The Emperor and the Knightess

Lady Stra asked excitedly, “Where did you get that?”

“This ice grape grows only in Marquis Seeze’s land. Marquis Seeze is my great grandfather, and when we visited Nanaba recently, he gave me this as a present.”

“Oh, then you can’t give that to me. It is a precious gift from your great grandfather. I can’t accept it.”

“Oh, no!”

Lady Tory smiled teasingly as she handed the bottle back to her maid. The maid took the bottle with trembling hands, terrified that she might drop the priceless item. Lady Tory said to Stra, “I am not giving it to you for free. I will only give it to you if you do well with the emperor’s birthday party.”

“Oh… I heard from Duchess Luzo that the Acreian nobles and the elders can be very picky… They will be harsh critics of anything I do.”

When Stra looked disappointed, Tory said to her encouragingly, “So, you’ll just have to do a perfect job so no one can complain about anything. I’ll help you.”

“R-right? Since you are offering such a priceless gift, I guess I will have to do my best.”

“You can do it, Stra!”

The two ladies giggled together like little girls. The atmosphere in the reception area was light and happy, making even the maids on different sides smile. Lady Stra’s maid brought new plates of snacks. Stra looked at Tory expectantly. She always felt like she owed Tory, so providing tasty snacks was the least she could do.

Lady Stra explained, “My new chef made it. He’s very good at his job. Try it.”

“Absolutely.”

Sweet snacks were rare in Acreia, so Tory took a bite of a cookie excitedly. It was indeed delicious, and Tory murmured, “I wish the marquess was here to enjoy it; she would like this.”

“Well, it can’t be helped. Marquess Winter is too busy planning her wedding.”

Tory picked up another cookie. Feeling embarrassed that she was eating all of the snacks, she offered one to Stra. Lady Stra shook her head gently.

“My chef is so good at his job that I gained so much weight. I need to control myself.”

“I understand how it would be so easy to gain weight on food like this.”

Tory ended up cleaning up the plate all by herself. Her Acreian chef was great at cooking meat and making jerkies, but that was it. He was awful at making any other types of dishes or desserts. It was going to take a very long time for the Acreians to learn the sophisticated cooking of the mid-continent region.

Tory wondered secretly, ‘Is she really gaining weight because of overeating? Or…’

She was smiling, but deep inside, she couldn’t help but feel suspicious.

‘I guess it can’t be helped. Whatever happens… Even if she is pregnant…’

Tory’s maid informed her recently that Lady Stra stopped having her period. It was unknown whether it was because she was pregnant, or because she usually had irregular periods. Was it another phantom pregnancy?

Apparently, Stra didn’t even call for a doctor to get checked. Was it because Stra believed it could be another phantom pregnancy? Did she not want to be embarrassed and disappointed again?

The maid brought more cookies, and Tory continued to eat. Stra teased her that at this rate, Tory might gain weight too. The maids laughed at her joke, and Tory, still a smile on her face, focused on the taste of the cookies. They were indeed delicious.

***

At that same time, Poliana was busy discussing her wedding dress design with a dressmaker. It was a tradition for a bride to wear the most expensive outfit she owned on her wedding day, but most of the time, the women decided to get a new outfit made for this occasion. It was a good chance to get a nice outfit.

Lucius the First was a generous emperor. He sent the best designers and dressmakers to Poliana. He also allowed her to use whatever royal fabric he owned in the castle. Poliana didn’t know much about different types of fabrics. All she knew about were uniforms and bandages.

The dressmaker asked Poliana, “Should we first decide on the fabric? Is there a specific color you would like, Marquess Winter?”

“Blue.”

“Well, blue is great, but most brides prefer red, gold, or purple.”

“Blue, and I want it to be the same blue as the guard’s uniform.”

The head of the dress committee, Lady Siming, looked at Poliana awkwardly. The main reason why the guard’s uniform was blue was that it looked rich. Blue dye was also one of the cheapest. The expensive dyes were gold, red, and purple. There were different shades of blue that were more expensive, but the specific one Poliana wanted was the cheapest one of them all.

Lady Siming explained patiently, “Marquess Winter, the shade used for the uniforms is too dark and is therefore not appropriate for a wedding dress.”

“Blue.”

“I heard that you like dark-colored clothes. Why not try a lighter and brighter color this time?”

Lady Siming took out a few different fabrics and tried putting them against Poliana. The maid brought a mirror and placed it in front of the two ladies.

Lady Siming said to her, “See! Don’t these bright colors look good on you? What do you think?”

“Blue.”

“I can see that you aren’t going to change your mind…”

In the end, Lady Siming gave up. Poliana was well known for her stubbornness, so Lady Siming knew her effort was going to be useless.

Now that the fabric was decided, next was to determine the dress’s design. Lady Siming asked nervously, “You are going to let your hair grow, right? Please tell me you won’t cut it short.”

Both Lady Siming and all the maids looked at Poliana beggingly. Poliana has begun to take care of her skin, but she hasn’t thought about what she should do with her hair. After a few moments of thinking, Poliana answered, “Well since I am getting married… I guess I should let it grow… Right?”

“Yes! Absolutely! How long do you think it will be if we let it grow until your wedding… Does your hair grow fast, Marquess Winter?”

“It grows at a normal speed.”

Only

“I see. Well, it’s really short now, but if you let it grow, I am sure it will be ok.”

Poliana knew nothing about clothing design, so she let Lady Siming take care of it. Lady Siming was only happy to take on responsibility.

The next topic was the gifts to be exchanged between the groom and the bride. All the women in the room looked at Poliana expectantly.

Poliana answered, “I will be the one taking care of all the gifts.”

“Of course.”

The maids looked disappointed, but this was expected. Normally, it was the groom that gave more expensive and extravagant gifts to his bride. In this case, however, it made sense that Poliana took care of everything since Frau was penniless.

One of the maids said eagerly, “I heard that Lady Ingreter got a box full of jewels as a wedding gift!”