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Lucius the First grabbed Sir Ainno’s collar with a frown, but the knight easily got away by bending his emperor’s wrist. Lucius the First rubbed his wrist and Sir Ainno, confused and shocked, walked around the room.

Turning towards the emperor, the knight asked to confirm, “Are you serious? Is this for real?”

“Yes, that’s right.”

“Your highness! Look at me!”

Sir Ainno showed him two of his fingers and asked, “How many fingers am I holding, your highness?”

“Two.”

“Do they look unclear, or do your eyes feel foggy…”

“My eyes are perfectly fine, Inno.”

The emperor said to Sir Ainno firmly and continued, “Let me explain.”

“Please… Just give me a second to gather my thoughts… I… I don’t know if I can muster the courage to hear your story.”

Sir Ainno grabbed the bottle of wine and gulped it down. After emptying half of it, he finally sat down again. Lucius the First wanted to tell him the whole story and Sir Ainno now had to keep this secret safe as his loyal knight.

The emperor was 30 years old, he was old enough to have sired several children by now. In fact, Sir Ainno’s younger brother already had a child. Yet here was the emperor, experiencing his first love.

It was an embarrassing moment; sharing a love story between two grown men, but it couldn’t be helped.

The 30-year-old man began to tell his love story to his trusted friend.

From early on, Lucius the First liked Poliana. Of course, in the beginning, it was an interest as any emperor would have towards a talented knight. After a while, they became close acquaintances, and then close friends.

Then at some point, this platonic affection turned into love. And when this happened, Lucius the First could no longer treat Poliana as easily as before. He couldn’t even call her by her name without fearing Poliana finding out about his feelings. Lately, the emperor felt breathless whenever he saw her smile.

“S-stop, your highness. Just give me a moment.”

It was considered rude for anyone to interrupt the emperor, but Sir Ainno couldn’t help it. Lucius the First was so excited that he was talking too fast and too excitedly, and Sir Ainno needed time to digest what he was hearing.

The emperor reddened, as did Sir Ainno.

Cough.

The two men coughed nervously. Sir Ainno finished the rest of the bottle and nodded. He looked determined to hear out his emperor. Lucius the First was grateful that his friend was willing to listen to him.

What good friends they were!

Lucius the First continued, “I tried to ignore this feeling, but it didn’t work. It makes sense because…”

The emperor admitted that although Poliana was indeed no beauty, she was actually very adorable. Besides, a person’s appearance wasn’t the most important thing, it was the inside that really mattered.

The emperor added, “Besides, I have enough beauty for the both of us. And really, Poliana isn’t ugly when you think about it. If you look closely, she is actually very cute. A few days ago, she complained about her bangs getting into her eyes, so she got a bowl and cut her hair straight across it.”

Everyone gaped in shock, but the emperor secretly thought she looked lovable.

“Your highness, calm down!”

“Oh, of course. I… I got carried away.”

To call a 30-year-old spinster cute… Clearly, the emperor had lost his mind. The two men coughed embarrassedly.

Lucius the First took the bottle of wine but placed it down after realizing that Sir Ainno finished it. He grabbed another one and poured himself a full glass.

He felt thirsty.

It wasn’t just the emperor whose mouth felt dry. Sir Ainno gulped down another bottle. He was a strong drinker and rarely became drunk. Unfortunately, the more he drank right now, the thirstier he became.

There were so many women in the world. Half of the population was men, which meant the other half was women. Sir Ainno knew that badmouthing the woman his emperor loved was a bad manner, but he couldn’t help it.

“Your highness. Half the world is full of women. Even excluding the elderly, children, and married women, there still are so many women in the world. You could pick anyone among them randomly and she would be still better than Sir Poliana.”

Lucius the First angrily threw a bottle at his knight, who caught it easily and sat it down on the table.

Sir Ainno realized this was not something he could fix.

‘There is no answer to this problem.’

The scary thing was the fact that Lucius the First knew this. He understood how crazy this was and how unfit Poliana was to be his woman. Yet… The emperor with the greatest self-control and logic was helpless against his feelings for her.

Both men blushed in embarrassment.

“As your highness must know, Sir Poliana is 30 years old. She is a spinster and let’s be honest here. She is no beauty. In fact, to be brutally honest, she is one of the ugliest women I have met.”

One could be kind and say she came from a decent family, but no one could ever call her a proper lady. She was covered in scars and she looked ridiculous in a dress. Her hair was always kept short and she had no manners fit for a lady. All she knew were how to use a sword and win battles.

“On top of that… She was in the Aehasian army for years. She spent most of her adult years with young men, your highness. If you take her as your lady, there will be many who would question her virtue. Even if we can stop them from talking… It still wouldn’t change the fact that she is barren.”

Lucius the First was well aware of these problems.

“I know, I know it better than you do, Inno.”

It was true. The emperor knew more details of Poliana than anyone in this army. Before he developed his feelings for her, Lucius the First and Poliana spent many nights together talking and drinking. They shared intimate stories of each other.

Because Lucius the First was the emperor, he couldn’t tell her too much of his secrets, but Poliana felt free to tell him of hers. She was honest about her past.

Only

On those nights, there was no room for love or lust. They were together as an emperor and his knight, nothing more. So how did this happen? When did love begin? No matter how hard he thought about it, Lucius the First couldn’t figure it out.

A barren woman could not get married if her condition was known. If she belonged to a wealthy family, she would live her life as a spinster. If she came from a poor family, she would be sold to be a wealthy man’s concubine or worse, a prostitute. This was what happened in Acreia.

Suddenly, Sir Ainno said to him, “Well, whatever. If you must, your highness, take her as your concubine, why not?”

Lucius the First raised his face at such an unexpected answer. He was certain that his friend would be adamantly against the idea, so this was a surprise. Of all people, the emperor expected Sir Ainno to disapprove of this the most. He even thought his knight might even go after Poliana and beat her up for seducing his emperor.

But clearly, Lucius the First was wrong. Sir Ainno continued, “Your highness, you are the one who united this world. Who would ever dare to refuse you? Why should you be so troubled because of a woman? Do what you must. Do what you want. I will always be on your side. I have your back.”

Then suddenly, Sir Ainno sat arrogantly and added, “That is as far as I will say as your knight and subject. Now, let me tell you something as your friend.”

“The knight Ainno and friend Ainno are two different men?”

“Just listen to me. Here is your biggest problem, that girl… Sir Poliana… she doesn’t see you as a man.”