Chapter 67"Yes, your highness."
The most important thing in a war was justification. Simply put, if Lucius the First could come up with a justification and a logical rationale for his conquest, things could work out much simpler for him.
The Acreian emperor"s slogan was the following: The people of the continent will be freed from their selfish rulers. He promised happiness for the citizens of all kingdoms.
Lucius the First also came up with personalized details for individual nations. For example, the people of Aehas and Kukda were needlessly suffering because of the meaningless war that had been going on for a long time. Bebero was doing its nasty part by selling weapons to both Aehas and Kukda. The three-kingdom confederation was starving its people with unreasonably high tax rates.
Lucius the First applied the Acreian tax laws to all of his colonies. The tax rates ranged from 10 to 30%. This worked very well in Acreia where farming wasn"t the main national industry due to its harsh weather. The surprising thing was that even the 30% tax rate was wholeheartedly welcomed by the colonies.
In the kingdoms of the confederation, the tax rate was usually at 70%, which left the inhabitants poor. When this war began, the governments raised the rate to 90%.
So, Lucius the First ordered several Acreian men to disguise as Bikpa n.o.ble refugees. They moved around the three kingdoms and pretended to hate the new tax law enforced by Lucius the First. It was true that indeed the n.o.bles would become much poorer if the tax rate went down. These spies spread the news that if the Acreian conqueror took over control of the confederation, the non-n.o.ble inhabitants would greatly benefit it by having their taxes reduced enormously.
Lucius the First couldn"t understand the reasoning behind high tax rates. Why did those n.o.bles need so much money? Compared to them, he was considered a very frugal man.
10 to 30% was plenty and Duke Luzo agreed that it was so. The 90% tax rate was ridiculous, especially for the poor farmers. The three kingdoms in the mid-continent had the best farming lands. Their productions were ma.s.sive, which made these nations very attractive to Lucius the First. He felt confident that his much lower tax rates would entice the citizens of the confederation to help him. He could become their savior.
***
Poliana was busy sewing during her break time.
They were short on the emperor"s leather gloves, and on top of that, they were low on leather itself as well. The emperor"s personal servant Chail eyed Sir Rabi"s fawn with interest.
Poliana suggested they use the fawn"s hide for the emperor"s gloves and eat its meat. She was heavily condemned for being a heartless witch. When Sir Baufallo heard this dilemma, he offered Chail a large piece of alligator hide from its belly.
"But his highness said he doesn"t like reptile hides…" Chail muttered.
Sir Baufallo then replied, "It actually doesn"t feel that bad. It"s also very st.u.r.dy."
Once the supplies from Acreia arrived, they would be fine. They were expecting to receive new gloves for the emperor made by the Acreian royal glove maker. Chail took the alligator leather hesitantly.
Somehow, the job of making his highness"s gloves fell to Poliana, who protested loudly, "I am a knight! Not a seamstress. And not just a regular knight! The emperor"s personal guard!"
When Poliana tried to escape, Sir Baufallo insisted, "Sir Poliana, we all need to pitch in. In fact, only a while back, I made his highness"s bow thimble myself."
When they became short on supplies, it was normal to make do by making things themselves, but this didn"t mean it was Poliana"s job to make gloves. She guessed that this was turning into a similar situation as when she was ordered to make dinner for the men.
Slowly, Poliana claimed confidently, "Sir Donau would be much better at making leather gloves!"
"What?" Sir Donau was currently working on a leather scabbard for his brother.
In the end, Poliana was ordered to make the leather gloves. She gritted her teeth as she began to work when Chail brought her a ripped tunic as well.
"Might as well mend this too, Sir Poliana."
"Oh, come on! Don"t be like that!"
Poliana clenched her teeth. Chail treated her with respect, but technically, Chail had a higher rank than her. He was the emperor"s personal servant, which meant he must"ve come from one of the most powerful n.o.ble families.
As the emperor"s personal guard, Poliana saw his servants often but even now, she found it very awkward to be around these servants. Poliana didn"t know how to act around them but unlike her, the servants seemed confident around her.
Chail then murmured, "I wanted to mend it myself, but…"
He then showed her his bandaged hand and continued, "As a woman, you would do a much better job than any other knights. Don"t you agree?"
"That"s a misunder… whatever." Poliana sighed and took the tunic. She was tired of arguing with him, especially considering that he was injured.
Sewing wasn"t all bad. Poliana found that such mindless activity gave her brain to rest.
***
One day, she was sewing outside the tent for better light. Suddenly, a shadow appeared and when she looked up, she found Lucius the First watching her.
"Hmm… You are good at that. It must be because you are a woman."
It couldn"t be helped that even the emperor was prejudiced. Poliana, of course, did not correct him. Even a prejudiced compliment was still a compliment. She smiled awkwardly and replied, "Do you really think so, your highness?"
Lucius the First grabbed one of the finished leather gloves and examined it. Poliana did her best, but it still looked imperfect. When she saw the emperor"s expression, Poliana sighed. "As you can see, your highness, I am not very good with my fingers… My sewing skill is rather lacking… But Sir Donau is very talented when it comes to things like this."
"Indeed, Sir Donau does have nimble fingers."
"Most knights are adequate at sewing because the majority of them started out as knights" personal aides and it was part of their job. Even Sir Howe is probably better at sewing than me."
"I see. Then why did Chail get you to do this?"
When Lucius the First asked curiously, Poliana realized that this was the time to complain.
"He told me that he thought I would do a good job since I am a woman. Don"t you think that"s unfair, your highness? Sir Donau is so much better than me. Look at this glove he made! He even embroidered it!"
Looking at Sir Donau"s work, Lucius the First nodded in agreement. "You are right, Sir Pol. You aren"t bad either, but not as good as Sir Donau."
"And Sir Donau is also a great cook. Much better than me."
Lucius the First remembered the incident that occurred a few years ago. Poliana was asked to cook for his men, but her food was so horrible that it caused many of them to get sick and throw up.
"Hmm… I remember that time when your cooking caused a food poisoning incident, Sir Pol."
"But, your highness! That was a mistake. I was so nervous at the time! I… I just wanted to make something really good, and I got a little too greedy with certain ingredients…!"