Chapter 154 - I am Saying, do as Much as You Want

“… Your Majesty, why are you suddenly doing this to me?” Rosemond asked her in an annoyed voice. “When you even sent me a bouquet of roses along with perfume!” Rosemond whispered fiercely into Patrizia’s ear. “If you were aware of the situation of being a barren woman, is it not time to stay quiet now? The meaning of those gifts, was that not it?”

“Yes, so,” Patrizia replied with a forced smile. “It was my heart that wanted to get along well with you.”

“Then how can you act out like this, Your Majesty?” Rosemond half-threatened Patrizia with a cold voice.

Patrizia replied without even so much of a blink, “I said I wanted to get along with you well, but I never said that I would stand being insulted?”

“…”

“Not only that, the one that picked a fight… was you, perhaps?”

“As expected.” Rosemond said in a voice that showed she had expected as such. “Your Majesty has no desire whatsoever to get along well with me.”

“I said no. You just have too much doubt.” Patrizia smiled quietly and denied Rosemond’s words. “Sometimes you need to know how to trust an elder’s words.”

“I am sorry, but I am much older than Your Majesty.”

“Is that important?” Patrizia killed her volume and laughed, while Rosemond did not like how Patrizia was subtly picking on her age in this way.

Ha, so that gift really was just a trick too? A facade for external pretenses? Rosemond stared at Patrizia with a vigilant expression, and let out an ‘ah’, as if she had been forgetting something until then.

“Right, this reminds me, Your Majesty. I did not finish telling you the story about the dethroned Empress Alyssa.”

“That story is…”

“Do you know what flower she liked the most, Your Majesty?”

“… I do not know.”

“That is actually…”

“Empress.” At that moment, Lucio stepped in, and the conversation between the two women naturally stopped.

Patrizia turned around and looked at Lucio calling out to her. She murmured to herself, “Your Majesty…”

“You have to dance.”

“I have no plan to do so.”

“The first dance of all parties is done by the Emperor and Empress.” Lucio whispered in a low voice into her ear. “It is a married couple’s duty to save each other’s face, is it not.”

“… ”

Rosemond was watching. Of course, it wasn’t with a pretty eye.

Lucio was right. She sighed to herself inside. Patrizia was not a young child. She had to avoid acting according to her feelings and doing things her way. Otherwise, how was she any different from this woman? She nodded her head quietly.

A smile spread on Lucio’s face. “Well then, excuse us.”

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He politely escorted her away, and Patrizia matched his footsteps, feeling like a doll. Soon the music began to play, and Lucio lightly held on to Patrizia’s hand. He said to her, “I do not care if you step on my feet.”

“… Yes?”

“I am saying do as much as you want.”

Leaving such meaningful words, he began to dance. Patrizia had never danced at a ball, but she automatically began to dance along, as she had already received too many lessons, to the point of exhaustion, during her childhood.

Dancing was an act that made it easy for your breath to mingle with the other person’s, and to smell them. Patrizia instantly recalled that particular night. Their breaths mixed, their fragrances mixed, and finally their bodies were mixed together… on that day. She groaned without realizing it. It was like the pain of that time was coming back to her.

“Are you alright?” Lucio asked anxiously, and Patrizia nodded heavily.

She didn’t forget to curse to herself. She muttered as if she were speaking to herself, “I was feeling a little dizzy.”

At the end of her words, Lucio lowered the intensity of the dance a little. She was grateful for his consideration, but also uncomfortable. With those dueling emotions, Patrizia quietly closed her eyes. Meanwhile, her body was continuing to dance along automatically.

“Patrizia.” For the first time today, he called out her name. As the dance reached its climax, he called out her name, and she did the same to him as well.

Patrizia made a low groan and answered him, “Your Majesty.”

Of course, it did not signify affection. Patrizia felt dizzy and stumbled, and Lucio’s strong hand grabbed her. He asked her in a flustered voice, “Are you alright, Empress?”

“No.” Still struggling to dance, Patrizia confessed to him frankly. “I want to rest. Please… Too dizzy… Ha…”

The dance was already running towards the second half, but this wasn’t that important for Lucio. Fortunately, the people were dancing around them, so it was a fact that they didn’t receive much attention. He supported her and went to a terrace people didn’t frequent much. Lucio sat her on the bench, and asked her anxiously, “Are you alright? Shall I call the court physician?”

“It is not that extreme. It will get better after a little rest.”

She smiled for the first time after saying that, and Lucio froze momentarily, seeing this side of her. Patrizia did not notice; it happened so quickly, and her condition was poor. She said to him, “You can leave now, Your Majesty. I am going to rest a bit before I return.”

“It is fine.”

“It is already strange enough that I am leaving my post. You must at least remain…”

“If they do not see us both, they will probably think that we are off kissing somewhere.” he replied to her in a low voice, and Patrizia closed her mouth.

After resting on the bench for a while, she asked him, “Your Majesty, I am curious about something.”

It was about what Rosemond had tried to say earlier…