The Emperor and the Knightess

They decided to keep the situation a secret until Poliana recovered both mentally and physically. For her reputation, it would’ve been better for them to get married immediately, but Poliana still was very reluctant. She was still very emotional. Her thoughts about the matter changed constantly every day. Lucius the First didn’t know what to do about it, but her staff seemed nonchalant. They assumed that she was having difficulty controlling her emotions because of her hormones, which meant that once she stopped breastfeeding, Poliana should feel better.

As soon as Sir Ainno saw Poliana, he glared at her. How dare she reject the emperor’s love? Poliana ignored his anger. She just gave birth to a baby, so what could he do to her? He would never lay a hand on her, at least until she recovered.

But Poliana still had to apologize to Sir Ainno about something entirely different. She said to him, “I’m sorry I didn’t get to attend your wedding. I also apologize for not getting you a wedding gift.”

“It’s alright. Everyone agrees that the gifts you gave to Cekel from your own wedding plan were more than enough.”

“Is Lady Seki doing well?”

“She became the head of the royal maids.”

Poliana was surprised at the unexpected news. Knowing Sir Ainno and his stubbornness, she expected him to make Cekel retire from her job. Sir Ainno believed that a true highborn lady should not have to work at all, even as a royal maid. Oftentimes, influential ladies volunteered as the maids to the royal members to gain even greater reputation, but Sir Ainno insisted that a truly powerful noble lady did not need to take this job to be recognized. Although his statement was true, people still hated his arrogance.

So how was it that this infamous Sir Ainno’s wife became the head of the royal maids? Sir Ainno, looking annoyed, explained that he had no choice. After many of the Acreian nobles were imprisoned and removed from their positions, many of the maids who belonged to these families also left the Yapa castle. They were short on maids, and so finally, Lucius the First ended up offering the position of the head maid to Cekel, who was married and now one of the highest-ranking ladies of the kingdom.

Cekel accepted the position without consulting her husband. Sir Ainno became furious, but Cekel refused to change her mind. She said to him, “It’s not like you asked for my permission when you proposed to me.”

Sir Ainno had no answer to this. He initially considered nagging the emperor to take away her job, but this was when Lucius the First decided to go on the tour of the kingdom. Sir Ainno was going to have to leave Yapa for almost a year, which would leave Cekel all alone. He felt that it would be better for her to have a job during this time.

After a short chat, Poliana finally said to him, “Congratulations on your marriage.”

“Congratulations on your marriage too, Marquess.”

“…”

Poliana didn’t look very happy but Sir Ainno ignored it. Suddenly, she realized why Sir Ainno laughed whenever he saw her and why he insisted on becoming the best man to her groom at her wedding.

‘He knew how the emperor felt about me.’

It shouldn’t have been a surprise since Sir Ainno and Lucius the First were best friends. When she thought she was going to marry Frau, Sir Ainno tried his best to get out of this duty, but now, Poliana knew he would insist on acting as the emperor’s best man.

Sir Ainno glared at Poliana. She made a huge mistake by drunkenly sleeping with the emperor, and now, she rejected Lucius the First’s love. Sir Ainno hated her for it, but this did not change the fact that he still owed her. He said to her grudgingly, “I will repay my debt.”

“What debt?”

“You don’t have to know the details. Bye.”

After he left, Poliana wondered, ‘Did I lend him money in the past or something?’ She felt confused and no matter how hard she tried, Poliana could not remember anything. And the way he said he was going to repay her… It didn’t sound good. Did she perhaps do something bad to him, and now he planned on “paying back” for whatever she did to her?

One of the knights from the First Division looked at her accusingly. Many of the knights continued to chat among themselves about the shocking situation. They thought that Poliana should not have any more children with the emperor in case they resembled Poliana. They wanted to keep the royal bloodline “beautiful.” These rude knights were, of course, quickly punished by Sir Mahogal and Sir Beke.

Sir Mahogal didn’t say much to Poliana when he saw her. He simply told her that if she needed anything, he would be there for her. Poliana teared up at his warm and kind words. Sir Beke said a similar thing, but knowing what he was like, Poliana just nodded and thanked him. If Sir Aeke offered the same words, she would’ve believed him more.

Lucius the First wished to remain in Sitrin with Poliana and Gerald, but he was obligated to complete the tour. There was a publicly released schedule, and if he didn’t follow it, people were going to become curious as to why. At this point, he couldn’t let people know about Poliana and Gerald.

The day he left Sitrin, Poliana waited at the country house entrance to say her goodbye to the emperor. She looked up at him with determination. Many things, some of them very unfortunate and unexpected, might have happened but no matter what, Lucius the First was always going to be her emperor.

Even though she may soon no longer be his knightess…

Poliana clenched her fists just thinking about this future. The emperor, who betrayed his knightess, said to her, “I like people who make great efforts and hard workers. You know why, don’t you?”

Only

“Because you yourself work hard, your highness.”

“Exactly.”

Lucius the First nodded and continued, “What I did was wrong, Pol. I ended up betraying you. Instead of understanding how you feel, I thought only of my love for you. Since we must get married, I thought you would have no choice but to accept my feelings for you. I didn’t respect your wishes to not get married. I forgot all about why I have been so patient all these years. I just thought of my own dreams for us. I know what I did was wrong and what must happen is unfair to you, but Sir Pol, you realize the truth, right? We cannot leave Gerald a bastard, and we can’t have him adopted by another woman when his birth mother is alive and well.”

Poliana clenched her teeth and nodded, “Yes, your highness. I understand.”

Her mistake was to act emotionally and reveal her worries and fears to the emperor. This was what was going to happen anyway, so what was the point?

“Pol, I want to make it up to you. I will. I will do everything I can do to make you happy. I will work my hardest for you; I will work harder than I ever did.”

“Your highness… Unfortunately, there are things that can’t be accomplished no matter how much effort you make.”