The Emperor and the Knightess

Not at all.

This was just her opinion and not Gerald’s, and Poliana did feel apologetic about it. But thankfully, Gerald seemed to have no desire to become the next emperor. Of course, he might change his mind as he became older, but for now, his goal in life was becoming Princess Luminae’s alligator dog. When he grows up and he becomes upset about not becoming the next emperor, Poliana would tell him to blame her. It was just a bit of unfortunate luck on his end that he was born to a marquess.

Next, Poliana went to Princess Luminae’s bedroom. The little girl was already in bed and ready to go to sleep. She said to Poliana, “Good night, Poli.”

“Lumi, you can’t show that map I gave you to just anyone.”

The map was just too important to be given to a child. All Poliana wanted to do was to show Luminae the land she was going to rule one day, but now, Poliana regretted her decision. Princess Luminae contemplated for a moment before nodding, “I agree that I made a mistake. But I won’t apologize for it since I will become the next emperor.”

“I agree; the emperor must never apologize.”

Princess Luminae looked up at Poliana and asked, “Poli, why do you think Gerry doesn’t call me Sister?”

“Because when you are a young boy, you think being different is cool. Most families have sisters and brothers, but they certainly don’t have a future emperor and her subordinate.”

“But I would prefer him to call me Sister… Besides, we are already different than the other families since we have different last names.”

“I am sure he will start calling you Sister more and more from now on.”

Poliana kissed Luminae’s forehead and left the room.

Luminae Clair and Gerald Winter. After the law passed that allowed the women to inherit the family title, it also became possible for children to receive their mother’s maiden name. A child could either take both parent’s last names or choose one when older.

Inheritance law was a complicated matter. Although a basic change was made, the paperwork was far from being over. It was still an ongoing process. It was going to take a lot of work from the poor scholars to complete this process.

“Phew…”

Poliana sighed quietly, making sure no one heard her. She felt guilty that she took the throne away from Gerald. She also felt guilty that she was forcing the throne on Luminae.

Thankfully, Princess Luminae was a greedy girl. It made sense since both of her parents were greedy people. One good thing was that since she was born with so much, she didn’t have any desire to take other people’s things away from them. However, she also refused to give up anything that was hers unless there was a good reason for it.

This meant that Luminae was never going to give up the throne because as the first-born child of Lucius the First, it was her right to become the next emperor.

Since she was going to become the first female ruler of this kingdom, Lucius the First insisted on making sure Luminae received the best education possible. He did not want her to be criticized in any way by the other noblemen. This meant that Princess Luminae’s lessons were very strict. Some believed this was too cruel for a child, but Lucius the First was firm on his decision. Fortunately, Princess Luminae loved to learn. Her greed for knowledge was unmatched.

Poliana shook her head, trying not to worry too much about the children and their futures.

She just returned from work for the day, but her work was not over yet. In addition to being the head of the Third Division, she was also the empress, which involved much work. Baroness Leef managed the castle affairs instead of the empress herself, but Poliana still needed to hear the daily report.

After telling Poliana a few things, Tory smiled, “You look very tired.”

“There is too much work.”

Poliana grumbled. Tory’s situation was the same; there was no end to her work either. Tory stopped herself from slumping and replied, “It’s the same for me too.”

“I’m sorry, Baroness. I will get you more staff as soon as possible.”

Technically, Tory was taking care of the things Poliana, as the empress, was supposed to do. Poliana stretched her arms again and thought of her past, which became her end-of-the-day habit.

Poliana’s life has been an average one. Of course, others may disagree, but to her, it felt like an ordinary one. One thing Poliana could say with confidence was that she worked hard, and she lived for herself. She believed she lived her life greedily, making everyone around her, including herself, work hard, and she was glad to say that she felt happy.

In romantic novels, a knightess was always forced to choose one life over the other. She could never have anything. In reality, this knightess also at first believed that her ambition was out of her reach. She thought she should not be so greedy. She thought she had to choose one thing over another.

But then, her husband appeared and gave her the whole world. He told her she deserved everything in life. He was going to help her get everything she ever wanted.

So Poliana decided to fight with him. They fought, are still fighting, and will continue to fight till the end. After the wedding, they haven’t had a day of rest.

Poliana sighed and asked Tory, “I guess it will be another 10 years before I can take a break, right?”

“I think you might have to work like this forever.”

“We are probably the only emperor and the empress who work this hard in the world.”

Well, there were only one emperor and one empress on this continent, but that wasn’t the point.

After Tory’s report, Poliana finally went to her bedroom. Unlike her, who at least got to go outside to work, her husband was trapped inside the castle all day.

“Welcome back, Wife.”

“Hello there, your highness.”

He may have had dark circles that reached his lips, but Lucius the First still was the most beautiful man in the kingdom. When he saw his wife, the emperor brightened immediately. He saw Poliana every day, yet he always smiled whenever he saw her as if he hasn’t seen her in a long time. Lucius the First was still falling in love with Poliana every day.

The emperor was already in bed looking tired. Poliana began to massage his face for him and Lucius the First groaned like a tired middle-aged man.

‘Well, I guess he is actually really a middle-aged man. He’s so handsome that I keep forgetting that.’

“Does that feel good, your highness?”

“It does, my lady.”

Lucius the First was overworked as usual, but it was completely his fault. The emperor, however, did not regret his decision since it was for the woman he loved.

Lucius the First wanted more than just a face massage from his wife. He wanted to get physical with her, but his body was so tired. The emperor has been feeling his age lately. He tried his best to keep in shape, but the amount of work he needed to do every day was too much for him.

In the end, the emperor chose to do what he thought he never would do. He secretly asked Viceroy Bika to send him the white-tailed lizard to increase his stamina. Until then, all he could do was work out as much as possible. To be able to make love to Poliana, Lucius the First was willing to do, or eat, anything except for giving up his kingdom of course. If necessary, he was ready to eat an alligator alive.

Lucius the First grabbed Poliana’s hand and kissed it again and again. Poliana giggled and when her broken fingernail caused his lips to bleed, Poliana kissed his lips clean.

Lucius the First, unable to control himself, whispered to her, “Wife, I am a dangerous beast at the moment.”

Only

“Me too, your highness, hehe.”

The husband and wife undressed quickly. Didn’t they say they were both tired? Yet they moved like they had all the energy in the world.

Lucius the First whispered, “If we get a third child…”

“As long as it’s healthy, it won’t matter.”

“That was my exact thought, Pol.”

They kissed passionately and Poliana’s giggle filled the room.

-The End.