Chapter 174

“Marchioness Ethyller and all her maids have been detained in the dungeon, Your Majesty.”

“Everybody has worked so hard until dawn.” Patrizia praised all of their hard work.

Seeing Patrizia’s shadowed face, Mirya asked carefully, “Is there something bothering Your Majesty? Your mood does not look very bright.”

“I am just a little tired. Why would I not feel good about all this?” Patrizia let out a short sigh, and then murmured, “It is just that… It is getting very complicated because everything is running towards the end.”

“Is there something good, along with all the hateful feelings toward her?”

“No way.” Patrizia shook her head relentlessly.

“Those sweet words do not match the relationship between me and her. For me to hold some kind of good feeling towards her, I did something I should not have to her, and she did a lot of things that she should not have towards me.”

“Even if that is the case for the Marchioness of Ethyller, why is Your Majesty…?” Mirya asked, her expression showing she did not understand, but Patrizia held her tongue about that at the end.

“It is a misfortune that I presented, but I think it would be better for me to go without spreading it around everywhere.”

“I am sorry? What does that…”

“It is a story I really do not want to talk about. No one knows about it but me, so do not feel upset about being left out. Just… As a woman, I committed an action that was not very moral.”

“Whatever it is,” Mirya said quietly to Patrizia,”I will follow Your Majesty’s will. I do not think Your Majesty is absolute good, or that Marchioness Ethyller is absolutely evil. However, Your Majesty is the only master I have chosen, and so I will only obey Your Majesty’s will.”

“…”

“About the supposed immoral action you had committed, do you feel guilty?”

“I do not think that I can be such a poisonous person. If I had been that Marchioness woman, I would have said that I do not have any regrets. Sometimes that is a side to her I envy.”

“You can feel envious, but I do not want you to blame yourself. I, and all those who follow Your Majesty, simply respect and serve Your Majesty as you are.”

“Thank you for saying it like that.” Patrizia gave her a grin, and Mirya smiled in turn when she saw that.

“Now, you had better go to sleep, Your Majesty. Tomorrow, no, in a short while there will be a mountain of work to deal with.”

“… Alright.”

There was a lot to do. At the very least, she had to be the one to finish it all. Sweeping her fingers over her long turquoise hair that had been neatly arranged, Patrizia murmured inadvertently, “I will be very busy, starting today.”

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Petronilla woke up in her bed, stifling a yawn, her hands covering her mouth. She felt so tired from yesterday that the sunlight coming into the room felt brighter than usual. She was rubbing her eyes, still heavy due to sleeping late, but someone knocked on the door.

“My Lady, my I go in?”

“Come in.”

At Petronilla’s words, a maid quickly opened the door and entered the room. She looked like she was in a bit of hurry, and of course Petronilla felt that was strange. Petronilla asked with a puzzled look, “Did something happen? You do not look well.”

“Last night the Imperial Palace was in utter pandemonium, my Lady!”

“The Imperial Palace was? Why?” Petronilla already knew the reason why, but pretended to be surprised.

In response, the maid cried as she answered, “Well you see, Her Majesty survived an assassination attempt from a group of assassins!”

“… The culprit?”

“It is said that Marchioness of Ethyller was detained due to a testimony from His Majesty. Oh my goodness, my Lady. What should we do?”

“Calm down. Is Lizzy safe?” Petronilla revealed a slightly nervous appearance.

The maid nodded. “She has been injured, but it is said to not be a hindrance to her livelihood.”

“Haaa… That is a relief.” Petronilla did not want to even think about it, but she was plagued with worry about the possibility of a “what if” situation. She said to the maid calmly, “I have to hurry up a bit to enter the Imperial Place today. Can you help me?”

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The fact that the Empress survived not one assassination attempt, but two attempts, was enough of a fact to shake up the Imperial family and nobility.

As soon as the morning dawned, Lucio nearly tripled the number of the Second Rank of Knights, and announced that he was entrusting full power over the investigation to the Empress. No one objected to this decision, because it was such an extreme matter.

The Duke of Efreni seemed to want to complain about Patrizia detaining Rosemond, but Lucio had already delegated full power over the investigation to her, and the situation was so severe that he could not be of help to her. Of course, it was Rosemond who expressed the greatest anger in this situation.

“Damn it… For the Emperor to act this way…!”

She paced back and forth in her prison cell, a nervous look on her face. The two assassins who were captured were surely planted by Patrizia. The organization she had commissioned was a place that kept secrets by even committing suicide if their mission failed. But even so, it was impossible for her to do something as foolish as revealing the existence of the organization. So in other words, she was now completely caught in a trap.

At this rate, it could be all over!

Rosemond chewed off her fingernails, riddled with anxiety. She had always been calm and confident, but this time she could not be like that. Although the game was rigged to frame her, it was still evidence, and above all, the Emperor was not on her side. Rosemond scratched her head in a fit of annoyance.

“What should I do? How should I…”

“Rosemond.”

Someone called out her name. Rosemond stared at the person, a fierce expression on her face.

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Translated by Haeli

Edited by RED