The Emperor and the Knightess

Poliana thought it was a good idea, but Donau looked unconvinced. “You can’t do that. Lady Stra had a good reason to ask for a divorce, but your case is different. If you and his highness get divorced, people are going to gossip about it to no end. They will say you only married each other because of the child.”

“But it’s true! The only reason we have to get married is because of our son!”

“Sis…”

“Arghh!”

Poliana grabbed her face and screamed. There was one more thing she didn’t get to tell her adopted brother.

The fact that Lucius the First confessed his love for her.

At the time, when he told her he loved her, Poliana felt betrayed by the emperor. She was angry, disappointed, and despaired; her emperor was understanding, nonetheless.

After the emperor left Sitrin, Poliana has been thinking a lot about this.

‘There is no way his highness loves me. Maybe he just said it to console me and make me feel better.’

This was her best guess at this point. She was only making an excuse, but Poliana didn’t even realize what she was doing. She, in fact, began to be suspicious of what the emperor said to her. Lucius the First was the perfect man except for his odd sense of humor, so how could someone like him be in love with her? The more she thought about it, the more she became convinced that this whole thing was just an act.

Lucius the First was a kind and gentle emperor. He most likely pitied Poliana, who was conned by a gold digger into a terrible marriage. She then ended up giving birth to his child. Her thoughtful emperor, who felt sorry for her and worried about her reputation and pride, most likely lied to her that he loved her to spare her feelings.

Knowing the emperor, Poliana knew this was a very likely possibility.

“Hahaha!”

Poliana suddenly felt relieved. She laughed out loud, making Donau flinch in surprise. His eyebrows went up, wondering if his adopted sister was finally losing her mind after such traumatic events.

“Sis…”

Donau reached out to her to console her, but Poliana didn’t give him her hand. Instead, she slapped the table and continued to laugh, “Hahaha! It’s so funny! It’s too much!”

“Sis, are you alright? Sis? Sir Pol? Did you mix alcohol in your water or something?”

“Oh gosh… Donau, maybe I really did lose my mind. Maybe I am going crazy.”

“Why? What happened?”

“I am so embarrassed. I actually really believed him! I mean, look at me! How could I have been so stupid?”

Poliana kept giggling hilariously, which made Donau scared.

‘Did she start doing drugs instead of drinking?’

Donau’s worry was justified. It wasn’t uncommon for a retired knight to find comfort in drugs for their physical and emotional pains. As Poliana continued to laugh like a madwoman, Donau’s concern worsened. He grabbed Poliana’s glass and smelled it. He could find anything odd with it. He even tasted it a little, but it was just water.

‘Maybe you need to drink a lot of it to feel different…’

“Sis, what happened? Tell me.”

“Hahaha. I am such a fool.”

“What are you talking about?”

Donau asked her as he gulped down some water. Poliana replied, “His highness confessed his love for me, and I actually believed it for a second. Hahaha, how ridiculous.”

Sir Donau coughed from the water going down the wrong pipe. He then spewed out some water onto Poliana’s face. Calmly, Poliana wiped away her face and asked, “Are you ok?”

“Sis, what did you just say?”

“His highness told me he loved me.”

Cough! Cough!

Sir Donau began to cough again uncontrollably. Poliana walked up to him and slapped his back. It was partly to help him, but also partly as revenge for his earlier slaps.

“I know, right? It’s so stupid and funny. I can’t believe I fell for it!”

Poliana pushed the stray hair up and away from her eyes. She hasn’t been trimming her hair during the pregnancy, so now, her hair was rather long. One thing Poliana learned from it was that the longer the hair, the easier it was to tie it behind her back and keep it away from her face.

Sir Donau seemed even more shocked by what she told him than when he first saw Gerald. He kept asking her again and again if she was sure about what she heard. Poliana answered him yes and returned to her seat. Sighing heavily, Poliana explained, “I was so shocked at the time, and his highness was such a good actor that I actually believed him; I must be getting stupid or something.”

“Umm… Sis, can you tell me the details? I… My brain isn’t working well so I am still having a hard time understanding…”

Poliana told him about what happened. Lucius the First confessed his deep love for her and proposed to her. Since they had a child, it was obvious that they now had to get married, but what Sir Donau focused on was the “love” part, not the “proposal” part. When he insisted on hearing more about how the emperor revealed his feelings for her, Poliana replied, “There wasn’t much to it. After he found out about Gerald, his highness told me that he has been in love with me for a long time. That’s all, and I believed it and acted so foolishly…”

Poliana covered her face with her hands in embarrassment. She remembered how she cried in front of him, thinking that he really meant what he said. What was she going to do now?

It seemed that Poliana decided for herself that Lucius the First didn’t mean what he said. Sir Donau, however, argued, “Why would you think he lied?”

“Hmm?”

Poliana was surprised by Donau’s reaction. She expected that her adopted brother to laugh with her and tease her. Instead, Sir Donau frowned and said to her in a low voice, “Why do you think that?”

“Why? What do you mean? Isn’t it obvious? Why would his highness be in love with me?”

Only

“Why can’t he fall in love with you?”

“It’s not that he can’t. He is the emperor, so he can do anything he wants. I’m just saying why would he? Why would his highness like someone like me?”

“What’s wrong with you? Why would you say ‘someone like you?\'”

It wasn’t that Poliana had low self-esteem. In fact, she believed she was quite a catch since she was powerful and rich, however, this wasn’t about politics. It was a matter of the heart.

Poliana replied, “I’m not saying I’m lacking. I’m saying that it just doesn’t make sense. Why are you arguing with me about this? You’re the one who isn’t making any sense.”

“No, it’s you who is talking nonsense. Sis, what you are doing right now isn’t right. You’re ignoring and dismissing his highness’s feelings.”

‘My brother is a naïve idiot.’