Margrave’s Bastard Son was The Emperor - Chapter 185

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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 185
The Chronicle of Roberside
I made my way to the inner duty room beside the main building of the Magic Department.
Mages who had wrestled with corpses all night lay scattered across the lobby sofas in hunched positions. Groans of pain, snores, and teeth grinding echoed endlessly throughout the space.
As I carefully opened the duty room door, Xiaoxi lifted his head.
“You’ve arrived.”
“How is Prince Arcen?”
“He just fell asleep. He was causing quite a commotion, crying and carrying on.”
Xiaoxi wiped away cold sweat and offered a faint smile. Demanding his mother be brought, asking to see Jin, throwing tantrums and striking the walls—I could see even in the darkness that scratches marked Xiaoxi’s cheeks.
“Xiaoxi, you should rest. I’ll go in.”
Romandro patted his shoulder reassuringly and entered the duty room where Arcen was. I opened the door across the way where Jin was.
Creak.
“Deilaina will come looking for Arcen. If it’s possible, you may meet, but don’t force yourself.”
“Yes, I understand.”
For now, I had used the chaos as an excuse to prevent their meeting, but it was only temporary. Blood ties were blood ties, after all. Once things settled even slightly, Deilaina would push Xiaoxi aside and take Arcen with her.
Cold dawn light filtered softly into the dim interior.
A faint snore.
…
Berik, half-fallen from the sofa with his head pressed against it, and Jin, lying neatly on the bed. They slept so deeply that neither noticed my entrance and approach.
“Prince Jin might be excused, but this fool Berik should have sensed my presence. I asked him to guard the bedroom, and here he is sleeping soundly.”
As I murmured with a faint smile, Xiaoxi quietly approached and tugged at Berik’s nose. Berik’s face contorted, and he began to whimper.
“Ugh, ow, Ian, a pig… a pig bit my nose…”
“He won’t wake up.”
“Leave him be. He’ll be busy this afternoon.”
The moment Xiaoxi released his nose, Berik’s face broke into a contented smile, and he smacked his lips. So simple-minded—one could easily guess what he was dreaming about.
Softly.
I sat on the edge of the bed and examined Jin’s wound. The bleeding had stopped, but it seemed as though the slightest wrong touch would reopen it. From the portrait, it had appeared so natural, as if he’d been born with it. Yet the scar was so deep, so painful.
“…Ian?”
“My apologies. Did I wake you?”
Jin slowly opened his eyes. Still half-asleep and unfocused, but he recognized me immediately.
“Has the day passed?”
“Yes, it has. A new day has come.”
I adjusted the boy’s blanket as I answered. Pat, pat—his eyes closed again at my gentle touch. I wanted to let him sleep, but I had something to tell him.
“Your Highness. Lady Deilaina has regained consciousness.”
Jin pushed himself up halfway and looked at me. Indescribable, complex emotions seemed to swirl within him. Relief and reluctance, fear and sorrow. He stammered as he asked me.
“What should I do?”
“Your Highness.”
“I don’t know. No one ever taught me. When a child abandoned by his mother meets her again, what should he do?”
I patted his back gently and answered quietly.
“There is nothing you must do. You have done nothing wrong, Your Highness. And before that, if you do not wish to see Lady Deilaina, I will stand in your way.”
“Do I… do I truly not need to see Mother?”
“Of course not. Absolutely not. Your Highness may do as you wish. Until you come to understand on your own that you have done nothing wrong. Follow your heart.”
Jin slipped back beneath the covers, pulling the blanket up to his eyes. He had done nothing wrong—it was Deilaina and Arcen’s fault. The comfort wrapped around him like a lullaby, making him drowsy.
“Count Ian. I have a request.”
“Your command, Your Highness.”
“Will you… read to me?”
Jin peeked out, rolling his eyes as he made his request. The mages were all busy, and Berik and Xiaoxi, who were closest at hand, could not read. Ian let out a soft laugh and nodded.
“Of course. I would be delighted. What shall I read to you?”
“That one, the closest one there.”
It seemed the mages had brought several books from the palace at Jin’s request. Ian picked up the topmost book from the table.
-The Chronicles of Roberside-
Roberside Carbo. The biography of the founding patriarch of House Carbo, who had split from the Temple. Ian noticed the well-worn pages and gently began turning them.
“Do you read this often?”
“Very, very much. Arcen says it’s boring and won’t even look at it. But whenever I read it, Roberside always appears in my dreams to play with me.”
Truly a child through and through. Ian smiled faintly and settled into his seat. Then, in a clear voice, he began reading aloud.
-…”You will not become a priest?” Roberside nodded to his siblings’ question. “My siblings, serve the divine with pure hearts in my stead. I shall go forth and slay those demons, pledging my love to the divine through their destruction.” Though he was more devoted to the divine than any other, he could not turn away from those suffering at the demons’ hands.
Xiaoxi too leaned back in his chair and closed his eyes. Ian’s voice, steady and measured in its cadence, was pleasant to hear. The soft rustle of turning pages added to the comfort.
-Roberside was magnificent. With a single swing of his blade, one hundred demon corpses fell. With a second swing, blood flowed like a river. The people cheered, and Roberside pressed ever forward.
‘For a fairy tale, this is rather gruesome.’
The illustrations in particular depicted the demons’ corpses with startling vividness. Were there records from that time? The appearance of the demons Roberside faced was rendered in remarkable detail.
-“Spare me!” At last, Roberside faced only a single demon. A creature wearing the form of a small child, the demon pleaded with clasped hands. Roberside asked, “What manner of being are you?” The demon answered, “I am one who feeds upon human wickedness.” It deserved death, and as Roberside raised his blade, the demon whispered cunningly, “If you let me live, I shall hide away. But if you kill me, my brethren will seek vengeance. They will destroy all you have gained.” The demon threatened, but Roberside was brave.
-“…Shing. When Roberside slew the demon, monsters vanished from the Bariel Empire. Someone asked, ‘Lord Roberside, are you not afraid, stained with so much blood?’ Roberside laughed and answered, ‘If I alone can bear the fear in your stead, that is enough.'”
Thud.
On the back cover was a full-length portrait of Roberside. A man with silver cropped hair flowing, wielding his blade. Since it was from the time of the empire’s founding, there was no way to verify whether any of this was truth or fiction.
‘The demon’s vengeance.’
Though it was retrospective reasoning, the demon’s curse seemed to have taken hold. Comparing House Carbo at the empire’s founding to the present, their power had diminished to a pitiful degree. Everyone was aware of it, yet they remained mere shadows of their former selves.
“Master.”
Xiaoxi called to him quietly. Ian, his hand still resting on the sleeping Jin’s forehead, turned to look, and soon felt a blanket draped over his shoulders.
“You should rest as well, Master.”
“I’m fine.”
“You do not appear fine at all.”
Creak.
Just then, Romandro slipped in quietly and surveyed the room. His gaze was that of one checking that nothing was amiss. He crouched down upon seeing Berik sprawled across the sofa.
“That one sleeps the most comfortably. Tsk, tsk.”
“Krrgh… hack! Meat, ah, the meat is-”
“Always muttering about meat—his belly must be full of greed. Ian, His Highness Arcen sleeps soundly too. Stop dawdling and get some rest. If you collapse when things get busy later, it will be troublesome. I’ve posted guards for His Highness Arcen.”
Pressed by Romandro’s insistence, Ian reluctantly lay down on the sofa. The child’s steady breathing seemed to make his eyelids grow heavy at once.
Romandro muttered as he tidied the floor.
Rustle.
“What is this?”
“That’s a painting Prince Jin drew earlier.”
“Oh, how impressive. Is that a banana and a tomato?”
“…He said it was his master and Berik.”
“….”
I let out an involuntary chuckle. Romandro glanced at Jin’s expression before pushing the painting to the side.
“It’s best to leave art to the artists. Ahem.”
“Still, a banana and a tomato is a bit much.”
“Ian, by the way. That thing you mentioned earlier about Lady Deilaina. Could you tell me what it is?”
A means to counter Ian, who now held real power in the imperial palace.
I opened my mouth with my eyes still closed. Judging by how exhaustion dripped from my voice, I would surely fall asleep soon.
“Do you remember those in the conference hall who said we couldn’t dispose of all the traitors?”
“Well, yes. There were quite a few.”
“It’s because there are no replacements. That means they’re valuable enough to warrant keeping. Those who cannot be easily removed are indispensable in any matter—so who do you think currently holds such a unique position in Bariel?”
The Emperor? No. The Emperor lies there, but Bariel functions without issue. Then Ian? The Minister of Magic has changed several times.
Romandro pondered for a moment before the name suddenly came to him.
“Haiman?”
A faction that clearly participated in treason, yet no official dared to step forward and execute them easily. A noble among nobles who had managed the empire’s financial flows for nearly centuries.
I nodded.
“If it were me, I would propose to Haiman: support Arcen, and when he ascends the throne, I will overlook your transgressions.”
“But Haiman is clearly a target for execution, isn’t he?”
“They are not people whose necks can be severed overnight like corpses outside. If the Haiman family excuses themselves by claiming it was their youngest daughter’s reckless act and apologizes, there will be many officials willing to overlook it.”
Moreover, Prince Jin prioritizes my support, and I am the one who directly subdued Marib and Gail. With my firm resolve to punish traitors, the Haiman family would find it burdensome. Conversely, they would be a force to oppose me for Deilaina.
‘After the alliance, if I push out Arcen, the Haiman family will naturally be pushed out as well. I can only exploit the gaps little by little like this.’
In short, I continue to accumulate justifications for pressure. Simultaneously, by checking their financial power and dispersing monetary authority across all of Bariel, eventually a day will come when they are no longer necessary. That will be the true day of the Haiman family’s reckoning.
“But Ian, I’ll soon be a father myself, so I understand just a little bit the heart of a parent with children.”
Romandro rested his chin on his hand and frowned. Abandoning one’s child is one thing, but he wondered if selective love was even possible. Romandro turned his head sharply and asked.
“Still, don’t you think Lady Deilaina is going too far?!”
“….”
“Is he asleep?”
“Yes, he’s sleeping.”
But all that was visible was Ian sleeping like an angel. Romandro flopped down and stretched languidly, while Xiaoxi nodded off sitting upright.
After some time, Berik, the first to wake, murmured while looking at the painting before him.
“…A banana, a tomato?”
Knock knock—!
Click!
“Ian, Captain Akorella says she has a report regarding the amber gemstone. She’s asking you to check on the progress of securing the mana-sealing stones.”
“Goodness, he’s sleeping like he’s unconscious. Should I wake him?”
“Well, there’s no choice. This is…”
“Um, Ian. Will you hear the report for a moment?”
“Prince Gail has also been found, they say. Ian? Ian? Wait, please wake up.”

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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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