Story 11. Improvement.Chapter 95
Lucius the First and his men reached the Acreian border without any incident. The Acreian people were gathered together to greet their victorious emperor. The welcoming ceremony continued all the way from the border to the capital Nanaba where the royal castle was located. The Acreian people were so proud of their ruler, they cheered and threw flowers at his army too.
The emperor"s power was proportional to his soaring popularity among his people. Lucius the First allowed many of the soldiers to skip this ceremony so they could return to their own hometown as soon as possible. Only those who lived near the capital followed him to the castle. Some soldiers, who lived far away, wanted to follow the emperor so they could enjoy being cheered by the people of the capital, but they were satisfied with the welcome they received from their own villages.
Women came out to search for their husbands, sons, grandsons, brothers, and fathers. Babies and young children cried when their unfamiliar fathers held them. Everyone else was smiling and laughing.
"Sir Rabi, you may lead us at the front."
"Thank you, your highness. I am truly honored."
Before they reached Nanaba, Lucius the First and his knights stopped by a nearby village and discussed the matter of a specific arrangement for their victory march into the capital. Usually, a war began with a march out of the castle and ended with a march back into the capital but for this particular war, Lucius the First decided to skip the extravagant march out of the capital because he was planning a surprise attack. They did, however, have a small and quiet ceremony inside the Nanaba castle. At the time, Sir Rabi led the way, and this time, he was given the same privilege again. It was a huge honor to be allowed to lead both ceremonies.
This was the emperor"s way of appeasing Sir Rabi. Sir Rabi should have been given the position of deputy demander instead of Sir Bentier, but Sir Bentier had the support of the elders.
Everyone understood this, so no one protested over the emperor"s decision to have Sir Rabi lead the way. Sir Bentier was to follow next.
After all the major officers" positions were decided, it was Lucius the First"s turn. The knights a.s.sumed that their emperor would be placed in the middle of the march, but to their shock, Lucius the First insisted on being the last one to enter the castle.
His men protested, claiming it was too dangerous. His personal guard Poliana was the loudest in her protest.
"This is too dangerous, your highness!"
No one would dare to attack the emperor in his own castle, but the world was full of unexpected dangers. What if one or more of the citizens came for him in excitement? It was very possible to be killed by a crowd unintentionally. In their history, one king had died when the happy crowd swarmed him in excitement.
Humans were fragile, they could die at any time.
But Lucius the First was adamant.
"You have all followed me from behind, so it is now my chance to stand behind all of you. This will be my only opportunity in my life, so please, let me do this."
The men felt grateful for their emperor"s generosity, but they still couldn"t accept his proposal.
"It"s still too dangerous, your highness."
In the end, they decided to compromise. The protection division was placed at the end of the march, and the emperor would ride in safety in the middle of the guards. Lucius the First wasn"t completely satisfied, but he had no choice.
After the meeting, the knights ran out to get to the dining room. There, the tables were set with abundant food and drinks!
Before Poliana could enter the dining room too, someone called her name from behind. She turned around to find Sir Bentier.
"Sir Poliana, do you have some time you can spare?"
"Of course."
Sir Bentier was responsible for communicating with Duke Luzo regarding the specifics of this upcoming ceremony. Poliana wondered, "Is there something the protection division needs to do for the march?"
Poliana and Sir Bentier weren"t close. They saw each other often enough, but she found it hard to befriend him like she did with Sirs Rabi, Baufallo, and Mahogal. When Sir Bentier asked to speak to her, she knew immediately that it had to do with work, Probably something official.
And she was right.
"I would like to ask you to behave yourself when you are in Nanaba. You need to act accordingly and appropriately."
Appropriately… She remembered Sir Ainno asking her to look appropriate for her position as the emperor"s guard. Sir Baufallo also told her to act appropriately as a knight.
There were countless times when she was told to behave appropriately as a woman.
"What do you mean by that, Sir Bentier?"
"I mean as the head of the guard division."
Sir Bentier explained it carefully. Many of the elders and high-ranking officials disapproved of Lucius the First ever since he became the emperor. Because the former emperor died at a young age, Lucius the First never had a lot of time to grow his own power when he took the throne. It was a very shaky relations.h.i.+p to begin with when Lucius the First announced that he was going to set out to conquer the continent. The elders were inflexibly against it, but the emperor went ahead with his plan anyway. This caused their relations.h.i.+p to be even more fragile.
It was commonly known that while the emperor was away, the elders wanted Duke Luzo to take the throne for himself. Of course, now, they had no choice but to accept Lucius the First as the returning emperor.
But…
Sir Bentier continued, "As you must know, Sir Poliana, old people can be very stubborn about the strangest thing. My grandfather is like that for one."
Sir Bentier was the heir to one of the most well-known Acreian n.o.ble families. Marquis Seeze was his grandfather.
Trinta Seeze.
He was a 70-year-old man who had the greatest political power in Acreia. The Seeze family could be the biggest threat to the emperor. Sir Bentier entered this war and followed Lucius the First because his grandfather ordered it. Sir Bentier was the direct heir to the family even though his father and his uncles were still alive and well. It was because his grandfather favored Sir Bentier the most.
Sir Bentier himself had a mixed feeling for his grandfather. It was a complicated love and hate relations.h.i.+p.
His grandfather ordered him to hinder the emperor as much as possible, but instead, Sir Bentier did his best to maintain a neutral position. In the end, however, Sir Bentier realized that he needed to make a definitive decision and it was an easy one.
He needed to choose Lucius the First. It was the only choice.
The elders and powerful n.o.bles were frantic to find a way to undermine the emperor, and the most obvious and easiest means for them to do so was to use Poliana.
A female knight.
A knightess as the head of the emperor"s personal protection division.
It was going to be the first thing that the elders would make a fuss about.
Poliana didn"t care if they harmed her in any way, but she could not allow anyone to badmouth her emperor. Normally, she would find whoever insulted the emperor and kill him, but in this case… If that person was a part of the very important elders... a marquis?
In this case, it was best for her to avoid it at all costs.
"It has been a while…"
It has indeed been a very long time since she was going to face some people who wanted to insult her for being a woman. Poliana had been too relaxed until now because she was surrounded by a good emperor, good knights, and good soldiers. She turned soft, and it was time to harden herself again.
Sir Bentier added, "It"s not that I don"t trust you, Sir Poliana. We fought the war together and I would trust you with my life. However, this is going to be a different kind of war, the kind of a battle that you are not familiar with."
Poliana hated going to a battle without being prepared, however, she grinned because she knew she would survive.
Sir Bentier offered his hand first and she shook it. They fought together side to side for the past 10 years. They were on the same team.