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“There will be plenty of new opportunities in the south. Besides, I want to escape from Sir Ainno as soon as possible.”

Poliana guessed Sir Mahogal, who became good friends with Sir Howe, was going to be very sad to see his friend go.

“I see… So you guys are all going down south… I assume Donau is going too?”

“Of course, he will. Both of our parents are going, so why wouldn’t he?”

Poliana expected this. She felt disappointed and sad, but there was nothing she could do about it. When she expressed her feelings, Sir Howe patted her shoulder and replied, “Don’t be so sad. You will be so busy that you won’t even get the time to miss us.”

He was right. Sir Jainno’s men were expecting either Sir Jainno or Sir Wook to become the new head of the royal guards. When Poliana appeared, there were many who protested.

A knightess? How could they, strong men, follow the lead of a mere woman?

Poliana’s own men, who have been serving her faithfully, became angry at the castle guards’ insults.

“What’s wrong with our Sir Pol? She is much better than your own boss, Sir Jainno!”

Thankfully, they didn’t get into any physical fights yet, but Poliana witnessed them arguing many times so far. She needed to gain firm control over her men, all of them, as soon as possible. But the problem was, she was too busy with other matters. Sir Jainno also had many complaints against Poliana, but he was keeping himself quiet because of all the work they had to complete. The only thing Sir Jainno did from time to time was to glare at the golden stripe on her uniform.

***

Poliana spent a lot of time exploring the castle walls to find the hidden crawl spaces. The emperor didn’t mean to tell her about them, but he did and Poliana was determined to get rid of these weak spots in the royal castle defense.

“I can’t believe how well hidden these crawl spaces are… Look here.”

“Sir Poliana, you are amazing. How did you spot them? How did you even think of the possibility that there could be holes in our wall defense?”

“Just an instinct, that’s all.”

“It must be your woman’s sixth sense.”

Sir Jainno’s men have been claiming that the castle walls were solid. They believed that there were no holes in their defense, so when Poliana found these crawlspaces, Sir Jainno’s men, who had been loudly doubting Poliana’s abilities, became quiet. Poliana’s own men became excited at their boss’ findings.

Poliana was just happy to be here. She then ordered, “There could be more of these, so keep searching.”

“Yes, ma’am!”

“And change the gatekeepers from low-ranking soldiers to knights. Because the current gatekeepers’ positions are so low, they seem to feel intimidated to search aristocrats and other knights.”

“But we can’t have the knights doing such menial jobs!”

“A gatekeeper’s job is to protect the emperor, so it can’t be considered a lowly duty.”

There were two sides to the knights. One agreed with Poliana’s orders quietly while the other side grumbled loudly.

The royal guard unit was known to have the strictest rules. Grumbling or protesting to the head of the division was unheard of, yet here in the royal castle, it seemed to happen often.

Poliana had so much work to do, even more than when she was in the war. She had more areas to protect and guard.

She also had more men, which meant that she should’ve had more help, but instead, some of these men refused to follow her orders. Her annoyance increased daily; the only thing that made her happy was Lucius the First’s smile, which she got to see every day.

‘He is so handsome.’

It has been 10 years since she first met her emperor, but she could see the clear difference in him now that he was back home. Lucius the First took great care of his beauty during the war, but it couldn’t be compared to the amount of care he received from his servants. He grew even more beautiful every day, making his knights feel prouder.

One day, Lucius the First asked Poliana, “What do you think of my face? How does it make you feel?”

“You are very beautiful, your highness!”

The other knights in the room nodded emphatically. The emperor seemed to be unsatisfied with the answer, so he asked again, “Anything else?”

‘Is he unhappy because I said he is beautiful? Is it because he thought I meant that he was feminine?’

Poliana decided to change her compliment.

“You have a very strong and manly chin! You have grown very masculine since the first time I saw you, your highness! Your wide shoulders and muscular back are amazing!”

“And when you look at such a handsome man, how do you feel?”

“I feel honored to be serving you, your highness!”

Lucius the First did his best to hide his disappointment. Poliana meant well, but it was clear that she wasn’t interested in him as a man. What made the emperor even angrier was the fact that Poliana sometimes blushed when she was with other men who were uglier than him.

Only

There were many good-looking men in the guard unit, and some of these knights sometimes teased Poliana, treating her like a proper lady. Lucius the First could see that Poliana enjoyed this kind of interaction and it made him furious.

Poliana Winter did not see Lucius the First as a man. This was the problem. The fact that the emperor gave up on marrying her didn’t change the fact that he still wanted her to see her as a man. This was a huge problem indeed.

Lucius the First knew he was not making any sense, but he couldn’t help feeling frustrated and upset. He was especially furious when he heard about how Sir Rabi’s wife tried to arrange a marriage for Poliana. He thought he was going to have a stroke from the news, but thankfully, he was a good actor, and no one noticed it.

‘And she wanted her to marry a man in his 50’s who already has grandchildren! I would rather have her as my concubine then let her marry someone like that!’

The emperor contemplated day and night, and finally, he decided that perhaps it would be easier for him to give up if Poliana did get married.

If she married a good man, a man even he had to admit was a good match for her… Poliana would become happy, and Lucius the First also would be content that he could finally give her up. It was still going to be very hard, but as long as Poliana lived happily… The emperor knew he would live a sad life, but at least, he alone would be sad.

Now that he decided on his course of action, Lucius the First began to discreetly ask around to see if there were any good potential matches for Poliana.