Chapter 207: Chapter 104 (1) – Are You Going to Abandon Me?

“Oh my,” he muttered in a voice that seemed to sadden slightly. “I must have failed miserably in expressing my feelings in an adequate way.”

“…”

He had expressed his feelings for her. It was just that she had a hard time believing the truth behind the declaration of his feelings.

Lucio confessed to her again, “I love you.”

“…”

“With all my heart, I am truly in love with you. Of course, you… do not seem able to believe in me just yet…” Lucio seemed to hesitate as he initially faltered with his words but soon appeared not to care as he spoke with utmost determination, “I will wait. I can wait. But until then…”

“…”

“Please do not leave my side. If you can do that for me, I will do anything in my power for you.”

It was impossible for her to leave in the first place. Patrizia knew the reason was not that she loved him, but that it was not easy to leave the Imperial Palace for good. She had just grumbled for the sake of it, like a child throwing a tantrum. -Was it me who was being the foolish one?- Patrizia thought to herself.

“I will not leave.”

“…Really?”

“Yes, I will not go.” She could see that he was feeling nervous and insecure. He was a man who was extremely sensitive to the idea of a parting. Was it because he had been forced to part with his mother in the same way? Somehow, she felt uncomfortable as she considered that.

“Thank you so very much. Really…” He grabbed Patrizia’s hand, his flushed face full of emotion.

Patrizia was a little surprised by his sudden behavior, but did not show she was taken aback, maintaining her calm expression.

“I will really… I will really treat you well.” he couldn’t control it; there was a slight sob mixed into his voice.

-Does he hate the idea of my leaving that much?- Patrizia wondered to herself. -What do I mean to him?-

“If you are uncomfortable with me being here… Shall I leave?” He hesitated after he asked, and Patrizia hesitated in the same fashion.

If she was being her usual self, she should have chased him out in a heartbeat, but… was it because their bodies had joined together yesterday? Strangely, she did not want to make him leave. Rationalizing that this was purely due to the shared affection from the previous night, Patrizia grabbed his wrist first. As she held on, she could tell that he was a bit surprised. She whispered, “Do not go out, please.”

“…Sure,” he replied in a voice that was choking up.

Patrizia just stared at him, and soon closed her eyes gently. The fact that there was someone staying by her side gave her the extra consolation she needed right now…

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“His Majesty has sent over an apple tart and meringue cookies this time around,” Mirya said in a voice mixed with half absurdity and half delight.

Patrizia had recovered to some extent through his extremely detailed care, and after that had been receiving desserts filled with his sincerity on a daily basis.

Mirya continued, “This has been going on for three weeks running. His Majesty cannot possibly be trying to use this as the gift for Your Majesty’s birthday next week, right? Making a different dessert every day like this is no easy task after all.”

“…”

It was as Mirya had said. Lucio had been consistently sending all of the desserts he had personally baked from scratch after that day, and the products of his efforts had been different every single day.

Somehow, as Mirya seemed to show more excitement, Patrizia felt only more strange about the whole situation.

“Shall I throw it all away?” Mirya asked this question as if it was always customary to do so. Mirya already knew that Patrizia would not throw away the desserts that Lucio had sent. -But if not for an opportunity such as this, when would I be able to make fun of the Supreme Empress?…- was the shared notion of both Rafaella and Mirya. Of course, Petronilla agreed and participated from from time to time as well.

“…Bring it over here to me.” Patrizia pretended to not be pleased as she replied to Mirya.

Mirya asked with a sly grin, “When it was something made by His Majesty, did you not hate it?”

“Is there any reason for me to risk being arrested for contempt towards the Emperor? What will I do if I throw it all away and suffer severe consequences?”

When Mirya heard the answer, she released a fit of giggles internally. The Emperor loved the Empress. Even if the Empress had done something like that, the Emperor would not be able to punish the Empress, and Mirya knew very well that Patrizia was also aware of this fact.

Mirya silently handed over the pink box full of cookies and an apple tart. “Here you are, Your Majesty,” Mirya added.

“…You may take your leave now.”

Mirya knew the Empress would only taste the desserts when she was all alone. With that, Rafaella and Mirya had already guessed the whole situation and burst into laughter behind the scenes, but never showed that they had figured everything out in front of Patrizia. If she knew that they were talking to each other about this, rather than getting mad at them, she was more likely to behave in a manner that she had no desire to. They understood that this could not happen for the sake of an amicable marital relationship between the two Majesties.

“Haaa.” After having sent away all of the maids, Patrizia was finally left alone to silently open the box. She wondered who always did the packaging, as it was always finely tied with a pink or red ribbon. The sweet and savory smell of baked flour wafted into Patrizia’s nose.

“It smells and looks delicious,” Patrizia muttered quietly to herself. She grabbed a meringue cookie and proceeded to take a bite. It was very tasty. Patrizia did not notice the smile blooming on her face. At some point, eating the desserts the Emperor had made for her by hand had established itself as one of the most anticipated pastimes of Patrizia’s boring routine.

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“Do you think that you will be any different?” a woman in white laughed icily, her pink hair flowing loosely down.

Patrizia stumbled as she retreated backward as she noticed the woman and told her, “Get away from me.”

“You are the same as me, Empress Majesty, on her high horse. Once another woman enters the picture, you will surely be abandoned as well.”

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Translated by Haeli

Edited by RED