The Emperor and the Knightess

Chapter 223

All the knights booed Sir Mahogal, who just shrugged his shoulders. His comment was disgusting, but unfortunately, it was true that Sir Mahogal was indeed a very good looking man. If Poliana saw how her colleagues were behaving, she would’ve been annoyed. They were certainly her friends and co-workers, but they were not her relatives. They had no right to agree or disagree with her marriage plan, yet these men were seriously discussing the situation as if they were talking about their own sisters or daughters. They were talking about her like her future was their business.

Poliana was ugly, old, and barren; she had all the three qualities of an undesirable woman, however, she was also incredibly wealthy and powerful. Wealth and power could be enough to make all of her worst faults look ok. To these knights, Poliana was someone they wanted to protect. They felt affectionate towards her and wanted the best for her.

So, the men continued to argue if Poliana should marry Frau Sneke.

“Yes! Yes! No! Yes! No! No! No! Yes!”

The meaningless discussion went on and on and it seemed that they could not come up with a decision. They formed two sides and continued to argue intensely.

“How can you approve of such an uneven marriage?”

“What? This is what Marquess Winter wants! She wants to be happy! So how could we object of this is what she truly wants?”

“How could she be happy in a marriage that does not suit her? Do you really think she will be happy marrying that gold digger?”

Finally, one man suggested, “Let’s stop this nonsense and talk to the marquess herself. We need to convince her!” His comment sounded logical, but everyone else disagreed. They argued, “But we can’t. If we talk to her about her marriage, she’s going to think we’re nagging her. You know how she is going to react if we approach her.”

“He’s right. She hates being nagged. Last time I suggested something, she forbade me from approaching her for weeks. She was so cold to me. It was not fun.”

“Well, let’s think logically for a second. We need to figure out why Sir Poliana decided to get married. We have been telling her to get married for a long time, but she never agreed to it. So why did she change her mind now? What happened?”

“It’s because she’s lonely! Isn’t that what she said?”

“She was very close to Lady Rebecca.”

One of the knights, who couldn’t take this anymore, offered loudly, “I will offer my nephew to marry her! This will fix everything! I am willing to sacrifice my nephew for her!”

All the other knights began to boo the man as they yelled, “Your nephew is only 14 years old. He could be her son! You know she isn’t going to agree to this!”

Lucius the First, while sitting in his chair, watched his knights quietly. Why did these men feel so strongly about Poliana’s marriage? They were talking as if her marriage affected them greatly. They were acting like Poliana’s brothers, fathers, and grandfathers.

Just as the emperor was busy with work, these knights were very busy men too. This was why it was so strange that the knights were still here arguing. They have been doing this in front of the emperor for hours now. It seemed that none of them were even getting tired; their voices became louder and louder.

Lucius the First thought quietly, ‘It looks like they are enjoying this situation…’ His eyes narrowed, slowly figuring out why. Most of these men got married right after they returned home from the war. Their honeymoon was probably sweet, but soon after, they began to have children. By now, their wives were probably more focused on their children than their husbands. Their children were probably in their rebellious teen years and want nothing to do with their fathers.

It was clear that these knights were bored with their lives. They were busy with their work, but they were used to it. What they lacked was something interesting in their lives, and they finally found it.

Poliana’s marriage…

This was the most fun they had in years!

Lucius the First sighed; his face was filled with worry and irritation.

‘And these are the men that accomplished the unification of this continent with me.’

The only man in this room who had any right to have an opinion on Poliana’s marriage was Lucius the First, and this was because he was in love with her, and because he loved her, he had to say something he didn’t really mean.

“Stop, everyone. I, the emperor, have decided to respect Marquess Winter’s decision.”

“Your highness!”

The knights all turned to the emperor as if he betrayed them. Lucius the First continued, “Don’t you get it?”

The emperor gritted his teeth, worried that he might begin to cry at any moment. Lucius the First raised his voice on purpose and opened his eyes wider as he added, “Doesn’t Marquess Winter look happy now?”

She has been seen humming often nowadays. People reported witnessing her laugh too for no reason. These small changes that were very unlike her… These were proof that Poliana was happy.

Lucius the First fell in love with her small smiles. He really wanted Poliana to be happy. Her happiness was more important than his own.

Sir Ainno once ranted that it didn’t make sense how the emperor of the greatest kingdom could not even have the woman he wanted. But the truth was that it was because he was the emperor that he had to give her up.

There was no good reason for Lucius the First to stop Poliana from marrying the man she wanted.

The men nodded after listening to their emperor. The room turned quiet as Lucius the First closed his eyes.

‘That’s right. As long as she’s happy… That’s all that matters.’

He opened his eyes and ordered, “Now, you’re all dismissed. Return to your works but remember this one thing. If that man makes Marquess Winter cry even a single tear…”

Lucius the First clenched his teeth, finally showing small evidence of his true feelings. He didn’t bother putting on his usual fake smile.

“If that man makes Marquess Winter sad, I will kill him. I will end him.”

Only

It was an oath, and the knights waved their hands in shock. They begged the emperor, “Your highness! Please, don’t say such a thing!”

But they weren’t asking the emperor to spare Frau Sneke. They wanted something much worse for him.

“You cannot just kill him like that! That would be too easy for him; you’re being too kind!”

“That’s right, your highness! He needs to be tortured for at least a year!”

“Hang him upside down and drown him!”

Lucius the First smiled happily, impressed at his knights for being such good friends of Poliana. He said proudly, “You men are such good knights. What a beautiful friendship we all have!”

A single tear finally rolled down from Lucius the Fist’s eyes. He wiped it away quickly, and the knights in the room assumed that it was a tear of joy for their friendship.