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Lucius the First’s face darkened, he looked unhappy about it. Meanwhile, Sir Ainno covered his mouth to try to hide his laughter. Sir Bentier saw Sir Ainno flinch and became concerned. He asked the emperor, “Your highness, what is wrong with Sir Ainno?”

“Inno is just being immature, he’s probably losing his mind too.”

“Sir Poliana told me she thought Sir Ainno has been acting strangely lately. I guess she was right.”

“Hmm… I agree that Inno has been acting extra odd around Sir Pol. Anyway, about the empress…”

Lucius the First rubbed his forehead. Working too much and his lack of sleep were getting to him. He could feel his stress wrinkles faintly forming on his forehead, which was a huge concern.

The emperor continued, “If we decide on who will become the empress, it could become problematic. Let’s just appoint the lady who bears my heir first as the empress.”

“This could cause unnecessary conspiracies and jealousies among the ladies, your highness.”

“There will only be the three of them, so how much harm could they do to each other? It should be fine.”

Sir Bentier nodded in agreement. When their discussion was over, Sir Bentier left, leaving the emperor with the portraits of the three ladies. Sir Ainno didn’t leave the room. He stood in front of the window and watched the guards patrolling the castle grounds. Lucius the First, who couldn’t sleep yet, continued to work at his desk.

“Your highness.”

“Yes, Inno?”

“What if…”

“Yes?”

“What if all three ladies end up having only daughters? What will you do then? What if no matter how hard you try, no prince is born?”

“Then I will have to get another wife.”

“You know that is why you need to have concubines, right? Your highness, you need to remember this.”

“I know.”

Uniting the entire continent could fail if he didn’t have a proper heir to continue this work. Lucius the First knew better than anyone that he needed to have a son. It didn’t matter who the mother was, as long as the emperor was their father. Thankfully, because he was still young, no one was worried about this yet.

Sir Ainno teased him, “I am sure that you’re wishing that Sir Poliana was standing here right now instead of me, your highness.”

“Of course, and if she was here, I don’t think I could’ve controlled myself.”

“If she wasn’t barren, you would’ve taken her.”

“That’s not it…”

Lucius the First looked out of the window. Would he have offered her to become his empress if she wasn’t infertile? At first, he thought so, but soon, the emperor realized that this wasn’t the case. It wouldn’t have mattered if Poliana was an empress instead of his wife or concubine. She would’ve been miserable even if she became the empress.

The Poliana Winter the emperor knew was a hardworking woman. She trained every day, which was why her hands were so rough and worn out. She loved to ride her horse all over the kingdom and train her guards. Her light brown hair, which would look golden if longer, was always cut short above her ears.

This was the Poliana Lucius the First loved.

Looking up at the dark night sky filled with stars, Lucius the First murmured, “I want her to be happy. That is all I want.”

Even though he said it, the emperor obviously looked like he would never give up. Sir Ainno frowned in annoyance. If he loved her so much, why not just confess to her? To hide his frown, Sir Ainno looked away.

What an idiot his emperor was.

***

Lucius the First’s new wives arrived at the lady’s quarters in the Yapa castle. Poliana was given the list of people who were to stay in this place, so she examined the place with hawk eyes. She had to make sure that only the people on the list lived here. The ladies seemed to be nervous because they stood close by their ladies in waiting.

Poliana met Tory Seeze before. Except for the fact that her family was in a tense relationship with the emperor, Tory Seeze herself was a lovely young lady. She was a typical northern beauty with a quiet and obedient demeanor.

Mongsheim’s princess, Stra, was the youngest of the wives. She looked unhappy and anxious, perhaps because she had to share her husband with other women. In the mid-continent regions, a knightess was accepted and even honored. Of all the regions, the mid-continent treated the knightesses the best. Stra smiled awkwardly to try to hide her nervousness. Her maids treated and served her with affection, indicating that the princess must’ve treated her people well.

Princess Rebecca from the small southern kingdom, Nanikun, was the oldest of the three, however, she was the smallest and slimmest. If Tory was the typical northern beauty, who was tall and slender, Rebecca was the typical southern beauty. Standing beside Tory, Rebecca looked much younger.

Rebecca was standing with the support of her ladies in waiting. She looked very tired, probably from the long journey. Poliana remembered the report on Rebecca.

‘It said that she was very fragile.’

People did become concerned if a woman was too delicate, worried that she might not be able to bear children but to a certain extent, fragile ladies were considered feminine and desirable.

When the ladies left and she was left alone, Poliana grinned happily.

‘I love how they are all so beautiful.’

Poliana liked all of them, but her favorite was Tory. In fact, Tory welcomed by everyone in the castle. Although technically Tory had the lowest of ranks of all the emperor’s wives, she was the only one who came from Acreia, and this worked to her advantage.

Unlike the princesses, whose kingdoms were conquered and who now had to live in a foreign land, Tory was being honored by her emperor from her home. Tory’s maids and servants, who knew many of the women working in the Yapa castle already because they were all from Acreia, greeted each other joyously. Stra and Rebecca’s maids, on the other hand, glanced around awkwardly, trying to get used to their new and unfamiliar surroundings.

The first thing the emperor’s wives had to go through was to be examined by the royal doctor. There were two doctors who visited them. Poliana knew one of them. He was Baron Redikal, but she didn’t recognize the other man.

‘Hmm… Maybe he’s a specialist in gynecology?’

He was an older man, which was very unusual for a gynecologist. A healer or doctor was required to go through extensive training. It was a very respected position and most doctors made an excellent living. It was a popular career, but it required a very long time and work to become an independent and successful doctor.

There weren’t many doctors who specialize in women’s health. It was very expensive to see these doctors, so those women who were poor often went to see a midwife instead.

Only

Noble ladies, on the other hand, were usually very hesitant to seek a gynecologist, and this was the reason why there weren’t many of them available. When it was decided that he was going to get married, Lucius the First appointed a gynecologist as the second official royal doctor for his wives.

The ladies were examined, and the doctor announced that they were all healthy. The ladies immediately went to their private quarters to rest. Poliana was about to leave as well when the gynecologist stopped her and announced, “His highness asked me to examine you as well, Marquess.”

“But I’m perfectly healthy.”

The elderly man looked at her understandingly and replied, “I have heard the rumor about you, Marquess. I think this would be a good opportunity to get you examined.”

“Well, if you must assess me, I actually would like to ask you about something else.”

“Oh, what is it?”

Poliana looked around to make sure she was alone with the doctor.