The Emperor and the Knightess

The truth was, the emperor has been preparing for this day since he returned to Yapa. He ordered his room to be redecorated completely. The carpet, the wallpaper, and even the furniture were all replaced so their colors could enhance his look.

Poliana continued, “How could you look even more beautiful than the priceless jewels you are wearing, your highness? The red cape you are wearing looks especially perfect on you today. I am sure it costs a fortune, but if I was allowed, I want to give up my entire wealth to buy more of them for you…!”

Her training, when she was working as the emperor’s personal guard, was at work now. Sir Mahogal taught her how to give proper compliments to the emperor, and Poliana couldn’t stop herself from babbling. She thought even the flooring was making the emperor look more beautiful when suddenly, she realized what was happening.

This was the emperor’s tactic!

‘This is why he made me wait outside!’

It was too late for her to realize this. By the time Poliana could think, Lucius the First was already holding her hands. When she saw him up-close, Poliana blushed. The emperor even smelled beautiful.

She said to him, “Your highness! This isn’t fair! You aren’t fighting f-fairly. Your highness! You can’t do this!”

“Haha.”

Lucius the First didn’t make an excuse. He just quietly escorted Poliana to a chair that was placed next to his own. Poliana kept repeating how he was being unfair, and when she was seated next to him, she became confused. ‘Why is he sitting next to me? Why isn’t he sitting in front of me?!’

Poliana tried to keep her distance from him by sitting as far away, and the emperor did not try to get closer. Poliana asked, “So, you spread the rumor about us?! How could you! That’s not fair!”

“There is no such thing as a fair play in a war.”

“But this isn’t a war!”

“Of course, it is. This is the cruelest war there is. The war for love; a battle to gain a woman’s heart.”

If this was indeed a war, Poliana was at a disadvantage. Lucius the First already made a first surprise move, and now, she was bombarded with his unearthly beauty. But the emperor disagreed with her assessment, it was he who was always going to be on the losing side because he was the one in love. It was always going to be Poliana who had the key to ending this battle.

Even the emperor of this entire kingdom was weak when he was standing in front of the woman he loved. Lucius the First never forgot his weaker position. He was reminded of it every day, and instead of complaining about it, he was ready to use it to his advantage.

To win, one must do anything and everything necessary. The emperor was ready to do whatever it took to win Poliana’s heart.

Poliana said to him, “I…”

She was finally beginning to get used to the emperor’s beauty. It was a very difficult task, but thankfully, she spent a long time with him in the past, so she had at least some tolerance for him. Poliana remembered the words she planned to say to him before coming to Yapa. She was going to tell him about her plan.

‘Let’s do this!’

“Your highness, you and I…”

“After leaving Sitrin, I thought about our situation deeply.”

“Pardon?”

Poliana became quiet as the emperor continued, “I thought about how the Pol I know would react. What would she say? Would she want to marry me just because we had a child together now? Before I left, I told you that I hoped you would become happy. You shouldn’t deny the fact that you are a woman.”

Lucius the First looked down a little before adding, “Later, I asked myself why I said such a thing to you. I know you aren’t an idiot. You would never deny yourself happiness, right? Then suddenly, I realized that your definition of happiness was different than mine. This wasn’t what you wanted. I assume you came here today to tell me this, right?”

The emperor smiled and said what Poliana was going to say, “You were probably going to tell me now that you are willing to marry me for Gerald. But you can’t give up being a knight, so you want a divorce right after our wedding. You want me to say yes to this plan, right?”

This was exactly what Poliana was going to say to the emperor. When Lucius the First looked at her and held her hands. Poliana could not pull away as he asked, “Did I get it right?”

“Your highness is incredibly intelligent, wise, and… knows me very well. If you already knew what I was going to say, why did you do this?”

“Because you don’t know.”

“Don’t know what?”

“Happiness.”

Poliana frowned. She certainly knew what happiness was. It was the day she met the emperor and he accepted her as his knight; the day that he told her that if all of his knights were like her, he would’ve been able to conquer the continent twice as fast. It was the day when she was able to help his highness. The day she gained a new brother Sir Donau… and the day she saw the emperor’s smile on that cliff.

Only

All these days… They were Poliana’s happiness.

“Your highness, I do know what happiness is like.”

“No, you don’t. You don’t know and that is why you are refusing this. You may know a part of it, but not all of it. You don’t know all the different kinds of happiness you can enjoy in your life. Only those who have experienced it can know, and since you haven’t, how would you know? I realize that your definition of happiness is different than others, but Pol, you haven’t experienced the joy others have. So how can you know if you don’t want it? You have never experienced the kind of happiness the other women felt in their lives, so how can you say that you don’t want it? You are frustrated that other people don’t understand your definition of happiness, but you are doing the same thing. You are not willing to try the things that make other women happy.”

This was the truth. Poliana became speechless and Lucius the First took his chance. He squeezed his hands around hers, taking her silence as her acceptance. Even if it wasn’t, it didn’t matter. He was going to do whatever it took to make his dream come true.

He said to her, “So please, give me a chance to show you.”

Poliana felt shocked. She could see herself in the emperor’s eyes. She could see that in this very moment, she was the only thing in his eyes.

Lucius the First continued, “I will show you what happiness feels like. I will show you the true joy of a woman being loved. I will teach you what it is like to be loved by the emperor. I promise that my love for you will never change.”