The Emperor and the Knightess

Chapter 336

Poliana agreed to have lunch with Lucius the First again. She thought about refusing the request, but she couldn’t. Poliana didn’t know that the emperor was on vacation. Even though the emperor worked constantly, there seemed to be no end to the amount of work required to run a kingdom. Poliana, still believing that Lucius the First was working hard, felt obligated to have lunch with him when he was sparing his precious time for her.

The loyal knightess could not refuse her emperor. After they parted in the garden, Poliana began to assault a tree. She was wearing her gloves, so she was able to punch harder than usual.

Bam! Bam!

The audience at the window chatted excitedly, wondering what was going on between the emperor and the knightess. They began to make up stories as they watched Poliana punching the tree.

Some thought that perhaps it was the witch’s love magic that became activated when punching a tree. Or maybe the marquess saw a bug on the tree and was killing it. Others thought that the trees grew better with physical simulations and Marquess Winter was only helping to grow the garden.

The audience soon tired of watching Poliana bashing a tree, so they dispersed. Then suddenly, someone new appeared in the garden. It was a small slim man and when Poliana saw him, she lowered her face in surprise.

Those still watching wondered, “Who is that man and how is he able to make Marquess Winter bow like that?”

“Huh? Oh, that man…”

“Do you know him?”

“I think he’s the auditor, Momo.”

“Oh, him. He and Marquess Winter are acquainted, right?”

“Yes. So why is the marquess acting so politely like that?”

Momo was a low ranking noble with a decent government career at best, so how was this man able to make the powerful Marquess Winter act so meek?

Ignoring the audience, Momo yelled in frustration, “How could you do this to me?!”

“Hahaha, Momo, I’m really sorry.”

Poliana couldn’t help but laugh. Momo was a timid man who found it difficult to express his anger. He was not good at confrontation, which meant he normally kept his frustration deep inside. But this time… He couldn’t believe how Poliana lied to him and made him look like a fool.

Momo argued, “You abused my trust in you! His highness is now going to believe that I’m a liar!”

Auditor Momo found this situation to be too unfair; he lied to the emperor to keep Poliana’s pride and honor intact, but it turned out that the father of Poliana’s child was the emperor himself!

Lucius the First did not tell Momo about the existence of Gerald, but Momo was able to figure it out himself. After all, Momo was considered one of the most detailed and intelligent men in the government.

Of course, even if Poliana told him that the father was the emperor, Momo would’ve still lied to Lucius the First. After all, Momo considered Poliana his good friend.

Poliana apologized again before running away. “Haha! I’m so sorry!” The knightess ran, but the auditor followed her. Unfortunately, Poliana was a much better runner with excellent stamina. Momo, with his desk job, could not keep up and ended up losing her. Their broken friendship, which was repaired when Poliana gave him an interest-free loan to purchase a home, was destroyed again.

Later on, they would become good friends again after Poliana helped him to become the highest-ranking scribe, but this wasn’t to happen for many more years.

***

‘I made a mistake. I have done him wrong.’

After making sure Momo couldn’t catch up to her, Poliana sighed. She has been so busy that she forgot about him. It wasn’t that she valued him; Momo was unfortunately just a very forgettable person.

She had no excuse. As an ex-scribe and a current auditor, truth and honesty were very important to Momo. If the emperor decided to mistrust him because of this, it was going to be Poliana’s fault.

‘I better tell his highness what really happened.’

She finally found a safe subject to discuss with the emperor tomorrow at lunch. Poliana felt a little relieved. There was no war going on anymore, so why did Poliana feel so tense? Seeing Lucius the First was a source of great joy for her, but Poliana also couldn’t help feeling nervous and uneasy.

‘Dammit! His highness is just too handsome.’

Poliana thought she was used to his beauty by now since she worked a long time as his guard, but she was obviously wrong. When Lucius the First was just an emperor, Poliana did not feel this way. But now that he was treating her as a man would a woman, Poliana’s heart did funny things.

Lucius the First has truly bewitched her.

But there was an even bigger problem.

‘Maybe I really did lose my mind.’

The biggest problem here was that Poliana liked this situation. The way she felt… Perhaps the word “like” wasn’t the right term, but Poliana definitely knew that she didn’t dislike it. The ticklish sweet feeling on her hand that traveled to her heart… Something was definitely happening here.

This something… It was similar to the feeling she felt when Frau approached her. It was also similar to the feeling she felt when the other handsome knights treated her like a lady.

But what she felt right now… It was stronger. It felt… more pleasant.

Although she denied it so far, Poliana had to admit that it was nice to be pursued, especially by a beautiful man she greatly respected. He confessed his love for her! It would be a complete lie if she claimed that she hated this situation.

If only Lucius the First wasn’t her emperor! If the man who was pursuing her wasn’t Lucius the First, she would’ve accepted his love by now.

Only

The next day at lunch, another feast was prepared for Poliana as expected. She was, however, still surprised because the table was filled with dishes that were completely different from the lunch the day before. Poliana felt a deep respect and guilt towards the royal cooks, who must be slaving away even though there wasn’t even a castle banquet. Their hard work was going to fatten up Poliana.

‘I better increase my training.’

Poliana decided to spend more time exercising to keep herself in shape. It looked like the emperor was going to keep inviting her to lunches like this. Although she enjoyed eating these wonderful foods, she knew she wasn’t going to like the result of it.

Poliana still hasn’t lost all of the pregnancy weight yet. She also did not regain the muscles she lost. She lost some weight from breastfeeding, but she most likely also lost a lot of nutrients from her body to feed Gerald. This was one of the reasons why Poliana decided to stop breastfeeding as soon as possible. The custom-made full armor the emperor gifted her was Poliana’s pride and joy. She never wanted to be forced to adjust it like so many older knights who had to replace the stomach portion to accommodate their changing bodies.

Poliana said to the emperor, “Your highness, I would like to ask you for a favor.”

“Tell me.”

The emperor looked like he was ready to give her anything she wanted.