The Emperor and the Knightess

Chapter 112

By the time Poliana returned to the lady’s quarters, Vaxi and Vanessa were both in their pajamas and chatting with each other. When they saw Poliana come in, they both apologized to her for their mother’s mistake. Poliana bowed to them and explained to them that it was ok since Lady Bika already apologized to her.

“Our mother is just very worried about us. That’s all, Sir Poliana.”

“That’s right, Sir Poliana. She is very worried because we still aren’t married yet and we are getting old now.”

Even though Sir Rabi has been away for a long time, the girls have been getting many marriage offers. Their grandfather, Sir Rabi Senior, was still alive and well and therefore could have arranged good marriages for the twins, but apparently, Sir Rabi insisted that he would be the one picking out their husbands. This was why the sisters had to wait this long.

Noble ladies get married at an early age. Some even had a marriage arranged when they were only one year old, though it was very rare. Usually, girls became engaged after their first period and within 2 years, a wedding would take place.

On the other hand, considerably, any man could get married no matter how old they were. In some cases, some men in their 50’s married teenage girls.

So for the Rabi twins to be still unmarried at the age of 20 was a surprise. One saving grace for them, however, was the fact that the Rabi family was wealthy and powerful, and Sir Rabi returned a hero. In fact, other noble ladies praised Lady Bika for waiting because now that men have returned from the war, there were many more and better options for the girls.

The twins then stated, “We are so lucky to have such caring parents.”

“That’s right. We are very fortunate.”

“We are so happy.”

“Very happy indeed.”

The ladies in their pajamas held each other’s’ hands. They looked so lovely, but there was a hint of bitterness in them. Even throughout the dinner, Poliana could see that they weren’t perfectly happy about their lives as women, but nonetheless, the girls seemed content. After all, they grew up in a loving family. Everyone around them wanted their happiness. Sure, they were forced into a path that was set for them and they were powerless to change it, but they knew their lives would be peaceful and comfortable. That was why the twins could smile.

Of course, they still wanted more from their lives.

The sisters asked Poliana, “When we heard about you from our father’s letters, we were so surprised.”

“That’s right! We thought all the stories about you were just false rumors.”

“A female knight! We never thought it was possible until we heard about you.”

“We heard that in some kingdoms, like Acreia, a woman can even inherit the family name and their wealth! Is that true?”

“Yes. Aehas, Mongsheim, and other few southern kingdoms used to allow it.”

Poliana made sure to emphasize the past tense. As long as Acreia ruled the world, every kingdom was going to follow the Acreian law. There were a few minor villages in the southern-most region that kept their own customs, but the majority of the continent was now under the Acreian law.

Poliana continued, “But even in the past, there weren’t that many knightesses. During this war, I was the only one, I think.”

Some knightesses other than Poliana existed, but all of them held a symbolic knighthood. They were honorary knights, not like Poliana who fought alongside her men in real battles.

Poliana was a rarity indeed. Did this mean Poliana was unlucky? Or was she lucky?

She supposed that she considered herself fortunate because she survived. She was victorious and she received a great reward. It was not an easy journey by any means, but it was all worth it.

Poliana added, “And there won’t be any more knightess in the future since, in Acreia, we do not have a concept of a knightess. It’s simply not allowed.”

“But Sir Poliana, you have been acknowledged by the emperor himself as a knightess!”

“We heard that you will be rewarded with a title and lands, father told us so.”

Poliana nodded because it was the truth. The emperor wouldn’t lie to her, so she knew she would be richly rewarded.

“I am an exception, Ladies.”

The twins looked at her curiously. They had the exact same expression on their round faces, and they looked adorable. Poliana contemplated how to explain it. She had no intention of bragging to these young naïve ladies, in fact, she tried to downplay her situation as much as possible.

“His highness will probably let me be an exception. An emperor must abide by the law just like everyone else, but since he is the one and only ruler who was able to unite the continent, I think he probably has the power to make an exception for me.”

Poliana expected that there will be many occasions when the emperor makes exceptions to various situations to his advantage. He confided in her once that he hoped to anger and frustrate the elders with his innovative ideas.

Poliana knew she was very lucky to have met the emperor during the war. Her knighthood was only possible because its possibility appeared during such confusion and an unruly time. Now that the war was over and the continent found its peace, there will no longer be such shocking exceptions.

Those soldiers who wanted to make it big in this world needed two things; the right timing and the right person to notice and recognize them. Unfortunately for those people, their timing was off. Everything was stabilizing, and it seemed unlikely that there would be any more major wars for a very long time.

This meant that there will be no more knightesses…

Poliana asked the girls, “Are you ladies telling me that you wanted to become knights?”

“No.”

“No, no way! Our mother would die if she heard something like that!”

“That’s right! Our mother would faint from the shock!”

“And our grandmother would fall ill.”

Vaxi and Vanessa looked at each other and grinned as if they found something very funny. They then turned towards Poliana and added, “We are good daughters. We will get married to whoever our father chooses. We will spend our lives supporting and taking care of our husbands.”

Only

“Yes, we will live a quiet peaceful life. We hope our husbands would just be like our father.”

“And of course, the more children we bear, the better. We need to have sons for sure.”

“Oh my, I hated the time before Bardo was born! Our grandparents used to not even look at us because they were so disappointed!”

“That’s right! We need to make sure we bear sons so our daughters would never feel the sadness we had to endure.”

The twins laughed, but then, they flinched as they realized that the window was open. They quickly closed it and remained quiet. It was considered shameful if a loud noise was heard from the lady’s quarters.

Vaxi and Vanessa each retired to their bedrooms, and Poliana also went to bed soon after.

Something didn’t feel right to Poliana, but it was none of her business. This wasn’t her family, so she had no right to voice her concerns.