Lady to Queen

As expected, several maids had gathered around due to the sound. There weren’t that many there because they felt self-conscious. Three or four of them at best. All of them were senior maids who served the Emperor.

Patrizia walked toward them with a firm look. The ladies were surprised to be found by her and bent over to bow. She looked at them with still trembling eyes and opened her lips.

“Now… in this room…”

“…”

They were shaking. Their faces were full of dismay. Surely… really…

‘My guess… is it correct?’

After a brief but deep breath, Patrizia spits out the question that would open up Pandora’s box.

“His Majesty… is he in there?”

“…”

They said nothing. Sure. What more was there to say here? Patrizia slowly opened the door. The sound was so loud it was incomparable. CREEEAAAK, the creaking sound of the door was mixed with the cries.

“AAAAGH!”

When she opened the door, the sight was terrible to behold. The Emperor was crying in the room in just his pajamas. Yes, in fact, even that was a nicer description than what she actually saw. He wasn’t just crying. He was just… going crazy.

“… close the door. ”

“Your Majesty”

“Hurry up.”

Only when she firmly ordered, was the door closed. With the sound of a thump, she was relieved. It would not be a good thing if the details of this scene spread now. That was why the maid had tried to stop her. Although as a result, she had indirectly helped Patrizia get to this point.

“…”

Patrizia screamed through her stiff eyes and looked at the crazy man. Lucio Carrick George de Marvinus, who was called her husband. The Emperor of this country and the Sun of the Empire. A man like that was acting like a maniac.

“Your Majesty.”

Her voice was trembling. But how? Why in the world? She had never heard that the Emperor possessed a mental illness. And to lay down the judgment that this man must have some kind of mental illness, he was usually just fine. If so, how could this behavior be explained right now?

“Your Majesty.”

Was it because of fear? Tears were in her eyes. Her lips trembled and her hands quickly got cold. Yes, she seemed to be scared. She seemed to have been afraid of seeing him like this for the first time.

She raised her widened eyes and looked at Lucio. He was howling like a beast. It was shocking. Patrizia bit her lips and called out to him once again.

“Your Majesty.”

Only after she called out to him for the third time, did he turn around to her. His eyes were red and bloodshot, and a rough breath was coming out of his mouth. Dried tear marks stained his whole face. Ah, he was crying.

“Why…”

Her head was dizzy due to the shock. It was a similar shock to the time Petronilla’s head had dropped in front of her. Patrizia swayed without her knowledge. The sight in front of her was too destructive for her tender body to handle. Patrizia barely regained her senses and called out to him.

“Your Majesty.”

Even on the fourth call, he continued to cry without stopping. What was so heartbreaking, that he screamed this badly. What could it be? What was going on in front of her? What was this…

“UGH… AHHCK!”

His screaming appearance was strange. That he was a man like this. Patrizia’s body then happened to tilt over at that moment. She collapsed down on the floor without her knowledge. He was still crying. The sound hurt her head.

‘Stop.’

“Your Majesty. Why in the world…?”

Her mind was blank. Her thoughts had stopped. The only thing that came to her mind was that she had to stop this travesty right now.

‘Get up.’

She gave orders to herself. What was the point if she just sat down here right now? There was no reason to have come all the way here. Wasn’t this what she had wanted to hear? Wasn’t that why she had wanted to get rid of the factors that interfered with her sleep? If that was the case…

‘Enough.’

“Stop it.”

But he did not stop.

“Stop it.”

The wailing continued.

“I said stop it!”

When she finally screamed, only the harsh breath of air remained in the room. He looked at her with eyes that seemed they could be drained away by the rain. The subject was too unclear for him to say he was staring, and the expression was too fierce to call it friendly.

So then, he was looking at her and at the same time not. He was apparently looking at her on the outside, but on the inside, he was looking at someone else.

“The Empire… You are the Sun. Please maintain your dignity, Your Majesty.”

“…”

“Why…”

“…”

“Why in the world… Are you acting like this.”

“…”

She silently shed tears and moved over to the man staring at her. As if her feet had weights of lead attached, her steps to him were infinitely heavy. This situation right now, and the reality surrounding her, was difficult to adapt to, but she had to accept it. It was a fact that she couldn’t escape.

“All of a sudden…”

Her words did not reach a conclusion. This was because he was suddenly hugged by her. She was amazed and tried to get him off reflexively, but she wasn’t able to because of Lucio’s moaning.

“Haa…”

He was crying while giving off rough breaths, suffering, in pain, and in torment. That was why this situation wasn’t very good right now. It wasn’t even more desirable. It was just a really a flustering situation.

“…”

Patrizia wasn’t heartless enough to tear off the crying person in my arms, and even more so if the person had just behaved like a crazy person moments before. Damn. She uttered all kinds of curses on the inside, while she carefully held on to him on the outside.

“…”

Love? no. Hatred? Not that as well. This was just compassion and sympathy. She couldn’t figure out the reason why, and she was dying of curiosity, but at the very least she could feel compassion for this situation. To that extent, he was pitiful. Very much at that.

It wasn’t easy for a person to fall into this state so quickly, but he was messed up to that extent. Patrizia wondered what in the world was going on, and what had happened, but to hear the full story, she had to calm down this man. She couldn’t hear the story from a maniac.

“Haa…”

How many minutes had passed? No, it seems like an hour has passed. And it was only after that much time had passed did he seem to calm down. No, to be honest, it was difficult to see even that as being calm. A fever could still be felt through his skin, his eyes were bloodshot, and his body was red everywhere as if he had hurt himself. Patrizia spoke to him only when she reached the decision that he had regained his sense a bit.

“Your Majesty.”

“…”

“Now… are you alright?”

“… ”

No words. After all, he was probably ashamed. She sighed and released her hand that held onto him. Her eyelids were heavy with great fatigue overcoming her. Why he had done this, and what had happened, these questions didn’t seem to matter much compared to her sleep, so she pulled away from him. She spoke in a tired voice while raising her body up.

“I should be making you uncomfortable, so I will go. And I will keep today’s events a secret, so do not worry…”

Patrizia’s words were cut off. She lowered her head and stared at Lucio who was holding onto her hem. The eyes that were still bloodshot were bizarre.

“Do not go.”

“…”

If she had any feelings for this man, this would have been enough to make her heart flutter. Unfortunately, Patrizia wasn’t interested in this man, nor did she have any affection, and nothing close to liking him, let alone loving him. That would be better suited for Rosemond.

That was why Patrizia did not feel his actions were all that sweet right now. To be honest, it was bothersome and annoying. She was very tired from the previous disturbance.

“Do not go.”

“… ”

What was really regrettable was that she was very compassionate. That was why she had excessive emotions even for this man. Patrizia bit her lips a bit. Damn it, this made her concerned.

“You do not like me very much.”

She could only say it like so. But when she tried to turn around, someone interrupted her. It was him.

“Do not go.”

“… you do not like me. So…”

“I like you. So do not go.”

“…”

“Please…”

Ah. She realized at that moment. This man did not like her. What this man had just said was nothing more than empty words that he had spit out to hold on to her. Patrizia was not stupid enough to not be able to decipher the truth. Because of that, the man’s words did not make her heart beat fast, or even flutter.

She was particularly cold in this regard. Even if this was a part of her personality, for her, he already had a criminal record. No, even if those points were excluded, it was too random. That he suddenly liked her.

“… Haa.”

She sighed. She seemed to have heard it somewhere, that people’s hearts beat fast both when they were in fear and when they were feeling good. That was why sometimes people mistook their fear for interest. This man was probably that type. Perhaps it was the fear in the moment that had been mistaken for a liking to her.

No matter how well she tried to look at the situation, it was difficult to come to a good conclusion beyond this. Regardless, Patrizia sat down again. If she just got out of here, she would truly become a bad person.

“You do not have to say anything that you do not mean. I will just stay.”

“… ”

“It is not that you do not like me leaving, but you just do not want to be left alone in this room.”

“… ”

“Am I right?”

He said nothing as if she had pinpointed the truth. He just continued to blatantly stare at her with terrified eyes. She felt a sense of unfamiliarity at his appearance that contrasted too much with his usual image. She muttered internally and bit her lips without her knowledge. What in the world, was this situation?

“I am very tired. How long am I supposed to remain here?”

“… ”

“Please tell me. I am frustrated.”

“…”

Still, there were no words. Patrizia decided that quickly giving up on the conversation would be beneficial for her mental health. Her eyelids gradually began to droop down. Ah, it wasn’t a very good decision to fall asleep with this guy here.

Patrizia tried hard not to fall asleep, but there was nothing more foolish than to try to prevent biological needs with reasoning. Eventually, it took less than a minute after she had decided to not go out before she fell asleep.

Insomnia could not overcome fatigue. The last thing she saw was Lucio, who was still staring at her with his terrified eyes that were brimmed with red.