86 Chapter 86

Chapter 86

Thump, thump.

The emperor's heart began to beat loudly. Lucius the First felt the pain of it and closed his eyes. His beautiful face was filled with sadness and worry. The previous lord of Sitrin was a lustful man. The hot spring wasn't that far from the castle, yet he created an expensive water channel to bring the water directly to his castle. On top of that, he also built a custom brazier to reheat the water and an extravagant bathhouse for his pleasure. It must've cost a pretty penny to build something like this.

Based on his understanding, it took a very long time to complete this project as well. It was only recently finished, and in the end, the previous lord ended up dying without being able to enjoy his crazy creation.

How sad.

And now, Lucius the First, the conqueror of all kingdoms, was going to enjoy it and in the future, Poliana would get to enjoy it as the new master of Sitrin.

For now, the emperor was happy to relish in the healing water alone. It was quiet inside except for the sound of falling water. Lucius the First stared at the gentle wave of the water around him.

Thump, thump.

His heartbeat filled his head and he shook his head.

Please don't let it be love…

Lucius the First was desperate. This couldn't be love. This powerful feeling he had inside of him… It had to be just his excitement from accomplishing his dream of uniting the continent. It had to be him feeling good about seeing his trusted night happy. It had to be because it had been a while since he had a woman.

It had to be… It had to be…

This was why he didn't refuse any women that were offered to him. They were all different. Whether they were round-shouldered and square-shouldered, big-breasted and small-breasted, even if they had a sweet bodily scent and they were sour-smelling, and on and on. He didn't care as long as it was a woman, any woman. He thought that if he buried his face on a woman's breasts, he would be able to forget about Poliana, and this crazy heartbeat would stop.

The women who entered his room were all beautiful. They had long silky hair, porcelain skin, and clean and well-kept nails…

Lucius the First welcomed all of them. He spent all of his pent up energy on these women, but…

The emperor's heart would not stop beating loudly.

'This isn't right…'

Of all people… He felt so strongly for Poliana. Even after taking all those women to bed, his feelings didn't change. He could no longer claim his feeling for her was from his repressed lust.

Lucius the First was troubled. This was a big problem for him. There has never been anyone who distressed him this much. This could be dangerous. Just the fact that he considered this situation as a trouble was disturbing.

If he wanted a woman, it wasn't a problem for Lucius the First to take her. There was no one else in this world who had a higher status than he did. He was the emperor after all. No one could deny him or refuse him. As an emperor, he didn't have to pursue a woman. He only had to say so and his servants would bring her straight to him.

As long as it wasn't a married woman, the emperor could have anyone. In fact, even most married women would be willing to give themselves to him.

This wasn't only because he was the emperor with absolute power. The fact that Lucius the First was a young, beautiful, and kind man was the biggest reason for it. The emperor was respectful and was not shy about acknowledging true talents. He was also very intelligent and well-read.

Countless women confessed their love for him. It would be very difficult to find a woman who would refuse such a man.

For a second, Lucius the First thought he came up with an easy solution. Why not just confess to Poliana? No matter how the knightess felt about it, she could not escape him.

Suddenly, realizing his mistake, the emperor splashed some water on his face.

'No! No! I can't be like that! It would be wrong.'

Forcing a woman… It was wrong to even think about such a thing. This was what a tyrant would do.

Lucius the First couldn't come up with an answer. Recently, he stopped calling Poliana by her nickname "Pol." He began to call her Sir Pol again. He could tell that Poliana was disappointed, but he couldn't help it. He was afraid that if he got any closer to her, he would blurt out his love for her.

The emperor was troubled.

***

The first person who noticed the change in the emperor was his long time friend and loyal knight, Sir Ainno. At first, Sir Ainno didn't think much of it.

'His highness must be just worried about all the work he will have to do when he returns to Acreia.' When he found out about the women, Sir Ainno also didn't think it was a problem. The emperor was a healthy young man after all. The war was over, so it wasn't strange that he would seek a nightly company.

But what worried Sir Ainno was him drinking. For some reason, Lucius the First rarely drank anymore and when he did, he drank alone or drank with one of the women offered to him.

This was strange because Lucius the First loved to drink with his men. He hated drinking alone. The emperor's favorite pastime was having a drinking party with his knights.

Many men found it hard to be the emperor's drinking body. Lucius the First was a great master, but as his subject, none of the knights could drink comfortably in front of their boss. Lucius the First also had a horrible sense of humor and having to force themselves to laugh at his jokes was quite an ordeal.

At the beginning of the war, Sirs Baufallo and Ainno were called to these drinking gatherings the most. But as the emperor came to know more and more knights, other men were invited to join as well.

Towards the end of the war, Lucius the First became set on drinking with only his favorite knights. Poliana was one of these people for an obvious reason. She was a strange drinker, but still a very good company, she wouldn't look drunk but would collapse so suddenly. And at the end of these parties, it was always Sir Ainno who ended up having to clean up after everyone. He was a very strong drinker and rarely became intoxicated like the other men.

This should have been the perfect time for the emperor to have a nightly drinking party with his knights, but when it didn't happen, Sir Ainno became worried.

Something was wrong!

After a few days of observing his emperor, Sir Ainno decided to be direct and ask him. He grabbed a bottle of wine and visited Lucius the First. It worked out perfectly because the emperor was alone in his bedroom.

Sir Ainno asked without hesitation, "Your highness, is there something you are worried about?"

"I am now the emperor of the entire continent, so why would I be worried about anything?"

Lucius the First replied calmly, but Sir Ainno wasn't fooled by it.

"If you are unhappy about something, you only need to let me know, your highness. I will take care of it immediately. If you are worried about the elders in Acreia making trouble for you when you return, just tell me. I will ride ahead and get rid of all of them before you reach our homeland."

Such a loyal announcement didn't make the emperor feel any better. When Lucius the First still looked troubled, Sir Ainno was about to ask him again but someone knocked on their door.

"It's Poliana, I'm coming in."

Poliana walked in excitedly. She was carrying a bottle of wine and some snacks.

"I can't believe you two are drinking without me!"

Sir Ainno saw the bottle she was holding. His eyes widened as he asked, "How come you have a better bottle of wine than I do, Sir Pol?"

"Because I… Hahaha…! I am about to become the new master of this castle!"

Poliana laughed happily and loudly. Sir Ainno grumbled and grabbed the bottle from her hand.

Lucius the First seemed to be contemplating quietly. Suddenly, he turned to Poliana and ordered, "I will be drinking alone with Sir Ainno tonight, so Sir Pol, I would like you to leave."