Lady to Queen - Chapter 87 - Don’t Worry About It Anymore

Chapter 87 – Don’t Worry About It Anymore

“You’re right,” Patrizia responded dryly. “I did.”

“Are you saying that’s not the case now?”

“I still hate you now.”

“But?” Lucio could sense there was something more.

“But I feel sympathy for you at the same time,” Patrizia said without any change in her expression. “It’s just a sympathetic feeling. Please don’t be offended.”

“No, I’m not offended.”

Patrizia stared Lucio, who looked at her as if she couldn’t do anything to offend the man who held absolute power in the Empire. Before she could ask him a question, he spoke.

“Just the fact that your eyes no longer contain pure hatred towards me—”

“…”

“—makes me happy. Extremely.”

Patrizia was taken aback. “…I will go now.” She slowly rose from her seat and steadily walked towards the door. She brought her hand to the doorknob.

Don’t worry…about it anymore. Whatever it is, she muttered to herself.

*

“Your Majesty, you’ve arrived.”

Mirya greeted Patrizia with uncharacteristic emotion as she entered her chambers. Patrizia smiled to show that she was fine.

“You always make me anxious. You really are too much,” Mirya said with tears in her eyes.

“Everything went well, Mirya.” Patrizia told her the results of her work in a calm tone. “His Majesty has given me full authority to investigate. The two assassins…”

“I have them ready, Your Majesty. They are being held in the dungeon.”

It was impossible for dead assassins to come back to life, so the ones in the prison were fake. It did not matter to Patrizia anyway. She did not want to drag on the fight any longer. It was too tiring.

“It’s late at night, but we don’t know when she’ll make another move. Mirya, bring all the ladies-in-waiting from the Imperial Palace and go to Bain Palace immediately. Arrest Marchioness Ethylaire and her ladies-in-waiting in the name of Queen. His Majesty will be our witness, and if necessary, prepare the assassins’ confession.”

“Yes, Your Majesty.” Mirya disappeared quickly after that. Raphaella turned to Patrizia shortly afterwards.

“Your Majesty, are you alright?”

“Of course I am. What about you?”

“I’m also fine,” Raphaella smiled, revealing her white teeth. “They called a palace doctor for me. As expected, he is quite skilled.”

“I’m worried that you’ll scar.”

“Why should a knight have good skin?” Raphaella giggled, then got up and sat down next to Patrizia.

“Is it over now?” Raphaella asked, gripping Patrizia’s hand tight.

“Not yet.”

“But still,” Raphaella mumbled, and leaned her head against Patrizia’s shoulder. “We had a really hard time, didn’t we?”

“We should chin up a little bit until the end.” Despite saying that, Patrizia’s voice was weak.

*

“What should I do? What should I do?” Rosemond agonized. She paced the room frantically like a neurotic, while Glara watched the scene at this late hour.

“Even if the attempt failed, all the assassins would have taken their lives. There’s no evidence that we were connected—”

“They can just make up the evidence. I cannot believe things have gotten this big!” Rosemond chewed on her nails. How did this go so wrong? “Write a letter to January right now. This matter—”

Suddenly, the door opened with a loud noise, and Rosemond stiffened. Mirya and the other ladies-in-waiting from the Imperial Palace streamed inside the room. Rosemond shot them a baleful glare.

“What kind of rudeness is this? Who the hell taught you to do this…!”

“That’s harsh, My Lady,” Mirya said coldly, cutting off Rosemond when she was talking. “I don’t believe that’s what you should be saying.”

“What?”

“What are you doing? Arrest them right away!” Mirya commanded, and, as soon as she finished speaking, the Imperial Palace ladies-in-waiting seized Rosemond and her servants, including Glara. Rosemond struggled furiously against the people restraining her.

“What are you doing? I guess you all have finally gone crazy,” she spat.

“It is not us that are the crazy ones here, but you,” Mirya said. “How dare you shamelessly attempt to harm the Queen twice?”

“What makes you think you can treat me like this! Do you think you’ll get out of this fine? How dare you do this to His Majesty’s favorite mistress…!”

“I believe you’re mistaken, My Lady,” Mirya warned with an expression of incredulity. “Our Queen was attacked while she was returning to the palace, and His Majesty the Emperor knew about this.”

“So! Without any proof, you…!”

“His Majesty the Emperor has entrusted the full authority over the investigation to Her Majesty the Queen, and the captured assassins will give their confessions in the dungeon. After they testify, you will not be safe.”

“Do you have proof that I’m the suspect?” Rosemond said with a snarl that was almost a smile. “You haven’t even got a confession from the assassins! How dare you do this to me without any proof…!”

“His Majesty the Emperor heard the conversation between you and a lady-in-waiting from Bain Palace. You were talking about the assassination attempt on the Queen of Mavinous Empire.”

“That…”

Clarity came over Rosemond’s face. Then, the presence back then was…!

“Do you still have anything to say?” Mirya asked.

“You…!”

“Do not speak anymore. No matter how loudly you shout here, no one is going to listen or cheer for you. Take them away right now!”

The ladies-in-waiting’s movements hastened at Mirya’s shout.

Rosemond did not waste her breath to scream. Instead, she began to think, fast. She pathetically fell into her own trap, and now was searching for something to save her.

*

“Marchioness Ethylaire and her ladies-in-waiting are all being detained in the dungeon, Your Majesty.”

“Thank you for working hard until dawn.” Patrizia briefly congratulated her on her efforts. Her mood was gloomy, however, and Mirya took notice.

“Is there something bothering you? You don’t look well,” Mirya said.

“I’m just tired. Why wouldn’t I feel good about this?” Patrizia murmured with a sigh. “But…it all seems complicated now that everything is hurtling towards the end.”

“Is there affection beneath that hatred?”

“No.” Patrizia vigorously shook her head. “Such sweet words don’t go well between us. She had done bad things to me, and I also had done bad things to her.”

“If that’s true about Marchioness Ethylaire, why do you…?” Mirya asked, not comprehending, but Patrizia remained silent for a moment.

“It’s a misfortune for me, but I think it would be better for me to keep my mouth shut,” she said finally.

“Pardon? What do you—”

“I don’t really want to talk about it. Don’t be too upset because nobody but me knows. Just…as a woman, I did something that wasn’t very moral.”

“Whatever it is,” Mirya said quietly to Patrizia. “I will obey you. I don’t believe you’re the absolute good, nor do I believe Lady Ethylaire is the absolute evil. But you are the master I chose, and that is why I serve you.”

“…”

“Do you feel guilty about the immoral thing you did?”

“I don’t think I have the capacity to be cruel,” Patrizia admitted. “The Marchioness probably doesn’t have any regrets. I’m jealous of that sometimes.”

“You may be jealous, but I don’t want you to blame yourself for that. I, and everyone who follows you, respect and serve you as you are,” Mirya said resolutely.

“Thank you for saying it like that,” Patrizia said with a soft laugh, and Mirya smiled.

“You’d better go to bed now, Your Majesty. Tomorrow—no, in a while—you’ll have a lot of work to do.”

“…Yes.”

Patrizia had a lot of work to finish. She swept down her long hair that the ladies-in-waiting had tidied up for her.

“I will be very busy starting today.”

*

Petronilla stifled a huge yawn with her hand, then got up from bed. The sunlight in her room seemed brighter than usual, likely because she was so tired from yesterday. It must be late morning. She was rubbing the sleep from her eyelids when someone knocked on the door.

“Lady Petronilla, can I come in?”

“You may.”

With Petronilla’s permission, the lady-in-waiting quickly opened the door and entered. She looked a little impatient, and Petronilla sensed something strange.

“What’s wrong? You don’t look good,” Petronilla asked, looking puzzled.

“The palace was in chaos last night, Lady Petronilla.”

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

“Well, Her Majesty the Queen was attacked by assassins!” the lady-in-waiting cried.

“…Who is the suspect?”

“It was said that Marchioness Ethylaire was taken into custody after His Majesty the Emperor testified. Oh my god, Lady Petronilla. What should we do?”

“Calm down. Is Rizi fine?” Petronilla was anxious to know about that.

The lady-in-waiting nodded. “She was injured, but it wasn’t life-threatening.”

“Haah…That’s a relief.” Petronilla did not even want to consider another outcome, but she couldn’t help but worry that something might have happened. “I need to hurry and get to the palace. Can you help me?”

*

The fact that there were two assassination attempts against the Queen was certainly enough to shake up the royal family and aristocratic society. As the morning drew on, Lucio increased the number of the queen’s guard by one-and-a-half times, and announced that he was entrusting the queen with full authority to investigate. No one objected to his decision on this major affair. Duke Ephreney seemed to want to complain about Rosemond’s detention, but Patrizia already had full authority, and the situation was so serious that he could not do anything about it. Of course, it was Rosemond who expressed the greatest fury.

“Damn it… Who knew the Emperor would turn out like this…!”

She restlessly paced up and down her cell. The two assassins captured alive must be Patrizia’s fakes, as the organization Rosemond commissioned protected their client’s secrets to the point of suicide. But even she couldn’t do something stupid enough as to reveal that organization’s existence. In short, she was completely trapped.

‘It’s all over if I’m not careful!’

Rosemond bit her nails in anxiety. She was always calm and confident, but not this time. There was evidence, even if it was rigged, but most of all, the Emperor was not on her side. Rosemond scratched her head nervously.

“What should I do? What—”

“Rosemond.”

Then, someone called her name. Rosemond whirled around fiercely to look at them.