The Emperor and the Knightess

Chapter 331

Lucius the First brought up the subject of their firstborn. A child this young grew so much every day and the emperor was worried about Poliana, who had to leave Gerald behind.

Lucius the First was, however, mistaken. Poliana wasn’t worried at all, “I left him with the nanny. He’s perfectly healthy.”

“Even if he is, don’t you think he is still too young to be left without a mother…? I’m worried.”

Poliana replied with absolute certainty, “It’s okay, there’s nothing to be worried about. They say that when you’re at an early stage of pregnancy, you’re at a high risk of miscarriage, yet Gerald survived the First Division’s training. Until now, he hasn’t suffered from any illness. Not even diarrhea or a cold, which is common with newborns. He’s a rather big baby, and he’s perfectly healthy.”

“Well, it makes sense since both you and I are in excellent health.”

Lucius the First remembered Gerald’s chubby body with thick bones. The emperor hasn’t seen many newborns in his life. Just Duke Luzo’s son, who was almost two years old by now, Princess Luminae who was born prematurely, and his latest child Gerald. However, it didn’t take an experienced midwife to see how healthy Gerald was.

Lucius the First and Poliana chatted about different things as they ate. This wasn’t something new to them as they have often eaten and conversed together before. They talked easily and Poliana felt comfortable. When Poliana mentioned how Princess Luminae has yelled “No” at her, the emperor stated that he had experienced it before as well. Lucius the First admitted that he felt hurt by it and Poliana agreed.

The next topic that came up was Tory and Stra. The emperor said to her, “I was so shocked when Stra told me she knew about how I felt.”

“I don’t know how I am going to face her, your highness. I’m ashamed.”

Stra ended up divorcing the emperor, but if she hadn’t, Poliana would’ve been the one guarding her as the head of the Second Division. Poliana didn’t know how she should’ve been able to do such a duty when she knew Stra was aware of everything. Even now, Poliana didn’t know how to face her. Lucius the First shook his head and replied, “This is all on me, Pol. It was my burden to carry so you shouldn’t worry about it.”

Everything was the emperor’s fault. It was his mistake not to confess his love for Poliana earlier. It was his fault for marrying other women and was selfish enough to keep Poliana close to him. All of this happened because of Lucius the First.

Poliana was innocent, and if anyone tried to blame the knightess, the emperor was going to punish them without mercy.

“Pol, I promise you that you will be my only wife.”

“Your highness…. Please don’t say such a thing.”

“I really mean it. Even if you divorce me after we get married, I will not remarry. You will be my only wife until the day I die.”

“Haa…”

The meal was delicious, but now, Poliana felt like she was going to get sick. She sighed deeply, wondering if the emperor was threatening her in a way.

“Your highness… Why me? Why does it have to be me?”

There were plenty of women out there in the world, so why her? Why did he choose her? Poliana couldn’t understand no matter how hard she tried. The emperor replied, “Is there any reason why one loves another? One day, I saw you and I suddenly became your captive. I cannot explain it, so I’m afraid I cannot give you an answer.”

The emperor remained calm, but it was Poliana who blushed. She gulped down some cold water to cool down. The beautiful emperor and his words made Poliana’s heart beat faster. It was a silly question, but Lucius the First did his best to answer, “But since the lady I love asked me a question, I should try harder to come up with an explanation. I believe that even from early on, we were already in love with each other. I was infatuated with you and you with me, Pol, because don’t you agree that we loved each other the most in this world? In the beginning, it was the love and trust between the emperor and his knight, and for me, this deep feeling progressed into love as a man for a woman. It didn’t take long before you became so precious for me.”

Lucius the First reminisced the days when he first realized how he felt about Poliana. He also remembered the day he ended up betraying his knightess.

“That day when I hurt you after I proposed… You asked me that if I turned around at the cliff and found another knight, would I have fallen in love just the same. I said the wrong thing at the time. I shouldn’t have said what I said to you. The thing is, even if I didn’t fall in love with you that day at the cliff, I would’ve fallen for you eventually; I’m certain of it. When I accepted you as my knightess, I knew without a doubt that you will become someone very important to me. And wasn’t I right? I am sure you have felt this way before. Haven’t you ever felt that even though you met someone for the first time, that person will become very precious to you?”

Lucius the First was right. Poliana has felt something similar to it before. It was when she first met the emperor. She knew, just as the emperor did, that Lucius the First was going to be the center of her universe.

Only

She was right; he became everything to her.

Meeting him was the greatest luck Poliana experienced in her life. It changed her destiny. Lucius the First often said that Poliana was the greatest treasure he gained from his conquest. When Poliana heard this, she couldn’t hide her happiness, realizing that they felt the same way.

The emperor continued, “To be honest, there were times when I tried my best not to love you, Pol. I made the biggest effort in my life to change how I felt, but I failed. No matter how hard I tried, it was hopeless. So all I could do was hide my love. Now that I don’t have to suppress my feelings, you have no idea how happy I feel.”

The emperor of the greatest kingdom laughed shyly. It was such a beautiful smile that Poliana felt her heart pounding.

“Sir Pol, I will not pressure you into making any decisions at this point. I am happy to do what I can do to make you want me. I am happy just for the fact that I don’t have to hide my love for you anymore. All you need to do is enjoy it. You just have to watch what I do as the man who loves you and decide for yourself what you want to do with me.”

Poliana’s face and neck turned bright red. She looked down because she could not face him. It was Lucius the First who was saying all these embarrassing things, yet it was Poliana who felt shy and embarrassed. All she did was eat her meal, so why did she feel this way?

‘This feels different… Why?’