The Emperor and the Knightess

That incident was a painful lesson to all in the Acreian army; never let Poliana cook. Even the dogs refused to eat her dish. Poliana ended up finishing the entire pot herself and wondered what the big deal was.

This should have made it clear that Poliana was not like the other women, who were taught cooking, cleaning, and sewing from an early age. Lucius the First listened to her quietly and watched her work on his leather gloves. He was bored and had nothing else to do.

Unlike other animals’ hides, alligator skin was much tougher and harder to sew. It was a struggle for Poliana to perforate the skin even with a sharp metal needle.

‘If we had the fawn’s hide, it would be so much easier.’

A fawn had a soft hide that could turn into a lovely pair of gloves. Poliana strongly believed they should kill the fawn before it got any bigger. The hide would be much softer and the meat would be more tender at this stage. This was such a disappointing situation for her.

Poliana eyed her emperor and asked, “Sir Rabi captured a fawn recently. Did you see it, your highness?”

“Hmm? Oh, yes, I did. It was trembling and…”

“It looked delicious, right?”

“Exactly. It looked tasty.”

‘See? I knew his highness felt the same way!’

Poliana was pleased that the emperor agreed with her, but she knew that Lucius the First wasn’t the type that would force Sir Rabi to kill his pet fawn. She was still pleased, however, that the emperor didn’t criticize her as all the other men did at the base.

Lucius the First added, “But if you say something like this to anyone here, you will be hated.”

“I have already heard it, your highness.”

“But you and I know the truth, right Sir Pol? All the baby animals are so delicious. It’s just too bad that we rarely get a chance to eat them.”

The hunters had an unwritten rule when it came to young animals. One was never supposed to hunt the young or the parents of the young. This was why it was rare for them to eat an infant animal.

Lucius the First remembered the baby boar he caught and ate on his very first hunt as a young boy. It was the time when his father, the former emperor, was still alive and Sir Ainno was his childhood friend. It tasted so good and tender.

Poliana and Lucius the First became good friends. They both felt like they could talk to each other easily. If they met earlier, perhaps she could’ve been as close to the emperor as Sir Ainno was.

Poliana then said to him, “It would be best to eat the fawn before it grew up.”

“Hmm… but she is a pet, so we shouldn’t.”

“Sir Rabi said he planned to let it go once it was fully grown, so what is the point of sparing this animal? It would be such a waste.”

“Like the stew you made that even the dogs refused to eat?”

“…”

Poliana knew she had no excuse for that incident, so she kept quiet and focused on her sewing.

When she finished the other glove, she finally had a whole pair done. When she turned them right side out, Lucius the First frowned. He could finally see that the gloves weren’t made of usual animal hide.

“These… what are these made of?”

“The alligator hides, your highness.”

“I am not interested in reptile skins.”

“So you agree that fawn hide would be much better?”

“… but we can’t kill an innocent baby fawn just for our greed.”

Nodding reluctantly, Poliana began mending the ripped tunic. Suddenly, Lucius the First wanted to try sewing himself. He took the needle and the thread from Poliana and began. After being shown how to do it a few times, the emperor quickly learned the skill and did a decent job of mending the shirt.

It wasn’t a perfect job and the tunic looked obviously mended, but it was still very much functional. Looking over his work, the emperor asked, “I know you aren’t a selfish person, Sir Pol. So why is it that you are so obsessed with that fawn?”

“Because I am indeed a selfish person, your highness.”

“Hmm… and you are proud of it?”

“It’s just…”

When Poliana hesitated, Lucius the First offered, “If you are so desperate for deer meat, I will go out and hunt one for you.”

“No, not at all, your highness! I… I was just envious.”

“Envious of what? The fawn drinking the milk?”

Milk was scarce nowadays. It spoiled easily, which meant that they didn’t stock it. When milk was available at odd times, it was only given to the highest-ranked officials. The emperor thought that perhaps Poliana liked milk and she was angry that the fawn got it instead of her.

“It’s not that, your highness. I was just imagining about something.”

“About what?”

“If it was me, not Sir Rabi, who brought back and fawn and decided to keep it as a pet, what would have the men say?”

It wasn’t a difficult question to answer, but Lucius the First didn’t know what to say. It was because he knew precisely what the men would say.

Sir Poliana brought a fawn because she was a woman and therefore gentle.

She likes the fawn because she was a woman and so, she obviously likes babies.

Because she was a woman….

People wouldn’t necessarily make such comments in a negative way, but the point was still the same. She was a woman and everything she did or said was because she was a woman.

After a short silence, Lucius the First finally answered, “Alright. I understand what you are saying, Sir Pol.”

“Your highness! I am not saying I want to eat deer meat!”

“For you, my loyal knight, I will go out and hunt a deer myself.”

“Arrrrgghh!”

Only

That night, the emperor kept his promise and brought back a dead deer. It was made into a large pot of stew by Poliana, under the strict supervision of Sir Donau.

Sir Howe nervously took a bite and put his thumb up for her. It was a decent stew, but Sir Donau was still dissatisfied.

“I watched you make it like a hawk, Sis, and yet…”

“It’s so delicious, isn’t it?”

“No! It’s the opposite! You used the best ingredients we have, so why is it that it tastes like all the other stews we have been eating this week?”

“Because this is an army and I am a soldier?”

In the end, Lucius the First didn’t wear the alligator gloves. He said it was because he valued it so much since it was made by one of his favorite knights, but everyone knew the truth.

The emperor just hated the alligator hides.