The Emperor and the Knightess

From that day when Poliana visited Frau at the public hospital, Poliana visited him often after work. They didn’t do anything special together; Frau just worked hard and Poliana watched him do his job. After he completed his shift, they would go out to eat or drink together. They didn’t see each other every day because Poliana, being a popular Marquess, was very busy. She was invited to different places frequently, so she couldn’t spend time with Frau every evening, however, they met each other often enough.

Poliana began to smile and laugh more often. She felt happier nowadays and she found Frau adorable. He worked so hard and she liked this side of him. Sometimes, when she was about to sit on the ground, Frau would place his clean handkerchief on it for her. Sometimes, when she was about to walk up the stairs, he would offer her his hand. Frau clearly saw her as a woman and therefore treated her as one.

Poliana liked this a lot.

At this rate, it wasn’t going to be long before Poliana walked up to the emperor and announced that she was going to get married. If such a thing happened, there was no doubt that Lucius the First would faint from shock.

Luckily for the emperor, such a thing didn’t happen. Were the gods looking out for him? Lucius the First had always been very lucky after all. He was able to unite the entire continent in 10 years and during this time, he didn’t lose anyone close to him. He was also born as the sole heir to his kingdom.

He was indeed a very lucky guy, and his luck helped him again because the time to leave for Nanaba came quickly. Poliana had to accompany the emperor to provide protection for Lady Tory and Lady Stra. Per the emperor’s order, Frau was forced to remain in Yapa.

***

Cekel went out to talk to her brother, who was about to leave for Nanaba with the emperor. She wanted to find out what her brother learned about Frau, but Sir Deke hasn’t come to her in a very long time. She knew her brother was busy, but this was not acceptable. When he needed her, she was there for him to provide as much information as possible but now that she asked him for a favor, he was nowhere to be seen.

Sir Deke hasn’t been home in a while either, so it was time for her to go out and find him at his work. She tried to avoid going to the main castle as much as possible, but this couldn’t wait any longer.

Just then, she saw Sir Ainno walking towards her.

‘Dammit.’

Sir Ainno had his usual scowl on his face, making her feel uncomfortable.

“…”

“…”

Neither of them slowed down as they stared at each other. To Cekel’s relief, he walked by her just as she walked past him. Cekel sighed deeply and thought in relief, ‘I guess he finally gave up.’

Normally, he would have approached her and said something strange. He would have tried to get her attention, especially because there wasn’t anyone around them, but it seems that Sir Ainno had finally changed his mind; Cekel was thrilled.

She put her hand on her chest to calm herself down. She shook her head, reminding herself that they weren’t meant to be. Even if they were, she didn’t want it.

***

When Cekel found Sir Deke, the first thing he did was to apologize to her. He told her that he was so busy that although he found out about Frau, he didn’t get the time to visit her.

At first, when Cekel asked him to find out about Frau Sneke, Sir Deke wondered, ‘Is she interested in this man?’

When Cekel’s three brothers heard her decision to never marry, they all felt a little guilty about it. If even one of them remained home and didn’t go to the 10-year-long war, Cekel’s fiancé would’ve never broken their engagement. And even if he did, Cekel would have been able to find another man to marry if one of the brothers was home.

Because she was the only child remaining at home, Cekel had to take care of their parents alone in her brothers’ absence. And now that their situation was improving, Cekel was too old to marry unless she married a divorced man or a widower.

Cekel didn’t want her parents and her brothers to go around and beg around to find her a man. This was why she decided to remain a spinster. Cekel also announced that since she found herself a decent job, her family wouldn’t have to support her for the rest of her life.

Sir Deke felt ashamed that he and his brothers had let their sister down. It was their fault that Cekel was never able to get married. So when she asked about a nobleman, Sir Deke was excited. He immediately began to do his research on Frau and he was happy to confirm that Frau Sneke was a single nobleman. The fact that he was disowned by his family wasn’t great, but it wasn’t the worst thing.

But it wasn’t long before Sir Deke began to find out more about Frau. Just as Cekel and their parents heard a long time ago, Frau did have a problem with a woman. It was just once, and there haven’t been any other rumors since then, but the incident was bad enough that Frau’s family kicked him out.

Apparently, Frau Sneke was in a relationship with a servant at his own home and this angered his father greatly. If Frau was just using the woman, it would’ve been considered acceptable, but Frau wanted to marry her. In the end, his father disowned him.

Cekel listened unhappily as Sir Deke added, “But other than that, he is clean. The incident also ended cleanly.”

It was a huge incident in the Sneke family, but after this event, Frau never had problems with any other woman. He remained single and he currently lived in Yapa. He regularly contacted his friends and acquaintances who still lived in Nanaba.

Only

Cekel asked, “Cleanly? What do you mean?”

“That female servant ended up dying. Since then, he hasn’t been in a relationship with anyone. If he begged forgiveness, his family probably would’ve accepted him back, but he never did… probably because of his pride.”

The truth was, Cekel’s parents already knew about what happened to Frau. They just didn’t tell their daughter the details because it was an unsavory story unfit for a young lady.

Cekel thanked her brother, “I see, thank you for finding out about it.”

“Oh, and you heard that Frau proposed to Sir Poliana, right?”

“Yeah, I did. She told me herself. She refused him, so it’s all good.”

Cekel told Sir Deke the details of the proposal, which shocked him. Based on what Sir Deke learned about Frau, he never expected Doctor Sneke to be the kind of a guy who would be willing to marry a woman for money. Sir Deke murmured, “I am surprised to hear that… I didn’t think Frau was that kind of a man… Hmm, but I guess Marquess Winter is indeed very rich, so…”