The Emperor and the Knightess

Poliana was overjoyed to see her adopted brothers Sir Donau and Sir Howe. She hugged them tightly. They wrote to each other often, but it was not the same as seeing them in person. Poliana smiled widely. While the brothers distracted her, Lucius the First made sure Frau could not visit Poliana. Meanwhile, the Intelligence Unit worked tirelessly. Sir Deke needed to find out where Frau’s child and his maternal grandparents lived and how much money Frau was sending them.

Frau sent letters often to an “acquaintance” in the small Acreian town. In reality, he was sending money to his child and his in-laws. The reason why Frau lived so poorly wasn’t that he was frugal. It was because he sent everything to this child.

Since he moved to Yapa, he visited his son a few times. But unfortunately, he hasn’t been able to travel to Nanaba during the last 6 months because the work has been so busy.

Frau had to miss his son. He had to miss him a lot. Lucius the First was sure of it. The Intelligence Unit spread a false rumor regarding the Sneke family. Duke Sneke and his family were one of the many Acreian nobles who were arrested due to the recent scandal. The false rumor stated that a few of the town people living in the Sneke’s land were hurt during a scuffle.

Within a few days, Frau became noticeably anxious. Just as Lucius the First predicted, Frau asked for some time off. Frau apparently told Poliana that he was worried about a few close acquaintances in his hometown. He was lying again to Poliana since it was obvious that he was going to visit his son and his in-laws.

Poliana asked him, “Will these acquaintances of yours be invited to our wedding?”

“Pardon? Oh-n-no. It would be too difficult for them to travel that far.”

“Oh, how disappointing. If you are going to visit them, they must be very close to you.”

Of course, they were. One was his own son and the other two were his ex-in-laws.

“Y-yes, Marquess.”

Those who knew the whole story found Frau despicable, but Poliana had no idea. Frau was sweating heavily and stammering, but Poliana thought he was just scared of her.

Sir Howe and Sir Donau didn’t stay long in Yapa. They left within a few days and thanks to Lucius the First, Frau was kept busy and unable to meet with Poliana. Poliana felt disappointed, but this was a good thing for Frau. If Sir Donau and Sir Howe spotted him, they wouldn’t have been able to control their anger.

Frau, Sir Donau, and Sir Howe all left Yapa. Stra left Yapa to visit her homeland to take care of the divorce papers. Tory was still in isolation for her own safety.

Poliana was a powerful woman, but she was still on her vacation ordered by the emperor. Poliana took this order very seriously and did not consider it a vacation. However, she also didn’t trap herself inside her home like the last time. Instead, she worked hard on her wedding, which frustrated Lucius the First.

A few days after Frau left Yapa, Lucius the First visited Marquess Winter. Poliana was contemplating what kind of stone she should use for her wedding ring. When she saw the emperor, Poliana greeted him. She was especially glad to see him because Lucius the First had a much better taste than she did.

“Your highness, I am so happy to see you. What kind of stone do you think I should use for my wedding ring?”

“Pol, that is not important at all. Let’s talk about that later. For now, wouldn’t you rather go on a picnic with me?”

How could he say her wedding ring wasn’t important? Poliana has been pondering about this matter very seriously, and when the emperor answered her so nonchalantly, she felt shocked. Lucius the First, on the other hand, felt frustrated at how hard Poliana was planning her wedding.

“Sir Pol, I am just worried that you have been working too hard when you should be resting. This is supposed to be your vacation. Why don’t you go on a picnic with me?”

“Sorry, your highness, but I’m busy.”

Poliana refused, not because she was truly very busy, but because this wasn’t the time. The kingdom was in turmoil, so for the head of the Second Division to go on a picnic with the emperor like nothing was happening… It wouldn’t look right.

Lucius the First begged her desperately, “I really would like you to go with me. I am asking you for a favor.”

Poliana’s resolve weakened quickly. She heard about the emperor’s divorce, which meant he was now going to be a divorcee with a newborn baby. She felt bad for him, so she asked, “How many guards were you planning to take?”

“The two of us.”

“You mean me and Sir Ainno?”

“No, just you and me.”

“No, that’s not possible.”

Poliana closed her lips and looked away. It was rude of her to act like this, but it couldn’t be helped. No one would fault her for acting this way because after all, she was one of the few who were responsible for the emperor’s safety. She had no choice but to refuse the emperor’s request. For his safety, it would be better for Lucius the First to go alone with Sir Ainno rather than her.

“Inno is too busy dating and enjoying his love life nowadays that he abandoned me. If I go on a picnic with him, he is going to annoy me with all his romantic stories.”

“I’m sure he wouldn’t do that.”

Only

Lucius the First recently lost all of his wives, so what man in his right mind would talk about his own romance. But then… Sir Ainno wasn’t just an ordinary man. He was a jerk, and everyone knew it.

Despite the recent political chaos, the stories of Cekel and Sir Ainno’s romance continued to be popular. Poliana asked curiously, “Is it really true that things are going well between them?”

“Apparently.”

Poliana snorted. It was so unexpected, and she was surprised. She remembered giving her love luck for this year to Sir Ainno.

“I gave him my love luck because I thought my love luck was in fact bad, but I guess I was wrong. Perhaps my luck in love was actually pretty good.”

‘Oh, that must be why Sir Pol’s own love life is in such a horrible situation…’

Lucius the First could tell that Sir Ainno had the greatest luck in love this year. If he pushed on to marry Cekel by force this year, the emperor didn’t doubt that their relationship would’ve been unrepairable, but because of Rebecca’s death, their wedding had to be delayed, which gave them a year to get to know each other better. Sir Ainno was very smart in wooing his lady and it seemed that things were going very well for him.