The Emperor and the Knightess

When one of the vassals from Frau’s home visited him, Frau’s son bowed to him deeply. The same vassal that used to bow to Frau… Frau told his son not to do this, but it couldn’t be helped. His son’s maternal grandparents wanted to raise their grandson as a commoner.

This was the first time Frau regretted having a child with his late wife. This must’ve been why his own parents were so against the idea. Frau became contemplative. He gave up everything for love, but even after his downfall, no one dared to treat him like a commoner. But his son… It was a completely different story. His son that was born out of love was going to live as a commoner. It was impossible for Frau to accept it, but this was the way of the world. Frau’s siblings refused to forgive him and acknowledge him as their family. If Frau abandoned his son, perhaps he could be accepted back into the family. Either way, Frau’s son was never going to become a nobleman.

Frau refused to give up on his son. He was willing to live as a commoner rather than abandon his child. His son was everything to him. The best thing Frau could think of for his son was to make enough money to educate his son so he could become a government official. Of course, would this be possible? Would his family somehow prevent this from happening?

Frau didn’t know what to do.

It was around this time when he first heard about Marquess Winter.

“Dammit. A woman getting such a high noble status?”

“Marquess? Is this a joke? I mean… This means that woman is going to outrank all of us!”

“I get that she did a lot during the war, but isn’t this too much?”

“And I heard she’s barren too…”

“Then will the title go to her husband when she gets married?”

“No, it isn’t going to work like that. I heard only the heir can inherit the title, but since she is barren… She will probably just adopt a son.”

“I heard she is basically an orphan herself. So that means that she doesn’t have anyone she can adopt from her distant relative, right? So that means her title will end after her death.”

“Unless a widower with a son marries her, then the son would get everything. What a lucky bastard that would be!”

“Are you crazy? Who in the right mind would marry an ugly woman like that?”

The cowardly and ignorant men were gossiping while Frau listened quietly nearby. Frau was fascinated and from that day, he began to do his research on Marquess Winter.

In Aehas, a daughter could inherit the family title if there was no male heir in the family. In Acreia, where a woman could not hold a title, a male heir needed to be adopted, usually from a distant relative.

So what would happen to a barren woman with no relatives who ends up marrying a man with a bastard son? It was going to be possible for the man’s child to become the official heir.

This was exactly what Frau Sneke wanted. This was his goal.

***

The other knights and the emperor had no idea about the details of Frau’s past. And in truth, they didn’t even want to know. The problem was the fact that Frau intentionally hid the existence of his child. If Poliana knew about it, would she have decided to marry him? No, Poliana was not that naïve.

Lucius the First could not hide his anger. Poliana Winter was incredibly wealthy and powerful, especially for a single person. There were plenty of people in the world who approached her, hoping to get something out of her, but these men who proposed to her were honest about themselves. They disclosed to her about their marriage history and let her know if they had any children. Some even told her about their mistresses and concubines.

It wouldn’t be too hard to fool Poliana about certain things since she was not originally an Acreian noble. It was very hard for her to know the old rumors about the Acreian noblemen, but despite it, those men who proposed to her still were honest. This was because Poliana was a close acquaintance of Lucius the First, and if anyone tried to fool her, it would be followed by the emperor’s fury. Poliana herself also was a scary woman. People who knew her knew enough not to disrespect her.

So the conclusion was, Frau was an idiot. Was he just stupid or was he crazy to do something so risky and dangerous?

For nobles, marriage was a business contract; there were unspoken and common-sense rules that needed to be followed. This was the basis of the noble society. Someone like Frau, who tried to fool another fellow noble… He was considered the worst of the worst.

All the men in the room, including Lucius the First, panted in anger.

Only

“This is the worst kind of gold digger. The worst! I have never seen such a horrible man before! Going after her wealth… That was bad but understandable, however, to sneakily go after her title… To attempt to make his bastard the next Marquis Winter… How dare he! He has been pretending to be innocent and dumb, but he is clearly a skilled conman!”

Lucius the First never gave Frau permission to marry a servant. Duke Luzo, who was in control of Acreia during the war, also would’ve denied this request. A nobleman could marry only if he received permission from the ruling figure. Any marriage without it was considered invalid. This made Frau’s son a bastard.

If Frau wanted to keep his noble status, then there was no way for his son to avoid being called a bastard. But if he became a commoner to make his son legitimate, then he would never be able to marry Poliana.

So Frau chose to marry Poliana as a nobleman and make his bastard son the next Marquis Winter.

“This is the biggest scam of this century!”

Sir Donau, who cared deeply about his adopted sister, shook with anger. Sir Howe, standing next to his brother, muttered about different ways to torture Frau. The brothers were not making much sense, but they both had a clear message; they wanted to kill Frau. What made them the angriest was the fact that Frau must’ve thought it would be easy to use Poliana because she didn’t have an extended family or relatives, but this was not true; she had Sir Donau and Sir Howe as her brothers!

Frau Sneke must die!