The Emperor and the Knightess

Story 2. Aehas and Kukda

Chapter 11

Lucius the First’s decision was followed by huge protests from his men. Lucius the First surrounded himself with young loyal men around his own age. He was charismatic and it was not difficult to have men follow him.

Those who used to serve his father, the former emperor, was left behind in Acreia and Lucius only took those young and healthy men to war. The emperor treated his men in different ways. Sometimes, he talked to them like his friends, while other times he treated them like his own brothers. When necessary, he, of course, treated them like his subjects, which they were. In return, the men treated Lucius like a friend, a brother, and an emperor, depending on the situation.

So when these soldiers talked to the emperor frankly and honestly, it didn’t mean disrespect. It came from their deep sense of loyalty.

“Your highness! This can’t happen!”

“A woman cannot be allowed to hold a sword! Women exist to take care of homes and children!”

“That b*tch is lying! She is lying because she doesn’t want to die! A woman’s best weapon is their dishonesty.”

“Your highness, how could you trust a woman?”

Although his men objected loudly, especially because of the fact that Poliana was abandoning her own nation to swear her loyalty to him, Lucius the First refused to change his mind. He had no doubt that Poliana meant what she had said.

The emperor smiled and replied, “This entire continent will become mine soon. In fact, how can you accuse her of abandoning her own country when her homeland is now mine? When I conquered her land, she immediately became my subject.”

“But your highness! She betrayed her emperor! Someone who betrays once will do so again.”

“That won’t happen. To Poliana Winter, I will be her first and the last emperor.”

It was a done deal. With the emperor’s own sword, Poliana became Lucius the First’s knight.

Once he returned to his own tent, Lucius smiled again. He won Aehas and also gained an excellent knight.

It was a very good start.

***

Poliana Cranbell, now Poliana Winter, took a deep breath before entering the commanders’ tent. It has only been a few days since she became Lucius the First’s knight, and when she was given immediate access to the commanders’ tent, she became the most hated figure in the base because most of the soldiers, if not all, disagreed with their emperor’s decision.

Why did he trust her so much?

Poliana felt a huge responsibility on her shoulders. She had to repay his trust with her utmost loyalty and performance but physically, her performance wasn’t going to amount to much.

Her body was damaged severely, therefore, she could not participate in battles as of yet. When she was assessed after her ordeal, she was told that the damages were serious. She almost lost one of her eyes and she ended up losing a molar. Her nose was indeed broken and the doctor told her it was very likely that her nose will heal crooked. She couldn’t use her nose to fight, so Poliana didn’t care about this.

Additionally, several of her fingers and toes were either broken or dislocated. It was also suspected that she had some internal bleeding as well. If she entered a battle in this condition, there was no doubt that she was going to die.

But Poliana didn’t care. If the emperor ordered her to die, she would gladly obey him because now, her life finally had some purpose.

A dream.

And now that she had a goal in life, she was willing to die for it.

Poliana took a deep breath and stood tall. As a soldier, she always tried to maintain a good posture. After a polite cough, she entered the tent and as soon as she did, she had to make sure that she would look confident and nonchalant.

The men surrounding Lucius the First were glaring at her angrily. She expected this and knew that it couldn’t be helped. She was a female knight from a foreign country who abandoned and even betrayed her own homeland. Poliana knew that the concept of a knightess did not exist in Acreia so she understood why the soldiers doubted her words of loyalty.

But their obvious anger didn’t fade Poliana. After years of being ridiculed and despised, it was too easy for her to ignore those men and their petty emotions. She had thicker skin than any other man inside that tent.

One thing that she found odd was the fact that everyone in the tent was very young. It made sense that the emperor was a young man since he was born into royalty, but strangely, the knights and the soldiers that served him were also young. It was customary for the emperor to have older and wiser knights with experience.

Hiding her confusion, Poliana announced, “Poliana Winter, your highness. I have come at your command.”

“Come in.” The emperor greeted her with a smile, and as Poliana approached the table, she noted the military maps and documents that they had.

She looked at them in determination. She couldn’t disappoint her emperor. Lucius the First told her that he wanted to hear her opinion before taking over Aehas.

Perhaps the emperor accepted her only for the information on Aehas, which could be very helpful in their invasion. It was very possible that he didn’t truly saw her as a knight, but just a source of Aehas military secrets. It was a common belief that a woman couldn’t keep a secret.

But even if Lucius the First was using her, Poliana didn’t care. He showed her a dream, and just to be a small part of this great ambition was an honor. She thought that she would die happy even if she was being used by him. It was a fair price to be allowed to see this great man’s dream.

Objectively speaking, Poliana also believed that the emperor didn’t truly need the information she possessed. He has already taken over many of Aehas’ military bases, meaning that he already had the official documents that he needs. Even though they were in secret codes, it wasn’t going to take him long to have his men decode them.

On top of that, there was no doubt that he had spies placed in Aehas. Most likely, he has been collecting all the necessary information for years by now without Aehas even getting the faintest idea about their plan.

This was a losing battle on Aehas’ part from the beginning.

Poliana stood tall in front of the table and everyone stared at her.

‘Whatever happens, will happen.’

She took a deep breath and said, “I believe whatever information I am about to provide you is already in your possession, most likely from your own spies, your highness.”

And with that, Poliana told them everything she knew.

Military secrets, information on Aehas, the extensive corruption that took place within the military division, weaknesses of each military bases, the key points of the capital city defense, the locations of the most important military bases, the vulnerable spots of the capital city walls, the best way to get into the royal castle, the tax rates and the major figures of each city, the military strength of each city, and so on.

Only

It wasn’t long before their borders are taken over and now, their main problem would be Aehas’ individual cities’ reaction towards the Acreian soldiers taking them down one by one. Would they fight back?

Unlike her expectation, the information Poliana offered was of great importance. Everyone in the tent looked grave as their eyes darted from her to the documents they were holding. It was obvious that they were trying to confirm and see if she was telling the truth.

Poliana continued indifferently. She told them everything she knew, it being insignificant didn’t stop her nonetheless. Her mouth began to hurt from all the talking. If Aehas’ men saw her right now, they would’ve trembled in anger at her betrayal of her own country.

‘Die, Aehas,’ Poliana thought secretly.

It was already a ruined country. It was better that it became part of a bigger and better nation. As she spoke, it showed how she felt about her country, which helped the men in the tent be able to trust her information.

After she was done, Lucius offered her a cup of water and as she drank it, the emperor said, “good job, Sir Poliana. You may go now and rest.”

She suddenly became tense and nervous. The emperor called her by her first name. Did it mean that he still didn’t accept her as a true knight?