The Emperor and the Knightess

This was especially the case recently. Ever since the incident when Stra suffered from the phantom pregnancy, the emperor was determined to forget about Poliana. He was married after all and was about to become a father too. He had to let Poliana go. He had to give up on his true love. There was no doubt that this was the logical thing to do.

But even though he knew what the right thing to do was, he just couldn’t do it. His heart refused to do what his brain told him to do.

At first, he thought that if he didn’t see her as often, he would be able to forget her. Unfortunately, he was very wrong about this, because he missed her even more after only a few days. Whenever he heard about how Poliana and his three wives got along so well, he felt guilty. Just hearing Poliana’s name made his heart jump.

All he had to do was stop loving her. If he did, he wouldn’t have to feel so guilty and apologetic, but Lucius the First still could not give up on his love.

To stop loving someone wasn’t something a person could accomplish by will. The harder one tried, the more they thought about the one they loved. The fact that he couldn’t stop loving Poliana just proved to him that his love was real.

What a frustrating situation!

A piece of leather, if not used, often became unusable in time. Why couldn’t his love be the same way? Why couldn’t his love for her cool down over time?

But even though he couldn’t give up on Poliana, Lucius the First would never force her to become his. There were times when he secretly imagined possessing her, but he knew he would never do it in real life. All he wanted was Poliana’s happiness; her happiness was more important than his own.

Lucius the First felt like he could do anything for her as long as it didn’t harm his kingdom. If she found a good man, then he would be happy to see her get married.

Tap, tap, tap, tap, tap.

He tapped the table faster and faster until suddenly, he stopped. Lucius the First reminded himself of who he was. He was the ruler of this kingdom. He was the master of the knightess sitting in front of him. He had three wives and one of them was pregnant.

He had to let Poliana go; he had to let her live her life.

But Poliana Winter was his favorite knight, which meant that he should be very involved in her life. He should know whether or not she was going to be marrying Frau Sneke.

After rationalizing himself, Lucius the First asked Poliana, “I heard Frau Sneke proposed to you…”

“Oh, I rejected him.”

Poliana still thought of Frau in a positive way, but this didn’t mean she was going to marry him. Just as Rebecca said, Poliana knew that she had the luxury of choosing her own husband. Just because he proposed to her didn’t mean that she was obligated or desperate enough to marry him. Accepting his proposal would’ve been a rash decision.

Besides, perhaps someone else like Frau, who was better looking will propose to her in the near future for the same reason.

Lucius the First, after hearing Poliana’s reply, burst into a peal of overjoyed laughter.

“Hahahahaha!”

The emperor often had a faint smile on his face, but it was rare for him to laugh out loud like this. It seemed that he loved her answer for some reason. He acted like he heard an excellent joke, and this made her feel uncomfortable.

‘Does he not want me to get married?’

Poliana had been serving the emperor for a very long time. She hasn’t seen Lucius the First laugh this happily since the time he kicked Sir Ainno out; this situation was very odd.

Why was the emperor laughing so happily?

She didn’t have to think too much to figure it out. To her, it seemed very obvious.

‘Is he worried about the awkward position my husband may have in the court among the other nobles? Is he worried that the other noblemen will make a fuss about it?’

If that was the case…. Then there was only one thing she could do!

“Your highness, if you wish me to remain unmarried, then I will, of course, honor your wish.”

“Oh… Noooooo… I-if you find a g-good mannn… Then y-you should get married…”

Lucius the First somehow regained his peaceful smile and replied. The emperor looked more beautiful than ever. This blinded her. There was no way he could be compared to any other man.

Certainly not Frau Sneke.

Poliana could barely keep her eyes open because of his dazzling beauty.

The emperor explained, “I was just worried because I heard that that man proposed to you for an inappropriate reason. As you must know, Sir Pol, one must always be careful of gold diggers.”

It was rare to find a gold digger in the noble system because most marriages were carefully arranged by the parents after extensive vetting and research. The concept of gold diggers existed more so among the commoners and very low-ranking aristocrats.

There were, however, odd times when a gorgeous gold digger successfully captured a young nobleman’s heart. In these cases, things didn’t end very well for the men. They would usually end up losing a lot of their wealth and reputation.

Gold diggers usually approached older bachelors who didn’t have any parent that could arrange a proper marriage. These older bachelors, who usually didn’t have much experience with women, were gullible.

Poliana’s situation was unfortunately very similar to this.

Lucius the First would gladly help her get married if she found a good man. He would even provide her the dowry and wish her all the best.

He would feel devastated if she were to marry a gold digger. This case was especially ridiculous because Frau Sneke flat out told her of his intention.

The emperor was determined to remain vigilant for Poliana. She was a strong woman whose protective instinct could be used against her. Lucius the First could see her being attracted to a delicate fragile man, so what if a sneaky man acted weak in front of her to gain her attention?!

There were moments when the emperor considered doing this in hopes of gaining Poliana’s heart. If he thought there was even the slightest chance, he would do it over and over again.

What Frau Sneke was doing… It was very obvious to the emperor that Frau Sneke fooling Poliana.

Poliana said to him, “Your highness, I don’t think Frau Sneke would make a good gold digger.”

Other than the fact that Poliana found him overly honest, Frau Sneke was also not very good looking. Beauty was an essential requirement for a gold digger.

Poliana added, “He can’t be a gold digger because he is ugly.”

Lucius the First’s smile widened. Her answer made him feel relieved and happy. He asked, “So you find him ugly, Sir Pol?”

“Yes.”

This was the truth. Frau was not handsome, but he was kind-looking, and this was why Poliana had a good feeling about him. Her first impression of him was positive as well. But there was no doubt that he was not a handsome man.

“So what did you do with him last night? Just drinking?”

Only

“We just talked, your highness. I decided to become his friend since we are of the same age.”

Lucius the First sighed in relief, but what he didn’t know was that he was very mistaken about this situation. Poliana did value good looks in a man, but she already had a source of beauty in her life.

Lucius the First.

Poliana felt that having such a beautiful emperor in her life was more than enough to satisfy her. She didn’t need a beautiful man as her husband in addition to him. She could see the emperor every day if she wished, so what would be the point of having a decent looking man at home? Besides, there could be no man more gorgeous than her emperor.

Unfortunately, the emperor truly believed that all Poliana wanted was to become Frau’s friend and nothing more. Poliana already had so many male friends, so Lucius the First didn’t think much of this situation. But the problem was, in Poliana’s mind, she designated Frau as a friend who could potentially become something more.

Even though Poliana knew Frau approached her for her money, she still found it amazing that there was a man in this world who dreamt of marrying her, especially a man of her own age! She was ecstatic.

As soon as Frau proposed to her, he was successfully able to grab her attention.