The Emperor and the Knightess

When the young ladies and maids of the castle saw Poliana, they surrounded her excitedly.

“Have you returned to work then?”

“No, I am still on vacation.”

The maid obviously all wanted to know if the rumors were true, but none of them had the courage to ask outright. They just followed Poliana, who was on her way to the lady’s quarters. Her plan for today was as follows; visit Princess Luminae, then Tory, and then Stra. If she had some time left at the end, Poliana also wanted to visit Rebecca.

As the group got closer to the lady’s quarters, the maids became hesitant. They were becoming too far away from their workstations, and soon, they would have to return to their work. If they didn’t ask the question now, they might not get another chance!

While the maids contemplated, the head of the maids suddenly appeared. The women, when they spotted their boss, all walked away quickly. Poliana greeted the head of the maids, “Long time no see, Cekel… Lady Seki.”

“Just Cekel would be nice, Marquess.”

“Congratulations on your marriage, my lady.”

“Please, you don’t need to be so formal with me. I’m not a duchess yet.”

Cekel Seki, now the wife of Sir Ainno, replied calmly. Poliana studied her because she has been worried about Cekel for a while. Cekel was forced to marry Sir Ainno, who was a well-known jerk. Was Cekel unhappy?

But thankfully, Cekel looked perfectly content and Poliana was relieved.

“…”

Cekel remained quiet. She has always been a woman of few words, but Poliana could tell that there was something Cekel wanted to say. Poliana waited patiently and after a few minutes, Cekel finally sighed and said to her, “Good luck.”

“…thank you.”

Cekel knew what it felt like to be enthusiastically pursued by a man. Although most women saw Poliana with envy, Cekel was well aware of how it was not always a good thing to be loved, especially by a powerful man such as the emperor.

It has been a little over a year since Poliana last saw Princess Luminae. Poliana was surprised at how big the princess has grown.

Princess Luminae was beautiful in a different way than her father. While everything about Lucius the First reminded people of the sun, his golden hair, his pale skin, and his light eyes, the princess possessed a beautiful combination of light and dark. Her hair was jet black against her alabaster skin. Her eyes were dark maroon and all of her features resembled those of her father. Princess Luminae was no doubt the most adorable child in the kingdom.

The little girl’s eyes widened when she saw Poliana. Poliana saw the princess often when she was here, but it is likely that the baby could not remember those times. Poliana wasn’t bothered by the girl’s stare, but she still felt awkward because of the wet nurses and the nannies. The women were clearly curious about the rumors as well and Poliana couldn’t tell how they felt. Were they upset with her, or were they okay with the situation?

The most obvious answer was that they were unhappy. After all, Poliana slept with her dead best friend’s husband.

“Princess Luminae, I am Poliana Winter. It has been a long time since we last met.”

“No!”

‘No? She doesn’t like me?!’

Poliana staggered a little at the princess’s reaction. One of the maids helped Poliana stand up while the nannies explained, “M…marquess… The princess has been obsessed with the word ‘no’ lately…!”

“That’s right, Marquess! The princess didn’t mean anything by it. We didn’t tell her anything about you…”

“Yes! We only told her that she will be getting a new mother soon, so it is a good thing…”

Poliana replied, “It’s fine. I am more bothered by how hard you are trying to explain her reaction…” Poliana didn’t say a word, yet the nannies seemed unreasonably anxious. And they were telling the princess that she was getting a new mother? That Poliana was going to be her new mother?

This was not the right way to do this.

For now, without the empress and the emperor being single, Princess Luminae was the highest-ranking woman in the kingdom. It was clear that the women who were serving the princess needed to be trained better.

‘Should I point this out to them or not?’

If there weren’t any rumors about the emperor and herself, Poliana would’ve reprimanded them immediately, but at this moment, she was in an awkward position.

‘Do they think I will be marrying the emperor?’

The princess’s maids were looking at Poliana oddly and she couldn’t tell what they meant by it. However, the truth was that those serving the princess were not unhappy about Poliana marrying the emperor. Having Poliana as a mother would be better for the princess than some strange lady. On top of that, Poliana was a good friend of Lady Rebecca and the nannies have seen how affectionate Poliana was with the princess in the past.

Unfortunately, Poliana had no idea the women felt this way. She felt uncomfortable.

Princess Lumina suddenly grabbed Poliana’s sleeve again and yelled, “No!”

The little girl pointed at one of the nannies and repeated herself, “No!”

It seemed that the nannies were telling the truth. Apparently, the princess even said “no” to her father before, too. Poliana held the princess in her arms and listened to the maids about how Princess Luminae has been. After a few minutes, Poliana said to the baby, “Your highness, I will be leaving now.”

Princess Luminae screamed, “No!”

One of the nannies explained, “I think the princess doesn’t want you to leave. Her highness hates it when people leave her.”

“Hmm…”

Poliana looked at the princess’s bed. It was a large bed for such a little girl, but there was only a small room left on it due to the fact that it was filled with so many toys, handkerchiefs, and pillows.

Only

Poliana was certain of one thing.

‘Her Highness doesn’t like to let go of things.’

Her greed must’ve been from both her mother and her father the emperor.

Poliana gently pulled the princess’s hands away from her. Princess Luminae began to tear up, realizing Poliana was about to leave.

“Nooo. Poliii….”

“Yes, Princess. My name is indeed Poliana. I am not on duty at this point so I cannot stay long, but once I return, I will be here to protect you.”

Poliana gingerly unraveled the princess’s hands from her sleeve. Suddenly, she realized that she was treating the princess with more kindness than her own son, Gerald. Poliana has been feeling disappointed that she was missing out on watching the princess grow up, and now, it seemed that she was making the same mistake with Gerald.