The Emperor and the Knightess

Chapter 258

“So?”

“Master Frau is a family member of our landlord, so you can't do this…”

Poliana glared at the villager, making him flinch. She said to him, “Duke Sneke and his family are no more. They will not be returning here. If you are so worried about this man being related to your former landlord, then I will become your new landlord.”

She looked around, and the villagers didn't have to question whether she could do this. It was clear, based on her behavior and the way she spoke, that Poliana was a woman of great power. She continued to announce, “I am the most loyal knight of the greatest emperor Lucius the First. I am Marquess Winter! This man here has brought shame to my name and my reputation! He has abused my trust and he has wronged me greatly! Worst of all, by doing this, he also has brought shame to his highness's name and reputation! This crime cannot go unpunished! He can only repay his debt with his life! But this bastard is a nobody! He is not a nobleman! He isn't a knight! He is nothing, and therefore, his life is not worth anything! He cannot pay for his crime with his life and that is why I am punishing him myself!”

The villagers kneeled as Poliana revealed her identity. Everyone has heard of the infamous marquess, and no one doubted that Poliana was the one. Claiming another noble's identity was considered a crime, after all. Besides, the way she acted indicated that Poliana was obviously a very high ranking noble.

Someone as high-ranking as Marquess could kill any innocent commoner without being punished. So how could anyone blame her or try to stop her when she was about to punish someone who was guilty?

Poliana turned back to Frau and ordered again, “Cut it off.” She looked down at him like he was an insignificant bug on the ground. This was why she loved power. She was no longer a young powerless knight from Aehas. She did not have to endure people's rudeness or insults. She now had the power to punish anyone she wanted.

Cruel punishment was necessary for her to maintain her authority. She needed to make good examples of those who committed crimes so others would think twice before doing something stupid to her or to those around them. There was no room for mercy in this situation.

Lucius the First did not usually rule by fear and violence, but there were certainly times when he used them when necessary.

“…”

Frau kneeled with his head on the ground and begged for compassion. This was useless, however. Only those who deserved mercy would get it, and Frau certainly was not one of them.

Poliana said to him coldly, “Do it now before my anger turns towards your child. Cut it off.” This threat was enough to make him move. Frau finally got up and pulled down his pants with shaking hands. Poliana stared at his manhood which was shriveled from pain and fear.

Frau begged, “Please… Not my son… Please forgive him…”

“Daddd!”

The boy, who was still held firmly by the old man, cried out. He was annoying, but Poliana stopped herself from hurting him. Although the boy was the original source of this situation, he was innocent. It was Frau's greed that started all this, not the child. The boy didn't deserve to be punished.

Poliana wondered bitterly, ‘Why am I the one looking like the bad guy here?'

All the villagers were kneeling on the ground in fear. In the middle was the man who was bleeding and crying. A young boy was nearby crying after his father. The only person standing here was Poliana, who was screaming at the man to cut his genital off.

This wasn't fair. The current situation made her look like a nasty witch. She was certain she was a horrible person when in truth, it was Frau who was the villain! She waited patiently and watched as Frau, still shaking, brought the dagger to his manhood. After a short hesitation, he cut himself. A stream of bright red blood spurted out.

“Arrgg!”

Frau screamed and slumped forward in pain. Poliana watched coldly and walked towards the piece of flesh on the ground. Without any emotion, she stepped on Frau's penis and crushed it.

Frau now was a eunuch. He would never be able to have sex again. He might even die today from bleeding.

‘Well, he is a doctor so I'm sure he will be fine.'

Poliana felt like he should be thankful to her. She planned on killing him, which was what he deserved, but she spared his life because of his young son. She said to him, “If I ever see you or your son again, I will kill both of you. If a rumor starts from this about me that makes me look bad, I will come after you and kill you. If I find out my reputation has been damaged from this, I will kill you. If you ever shame my family name again, I will kill you. I am Poliana Winter. My name was a gift from the emperor. If this name becomes blemished, I will kill you. I won't kill you kindly or painlessly. If and when I kill you, it won't be pretty. I will make sure to kill your child in front of you before I kill you.”

Frau cut his own genitals off to save his son, but this fatherly love did not impress Poliana. After all, it was from this love that started this whole ugly situation.

‘He already has a son so it should be fine for him even if he can't sire another child. It's all good.'

Poliana turned towards the villagers and announced, “I am sure all of you know what to do and what not to do from this day! I meant it when I said I will become your next landlord. Make sure you do not anger your new lord!”

Poliana felt much better. She walked towards the place where the emperor was standing. Whatever happened in the village now wasn't her problem anymore. They already reserved the room at the town inn, but she didn't want to stay in this village anymore. Poliana decided that they should ride to the next town before the sun sets.

‘But before that…'

Poliana bowed deeply to the emperor and apologized, “This will never happen again your highness.” Lucius the First looked at her sadly and replied, “Sir Pol… I keep telling you that this isn't your fault…”

“Because of my mistake, I have caused you unnecessary grief, your highness. I sincerely apologize.”

“No, Sir Pol. You didn't do anything wrong. You did everything right today. You did it excellently. I am proud of you.”

Lucius the First hugged Poliana tightly. Poliana didn't fight and in fact, she rested her head on his shoulder. The emperor caressed her head gently and murmured, “You did very well. You were amazing. You didn't do anything wrong.”

He decided quietly, ‘I better deal with the Sneke family myself.'

The whole Sneke family had to know what was going on, yet they didn't say anything. It was obvious why. They were jealous of Poliana, who was a foreign woman with more power and wealth than them. They clearly wanted her to suffer.

If Lucius the First punished Duke Sneke harsher than he deserved based on his official political crime, people were going to talk. Fortunately, the Sneke family was very close to Marquis Seeze, which meant that there had to be many more secret crimes involving Duke Sneke.

Finally, the snake hunt was over. The political snakes were all in jail and the gold-digging snake, the worst kind, was punished. Lucius the First would've preferred much harsher torture for Frau, but he decided to respect Poliana's decision.

Now, the only thing left for him to do was….

‘I need to propose to her!'

He was going to do this right. Instead of some flowers he picked, he was going to give her the whole garden full of flowers when he proposed. He was going to give her his mother's ring and make Poliana the next empress of Acreia. He was going to tell her how he felt about her for a long time.

Lucius the First swore to himself that he would propose to her, even if she refuses him. He wanted to let her know that he loved her with all of his heart.

He needed her to know that he loved her desperately.