The Emperor and the Knightess

Chapter 254

It was rumored that things were going well between Sir Ainno and Cekel. They became closer thanks to frequent conversations. Both Sir Ainno and Cekel’s marriage and Poliana and Frau’s marriage involved two people whose social statuses did not match. However, people laughed when they talked about Poliana’s wedding while they found Cekel and Sir Ainno’s union very romantic. Women, especially, talked about it with dreamy eyes.

Sir Ainno’s parents, Duke and Duchess Seki, knew they had no influence over their first-born son, so they didn’t bother objecting or voicing any kind of opinion. They approved the marriage without a word and Cekel’s parents also did the same. Their marriage was blessed by everyone in the kingdom.

Lucius the First thought in annoyance, ‘He is such a jerk.’

The happiness Sir Ainno enjoyed right now should’ve been Poliana’s. It was her love luck, not his. It was only a superstition, but the emperor firmly believed that this was why Poliana’s love life didn’t work out. Lucius the First was a superstitious man, after all, and Poliana’s current situation was the worst. There were plenty of decent men in this world, so why did Poliana have to be fooled by the worst man possible? The more he thought about it, the angrier Lucius the First became.

The emperor also felt sad for Poliana. His sadness showed on his face, but Poliana mistook it as sorrow for losing his three wives, and it sounded like his best friend Sir Ainno was no help at all. Although he was the emperor, Lucius the First was still a man who got lonely. Poliana felt sympathetic towards him and in the end, she nodded.

‘I mean, he won’t go too far, right? He probably just wants to go hunting in the nearby forest…’

Lucius the First knew how important he was. Poliana believed that he would never put himself in danger on purpose. The emperor smiled awkwardly when Poliana agreed to go on a picnic with him. Suddenly, Poliana realized that there was something more to this outing.

“Your highness… a-are you planning to do an overnight trip?”

“Hahaha! I love how quick and smart you are, Sir Pol. I will have all the preparation done, so all you have to do is show up. See you later!”

Poliana yelled after him, but Lucius the First ran away laughing.

What was her emperor planning?

***

The next day, the emperor and Poliana were ready to leave. The high ranking government officials became worried about this unexpected trip. After all, Lucius the First had a history of secretly moving the capital city without telling his own government.

The men begged Poliana, “Marquess Winter, if you find out that he is planning to move the capital again, you need to stop him. You need to do whatever is necessary. If you need to tie him down with a rope, just do it.”

Poliana snorted, “What are you talking about? It has only been a few years since he moved the capital to Yapa, so why would he move it again? Don’t be so ridiculous!”

“But he has done this before! He might do it again!”

“It’s just you people who didn’t know about his plan! At the time, those very close to the emperor knew about his plan to move the capital. We’ve known about it for years actually.”

The men’s eyes widened in shock. They could not believe what they just heard; all of them felt hurt.

“What! You knew! And others too! But why not us!”

Poliana could see the men’s eyes tearing up, so she quickly ran away.

‘Why do people say women cry a lot? It’s the men sometimes who can be much more emotional.’

The emperor and Poliana rode their horses. Because Lucius the First did not tell Poliana where they were going, Poliana followed without a word. Her recent injury wasn’t too serious, so she didn’t have any problem riding.

Poliana grumbled, “You should’ve brought more guards for your protection, your highness…”

She learned that morning that the rumor was true, Sir Ainno was indeed so distracted by his love life that he didn’t seem to care at all about the fact that the emperor was going on a trip with only one knight. Normally, Sir Ainno would’ve insisted on accompanying them, but this time, he didn’t look interested. He just waved at them, which shocked Poliana.

‘This is so strange… Something doesn’t feel right.’

Why did Sir Ainno look at her so oddly? He was looking at her like she was a prey about to be caught. Poliana couldn’t understand. It wasn’t like the emperor was going to sell her off as a slave somewhere. So why was Sir Ainno looking at her like that?

The emperor replied confidently, “I’m going to be fine, Sir Pol. I am very strong, you know. I am actually more worried about you, Sir Pol. How is your injury? Does it hurt to ride?”

“My bone didn’t get injured, so I’m fine, your highness. I just have to keep the wound clean so it doesn’t get inflamed. By the way, Sir Bentier is still in prison, right? So, who is in control while you’re absent, your highness?”

The emperor didn’t tell Poliana how long their trip was going to be either. She guessed that it was going to be at least an overnight trip, and it was very possible that it could be several days before they returned home.

So if the chancellor and the emperor were missing… Who was going to rule the kingdom?

Lucius the First smiled happily, “Oh, I have a wonderful cousin named Duke Luzo.”

“…”

Poor Duke Luzo. Poliana prayed for the poor man, who was going to be overworking again for a while.

The emperor rode fast even though he knew Poliana was recently injured. They have a history of crossing the continent, so this felt easy for both of them. Besides, there weren’t any battles they had to win on their way, so both Poliana and Lucius the First felt relaxed.

Poliana asked, “Your highness, just where are we going?”

She could tell that the emperor had a clear destination in mind. The fact that she didn’t made it frustrating. It was definitely not Nanaba. They definitely weren’t going to Duke Luzo’s castle. No matter how hard she studied the map, Poliana couldn’t figure it out.

Only

Just then, she saw a familiar name on the map.

Duke Sneke’s land.

‘It can’t be this place…’

But it was. Thinking it was finally time to tell her, Lucius the First told her, “We are going to the Duke Sneke’s land.”

“Is there a very rare animal you want to hunt in the area? Or is there something fun to watch there…?”

“Yes, I guess it’s both. I need to hunt down something there and I also want you to see something.”

Lucius the First wanted to hunt down the gold digger and he wanted Poliana to witness the fact that she was marrying a fraud. The emperor technically did not lie, but he let Poliana misunderstand. Poliana thought that they were going into a forest to hunt, but this wasn’t the case. The emperor was going to hunt down Frau Sneke and he wanted Poliana to see the truth. Poliana, ignorant of what was going to happen, looked excited.