Chapter 144

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

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“Mirya,” Patrizia quietly called out. Mirya approached her with quick footsteps.

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

“Yes. I have something I need you to do.” Patrizia smiled quietly, and requested of 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. “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, and one hundred at that? Is it strange that I am showing this kind of reaction? No, it is normal,” Patrizia said,pulling the corners of her mouth up into a sly smile. “It is extremely normal.”

“…” If so, then Her Majesty was being abnormal?, Mirya muttered to herself inside.

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.”

“…”

<hr />

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

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Petronilla and Rothesay eventually decided to spend time in a more moderate and peaceful way. At least they decided to never go to the gladiator coliseum again! The two went to the marketplace. Petronilla loved shopping, so she loved the 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 him, “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 going on, “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, and 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.

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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 if it was just an act of pretense.

She browsed through the market for three hours without a break, trying 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 like he was someone familiar with this sort of thing.

Eventually, Petronilla asked him suspiciously, “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 earnestly, “My Lady is the one I love.”

“…”

“Not just any woman.”

“… I see.”

Thinking that he was a man good at leaving her at a loss for words, Petronilla continued to walk along. Now that her legs had begun to hurt and she had nothing else to do, she was thinking that she should just stop now, when something caught her eyes.

“Wow!”

When she couldn’t help but let out an exclamation, Rothesay’s interested gaze naturally turned in 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. As 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 yet even come…”

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