The Emperor and the Knightess

Chapter 210

‘Of all people, I should’ve trusted her…’

Even Lucius the First acknowledged that Lady Tory was an unusually intelligent woman. If Lady Tory was trying to fool Poliana and sneak sensitive information out of her, she wouldn’t have asked this openly. And even if Lady Tory was trying to gather information, she would’ve made sure to only ask the questions Poliana could answer anyway. Poliana felt foolish for being suspicious of Lady Tory.

After a short question and answer period, Tory smiled shyly and said to her, “Thank you so much for explaining things to me so kindly, Marquess Winter. I had no one else to ask these kinds of questions and I have been dying of curiosity.”

“I think reading a few books might help you even more to understand these topics than just me explaining it to you, Lady Tory. Would you like me to recommend a few books to you?”

“No, that’s ok. If I had those kinds of books, my maids would notice them. They will nag me for reading on my breaks.”

The bookshelves in a lady’s room needed to be filled with novels and fashion books. If there were anything more serious, people would disapprove. Poliana understood why Lady Tory could not ask anyone about these things.

Lady Tory was surrounded by other noble ladies just like her. If she asked one of her male relatives, they would be reprimanded. If she asked her maids to find her the books Poliana recommended, they would protest, telling her that proper ladies would never read such books.

And of course, a proper lady was also not allowed to go to the library herself to find these books.

Lady Tory asked Poliana, “If you don’t mind, would it be ok for me to continue asking you these kinds of questions in the future?”

“Of course, Lady Tory.”

“Thank you so much.”

Tory laughed with clear joy. It wasn’t even a big favor she was asking, yet Lady Tory seemed so grateful and happy. Poliana felt a little embarrassed, and with an awkward expression, she asked, “Well, would you mind if I asked you a question too, Lady Tory?”

“Of course. What would you like to ask, Marquess?”

“How do you plan an Acreian wedding?”

“A wedding? Why would you need to know about planning a wedding…? That is… Oh my god!”

Tory gasped in shock as Poliana looked at her seriously.

***

The truth was, Poliana Winter proposed to Frau Sneke, and her decision came from her desperate loneliness. Frau was the one who was most surprised about her proposal. He acted as if Poliana declared that she was going to kill him. Well, certain marriages could be like a death sentence, but perhaps it was an understandable reaction.

“M-m-m-m-Marquess?”

“Since you want to marry me for my money, I will let you use all the money you want. I wouldn’t even mind if you overspend like you are a king.”

Frau gaped in shock. It looked like he wouldn’t even notice if a fly flew into his mouth. He asked, “Do you really mean that?”

“Yes, I do. I will never be able to find a man with a higher status than me, and even if there is such a man, he would never agree to marry me. Besides, all men are pretty much the same and since I don’t want a young boy as my husband, you will do, Frau. If you don’t want me, however, just let me know.”

“N-no! Not at all! I will marry you, Marquess Winter!”

“Alright. The next time we meet, make sure to bring your side of the engagement documents. Oh, wait, we can’t get engaged or married right now.”

Due to the recent royal death, no noble could get officially engaged or married for a year. Poliana was planning on being engaged for a year before her marriage, but she decided to ignore this tradition.

She announced, “Well, I guess we’ll just get engaged verbally. It won’t be official or legal, but it doesn’t matter. Let’s call today our engagement day and a year from now, we will get married. Are you ok with that?”

“Yes, of course!”

“Good! We will then have a whole year to come up with a perfect marriage contract.”

This was how her marriage was decided and planned. Considering how a marriage was one of the most important events in one’s life, there was no doubt that Poliana made this decision too spontaneously. Poliana, however, thought that a marriage would not take too much importance in her own life. She was not like the other women after all.

Unlike the other ladies, whose lives depended heavily on who they married, Poliana had a career, a powerful family name, high noble status, and lands. It was more likely that Frau’s life would change by marrying Poliana, not the other way around.

For the rest of his life, Frau would be called a gold digger.

A man who married for money.

A man who gave up his own family name to marry a woman wealthier and more powerful than him.

It was Poliana who proposed to him, yet she refused to see Frau during the month of her self-punishment. This meant that today was going to be the first time she meets him since their proposal. Poliana planned on discussing their marriage contract with him in detail.

Lady Tory, Lady Stra, and Poliana sat in Lady Stra’s reception room together. Poliana initially planned on telling only Lady Tory about her marriage plan, but Lady Tory called for Lady Stra to join them. Both ladies looked very concerned and serious; even the maids around them looked shocked and worried about her, too.

Lady Tory said to Poliana, “Marquess… To marry just because you are lonely… You can’t make such an important decision so rashly.”

“Marriage isn’t that important to me, Lady Tory. This is for convenience, no one will ever be able to fault me for not getting married.”

Only

“Then why not marry a handsome young man?”

“I can’t marry someone younger than me; young men all look like babies to me.”

“Please, Marquess… Please reconsider. If Rebecca was here, she would’ve fainted.”

Lady Tory and Lady Stra wished they fainted easily like Rebecca used to. Poliana frowned at them unhappily and announced, “Frau is a good man. I don’t see why this is such a problem.”

‘That’s not the problem!’

Lady Tory was about to scream but stopped herself. She inhaled deeply to calm herself while Lady Stra replied, “Well, I guess we are ok with it as long as you are happy, Marquess, but… do you really think his highness will allow this?”

“Pardon?”