Lady to Queen (Webnovel) - Chapter 223

[Side Story: The Fourth Episode]

The reunion took place in a rather quiet and relaxed atmosphere.

“It has been a long time since I have greeted you, Your Majesty,” Petronilla welcomed him with her characteristic beautiful smile.

Lucio knew that this was a dream, but as soon as he saw her, the eerie sensations he felt were so vivid and fearsome that it was hard to dismiss it as a dream. He swallowed hard; Petronilla’s smile grew deeper as she watched him do so.

She told him, “Please take a seat, Your Majesty.”

“…” Lucio could not refuse her request. It was a demand from the deceased. Moreover, he could not refuse when the request was coming from the woman that he had killed.

“So, have you been doing well?”

Upon receiving the question, Lucio started to become suspicious of whether or not she was the Empress, no, the dethroned Empress, that he knew. The Petronilla that he had known did not have the type of personality to be able to act so calm and graceful while asking such a question to the person who had killed her. He had expected her to rip him to shreds as soon as she saw him.

He was willing to let her tear him apart, but this reaction was not one he had been expecting. Out of all the numerous outcomes he had imagined, this had not been a possibility he had considered. He had no choice but to feel taken aback.

He asked her in turn, “Why…would you be asking me such a question?”

“I was curious. Because I loved you, Your Majesty,” Petronilla answered as she smiled. Her words continued, “I was extremely curious. Both of you treated me as if I was a thorn in your sides. So I thought if only I were to disappear, it was only right Your Majesty would have become happier after that.”

“…”

“Now, are you happy?”

“…I am,” Lucio answered honestly, “I am happy, right now.”

“I see,” Petronilla commented as she grinned more broadly.

Lucio continued, “I have been thinking about how sorry I am.”

“…”

“Whatever words I utter, it will all just be stemming from hypocrisy. If only we had not met with this kind of affinity for a relationship, then you would not have to…”

“Shut your mouth.” In the instant the words popped out of her mouth, Petronilla’s expression, which had previously appeared so gentle with her smile, did a complete 180 degrees and transformed into one of harsh fierceness.

Lucio was bewildered by the ambiance that had changed so quickly, and silently shut his mouth without realizing he had complied with her order.

Still bearing a terrifying expression, Petronilla continued coldly, “If you know that you are being hypocritical, then shut that mouth of yours.”

“…Empress.”

“No, not at all.” Petronilla spoke with a smile so horrifying that it could induce goosebumps, “I am not the Empress. Is that not so?”

“…”

“You made me a dethroned Empress, so how…how dare you…!”

Her voice that was filled with rage; Lucio could not say anything. He was overwhelmed by the strength of her aura. No, it was because he knew the fact as well, rather than that. Her anger was justified, and his sins were also justified. If so, who was the one in the wrong here, who was the bad person? Who had the right to to get mad at the other person?

“How dare you use the title of Empress to address me?”

“…Are you hoping to receive an apology from me?”

“An apology!” she snorted with laughter. She had a look on her face showing how absurd she thought all of this was. “Please give me the apology I want, Your Majesty, the Supreme Emperor. Our Glorious Sun of the Marvinus Empire.”

“…”

“We clearly were not made for each other in our supposed relationship, as it was only an ill-fated one, and a severely bad one at that! Even if the fact that I had been killed because of you is set aside… my poor…my poor younger sister and parents, how are you planning on apologizing to them?”

There was nothing to say. There was no possible course of action where he could apologize to them. Lucio just swallowed once again.

Petronilla continued to let out a stream of invectives. “You asked if I was hoping to receive an apology from you?”

“…”

“Indeed. I am hoping for an apology from you.” -And very desperately at that-, Petronilla thought. She then muttered, “The apology I am hoping for is the destruction of both you and Rosemond.”

The word “destruction” had a hefty emphasis on it.

Lucio looked at Petronilla with reddened eyes.

She was staring back at him. Looking straight into his eyes, she uttered a curse onto him, “If God does not condemn you both, I will be the one to do it. I, this Petronilla will! Directly! To the both of you!”

Petronilla had been standing still, but at that moment, she suddenly approached Lucio and wrapped both of her hands around his neck to choke him. It was done with such powerful force; such strength could not possibly come from a woman!

Lucio forgot that all of this was currently a dream as he began to find it harder to breathe.

“Die! Die! Die!”

“Heungh… Empress, please…”

“Die alreadyyy!”

“Aughhhhhh!”

—

With the sound of his own screams, Lucio woke up from his sleep. When he opened his eyes, he nearly vomited, choking on his own breath, as if he had really experienced someone choking the life out of him.

“Damn it all… once again.” Lucio struggled to calm himself down as he barely managed to release a labored breath. -How many times have I been experiencing the same dreams already? In these dreams that are played on repeat, the reactions are also always the same.-

“Your Majesty, are you alright?!”

The Chief Maid must have thought the Emperor was having another episode; she came running in after urgently opening the door to his room. She saw Lucio’s whole forehead was covered with hot sweat and spoke to him in a state of shock, “Her Majesty…I will escort over Her Majesty, the Empress.”

“No. It is fine,” Lucio stopped her after he sucked in another harsh breath. “It is not what you are thinking about for today. I just had a strange dream.”

“Ah…”

“Instead, just bring over a glass of water, will you?”

“Yes, Your Majesty. I will bring over a glass of water.”

The Chief Maid walked out of his room, and when Lucio was left alone, he began to slowly wipe down his drenched forehead with a handkerchief. He felt so strange whenever he had this dream, truly.

“I must have been overdoing it, and have been pushing myself too much these days.” He chose to look at it as an insignificant occurrence. He clearly did not want to pay much attention to how powerful a curse could be from someone who was already dead.

—–

“His Majesty is said to be continuously plagued with weird dreams these days.”

At Glara’s words, Rosemond paused in the midst of choosing a necklace to put on and asked, “What are you talking about? You mean his dreams concerning the dethroned Empress Alyssa?”

“I do not think his dreams are concerning that person. I have heard what the maids at the Central Palace have been saying, and apparently His Majesty continues to have bizarre dreams these days. After waking up, the Emperor’s whole body is said to be swimming in cold sweat.”

“If that is the case, then why did the Central Palace not send some kind of message over this way?”

So basically, it was not like he was having another episode…

Rosemond tilted her head. Glara, who was standing next to her, cautiously brought up the question they were both thinking, “But why…is His Majesty the Emperor not bringing this up to Your Majesty?”

“…His Majesty is probably thinking that there is no point in my knowing about it.” A certain thought flew past through Rosemond’s mind. There was one thing that she had to point out. She continued, “It may very well be because His Majesty is thinking of me.”

“What does that mean, Your Majesty?”

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Translated by Haeli

Edited by RED