The Emperor and the Knightess

The first knight to fight, Sir Rabi, won by shocking the opposing knight with his signature roar but unfortunately, he fell off the horse when he tried to avoid being hit by his opponent’s lance.

The next man to enter could be Sir Bentier. He should be able to win three matches, but his games would be too boring because Sir Bentier would be overly careful and strategic. Tournaments were known to be exciting but for some reason, he expected Sir Bentier’s performance to be boring. He would act too carefully, and the Bikpa audience would boo him. In the end, Sir Bentier would become distracted by all that booing, and he would lose his fourth game.

Next would be Sir Howe, who would defeat two knights by being his usual sneaky self.

This way, Lucius the First expected his knights to use their unique talents to win the tournament, but….

It never happened this way.

Sir Ainno refused to change his mind. “Your highness, I will go first! I must!”

Lucius the First tried to change his mind many times, but Sir Ainno was too stubborn. In the end, the emperor became angry. “Fine, Inno. I no longer care if you get too tired and fall off the horse! You are going to get injured, so don’t blame me when it happens!”

And to everyone’s shock, Sir Ainno was incredible. For some reason, although his horse was just like any other, it seemed that Sir Ainno was riding at least three times faster than anyone else. Sir Ainno never got injured; he won game after game quickly and efficiently. Gali the Third’s face slowly crumpled as his knights lost.

And finally, Sir Ainno defeated his 10th and last opponent. He immediately raised his lance high and roared, “Absolute victory! This is my gift to his highness, Lucius the First!”

Everyone on the Acreian side cheered loudly while those on Gali the Third’s side gaped in shock. Gali the Third stood up quickly, then suddenly, he fainted. Thankfully, his personal guards caught him in time, so he didn’t get hurt.

10 seconds later, Gali the Third regained his consciousness. He pointed his finger at Sir Ainno angrily and screamed, “W-where d-did t-this mo-monster c-come from?!”

The Acreians won the tournament without a doubt. It wasn’t just a simple victory. It was a huge win.

1:10.

It didn’t really matter to Acreia and especially to Lucius the First whether they won or not, but it was still very nice to win. As the trumpet rang loudly, announcing the end of the tournament, the Acreian men cheered boisterously.

Sir Ainno held his trophy proudly. The next step was for an important Bikpa lady to gift the champion a flower wreath. Today, it was given by their princess.

Her eyes shined brightly and expectantly. The wreath, after being received by the champion, was always re-gifted to the same lady. It was the tradition and was considered as a good manner. The princess was certain that she would be getting the wreath back.

The Bikpa princess was a naïve young girl. She didn’t truly understand the meaning of this situation. By losing this tournament and with the Bikpa King losing his position as the sovereign of this kingdom, it meant that she would no longer be a princess, but it seemed that she didn’t realize her dire situation. To her, getting back the wreath from the champion right now was much more important.

Sir Ainno lowered his head slightly as he stood in front of the princess. When he received the wreath and stood up straight, the princess, in turn, lowered her face slightly, fully expecting Sir Ainno to place the wreath on her head. Even the Acreians believed that this was going to happen despite what Sir Ainno said earlier.

But Sir Ainno suddenly began to run toward his emperor. Lucius the First, who has been grumbling the entire time Sir Ainno was fighting, smiled widely when he saw his knight running towards him. Sir Ainno kneeled in front of him and handed the flower wreath to his emperor.

The Bikpa princess and the people stared in obvious astonishment and outrage.

“Good job, my friend. My knight, I am so proud of you! You are indeed the best knight in Acreia!” Lucius the First said to his knight and friend kindly.

“I am flattered, your highness. All I did was whatever was necessary to honor your reputation.”

Lucius the First was happy about winning the tournament, but he wasn’t too keen on receiving the wreath. He forced a smile on his face as he took it. Although his lips were smiling, his eyes were clearly saying to Sir Ainno that he didn’t want the wreath. ‘I don’t want this flowery thing, you jerk!’

Only

Sir Ainno knew his friend enough to know what Lucius the First was thinking but without hesitating, Sir Ainno looked right back at his emperor with a clear message. ‘Just take it anyway, you as*hole!’

Lucius the First wondered if he should give the wreath to the poor princess but thought against it. Giving away the champion’s wreath was unheard of, and it could be mistakenly seen as his interest towards the princess. Lucius the First did not want something like that to happen. The princess of Bikpa seemed kind enough, but he definitely didn’t want her as his wife.

In the end, the Acreian emperor took apart the wreath into separate flowers. He then ordered the men to give them away to the maids and the ladies who were kind enough give them their handkerchiefs. A few flowers were also given to the Bikpa lord’s wife, who helped the Acreians greatly.

When Lucius the First still had one more flower left, he turned towards his loyal knightess standing behind him. He gently placed the flower on the handkerchief that was still adorning her head, explaining, “This is my payment for you lending your handkerchief to Sir Ainno.”

Poliana truly wanted to enjoy the emperor’s gift. She knew that he meant well. Receiving a piece of champion’s wreath was an honor indeed.

But Poliana couldn’t enjoy the gift at all. She wasn’t sure how it was seen in Acreia, but in Aehas, only a crazy spinster wore flowers in her head.

Just then, Sir Howe, who was standing nearby, began to laugh at her. He said to her, “Have you lost your mind, Sir Paul?! You have a flower in your head!”

Poliana sighed deeply. It seemed that the Acreians thought the same way as the Aehasians.