Chapter 107

“Without asking the reason why.”

What followed after the question was not an answer, but another question. Patrizia replied immediately.

“If I ask why, will you tell me?”

“…”

“You will not.”

“… you will not understand.”

“That is something nobody would know. Because I have not heard it yet. I do not know the content, so of course, I cannot understand anything right now. How could I understand everything that happened that night, without knowing anything?”

“…”

“Your Majesty may not need it, but if you possibly desire my understanding, you must tell me the surrounding context. I do not even possess any psychic abilities, so unless you tell me, I will not understand until I die.”

But he probably wouldn’t tell her. Who was she to him, to provide an explanation? Perhaps if it was Rosemond. Patrizia did not expect anything. In the first place, the two of them did not share a close enough relationship to even have such expectations.

“Whether Your Majesty tells me the reason, or not, I do not care either way. As you know, for me to ask Your Majesty the reason, I do not love Your Majesty, nor do I have interest in Your Majesty.”

“…”

“But if you do tell me why, I will listen, and try to understand based on the situation. At the very least this relationship grants that much, ours that is.”

When she finished speaking, Patrizia momentarily saw the fear in his eyes. It wasn’t the fear he had towards her. More than that, it was far beyond… he was afraid of what had not happened yet.

What was he afraid of? Was he afraid she would not understand his frenzy? Or was he afraid that she might expose what had happened that night, the fact that the Emperor was a maniac? Patrizia opened her mouth without her knowledge and spoke.

“So, if you tell me or not, I am fine. What happened that day can just be buried, and that would be it. Also… I have no intention of spreading rumors about it, so you do not have to worry about that. The people around me are also not very light-mouthed. There will be no loss of the honor of the Imperial Family and Your Majesty.”

“…”

Patrizia had finished speaking, but he said nothing. He was probably taking his time to think, but it was a little frustrating because the answer did not come out immediately. However, she waited patiently. It was foolish to ask a scared young child for an answer right away. At least she had to wait until he was less scared. That was the way.

“Me… you will not be able to understand me.”

It was the same words as before, but she did not show any signs of exasperation and asked him.

“Is my understanding so important to Your Majesty?”

“… ”

“I may not understand Your Majesty. But that is it. I wonder if you really need to gain recognition from me. I am not the Lady Rosemond that Your Majesty loves so much.”

“…”

He stared at her with his slightly reddened eyes. Was he crying? She could only see his reddened eyes, and couldn’t really see the tears running down his cheeks. It would have been better if the moonlight had given off a handful of brightness. No, maybe this was better. Could they become more sincere by being draped in the darkness?

For a time, silence passed between the two of them, and soon Lucio’s shocking confession began.

“I am a murderer.”

The first sentence was already unusual.

To be honest, it was amazing that he wasn’t crazy right now. If he were a normal person, he would already have gone crazy. That was why he was a very tough guy. Even after dealing with such a death, he had calmly risen to the throne and ruled the Empire.

He was most definitely the firstborn son of the previous Emperor. But he wasn’t the “rightful” eldest son. His mother was not the previous Emperor’s official wife.

His mother was a woman named Janet, the mistress of the Emperor. As the daughter of a poor family, she was lucky to have become the Emperor’s mistress after catching his attention one day while he had gone on a journey. Afterwards, she gave birth to a son, but strangely continued to not be granted a title and position.

This was because the Emperor watched out for the family of the Empress, the Duchy of Oswin that nowadays did not show themselves, as the Duchy of Oswin was the only family that could exert tremendous influence within the Empire at the time. Currently, this influence was not being revealed because the Duke of Oswin, his uncle by law, was living in the castle of his manor, but the Oswin family had the power to shake up the Empire at any time if only desired.

Empress Alyssa, his mother by law, was a good woman. Of course, in his memory, she was a demon, nothing more and nothing less, but he had apparently heard that she was an extremely kind woman in the early days.

He did not believe in the theory that humans were born good. He also didn’t believe in the theory of humans being born evil. What he believed was human nature was neither good nor evil, and that their desire determined whether they became good or evil. It was possible for good and evil to sufficiently coexist.