The Emperor and the Knightess

Chapter 123

The answers the emperor got were not what he wanted. It seemed that the only men who may be interested in marrying Poliana might indeed be old widowers.

Lucius the First became visibly upset. He finally called Duke Luzo, who was buried in an incredible amount of work and asked him to make a list of potential husbands for Poliana. Duke Luzo frowned in frustration, but being a good cousin, he did what he was asked.

A few days later, Duke Luzo handed the list to the emperor. Lucius the First then asked, “What is this?”

“This is the list you asked from me. The list of potential husbands for Sir Poliana.”

“But I asked you to find a list of GOOD men.”

“These are the men who may be willing to marry Sir Poliana without being forced into it.”

“What?! But these men on the list are all old or widowed! And most of them are poorer or lower ranked than Sir Pol!”

“Your highness, thanks to your generosity, there aren’t many men out there who are wealthier than Sir Pol. And besides, if a man was that wealthy, why would he voluntarily marry a woman like Sir Poliana?”

Lucius the First became livid. He thumped his chest in frustration. Sir Pol was so adorable! Why couldn’t other people see it? Were they all blind? The emperor said to the duke, “But I will be awarding her even more lands and a better title! She is my favorite knight after all!”

“The man who marries her will be called a gold digger. Who in his right mind would want to be called that?”

Lucius the First rubbed his forehead. He always thought that wealth and power were the two most attractive things in the marriage market, not the person’s looks. He thought Poliana was quite a catch, but it seemed that no one agreed with him. There had to be a young man out there whose ambition would entice him to propose to Poliana…

Lucius the First asked the duke, “But don’t you think Sir Poliana is a pretty good catch? She is favored by the emperor and… I just don’t understand. If she was a man, she would be getting hundreds of marriage proposals by now, yet all the qualities that make a man a good husband material seem to work against her favor in the marriage market… Just because she is a woman… How strange.”

“It can’t be helped, your highness.”

“Well, isn’t there a good-looking bastard who is greedy or ambitious enough to take her?”

“I’m sorry, your highness, but… There is a rumor that Sir Poliana is barren.”

“…”

When the emperor became quiet, Duke Luzo realized the truth. This rumor… It wasn’t just an empty story. It made sense since Poliana has been involved in battles for many years. It was a known fact that she was injured many times before.

Poliana herself admitted that she didn’t have her monthly bleeding, and it was only a matter of time before this became public knowledge.

In Acreia, an infertile woman lived her life alone or as a prostitute. If a noblewoman was barren, she had an option to become a concubine to a nobleman, who already had a male heir. This was the best and most stable life a barren noblewoman could hope for.

An ugly woman would be accepted instead of an infertile woman. Even being the emperor’s favorite knight could not mask this flaw. Besides, this was one of the reasons why Lucius the First also couldn’t take Poliana as his empress, even if she was willing.

Poliana’s fellow knights also wanted to help in finding her a decent husband. Everyone agreed that marriage and forming a family was the only way to true happiness.

The knights who considered themselves to be her friends could not accept the fact that Poliana was being treated poorly in the marriage market. Objectively speaking, she was indeed an unmarriageable woman, but they still couldn’t accept this reality. So finally, some of them even began to offer their own brothers.

What if Sir Poliana dies a virgin? She will forever haunt Acreia as a ghost.

Poliana couldn’t believe what was happening around her. She was so busy, yet she had to waste her precious time dealing with the other well-intentioned knights, who seemed to have nothing better to do than meddle in her business.

When she flat out refused the blind dates with her potential husband materials, some even offered to create a “coincidental” meeting with these men. This did happen rarely, but most of the time, these “coincidental” meetings didn’t go so well. Poliana ended up agreeing to one, but the man refused her as soon as he saw her face. She became furious, and when she seemed upset, some knights began to propose themselves to help her.

“There is no other way, Sir Poliana. It can’t be helped, so I will take you. Let’s get married.”

Poliana punched whoever proposed to her. Some even offered to marry her just for a year because they pitied her. They suggested they should get divorced afterward. It was an odd thing, but in the Acreian society, it was better to be a divorced woman than a spinster for a noble lady.

But still…

These knights were being ridiculous. Just for a moment, Poliana did consider that perhaps it was a good idea, but she shook her head.

“Just stop! All of you! I can’t take this anymore!” Only

“But, Sir Poliana!”

“No, no more! We need to stop talking about this! Who cares if I get married? Who cares if I never have children?! It is none of your business!”

They needed to stop nagging her, these knights were worse than Lady Bika!

Meanwhile, many single knights continued to get married quickly, especially those who were planning to move down south. They had an option to marry the local noble ladies in the southern colonies, but most of them chose to marry an Acreian woman. As more and more men got married, the pressure for Poliana to get married as well continued.

She felt like she was about to suffocate from everyone nagging her about her own life. On top of that, Sir Jainno made sure to annoy her whenever he got the chance. It was clear he did not approve of her, and he made sure to make a big deal about her smallest mistakes.

When she first arrived, Sir Jainno made a fuss about how she was a woman and he could not work under one, but as soon as his brother Sir Ainno returned, it stopped. It was clear that Sir Ainno accepted Poliana as his colleague, so Sir Jainno could no longer complain about her gender.

But now, he treated her as his rival, the rival who took away his chance to become the head of the royal guards.