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But then…

‘Couldn’t he trust his wife at least?’

Immediately, Poliana shook her head, realizing how naïve her thinking was. Most nobles went through arranged marriages for political or financial reasons. It was most likely that Marquis Seeze, Sir Bentier’s grandfather, was the one who arranged Sir Bentier’s marriage. This meant that Marquis Seeze most likely chose a woman whose family would be loyal to him, not necessarily to her own husband Sir Bentier.

Poliana followed Sir Bentier to his library. They behaved perfectly, exactly the way everyone would expect them to be. Not too close, but not too distant either; awkward but polite.

Sir Bentier asked her, “Hmm… Would you like to have a drink with me before you leave?”

“Sure, that would be nice. We’ve drank in groups many times, but I guess we never shared a drink with each other.”

“You and I are both very busy, so why not just share one drink each? Does that sound fair?”

“That sounds perfect, Sir Bentier.”

Sir Bentier sent the servants away, telling them that they weren’t needed. As soon as they were alone, Sir Bentier and Poliana stopped acting although their demeanors did not change much. Even though they fought the same war for 10 years together, they rarely spent much time with each other before. They liked each other and wanted to get to know each other better, but they did not have such an opportunity to do so.

After a short silence, Sir Bentier said to her, “I think… The elders are planning something, something is going to happen soon.”

“What do you mean?”

“I don’t know exactly. In truth, the elders aren’t a very well-organized group. It is made up of selfish old men who only happened to work together because of their greed… There are plenty of times when an individual elder acted on his own, so there is no way I can predict these things. Anyway, all we can do is to monitor them closely. Please keep a close eye on those inside the lady’s quarters. You need to especially keep Lady Rebecca safe.”

The emperor was able to unite the entire continent, but the northern nobles were banding together to discriminate against the people of other regions. It seemed that some people just could not accept the fact that their kingdom now included everyone. They were all Acreians now, but the elders were busy trying to undermine the “foreigners.”

For now, the emperor was just watching them, but things could become dangerous very quickly.

Sir Bentier wanted Lucius the First to do something. He wanted him to punish those who did not obey him, but the emperor was a human himself, and he couldn’t help wanting to protect people from his homeland if it was possible. The problem was that these elders were taking advantage of the emperor’s kindness.

Sir Bentier said to Poliana, “It seems that Lady Rebecca’s pregnancy seemed to have shocked the elders…”

“I can understand that; I heard that this news shocked the entirety of Nanaba.”

“Recently, Duchess Luzo was insulted. Duke Luzo did his best to stop this story from spreading, but the rumors already reached Yapa.”

This was true. Poliana already heard how Duchess Luzo, Duke Luzo’s wife, was disrespected at a feast in Nanaba. Duke Luzo did not want to worry the emperor, so he tried to cover it up, but by now, everyone knew that story. In this matter, Lucius the First and Sir Bentier had completely different ideas. Lucius the First wanted to watch and wait while Sir Bentier believed that this problem needed to be solved right now before it got worse.

Sir Bentier saw the current situation as an infection. A boil to be specific; if lanced and drained early, would heal eventually without a permanent scar, but if the infection was left alone, it was going to become worse until it was too late. Sir Bentier wanted the emperor to use his power to fix this problem. He wanted Lucius the First to pierce this boil and drain the pus.

When he shared his opinion to him, the emperor grumbled and replied, “You are asking me to act too harshly.”

Many government officials wanted this tension to be resolved as soon as possible, but since the emperor wanted to “monitor the situation,” there was nothing that could be done other than making sure it didn’t escalate too drastically.

Not many people knew about it, but there were several assassination attempts in the lady’s quarters. It was thanks to Poliana and her vigilance that prevented a huge tragedy from happening. The apparent peace in the lady’s quarters was all because of Poliana.

Sir Bentier said to Poliana, “Please keep your eyes on Lady Tory and the maids. You need to monitor them closely.”

“But…”

Lady Tory was incredibly intelligent. She maintained the appearance of being obedient, but she was, in fact, the one who had firm control over the entire lady’s quarters. It was no wonder Lucius the First called her smart.

Poliana had the opportunity to watch how Lady Tory worked, and she was very impressed. The way Lady Tory dealt with the maids and the servants was amazing. She was tactful, strong, and kind all at the same time. In the northern region, the women led more restricted lives. They weren’t allowed to interact even with each other too freely, but this was different in the southern regions. At first, Tory seemed to feel awkward at the more open social rules, but she quickly adapted to her current situation. Within one year, she was able to gain absolute control over the major noble social circles around the castle. She, of course, had help from her family, but even considering this, it was a commendable achievement.

Lady Tory was charismatic and kind-hearted at the same time. Poliana saw her as the perfect wife material for the emperor. Lady Tory was feminine and obedient to men. She most likely felt jealous of the other wives from time to time, but Lady Tory never showed it to anyone. She actually made sure everyone got along well and kept peace in the lady’s quarters. If anyone tried to criticize Rebecca for her fragile health, it was Tory who stopped them.

Poliana may be the one who protected everyone in the lady’s quarters, but it was Lady Tory who kept the peace within. If anyone found out Poliana was monitoring Lady Tory, it was going to be a huge problem.

‘The ladies also don’t know that I read their letters. If they find out…’

Tory was too smart to do anything irrational or stupid. Her relatives, of course, were another matter.

Poliana asked, “Do you not trust Lady Tory? I can tell you, Sir Bentier, that she would not do anything careless or harmful.”

“I know for a fact that Lady Tory is perfect. The problem is that this will be used against her. Her perfection will become her weakness.”

Because Tory was a perfect Acreian lady, Sir Bentier believed that she would not be able to disobey Marquis Seeze. Lady Tory would, of course, never knowingly do anything to harm Lucius the First or Acreia, but the elders were sneaky. They would try to convince her otherwise and that whatever they were planning was for the good of herself, the kingdom, and ultimately the emperor.

No matter what, Tory was part of the Seeze family. If the Seeze family failed, Tory would lose her own power as well. If Tory refused to obey them, Marquis Seeze would not hesitate to threaten her.

But Poliana believed in Tory.

“Please believe in Lady Tory, Sir Bentier.”

“I do. I do trust her. But Marquess Winter, Tory was raised to be obedient, and she is surrounded by the ladies who grew up the same way.”

Only

Tory’s maids and ladies-in-waiting were all from the influential Acreian noble families. Their families were all loyal to Marquess Seeze, which meant that although these ladies were Lady Tory’s friends, they were also spies for Marquess Seeze to monitor Tory.

Poliana could not blame these ladies. She said to Sir Bentier, “But Lady Tory has changed.”

People evolve; yesterday’s Tory was different from today’s Tory, she would continue to evolve.

Wasn’t it too much to ask of your children to remain the same even after they got married? For example, Sir Bentier himself turned against his own family and was now on the emperor’s side.

Poliana wanted to mention this fact, but she kept her mouth shut. When Sir Bentier nodded, Poliana suggested, “Lady Tory can decide for herself what is right and wrong. Why can’t you just talk to his highness so the emperor can let Lady Tory know of our current situation?”

“As you know, Marquess Winter, that his highness has no intention of purging the elders. As long as the elders do not cross the line too much, the emperor wishes to let them live and wait it out. Unless something drastic happens, he will not do anything, and if we assume that nothing would happen, it would be best not to let Lady Tory know.”

It seemed that Sir Bentier understood what Poliana was trying to say, but he still refused to accept her idea.