Chapter 160

Lucio barely managed to calm down after he remained in her arms for a long time, and soon fell asleep. With the help of the maids, Patrizia tucked Lucio into his bed, and seemed to contemplate deeply about something, not leaving his side even after he fell asleep.

She was thinking about something. It was about something like this. Why did she come to this place, after she had heard what the chief maid from the Central Palace had said? Why could she not ignore him?

Why was she concerned about him? Why did she shed tears for him, while at the same time saying she despised him?

Why did she try to reason with him, so as to not make her heart waver? Patrizia, why did she, why…

“Damn it,” she cursed. She did not feel good. Very, very not good, at that.

“What are you hiding, Patrizia? The answer has already come out,” she muttered to herself coldly. Patrizia soon looked like she was about to cry. It was a common expression that was often made by those who did not have things go the way they had intended.

I want to do it like this, but my heart does not, something like that. Indeed, it was a situation that was like a dacquoise that had been chewed up, and spit out.

“I do not know. I really do not know now.”

Even though she already knew the answer, she pretended not to. She scratched her head with an annoyed expression, and fell asleep while leaning on the side of the bed, completing forgetting about how she should leave soon.

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Needless to say, on the days when Lucio had an episode, he was ready to hurt himself mentally. It was due to his feelings of self-hatred that such things had come once again, and the guilt that rushed in later when he found his reason again. Most likely, this day will be no different, was what Lucio had thought it would be.

“… Patrizia?”

So when he called out to her in a voice still groggy from sleep, to the one who was asleep and leaning next to the bed he was lying on, he could not help but be surprised. How was she here…? He hurriedly called for the chief maid, and she explained to him before he even asked her.

“Her Majesty …has stayed by Your Majesty’s side since last night.”

“…” Lucio was really inclined to die by diving into a plate full of water. He rebuked the chief maid with a grief-stricken expression, “Why did you call for her? It is something that is always occurring.”

“… Your Majesty.”

“You should not have called for her. The reason for showing such a gruesome appearance, what could it be?”

“Her Majesty, the Empress said that yesterday,” the chief maid replied in a calm voice, “I should only think about the person that I serve.”

“…”

“I am sorry, Your Majesty. If you were upset by this situation. But I… even if I had to go back to last night again, I would have done the same thing. For Your Majesty.”

“… Do not do that again.”

“… Yes. I apologize.”

“You can go out.”

Hearing his bitter voice, the chief maid felt a flood of regret, but she consoled herself that she had not done anything wrong to the end. Empowered by the words of Empress Patrizia from yesterday, she thought that she might disobey the Emperor’s command next time as well.

“Even so, why did you…” Lucio muttered to himself in a voice full of pain. He stared at the sleeping Patrizia with hollowed out eyes. “When you had said you were not even feeling well..

“…” He looked at her sadly, and began to stroke her head carefully. Even with that, he made sure to be as careful as possible, just in case she might wake up. Lucio apologized to her in a dry voice. “I am sorry.

“… I always seem to only give you hurt and pain.”

Patrizia had already been awake since the arrival of the chief maid, but she was just keeping her eyes closed again, afraid of the awkward atmosphere. So when she heard what Lucio said to her, she felt a wave of disgust for some unknown reason.

How annoying…

She hated him for saying that. She did not like how he was apologizing to her with such eyes, either. Everything about him bothered her…

How should I get up…

Aside from her current feelings, that was the biggest problem right now. It would be iffy to wake up, and also to just continue pretending to be asleep. She was trying to take countermeasures while being at a loss, when suddenly he quickly lifted her up. Patrizia almost released a scream in that moment, but she barely managed to hold it in, and calmed herself.

“When she wakes up, she might get angry again…”

“…”

“However, I still want her to sleep comfortably.”

“…”

Patrizia quietly bit her lips when he was not looking at her.

“I will go out, so she can sleep more comfortably.”

“…”

Soon, the sound of the door closing came softly and even the footsteps of Lucio walking away grew faint. Patrizia finally opened her eyes and silently grazed over the spot that he been laying in. Sadly, it was warm.