Lady To Queen Chapter 28 - I'm A Crazy Bitch

Chapter 28 – I'm A Crazy Bitch

The cliff's drop in front of her, the assassins right behind; it was a dire situation. Patrizia was holding up Lucio's now unconscious body. Was death the only option available to them?

Patrizia hesitated and looked back at the men behind her. It was obvious that they had no intention of taking her alive. One of the men pointed his sword at her and grunted. “What a waste. You were the one who should have been hit by the arrow.”

“Who sent you?” Patrizia demanded. The men laughed at her question, as if to say, As if we would tell you that? Patrizia gave a bitter smile, knowing that they would not answer her in the first place. “It was Rosemond, wasn't it?”

“You're about to die soon—is that really important?”

“It is. Will you tell me?”

The men exchanged glances with each other, and they burst into careless laughter. One of them opened his mouth to speak.

“Rosemond Mary la Phelps. The Emperor's concubine and baroness. She paid us a lot of money to do this job.” The man gave another bark of laughter, and Patrizia found her taut expression loosening.

Yes, that's who it was. So it was Rosemond that was conspiring to kill her. Patrizia almost laughed herself, but she realized this wasn't the time to show off insanity, so she smiled instead. Nevertheless, at her reaction, the men still glanced at each other in bewilderment, thinking that the woman had probably gone mad from the futility of her situation.

Never did Patrizia imagine that she would get this piece of evidence. She looked back at Lucio's bloodied and unconscious face, and a moment later pressed a soft kiss on his forehead. She was sorry that he didn't hear the assassins' confession.

One of the men slashed his sword in the air and stepped closer. “Now that you've heard the secret, it's time to send you to the river of the underworld.”

Patrizia smiled like someone who wasn't about to die, and lowered herself and Lucio's body from the horse. “Can you spare the horse? I care about her.”

“Oh, how charitable of you. Is that really important for someone who's about to die?” one of the men sneered.

Patrizia kept smiling despite his mockery. “It's important. Will you keep your promise? Swear it before God.”

“Ha ha, what's so important about that? Maybe you're going mad because you're about to die.”

“Maybe.”

“Very well, if that is your wish. I won't touch the horse.”

“Alright.” Patrizia smiled contentedly and tightened her grip on Lucio's body. He was still unconscious, leaving her as the only one that could get them out of this situation. She pulled Lucio closer and embraced him like a child.

Suddenly, her expression changed at once, and she shot the assassins a frighteningly cold glare, as if all the previous expressions she made were simply a ruse.

“Thank you for the information. Because of that, I realized one thing.”

“What do you mean?”

Patrizia put a finger near her temple and twirled it, a gesture of insanity, and continued talking despite her hopeless situation.

“I didn't warn her that I'm a crazy bitch.”

At that, Patrizia immediately threw herself and Lucio off the cliff. The assassins gave a yell of surprise and quickly ran towards the edge, but it was too late. Patrizia was wearing the most beautiful smile as the assassins looked down at her.

Splash!

They hit the waters below, causing a dramatic splash on the once calm surface.

The men looked down at the river and then at each other as they realized their failure, and then they nodded and began to leave.

*

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In her own way, Patrizia considered herself rather intelligent. She read many books, immersed herself in quiet contemplation, and enjoyed discussions with intellectuals. The moment she flung herself off the cliff, however, she realized that all the knowledge she built up thus far was just a fragile illusion, nothing more than a sand castle with ostentatious ornaments. The final winner in this battle will not be a naive noblewoman like her, but a cunning villain like Rosemond.

“Keog! Keoeog!”

Patrizia dragged herself to the stony shore, coughing repeatedly to expel the river water from her body. She must have swallowed a lot of water, and her stomach was full and her nose burned. She wiped as much water from her face as she could as ragged breaths seared her throat.

“Haah, haah!”

After some time, her breathing became calm. It was a stroke of luck that she managed to survive. She was glad she could swim, or else she would have become a water ghost. Patrizia stripped off her wet clothes and tossed it back into the water. It would flow down the current where someone would find it. Rosemond would then confirm her death and no longer pursue her.

Patrizia, now barely in her underwear, knelt down by the unconscious Lucio and inspected the arrow wound on his chest. The blood continued to flow from the wound, and it was a strange color as if it had been poisoned.

Shit! Patrizia muttered under her breath. If he kept on like this, he would die. However, even if he lived, it was likely that she would still be accused of attempting to murder the emperor. Perhaps that was what Rosemond wanted the most. Maybe Patrizia could die here with Lucio instead, but she didn't want to do that.

Patrizia dragged Lucio out of the water and laid him on the sun-warmed stone shore. If he continued to wear his wet clothes, he was likely to die from the drop of body temperature, and she hurriedly stripped him of his clothes as well. It didn't occur to her that he was a person of opposite sex, that he was the emperor, and her husband. She didn't have any rational interest in him, and her only focus was on survival.

After removing Lucio's clothes, she once again scrutinized his wound. The poison had likely spread during the pursuit, and she had to extract as much of it as possible to prevent further damage. Without hesitation, she buried her face on his chest and sucked the poison from the flesh. She was careful not to swallow the poison before spitting it out on the ground.

After about ten minutes of this, Patrizia started to feel light-headed. Even if she didn't swallow, some of the poison was absorbed into her body. Her head jerked forward, and she opened her eyes to regain consciousness. She needed to focus. If she collapsed here, it would be over for both herself and Lucio. There was no one else to protect them but her.

The most important thing was now time. Patrizia had to return Lucio to the palace within 24 to 48 hours. Ideally, they had to return to the palace by tonight. If too much time passed, the nobles would worry about the vacuum of power and possibly install a new emperor. She was certain of it, for both Lucio and herself.

However, with the Emperor and Queen disappearing at the same time, the nobles were sure to send a search party for them, and Patrizia had to make sure that they were still alive when they were found. To do that, she had to save Lucio first. She lifted him up and almost staggered over because of his weight, but then something stopped their fall. Her eyes widened in surprise.

“You…how…” Patrizia sputtered as she looked at the surprise arrival. She had never been so happy to see Sally. What a clever horse! Patrizia stroked Sally's mane in gratitude. “You're not dead, thank God! How did you get here?”

As if to answer her question, Sally nosed Patrizia like she was smelling her. In such a short amount of time, the horse found Patrizia's scent and came to her. Patrizia was amazed. The horse had gone from biting her hand, to now tracking and rescuing her. Patrizia hugged the horse and showered her with praise.

“Thank you, Sally. I'm so glad you're here.” She pressed a grateful kiss on Sally's forehead, then quickly pushed Lucio on the horse's back. Patrizia decided not to ride Sally herself, concerned that the horse may be too exhausted to take both their weights. She had to think about the horse's stamina.

After walking for some time, they came across a remote cave. Patrizia guided them inside, then placed Lucio on a flat rock and examined his condition in more detail. Fortunately he didn't have a fever, but his body was cold to the touch. She tried to find something that would keep him warm, and soon located some straw in the corner of the cave. She heaped it in her arms, spread it on the cold ground as makeshift bedding, then placed Lucio on top of it. After administering some basic first aid, she would have time to look for medicinal herbs and other things.

After tending to Lucio, Patrizia pulled Sally out of the cave to look after her next, knowing that the horse must be exhausted at this point. Before Patrizia stepped out of the cave, she took one last look back at Lucio's sleeping form.

This was now her reality.

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Chapter end