The Emperor and the Knightess

So far, it was only the emperor who knew that secret.

The secret that Poliana was, in fact, an adorable woman.

But what if the other men, Sir Donau in this case, found out the truth too? Lucius the First has been claiming that he would be ok for Poliana to marry a man who appreciated her, but now that it could really be happening. Lucius the First didn’t know what to do. He asked Sir Ainno, “Inno, what should I do?”

“… make a scene?”

Lucius the First threw the ink bottle at his friend, who caught it easily and placed it back on the table. Sir Ainno continued, “Your highness, please calm down. This isn’t like you at all. You need to control your emotions better.”

“And what kind of behavior would be considered ‘like me?!\'”

“Not saying things you have been telling me so far, your highness.”

Why? Why did he have to act in a certain way just because he was the emperor? Why couldn’t he feel what he felt? Why couldn’t he say what he felt?

The two men remained silent for a long time. After 30 minutes of silence, Sir Ainno finally said to the emperor, “If you can’t accept this situation, then why don’t you just have Sir Poliana as your concubine?”

“No, I can’t. She was offered a marriage opportunity by a perfectly good young man, so how could I offer her something less than my proper wife and empress?”

“Are you saying you will have her as your empress if that was possible?”

“Hahaha.”

Lucius the First laughed, he was clearly not himself at the moment. Sir Ainno asked, “Why are you laughing? What’s so funny?”

“Just think about it. Imagine Sir Pol standing beside me as my empress. It’s a ridiculous picture, isn’t it? It wouldn’t suit her at all. It can’t look any worse than her as the empress.”

Slowly, his laughter turned into a groan, almost a sob. Lucius the First covered his face with his hands and ordered, “Get out, Inno.”

Sir Ainno ignored the order and stayed. He couldn’t understand his emperor at all.

“Your highness, if you are that distressed, then just seduce her. You are the emperor, so why are you so afraid? There is nothing you can’t do. Sir Poliana doesn’t see you as a man probably because she knows she has absolutely no chance with you but if you tell her how you feel, she will jump on the chance to be with you.”

“And then what? What would I do then? Make her my concubine, huh?!”

“Why are you getting angry at me?”

Sir Ainno was always on the emperor’s side no matter what, but this time, he frowned in annoyance. Lucius the First felt remorseful when he realized how unfair he was to his friend. The emperor coughed to hide his awkwardness, and Sir Ainno also looked at the mirror to put on a blank expression.

Sir Ainno said to the emperor, “Just tell me what you want. Are you giving her up, or are you not? It is very hard for me to support you when I don’t know what you want to do.”

“I want her to be happy.”

“Then you are giving her up…”

“So you are saying she can’t be happy if she is with me, Inno?”

“You are very quick, your highness.”

Before Lucius the First became depressed again, Sir Ainno changed the subject quickly, “Don’t you think Sir Donau would make a good husband for her? Isn’t he an excellent candidate?”

“Sir Donau…”

Lucius the First tapped the table with his finger, which was his habit when he was thinking. Sir Ainno continued, “I mean, he would be better than some random young man who only wants to marry Sir Poliana to satisfy his greed, right?”

“Inno.”

The emperor looked at him and continued, “That is precisely why I am very unhappy about it.”

Sir Ainno didn’t know how to react, so he looked away. Feeling embarrassed, Lucius the First coughed again.

‘There is no answer to this.’

There was never a right answer for love. Lucius the First remained troubled, and Sir Ainno watched him in frustration.

Indeed, there was no answer to this problem.

***

Lucius the First called for Poliana. When she heard the order, she clenched her teeth, thinking that she was going to be reprimanded. As the head of the guards, anything that goes wrong with the unit was her responsibility. The recent fight and the fact that most of the guards were imprisoned couldn’t be a good thing for her.

She thought she wouldn’t be surprised if she was removed from her position. Her precious blue uniform with the golden stripe could be taken away from her. Today might be the last day she might get to wear it.

She bowed to the emperor. “Poliana Winter, your highness.”

Her mouth was dry; she felt a sudden thirst. She expected the emperor to scold her, but instead, Lucius the First asked her, “I heard someone proposed to you.”

“Yes, that is correct, your highness.”

Poliana thought to herself, ‘I guess he is trying to be gentle with me, he’s starting with a lighter topic.’

She thought that he was trying to make her feel relaxed, which meant that even if she lost her position, the emperor still trusted her. Poliana felt relieved because losing her position was going to be devastating, but as long as her emperor still believed in her, that was all that mattered.

The emperor asked her, “Don’t you think that Sir Donau would be a good man to marry?”

He was being serious, but Poliana thought he was joking. Meanwhile, Sir Ainno watched the whole scene while trying very hard not to burst into laughter. He covered his mouth and nose so Poliana couldn’t see his expression.

‘I can’t laugh!’

Meanwhile, the emperor was trying his very best not to show how jealous he was. Lucius the First knew he had to be objective and think positively of Sir Donau’s marriage proposal. In truth, Sir Donau really was an attractive marriage material. First of all, Sir Donau was the second son, which meant that he wasn’t burdened with siring a male heir, or any children at all. Sir Donau also claimed that he was ok with taking Poliana’s last name as his own, which showed what an understanding man he was. On top of that, Sir Donau considered Poliana his family. He knew her very well, and so there was no way he would betray her in the future.

Only

Sir Donau was the perfect match for Poliana. They would make a good couple, and this upset Lucius the First greatly.

The emperor’s facial expression kept changing to that of sadness and relief, which confused Poliana. Watching the scene, Sir Ainno finally burst into laughter.

Poliana turned around in surprise. She asked the emperor, “What’s wrong with Sir Ainno?”

“He has been working too hard on his new knight’s order so his brain isn’t working correctly at the moment.”

“Oh… I guess it was wrong of me to ask him for a favor then.”

Sir Ainno shook his head as he continued to laugh, “N, no… I’m not busy… at all… Hahaha!” Sir Ainno couldn’t even look straight into Poliana’s eyes. He also refused to look at the emperor. Poliana frowned in confusion, ‘Why is he so happy? Maybe he heard a really good joke or something?’

Ignoring his friend, Lucius the First turned towards Poliana and asked again, “Pol, tell me. It’s a… good marriage proposal, I think. So… are you sure you want to refuse it? Is the answer still a ‘no?\'”