Chapter 151 - I Seem to be in Love with You

“Right, I forgot about that. There has been a lot on my mind as of late. So, are all the preparations ready?”

“I have secured a dealer. Everything will probably go as you plan.”

“Sure… it better go according to plan.”

Rosemond nodded, a satisfied expression on her face. This time, she would not just give a hard time to the Empress. Lucio… it would not be so bad to watch that man be humiliated as well!

“Do not let things go wrong this time. I will not let you go if you fail like the last time, during the situation with the Christa Empire’s envoys.”

“Do not worry, Your Majesty. No one will be able to catch on to our plan this time.”

Glara was absolutely confident, and in fact, Rosemond was quite confident in executing this plan as well. Rosemond drew an expectant smile on her face, and began to mentally devise a way so she could ruin the Emperor’s birthday celebration more effectively.

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“… ”

Lucio opened his eyes slowly, and looked around his surroundings. All the scenery around him proved that he was lying in his bed, in the Central Palace. Lucio muttered to himself in a dazed voice, “…Was it all a dream?”

Was last night, where he had gotten so drunk off the aphrodisiac that he unleashed his passion to the point of not knowing whether he had dreamed it up, or if it actually happened, make-believe or real? As he was twisting his face into a frown because he was not able to make the distinction, a maid walked into the room. She asked him, “Your Majesty, should I bring you a glass of water?”

“…More than that.” He asked in a skeptical voice, “Where was I last night?”

“…Ah.” The maid was at a loss, but managed to reply quickly. “Your Majesty spent the night with the Empress at Iste Palace.”

“I did?”

“Yes, Your Majesty. The Knights of the Central Palace brought Your Majesty back in the morning.”

“…Then where is the Empress?”

“…”

The maid was forced to shut her mouth regarding this matter. But she soon opened it again and replied to him faithfully, “Her Majesty is in the Empress Palace.”

“…” Lucio was a bit shocked, but soon grasped the reality of the situation. After letting her know he understood, he told the maid she was free to leave. After a while, he fell into deep contemplation, drinking the lukewarm water that the maid had brought. Soon after, his face was etched with a guilty expression.

“…I am crazy.”

It wasn’t the first time for him, but it was for her. He should have been more considerate towards her… He continued to rebuke himself as he hit his head with a fist. He felt that he was basically a piece of trash.

“Haaa…”

Was it alright? Lucio worried about her, a serious expression on his face. Whether he should go to the Empress Palace or not was the question. Giong to the Empress Palace… he did not know how he would be able to face her, and if he didn’t go, he would be hated even more than the current amount of hate he was receiving. Lucio stayed immobile for an hour determining the choice of one of the two, and eventually made up his mind and got up from his spot to leave.

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Patrizia eventually failed to achieve her grand ambition of being able to sleep in for the whole afternoon. She could not waste away the whole day because of the pain from one night when there was so much work to do, and there was even the Emperor’s birthday celebration as well.

She had said she did not care about it early on, and told others to take care of it without much sincerity, but nevertheless, her work had not been reduced much as a result of certain duties only she could accomplish as the Empress.

Patrizia was reviewing the budget for the amount of chocolate that would be used for the birthday celebration, when a maid walked in bearing news for her. “Your Majesty, His Majesty the Emperor has arrived.”

“…”

Patrizia frowned. Their awkward relationship seemed even more uncomfortable after the incident from last night, but she couldn’t figure out the Emperor’s intent in trying to make things so unpleasant. If she followed her wishes, she would have turned him away before he could enter through the door, but she managed to squash that down.

“… Escort him in.”

With those words, the Emperor appeared in the room. When he entered the room with his usual appearance, Patrizia felt extremely irritated without knowing the reason. I am in so much pain, while you!… Of course, strictly speaking this was something Lucio could do nothing about, so Patrizia managed to calm herself down with level-headed reasoning.

She greeted him with proper respect. “I greet Your Majesty, the Sun and monarch of this great nation. I hope there is only glory in the Marvinus Empire.”

“Are you alright?”

Was it her condition that he was going to ask about first? Patrizia opened her mouth, a strange expression on her face. “…I am sorry, but I cannot lie and tell you that I am alright.”

“Then the court physician will…”

“…It is not necessary to that extent.”

Most of all, it would end up leaving a steadfast impression to others that they had spent their first time barely on the previous night.

Lucio woke up to the fact that it was a thoughtless remark. “… I apologize. This is all my fault.”

“If Your Majesty apologizes for this… I do not know. I do not think there is anything to apologize for.” She covered up yesterday’s incident, her voice unmoved.

“Was I not the one that had hugged Your Majesty first, when you kept saying you were alright? Your Majesty did not forcibly take me, and as you know, the two of us are actually married.”

Patrizia said that, but her expression did not look too happy. “So it is fine, Your Majesty. If you are uncomfortable with what happened last night, you can just forget about it.”

“…Will you forget about it?”

“I will forget if you want me to.”

Lucio’s expression revealed how wounded he was. Patrizia flinched and paused for a moment, but there was no room to put down her pride now.

“It must have been a trivial time for you, if you can forget if I tell you to forget it, and remember if I tell you to remember.”

“It was not a great night for either of us, because I did not love Your Majesty while I chose to be held by you, and Your Majesty also embraced me while being under the effects of the aphrodisiac.”

“…It was our first night.”

“What significance does that have?” Patrizia replied to him coldly. “For me, it was solely the night that gave me my first pain, nothing more and nothing less.”

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Translated by Haeli

Edited by RED