The Emperor And The Knightess

Sir Ainno and Poliana"s eyes widened at their emperor"s firm words. This confirmed Sir Ainno"s suspicion; something was definitely going on with Lucius the First. Poliana simply thought that perhaps there was a topic her emperor wanted to discuss only with other men.

"Maybe his highness wants to talk about something dirty…"

Both Lucius the First and Sir Ainno were high-born young masters. Whatever dirty stories they wanted to share with each other… Poliana knew it wouldn"t compare to what she heard or even had to go through, but if she pointed this out to them, she knew that the two men would deny it and make her look like a dirty-minded woman. Poliana knew that if she pried, it would only embarra.s.s Lucius the First, so she decided against it.

She decided to let the men have their fun.

"Then, I will go drink with the other knights, your highness. Have a great evening."

"Wait, Sir Pol, please make sure you don"t drink too much. Actually, you shouldn"t drink at all. Just go to bed for tonight."

"Pardon?"

Poliana"s eyes widened as the emperor explained, "I really think you drink too much and too often, Sir Pol. We have a wonderful bathhouse with hot spring water, so why don"t you enjoy it before going to bed tonight. You are going to be the new owner of this castle, so it would be a great idea for you to explore every aspect of this place."

It sounded like Lucius the First really cared about her health. Poliana nodded in agreement. She left the wine and snacks and left the room.

The emperor sighed in relief. For tonight, he was able to stop her from drinking and spending too much time with other men.

Sir Ainno then asked, "Do you have something you want to tell me? Something that Sir Poliana shouldn"t hear?"

"No, it"s nothing like that, Inno. You go ahead and rest too."

"Your highness, please tell me what is bothering you. I will fix it."

Sir Ainno was serious about his offer. From his point of view, Sir Ainno couldn"t understand what the emperor could be worried about. All of his dreams came true. The continent was united, and the emperor didn"t lose any of his close men. None of the colonies were revolting and the people were throwing flowers at them and welcoming them with open arms.

But the emperor looked for forlorn as if he was all alone in this world. Was Lucius the First going through another p.u.b.erty?

"Inno, I"m fine."

"Your highness, I know you are not telling me the truth."

"I…"

Lucius the First rubbed his forehead. It was becoming even clearer that something was bothering him. He sighed deeply. Lucius the First knew that he couldn"t keep this secret from Sir Ainno for too long. In the end, the emperor said to his knight, "There is a woman I am interested in…"

"Who is she? I will bring her to you immediately."

The names and the families of all the women that were offered to the emperor were recorded in an official doc.u.ment. All Sir Ainno had to do was ask the servant for the name and the address, and he could get the lady tonight.

Lucius the First shook his head. "No, there is no need."

"Why not? You are feeling this way because of this woman!"

"It"s just a temporary and minor attraction. It will pa.s.s soon so there is no need for you to deal with it."

"If it was going to pa.s.s soon, you wouldn"t be here looking like this."

"… I suppose you are right, Inno."

Lucius the First smiled bitterly. Sir Ainno looked determined. It was clear that he wasn"t going to leave the room without finding out the truth.

"Your highness, please tell me about her! Where is she from? The reason you won"t tell me… Is it because this woman is married? Or is she too young? Too old? Is she widowed with a child? Is she a commoner?"

"No…"

It was all wrong. Sir Ainno became even more curious. What was the problem then?

"Your highness, then why do you hesitate? Bring that woman here and tell her how you feel. I am certain she would be delighted."

Sir Ainno was sure of it. His friend, the emperor, was beautiful and kind. He had a great body and most of all, he was the emperor of the whole continent. Who would dare to, or want to, deny such a man?

He supposed that a heart would want what a heart wants. Of course, not all women would fall immediately in love with the emperor, but who would deny themselves of such an honor of becoming the emperor"s woman? Love was not a requirement here.

On top of that, Lucius the First was unmarried. If this woman in question came from a decent family, there was a very good chance she could become the next empress.

This was especially possible because the emperor was clearly smitten with her. Sir Ainno had never seen Lucius the First act this way.

"Your highness, if this woman is a foreigner, I guess the elders back home may protest, but this could actually be a good thing. Having a foreigner as a wife could bring all of the colonies together as one. Your highness! What is it that worries you so much? Even if this woman is married, if we give her husband an appropriate compensation, we can make this work."

"Inno, a woman isn"t a property. We don"t buy women."

Sir Ainno became speechless. He knew women weren"t livestock, but they were certainly treated like one. Lucius the First was a kind and fair man, but Sir Ainno knew that the emperor wasn"t a naïve man. Lucius the First knew perfectly well how the world worked, so for him to say something like this… Suddenly, Sir Ainno realized the truth.

"Ah, are you in love, your highness?"

This couldn"t be just an interest. This young man was in love and that was why he looked so troubled.

Hearing it out loud from another person confirmed what Lucius the First feared.

Thump, thump.

His heart began to beat loudly again. Lucius the First closed his eyes and nodded.

"Yes, it"s love."

"So who is this woman? Where is she? If you are in love with this person, why would you take in a different woman every night? If you truly love this girl, then we need to bring her here immediately…"

"Just stop, Inno. It is only now that I have admitted this. I have been trying to ignore it and deny it… but it didn"t work."

"Deny love? Why would you do something so silly?"

Sir Ainno frowned. He knew Lucius the First could do almost anything if he placed his mind to it but still, there were things in this world that just couldn"t be done.

Love… Sir Ainno had never been in love, but even he knew that it couldn"t be stopped.

Why was the emperor trying so hard to ignore his feelings? It had to be because this woman was someone he couldn"t have. A married woman? A widow?

"Just who is it, your highness? Tell me!"

Lucius the First"s clear green eyes looked unsettled. He wasn"t used to worrying this much. He was at his limit. He needed to tell someone.

The emperor"s heart thumped excitedly, this would be the first time he admitted it to another person. He wasn"t confessing to her in person, but it certainly felt like a confession.

Finally, Lucius the First opened his mouth and said to his friend, "Poliana Winter."