The Emperor and the Knightess

Although it took him a long time to realize it, Sir Donau used to be in love with Poliana. Of course, he proposed to her before realizing his true feelings, and his proposal was rejected; his first love ended rather sadly and abruptly.

After marrying Vanessa and learning to love her, Sir Donau later realized that what he felt towards Poliana was really love. This was why he felt sorry for Lucius the First. There was a time when Sir Donau believed his love for Poliana would be a burden for her. Perhaps this was why it took him such a long time to realize his feelings.

Sir Donau believed in the emperor. There was no way that Lucius the First would make up such a lie to a loyal knightess; the emperor that Donau knew would never lie about something like this.

For a long time, Donau didn’t even know that he was in love with Poliana. Lucius the First was different, however. The emperor was a better man and he had the courage to confess his feelings to her. Donau was on the emperor’s side. He wished Lucius the First best with his love life. Donau was willing to do whatever was necessary to help the emperor.

Of course, at this point, how Poliana felt was the most important thing. Sir Donau would never pressure her into anything, but he wanted her to recognize and admit, at least, that the emperor’s love was real.

“It wasn’t I who was insulted, so what would be the point of you apologizing to me?”

“Gosh! What do you want from me, Donau?”

Sir Donau might have won the duel, but this still didn’t mean it was enough to change Poliana’s mind.

Sir Donau insisted that there were men, and was one that currently loved her. Poliana kept insisting that he was mistaken by saying the same thing. Her self-defense mechanism kicked in, and to protect herself from another disaster like with Frau Sneke, Poliana didn’t want to even admit the possibility of love in her life.

Sir Donau didn’t even witness how Lucius the First confessed his love for her, but he was certain that the emperor meant what he said. Sir Donau talked like he had seen the emperor’s heart and knew for a fact that Lucius the First was in love with Poliana.

Finally, after arguing for a few more minutes, Sir Donau said to her, “Well, it looks like you will never apologize to yourself for depriving yourself of love, so the least you can do is to apologize to the emperor. I heard that his highness decided to cut his tour short and return to Yapa, is that right?”

“Yes, that is what I heard.”

Now that he had a son, there were a lot of things Lucius the First needed to take care of. He shortened his tour immediately and was on his way back to the capital city. The emperor had always been a workaholic, so no one thought that it was strange for him to want to return as soon as possible.

“Then, we should go to Yapa too.”

“What?”

Poliana flinched, clearly not wanting to return home. She ran away from that place not 10 months ago, so why would she want to return? Sir Donau insisted, “I am a little worried about leaving Gerald here, but it’s not like you take care of him much, right? I assume you let the wet nurse do most of the work, which means your presence here isn’t necessary. So why don’t we go to Yapa and find out for sure how the emperor really feels about you.”

Sir Donau was telling her to return to Yapa with no plan or a good reason. She became angry.

“Hey, this is none of your business… You aren’t part of this problem…”

“Am I a nobody to you? Am I not part of your life?”

“…”

“Sis, I am not just a random person. I am your family, which is why I am here and I am insisting that we do something about this situation. His highness didn’t just propose to you. He told you he loved you and you are pretending that he lied about it. You are assuming that what he feels for you is actually responsibility and pity. You can’t do that, Sis. That’s not fair for you or the emperor. I am telling you this because I want you to be happy.”

Poliana became speechless and Sir Donau looked at her with sadness. It was obvious that his adopted sister did not believe in true love, at least not for herself. He thought angrily, ‘That damn gold digger. He ruined everything.’

If Frau Sneke didn’t hurt Poliana, perhaps she would’ve been more receptive to the emperor’s love. Perhaps she would’ve believed in true love.

Donau continued, “I know that marrying his highness will not bring you happiness. In fact, you will end up losing a lot. You would be better off marrying someone else. But it doesn’t help you to keep denying his highness’s love for you. This marriage needs to happen no matter what, so won’t it be better to confirm that his highness really is in love with you?”

Sir Donau put his hand on Poliana’s shoulder and shook her gently. Poliana was looking confused and blank as he added, “Do you understand the significance of this?! His highness, the most beautiful and powerful man in the kingdom, confessed his love for you! Doesn’t that make you feel good?”

“What is the point of me feeling good as a woman when my pride as the knight has been crushed?!”

“How does the emperor’s love crush your knightly pride?”

“If what he told me is true, that means his highness saw me as a woman and not as a knight! If I was a man like you or like all the other knights, he…”

Only

“Sis!”

Sir Donau interrupted her harshly. Poliana was making a huge mistake and he needed to stop her before she went too far.

“Sis, you are a knight! Even if someone loves you as a woman, this doesn’t change the fact that you are a knight.”

“But if I marry his highness, I will have to give up being the head of the Second Division. They will also confiscate my title and land…”

“That is all his highness’s fault.”

“What?! How dare you!”

Poliana glared at him angrily, but Sir Donau didn’t look away. He continued, “The fact that you have to lose your status… It can’t be helped since he is the emperor, which means it is all his fault. Think about it. If anyone else fell in love with you and married you, you wouldn’t have to give up anything. For example, if Duke Luzo loved you and married you, you wouldn’t have to give up being a knight. So the fact that you have to give up so much is all his highness’s fault.”