Lady To Queen Chapter 61

Chapter 61 – The Queen is Much Too Harsh

Translator: Jem

Editor: Crystal Crater

Before Patrizia could even tell Mirya to let the woman in, a red-faced Rosemond burst inside. Tired of the concubine's arrogance and impudence, Patrizia felt the need to point out such behavior.

“Only you would dare to show such blatant disrespect within the Queen's Palace.”

“What did I do for you to say that, Your Majesty?” Rosemond scoffed.

“I'm saying that you need to learn some manners,” Patrizia said coolly. “You seem to be in urgent need of etiquette education.”

Hearing Patrizia's words, Rosemond couldn't hold back. “The one who needs a lesson in manners is you, Queen.”

“Me?” Patrizia said in fake incredulity.

“Yes, Your Majesty.” Rosemond's voice turned icy. “Why did you cut the budget for Bain palace?”

“Ah.” Patrizia suspected this would come up, but seeing it brought up now felt stranger than she thought. She cleared her throat. “Is there a problem?”

“What's with this sudden cut of expenses? Even if I have been stripped of my baroness title, I am still the Emperor's lover.”

“That's right. You are His Majesty's 'unofficial' mistress. There is not a single provision in imperial law that mandates a budget for the Emperor's mistress. It is simply customary to grant one to them.”

Rosemond narrowed her eyes. “Then I'm painfully curious why you're suddenly ignoring these customs and acting so dogmatically.”

“Isn't it obvious, Lady Rosemond? You are but a lady of Bain Palace now—as you said yourself, you no longer hold the title of baroness. As the head of interior affairs, it is my duty to cut back on such unnecessary expenses.”

Patrizia put on a displeased expression and continued. “Not only that, but I've even allowed you to brusquely come in here without any other formal announcement. I've already shown you, the mere daughter of a baron, more than enough respect as the Emperor's concubine.”

“Did you just refer to me as a mere daughter of a baron?” Rosemond asked with a smirk before continuing. “But Your Majesty, I regret to inform you that I am no longer the daughter of a baron. I no longer bear any connection to that title and surname.”

Patrizia raised an eyebrow. “What do you mean by that?”

Rosemond had a triumphant look on her face. “My parents have relinquished their parental authority over me. I will soon become Duke Ephreny's adopted daughter. This means that I'm no longer the 'mere daughter of a baron' as you say, but the daughter of one of the three dukes of the empire.”

“So?” Patrizia said with a bored expression.

Rosemond's face furrowed. “I'm telling you to stop this insulting treatment.”

“When did I ever insult you, Lady Rosemond? It doesn't matter to me whether you're the daughter of a baron or a duke. Regardless of what you are, I am still the most noble lady of the land, and, as this kingdom's Queen, and there is no other lady above me. Do you think I should dwell on every word you speak?”

Unfortunately for Rosemond, every word Patrizia said was true.

Patrizia continued. “In any case, that's great news for you. Congratulations, Lady Rosemond. I have heard that Duke Ephreney is quite wealthy. As such, that is even more reason not to increase the funds for the Bain Palace. If anything, it should be decreased even further.”

“Your Majesty!”

“Don't raise your voice at me, Lady Rosemond. If you are to become a daughter of a duke, then you should uphold the manners and dignity of one. Before you become a part of a duke's family, you should first learn the manners of nobility. If it's too embarrassing for you to ask Duke Ephreney, then I will be happy to do it instead.”

“No, that won't be necessary, Your Majesty,” Rosemond replied, her body trembling with suppressed fury. “I have already been promised a teacher by my father. I don't need your mercy.”

“That's good to hear. It's unbecoming of a Queen to concern herself over such trifles.”

“If that's all you wanted to say, then please take your leave. I have many things to do right now.” With those words, Patrizia called in the palace ladies. They entered the room, asking what it was that she needed from them. Patrizia gave her instructions with a serene expression. “Lady Rosemond will be heading back to the Bain Palace now, so please escort her there.”

“Yes, Your Majesty.”

Rosemond's face stiffened at the implied dismissal. However, Patrizia showed no interest towards the woman, and she sat back down at her desk completely littered with documents and files.

Rosemond gave a bitter smile, before sharply turning towards the palace ladies. “Enough, there's no need to escort me. It's not as if my legs are broken.”

Rosemond whirled away with a haughty expression on her face. She could hear the palace ladies whispering behind her back, but she gave them no concern and continued to walk away with a dignified gait.

Her mood completely spoiled by Patrizia, Rosemond decided to head towards the Central Palace.

“You're still badly bruised, Your Majesty. You have not fully recovered from the previous incident, so I ask that you please be careful,” the doctor said.

“I understand. It was my mistake, so let's leave it at that.”

“Yes, Your Majesty. Please make sure to take your medicine.”

With Lucio's assurance, the doctor put on a relieved expression, before bowing and leaving the Central Palace. Rosemond came in just as the doctor left, and she had a curious look on her face.

“Your Majesty?”

“Ah, Rose, you're back.”

“Yes. But why was the palace doctor here…?” she said worriedly. “Are you unwell, Your Majesty?”

“No, Rose. I'm fine,” Lucio said dismissively.

“That doesn't seem to be the case, if you brought in the doctor…”

“I'm really fine. Did you travel safely to Baron Darrow's and back?”

“…Yes.” Rosemond bitterly told him the results of her trip.

“He relinquished his parental authority over me. I've brought back the document as proof.” She handed over said document to Lucio, who accepted it with a nod. “Duke Ephreney will soon announce that he'll take me in as his adoptive daughter. Then I will no longer be a mere daughter of a baron, but an esteemed lady.”

“…It seems that you're quite obsessed with positions and rankings.”

“Isn't that a given, Lucio? That way, I'll be able to love you without any restrictions.”

She pressed a small kiss onto Lucio's forehead. Because she closed her eyes to do so, she didn't notice that Lucio's expression wasn't as affectionate as usual. “It'll be much easier to overtake the position of Queen.”

Seeing as Lucio didn't say anything, Rosemond took his silence as an affirmation. She then started to pout like a child, as if they never had such a serious conversation to begin with.

“Ah, but Your Majesty.”

“Yes, Rose?”

“The Queen is much too harsh.”

She puffed her cheeks out in discontent. Lucio took the bait and asked, “What happened?”

“She cut the budget for Bain Palace in half. Isn't that so mean?”

Lucio was quiet for a few moments, before replying with an indifferent voice.

“But it's true that Bain Palace was getting quite a lot of money. It's not like you're put in distress, right? Even if she cut it in half, there should be more than enough money for you and the Bain Palace girls to use.”

“…What?”

Rosemond sensed something was wrong. This was the first time that Lucio took Patrizia's side. Not hers!

“Lucio… are you being serious?” she said with a shocked voice.

“While I'm not saying you need to be frugal, you shouldn't live so extravagantly. Moreover, our finances as of late are—”

“Your Majesty!” Rosemund exclaimed, looking completely aghast. Lucio never even once brought up Imperial finances—or lack thereof—with her. Yet he's bringing it up now? “Why…why are you being like this, Your Majesty?” she said with a trembling voice.

“What do you mean, Rose? It's true that you've always spent beyond your already extravagant budget,” he said insistently. “It's just never been pointed out until now. In any case, a concubine isn't an official position related to the emperor, so it's not good to live so luxuriously. On top of that, you don't even hold the title of baroness anymore.”

Rosemund gave Lucio a resentful glare, before turning her heel and leaving the Central Palace without another word. Anyone could tell from her loud stomping that she was angry.

When Lucio was alone once again, he let out a long sigh. “Don't be deterred. This is for the best,” he muttered to himself.

“How could he do this to me?!” Rosemond screamed.

She had returned to Bain palace, and she couldn't hold back her fury any longer. This was complete nonsense. How could Lucio betray her like this?!

In a fit of rage, she knocked off everything off the table in one furious sweep. Glass shattered onto the ground with a crash. Glara, who was watching from the side, squeezed her eyes shut.

“My Lady, please calm down.”

“Calm down? Does it look like I can calm down right now? Anyone can see that the Emperor doesn't love me as he used to!”

Rosemond screamed as she hurled another glass container, which came dangerously close to hitting Glara. The lady-in-waiting dodged the projectile, then let out a huge sigh of relief and placed a hand over her heart. There was probably not a single job more taxing than being the lady-in-wait for Rosemond.

“There's no doubt that that wench was by His Majesty's side while I was away!”

After going so far as to use such vulgar language, Rosemond's face suddenly turned cold. The sudden change from fire to ice startled Glara.

“Glara, send a message to Duke Ephreney immediately,” Rosemond ordered in a sharp voice.

“For what reason do you—”

“There's only one reason! To tell him to speed up the adoption process. Hurry!”

“Yes, as you wish, My Lady. I will do as you say, so please calm down,” Glara said consolingly. It was to no avail, as Rosemond was still visibly furious. Thinking it was better to avoid getting caught in the crossfire, Glara hurried out of the Bain Palace.

Chapter end