Lady to Queen

“Indeed.”

Patrizia replied in a dry manner.

“I did.”

“You mean that is not the case now?”

“I still hate Your Majesty.”

“However?”

“At the same time, I am also compassionate towards you.”

Patrizia said this with an unshakable look on her face.

“It is just a feeling of pity. To the point that you might be offended.”

“No, I am not offended.”

Patrizia stared at the man who said that he was not offended, when he could certainly feel that way, as the one wielding absolute control over the Marvinus Empire. Before she even asked this question, his words continued.

“Just the fact alone that your eyes no longer contain pure hatred is enough.”

“…”

“I am glad. Very glad, at that.”

“… I will be taking my leave now.”

The flustered Patrizia slowly stood up from her seat, and walked to the doorway with steady footsteps. She put her hand on the door handle, and muttered to herself internally.

‘No more… do not be concerned.’

Whatever it was about.

“Your Majesty, the Empress, you have arrived?”

When Patrizia entered the Empress Palace, Mirya welcomed her by making a big deal, which was unusual for her. Patrizia smiled brightly, to show her that she was perfectly fine. Mirya spoke, in a crying voice.

“For you to place me on pins and needles like this every time, Your Majesty is too much.”

“Looking at the results, everything has gone well, Mirya.”

Patrizia replied in a relaxed voice, and quietly told the result.

“His Majesty granted me the full power over the investigation. The two assassins…”

“I have prepared for it, Your Majesty. I had them locked in the dungeon.”

The assassins who had all already died could not come back to life again, and so of course the two of them were planted by her. Patrizia thought it did not matter anyway. She did not want to drag out this fight any further. It was too tiring to do so.

“It is already so late at night, but she might be up to plotting another scheme. Mirya, take the maids of the Empress Palace to Vain Palace right now. In the name of the Empress, arrest Marchioness Ethyller, along with her maids. His Majesty will serve as the witness, and if necessary, it will be the end if we prepare the assassins’ testimonies.”

“Yes, Your Majesty.”

Mirya disappeared quickly, leaving only those words behind. Rafaella asked after a short time passed.

“Your Majesty, are you alright?”

“Of course, I am alright. What about you?”

“I am alright too.”

Rafaella said it like that and smiled, revealing her white teeth.

“I called for the Imperial court physician. Surely, the physician of the Imperial Palace is quite skilled?”

“I am worried it might scar.”

“What is the point of a knight having good skin?”

After Rafaella giggled as she laughed, she approached Patrizia’s side, and sat down next to her. She asked Patrizia, holding her hand tightly.

“Is everything finished now?”

“Not yet.”

“Still.”

Rafaella murmured while leaning her head on Patrizia’s shoulder.

“It was very difficult for us, right?”

“We have to endure and work hard until the end.”

Patrizia’s voice had no energy left as she said these words.

“What do we do… What do we do…”

Rosemond muttered to herself with a nervous voice. Like a patient with neurosis, she wandered around the room in a hectic manner. Glara was watching this sight in the middle of the night, and said to her carefully.

“Even if the assassination failed, all the assassins would have ended their lives. So the evidence that we did it would be nowhere to be found…”

“If you make up evidence, that would be the end of it. For this situation to get so big!”

Rosemond chewed on her fingernails. Why was this going so wrong? She gave orders to Glara in an angry voice.

“Write a letter to January right this instant. This situation…”

At that moment, the door opened with a loud sound, and Rosemond froze on the spot. Mirya and the other maids of the Empress Palace came in quickly. Rosemond asked while glaring at them.

“What is this rudeness? What kind of education did you all receive to do something like this…!”

“Your words are too harsh, Marchioness.”

Mirya coldly cut off Rosemond’s words.

“At the very least, these are not words that the Marchioness should say.”

“What?”

“What are you all doing? Arrest them all right away!”

As soon as Mirya’s words fell down, the maids of the Empress Palace seized Rosemond, Glara, and other maids. Naturally, Rosemond resisted as if she was full of momentum.

“What are you doing! It seems you brats have finally gone crazy.”

“The crazy one, is not one of us, but you? Without any fear, you dared to attempt to assassinate Her Majesty twice!”

“You dare act like this towards me! Do you all think you will be safe? Dare to do this to the Emperor’s concubine…!”

“It seems that you are greatly mistaken, Marchioness.”

Mirya gave a stern warning to Rosemond with an incredulous look on her face.

“Her Majesty was targeted with an assassination attempt while she was outside of the Imperial Palace, and of course His Majesty knows about it.”

“So what! Doing this to me right now without any proof…!”

“The Emperor has delegated the entire authority over the investigation to Her Majesty, and the captured assassins are giving their confessions below in their prison cells. When the confession comes out, the Marchioness will not be safe.”

“Is there any evidence that I am the culprit?”

Rosemond asked with a twisted smile.

“When you have not gotten any confession from the assassins yet! With what evidence you dare do this to me…!”

“His Majesty overheard the conversation between the Marchioness and the maid of Vain Palace. The content of the discussion was about daring to assassinate the Empress of the Marvinus Empire.”

“That…”

Rosemond had an expression of ‘oh no’. Then the feeling that someone was there earlier…!

“Is there anything left that you still have to say?”

“You…!”

“Save what you have to say. Right now, no matter how much you shout here, no one will listen to, or advocate for you anyway. Drag her away right now!”

Mirya’s shout made the maids move faster. Rosemond did not let out meaningless screams. Instead, she quickly began to turn the wheels in her head. In a situation like this, where she had fallen into the grave she had dug, constantly looking for a way to save herself.

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

“Everybody has worked so hard until dawn.”

Patrizia shortly praised all of their hard work. Seeing Patrizia’s slightly darkened face, Mirya asked carefully.

“Is there something bothering Your Majesty? Your face 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 with an expression showing she could not understand, but Patrizia held her tongue about that until 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 quietly spoke 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 possess feelings of guilt?”

“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 did 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 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 is 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. Patrizia murmured inadvertently, sweeping her fingers over her long turquoise hair that had been neatly arranged.

“I will be very busy starting today.”

“YAWN.”

Petronilla woke up from her bed, while stifling a yawn, with 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? Your face does 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 as she asked. In response, the maid cried as she spoke.

“Well you see, Her Majesty received 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?”

For this part, Petronilla revealed a slightly nervous appearance. The maid nodded her head.

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

“Haaa… That is a relief.”

Petronilla did not want to even think about it, but she was plagued with worries with the possibility of a “what if” situation. She spoke to the maid in a calm voice.

“I have to hurry up a bit to enter the Imperial Place today. Can you help me?”

The fact that the Empress received 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 increased the number of the 2nd Rank of Knights by one and a half more, and announced that he was entrusting the entire 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 having detained Rosemond, but Lucio had already delegated the 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 in this way…!”

She paced back and forth in her prison cell with 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 keep the secret by even committing suicide if the mission failed. But even so, it was impossible for her to do something so foolish, such 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 as she was riddled with anxiety. She had always been calm and confident, but this time she could not be like that. Although it was rigged to frame her, there 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.”

Then, someone called out her name. Rosemond stared at the man who called out her name, with a fierce expression on her face.