The Emperor And The Knightess

It was usually a woman"s job in most families to pick gifts for family friends or neighbors. Among commoners, some clothes, fabrics, and foods were the most common type of gifts. For wealthy n.o.bles, they often hired a few craftsmen to create a special one-of-kind gift for their friends. Poliana had good gift ideas for men, but for a baby? She didn"t have a clue.

Poliana knew that high ranking n.o.bles like Sirs Rabi and Baufallo were going to get amazing gifts. As Marquess Winter, she had to get something incredible or her reputation was going to be damaged. She couldn"t send them mediocre gifts.

In addition, one of the fathers-to-be was her adopted brother. She was also very close to Sir Howe, which meant that their children were going to be like her nieces and nephews.

"Oh!"

She was going to be an aunt!

"I can"t believe it! Me, an aunt?!"

Poliana punched the wall next to her excitedly. Some of the maids who were standing nearby flinched in shock. Poliana didn"t realize this fact when she was reading the letters, but now, she felt thrilled at the prospect.

"Gyaaa!! Oh my G.o.d! Me! I"m going to be an aunt!"

She panted excitedly and thought to herself, "I guess this must be why people have children. They make people happy!"

There were children everywhere on the streets outside the castle. Poliana felt uncomfortable around children, but she still liked them. She knew that Vaxi, Vanessa, Donau, and Sir Howe"s children are going to be very special to her. She had to find great gifts to show that she cared.

Poliana asked anyone she could find about what gifts she should get. Her guards were useless; they just told her that they will go ask their mothers. Her colleagues were no help either; they told her they will go ask their wives. Poliana then grumbled, "Idiots."

But she was the same, she had no idea what she should get and that was why she was asking around.

In the end, she went to Lady Tory. Since the emperor decided to pick out his own gifts himself, Lady Tory wasn"t busy at all. Of the three wives, Poliana chose to ask Tory for good reasons. First, Stra just experienced phantom pregnancy so it was obviously a bad idea to ask for her opinion. Secondly, Poliana felt awkward around Rebecca because of her rant last night. Thirdly, Poliana believed that since Tory was from Acreia, she would know the custom and Vaxi and Vanessa"s tastes better.

Lady Tory was honored to be asked by Poliana because she thought Poliana was acknowledging her as the most influential wife of the emperor. Poliana didn"t mean this, but she didn"t correct Tory. Whatever made Lady Tory happy was good enough for Poliana.

Tory was a great help to Poliana. She suggested many ideas Poliana never even thought of. The first thing Tory recommended was sending something small right away to congratulate the couples since it would take a long time to make something custom.

And Tory smiled and said something that excited Poliana, "Also, it could be twins, right?"

"Twins! Oh, that"s right!"

T. W. I. N. S! Poliana almost screamed out of delight. Tory was right. Some families had generations of twins. Tory suggested that Poliana should send ten sets of something that babies could use for both mothers-to-be. Poliana loved this idea.

Tory explained, "Even if they don"t have twins, babies require many sets of the same things. And it"s important to send the same things to both of them so they don"t feel like you are favoring one or the other. This will mean a lot to the ladies especially."

"You mean Vaxi and Vanessa?"

"Yes, exactly. There are often huge differences between the gifts that are sent to the firstborn son and the second-born. Most likely, Sir Howe will generally get better gifts than Sir Donau. You are closer to the second-born son of the Ribo family, right? Considering that fact, it makes sense that you would send something nicer to Sir Donau, but… The wives of these gentlemen are twins and it will not do to show favoritism. It will upset the ladies for sure, so it is better to be safe."

Tory lowered her voice, drawing Poliana closer to the conversation. "And listen carefully. If they ended up having twin girls, can you imagine how upsetting that would be for them? So, Marquess Winter, you must send something that is gender-neutral. Exactly the same ten sets of gender-neutral baby items to both the ladies."

Twins were generally considered unlucky, especially if it was twin girls. Poliana was determined, however, that if anyone called her nieces "unlucky," she would teach these ignorant people a lesson they would never forget. She was going to be their aunt, which meant that she would protect them.

The babies weren"t even born yet but Poliana was already too thrilled. After writing down all of Lady Tory"s suggestions, Poliana was able to make an excellent list of gifts. She was satisfied; all she now had to do now was use her power and money to get these presents ready and send them down south.

Poliana bowed to Lady Tory. "Thank you so much."

When Poliana said that she didn"t know how to thank her for her huge help, Lady Tory smiled shyly and replied, "You are most welcome. I think it"s very important that we, the northerners, should stick together."

Tory meant well, but it would"ve been better not to say the last of her words. This only reminded Poliana of the conversation between Lucius the First and Master Chail.

"People from different regions might end up forming their own cliques… Unification is going to be very tricky…"

The Acreians believed that the center of this whole continent was now Acreia. They emphasized that the Acreian culture was superior to all others. If the emperor didn"t forcefully change the capital, Acreia would"ve stayed the capital of this new kingdom forever.

Because of this, many of the Acreian n.o.bles were still very upset with Lucius the First. They should have been the emperor"s biggest allies, but these Acreian n.o.bles were in fact making his highness" life very difficult.

The emperor"s authority was still unstable because of this, and Lucius the First made sure this fact remained a secret to the rest of the world. This was why he didn"t bring the "Emperor"s room" to Yapa. It still remained in Nanaba castle to show that Acreia was still very important to him as his homeland. Lucius the First also created a rule that stated that all royal families must visit Nanaba at least once in their lifetime in an attempt to appease the Acreian n.o.bles. Unfortunately, this wasn"t enough; most Acreian aristocrats were still angry about it.

Poliana smiled awkwardly at Tory before leaving the room.

"This is going to be very complicated…"