Chapter 118

“Empress.”

“Ah…”

“You must have been quite surprised.”

He laughed after he said that. Patrizia finally came to her senses and greeted him.

“I greet Your Majesty, the Master of the Empire and the Sun. May the road ahead be filled only with light.”

“You are the same.”

He muttered with a bitter look as she greeted him with perfect manners. Patrizia quietly bit her lips because she doesn’t like that look on his face. Lucio asked.

“Why are you all the way here?”

“I wanted to read some books.”

The words ‘because Rosemond is not here for a while’ was omitted. He was uncomfortable for her, but Rosemond was more uncomfortable. But Lucio seemed to have noticed and spoke to her.

“She no longer enters the library. You will not have to feel uncomfortable about coming here.”

“You really know the details well.”

Made sense. Patrizia was being sarcastic, and Lucio had a sheepish expression. Anyways, unless he organized his relationship with her, this was bound to happen with them. She sighed. With Rosemond, it was enough for Patrizia to respond to her consistent hatred and contempt, but the problem with this man could not be solved by such simple logic. Because this man was a very complex being for her.

Anyways, he was her husband, and also an unscrupulous one who kept a mistress, but to be factual, it wasn’t such a flaw if an Emperor had a mistress. Until that point, she was able to blame him for his hesitation, but it was hard to do so beyond that unless she knew the relationship between Rosemond and him.

Anyways, it was a difficult situation. It would have been better if she had met him before her. Patrizia had such a useless thought.

“If you are uncomfortable, I will leave.”

“There is no need for you to.”

Patrizia answered bluntly and continued to look for the book because she didn’t want to be caught with the truth that she was being affected by him. The best answer was just to get the job done quickly, and return to the Imperial Palace. Patrizia was so eager to find the book that she didn’t even notice that Lucio was staring at her.

Lucio was sorry for her even having this idea, but he was thankful to her.

After hearing such a story, people would tend to treat the protagonist in a special way. “Special” here did not mean that the quality of treatment is improved, but that it meant being cautious in the treatment towards that person. After hearing such a story, most people treated the person carefully. As if the person was a glass bottle that broke easily, with the slightest bit of touch.

Patrizia did not do that, so Lucio felt that this was actually rather special. Anyways, it was definitely something to be thankful for, and with the amount of his gratitude, he was that much apologetic to her as well.

“Why do you look at me like that?”

Only then, Patrizia did notice, and asked. The mysterious expression was clear without anything to block it. He replied with a smile.

“I am sorry if that made you feel bad.”

“No, well…”

She wasn’t expecting an answer like this. However, Patrizia felt strange, as if she was the one to have done something wrong. She coughed awkwardly, and eagerly tried to find the book again. It was then that her eyes twinkled.

“Oh, found it.”

While Patrizia was muttering unknowingly, she raised her heel to pull a book from a high shelf. However, because it was too high, she could barely touch the book. At that time, her hand seemed to have grabbed the book, but as she happened to disturb the other books, five or six books began to fall below the bookshelf. Patrizia closed her eyes without realizing she was doing so and said, “Why were the books put up so high? How could short people look?!

“Ugh…”

However, what was unexpectedly heard, was someone else’s moaning. Patrizia slowly opened her closed eyes. And what Patrizia saw made her look at Lucio with suspicious eyes.

“Your Majesty…?”

“Ugh… You should be careful.”

Lucio, who had blocked all the books pouring into her with one arm, grabbed each book and put it in its original place. Patrizia naturally let out her anxious voice, even though he looked just fine after having been hit by all those books.

“Your, Your Majesty. Are you alright?”

“I am alright.”

To be honest, it was very painful, but he said nothing. This kind of woman would worry about him if he said it hurt and would frown her little face while pretending not to care. A sad, good woman who had hated him, but eventually cared for him.

“Are you alright, Empress?”

“… I was not hit with anything. Are you really alright?”

“I said I am. There is nothing to worry about.”

When the book she was originally looking for was on the floor in front of her, Lucio picked it up and handed it to Patrizia. Patrizia managed to accept it, and before she even thanked him, he was already walking towards the entrance. Patrizia murmured while looking at Lucio, who was indifferently receiving the greetings of the maids from the Empress Palace.

“… He is good at making people concerned about him.”

“Your Majesty, there was a loud noise. Are you okay?”

After returning to the Empress Palace, Mirya had asked anxiously, and Patrizia replied in a quiet voice.

“I am fine. I am not the injured one, His Majesty is.”

“His Majesty?”

“Yes. He was hit by the books in my stead.”

Which made her concerned. Patrizia had a very displeased expression on her face. Mirya first noticed the change inside of her and her mental state, then carefully asked Patrizia.

“Your Majesty, was the court physician called for?”

“He probably did not call for one.”

Because he didn’t feel much attachment to his body. Patrizia, who was a bit depressed by that entangled background, made an expression as if she was thinking something for a moment, and soon told Mirya.

“Mirya.”

“Yes, Your Majesty.”

“I must call for the court physician anyway. There were only a few books, but the thickness of them cannot be ignored, and you never know.”

“Yes, Your Majesty. I will send the court physician to the Central Palace.”

Mirya captured the meaning of Patrizia’s words and left with a bright smile, while Patrizia was left alone to then have a peaceful expression on her face as if she had finally unburdened her mind. Of course, these were changes that she did not notice.