The Emperor and the Knightess

The odd tension that was going on inside the lady’s quarters…

Poliana announcing that she was going to marry Frau Sneke…

Cekel didn’t know what to do about it, especially without more information. She needed help from Sir Deke, who might be able to find out more about the current situation. Unfortunately, he was still away per the emperor’s order. He had been absent from Yapa since before Lady Rebecca’s funeral.

Cekel grumbled, “Damn that boy. He is never around when I need him.” Her older brothers were the same way. She had two older brothers and one younger brother, and all of them were useless; they were never there for her when she needed them the most. She was unlucky like that.

It would’ve been helpful for her to know anyone else in the Intelligence Unit, but because it was such a secretive unit, she didn’t know anything about it. Cekel might have been an informant of this unit, hired by Sir Deke, but she didn’t know any other agents.

“Gosh…”

Cekel sighed in frustration. Her sixth sense was telling her that something fishy was going on and she needed to investigate it; the problem was that she had no idea what was going on at all.

Cekel always thought of herself as one of the countless and nameless maids in the giant castle. She was a nobody, which meant that as long as the situation in the lady’s quarters wasn’t causing direct harm to her, she needed to leave it alone. Poliana knew how to take care of herself. There was no need for Cekel to be concerned about the other maids.

Suddenly, she noticed Sir Ainno walking towards her with his usual harsh expression. Cekel immediately turned away. The rumor was that Sir Ainno had been unusually mean lately; he was picking fights with anyone he could find. Even without this rumor, Cekel would’ve done her best to avoid him. Nothing good could come from her meeting him. If he ignored her, she hated to admit it, but it would bother her. If he came on to her again, she would be annoyed to no end.

‘I hope he just goes away.’

But Cekel’s wish didn’t come true. When she turned away from him, Sir Ainno followed her. He no longer walked leisurely; he stalked her like a predator, making Cekel gasp in shock.

‘He has been ignoring me lately, so why is he chasing me all of a sudden?’

His long strong legs caught up to her quickly. He was quite far away from her, but it didn’t take long for him to catch her. His breathing was still normal too.

What an athletic guy.

He stared at Cekel, and when she felt his eyes on her, she wanted to hide. Instead of running away, she asked, “Did you need something from me, Sir Ainno?”

“When I visited Nanaba recently, I meant to talk to my parents and formally make a marriage offer to the Ingreter family.”

What? His blunt announcement was both shocking and confusing. Ignoring her outrage, Sir Ainno continued, “Unfortunately, I didn’t get the chance to visit my parents because we received the news of Lady Rebecca’s condition. We ended up leaving immediately. So now, we need to wait one year. Well, more like 11 months now. For the next 11 months, we won’t be able to officially get married or even engaged.”

When Cekel took a step back, Sir Ainno walked up to her to close the distance. They were alone, which was a good thing. If someone saw them like this, there was no way of knowing what kind of rumor would start between them.

Sir Ainno asked Cekel, “Just give me 11 months, and if after 11 months you still don’t like me, then…”

He had never looked this serious in his life, making Cekel feel odd. She swallowed hard and asked, “Then?”

“I will give up on winning over you and just marry you by force.”

What a strange hypocrite he was! Cekel couldn’t believe what she was hearing. She said in frustration, “Do you even know how mean you sound?”

“I am telling you that I may give up on winning your heart, but I will never give up on having you as my wife.”

This was crazy.

“Are you being serious, Sir Ainno? Do you really mean that? Do you feel that way about me? Truly?”

“I told you from the beginning.”

Sir Ainno became annoyed that she refused to believe him. It was true that from the very beginning, he told her that she was the one for him. Of course, Cekel could not believe him since the second time they met, he pushed her against a wall and kissed her. This was not how a gentleman behaved.

Cekel exclaimed, “Are you telling me that pushing me against a wall and kissing me was your way of telling me you cared for me?”

She blushed as Sir Ainno nodded confidently. She shook her head and asked, “What gentleman would treat the woman he loved like that?!”

“I couldn’t help myself. When I realized what I was doing, it was already done.”

“What you did to me was an assault. Some might even call it a crime, you have shamed me and my family!”

“We will be married anyway, so I didn’t think it would matter.”

“And who do you think would give you permission to marry me?”

“Viscount Ingreter.”

Cekel clenched her fist and trembled. She tried to punch him but Sir Ainno grabbed her hands and put them on his chest. She pushed him, but his giant body refused to budge. Cekel was becoming angrier and angrier. She glared at Sir Ainno, who didn’t look away. Cekel said to him, “My father will never give you his permission.”

“I will make him.”

Only

“Then his highness won’t give you permission.”

“I already got it from him, the emperor has given me permission to marry you.”

“Then your father the Duke won’t…”

“That won’t matter since I love you. If my family is against this marriage, I will just leave it. His Highness will give me a new noble status and I will become independent. Oh, and don’t worry if you are upset that you won’t become a duchess. I will get his highness to make me a duke.”

Sir Ainno had all the power in the world. He had a younger brother, who could become the next family heir, which meant he could leave his family without feeling guilty. Sir Ainno was also confident that the emperor would give him a new dukedom. He was also very rich on his own thanks to the rewards he received from Lucius the First. If he became independent, it wasn’t because his family disowned him. It would be because he left the family.

Sir Ainno thought quietly, ‘If I do leave my family, I am sure my brother’s wife would love it. She will become the next Duchess Seki.’

Meanwhile, Cekel thought in exasperation, ‘This isn’t working. He isn’t listening to me at all; it’s like we are living in two different worlds.’