The Emperor and the Knightess

Chapter 263

Poliana wailed, “I didn’t do anything wrongggg!”

“Of course, you didn’t. Sir Pol, you clearly didn’t do anything wrong. If anyone says otherwise, I will kill him!”

Lucius the First sounded like a tyrant, but he didn’t care. He swore to never become one, but at the moment, he felt like he could really kill whoever dared to hurt Poliana.

“I wanted to have a familyyy! I didn’t even do anything wronggg!”

“That’s right, Pol, you didn’t do anything wrong.”

Poliana filled her cup again. Lucius the First considered stopping her, since it seemed that she had more than enough, but he let drink. If he stopped her now, he suspected that she would cry even harder.

‘I’m sure she will get tired soon and just fall asleep.’

It would be best for her to just fall asleep. Lucius the First remained patient and continued to listen to her complaining.

“I wanted to have children tooooo!”

“Of course, of course. If you get married, of course you would want to have children too.”

The emperor wanted to cry. He didn’t know about how Poliana’s period returned. He still thought she was barren and so he had no idea that Poliana was hoping to have children with Frau. In the past, Poliana smiled and said that she didn’t care if she didn’t have any children. Lucius the First now believed that Poliana liked Frau so much that she dreamt of having his children.

“I liked himmm!”

The emperor became frustrated and swore loudly, “Dammit!”

‘So she really liked him!’

He despaired. Perhaps her feelings for Frau weren’t as deep as the emperor’s, but still… It was obvious she liked that jerk. It now made sense that she was so upset right now. She must’ve felt like she was betrayed. Just looking at her in pain made Lucius the First’s heart ache painfully.

‘I need to kill him! Rip his limbs off!’

He didn’t care if people called him a tyrant. It was very unlike him to want to punish someone for a personal reason, but Lucius the First couldn’t help it. Besides, it was Frau who started this mess. It was him who hurt his Poliana.

The moment Frau decided to fool Marquess Winter, he must’ve known that the punishment for such a crime would be harsh. Everyone knew how close the emperor and Poliana were. Scamming Poliana was the same thing as scamming the emperor himself.

Poliana was his. Poliana was the woman the emperor loved. It just so happened that he didn’t have the courage to confess his love to her, but still, she was precious to the emperor.

And it seemed that Frau made his woman cry.

Lucius the First had to admit that this situation was partly his fault. He was too weak to do anything about his feelings for her. He had been keeping his distance, thinking it would keep Poliana safe, but in the end, he ended up pushing her towards a gold digger who hurt her badly.

Poliana continued to cry as she muttered, “That bastard.” Her tears refused to stop, so she kept drinking and ate her jerky to keep herself hydrated.

“That bastard!”

“Yes, yes. He’s a very bad man.”

“He’s a jerkkk!”

“Yes, I agree, Pol.”

One cup, two cups, three cups, four cups, five cups, six cups… Before she reached the tenth cup, Lucius the First stopped her.

“Pol, I know how you must feel, but don’t you think you are drinking too much…”

Her tearful angry eyes looked up to him. If he made a mistake here, Lucius the First would become the “bad guy” in her eyes. Poliana was so drunk that she wasn’t thinking clearly. Poliana slowly began to point at Lucius the First and murmur, “You are the bad gu…”

“Here, drink. You can drink all you want. Here you go.”

Lucius the First handed her a cup filled with the liquor. He already gave her his heart, so why not more drinks too?

Poliana snorted and giggled. She was crying a moment ago, but now, she was smiling. She picked up the emperor’s cup and filled it too. When she offered it to him, Lucius the First knew that tomorrow, he would experience the worst hangover in his life.

‘But I need to keep my mind clear…’

When he hesitated to take the cup, Poliana glared and murmured, “You are the bad gu…”

“Alright, alright! Let’s drink!”

If he didn’t drink with her to humor her, Poliana was going to hate him. Lucius the First had no choice but to do as she wished. He hurriedly took the cup from her and announced, “Alright! Let’s get drunk! Like I told you before if you get in trouble from drinking, I will take care of you, Pol! Don’t worry about a thing and drink!”

“Hahaha!”

Poliana clumsily wiped away her tears and replied, “You are the best, your highness!”

“I need to remain awake and sober… I need to remain sober…”

Lucius the First kept telling himself to not get drunk, but it was an impossible task.

***

The barrel was now half empty. Both Lucius the First and Poliana’s eyes looked blank. They were both very drunk, and this was no wonder. The alcohol they were drinking was a typical Acreian liquor, which was considered the strongest on the continent. Some people watered it down because they found it too strong, but Poliana and Lucius the First drank it raw.

Slap!

Poliana slapped Lucius the First’s chest with her wet hand and she cried. She buried her face in his chest and kept murmuring what a jerk Frau was. This went on for a long time before Poliana finally became tired. The emperor did not push her away; in fact, he hugged her and patted her back soothingly.

“That bastard!”

Pat, pat.

“Hahaha… You are so great, your highness. I like you a lot.”

Pat, pat.

“That jerkkk!”

Pat, pat.

“Hahaha, your highness is the best.”

Poliana was going through a rollercoaster of emotions. She kept going back and forth between swearing at Frau and complimenting the emperor. Meanwhile, Lucius the First continued to pat her back while he kept repeating himself, “Poliana! I love you!”

He was obviously just as drunk as Poliana was. He was so intoxicated that he confessed his love for her loudly. It was quite a sin as the two talked without listening to each other.

Only

“Buaaa! That jerk!”

“Poliana! I love you! I love you! I love youuuu!”

Poliana’s speech was slurred while the emperor was speaking very well. However, he was very drunk himself and he had no idea that he was telling her his secret out loud.

“I love you, Poliana.”

“You are the best, your highness!”

“I love you. I’m in love with you. You are the love of my life. I love you. I have been in love with you for a long time. I don’t care about the kingdom! I don’t care about what a proper empress is supposed to be! I love you and that is all that matters! I love you, Pol!”

The problem was that Poliana, who was too drunk, wasn’t even listening.