The Emperor and the Knightess

Book 2

Story 9: The Emperor’s Path

Chapter 83

The Acreian emperor Lucius the First’s army moved north speedily. The men were excited to return home after 10 years of war. They moved fast, excited at the prospect of reuniting with their families.

Their path back to Acreia was smooth thanks to Duke Luzo. Every time Lucius the First conquered more lands, Duke Luzo made sure to create proper roads in these places. He strongly believed in proper infrastructures, especially for swift and efficient supply chains. The roads were built by the enemy captives and criminals, and these well-built paths helped the Acreian men to return home much easier than expected.

If he wished, Lucius the First could have pushed to get home faster, but he purposely moved at a slow pace. It was to make sure his men didn’t tire out and also to examine how his colonies were doing after being conquered. It was obviously impossible to extensively explore every city, but it was enough to get an idea of how the citizens were reacting to their new reality.

Thankfully, it seemed that the people were doing fairly well. In most of the kingdoms, the citizens threw flowers at the Acreian army and welcomed them. Lower tax rates and stricter laws against crimes were accepted by these people with open arms. The people of the mid-continent were now free from their greedy and selfish kings. They were thankful to Lucius the First, who was a much kinder ruler.

If the emperor raised the tax rate a little in a few years, would the people become angry and regret their decisions to support him? Perhaps, but unlikely. Whatever increase the Acreian emperor proposed would still be much lower than the one set by their previous kings.

Lucius the First; the beautiful, kind, wise, and fair emperor. Everyone was in love with this young man.

There were still a few kingdoms that remained technically “independent,” but in reality, all of them belonged to Acreia and strangely, the fact that they belonged to a single greatest nation made the people feel a sense of pride and acceptance. This was especially the case because Lucius the First did not discriminate between the original Acreians and new Acreians. He was also fair and generous to many of the nobles of the previous kingdoms, as long as they behaved. As the tax rate and the crime rate were lowered, the farmers and the regular citizens began to gain more power while the lords lost some of their authorities. If a lord treated his people unfairly, he was replaced by Lucius the First immediately.

Having an emperor like Lucius the First was a blessing to many. Most of the people’s lives have improved daily, they now have more to eat and less to worry about. It was a dream come true. Most nobles, although they lost their absolute powers, accepted their current situation. After all, they didn’t want to go through another war.

And besides… the new emperor was such a good-looking young man!

“Long live the Acreian emperor Lucius the First!”

People looked at him with adoration. Even Poliana, who was riding behind him, could feel their love.

‘This is amazing.’

It was a beautiful sunny day with a nice breeze. The soldiers seemed to be enjoying the weather as well and the people of the colonies threw flowers at them as they cheered.

Poliana never relaxed because she knew there could be an assassin among the crowd, but she still let herself enjoy the scene a little. When they returned to Acreia and entered the capital, Nanaba, she knew they would be greeted with cheers again, but this was different. The people here… They referred to the emperor as their savior, and therefore it meant so much more.

Lucius the First told his men that he was taking the easiest and smoothest route to make the journey as comfortable for his men as possible. But based on Poliana’s calculation, this was only partly true. She could tell he had another reason for it. Many of the emperor’s closest knights suspected the same thing, but they didn’t say anything. Whatever the emperor did, he most likely had a very good reason for it.

It was getting late and the emperor announced that they would stay in this village for the night. In fact, Lucius the First decided that they would stay in the city of Sitrin for a whole week. Sitrin was known for its hot springs and the emperor ordered everyone to relax and enjoy themselves.

Sitrin was a large city with a beautiful castle. South of it was the Msmel forest and it was located in the middle of the mid-continent, which meant it had mild weather. Farming and forestry flourished in this place as well as tourism thanks to the hot springs. It was already well-developed, but it had even greater potential for further growth.

Unfortunately, people of Sitrin have been starving despite their fruitful land. It was because of its previous lord who was selfish and cruel. When Lucius the First was nearby, it was the Sitrin lord’s vassals who killed their master and opened the door for the Acreian men. The vassals wanted better lives for their people.

Lucius the First had to execute one of the noblemen, who tried to fight back, but the rest of them were spared. He approved the rest of the vassals who cared for their people. Of all the mid-continent kingdoms, the citizens of Sitrin cheered for Lucius the First the most.

The emperor waved at the people and thought proudly, ‘What a great land this is.’

Sitrin was indeed a great piece of land. Being in the middle of the continent was a huge bonus when it came to supply chains. It wasn’t before, but now that the whole world was united as a single kingdom, Sitrin was going to benefit the most from its location.

Currently, no new lord was appointed for Sitrin. The kind vassals were taking care of the matters for now. Lucius the First allowed his men to rest, but he went right to work after getting off his horse. The first thing he did was look over the paperwork concerning Sitrin. He smiled as he checked the grains and money collected as taxes. This place was indeed a very productive place. How could the old lord let his people starve when there was plenty to go around?

While the emperor looked over the documents, the Sitrin vassals waited nearby nervously. They have done nothing wrong, but still, they were in the presence of a conqueror. What if he didn’t like the numbers? And what if the new emperor changes his mind and punish them for killing their old lord? A bad master was still a master, and disloyalty was usually punished by death.

Suddenly, Lucius the First saw something odd. He asked, “What is this?”

One of the vassals anxiously looked at the list the emperor pointed at, and with a sigh of relief, he explained, “It’s the budget for the water channel maintenance.”

“Channel?”

“Yes, our previous lord built this channel so the hot spring water could be transported to the castle.”

“But the water would be cold by the time it reaches the castle.”

“It is reheated before it enters the castle tubs.”

What a selfish and lazy lord he must have been. The hot spring wasn’t even that far from the castle. What a waste of time and money.

When the emperor frowned, the vassals trembled. What they didn’t know was that Lucius the First was a very forgiving emperor. As long as it wasn’t a huge mistake, he often let it slide.

Only

‘This would be the perfect land to reward one of my men.’

A bountiful land and capable vassals, it would make a good present.

Lucius the First looked around for Poliana. She was nearby and instead of focusing on him, she was reprimanding the vassals regarding the city’s supplies. It was an old habit she developed when she used to work in the supply unit.

“This is wrong, what’s this number, and here?”

As the emperor watched her, she continued to find the small mistakes in the calculations and bookkeeping. Lucius the First thought to himself, ‘She would’ve done a great job if she stayed in the supply unit.’

“Sir Pol.”

“Yes, your highness.”

“I see that you are very interested in Sitrin and its figures. Do you like this land? Do you want it? Would you like me to give it to you?”