The Emperor and the Knightess

“S-sir Ainno? Y-you’re joking, right? Your sense of humor is getting worse… I am afraid the emperor’s sense of humor is rubbing off on you…”

“O-our sister’s name is indeed Cekel…. Hahaha… But maybe you’re referring to another Lady Cekel? You must be mistaken… It could not be our sister… You have to be joking…”

Cekel was rather a common name, but unfortunately for the Ingreter brothers, Sir Ainno repeated himself, “I proposed to Lady Cekel Ingreter. Yes, your sister. There is no mistake. I’ll marry her once the year of mourning is over.”

Sir Beke’s eyes wavered while Sir Aeke tried to continue smiling, still wishing that Sir Ainno was kidding. Was this really happening? Or were they dreaming? If they were, this had to be the worst nightmare.

The atmosphere became tense and when the Ingreter brothers realized the seriousness and realness of the situation, they asked Sir Ainno again, “Do you really mean this? You are really marrying our sister? Cekel Ingreter?”

“Yes, brother.”

‘Dammit.’

Sir Beke began to tear up, and it wasn’t from happiness. Even though Poliana knew about Sir Ainno’s feelings for Cekel, she was also shocked as well. She had no idea the situation has progressed this much in such a short period of time. Just how and when did Sir Ainno pull this off? Marriage? And why didn’t his highness share such a juicy story with her? The last thing she heard about Sir Ainno and Cekel’s situation was that Cekel was still refusing him. Did Cekel change her mind about him? If so, why? How?

So what happened since then?

Poliana asked Sir Ainno, “So Lady Cekel accepted your affection? Are you sure?”

Sir Ainno replied confidently, “11 months. I have 11 months to make her fall for me; she permitted me to try.”

“I am pretty sure she will still hate you in 11 months.”

“It wouldn’t matter, we’re still getting married.”

Poliana frowned, realizing what Sir Ainno was saying.

“Sir Ainno… are you saying that you will force her to marry you? You will misuse your power like that? Are you serious?”

Sir Ainno nodded proudly. It was good to be powerful. Poliana knew better than anyone how great it was to have power, but what Sir Ainno was about to do was not acceptable. Poliana knew she needed to stop it. She exclaimed, “His highness will never allow such a thing! You can’t do this!”

Sir Ainno looked at her calmly and replied, “I already have his permission. It is done.”

Poliana gaped in shock. It now made sense that Sir Ainno felt confident declaring his intention for Lady Cekel in public like this. This wedding was going to happen no matter what. He said to the Ingreter brothers, “You understand what I’m saying, right, brothers?”

Sir Aeke and Sir Beke answered at the same time, “W-what?”

“Hahaha.”

Sir Ainno laughed dryly as he tightened his arms around the brothers. He was enjoying the Ingreger brothers’ discomfort. There was no doubt Sir Ainno was a perverse man.

Poor Cekel.

Sir Ainno began to slowly drag them away to a dark corner as he said to Poliana, “Well, we need to get going. We need to discuss some family business, Sir Poliana, you should understand. I will see you later.”

“You’re such a jerk, Sir Ainno…”

Poliana shook her head while the bystanders stared at them with interest. Soon, the entire Yapa was going to know about Sir Ainno’s declaration and Poliana’s marriage plan. This meant that the right and left hands of the emperor were both getting married. This was a huge deal that was going to affect the entire kingdom.

‘I can’t believe his highness is allowing this… Is he really going to let Sir Ainno force Cekel into an unwanted marraige?’

Poliana was certain that Sir Ainno must’ve had a fit in front of the emperor to get this permission, and if his highness gave his permission, there was nothing Poliana could do. It was too bad for Cekel, but it couldn’t be helped. But if Cekel wanted to get divorced in the future, Poliana would be there to help.

Was it because the Ingreter brothers mentioned Lady Rebecca? Poliana suddenly felt a little down now as she thought about her late friend. Lady Rebecca’s almost every possession was taken away by her mother Duchess Nani. Whatever was leftover were distributed among Lady Tory, Lady Stra, and Lady Rebecca’s maids. Poliana was offered to take something if she wanted, but she refused.

Lady Rebecca also did not leave a will for everyone. There was no time since her death was quite sudden and unexpected. She only left one and it was for the emperor. Poliana was her friend, possibly her closest friend in Yapa, yet she never got to talk to Lady Rebecca before she died.

‘There were so many more things I wanted to tell her… There were even more I wanted to hear from her…’

Things Poliana could never tell anyone else… Deep secrets she wanted to share… Lady Rebecca was her true friend and now, she was gone. The only one left on this earth from Lady Rebecca was her daughter, Princess Luminae. The daughter Lady Rebecca hoped was a son. In about 15 years, the newborn Princess Luminae was going to be married. Who will the princess end up marrying? Lady Rebecca was worried that any daughter of hers was going to have an unfortunate life. Was she right? Poliana was afraid to find out.

Only

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People found it very hard to believe how much Poliana changed lately. The perfume… her skincare routine… Her happier mood… Her smiles and giggles… They looked at her like she had gone crazy. The guards of the Second Division were the first ones to accept her changes. They had no choice, after all. Anyone else who kept mentioning the fact was quickly punished until they shut their mouths.

Most women, however, saw Poliana’s changes in a positive way. They were glad to see Poliana finally acting like a woman.

“It’s a good thing for her to improve herself now that she’s getting married. She is a woman no matter what people say, so this change makes perfect sense. Good for her.”

The older men, however, were still grumbling about her.

“Why doesn’t she take off her pants and just wear a dress like a normal woman? Why does she keep carrying a sword? Why does she still act like a man even though she is going to be a bride?”

But the ones who were most shocked and concerned by her changes were those who knew her well. The men who went to war with her were genuinely worried about her, so they all went to Lucius the First and voiced their concern, “Your highness! Marquess Winter has lost her mind!”

They were seriously alarmed and they wanted their emperor to fix the situation before it got worse.