The Emperor and the Knightess

The way people looked at Poliana was secretive and persistent, so she ignored them like they didn’t even exist. The only reason she came here was simple.

It was for her emperor, Lucius the First.

Two men stood as guards behind the emperor. One was Sir Wook and the other one looked unfamiliar. Poliana assumed it was Sir Ainno’s brother Sir Jainno, who spent the last ten years as the head of Duke Luzo’s personal guards.

Before Poliana bowed to the emperor, Lucius the First stood up, making everyone around them murmur in shock.

“My favored knight.”

“Your highness, I am so honored to be invited to your banquet.”

The emperor was greeting the knightess personally, and the other noblemen watched in annoyance. But Poliana didn’t care; these people couldn’t hurt her with their looks. They could glare at her all they wanted, but they could never bring her down.

Lucius the First smiled brightly. He was the most beautiful man in the room and Poliana felt proud that he was her emperor. The emperor said to her, “Today is your last day of vacation, Sir Pol, so I have arranged this banquet to celebrate your return to work. You are the heroine of this night, so I hope that you will have a wonderful time.”

To arrange such a fest for a single knight, especially a knight who still didn’t have an official title and rank, was unheard of. Poliana knew that there were still ugly rumors going around about her. Some still believed that she was the emperor’s mistress. Some called her ugly as well, but these people didn’t matter.

Only her master mattered to her and as long as he was happy to have her here, she would stay and serve him. She would follow him anywhere. To hell or to another war, she would go if her emperor commanded it. The only place for her was by Lucius the First’s side, and to be his shadow was her choice.

***

Sir Wook greeted her and moved aside as soon as she approached him, “Have you had a nice vacation?”

“Yes, I did.”

Sir Jainno bowed slightly to acknowledge her. His eyes refused to leave from the golden stripe on her blue uniform. When Poliana remained standing behind the emperor, Lucius the First turned towards her and nagged her, “I told you to enjoy the night! So go out there and have fun.”

“I am the happiest when I am by your side, your highness.” Poliana became curious as well, so she asked, “Why aren’t you dancing, your highness?”

“I feel the same way. I enjoy myself the most when I am by your side, Sir Pol.”

Poliana took it as a joke and with a grin, she thanked him. Lucius the First, who realized she took his sincere words as a joke, coughed to hide his awkwardness. There, he said to her, “I wasn’t joking.”

“Yes, I know, your highness, I understand what you are saying. If you go out there, you have to mingle with people, which means you have to talk to them. It can be very tiring.”

“Umm, that’s not what I meant.”

“I am well aware of how important mingling and conversing with people are, but I am technically not on duty until tomorrow, so I think I will just rest by your side, your highness.”

Standing behind her emperor as his guard was a pleasing duty. When Poliana smiled happily, Lucius the First looked away and murmured, “You make it so hard for me to give up…”

“If you want to dance, please don’t give up! Go out and dance!”

“It’s alright. Duke Luzo is out there dancing, so that is enough for me.”

Indeed, Duke Luzo was dancing the night away. He seemed very determined to find a wife as soon as possible. Did he think that the emperor would stop making him work so hard once he was married?

The emperor shook his head. Of course, he was going to keep his cousin working even after he got married.

Lucius the First fought the urge to grab Poliana’s hand and begin dancing. Since he couldn’t confess his love for her, he said to her instead, “Sir Pol. You need to be happy, that is an order.”

Poliana didn’t show it, but she was surprised and confused. ‘Did Sir Rabi tell him something about me?’

No, it couldn’t be. Poliana realized that her emperor was just a great thoughtful man who cared about her happiness. What a great emperor he was!

So many people in the world wished her happiness. She was glad to be still alive. Poliana replied quietly, “Your highness. I am already very happy.”

Lucius the First smiled brightly, making her feel even happier.

***

Poliana’s old homeland Aehas allowed women to inherit family wealth and title. If a noble family didn’t have a son, their daughter would inherit everything but in Acreia, this was not allowed. A woman could not legally inherit anything. The only thing she had in her name was the dowry she received from her family when she got married, but if she got herself divorced, she had to return the money to her family.

If her husband died, the wife could inherit his wealth but only if they had a son. And the wife was allowed to act only as a temporary guardian of their wealth until her son became an adult.

But although the Acreian law did not allow a woman to inherit wealth and title, there was no specific law that stated that a woman could not receive rewards or gifts. Lucius the First used this loophole to officially reward Poliana a title and lands. Since this wasn’t an inheritance, it was considered a legal transaction.

However, the elders, who were still very old fashioned, adamantly protested.

“A woman getting a title! This can’t be!”

“And a marquess?! That is way too generous, your highness!”

“Your highness, you can’t reward her that many lands! This is not appropriate!”

“We cannot believe you are doing this… This loophole needs to be fixed immediately…”

“Who knew anyone would ever allow a woman to become a knight and enter the war? Those Aehasian idiots!”

“Those cowards! They let women fight for them?”

When protesting didn’t work, the elders chose to approach this problem in a different way. Marquis Seeze said to the emperor with a smile, “It is indeed very impressive that a mere woman was able to achieve so much during this war. I was very surprised, your highness.”

Lucius the First waited quietly as the old man continued, “But… If we allow the existence of Marquess Winter, what will be next? Don’t you think there will be more wise women who might try and succeed in making great achievements? And these women will receive titles and wealth just like Marquess Winter… But your highness, have you considered what will happen to their properties after these women die? Who will inherit them?”

“I would like to hear your opinion, Marquis Seeze.”

Only

“I am not trying to suggest anything, your highness. I am genuinely curious. When a nobleman dies, his heir inherits everything. But what would happen if a married noblewoman, who received her own title and land, dies? Who will inherit her personal properties?”

Lucius the First thought about all the possibilities quickly. He knew what the marquis was suggesting. If the married woman’s properties were allowed to be inherited to her husband, a case where a husband would kill his own wife for wealth would appear.

After a brief contemplation, the emperor decided, “If a woman can’t inherit her husband’s properties, then we need to be fair. Let’s make the law so that the husband also cannot inherit his wife’s properties.”

The elders had no choice but to accept the emperor’s decision. This was how the new law was created for the women who received her own titles and lands.

Of course, the elders were confident that Poliana Winter would be the only exception. They didn’t believe that there would ever be another woman who could achieve enough to receive their own titles and lands, and the elders already have heard of the rumor that Poliana was barren. This meant that the new inheritance law for the women didn’t really matter. Even if Poliana got married, she wasn’t going to have an heir, which meant her lands would be returned to the kingdom.

And if she adopted an heir, it had to be a noble male. This meant that her title and lands would go to a man eventually. All the elders had to endure was one generation of a single female marquess, they were ok with it.

But the elders weren’t done. The next topic they brought up with the emperor was the amount of lands Poliana received.