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Lucius the First felt relieved at her answer, but he also felt disappointed in himself.

‘I hate myself.’

Sir Ainno was still laughing hard, and the emperor then remembered what his friend told him before. Sir Ainno said many times that he thought Lucius the First might sabotage any of Poliana’s potential marriage prospects.

‘Inno’s right. I… I can’t say I won’t.’

The emperor knew that he would use any excuse that he could think of to make sure Poliana didn’t get married. He felt disgusted with himself. He had all the power in the world and because of this, he needed to think and act objectively. It was especially frustrating because the woman he loved was standing in front of him and looking at him with admiration.

“Sir Pol, I… I told you b-before that if you meet a decent man, y-you should get m-married.”

Lucius the First stammered out the words he didn’t mean, and Poliana wondered if the emperor was overworked again. Was he so tired that he couldn’t even speak well? Or did something happen?

Poliana then replied, “But don’t you think Sir Donau is being unreasonable and ungrateful?”

“Ungrateful?”

“There is an arranged marriage being planned for him with an amazing woman, so how could he propose to me? And when I asked him if he even loved me, he couldn’t even give me an answer. He flinched and couldn’t say anything. He couldn’t even lie and say he loved me, which is what a proper nobleman would do. How rude! Besides, he proposed to me in the heat of the moment. If I accepted it, I know he would have regretted it. Besides, I can’t do this to Sir Baufallo and Sir Rabi. Therefore, Sir Donau would not make a good match for me, your highness.”

“Maybe Sir Donau really loves you but couldn’t admit it because he was too shy or too surprised at his answer.”

“Even then, my answer would still be no. A marriage needs to be approved by the parents first. Since I consider myself an orphan, I suppose I can marry anyone I want, but this is not the case for Sir Donau. His parents are alive and well.”

This was true. Most noble marriages were arranged by the parents, and most noble children did not object to it. Because Poliana was also an aristocrat, she did not expect to marry someone for love.

There were rare cases when a nobleman and woman married for love, even if it meant going against their parents, but Poliana wasn’t one of these crazy people.

Lucius the First had to try his best not to grin widely. His face spasmed uncontrollably as he asked, “Wouldn’t it be a good thing for you to marry Sir Donau?”

“I may end up marrying someone, but I would never marry Sir Donau or Sir Howe.”

“Why not?”

“I would never be able to face Sir Baufallo if I did. Besides, those two young men are more like my younger brothers.”

She considered them her family, and that was why she refused to become their legal family by marrying one of the brothers. Poliana’s adamant decision made the emperor smile, but he tried his best to look serious.

“So, your answer is a definite no.”

“Without a doubt.”

Poliana couldn’t believe what Donau did to her. How could he propose to his own sister, to his family? This could never happen.

She was, of course, thankful for his kindness, but the best thing Donau could do for her was to marry that nice lady.

‘I guess this must be how a parent feels about his or her child.’

Poliana realized that her thoughts were similar to those of Lady Bika and Sir Rabi. Just like them, she wanted the people that are important to her to have a happy and safe life. Nothing good would come from Sir Donau marrying someone like her!

Poliana was also angry at him, and that was why she ordered him to a week of imprisonment.

Lucius the First said to her, “Well, I guess we can get to the main topic now.”

Poliana straightened up to listen. The truth was, Lucius the First brought her here mainly for this topic of Poliana and Donau, but he hid it well. Only Sir Ainno knew, and he continued to cover his mouth so he could not laugh out loud again.

***

In Nanaba castle, there were no separate guardhouses, which was a jail specifically for the soldiers. Therefore, the castle’s underground and aboveground cells were used for everyone.

Most guards were moved to the aboveground jail after their meeting with Poliana, but a few, including Sir Donau, were sent back to the underground cell. No jail cells were comfortable, but the underground ones were especially horrible. Sir Donau made sure to move around as much as possible so he wouldn’t get a frostbite.

He was just thankful that he received regular meals. Normally, the prisoners were forced to make their own meals or pay for them. Even though he ran and walked around the cell as much as possible, he could never get himself warm and at night when he slept, the temperature was so cold that it was becoming unbearable.

During the week of his time in jail, Donau had a lot of time to think. At first, his brain refused to work, but soon, he felt regretful.

‘But about what?’

He was regretful, but he couldn’t figure out why. He felt emotional; he had so many different feelings, but his brain refused to understand what they were and what they meant.

For a while, he just ignored them. He kept running around the cell and told himself that after a week of this hell, he would just go back to his old life. But he couldn’t stop thinking about that moment…

That moment when Poliana asked him if he liked her…

Why couldn’t he answer her?

Donau liked Poliana. Perhaps not as a woman, but definitely as an adopted sister and also as his superior. He admired and respected her. Marriage proposals based on this kind of feelings weren’t unheard of. In fact, many knights dreamt of marrying the sister or the daughter of someone they admired. Of course, this was a slightly different situation since Donau proposed to the actual person he admired because she happened to be a woman.

If he just gave Poliana that yes, that he did like her, he wouldn’t have been sent to this prison. And if he had said yes, Poliana would’ve understood what he meant, that he liked her as his adopted sister and his superior.

So why couldn’t he just say yes?

Donau began to feel confused. It was partly because he was so cold and tired. He wasn’t afraid that he was going to die. Besides, the prison guard came down often to check on him. There was a good chance that he might get a frostbite, but that wasn’t a big deal. Many Acreians weren’t new to frostbites since they lived in such a cold climate. If it became so bad that he might have to lose his toes or fingers, the guard would do something.

Donau began to hallucinate a little and his mind was filled with Poliana, who was smiling happily.

‘Why do I always picture her smiling?’

Donau couldn’t understand. He had no idea that this was his first love, and it was never going to work out.

Only

“…Donau!”

“Sir Donau, are you ok?”

“Get up! Get up! Donau! We are here for a visit!”

Suddenly, loud noises began to wake Donau up. He still felt fuzzy, but he slowly regained his consciousness.

‘Wait a minute… No one is allowed to visit the prisoners in the underground cell… So how could this be? Did… Did I die?’

With a shudder, Donau opened his eyes, and what he saw confused him even more. Outside his cell, two ladies stood and looked at him anxiously.

The Bika family’s twin ladies, Vaxi and Vanessa, sighed in relief as they saw Donau wake up.