Margrave’s Bastard Son was The Emperor - Chapter 139

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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Chapter 139. I Swear Again
Romandro kept peering nervously out of the carriage. Darkness had completely fallen, and there was no sign of Ian. It had already been several hours since he went inside.
Tap, tap, tap!
Then, in the distance, a golden-haired boy descended the massive staircase. The surroundings were so quiet that even his small footsteps seemed audible. Romandro woke the dozing coachman and drove the carriage toward him.
“Ian. Get in quickly—ugh!”
“I apologize for keeping you waiting, Romandro.”
“Good heavens, good heavens! Ian!”
“It’s nothing serious.”
“Nothing serious? How is this nothing serious?”
Though he had wiped himself clean, blood stains remained on his jaw and neck, and his clothes were in complete disarray. What on earth had happened inside? Romandro stood flustered, unable to either grab Ian or let him go, fidgeting anxiously.
Meanwhile, I casually adjusted my collar and gave a curt instruction to the coachman.
“Let’s depart.”
“Should we find a physician first?”
“No. To Prince Marib’s palace.”
“Yes, yes. Understood.”
Whinnying!
The coachman was startled as well, causing the horse to stammer badly. Romandro, who had been staring at me with his mouth agape, soon realized there were no wounds.
“Ian. This is your blood, isn’t it?”
“It is indeed my blood. I consumed a pain-suppression elixir inside. There is no physical pain, but the side effects are quite severe. This is precisely why everyone becomes frightened and opposes its use.”
When I smiled, Romandro smiled faintly as well. Only then did he seem somewhat relieved. He noticed that the Luron box I had taken with me was gone.
“Can you tell me what happened? And why are we going to Prince Marib’s palace at this hour?”
“I could tell you, but it would be better for your safety not to know the details. A great storm is about to descend very soon.”
“A… storm?”
“There’s nothing to worry about. We will always be at its center. Things have unfolded more smoothly than expected.”
When Romandro tried to wipe my face with a handkerchief dampened with saliva, I refused with a hand gesture. Going to Marib like this was precisely to show him my current state.
‘Return now. After I confirm whether Wesley is truly researching forbidden necromancy, I will send you word again.’
No matter how classified it was within the Magic Ministry, if a prince wished to discover it, it would not be difficult. If everything was true, Wesley would certainly be expelled at the high-ranking appointment conference scheduled for next week.
‘Then this time, I must make a move with Marib as well.’
Going here, then there, on a moonlit night like this—I couldn’t fathom what I was doing. But it was something that had to be done eventually. After all, maintaining balance was always more difficult than pushing from one side.
“How is the current administration perceiving the matter of the pain-suppression elixir?”
“The real power in the administration ultimately rests with His Majesty the Emperor, so we can only follow his will. However, concerns are growing from below. It is certainly an ideal elixir, but… the Magic Ministry is behaving irregularly.”
I recalled the departments within the Imperial Palace and counted them one by one. If things were not vastly different from a hundred years hence, there would be roughly twenty departments in total. Of those, perhaps ten would be narrowed down to those with real power…
“But Ian, if you visit Prince Gail and then immediately go to Prince Marib like this, wouldn’t that be rather suspicious?”
“It’s fine. Prince Gail will know as well.”
“He will know?”
A sort of double agent. Even if I approached both sides, it would not seem particularly suspicious. Romandro could not fathom how the situation was unfolding and helplessly tugged at his hair in frustration.
Then it happened.
Crack!
“We’ve arrived, Viscount.”
“Ah, yes. Romandro, please wait here once more.”
Since it was the middle of the night, there were no travelers on the road, so I arrived quickly. I opened the carriage door while checking once more that the blood was still clinging to me. The Guard who approached flinched upon seeing my condition.
“Did you perhaps take a wrong turn? This is Prince Marib’s palace. I haven’t received any orders to expect visitors in the middle of the night.”
“That’s right. Since I came in haste, please hurry and relay my message. Ian Hielo, Viscount, requests an audience.”
“Please wait a moment.”
The Guard glanced at my clothes, drenched in blood, before stepping inside. Still, unlike Prince Gail’s side, his manner toward me and Romandro was gentler.
“…Good heavens, Viscount. Are you alright?”
“No problem.”
The Chamberlain who came to greet me stiffened visibly. From the instincts of one who had spent a lifetime in the Imperial Palace, it was clear that something extraordinary was happening. The Chamberlain quickly led me to Marib’s office.
Knock, knock.
“Your Highness.”
“Come in.”
Prince Marib looked the same whether day or night. His hair was neatly tied back in a single knot, and he wore glasses as he examined a mountain of reports. When he turned his head, he furrowed his brow.
“Ian Hielo, Viscount. What on earth is this about?”
“Your Highness, I apologize for the late hour, but I have urgent matters to discuss. I have just come from Prince Gail’s palace.”
At the mention of Gail’s name, the Chamberlain quickly left the room. The door closed, leaving only Prince Marib and me in the space.
“First, please forgive me for visiting Prince Gail without informing Your Highness beforehand. It seemed certain that he would use truth serum, so I needed to create the truth that Your Highness was unaware of my actions.”
“Then that blood is a side effect of the truth serum.”
“Precisely correct.”
They said the research was incomplete, yet they’re commercializing it anyway. It’s madness.
“While investigating the information about Luron Stone that you mentioned before, it was discovered that the expected deposit site is located in the current Hielo territory.”
Ah, Prince Marib inwardly exclaimed. So that’s why Gail coveted it so much. That was the reason he had been so troublesome, even bringing up the truth serum matter. I continued speaking while observing the Prince’s expression.
“Therefore, Prince Gail summoned me and ordered me to supply Luron Stone to the Magic Ministry. It seems this will be difficult to refuse.”
“That must not happen. If you supply the Luron Stone, it will give them leverage on the truth serum matter.”
“Your Highness. Isn’t the Magic Ministry the greatest opponent to the truth serum? Since its head, Minister Wesley, is Gail’s person, it seems the serum itself lacks credibility.”
They speak the truth, yet who knows if they’ll end up speaking lies, and moreover, when and how anyone might die from this mysterious liquid?
Prince Marib adjusted his glasses and then calmly asked back.
“And?”
“If Minister Wesley falls from power and the Magic Ministry gains a new master, there would be no problem whatsoever.”
Minister Wesley falling from power?
It was absurd, but if it happened, it would be an unprecedented windfall for Prince Marib. It would be as if Gail’s main forces were collapsing.
‘But how on earth? Wesley wouldn’t step down of her own accord, and the only method would be for Gail to cast her out, but how would he abandon Wesley?’
Then, Prince Marib suddenly recalled the Youngest Daughter of Haiman House. Recently, Gail had been paying her such attention, but could it be that Wesley and she had quarreled over it?
The youngest daughter of a great house that monopolizes banking in Bariel, with the blood of a neighboring royal family mixed in her veins, and a woman with a reputation for beauty in high society. Rumors had spread that she and Gail had spent the New Year’s celebration party stuck together.
I continued speaking slowly while observing his expression.
“If I may be so bold, do you know how the Magic Ministry would select a successor if the minister’s seat were to become vacant?”
“The Magic Ministry, more than anything, prioritizes ability, so surely…”
As Prince Marib’s words trailed off, I sat up straight and merely nodded. I had thought something remarkable during the mana confirmation ceremony, but I hadn’t realized it was to this extent.
“It seemed Prince Gail was greatly impressed by my mana when he saw it during the mana confirmation ceremony.”
Prince Marib had also found it beautiful, but he hadn’t perceived it as ‘to what degree compared to Wesley.’ He had simply thought that a fortunately discovered noble from the Borderlands might be useful.
“Therefore, it seemed he was in the process of selecting potential successor candidates one by one. From this, I predicted that Prince Gail would cast out Minister Wesley.”
“There must be something hidden beneath the surface. Under normal circumstances, Prince Gail would never, ever abandon Wesley.”
“I cannot speak to that, Your Highness. However, should the Minister fall from grace, an opportunity might present itself to me.”
What was this man saying? A newly appointed mage daring to speak of the ministerial position. Yet Ian did not hesitate to voice his thoughts.
“I believe we should proceed with the Siltham Elixir matter. To gather forces from within, we require external leverage. If you authorize the Siltham Elixir, I may be able to rally people around it.”
There were several departments entangled with the Siltham Elixir alone.
The Mana Stone Management Division, the Potion Research Division, the Magical Experiment Division…
“Can you manage it?”
“I will succeed. With Your Highness’s modest assistance, I am certain it will proceed smoothly.”
Marib considered this.
Should Prince Gail cast Wesley aside, there would surely be a successor already marked for the Magic Ministry. Yet opportunity, it seemed, would be distributed fairly to all. Even if Ian was a newcomer, he was still a mage belonging to the Magic Ministry. One could not make such definitive claims.
“Ian. All well and good. All well and good, but I still cannot fathom Prince Gail and Wesley parting ways. It feels like nonsensical prattle heard in a dream, this business.”
Would Prince Gail truly abandon Wesley? No—was Wesley even a woman who could be abandoned so easily? Marib’s soft eyes narrowed as he fixed his gaze upon Ian.
‘This insistence on proceeding with the Siltham Elixir… could it be that he has sided with Prince Gail?’
Ian sensed his scrutiny and lowered his head. This was why sharp-witted individuals were exhausting.
“I mentioned the Siltham Elixir because I will become a major supplier of Luron Stone. Currently, the only significant issue surrounding Luron Stone is precisely that, and since all departments save the Magic Ministry oppose it, I judged that passing the proposal would allow the Magic Ministry to establish considerable standing.”
The logic was not entirely inconsistent. Marib brought his pen to Ian’s chin, gesturing for him to raise his head.
The younger brother wielded a sword, while the older brother wielded a pen.
“I understand. However, first Wesley must fall from grace, and afterward, you must demonstrate promise within the Magic Ministry. That is the condition.”
“You need not worry, Your Highness.”
Zing. Zing.
Ian answered with confidence as he released his mana. His green eyes transformed to gold, and the light of mana swirled around him. In this, at least, I would yield to none.
“I swear, this light is surely for Your Highness.”
“Very well. I shall look forward to it.”
Marib lightly brushed Ian’s chin and rose from his seat. Scheming or not, removing Wesley from her position held meaning in itself.
Ian gently brushed the back of his neck and offered a faint smile.

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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