The Emperor and the Knightess

Chapter 252

One of the knights suddenly asked, “But what if Marquess Winter already knew about the existence of Frau’s bastard? Or what if she still wants to marry him even after we tell her?”

Sir Donau replied indignantly, “My adopted sister would never do such a thing!”

Sir Howe nodded, “That’s right! Pol would never be that stupid!” Lucius the First agreed with the brothers. He has never been this angry in his life. He wouldn’t have been as angry as right now even if Duke Luzo betrayed him during the war. The emperor declared, “Frau Sneke has made a mockery of the marquess, which means he has also ridiculed me, his emperor! How dare he! How dare he do this to my Sir Pol!”

Lucius the First was so angry that he could not hide his feelings for Poliana. Thankfully, no one caught on. Everyone knew that Poliana was the emperor’s favored knight. Even when people knew they were together naked, no one had any doubt that the two were involved romantically.

Everyone in the room was furious. They were all wealthy and powerful men, and they were ready to avenge their fellow knight.

“Let’s go kill him right now.”

“Let’s burn him alive.”

“Should we cut his limbs off first and then hang him upside down in the city hall for people to throw rocks at him?”

“No, we should cut his limbs off and then put his body in a barrel so we can roll him in public and shame him.”

“My fellow knights, you are being too kind! Why not rip his limbs off rather than cut them off?!”

“He lied, so the first thing we should do is cut off his lips!”

“Let’s do that!”

“And light his tongue on fire!”

“Excellent!”

The man threw gruesome suggestions excitedly. If they worked this hard during the war, perhaps they would’ve been able to accomplish the conquest in 5 years rather than 10.

These were the knights who killed countless soldiers on the battlefield. They would show no mercy when torturing a guilty man, especially a man who tricked their fellow knight.

“Let’s go grab him first before he runs away.”

“Can’t we just order the guards to arrest him?”

“No, that might begin an ugly rumor and harm the marquess’s reputation. Let’s do it ourselves. We need to do this quietly and discreetly.”

“That’s right. For Marquess Winter’s reputation, we need to do this ourselves. I can do it.”

A few of the knights stood up, ready to go. Sir Donau gritted his teeth and stopped them.

“We can’t arrest him right now!”

“Why not?!”

“If we get him right now, it will harm my adopted sister. Everyone in the continent knows that she is marrying this bastard. They aren’t officially engaged, but they are in reality. So what do you think will happen if we grab him right now and torture him? Everyone will know that something bad happened. They will know that Marquess Winter was tricked by him. People will know that she was fooled by that snake!”

This made sense. No one could argue with Sir Donau’s sound logic. Lucius the First nodded slowly and gestured Sir Donau to continue.

“What is most important at this point is how things are going to be perceived by the public. As I said, everyone knows that my sister is planning to marry that bastard. Thankfully, Marquess Winter has all the control over this wedding and that man has nothing. If Sir Pol decides to break up with him and discontinue the wedding plan, people are going to believe that she changed her mind. They will not think she was fooled by him.”

The head of the Second Division and a doctor, a Marquess and a barely-nobleman… This wedding involved two people who lived in completely different worlds. Even if Poliana changes her mind before the wedding, no one was going to think it strange. In fact, it was going to make sense to many people.

Lucius the First gestured to Sir Donau to come closer. When the young man did, the emperor patted his head affectionately.

“Our Donau has always been such a bright boy, and now I can see that he has become an even more intelligent man after he got married.”

“Thank you, your highness.”

Both brothers, Sir Donau and Sir Howe, were very smart, but generally, people believed Sir Howe was smarter because he was quicker and slyer. Sir Donau was known to be more of a boring but consistent man.

But things have changed. Under his father-in-law, the viceroy, Donau learned a lot. He worked more as an official than a knight, which meant that although he lost a lot of his muscles, he gained much knowledge and wit. They used to be called the witty older brother and the slower younger brother, but now, Sir Donau and Sir Howe were known as the clever brothers; it was a nice change.

“Then the first thing we should do is let Marquess Winter know about this.”

“That’s right, she needs to know about Frau immediately…”

Sir Donau offered, “I will go visit her and tell her today.”

Lucius the First shook his head, “No.”

Now that they had a plan to protect her reputation, Lucius the First’s priority was to protect her heart. Sadly, it seems that Poliana has fallen for Frau Sneke. When she finds out she has been betrayed… This news was going to sadden her greatly.

The emperor declared, “I… I will tell her myself.”

With this plan, the men left the room. Sir Howe and Sir Donau returned to Poliana’s home, which was where they were staying. Their official reason for visiting Yapa will remain as a business trip for information collection.

***

After the knights left, there were only two men left in the room. The one who cared the most about Poliana and the man who didn’t care much.

Sir Deke and the emperor.

Sir Deke kneeled in front of Lucius the First and began with begging. The emperor’s eyebrows furrowed as he roared, “This is Marquess Winter we are talking about! The greatest woman in this kingdom! So how can this happen? How is it that the head of the Intelligence Unit did not know about what a snake her future husband was! How could you not have known everything about him?”

“Your highness! This is all my fault. I deserve to die! There was a huge flood in the south, which prevented me from knowing what happened in Yapa! I am responsible for everything!”

Lucius the First was angry about one thing while Sir Deke was apologizing about something completely different. When the emperor was about to roar again, Sir Deke continued, “I’m so sorry, your highness! The truth is… My sister asked me to investigate Frau in the past. I didn’t know the importance of her request at the time so I only looked into him in Yapa. If I have extended my research to Nanaba and find out more about the Sneke family, I would’ve learned about this… This is all my fault.”

Lucius the First tilted his head curiously. This was news to him and he wanted to find out more. The emperor asked and Sir Deke explained how Cekel was his main source of information regarding the lady’s quarters. Instead of a salary, she asked for information on Frau.

The emperor asked, “So Lady Ingreter was against this marriage?”

Only

“Yes. She said for some reason, she detested Frau. She said there was something not right about him.”

“Hmm… A woman’s instinct perhaps?”

Lucius the First thought for a second before turning towards Sir Deke again.

“Anyway, it is indeed all your fault. You didn’t do your job and you didn’t take your sister’s request seriously either!”

“I’m so sorry, your highness!”

“I will give you one last chance! Find out everything about Frau Sneke!”

“I will!”