The Emperor and the Knightess

Chapter 17

Poliana has always been ignored.

Always.

Because she was a woman, there were many times when she was treated worse than the enemy by her own side.

This didn’t mean she didn’t do anything about it. This was beyond just personal, it was against the written and the unspoken rules of any military group. No matter what others said, she was a knight and a military officer, and now, she was being watched by everyone. She needed to make her strength show.

When she was a platoon leader, her men followed her because they knew this. They called her a witch and they hated her, but they had to follow her orders or else, they were going to be beaten by her.

When she took over the position of Sir Baufallo’s aide, she would have to see Donau more frequently.

‘It’s time to teach him some manners.’

When the personal helps liked their knights, they would hang around them constantly. In this case, Donau worked for his own father, which meant that Donau was going to be around her A LOT. On top of that, Donau thought very highly of himself because he did a lot of the work his older brother Sir Howe was supposed to do.

A personal help or the son of a knight was usually treated poorly by everyone, but because Donau came with his father as HIS help, the other knights were unusually kind to him.

Because the base was filled mostly with young knights, not many of them had personal aides. This meant that there weren’t many other personal aides older than Donau who could put him in his place.

Donau had no manners, but it wasn’t enough of a reason to beat him up. He also mostly ignored her but hasn’t technically outright disrespected her yet, so she was in an awkward position.

And most of all, Donau was Sir Baufallo’s own son. Her superior’s child. Blood was certainly thicker than water.

Finally came the day when Sir Howe’s work was done. He laughed like a madman and left, leaving the supply unit headquarters’ tent with Sir Baufallo, Sir Poliana, another knight, and Donau in it. When Sir Baufallo and the other knight left for a meeting in command, they left her with Donau.

As soon as they left, Donau sat on a chair rudely without asking for her permission.

‘What should I do… Should I beat him up good?’

A 15-year-old teenager was sitting there with his legs up. Poliana felt a sudden urge to break both of his legs.

Poliana ignored him and worked on her reports. When Donau flicked the paper on her table, she warned him quietly.

“Don’t touch that.”

“I work on these all the time, so why do you care? Do you even know how to read?”

Donau laughed at her, and again, Poliana warned him quietly. “These are official military documents. You have no right to read them, so return to your place, Donau.”

“Don’t you dare order me around! A woman, who bleeds between her legs holding a sword?! Ha! You should just go back home and work in the kitchen where you belong!”

Disobeying a knight’s direct order and talking back this way? This was enough for her to reprimand him, but she stopped as Sir Baufallo walked into the tent.

Donau jumped off the chair immediately and stood straight. “Hello, Father!”

“Address me properly, Donau.”

“Welcome back, Sir.”

Poliana also stood up and saluted. Donau, being a good help, took his father’s coat and his sword. He also grabbed his father a bowl of water and a towel to wash up.

Sir Baufallo patted Donau’s head as a habit. He acted indifferently, but from time to time, his love for his son was obvious through his meaningless gestures.

Suddenly, Poliana felt envious.

Donau came to war with his own father. He was the lowest of rank in the base, but because of his noble birth and his father’s status, no one ignored or mistreated him. His older brother was also a knight, so the others treated him kindly. Among all the personal helps in the base, Donau was at the top of the food chain.

And most of all, thanks to their kind and rather an ethical emperor, Donau never had to know how it felt to be sodomized by his superior.

Donau was a rather pretty-looking boy. Poliana remembered Sir Batre, who used to rape both boys and girls who came as new recruits to his unit. When he was killed during the Acreian military’s conquest, Sir Batre’s body was sent back to his home as a show of respect and honor to a fallen soldier. But the rumor had it that during his funeral, an unknown somebody stabbed his anus with a spear and ran away.

Some believed it was false, but Poliana couldn’t herself but nod. The details made too much sense.

Karma’s a b*tch.

Poliana couldn’t do what she wanted to Donau because of Sir Baufallo. She felt frustrated and envious at Donau at the same time.

Sir Baufallo acted awkwardly around her, who now was his aide in place of his older son. He was still very professional around her, especially compared to all the other knights so Poliana felt thankful about it.

Except for the fact that he had such a brat of a son.

Sir Baufallo asked her, “How long do you think it will take to reach our goal?”

“If we receive the planned supplies from Aehas and Kukda, we should be able to reach it by the end of this month.”

“Hmm… and anything else? Anything we are lacking?”

“Not according to the reports we received, Sir.”

“When I was walking around, I noticed that we may need more uniforms for the soldiers.”

“The winter will be over soon. If we mend the existing uniforms and get a few more made from the nearby towns, we should be able to survive the rest of the season. The town of Lotto, which is located nearby, happens to produce fabrics, so if we can grab the unused stocks from there, we can dye it ourselves and use it.”

“Good. Take care of it.”

“Yes, sir. And as for the cotton needed to create a layer for warmth under one’s clothes, Acreia produces the best ones so we will wait until the harvest is over. It shouldn’t be long, we would have it most likely before the end of winter.”

“We don’t need winter uniforms.”

Poliana was sick of these Acreian men claiming how much colder Acreia was. Just because they came from the northern region, the Acreian soldiers thought so little of the Aehasian winter.

Poliana thought secretly, ‘Aehas’ winter is pretty cold too, you jerk.’

Perhaps the best thing for her own good was to not say anything in this situation, but Poliana’s responsible nature wouldn’t let her remain quiet. They could lose their limbs if their soldier suffers a severe case of frostbites. The regions near the Koemong River were going to be even colder. It didn’t rain much there, but starting in the late autumn, those areas would be covered in ice.

Well-insulated winter uniforms were a must.

“It may not be as cold as Acreia here, but it will be freezing near the river, sir,” Poliana said politely.

“I didn’t mean it like that. I meant that we will be heading down in the spring.”

Poliana’s mouth suddenly felt dry. She became confused. “S-spring, sir?”

“Yes, that is what the emperor wants.”

She couldn’t understand and she couldn’t help but swallow audibly. If they were heading down in the spring, it meant that they were going to battle in spring as well. All of their wars occurred during winters, and the other three seasons were for farming and rest. It has always been this way.

The majority of the foot soldiers were commoners. They needed to farm during the spring, summer, and fall. If they didn’t, the land would go to waste.

Winter was for war, spring was for planning, summer was for growing the crops, and fall would be the time for harvest. All of their battles would continue during the winter.

Only

They cannot toil their lands if they were to fight during the spring. Without farms, there would be no food, and without food, their people would die or worse, they would get rebellious.

This couldn’t happen.

“This can’t be! If we do this, we will not get enough food from our harvest!” Poliana exclaimed.

“That won’t happen.”

“How?”

“All of the Acreian soldiers’ sole occupation is being soldiers. None are being drafted.”

This was a piece of shocking and meaningful news to Poliana. She still had difficulty accepting the idea of war in spring, but she remained quiet. All their soldiers were PAID as such instead of drafting farmers and forcing them to fight?

She needed time to digest this news.