It felt like everything had gone wrong. Like that day, all the truths he had known were disorganized, and the time to face new truths had come. Lucio intuitively realized that change was about to come, and he couldn’t guarantee how his emotions would flow along, in the whirlwind of change.
He was the Emperor that received admiration through selection, and a great politician who had calmed the conflicts between nobles that were based in a powerful empire, but he was bound to be weak to love. In the beginning, he was destined to be this way. At least so far he was. A man who had no choice but to be weak towards love.
Meanwhile, Patrizia, who had remembered exactly the way they had traveled, told Lucio in a positive voice.
“Your Majesty, this is the road we passed before. Hopefully we can arrive there in time.”
“Really? That is good… Ugh!”
Suddenly a scream was heard before he finished speaking, and Patrizia asked him in an urgent voice without even thinking about stopping the horse.
“Your Majesty? What is wrong!”
“Ugh… It is nothing…”
But soon even his response was cut off, and Patrizia finally stopped the horse and looked at his condition. Damn it all, his forehead was like a fireball. It seemed that the heat hadn’t fully gone down yet. Patrizia’s forehead soon had small wrinkles, as if she was thinking it had all been a failure.
It would be difficult to return home in time if they delayed any more there. Patrizia pledged to return as soon as possible, and then spoke to him in a firm voice.
“Your Majesty, please endure a bit longer.”
She held onto Lucio to support him from the back, and to prevent the possible danger of falling off the horse. Then she immediately started the horse onward again. There was really no time now. If he did not receive the right treatment in this short time, his safety could not be guaranteed.
At that same time, there were all sorts of fuss back at the palace.
“Where on earth is His Majesty!”
“His Majesty disappeared as well as Her Majesty. What weird situation is this?”
“Maybe they have suffered some bad events?”
The nobles were almost in a state of panic because both the Emperor and Empress had not returned even after the determined period of time. Of course, it was the two escort knights that were blamed first, including Rafaella, but it was difficult for them to blame them openly because they had both been commanded to leave them alone.
Soon an emergency meeting between the nobility was held at the temporary barracks, and after a serious debate, the nobles concluded that they would find both the Emperor and the Empress by releasing their workforce accordingly. The knights that had participated in the competition were divided into groups to search by a specific area.
At this ideal conclusion the nobles laughed with satisfaction, and the Duke of Vashi became their leader, and decided to gather all the knights and give them orders.
When everything had been decided about what was going to happen, someone came into the barracks. Naturally, the appearance of a stranger attracted the eyes of all the nobles toward the door. After confirming the identity of the stranger, the Duke of Vashi frowned slightly, and put the name of the intruder in his mouth.
“Baroness Phelps?”
“Sir Duke of Vashi. Are the words true?”
Rosemond’s quivering lips asked the Duke of Vashi the bottom of the truth. However, the Duke of Vashi just asked a question back to her with a cold look.
“How did you get in here, Lady Phelps?”
“That’s not what’s important now. Is it true that His Majesty has disappeared?”
“Unfortunately, it is.”
When the Duke of Vashi responded with a helpless expression, Rosemond staggered without her knowledge. Damn it, this shouldn’t be this way. The only victim she had wanted was Patrizia. Not Lucio! She shed a sad voice with tears pooling in her eyes.
“Ah… What to do…”
“As of now we will start the search, so do not worry too much, Lady. More than that, what is Lady Phelps doing here, when you should be in the Imperial Palace?”
“I came to greet His Majesty’s return, and that’s when I heard this news. Oh my goodness… This situation…”
As she swayed like a weak woman that was in shock, Glara quickly supported her, as she had been standing next to her. After seeing this, the Duke of Efreni instructed Glara with a vigorous expression.
“I think Lady Phelps is very surprised. Come on and take the Lady to another location.”
“Yes, sir.”
Glara replied quickly and supported Rosemond, who continued to boast a fragile appearance and came out safely from the barracks. Rosemond’s feeling of dizziness was closer to acting in a play, than for it to be reality, Rosemond was really keen to fall in that moment.
It wasn’t just Patrizia that had disappeared! This was the worst ending for Rosemond. The disappearance of both Patrizia and Lucio.
If Lucio did not return, the worst case would be that he died, and the position of the next great Emperor would of course be passed on to another blood relative. If that happened, she would no longer be able to stay in the Imperial Palace. Rosemond bit her nails with growing anxiety. It was too late to do something about this, there were too many eyes watching.
“Damn it, what should I do? How…”
“Majesty!”
It was then that someone passed her and hurried into the barracks. Rosemond turned around to look at the situation with a frowning face, and slowly approached the barracks. The knight that had just entered exhaled a rough breath, and calmly reported something.
“I found both of the Majesties, Sir Duke!”
Rosemond’s eyes widened in an instant at the knight’s words. She didn’t know whether to be happy or sad about this situation.
In any case, it was surely a good thing for Lucio to have been found, but since they had found not just the Emperor but ‘both Majesties,’ this meant that it was not only Lucio but Patrizia was also included. Rosemond snapped her teeth in an instance of anger. Was it a failure.
“Useless things.”