Lady To Queen Chapter 18 - An Unexpected Meeting

Chapter 18 – An Unexpected Meeting

After the banquet finished, Patrizia retired to her room with a heavy body. Although she put in painstaking effort to make sure tonight was a success, she had still been nervous about any unknown variables. Thankfully, she prevented Rosemond's attempt to sabotage her, and the guests were kept satisfied.

But it was still a close call. Even if Patrizia returned to the past, she was still herself, not Petronilla. The information available to her was limited, and she had no idea what else would happen in the future. The fact that she returned to the past wasn't an advantage, but a catalyst for her to be even more cautious.Yet, it was still an undeniable boon to have a new opportunity to change the future, as well as be more careful about anything related to Rosemond. She needed to continue focusing her efforts on keeping track of all the movements in Bain Palace.

Patrizia let out a heavy exhale, and Raphaella came up to her side. “You look tired, Your Majesty.”

“Yes, I'm tired, Dame Raphaella. I did so much today.”

“That impertinent, reckless concubine almost got you into trouble,” Raphaella said with gritted teeth. “How could she even think of doing that? She could have started a war by swapping in pork meat for guests of a country that doesn't eat pork. If Lady Phelps' plan came to fruition, you're not the only one would get hurt. The Emperor would be harmed as well.”

“I know. That's why I stopped her. Anyway…nothing happened.”

“It's peaceful now.” Raphaella then clicked her tongue and sat down next to Patrizia, then spoke in an impatient voice. “Your Majesty, are you not going to tell the Emperor about this? He could remove the baroness' title.”

“Nothing will change even if he hears of it. I will not publicize this problem with His Majesty as long as he's irrational. He needs to care about this country before he cares about Lady Phelps, but he won't understand that her recklessness is causing trouble.”

“Ha. Indeed.” Raphaella gave a huff of frustration. This was a good opportunity to expose Rosemond, but the topic was too sensitive to make public. They had no choice but to cover it up. At least Patrizia had given a warning to Rosemond for the time being.

Suddenly, Mirya's voice interrupted their conversation. “Your Majesty, His Majesty the Emperor is here.”

Patrizia and Raphaella exchanged startled glances. Was he here to listen to Patrizia's story? Patrizia waited nervously as Lucio entered through the open door, while Raphaella stood up from her seat and bowed to him.

“The humble sword greets His Majesty the Emperor. Glory to the Sun of the Empire.” After that, Raphaella stepped out of the room without looking back. She wasn't confident that she could hold herself back from saying something rude to the Emperor's face.

Finally, Patrizia and Lucio were left alone in the quiet room. Patrizia's heart pounded fearfully in her chest as she wondered if he overheard hers and Raphaella's conversation. She told no falsehoods, so it didn't matter if he pried, but she still felt like she said something she shouldn't have. The strange feeling pressed in on her.

“Greetings to the Sun of the Holy Empire. Glory to His Majesty the Emperor” she said. “Why are you here? You must be tired after seeing the envoys.”

“…”

Lucio did not reveal what he was thinking, and Patrizia recalled her encounter with Rosemond. She didn't think he came here to blame her for that—if he did, he would have blown up immediately on her, and in any case, Patrizia said she wouldn't touch the concubine unless she was provoked. After a moment's pause, he finally spoke.

“…I just came to ask how it went with the other noblewomen tonight.”

It was not a response Patrizia expected. She breathed an inward sigh of relief, and gave him the answer he would like to hear. “It went well.”

It almost ended up a disaster, but…she did not add any further words. She wanted Lucio to leave quickly so she could soak her tired muscles in a warm, scented bath.

“I see,” Lucio said. Patrizia sensed some hesitation in his voice, and she wondered if she should tell him about the incident after all. Fortunately, however, her conflict was cut short when Lucio spoke again.

“Then you must be tired. Rest well.”

“Yes, Your Majesty. I hope you rest well, too.” Patrizia bowed politely, and the Emperor looked at her for a moment and turned his heel without another word. He came all the way here just to say that? It was not a short distance between the central palace and the queen's palace. Patrizia was bewildered, but she recovered herself quickly, grateful that she had more time for rest. She carefully removed the tiara from her head, thinking she was fortunate.

*

“Damn it,” Lucio cursed underneath his breath as he walked towards the central palace. Obviously, he went to the queen to find out why she hit Rosemond. If the concubine had done something wrong, then Patrizia could tell him why she hit her. However, he was completely taken by surprise when he overheard the truth.

“If that was true…” he muttered with a grave expression. If in a one-in-million chance Rosemond's plan was successful, it would not be difficult to overthrow the queen.

But the greater problem would come after. Rosemond's spark of conspiracy could spill over to himself and the Empire, and could lead to a breakdown of alliances and towards war. Meanwhile, the Eckman Empire was constantly attempting to court the Christa Empire, and no amount of friction could be tolerated between Christa and Mavinous.

In addition, if Patrizia's words were true, it seemed that she discovered Rosemond's plan in advance and prevented it. For the first time in his life, Lucio was confused about his involvement with Rosemond. Ever since he met her, he never felt that way, but now…

Lucio entered his room with a conflicted expression. He originally planned to go straight to the Bain palace after meeting with the Queen, but he was in no mood to anymore. His head spun in confusion, and he decided to go to bed early.

*

Meanwhile, Patrizia's head was racked with the same confusion. Although she kept a mask of calm around Raphaella, her psyche was rattled. She could have been framed for a crime and ousted from the queen's seat, and her and her family's lives would pay. If a single thing had gone wrong, she may have squandered her reward of returning to the past and repeated a tragic ending. The thought of it made her body shudder. She was still young after all.

“I need to be more careful in the future,” Patrizia muttered to herself, sweeping aside her long hair aside and revealing her dark eyes which sparkled in the light. She quickly pulled the covers over herself, thinking it would be best to sleep as soon as possible for her mental and physical health. No matter how long she lay there, however, her mind refused to quiet, and after tossing and turning for a few hours, she finally got out of bed. Her body was exhausted, but she felt wide awake. She decided to go for a walk and pulled a thin shawl around her shoulders. When she stepped out of her room, she found Mirya right outside the door.

“Your Majesty? Where are you going?” Mirya asked.

“I can't sleep. I was thinking about going for a walk.”

“Where would you like to go?”

“It's alright. I'll go alone,” Patrizia refused politely, and left the palace by herself. She wanted to be alone, just for this night. She wished she had a dagger with her, so at least she could protect herself.

Patrizia ended up walking to a place she had not visited ever since she became queen. Perhaps the last time she had been there was during the second queen candidate test. She had found herself too busy to go there since.

The night blanketed the palace garden in darkness, but because there was a full moon tonight, the lake was bright. She admired the moonlight over the water, but before she knew it, hot tears began to spill over her eyes. As soon as she realized that she was crying, she quickly wiped the tears with her sleeve.

“Oh…I'm being ridiculous.”

Why was she crying? She had done well at her first official event as queen, and stopped Rosemond's plot from happening. She warned the concubine not to do such a thing again, but would she listen to her? No, Rosemomd would continue to scheme until Patrizia was finally ousted. How long did Patrizia have to live? Would her life be confrontation after confrontation until her eventual death?

Patrizia cried in the face of her dark future. In truth, she was scared. She was not favored by the Emperor as Rosemond was, nor was she particularly intelligent. Rosemond, meanwhile, rose from the bottom to become the Emperor's favorite mistress, as well as a baroness.

Perhaps Patrizia couldn't change the future after all. Perhaps this would end with her and her family's necks on the guillotine.

“Why are you crying?”

Patrizia's body stiffened at the sound of a man's voice.

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Chapter end