The Emperor and the Knightess

Chapter 60

The worst damage done to the Acreian men occurred in the banquet room. A few knights died while several were severely injured. The corpses and the injured were taken outside.

On the bloodied floor, the royal members and the nobles of Bikpa kingdom waited on their knees. They were bound by ropes. Some cried and begged for mercy. The princess was unable to recover from her shock. She vomited and lost consciousness while her maids surrounded her and sobbed. Many of the noble ladies were in a similar state.

“I assume you know your crime,” Lucius the First asked the king.

“Crime? What crime? You! You are the one who committed a crime here! You little twit! You have created unjustifiable chaos on this entire continent! You broke the rule of going to war only during the winters! We were all safe and living in peace during the three seasons but now, because of you, everyone needs to live in fear all year round! All because of you! You have ruined the world!”

Sir Ainno moved to kick the king, but Lucius the First stopped him. He replied, “Sickness, death, natural disasters… The fear of them has always been with us all year round. This supposed rule of wars only during the winters… It is not an actual continental law and besides, someone would have broken it even if I didn’t.”

Gali the Third smirked. “You are an idiot! A coward! A tyrant!”

“Under my rule, my people won’t live in fear. The horrible lives they live right now under someone like you… It will never happen again because I will unite the entire continent. There will only be one true kingdom.”

When Lucius the First held up his dagger, Sir Ainno grabbed Gali the Third’s head. The Bikpa King’s eyes widened as Lucius shoved the dagger into his mouth. The ugly sound of the metal hitting his teeth was heard. Lucius said to Gali the Third, “You are the first liar I have seen since I began this conquest. There is a war myth that states if the first liar’s mouth is sliced open, the conqueror won’t have to go through meeting another liar again.”

There were also rumors in various kingdoms that Poliana was a witch. People believed this because they thought she seduced Lucius the First, but what they didn’t know was that the Acreian emperor was the one with all the magic.

Lucius the First smiled innocently and he moved his hand. Gali the Third screamed as his mouth was sliced open sideways. This wasn’t the end of his torture. Poliana walked up to the cowardly king, who was now on the floor writhing in pain and kicked his crotch with everything she had. Gali the Third foamed in the mouth.

Lucius the First ordered loudly, “Hang this liar upside down from the castle wall.”

He then turned towards the rest of the Bikpa nobles. “Unfortunately for you, I am not a forgiving ruler. Everyone here is to be stripped naked and hung upside down as well on the wall. That includes children, women, and elderlies too and as for the princess…”

He threw the dagger, the same one he used to slice her father’s mouth, in front of the princess, who stepped back in fear.

“I can see that you didn’t know anything about this plot, Princess, so I will be kinder to you. I will give you the chance to kill yourself. You have one day. If you aren’t dead by tomorrow, I will hang you beside your father.”

“P-p-p-p-please… l-l-l-let me…. L-l-live…”

The princess hyperventilated. Her whole body was shaking visibly.

“And if I let you live? Are you ok living as a slave for the rest of your life? Or live as a prostitute? Would you like me to find you a position as our military who*e?”

“…”

The princess continued to sob loudly. When the soldiers came to drag her maids aways, they screamed, “GYAAA! Please let us live! Somebody save us! Please, your highness! Please! Princess! Please save us!”

When all of the Bikpan were dragged away, it was only the princess who was on the floor. The soldiers unbound her arms and she crawled towards the dagger. The princess hugged it tightly and sobbed. She looked pathetic, but coldly, Lucius the First turned away and walked out.

When he left the banquet room, the clean air felt shocking compared to the smell of blood that he had basked in. Lucius the First tried to remain cold; he had to focus on his own men who were injured from this plot rather than feel sympathy towards the daughter of a liar.

Then, he noticed that Poliana wasn’t behind him. She had never left his sight since the banquet, and he wondered why she wasn’t coming out. Just then, he heard the princess’ cry stop after a short but sharp gasp.

Lucius the First felt relieved. “Hmm… I am not a kind person, but I guess my knight is.”

Contrary to her emperor’s belief, Poliana was not a kind woman.

She looked down at the princess, who was trembling with the dagger in her hands. It seemed that she didn’t even know how to hold a weapon properly.

Poliana lowered herself and helped the princess hold it the right way. The tearful eyes turned to her in shock.

“P-p-p-p…”

“It is impossible to kill oneself without causing pain, even for men, but I assume you want it to be as quick as possible, right?”

“P-p-p-p…”

Only

Poliana ignored the princess begging for her life. Instead, she placed her hand on the princess’ ribs. Unfortunately for the princess, the dagger was too short and would never reach her heart if it did go in correctly. Poliana then explained, “You can try stabbing your neck, but if you are unlucky, you might just end up with a hole and not die. So here, between your ribs, is your best bet. It might take longer, but you will definitely die.”

The princess swallowed hard. She was still crying and was about to beg for her life again when the screams of her people coming from outside began. The massacre has begun.

The princess clenched her teeth. She was still crying, but she seemed to have made her mind. Slowly, she brought the dagger to her ribs. As it began to enter her skin, she closed her eyes. At that moment, Poliana helped her.

Poliana was not kind. If she was, she wouldn’t have forced the princess to kill herself. Instead, she would’ve killed her for her. It would have been easier, quicker, and painless.

But Poliana was generous enough to help at least. She knew that without her assistance, the princess would end up just cutting herself and suffer unnecessarily so firmly, she pushed the dagger for the princess.

That was as far as she was willing to help.

A swordsman was a murderer. A knight was a swordsman. This meant that a knight was a murderer. It was a knight’s job to kill in order to protect someone or kill because of an order from the one he or she served.

This was her life and she had no regrets about it.