The Emperor and the Knightess

A toll was one of the surest and most lucrative ways to make money for the lords who owned their own lands. It also meant power for them because they could use it to negotiate with the other landlords from the surrounding cities. For the kingdom as a whole, and for the royal family, the best thing was to ban this practice. It would allow free travel for everyone, which would boost many types of businesses. The entire continent belonged to the emperor now, and the new system meant that the nobles were technically leasing the lands from the emperor. Banning this toll system shouldn’t have been a problem.

But of course, the nobles who were also the landlords were going to protest; the emperor knew this very well.

‘The southern region will accept this; I know the mid-continent will be okay too.’

The south, which used to be made up of several small kingdoms, was used to obeying their kings’ orders without a fight. Now that Lucius the First was their emperor, he knew that they would agree with whatever decision he made. The lands in the mid-continent region were given to those very close and loyal to the emperor, so Lucius the First knew they would back him up as well.

The problem was always Acreia. Acreia was where the emperor was born and grew up, yet it was always Acreia that fought him tooth and nail on every matter. Unfortunately, unlike in the south and mid-continental regions, the emperor’s power wasn’t as absolute in Acreia. It was a very ironic situation. The truth was that the elders and high-ranking nobles had a great authority in this kingdom that rivaled that of the emperor.

It wasn’t that Lucius the First never considered getting rid of them. It would make things so much easier, but he hesitated because these elders and the nobles did not outright commit treason. They opposed him often and they were drunk on power, but these men never did anything illegal. Lucius the First had to admit that these nobles did not mean to replace him. They just wanted to make his life more difficult.

In addition, if the emperor destroyed the Acreian nobles, Acreia would lose its power over the other regions. The south was culturally more advanced than the northern region. After the capital was moved to Yapa, Acreia was slowly learning their new culture, but it was still not as sophisticated as the southern areas. If Lucius the First replaced the Acreian nobles, everyone was going to think that he bowed down to the superior southern culture. The people of the south already believed that the northerners were uneducated and barbaric.

‘I thought the elders would die soon, yet they are still so healthy. What the heck?’

He truly believed that the elders would’ve been dead by the time he returned to Acreia, but he was mistaken. It seemed that Lucius the First was becoming weaker and more tired from all the work while the elders were becoming healthier.

Lucius the First tapped his desk a few times.

Tap, tap.

“…”

Suddenly, he grinned and pushed himself away from his desk.

‘Whatever. It’s the next emperor’s problem, not mine.’

He united the continent, restructured the noble system to strengthen the royal family, and changed the capital city. Lucius the First believed he did plenty on his part, so this toll problem will have to be dealt with by the next generation.

He was about to take a well-deserved break when one of the royal doctors requested an audience with him. It if was about something unimportant, the emperor would’ve refused but apparently, the doctor wanted to talk about his pregnant wife. Lucius the First immediately agreed.

After a respectful bow, the royal doctor asked apologetically, “Your highness, I am very sorry to have to ask you this question, but I must. If we come to an unfortunate situation… Who is more important to you? The mother or the child?”

Lucius the First became upset, and when his smile disappeared, the doctor trembled in fear. The emperor replied angrily, “Thinking so negatively like that will help no one. This is not the way you should be thinking.”

The royal doctor apologized and left. Lucius the First grabbed his forehead in concern. He was worried and he didn’t know what to do. All his life, the emperor had a clear picture of his dream. To unite the continent, to become the emperor of the world, to strengthen his kingdom, to inherit a stable kingdom to his heir, and live his final years in peace.

But things didn’t always work according to his plan. Unexpected events happened and he needed to be prepared for such things.

But the death of his wife during her birth… That was not something he could plan for. It wasn’t unthinkable that something like this could happen. The truth was, Lucius the First just didn’t want to think about it. The mortality rate of the mothers and their new babies were unfortunately very high, and there was nothing he could do about it. Lucius the First felt so hopeless. He would’ve much preferred a rebellion, which would be so much easier to control.

‘It’s going to be ok. It has to. We did the cleansing ritual, so everything is going to work out this year.’

After Lucius the First united the continent, the overall condition of the kingdom improved significantly. The number of crops harvested was about the same, but because he lowered the tax rate, the people’s lives were much better. The farmers praised the emperor and the people were generally happier than before.

So why? Why was his life becoming more and more complicated?

Lucius the First shook his head, trying not to think about it. He knew that worrying about things he couldn’t control would not help at all. It was easier said than done, but he tried anyway.

Just then, Master Chail walked in with a tray of tea.

The emperor said to him, “You must be very busy, so you should just let the servants do small things like this. Don’t you have more important things to do?”

“There is nothing more important for me to do than serving you, your highness.”

The emperor grinned. He picked up the teacup when he noticed a piece of paper stuck underneath the cup. There was a strange writing on it. The emperor quickly realized that it was the secret code the Acreians used to use during the war.

Lucius the First laughed. He found it ridiculous that someone thought that it was necessary to use the code again.

“Whose idea was this?”

“It was mine, your highness.”

“Chail, you are being silly.”

“Sir Deke agreed that this is a good idea.”

‘Oh boy…’

Lucius the First was dying to take a break, but he picked up the paper and began to read. It was a report, which meant that Chail or Sir Deke could’ve just told him in person to make it easier. Why did they have to waste time and energy like this?

Lucius the First created an Intelligent Unit recently and Master Chail was involved in it. Chail could be overly cautious and suspicious, but these qualities also made him very effective. Chail even brought him the information on his wives and things that were happening in the lady’s quarters. Master Chail was, without a doubt, a talented spy because even Poliana didn’t seem to know what Chail was doing.

Or perhaps she was already aware of it and didn’t mind because she knew the emperor was behind it.

Only

The Intelligence Unit was still in its infancy. Both the emperor and his men were new to the idea, so for now, they focused only on gathering as much information as possible. At this point, they didn’t even know how to sort through all the information that they obtained.

Minor squabbles between the nobles, different arranged marriages that are in plans, and rumors of land purchases by some… The information that the emperor received was random at best.

After reading the report, Lucius the First burnt the paper. As he watched it turn to ashes, he frowned. It was such a waste of paper and ink!

The report didn’t even include anything important. The fact that Sir Deke used the secret code could be seen as his insult to the First Division or to Master Chail.

But if Sir Deke could not trust Chail, why did he give the report to Chail? This was too ridiculous.

‘I’m going to have to figure out who gave Sir Deke this idea.’

The emperor was determined, but what he didn’t know was the fact that it was Master Chail who got Sir Deke to become interested in the spy novels.