The Emperor and the Knightess

The letter Rebecca sent to Poliana contained slightly different messages than those sent to Tory and Stra.

“I want to ask you to take care of my child, but I won’t. You should not try to take responsibility for anyone else except yourself. Be greedier and happier. That is all I ask of you.”

Poliana never expected even her dead friend to force happiness on her. She looked at the letter quietly. It felt as if Rebecca was whispering the words in her ear.

Poliana’s eyes teared up so she quickly wiped them with her sleeves. Tory handed her a handkerchief without a word. Reading Rebecca’s letter before her own wedding to Lucius the First… Poliana felt strange. She looked up and finally asked the question that has been bothering her.

“Is it really okay for me to marry his highness?”

Stra wiped away her own tears and replied, “Of course! If Rebecca was alive, she would’ve been happy for you!” Again, hearing these words from the ex-wife of her future husband… This was truly a strange situation for Poliana.

Tory added firmly, “Marquess Winter, just as Rebecca’s letter says, you should not be so concerned for others. All you need to think about is yourself. There isn’t even a need for you to promise to be a good mother to Princess Luminae.”

Looking straight into Poliana’s eyes, Tory continued clearly, “No one will blame you for anything. No one will criticize you. No one has the right to judge you.” With a smile, Tory added, “So please don’t feel bad for us or Rebecca just because you are marrying the emperor.”

How could she not!

Poliana sighed deeply and replied, “Thank you.”

<hr />

Poliana was alone and back at her desk. It was time for her to open the letters from her previous superiors. She sat up straight and opened the envelopes. The first one was from the Viceroy Sir Rabi.

His letter contained calm words. He stated that he would support her and even congratulate her if she chooses to marry the emperor. He emphasized that marrying the emperor would be the right choice. As she read the letter, Poliana felt like she was finally coming home. It was hard to explain, but it just felt… welcoming. As a skilled strategist, Sir Rabi also advised never to tell the public how the prince was conceived as an accident. He suggested telling everyone that her marriage to the emperor was a political one.

“Hmm.”

Poliana put Viceroy Bika’s letter back into the envelope. Now, it was time to read the letter from Sir Baufallo.

“…”

Poliana groaned after reading the first sentence, which stated how Sir Baufallo could not believe what she did. He reprimanded her for the next little while but ended with the following.

“But since you now have a child, I guess it can’t be helped. Congratulations.”

Poliana tried to figure out what must’ve happened in the south. She guessed that Sir Donau did not tell her old superiors that Lucius the First was in love with Poliana. Even so, the two men congratulated her, which told her they cared about her deeply. Poliana felt touched.

‘Even if they hear the rumor that the emperor is in love with me, they probably won’t believe it for a long time.’

Finally, Poliana finished reading the dreaded letters and stretched her body to relieve her tensed muscles.

Rebecca’s message from the grave and the reprimanding letters from her old bosses… Within a very short amount of time, Poliana felt immense stress. At a time like this, she knew the best thing was to move her body.

Poliana searched for Lucius the First. She was going to ask for a sword match.

The emperor, who succeeded in capturing Poliana’s heart, now had no excuse but to return to work. All the government workers protested angrily that his vacation was over.

So during the day time, Lucius the First worked like a dog, and during the evening and the night, he enjoyed his time with Poliana. Whenever he got a chance, he sparred with Poliana, which now was one of his favorite pastimes.

The other knights avoided sparring Poliana at all cost, knowing that she was going to become the next empress. Besides, if they caused even the smallest cut on her body, the knights knew they would be hounded by the maids who were responsible for Poliana’s skincare.

The only knight who didn’t care and was willing to practice with Poliana was Sir Ainno, but Poliana herself refused. This man was merciless even when sparring with the emperor. Sir Ainno, from his own extravagant skin regimen, now boasted of the smoothest skin in preparation for the upcoming wedding. Yet, when Poliana sparred with him once, he was vicious as if he was trying his best to hurt her.

‘What a jerk.’

Sir Ainno was such an annoying man. Poliana used her tongue to touch the area where one of her molars was missing. A tooth specialist was currently hard at work to make a fake ivory tooth for Poliana. It would look unseemly for a bride to be missing a tooth on her wedding day.

Poliana remembered how Sir Donau never once used the denture the emperor gifted him. She suspected that after her wedding day, she would be doing the same thing.

‘People might complain that the empress of this kingdom is running around with a missing tooth, but it can’t be helped. Especially since it is the future duke who caused me to lose this tooth.’

This future duke was also the one who broke her nose in the past. Who knew the woman he was beating up was going to be the future empress of the entire continent? No one did.

The knightess from the foreign kingdom becoming the empress of Acreia… When Poliana thought of that cold winter day, her body shook. She was given the name “Winter” so that she would never forget that day.

“…”

Only

She used her tongue again to rub the gum where the molar should be.

<hr />

Lucius the First greeted Poliana happily. He was always so pleased to see her. His whole face lit up as soon as she walked in. Some of the scribes covered their lips to hide their smiles. Unfortunately, there was no time to spar at the moment, but the groom-to-be wanted to have a chat with his bride-to-be.

“…and therefore, I am planning on adjusting my mother’s ring so it could be your wedding ring. We will have to make it bigger.”

“That sounds good.”

“This ring isn’t very extravagant. Is that okay?”

If they wanted to make Poliana a new ring, it would take a very long time to make it properly. The first thing they would have to do is to find an appropriate stone. Lucius the First wanted the best, biggest, and the shiniest stone this continent could offer, but this was going to be a time-consuming task.

Many believed that instead of using the stone from one of the colonies, it would be more meaningful to use the ring used by the previous Acreian royal family. Thankfully, Lucius the First had just the thing. It was the ring his mother used.