She quickly lifted her face away from her knees and turned her head towards the sound. She stared with an earnest expression at Lucio, who was slightly frowning. He looked as if he was having a nightmare, as his complexion didn’t look good, and he had cold sweat coming down his forehead.
Patrizia bit her lips, then ripped some of the underclothes she was wearing, to make it into a handkerchief to wipe the sweat off his forehead. The surefire way to not have a nightmare was to wake up from the dream. So this was why he had to hurry and wake up. No matter what nightmare he had, it would be better than this situation.
“Hmm… No…”
“…”
His condition was worse than she had thought, and Patrizia was terrified. She wasn’t sure why this man was being like this. She looked flustered and started looking for a solution to deal with it, but she had no idea what to expect.
So Patrizia had been thinking about it for a long time and decided to use the method that she and Nilla had used often when they had nightmares during the time they were young.
She laid down Lucio, who still groaned and seemed afflicted, on her knees and began to gently stroke his soft black hair.
Patrizia never thought that she would be doing this kind of action to this man even in her dreams, but she had no choice. Her mother had told her that she had also calmed Patrizia this way, so it would not be so ineffective.
Patrizia hoped that her actions would speed up a little more time for when he would wake up.
“Shhh, Your Majesty. It is fine.”
“Ugh… Haaa…”
“It is okay, Your Majesty. Take a deep breath. Inhale, exhale …”
Oh, what in the world was she doing right now? Patrizia felt a new sense of self-deprecation, but instead of expressing it, she remained faithful to her mission.
She constantly swept him with a gentle touch and released sweet and tender words from her mouth. Perhaps if Petronilla or Rafaella had seen this, they would have been shocked.
“Shh- Your Majesty…”
“Ah… no… please…”
“…”
What was this man dreaming about? Patrizia was extremely curious. What was he dreaming about that he would be suffering this much? She had never been curious about this man’s circumstances or stories, but strangely, she was curious about it this time. How on earth could a person sleep and dream while suffering? What dreams could make a person look so miserable?
This was a look and expression that she had never seen, and never had reason to see, ever in her life before.
“Ah…”
Then Patrizia, soon realizing that she was overly sentimental, shook her head firmly. Now was not the time to fall into these kinds of thoughts. First of all, she had to concentrate on waking him up. Patrizia gently stroked his cheeks once again with a slightly cold expression.
“Ah…!”
It was at this time that he opened his eyes with a weak moan. Patrizia suddenly made eye contact with him and faced Lucio’s dark eyes that held a much more surprised expression. At that moment, Patrizia was taken aback and called out to him without her knowledge.
“Your Majesty…!”
“…Empress?”
His voice calling her was breaking up a lot, and Patrizia didn’t like it for some reason. She pressed her lips ever so slightly and nodded her head. He looked at her for a moment with eyes that did not understand the situation, but soon remembered the previous events, and asked her about it.
“Why am I… Where are we right now?”
“Your Majesty was poisoned by getting hit by the arrow in my stead, and right now this place is a remote cave away from the hunting grounds. Since you have opened your eyes, we should return right away. Will you be alright?”
When she quickly explained the situation and asked his opinion, Lucio stayed still and nodded quietly. She raised him up carefully and then asked about his condition, “How are you feeling?”
“I am alright. More than that… If I was poisoned, it would have been difficult to get rid of the poison, how did you do it?”
“…”
Patrizia hesitated for a moment and soon replied, “I sucked out the poison myself, and since that wasn’t enough, I found the sculler flower while in search of herbs. You must have awakened from eating it.”
“You mean to say, sculler…”
He looked surprised, and Patrizia spoke to him in a slightly urgent voice.
“Your Majesty, I will tell you all the other things on the way. If we do not go back in time, the palace will turn upside down. For Your Majesty’s well-being, you must go back and receive proper treatment.”
“Yes.”
Patrizia gave Lucio the clothes he had been wearing. At first, the clothes that had been soaked by the water were almost dry because Patrizia had placed them near a fire that she had struggled to start. However, Patrizia was unable to wear anything else, as she had initially sent her clothes down the stream. Lucio discovered this and asked Patrizia in a puzzled voice, “Where did your clothes go?”
“Ah…”
Patrizia pondered for a moment about how she should explain, and then changed the subject as she thought talking about this would take time and delay them further.
“I will tell you about that as well while we are on our way. Please wear them first.”
“You wear mine.”
“Your Majesty.”
She didn’t want to verbally wrestle with this problem. He was a patient. Even if he had been threatened with assassination, and was without his clothes, she would have given him her clothes. She resolutely explained the seriousness of the situation.
“I am fine, and Your Majesty is hurt. Maintaining body temperature is more important to a patient than a normal person.”
“I am fine.”
What senseless words that wouldn’t work anywhere. Patrizia spoke to him with a shocked look.
“Do you know how much I struggled for half a day to restore Your Majesty’s consciousness? If you do not want to make my efforts in vain, please follow my wishes. I am fine.”
“…”