this meeting today the last meeting?

It was simple. She could make this man tired of her. When she thought of that, Petronilla’s expression brightened. She called out to him.

“Sir.”

“Yes, my Lady. Please say it.”

“I have something I want to do.”

“Anything.”

Petronilla replied with a wicked smile.

“I want to go to the gladiator coliseum.”

“… The gladiator coliseum?”

Rossy asked this question for confirmation with a confused look, and Petronilla nodded.

“Yes, gladiator coliseum.”

“The gladiators that fight with swords…”

“Yes, that gladiator coliseum.”

Petronilla smiled as she said to him.

“The one where they complete until someone dies.”

Petronilla never actually went to a gladiator coliseum, and even the nobles who enjoyed such unnecessary slaughter were hard to understand for her, but for now this was the best option. Goodness, who could have good feelings toward a cruel woman like this? Petronilla smiled with repentance, believing that her plan would certainly succeed. But there was one thing she had overlooked.

“…”

“My Lady, are you alright?”

“AGH, what do I do… ! I am alright!”

The fact that she couldn’t watch the gladiatorial fights. Petronilla felt she desperately wanted to leave when she felt knocked down ten minutes after the game had started. But when she said that, she would become a liar. Ah, wait a minute. That could actually be a good thing?… If not, then she would not be able to see this man without feeling uncomfortable from then on. Petronilla changed her mind.

“Are you alright, my Lady? For real?”

But Rothesay, this man seemed to not notice any of that at all.

“If you are not alright, we can leave, my Lady.”

“However…”

Petronilla murmured without being able to refuse twice.

“You have already paid.”

It was a waste of money… When Petronilla muttered this with her eyes tightly closed with an inscrutable expression on her face, Rothesay found this sight adorable and seemed to not care about that whatsoever, and said to her.

“Let us go out, my Lady.”

“But the money…”

“I have a lot of money. It is alright.”

With that said, Rothesay swept her up without asking for consent. Naturally, the gaze of the surrounding people was focused on the two. Petronilla shouted in a low voice at him, as she closed her eyes tightly with an embarrassed expression on her face.

“What are you doing? In public!”

“We are on a date right now, so I can do that. Everyone will understand.”

… To be honest, the men around them were staring as if they were going to throw them in the gladiatorial grounds, but it didn’t matter because she had her eyes closed. After saying that, Rothesay whispered quietly into Petronilla’s ear.

“Wait a moment. We will be leaving soon.”

“…”

Petronilla just closed her eyes without saying anything. Meanwhile, one of the two gladiators seemed to have died, as shouts and cheers were heard around the area that could rip eardrums. Why were people having fun with that? Petronilla frowned and closed her eyes, and soon she could hear Rothesay’s voice.

“Try to think that this is the location of a party.”

“…”

“There are all kinds of sweet desserts around.”

“… Ah.”

When he said that, she seemed to be able to become a little calm. When she was thinking of a brownie that she hadn’t finished eating at the Founding Day celebration a while ago, the white sunlight then greeted her. She finally opened her eyes, and then met Rothesay’s eyes that were looking at her, seeming to be sweeter than the chocolate in that brownie. Petronilla caught her breath without realizing.

“Ah…”

“It is alright, my Lady. Now.”

“… Thank you.”

Petronilla said this, and soon felt self-conscious and demanded to him.

“Uh… You can let me down now.”

“I do not want to.”

Petronilla was flabbergasted at those words, and asked him.

“Why?”

“I will not let you down.”

“I am very ashamed right now.”

Everyone on the roadside was looking at her and him. She was absolutely opposed to this kind of interest. She said.

“Please let me down.”

“Please call my name just once.”

He smiled playfully and asked her.

“Just once.”

“…”

How unfair. She sighed inwardly and put a name to her mouth.

“… Rothesay.”

“Thank you, Petronilla.”

Rothesay, who sneaked her name in his mouth, finally let her down to the ground. Petronilla blushed without fully realizing that he had called her name. She felt like she was a liar for some reason due to what happened earlier.

As she slightly turned her head and looked at the side, Rothesay was staring at her as if he was looking at a child. Petronilla felt burdened by those affectionate-filled eyes, and asked him.

“What… what is it?”

“I can clearly see through my Lady’s shallow intentions.”

“…”

“It is so cute.”

“… It is not the right response to that, is it not?”

“Because my Lady cannot lie.”

Rothesay smiled tenderly and said to her.

“Don’t worry, my Lady. I will never find myself being bored or being disappointed by my Lady. I can swear on this with the honor of the Bradington family.”

“…”

“Until my Lady gives permission, I will not give up on my heart. I swear on this too.”

“Why?”

Petronilla asked in a bit of a sad voice.

“Why do you have to do that to such an extent?”

“The answer is simple, Lady Petronilla.”

Rossy confessed to her with a gentle smile.

“Because I am in love with my Lady.”

“Mirya.”

Patrizia quietly called out to Mirya. Mirya, who was called, approached her with quick footsteps.

“Yes, Your Majesty. Did you call for me?”

“Yes. I have something I need you to do.”

Patrizia quietly made a smile on her face, and gave a request to her.

“Can you send a hundred roses to Vain Palace? Gorgeous and beautiful roses that resemble their owner. Include pretty packaging at that.”

“Yes? Your Majesty.”

Mirya shouted with her eyes wide open.

“What are you talking about? Are you perhaps sick somewhere?”

“I am sorry, Mirya, but I am healthy.”

“No, Your Majesty. There must be something that is wrong.”

Even Mirya, who was not easy to get worked up, had no choice but to be worked up about this.

“To say roses. One hundred at that? Is it strange that I am showing this kind of reaction?”

“No, it is normal.”

Patrizia said this, and pulled the corners of her mouth up, and smiled slyly.

“It is extremely normal.”

“…”

If so, then Her Majesty was being abnormal? Mirya muttered to herself inside, and Patrizia laughed as if she had even stolen a look into her mind.

“Yes, Mirya. I wanted that kind of reaction. You are indeed quite a loyal subject to me.”

“… Yes?”

“Come on, let us go. That is why Marchioness Ethyller will be pleased.”

“…”

Really thinking that there was something wrong with Her Majesty, Mirya left the room where Patrizia was in, with a stunned expression on her face. Patrizia flipped over a page of the book she was reading as she hummed a tune to herself Mirya had left the room. It was a tragedy about a villain killing the heroine.

Petronilla and Rothesay eventually decided to spend time in a moderate and peaceful way. At least they decided to never go to the gladiator coliseum, and the place where the two went to was the marketplace. Petronilla loved shopping, so she loved the date location set by Rothesay, but she also thought about what she should do if Rothesay did not like doing this sort of thing. Petronila called out to Rothesay.

“Sir.”

“Yes, my Lady. Please speak.”

“You do not like this sort of thing very much, no?”

“What do you mean, this sort of thing?”

“Shopping… and stuff like touring the marketplace.”

Petronilla hesitated before asking him

“It is because I heard that gentlemen generally do not like this sort of thing…”

“It is not important whether gentlemen generally like this or not.”

He smiled tenderly with his eyes, and reassured Petronilla.

“The important thing is that I like shopping with my Lady.”

“…”

It was clear that he had received lessons on this. From a huge Casanova at that. Petronilla stepped forward, silently promising herself not to fall for this. Rothesay looked at her from behind, with a content smile and laughed.

Of course, the main shopping items were focused on Petronilla, with jewelry or luxuries designed for women that no men would be interested in, but Petronilla could see that Rothesay was enjoying all of that. She wasn’t sure if it was really due to the pleasure of being with her, or just pretending to do so to earn her heart, but Rothesay’s patience was pretty strong to say it was just an act of pretense.

She browsed through the market for three hours without a break to try to drop him off of her. Nevertheless, he followed her without complaining, and even gave her an evaluation of the items she chose. This would suit her, or this did not. This color was more suitable for the Lady than that color… It was as if he was someone familiar with this sort of thing. Eventually, Petronilla asked him full of suspicion.

“Why are you so good at this?”

“What?”

“Shopping with a woman.”

“Oh my.”

Rothesay shook his head as if she had guessed wrong, and corrected her words.

“There is a serious error in my Lady’s words.”

“A serious error?”

“My lady is not just any woman, right?”

He said this earnestly.

“My Lady is the one I love.”

“…”

“Not just any woman.”

“… I see.”

Thinking that he was a man who made her be at a loss for words, Petronilla continued to walk the path she had walked. Now that her legs began to hurt and she had nothing else to do, she was thinking that she should just stop now, when something caught Petronilla’s eyes.

“Wow.”

When she couldn’t help but let out an interjection, Rothesay’s interest naturally turned to that direction as well. He asked her with a look of surprise on his face.

“It looks to be a crystal ball?”

“It would seem so.”

She approached the stall with a curious look on her face. Naturally, Rothesay followed right behind her. When Petronilla inspected the crystal ball shining with the colors of the galaxy with an expression full of interest on her face, Rothesay tried to open his mouth to buy it for her, thinking that she wanted it, but the street vendor was faster.

“If it is not the Lady who is afraid of the future that has not even come yet.”