The Emperor and the Knightess

Chapter 161

Frau Sneke.

He looked pathetic and sad as he stood around behind the column. He looked at the feast longingly. Poliana couldn’t understand why he seemed hesitant to join the party. She asked Lady Tory, “Do you know that man?”

“You mean Frau Sneke? Yes, I do. If you have questions about him, I will answer them for you as best as I can.”

“There must be quite a number of people from the Sneke family here, so why is he hiding over there? Why isn’t he joining the party?”

If he felt uncomfortable joining strangers, he could just sit with his own family members. There should’ve been no reason for a man over 30 years old to hide behind a column and look that pitiful. Poliana couldn’t understand it. In fact, she found it very suspicious. What was he afraid of?

Tory looked at him sympathetically and replied, “It’s probably because he’s trying to avoid the members of his family. He was kicked out from his family.”

Tory explained that the Sneke clan was a family of knights for many generations. It was also very influential and wealthy, so although the firstborn was going to inherit the family title, wealth, and land, there was still plenty left for their other four sons. Poliana thought Frau became a doctor because his family didn’t provide for him, but obviously, she was wrong.

Apparently, even as the fifth son, the Sneke family was not stingy when it came to Frau’s education to become a knight. His four older brothers all successfully became knights, but Frau failed. Was it because he had no talent for it or because he didn’t make enough effort? Tory said that Frau ended up giving up to become a knight. This angered his father, Baron Sneke who passed away since then, and Frau was kicked out from his family. To make a living, Frau ended up becoming the royal doctor, Baron Redikal’s, student.

Being a doctor as a profession was not a bad job. As long as he was skilled, it shouldn’t be hard for Frau to become the royal doctor. But compared to a knight or a government official, it was considered an inferior position.

The world was very much divided by different stations. The kingdom was ruled by the emperor and the emperor was supported by the noblemen. There were five levels of nobility and only the firstborn heir could inherit this title. This meant that the younger children of a noble family were considered semi-noble. These semi-nobles lived a very similar lifestyle as the fully legitimate nobles by working for the family.

A younger noble’s son could become a knight, a government official, or a doctor. Of these three jobs, a doctor was considered the most inferior. Not all knights were nobles, but all noblemen were automatically given a status equivalent to a knight. This was why of the three possible positions, a knight was considered to have the most superior status.

The profession of a doctor was definitely not a common position for the son of an influential family, even if he was the youngest of the five. Because Frau gave up on becoming a knight, even though his family did everything to help him become one, Frau lost respect from everyone who knew him. He was a decent doctor, but this didn’t matter. People would have been more understanding if he became a government official.

In Acreia, Frau’s reputation was ruined permanently.

Tory said to Poliana, “That’s why he is still unmarried.”

“Pardon?”

Poliana was shocked, which was understandable. During the years when Lucius the First went on his conquest, there was a noticeable shortage of marriageable men in Acreia. Most noblemen were married early, so it was strange that Frau was still single. Because most men Poliana knew were married, she assumed that Frau was married as well.

Tory replied, “Who would give their daughter to such a weak fragile man? I certainly wouldn’t. I did hear that he was very kind and treats women well, but still… Technically, he isn’t even really a noble anymore. In fact, whoever lets their daughter marry Frau would end up becoming Sneke family’s enemy.”

If he wasn’t kicked out from his family, Frau would’ve been married by now. Wealthy commoners or low-ranking nobles would’ve offered their daughters to him gladly. But… Frau had nothing. No family name and no connections. Tory added sadly, “That’s right. He is over 30 years old and he is still unmarried. Even the other doctors don’t like him that much, so that is why he is hiding over there by himself. I think he is a nice guy, so I feel bad for him.”

Tory wanted to help him find a woman to marry, but she couldn’t. Making such a suggestion to any family would be considered an insult. Poliana asked, “Since his father the former Baron Sneke is dead, wouldn’t he go back to his family?”

“No way. You have no idea how bad it was when he was kicked out.”

Tory lowered her voice to whisper, “Apparently, the deceased baron left a will that stated that Frau shouldn’t even come to his funeral. It was that bad.”

‘For a father to not allow his own son to come to his funeral… That’s cold.’

Poliana immediately understood the situation. She knew that although her stepmother and Liana hated her, they would’ve invited her to attend her father’s funeral.

In a way, Frau was trapped in a vicious cycle. His unmarried status worsened his reputation in his society and his bad reputation prevented him from getting married.

‘Hmm.’

Poliana felt sorry for him. Just as Tory said, he seemed like a nice guy. She was especially impressed because when all the doctors went to visit Rebecca, Frau visited Stra to make sure she was ok. The other doctors didn’t think much of Stra’s health because she was always sick, but Frau seemed very caring, he took his job very seriously.

For some reason, Poliana felt closer to him.

As the night deepened, Poliana left her guards to finish up. She left the Yapa castle to search for something.

‘I wonder if I can find it.’

So much time has passed, so she didn’t feel confident that she would find it, but Poliana still wanted to try. She rode her horse slowly around the castle wall. It was dark and she was alone.

‘I wouldn’t be surprised if I see a ghost tonight.’

Poliana spent over 10 years in a war, yet she had never seen a ghost before. She never used to believe in it, but after spending so much time with the northern men, Poliana thought that perhaps it was possible for ghosts to exist.

Then suddenly, she saw a shadow moving ahead of her.

“Who’s there?”

“Argghh!”

Poliana recognized his voice. She didn’t have to see his face to know who it was.

Sir Ainno was urinating against the castle wall and when he spotted Poliana, he glared at her. Poliana muttered, “There are plenty of bathrooms in the castle, so why are you peeing here? You’re disgusting.”

“Marquess, you ruined everything.”

“What are you talking about…? Could it be…?”

Sir Ainno nodded seriously, making Poliana gasp.

“A-are you serious? Man… You really like superstitions, don’t you? So you really did it.”

“It was his highness’s order.”

Sir Ainno finished up and glared at Poliana again as he continued, “But now that you found out, it’s not going to work. You ruined everything, Marquess Winter.”

Apparently, there were two other unmarried men who were ordered to pee on the outer walls of the castle. Sir Ainno believed that being found out by Poliana meant that this wasn’t going to work. Poliana was annoyed but she stopped herself from hitting him, she knew that she couldn’t win against him.

‘Just ignore him.’

Sir Ainno asked her, “Why aren’t you at the feast?”

“None of your business.”

When Poliana refused to answer, Sir Ainno said to her coldly, “His highness already visited the Bikpa princess’s grave.”

“…”

Well, that meant that Poliana didn’t have to try to find it. She was impressed with the emperor again. He was indeed very wise and organized. Sir Ainno pointed at the wall and said to her, “Just pour the drink over there. I assumed you got the good stuff so let’s hope it works.”

After she was done, she got on her horse and muttered to him, “By the way, it’s your fault for being found out by me.”

Only

Sir Ainno laughed and replied, “You like to blame other people, don’t you?”

“Well, I am powerful enough now that I am allowed to do it, right? Power is such a great thing. Even you and his highness treat me with more respect.”

Sir Ainno wondered if Poliana knew that Lucius the First was in love with her. When Sir Ainno smiled, Poliana said to him, “Well, you know what? I will give you my love luck this year. I think you will need it much more than I do.”

Sir Ainno thought about saying that he didn’t need it, but he changed his mind. Poliana ended up gaining the love of the greatest man in the kingdom, so she obviously didn’t need this luck. He then replied, “Alright, why don’t you give me your love luck for next year too then?”

“Fine, fine, take it all.”

‘I hope he gets rejected by Cekel.’

Poliana knew that she didn’t have much luck in love, and she never would. So, who cares if Sir Ainno took it all? It wasn’t going to work for him anyway.