The Emperor And The Knightess

Thankfully, Sir Ainno left without a word after staring at her for a few more minutes.

"Phew…"

Feeling relieved, Cekel sighed deeply. What the heck was wrong with that man?

Sir Ainno, who was one of the very few unmarried men in all of the divisions, often visited the other guards" homes on short notice and demanded that they eat and drink with him. He was such a nuisance but no one could dare to refuse him because of his status.

Cekel was different from Poliana. Cekel was a spinster maid unlike Poliana, who was a marquess. Poliana could survive most rumors, but if a scandal began between Cekel and Sir Ainno, Cekel knew she would not survive it. Her life as an independent spinster was going to be over.

It was one thing for her to embarra.s.s her family by not getting married, but she could never shame her family by getting involved with a man. Her brothers were able to improve their family name by going to war; she should never do anything to undo their hard work.

Cekel left the lady"s quarters and walked towards the main part of the castle. A maid from the lady"s quarters walked freely, but no one thought it strange because people knew Cekel had her brothers working in the main castle. Everyone a.s.sumed that she came to visit her brothers.

It wasn"t hard to find her brother, Sir Deke. Sir Deke just returned from Nanaba per the emperor"s order. Seeing how hard her brother worked without rest, she asked worriedly, "Have you eaten today?"

"Sis, is it true?"

"What is?"

"There is a rumor that the boss is eyeing you to scout you because you are a genius swordsman… Gyaa!""

Cekel covered Sir Deke"s mouth with her hand. It had been a month since they last saw each other, and this was what her brother said to her! Cekel was furious.

She had to admit, however, that there indeed were strange rumors about her. People whispered that she was a genius swordsman who actually won against Sir Ainno. They believed this was why Sir Ainno was eyeing her.

For now, thankfully, most people thought that these rumors were just funny jokes, but if anything more happened… Cekel didn"t even want to think about what kind of damage it would do to her family.

Her parents, her brothers and their wives… She would ruin all of their lives.

Sir Deke protested, "Hey! Why did you do that?! I was just joking. Everyone knows that it"s just a joke!"

"It"s a horrible and dangerous joke. Don"t you understand how it makes our family look? It would upset your wife too to hear such a thing."

"Wait a minute… The way you just reacted… It looks like this story is actually true!"

"Gos.h.!.+ Just stop!"

His sister used to be a delicate girl before he left for war, but in the 10 years he and his brothers were away, Cekel turned into a woman who learned to protect her family and support her parents in the absence of any men in the house. She also became very scary and unafraid to smack him.

Sir Deke guessed, "She must"ve changed because her engagement was broken…"

He was a very simple boy, especially considering that he headed the new Intelligence Unit.

After being hit a few times, they finally began to chat. Cekel was helping his brother by telling him things that were happening inside the lady"s quarters. She gave him information that most outsiders would not know. It wasn"t a hard thing to do, and Cekel was happy to help her brother.

Cekel never got close to any of the maids in the lady"s quarters, which meant that she didn"t know any truly sensitive secrets. This meant that she didn"t feel guilty about telling her brother what she knew. Whatever she told him was usually a very well known story inside the lady"s quarters by the time she disclosed it to him. Besides, she felt proud that she was helping the emperor.

Afterward, Sir Deke thanked his sister.

"Thanks a lot, Sis. I feel like I should be paying you a salary for your good work."

The only source of information for him on what was happening inside the lady"s quarters was his sister. She was doing a better job than a lot of his men, so using her without paying her anything made Sir Deke feel guilty.

Cekel replied, "It"s fine. I am working inside his highness"s castle, so it is my job to help him in any way I can."

Cekel didn"t have big dreams. During the last 10 years, her biggest wish was for all of her brothers to return alive and well, and this dream came true. She couldn"t ask for any more than that.

Her parents were no longer worried about their sons. They also accepted her declaration to remain a single woman, which was a huge surprise to her. Cekel also found a stable job.

Everything was going so well, but Cekel still couldn"t help feeling concerned.

Ainno Seki.

She couldn"t remember when it began, but somehow, this man became a huge source of worry for her.

When she was abandoned by her fiancé and their engagement broke, the people around her consoled her and told her she will find a better man very soon. But unfortunately, she didn"t end up finding anyone. And now, even if a good man appeared in front of her, it was too late. She was beyond her marriageable age. Just like any spinsters, she would live like she didn"t exist. Ainno Seki appeared in front of her out of blue, but he wasn"t the one for him. He really wasn"t, she had thought up a lot of reasons as to explain why. For example, there was too big of a gap between their family stations, and the most important reason she had was the fact that he was an absolute jerk.

Besides, this man did not have an honorable intention towards her. He didn"t really want her as his wife. Because he didn"t have genuine feelings for her, Cekel was certain that he would lose interest in her. Soon, he would stop following her around and stalk her.

Cekel shook her head. This wasn"t the time to think about this matter. It was best to forget about it; thinking about a man like Sir Ainno was a waste of her time.

She turned her thoughts to Marquess Winter. She still regretted sharing her opinion with Poliana regarding Doctor Frau, but Cekel also couldn"t stop feeling like something wasn"t right. Something felt… ominous.

Cekel asked her brother, "Hey, so your job is to gather information on people, right?"

"Yup. That"s it."

"Then there is a rumor I want you to investigate. It"s a really old one and it happened when you were away. Think of it as your payment for my work. Can you do it?"

"But Sis… I"m busy… W-wait! I meant to say yes, of course! I am all yours, Big Sis!"

Sir Deke was about to refuse her request, but he saw Cekel raising her fist. He fearfully agreed to help her and Cekel nodded in satisfaction. Sir Deke, a brave knight who survived the recent war, acted like a tame lamb in front of his big sister.

***

Sometimes, people were blind to the obvious danger they were about to face.

Poliana didn"t think much about what Cekel and Lady Rebecca told her. They both claimed that Frau was interested in Poliana as a woman, but Poliana didn"t agree with them.

It wasn"t that Poliana was rash or stupid. She just didn"t think their warning was necessary because she wasn"t afraid of him at all. What if Frau tried to attack her or take her against her will? Well, if something this ridiculous happened, Poliana felt confident that she could take him down easily. She knew that she was stronger than Frau. Poliana was certain that she could beat him up if she wanted to.

In her life, Poliana went through many situations where she was almost raped. She remembered Sir Batre very well, who sodomized not only her but the other boys as well. One thing she appreciated from this unfortunate incident was that she learned something very important. What she realized after the ordeal was that she wasn"t raped because she was a girl; she was raped because she was weak. The other boys were raped because they were weak too, not because they certainly weren"t girls. Poliana knew that she, and many men, would never be able to forget Sir Batre.

A person with power didn"t have to fear anyone. This was why the emperor could always hold a relaxed smile on his face. This was also his way to show everyone how powerful he was.

Poliana followed suit and tried to act relaxed at all times. Frau was going to be no match to her in any circ.u.mstances.

Poliana was the first to arrive, and soon after, Frau appeared. Awkwardly, he bowed to her and greeted her, "h.e.l.lo, Marquess Winter."

"h.e.l.lo there."