Chapter 70Lucius the First hugged his friend Sir Ainno, who patted the emperor"s back affectionately. Lucius the First whispered so no one can hear their conversation, "I am sorry to make you do all the hard work, Inno. It"s all because I am a lacking ruler."
"Not at all. I will always fight for you, my friend. Don"t forget that I am the best knight in our kingdom, and I will always be on your side."
Sir Ainno and Lucius the First went through so much together. The emperor knew that everything Sir Ainno did, whether it was right or wrong, was all for him. Lucius the First thought secretly, "Well… but I"m pretty sure it"s partly for himself as well."
As an enthusiastic young man, Sir Ainno preferred to be out in the battlefield fighting rather than cooped up in a tent pouring over a map. But the main thing was that the Acreian emperor trusted his knight completely.
Some knights teared up as they watched the beautiful scene between the knight and his emperor. Sir Baufallo moved closer to Poliana and held her hand as he whispered, "I am so thankful you are here, Sir Poliana. It"s a blessing indeed."
"Huh? What do you mean?"
"If it wasn"t for your presence here, there would have been so many nasty rumors…"
"Oh…" Poliana knew what Sir Baufallo was referring to. There were also many rumors concerning herself and the emperor.
The s.e.x addict emperor. The gay emperor. The emperor who slept with all of his knights.
But Poliana didn"t care about these rumors. Even if her emperor was all those things, Lucius the First was still a great ruler. The Acreian emperor was closest to Sir Ainno, but he also treated all of his knights with genuine affection. It was a wonderful thing to watch.
With Sir Mahogal"s absence, Poliana was now the head of the emperor"s personal protection division. She couldn"t help but grin widely.
***
The head of Acreian emperor Lucius the First"s personal guard team.
Sir Poliana Winter.
A golden stripe was added to her blue uniform to signify her new rank. Thankfully, she learned a lot from Sir Mahogal, so her transition into this new position was smooth. It wasn"t perfect, but it wasn"t bad enough that others criticized her openly. Poliana was satisfied with the result, especially because many thought she was actually doing a good job.
Some still were unhappy about the fact that a female knight led the division, but having a foreign knight promoted to such a high rank was also good publicity for all the colonies. Poliana was intelligent and calculating, and being rewarded for her skills rather than being punished for where she came from was a positive message to all the kingdoms in the continent.
Lucius the First was also practical when it came to utilizing foreign talents. The soldiers and knights from the colonies were hired without discrimination, which was how this conquest was going so well. The morale of these foreign soldiers went up significantly when Poliana became the head of the personal guards. Lucius the First was also seen more positively from this promotion.
And as the Acreian emperor continued to conquer more lands, the idiotic rumors about Poliana began to disappear.
It was always fun to gossip about your enemies. The dirtier the rumor, the better it was. But those who loved to talk about the supposedly inappropriate relations.h.i.+p between Poliana and Lucius the First stopped gossiping. There were more important and significant things to talk about instead.
The stories of fairness in the Acreian army were a new popular topic. Unlike the armies from the other kingdoms, who dragged men away to be enslaved or killed and women to be raped, the Acreian soldiers were strictly ordered to act with honor.
After Sir Bentier conquered half of Mongsheim, the enemy soldiers ran away to nearby villages or even into the Msmel forest instead of going back to their capital. The Mongsheim citizens whose land was conquered trembled in fear. Were the Acreian soldiers going to kill them, or would they do worse?
But when these people saw how the Acreian army behaved, they sighed in relief. What made it better was the large presence of foreign soldiers inside the Acreian military. The people quickly learned that the Acreian emperor was a great and fair man who treated everyone with honor. Most people in the mid-continent used to believe that the northerners were barbarians and Lucius the First a womanizer. But once they saw how the Acreian men refused to harm the regular citizens of Mongsheim, they realized that they were mistaken. In fact, those Mongsheim soldiers who ran away were more of a threat to them at this point.
Meanwhile, Sir Ainno and his 27 men arrived within a few days. The capital of Mongsheim barely had any chance to recover when this small but deadly Acreian force made several efficient attacks. Sir Ainno was quickly able to gain more and more lands and this great news was welcomed by Lucius the First.
Kopi"s actions were more cautious. Kopi sent men to help Oz defend itself, and when they received a message for help from Mongsheim, Kopi spared a part of their force for them. It was clear that Kopi wanted both Oz and Mongsheim to survive.
But from Lucius the First"s point of view, he found Kopi to be devious. Kopi was making sure that the battles took place only on Mongsheim and Oz"s land, thereby being spared from any danger of losing its own land.
The lands used for battles were often destroyed severely, sometimes beyond repair. The lands were stomped by tens of thousands of men, horses, and wagons. The dead were often buried or burnt, polluting the soil. In addition, the metal pieces from the weapons made the land too dangerous to farm. At the end of major battles, the land usually becomes barren.
Farming, being one of the most important industries in these kingdoms… This could ruin these nations even if they win the war. It was best to avoid any battles at all costs, and Kopi was doing just that.
On top of that, the battles meant damaging the trees in the nearby forest as well. Lost trees meant destroyed habitats for wild animals and fewer hunting opportunities for the people… and even the wild animals attacking the farm animals… All these things could cascade into a major disaster for the land and its people.
Lucius the First understood why Kopi was doing this. It also made sense based on their geography, but still…
In his tent, the emperor was alone. Lucius the First sent all of his guards away so they could celebrate Poliana"s recent promotion. He promised them he would not leave his tent alone, but of course, when he got the chance, he did. Lucius the First was getting bored. He wasn"t sleepy either, so he grabbed the wine bottles. It was a bad habit to use alcohol to fall asleep, but they were in the middle of a war. There were some nights when one could not fall asleep without a drink.