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Meanwhile, Poliana was relieved by the surprise visit from the emperor. It was true that she had been feeling anxious lately, wondering if she was ever going to be called back to work. But Lucius the First came to her in person, and he reassured her that he hasn’t forgotten her.

‘Long live the emperor!’

He was indeed a wonderful sovereign.

Luckily, Lucius the First’s brief outing remained a secret. This was actually a problem because it meant that the emperor’s protection team wasn’t doing its job. Lucius the First wasn’t thinking clearly at the moment. In fact, even after he returned, his mind was wandering around. He couldn’t focus at all.

There were only three people who knew about the castle’s secret crawl space.

Lucius the First, Sir Ainno, and Duke Luzo.

The emperor didn’t mean to escape the castle. He didn’t plan this outing, but last night when he was in bed, he couldn’t sleep at all.

‘I’m so glad I went to see her.’

Lucius the First couldn’t stop thinking about Poliana’s brave eyes. She was the woman he loved. Giving her up felt painful, but her happiness also mattered to him greatly.

The emperor was still thinking about how she slammed him to a wall even during a meeting with Sir Jainno. Sir Jainno reported to the emperor that there was a need to expand and strengthen the royal guard division.

Lucius the First agreed.

‘Yes. That would be a good idea.’

Now that he had some time to think, the emperor concurred that it was a problem how no one found out about his secret excursion. He even stole a guard uniform, but it seemed that no one knew about it.

It was possible that the guard who lost the uniform didn’t report it to his superior, but this itself was also a problem.

The emperor was able to pass the castle entrance without being examined by the gatekeepers just because he was wearing that blue uniform. They didn’t even check his personal ID. Lucius the First left the castle through the secret crawlspace, but when he returned, he used the front entrance without a problem.

The emperor was concerned about how weak the gate defense was. It seemed that anyone and everyone was allowed into the castle. It was true that there had been a significant increase in visitors to the castle, but this couldn’t be used as an excuse.

It was partly because the gatekeepers were low ranking soldiers. Whenever they saw the guards in their blue uniforms, the gatekeepers were too intimidated to search them since the guards were usually very high-ranking aristocrats.

This had to change. It was the gatekeepers’ duty to search and verify everyone passing through the gates. The gatekeepers needed to be retrained. There also had to be many more of them as they were overworked.

Lucius the First decided that as soon as Poliana returned, he would discuss that matter with her.

***

The indefinite vacation was hell to Poliana. She laid on the sofa like a piece of wet cotton, feeling bored and useless.

But she quickly became alert and uncomfortable when Lady Bika came to her with news. It seemed that the lady found a potential marriage arrangement for Poliana.

Poliana was considered an old woman, she was past the conventional “marriageable” age. If she belonged to a normal noble family, she would’ve been hidden from the public because her family would’ve been ashamed of her. If a woman of older age was very beautiful, or if she belonged to an extremely prominent family, it was still possible for her to get married, usually to a widower, but this was rare.

Besides, Poliana was no beauty. Even the emperor, who was in love with her, could not call her pretty. He thought she was cute but not beautiful. She also didn’t have a conventionally beautiful body. Men liked slim women, but not stick-thin women. Poliana had decent-sized breasts considering how thin she was, but her breasts were now as hard as her muscles because of her military training.

On top of that, her personality didn’t make her obedient or docile. In fact, she had a rather bad temper.

And worst of all, she was a soldier. She spent the last 10 years in battles. This fact was considered a bonus for a man, since he would be rewarded with a title and lands, but for a woman, this was a huge negative. No men wanted a woman who spent her days with so many other men for the last decade.

The only positive aspect of Poliana was the fact that she could potentially gain a great wealth and power. But… This was only as long as Lucius the First did not abandon her and remember her effort. Many believed that the emperor would eventually get tired of her.

Who would want to marry a foreign woman of 30, who was ugly and had an even uglier past? There was even a rumor too that she was barren.

Poliana haven’t been in Nanaba for a long time, so she wondered how any men would come to offer her a marriage?

It turned out that it was all Lady Bika’s work and after a further explanation, Poliana learned that no one had actually offered her a hand in marriage. What Lady Bika meant was that if Poliana was interested, she could arrange a meeting with a man who might be interested in marrying Poliana.

One positive thing about Poliana was that she was actually quite rich now thanks to the land she received from the emperor. This meant there could be many commoners out there who would want to marry her. But Poliana was technically a noble lady, which meant that she had to marry a nobleman.

So the potential husband Lady Bika chose was an aristocrat who was recently widowed.

“This gentleman lost his wife very recently.”

Lady Bika explained that it was a man in his 50’s who had many grown children. She praised him greatly. This man used to be in the military, which was why he was a bit gruff, but apparently, he was a very kind-hearted person. Lady Bika said that he was in fact not very interested in getting remarried again, but she thought Poliana would be a great match for him.

“This gentleman likes women who are active. In fact, his first wife used to ride with him often to hunt. I am certain that even after you get married, he will allow you to hunt and exercise as a hobby.”

Only

“Thank you, Lady Bika, for your concern, but I am not interested in getting married.’

“Aren’t you going to retire after you get your reward from the emperor?”

“No, I am planning to continue my duty as his highness’s guard. It is a very honorable job.”

“Sir Poliana, no nobleman would allow his wife to continue to work.”

“Yes, I know. That is why I won’t get married.”

“Please don’t say that! Everyone, whether you are a man or woman, needs to get married. That is the only way you can live a stable and comfortable life. Can’t you understand? Look at all the soldiers and knights who returned from the war. They are all looking to get married as soon as possible! Everyone knows how hard you worked for the emperor to unite this continent. Everyone knows your achievements. My husband told me that even if you get married, no one in the military will look down on you. Sir Poliana, you have lived a very hard life until now. I heard that you were thrown into a battle at a tender age. A young fragile girl in an army… ”

Lady Bika held Poliana’s hands warmly and continued, “Even a man finds it tough to survive a war, yet you, as a woman, had to go through such a trauma. You have done more than enough, Sir Poliana. It is now time for you to become happy. You deserve it and for your happiness, you need to get married.”