Chapter 44
A temporary podium was made for Lucius the First to stand and watch his knights’ practice. When he saw Poliana nearby, he called for her and asked, “Is it hard for you to watch the practice because you are so short?”
“I’m not that short, your highness.”
It was true that other audiences’ heads were blocking her view. Poliana was tall for a woman, but she was certainly smaller than most northern soldiers. Sir Donau, who was now much taller than Poliana, walked towards them. His older brother, Sir Howe, was one of the knights selected for the tournament, and Donau was both proud and envious of him.
9 knights, including Sir Ainno, were selected for the tournament. An additional nine more knights were chosen as spares. The knights in the main group included the following men.
Sir Ainno, who was acknowledged as the best knight in Acreia.
Sir Bentier, who hesitated to participate since he was the deputy commander but ended up entering the contest because of his skills in spear combat.
Sir Rabi, who had the strength of a wild boar.
Sir Howe, a talented fighter who was hated by his sparring partners for his sneakiness.
Sir Beke, who had the most potential as a good fighter among the young knights.
Sir Aeke, who wasn’t as good of a fighter as his brother but still a very dependable knight.
Sir Mahogal was also a decent fighter, but he was excluded because he was the second in command of the emperor’s personal protection division. Sir Ainno, the head of the protection team, was going to be absent, which meant that they could not spare any more of the emperor’s personal guards.
Those selected felt extremely proud because it meant they were recognized as the best in the Acreian army. Sir Deke looked at his brothers proudly just as Donau did.
Lucius the First gestured Sirs Donau and Deke to come closer as well. The temporary podium squeaked as they stepped on it.
The emperor said to them, “I am still very concerned.”
“Why, your highness?”
“The Bikpa Lord told me that the armors for tournaments are much thicker than our Acreian gears. This means that our knights need to win without getting hit even once. Inno may be an amazing fighter, but he cannot win over 10 professional tournament knights. 10 champions… I am not even certain about what order I need to send our men to fight.”
If Sir Ainno was the first to fight, he would lose his strength as he fought more and more men. It could be a huge problem if Gali the Third placed the strongest of his men towards the end of the tournament.
Lucius the First knew that he was more likely to lose than win. He accepted this idea partly because Sir Ainno was determined to participate. However, the biggest reason was that it would still be meaningless if he lost.
The King of Bikpa was truly stupid. He requested the Acreian army to leave his land if he won the contest, but all Lucius had to do was leave temporarily before declaring another war and return. Most lords of Bikpa no longer accepted Gali the Third as their sovereign since, after all, their king abandoned them. The only people loyal to Gali the Third were those who were inside the Yapa castle. The only land he truly owned now was the castle itself.
Even if Lucius the First lost the tournament and left the Bikpa border, he knew that at least, a dozen Bikpa lords would ask him for help in their rebellion towards their king. All Lucius the First had to do was to accept their plea and attack them again.
All he had to lose was a little bit of time. With the Bikpa lords’ help, perhaps it might even become easier the second time they attack.
“We are in the middle of a war and yet, we are here to practice for a tournament. I guess Gali the Third is a romantic. A romantic who lives in his own dream,” Lucius the First muttered.
It was shameful indeed.
Poliana listened to her emperor attentively. Secretly, she felt the same way as Sir Donau and Sir Deke; she was envious of the knights who got to participate in the tournament but of course, she understood perfectly why she should not and could not be part of it. She acknowledged that these men were amazingly brave and strong knights. Their skills were well known around the kingdoms.
Poliana herself made significant achievements recently as well but unfortunately, she was known to the world in a negative way.
The new Acreian knight Poliana Winter; her name was used to mock Lucius the First.
A female knight who was given this rank because she was Lucius the First’s favored mistress.
A knightess who rides men better than horses.
It was a common strategy to ridicule the opposing armies during wars. False rumors ran rampant all around the continent.
But it didn’t faze Poliana. Whenever she was met with jokes and ridicules like these, she fought back with her foul mouth that could even make the biggest men blush.
Her colleagues and her soldiers were on her side. When they faced a rumor about her, these men fought back as well.
“Have you any idea how ugly our knightess is? If you did, you would not say such things!”
“She is so ugly that no men would ever want her! Therefore, all the rumors of her being a who*e are ridiculous!”
“Her hideous face will keep her virginity safe forever!”
“Our knightess is no woman! She is a knight and nothing more!”
Her men encouraged Poliana to ignore these rumors. They were truly and genuinely on her side, but Poliana didn’t know how to feel about their comments, which were said with good intentions but clearly insults themselves.
But in the end, Poliana didn’t feel hurt because the men were only trying to defend her reputation. Still, there were still times when she found it hard not to kick the other knights when they said horrible things to her.
“Sir Poliana! Do not feel disappointed! I am sure you will be able to get married someday!”
“We all know that you aren’t a cheap who*e, Sir Poliana! Please don’t feel hurt by the rumors!”
‘Bastards.’
Sometimes, Poliana couldn’t tell if these men were truly on her side.
But what worried her the most was the fact that her name was being used to mock Lucius the First. The emperor hasn’t mentioned anything about it yet, and when someone did bring up the subject, he angrily ignored it.
Only
Lucius the First was indeed a wise and kind emperor.
Poliana felt sorry for the people of Bikpa, ‘How awful it must be to have a stupid king like Gali the Third.’
But at least, these people now had hope. Lucius the First was going to conquer this kingdom and take care of the poor people of Bikpa just as he did for Aehas, Kukda, and Bebero.
And this was the truth. The people of these conquered kingdoms now revered Lucius the First as a godsend. The tax rates were dropped, and everyone was treated fairly. The chance of internal rebellion was minimal inside these kingdoms.
The great emperor Lucius the First.
Poliana tried to never miss a word her leader said. Then suddenly, he said something that made her speechless.
“Hmm… Sir Poliana, now that Inno will be temporarily unavailable to protect me, will you take on the duty for a while?”
“Pardon?!”
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