Lady to Queen

It was the worst situation. A cliff in front, and assassins behind them. And even Lucio, who she was supporting, was close to fainting. In the end, whichever option she chose, the result would be their deaths.     

Patrizia looked at the assassins with a hesitant expression. It seemed to her that they had no intention of leaving their lives intact. One of them continued to hold out his sword and spoke out to her.     

"What a waste. The arrow should have hit your side instead."     

"Who sent you all?"     

All of them laughed at Patrizia's question. As if they would actually provide an answer to her question. Patrizia didn't actually expect a response back from them and smiled nonchalantly while asking another question, "Rosemond, right?"     

"You are going to die soon anyway, is that really important?"     

"It is important. Will you tell me?"     

Then for a moment, they seemed to exchange glances with one another, as if to show their opinions, and then laughed hysterically as if they didn't care. One of them opened his mouth.     

"Rosemond Mary La Phelps. Is she the Emperor's mistress, or Baroness now? That woman gave us a lot of money and entrusted us with this work."     

The assassin giggled after ending his statement, and Patrizia felt her face that had until now been full of fervor, sink down nonchalantly. Ah, so that was it. That was it. It was true that Rosemond had created this daring kind of scheme to kill her. Patrizia for a moment almost burst out into laughter, but soon realized that it wasn't the time to show madness, and decided to be content with showing a smile. The assassins looked at each other after seeing her expression, like she was crazy, and murmured among themselves that she must have gone crazy from not being able to handle the truth. Their words were not false. She was crazy, and she was going to go crazy as long as there was no change. She was now officially crazy. Patrizia acted in a way she never would have before, to show that it was the case. After looking at Lucio's unconscious face full of traces from fighting, Patrizia kissed his flat forehead with an expressionless face. Ah, it was just a shame that he could not hear their words.     

"Now that you have heard of the secret, it's time to cross the River of Styx."     

One of the assassins came towards them waving his sword, and with that, had a smile. Patrizia soon smiled uncharacteristically like someone who was facing death, and with a smile as if she had lost her mind, took Lucio and got off the horse. Patrizia asked a favor from them.     

"Can you not kill the horse? It is a horse that I cherish."     

"Aww, you are so merciful. Is that horse even important when you're about to die?"     

Despite the obvious ridicule, Patrizia did not care and replied with a smile, "It is important. Will you keep your promise? Promise to God."     

"Ha, what is so important about that. She really must have gone crazy knowing she is about to die."     

"That may be so."     

"Okay, if that is really your wish, I will make that promise. To not touch the horse, at least."     

"Good."     

Patrizia finally showed a satisfied smile, and then gave the hand holding Lucio more strength and hugged him to her more tightly. She was still in an insane state, and right now, she was the only one who could change this situation. Patrizia carefully hugged Lucio as if he was a child, and then as if all her previous expressions had been fake, made a cold expression that was nearly terrifying.     

"Thank you for the information. Thanks to you, I have definitely realized one thing."     

"What is this brat saying?"     

The assassins looked at her as if she was ridiculous, and turned their fingers in circles to the side of their heads to indicate she was crazy, but Patrizia continued to speak without concern.     

"That I was the crazy one to have even wasted a warning on her."     

Patrizia hurled herself down the cliff without any hesitation after those words. At the sudden turn of events, the assassins were taken aback and quickly ran towards Patrizia, but the situation was already over.     

Patrizia, with a look of defeat, smiled the most beautiful smile she could make towards the assassins looking down from the cliff. SPLASH! There was a splash of water and tremendous waves were created in the previously calm water. The assassins looked at each other with expressions of helplessness, and soon nodded towards each other and left their spots, one at a time.     

Patrizia thought she was smart. Because she read a lot of books, enjoyed contemplation, and enjoyed discussions with intellectuals. But the moment she threw herself on the cliff, Patrizia realized it. All the knowledge she has accumulated thus far was all fiction and not a reality. All of her knowledge was like a sandcastle, nothing but a good ornament.     

In the end, the final winner for this kind of situation was not an innocent daughter of a Marquis that acted noble, like herself, but a sneaky villainess like Rosemond.     

"ACK! COUGH!"     

Patrizia, who had barely climbed out of the water, sat swiftly down on a cold stone and hit her chest with a stream of coughs. Her stomach was full as if she drank a bunch of water, and her nose stung. Patrizia gained her senses much as possible, wiping off the water on her face. Coarse breaths managed to still come out of her mouth.     

"Haa, haa!"     

Patrizia took a long time afterward to calm down and steady her breathing. It was safe to say that it was luck that came every 1000 years that brought her back to life. She was glad she knew how to swim, if that wasn't the case, she would have had no choice but to become a water ghost.     

She ripped off her clothes that were soaked back into the water to float on. Soon, her hunting suit would follow the currents to places that people could easily find. If that happened, Rosemond would no longer try to pursue the confirmation of her death.