Chapter 146

The two faced each other, as if they had completely forgotten about the fact that it was currently raining. The people surrounding them were frantically trying to avoid the sudden shower, and it seemed ridiculous to them to see the two standing there silently. Of course, the situation was very serious for the interested parties…

“I… ” Petronilla slowly opened her mouth. “I have a lot of fears…”

“What does that mean?”

“I mean I am very afraid to fall in love.” Petronila said, her voice trembling. “I do not believe in destiny. I believed in destiny once, and I was burned greatly for it. I thought a certain person was my soulmate, our destiny to be together, but that was not the case.”

Petronilla laughed bitterly. Rothesay listened to her in a serious manner, despite being hit by the rain.

“I promised myself that I would never love again. I thought something like that simply did not suit me, that I was incapable of love in the first place, and that was really my destiny. The illusion of such a destined fate would only damage others.”

“…”

“So I decided I would not love until I died. I would never get married, even if I had to throw away love.”

“… Petronilla.”

“I can be clumsy and inexperienced. I may not be that much fun and do not have any charm.” Petronilla looked up with sad eyes at Rothesay, who was already wet with rain, and asked him, “If that is all still acceptable… If someone like me is still acceptable…”

“…”

“I want to meet with you, Sir.”

“…”

Petronilla trembled as she awaited Rothesay’s reply. Rothesay could not say anything for a while, and after a long time had passed, he called out to her with a much more trembling voice than the one Petronilla had used.

“Petronilla.”

“… Yes.”

“I said this last time at the Founding Day celebration, and said it earlier as well.”

“…”

He came closer to Petronilla. She frowned without her knowledge. Rothesay carefully loosened the creasing on her face, and said to her tenderly, “Petronilla.”

“… Yes.”

“I love you.”

“…”

“A lot at that.”

“…”

“You are a wonderful woman who can be truly loved, and be able to love. Not just myself, but anyone else would not be able to stop themselves from doing so.”

“… However…”

“Shh. That is why you need to stop criticizing yourself, Petronilla. Because that is an action where you are undermining yourself.”

“… Thank you.”

Petronilla’s face was full of emotion, and she gave in to Rothesay’s embrace, who was a head taller than her. Rothesay seemed surprised at first, but soon calmly hugged Petronilla, who was already in his arms. Petronilla shed tears quietly, and held onto his collar tightly.

The rain was still falling, with no sign of stopping…

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“How was it?”

Mirya’s expression showed how difficult Patrizia’s question was. How was it? Well. Did Her Majesty need the words to be spoken to be able to know? Nevertheless, she still replied faithfully, “…It was not a good response. She seemed taken aback.”

“She must have.” Patrizia nodded as if she understood. “If she was not taken aback, I would have been flustered instead.”

“Your Majesty, I am sorry but…” Mirya had a frustrated expression on her face. “I am very lacking, in that I cannot grasp Your Majesty’s intentions at all.”

“There is nothing special, well.” Patrizia smiled softly and replied. It was hard to discern whether she was talking to herself, or explaining to Mirya. “Only… It is just important that I appear to act in a way she would want.”

“… Yes?”

“It is a secret beyond that. Maybe forever, no one will know, or one day it will all be revealed.”

“What in the world do you mean…”

“The important thing is that I know what I am doing, and even if someone knows there will be a hole to escape through, is my meaning.”

Patrizia remained ambiguous to the end, and Mirya intuited that the Empress did not want to tell this story further. A faithful servant had to properly grasp the will of the person who was being served, and act accordingly. Mirya chose to shut her mouth.

“It is raining.” Patrizia murmured, looking at the rain growing heavier outside the window. I am worried that it might ruin Nilla’s date.”

“Originally, lovers needed to have proper adversity to overcome, and so be able to develop further,” Mirya smiled brightly in reply. “You do not have to worry too much. The Lady is wise and beautiful.”

“…Right. That is true.”

I was worried for no reason, when I am in a situation where I cannot even take care of myself. Patrizia muttered to herself bitterly, then asked Mirya in a soft voice for a deeply brewed lavender tea.

<hr />

“ACHOO!”

Petronilla sneezed loudly after she had changed into dry clothes. Because she had been drenched by the heavy rain, Rothesay had sent her back to the Marquis’ estate even though she kept insisting she was fine, saying that he was very concerned about her health.

Nevertheless, the results were not very good. The maid scolded her, “My Lady, really. A date is good, but you have to do that while thinking about your body!”

“That… there was a bit of a problem.”

“What if you end up catching a cold?” the maid muttered in an upset voice, and Petronilla just smiled sheepishly. The confession in the rain had brought her a cold, but as a result she had also been granted a shot at a new beginning, at love, so it was not too much of a loss in terms of profit gained.

Petronilla quietly asked the maid, who was cleaning the crystal ball that she had brought from the stall, earlier, “What if I catch a cold?”

“I would not know, my Lady. It would mean it was just desserts.” The maid still seemed disappointed that she seemed to have caught a cold. “What is this crystal ball on top of that? Have you been learning astrology without my knowing?”

“Well… no. It is not for that kind of use.”

“Then for what?”

“It is just…” Petronilla hesitated, searching for the right answer. “It is a means of problem solving. I was told that if I have a lot of thoughts, raising my hand over the crystal ball would help me.”

“… What kind of words, straight out of a pseudo religion, are those?”

“You do not have to worry about it, because I am not possessed.” Petronilla, who still had a smile on her face, immediately asked the maid, “Could you ask something for me from the Count of Bradington’s estate? Since I seem to have caught a cold, I am unsure whether Sir Rothesay might have caught a cold as well.”

“I will find out and return, my Lady. Do not worry, and get some rest.”

“Alright. I will do so.”

The maid left the room only after she put Petronilla to bed, and covered her with a blanket all the way up to her neck. Petronilla calmly closed her eyes, and fell asleep while recalling what had happened in the rain.

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