Margrave’s Bastard Son was The Emperor - Chapter 204

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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 204
The Rainy Day
A complete sunset descended upon the Imperial Palace. Lights flickered to life throughout the corridors, and the hurried footsteps of those moving about gradually slowed to a measured pace.
Yet they never truly ceased. For the time being, the distinction between day and night held no meaning for them, and the opening of the palace gates was merely one step in the process of returning to normalcy. We had only just crossed one threshold.
I was no exception.
*Click.*
“What comes next?”
“A list of policy measures to regulate the Haimanga. The administrative department’s Deputy Director Quintana and her subordinate divisions have actively cooperated in revising it. They were quite enthusiastic about it—especially the part about imposing additional taxes.”
“What about the other departments?”
“Interestingly, the Cultural Ministry also shows clear intent. Apparently, the Haimanga possesses quite a collection of artifacts.”
“Have sections four and five been supplemented as well?”
I pressed the bridge of my nose and handed Romandro’s report back to him. In the corner of the massive round table, Akorella lay sprawled out as though unconscious, fast asleep. Beside her, Heil mechanically chewed on a sandwich, his expression making it painfully clear he had no appetite but was forcing himself to eat for survival.
I glanced at them, then habitually tapped the leather folder. A signal to regain focus.
“Ah, yes. *Gulp.*”
“Eat this and get your head straight.”
As Akorella wiped her mouth without opening her eyes, Heil shoved a sandwich into her mouth. She appeared to be physically exhausted.
“After Prince Marib’s execution, formally propose it in the Grand Council. Prepare and send a summons for the Haimanga to appear. And the list of central nobles who did not participate in this incident?”
“Right here.”
The financial lifeline that Haiman controls flows like a river running through Bariel. One cannot simply dam a river through mere restraint. Rather, the most direct and effective approach was to change its master.
I carefully examined the list of nobles and murmured to myself.
“Sereo…”
The Sereo family. I recalled meeting Sereo’s heir at the New Year’s gathering. He had been the first noble I ever conversed with, and he was present when Berik sparred with Captain Jairat.
Though the family itself was not particularly powerful, from what I remembered, they would remain unscathed and unblemished even a hundred years hence.
‘They’re suitable for this purpose.’
How many families are pushed from the center to the provinces? The very fact that they maintained their position for a hundred years itself testified to a certain degree of trustworthiness.
Either they read the political winds well, or they maintained their center so firmly as to remain unshaken by those currents. It had to be one or the other, and in my judgment, the Sereo family belonged to the former. Their power was far too limited to maintain such stability through sheer strength alone.
“Captain Akorella.”
“*Huff*, yes, yes, I’m not sleeping.”
“Prepare sample bottles of commercial-grade truth serum by tomorrow.”
“H-how many? Five seems like the maximum I can manage.”
“That should suffice.”
Romandro meticulously recorded my instructions and nodded. It seemed I intended to draw Sereo in as a temporary shield against the Haimanga.
Heil scratched his head and asked hesitantly.
“…A meat shield, then?”
“One could put it that way.”
I smiled and closed the folder. No matter how skilled or cunning, Haiman was still a noble. To oppose a noble, one needed a piece that matched his position.
“Fundamentally, this is a confrontation between Lord Jin and Lord Arcen. However, if the Imperial Palace directly pressures the Haimanga, it risks escalating into a power struggle between the Imperial Family and the nobility. This is to prevent other nobles who have been watching from the sidelines from supporting Haiman merely on the grounds of his noble status.”
Though Arcen and Deilaina endure, it was clear that I now held the true power within the Imperial Palace. To oppress a noble—especially one as overwhelmingly dominant as Haiman—suggested that other nobles might suffer the same fate.
That is why I insert Sereo instead of the Palace itself.
“What if Sereo refuses?”
“Well then, next we shall proceed to Haiskannen, then Deven.”
Though I had prepared alternatives, Sereo seemed likely to accept the proposal. Opposing someone implied possessing equal power, after all. With the Imperial Palace’s backing, this was an opportunity to expand my house—I would not abandon it.
Then, footsteps echoed from outside.
Knock, knock.
“Lord Ian. The doctor has arrived.”
“A doctor? Has Berik awakened?”
I rose from my seat to ask, but Romandro quickly waved his hand.
“No. Rather, this should be the doctor who oversaw the twins’ birth. The one who came from outside, correct?”
“Yes, that is correct.”
“After leaving the palace, he opened a modest clinic. It seems he came immediately upon receiving the summons. Faster than expected.”
“Let him in.”
The door creaked open.
With my permission granted, the door swung wide. The doctor, his body seemingly frail, entered with his apprentice’s support. As I rose to greet him, he bowed with visible effort.
“Greetings. I am Doctor Gavid.”
“Welcome. Thank you for making the journey. I am Ian Hielo, Minister of Magic. Please, sit.”
“Lord Ian, then we shall take our leave.”
“We shall review the documents further. Call upon us if needed.”
With the visitor’s arrival, Heil and Captain Akorella tactfully gathered their papers and departed—as if they had been hoping for an excuse to rest.
I gestured for the door to be firmly closed, then regarded the doctor.
“Gavid?”
“Yes, Minister.”
“You did oversee Lady Deilaina’s birth, did you not? You are the doctor who brought Jin and Lord Arcen into this world—I ask to confirm this. This is a grave matter, and should I detect even the slightest inconsistency, I shall employ truth serum. Understand this before you answer.”
I deliberately adopted a somewhat forceful demeanor. For some reason, the doctor seemed far too composed. As if he had foreseen everything—dredging up events from a decade past, summoning him back to the palace, all of it.
As I spoke, I carefully observed the doctor’s expression.
“Yes. I shall answer with utmost sincerity. You may use truth serum if you wish. My memory is singular, and thus my account is one. I delivered Lord Arcen and Lord Jin. Please, ask your questions.”
“You would know of the prophecy.”
“…Of course.”
“Naturally, such things are not always accurate, though they do carry a certain weight. Yet recently, something has troubled me. Was it Lord Arcen who emerged first? I ask whether the one you extracted and named as the elder was indeed Arcen. Recount the circumstances as you remember them.”
He fell silent for a moment, gathering his memories. Then, slowly, he began to speak of that day. Though a decade had passed, the doctor seemed to recall every detail—the weather, the atmosphere, even the smallest sequence of events.
“I received a sudden summons in the dead of night. A midwife requested assistance. The child, she said, would not come.”
Rain fell. Wheels cutting through mud, raindrops striking the windows, servants moving urgently past the bedchamber, and the anguished screams of Deilaina in agony…
I sipped my tea, painting each image in my mind.
“Upon arriving, I found the situation grave. Lady Deilaina’s face had lost all color, and she was growing weaker, even losing consciousness. Had we done nothing, both mother and child would have perished. Thus, I resolved to take up the blade. It was then that a priest spoke.”
The doctor paused to collect himself, then released his breath along with the memory.
“He said a prophecy had come down. That the younger would slay the elder, and we must hurry to extract the child.”
The mother’s condition was critical, leaving no choice. The surgery proceeded at once, and the doctor would never forget the moment he drew forth the first infant’s head.
“One of the twins had the other’s neck in a tight grip. This should be recorded in the medical records.”
“I have seen those records myself. But is such a thing even possible?”
“It was my first time witnessing it directly. They called it a monoamniotic twin birth. It is rare, with scarcely any cases reported even abroad. However…”
Remarkable as that experience had been, the doctor had encountered something far more astonishing still.
“The child whose throat had been seized was opening his eyes.”
Typically, infants opened their eyes after two days had passed, yet this baby’s eyes were clear and bright as he gazed at the doctor. The expressionless stare was so unsettling that the doctor shook his head and murmured under his breath.
“He didn’t cry at all, just continued staring at me like that. Only after I delivered the second child did he finally cry. As if pleading for someone to look at him. He wailed so piercingly that it seemed….”
The words ‘as if he were not human’ rose to the doctor’s throat. But he restrained himself and continued speaking.
“Everything is recorded exactly as it happened. Life was in critical danger, yet both were born safely, and Deilaina recovered remarkably quickly.”
“Do you remember the name of the priest from the Carbo Temple who delivered the oracle?”
“I don’t know the name, but she was a woman with many freckles.”
Why would the doctor have any reason to know a priest’s name? It was unfortunate, but at least having a description of her appearance meant I could identify her even if Carbo sent someone else.
The moment I reached for my tea, the doctor added something.
“And that day, I… nearly made a grave mistake.”
“What do you mean?”
“After delivering the first child and attempting to deliver the second, I became terribly dizzy. It was humid and hot that day, but it was an abnormal reaction to a degree I’d never experienced. So, by accident, I nearly scarred the second child’s face.”
“…!”
The doctor confessed to me with a heart full of remorse.
Fortunately, the assistant beside me caught my hand, or it would have been truly catastrophic.
I nearly misused my blade at the sound of the child’s sudden cry.
Had it not ended as merely a wound, it would have meant death for the child.
‘Could this be Jin’s fate?’
A fate that could not help but bear the Emperor’s mark.
Though it seemed to have been avoided by Arcen’s cry, a fate that would inevitably carve new wounds.
I tapped the table lightly.
‘An abnormal reaction….’
Could it have been from that moment that Arcen was affected? Hadn’t Philia also mentioned feeling dizzy and her mind growing clouded?
The doctor released a long sigh, his hands clenched tightly.
“That incident was quite traumatic, so I’ve left the palace and sought other medical work. I no longer attend births.”
With his words, silence settled over the room.
Tap, tap—I noticed a faint sound from somewhere. It was raining. Just as it had been on the day Jin and Arcen were born.
Boom, boom! Crash!
“Lord Ian!”
An urgent voice rushed down the corridor. At the knock requesting entry, Romandro opened the door. The visitor appeared to be from the Imperial Guard. His hollow expression was drenched—whether with tears or rain, I couldn’t tell.
“A, a corpse has been discovered on the outer edges of the capital.”
“A corpse?”
“They’re asking for identification, but Captain Jairot went ahead first. Just in case, he instructed me to inform you first….”
Jairot went? Then that means….
“Are you saying Barsabe is dead?”
“We, we don’t know if it’s Barsabe. The corpse is too badly damaged. What should we do? We heard that you were searching for evidence regarding black armor….”
“Go at once.”
I rose, gathering my belongings.
Barsabe dead? I couldn’t quite believe it, so I needed to see it with my own eyes.

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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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