The Emperor and the Knightess

Chapter 232

Poliana stared at the hand he offered before looking up at Sir Ainno. She asked in confusion, “What are you doing? What’s with the hand?”

“Wanna dance?”

“You? With me? Dance? You want us to dance together? Are you serious? But what about Lady Cekel… Oh.”

Because Lady Cekel was present at the party as Lady Tory’s maid, she was not allowed to leave her lady’s side. Of course, if she asked Lady Tory in advance for a day off, Cekel would’ve been able to attend the party as a guest today, but she instead volunteered to work on the emperor’s birthday. There were many maids dancing around on the dance floor, but Cekel watched from afar quietly. She asked to work today all because of Sir Ainno. Cekel knew that if she attended the party as a guest, she would be obliged to dance and converse with her unofficial fiancé.

Sir Ainno offered Poliana, “Why don’t I dance with you instead of being your groom’s best man? Would that be enough to get me out of my promise?”

“What are you talking about? You already offered, so I will not release you from your promise. Besides, it was you who offered without asking for my permission, not me.”

“At the time, I thought you would end up marrying someone else.”

“What? Who? Who would I marry?”

“It doesn’t matter now. Dammit…”

Sir Ainno looked obviously annoyed. It was clear he didn’t want to chat anymore. Poliana suggested, “Why don’t you dance with your mother?”

Duchess Seki, who was sitting next to Poliana, flinched and replied, “Oh, there is no need. I don’t want to dance with him, hahaha.”

Duchess Seki quickly escaped to her husband so she could avoid dancing with her son.

“…”

Poliana thought understandingly, ‘So I guess Sir Ainno is a jerk even to his own parents.’

She asked Sir Ainno, “Are you not in a good relationship with your parents…?”

“They told me they find me too intimidating because I am so perfect.”

‘More like you always act like a jerk…’

Poliana could understand how Sir Ainno’s parents must feel about their oldest son. It seemed that Sir Ainno never discussed his life decisions with his parents. For example, he decided to join the emperor on the conquest all on his own. Sir Ainno also announced to his parents about his marriage plan rather than talking about it with them. Obviously, Sir Ainno’s parents didn’t like their son very much, and Poliana wasn’t surprised.

“Hmm… Should I dance with you? Or not? Maybe? Maybe not?”

Poliana grinned at Sir Ainno and began to tease him. Meanwhile, the first song finally ended and Lucius the First returned to the seat with Lady Tory. He took Lady Stra’s hand for the next dance when he spotted Sir Ainno and Poliana together. The emperor asked, “What are you two doing? Is this some kind of a protest against me because I made you take a day off today?”

Stra giggled and explained to the emperor what the two knights were arguing about. Poliana reported to the emperor, “Sir Ainno was just telling me that he doesn’t want to stand as my groom’s best man at my wedding. He promised, and now he is trying to break his own words, your highness.”

Sir Ainno defended himself, “Your highness, I am sure you understand why I am trying to avoid being part of this.”

The two loyal knights, Poliana and Sir Ainno, both looked at the emperor, who announced firmly, “The best knight of our kingdom breaking his word? That can’t be. I will not allow it.”

“…”

Sir Ainno glared at his friend who just betrayed him. How dare he! Sir Ainno was only trying to help, yet it seemed that the emperor chose love over their friendship, and it was only one-sided love too!

Dammit!

Sir Ainno had no choice but to do as he was told.

Just then, several knights approached them and began to ask Poliana to dance. “Give me your hand, Sir Pol.”

“May I have this dance, Sir Pol?”

“How about me?”

“I have a lot of time too, Sir Pol. My wife sent me here to dance with you, Sir Poliana!”

Poliana didn’t understand what was happening, but she realized that this was her chance to tease Sir Ainno. Maybe all these knights were asking her to dance to save her from dancing with Sir Ainno the Jerk.

Sir Ainno muttered, “… you’re all going to regret this.”

He wanted to punch them all, but today was the emperor’s birthday. It would have been unacceptable for him to use violence on such a happy occasion. He was helpless in this situation, especially because he did not have a high rank. Among the highest ranking Acreian nobles, Sir Ainno was only one of many knights and nothing more. He regretted not accepting a dukedom of his own when the emperor offered him. Sir Ainno refused because he wanted to keep his freedom, but he realized that he made a mistake.

Poliana chose the first knight who approached her the quickest. The other knights didn’t seem disappointed at all. In fact, they all looked relieved. As long as it wasn’t Sir Ainno who got chosen, they didn’t care.

Lady Tory, who watched sympathetically, murmured to Cekel, “Lady Cekel.”

“Yes, my lady.”

“I will give you my permission to dance with Sir Ainno today. Just one dance.”

‘Dammit!’

Only

All the knights around them heard this and frowned in disappointment. Poliana frowned as well, annoyed at Sir Ainno’s grin. Cekel quickly and emphatically shook her head, “There is no need, Lady Tory. I would like to stay by your side for the rest of the party.”

“It’s ok, Lady Cekel. It looks like Sir Ainno has no one to dance with him. He obviously needs a dance partner, so I am asking you to do this. Just one dance. Go on and enjoy it.”

‘Dammit.’

Poliana and her dance partner walked to the dance floor in disappointment. A quick and upbeat music began to play, but they didn’t feel happy. At least, Poliana was glad that she could finally show everyone that she could dance properly in a dress. She was not an overly skilled dancer, but her steps were calculated and accurate; she was a soldier, after all. Because her partner was also a knight, his steps were also very measured. For some reason, they made good dance partners.

Poliana made sure to avoid looking at Sir Ainno and Cekel dancing together because she didn’t want to see Sir Ainno’s satisfied grin. If she saw his smug expression, Poliana knew her blood pressure would go up uncontrollably from anger. This was not fair at all. She was going to refuse his offer to dance with her, leaving him all alone without a partner, but as usual, Sir Ainno got more than he deserved. He got to dance with the woman he loved.

Sir Ainno was handsome, talented, and came from a rich powerful family. And now, it seemed that he was going to get the woman of his dreams.

Yes, this world was not a fair place.