Chapter 171

“Calm down, Rafaella.”

However, Patrizia seemed so calm at that moment, and Rafaella even wondered if she had gone crazy. Patrizia casually ripped off her torn dress some more, and began to put the piece of fabric around her own arm.

“Lizzy, are you crazy?”

Patrizia bluntly replied to Rafaella’s quivering voice, “Fortunately, that is not the case.”

“Then why this…”

“Because you have been injured, so I must be injured as well,” Patrizia calmly explained to her. “I do not intend to bury this thing. I am going to make it grow bigger. To do that… I have to be hurt to this extent, too.”

What kind of reaction would ‘he’ show when seeing this wound? Patrizia was quite curious. But the curiosity was brief at best, and she quickly brought up something else.

“I did not cut myself enough to scar. Do not worry.”

“That is not the point of my words…”

“I should have to at least spill this much blood to properly decorate the finale, right?”

Patrizia showed a twisted smile, and tied a knot on the cloth wrapped around her arm. Watching the blood flow out and dye the white cloth blood-red, Patrizia instead looked as if she was deep in thought about something.

<hr />

Lucio wandered around the room, a nervous look on his face. Even though it was late at night, he could not easily fall asleep. At this behavior, the chief maid of the Central Palace came into his room with a worried expression.

“Your Majesty, it is now late into the night, but you still have not prepared to go to bed.”

“There is no way… I can fall asleep,” he muttered in a pained voice.

At his words, the chief maid calmed him down with a soothing voice, “Her Majesty will be safe and sound. If anything happens, I will be sure to wake you up right away, so please go to bed.”

“But…!” He shook his head. “I will just remain like this. I still have some documents to look over anyway, so I will just read that instead.”

“…”

The chief maid could no longer go against Lucio’s will, and so she left the room, respecting his wishes. Lucio was left alone; he walked to the front of his desk, full of mixed emotions. But even when he was sitting down, he had a hard time focusing on his work. His nerves were focused only on Patrizia, who was still outside of the Imperial Palace.

If what I am guessing is correct…

“Your Majesty.”

The voice of a flustered maid came from outside of his room, and he shouted involuntarily, “What is the matter?”

“Her Majesty, the Empress has arrived.”

With those words, Lucio rose abruptly from his seat, and the door opened as Patrizia appeared. No matter how he tried to look at her positively, he could not say her appearance looked close to neat and presentable. Her hair was flying loose and completely mussed, and her dress was torn in numerous spots. The biggest problem was that she had long wounds all over her shoulders and arms.

He let out a frightened shout, and ran over to her. “Empress!”

“Your Majesty.”

He clearly looked like he was in a state of shock. Patrizia was briefly puzzled by the bigger reaction than what she had expected, but soon cleared up her inner thoughts, staggering and walked in Lucio’s direction.

He quickly supported her. “Empress, what in the world…”

“On the way back.” Patrizia continued in a thin voice, “We were attacked.”

“…” He stared at her, surprise on his face. Patrizia, felt his gaze, lost her balance, and fell. Lucio caught hold of her quickly, but eventually collapsed down on the floor.

“Ah…”

The fall hurt her behind, and cry escaped her mouth.

Lucio was distressed when he heard her. He said to her, “I will listen to the story later, for now let us call for the court physician.”

Lucio called for the court physician in an urgent manner. Patrizia stared at him with mixed emotions. Who could have known something like this was going to happen? He was so surprised and worried about her current state that he seemed awkward and unfamiliar to her. This was simply just pity along with sympathy. Just as she sympathized with him, he also only sympathized with someone who was injured. Patrizia thought that, and closed her eyes.

“The court physician will be coming soon, so just rest during that time.” Lucio said to Patriziaa, and then lifted her easily. She panicked and reflexively grabbed onto his shoulder. He said to her calmly, “I will not drop you, so just relax.”

“…”

Patrizia could not say anything as she stared blankly at Lucio. The distance from there to his bed was quite short. He quickly moved her to the bed. Lucio put Patrizia down carefully on the bed, and looked at Patrizia with conflicted eyes. Patrizia felt uncomfortable under his gaze, and dropped her eyes to the floor. She hoped that the court physician would come as soon as possible.

“Your Majesty, the Imperial court physician has arrived.”

Shortly thereafter, the visitor whom Patrizia had so hoped for arrived, and Lucio cried out urgently, “Escort the physician in immediately.”

The court physician quickly entered Lucio’s room and ran to the bed where the Emperor and Empress were. He swallowed a bit of rough breathing, and greeted the two of them properly.

“I greet Your Majesties, the Moon and Sun of the Empire. May the Marvinus Empire have magnificent glory…”

“Skip the greetings, hurry and check the condition of the Empress.”

“Yes, Your Majesty.” Lucio’s urgent tone impelled the court physician to move even more urgently. He approached Patrizia, loosened the piece of clothing tied to her shoulder, and looked carefully at the wound.

After a while, he said in a soft voice, as if it was a relief, “Fortunately, the wound is not very deep compared to the length, so it is not life-threatening by any means. If the medicine is applied well, it will surely heal quickly.”

==============

Translated by Haeli

Edited by RED