Margrave’s Bastard Son was The Emperor - Chapter 238

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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 238
Without Ian
“Everyone, move aside!”
“Get a doctor! Fetch a doctor!”
“Count Ian! Open your eyes. Count Ian.”
Xiaoxi hoisted me onto his back and bolted forward. The situation was already chaotic enough. My lord had chosen to avoid amplifying the panic through my collapse. He rounded the building and rushed toward the office, moving as swiftly and discreetly as possible.
“Ian! Please, ah, the blood won’t stop!”
Philia, who had been desperately following, cried out in horror. At the same moment, Xiaoxi felt his shoulder grow damp. My master was unconsciously coughing up blood.
Nersaren caught Philia as she stumbled, while Romandro and Jin wept openly, frantically clearing the path ahead.
Thud!
The main residence was quiet. Most of the mages had participated in the mana verification ceremony with me, half of them had fallen to Arcen, and the other half had rushed to manage the aftermath. Despite kicking through the main door forcefully, there was no one to call for help besides the servants.
“Gasp, Lord Ian?”
“Where are the mages? Are there no mages remaining in the main residence?”
“W-well, there should be someone on night duty.”
“Hurry and bring them! And fetch a doctor too!”
“Y-yes, understood!”
“Warm water and towels!”
Patter patter!
Xiaoxi laid me down in a small bedroom adjacent to the office. It was a space where one could rest briefly when tired from work. Berik had typically used it, and recently Romandro had been its frequent visitor.
“Slowly, slowly now.”
The tilted head, the red shirt where white could not be found, and the pallid complexion made it impossible to deny the severity of my condition.
“Where might there be something to cover him with….”
As Romandro glanced around searching for a blanket, he suddenly realized something. Since coming to the capital, I had never truly made a home of my own.
Now, collapsed like this, the only place I could rely on was this small room attached to the office. Moreover, the bed and various furnishings were all things that had belonged to the former Minister Wesley.
“Here it is.”
“Ah, yes.”
“Lord Ian? Gasp, what happened to you?”
A servant brought Captain Akorella along with a thick blanket. Judging by the protective goggles she wore, she had apparently slipped away to conduct experiments in the basement.
She examined me in alarm. There were no major external wounds, but the continuous coughing of blood meant the problem lay within.
“Captain Akorella! Do something about Ian, please.”
“W-wait just a moment. You! Go downstairs to my office and bring everything from the second shelf of the right cabinet. And you, uh, contact the storage and have them bring the mana amplifier! Ah! And syringes!”
Akorella, who rarely panicked, stumbled over her words as if her thoughts had frozen. While servants rushed to obey her orders, Jin continuously gripped my right arm and wept.
“Count Ian, you cannot die.”
“Your Highness. Do not worry. Minister Ian….”
Romandro, who had been trying to comfort Jin, clutched his nose. Blood dripped steadily through his fingers.
It was not only I who had burned through my stamina over several sleepless nights. Romandro too had artificially drawn upon his strength through magical potions. Now his body was signaling that he had reached his limit.
Viviana, who had entered late, noticed this and immediately held out a towel for him.
“Darling!”
“I’m fine. Bibi, don’t worry.”
“Good heavens, sigh. Really….”
Romandro smiled and wiped away the blood from Viviana’s back. It was merely a nosebleed, he assured her with an affectionate gesture meant to calm his wife. Xiaoxi wiped the sweat from his brow and turned to look at him.
“Romandro. You should go rest as well.”
“I can’t. Ian is lying down, and if I leave too, who will handle the aftermath?”
“…If I may be so bold, we must consider that Minister Ian will be unable to rise for several days. Since you’ve ordered the cleanup, wouldn’t those who were present at the scene take priority for the next few hours?”
When the Magic Ministry’s decisions required approval, it would be truly difficult if even the Steward Romandro was absent. So the suggestion was that he should recover his strength, even if only for a few hours, to manage things properly.
As Romandro tried to refuse with a wave of his hand, blood poured forth again, as if in protest.
“Kyaaaah! Darling!”
“Ah, I see. Viviana, please don’t be alarmed. I’m really fine.”
“Romandro. Sia’s words are sound. Though there were many casualties, the Prime Minister is safe. Captain Jairot of the Imperial Guards is as well. Just for a few hours—trust them for just a few hours.”
Jin pushed at Romandro’s back. He turned to look at Ian lying down several times before stepping forward with reluctant feet. His murmuring about returning soon, about resting for just one moment before coming back, never ceased.
“Captain Akorella. I’ve brought what you requested. The doctor will arrive shortly.”
“Set it down here. Ah, so it’s the potion I made after all. The effects and side effects are so precise, not a hair’s breadth of error. Well, well, well. I should have trained my mana more. Your Highness, I work in an office position, you see. I use my head more than strength….”
“Enough talking, hurry!”
“Yes, Minister Ian. Steel yourself. I’m going in.”
Akorella injected the mana amplifier into her own arm and clenched her teeth. It was still in the experimental stage, but what else could she do? Her superior was dying. She opened her mana and let the power flow into Ian.
Zzzzzing. Zzzing!
Ian’s breathing seemed to calm ever so slightly, infinitesimally. But Jin couldn’t be certain if it was real. Hope always brought illusion in its wake. The boy pressed his ear firmly against Ian’s chest and murmured.
“Keep going, keep going….”
As Ian suddenly coughed up blood, Jin, Xiaoxi, and the servants all reached out simultaneously to catch it.
Jin stared at Ian, drenched in blood, his face filled with despair. Was death truly this close? As if he couldn’t believe it.
* * *
“Iaaaan. Ian.”
“…I told you to be quiet.”
“No, I’ve had my insides turned over a few times, so I know. You need to regain consciousness to recover faster. Ian. Wake up. Master? Master?”
A whispering voice reached his ears. Jin jolted awake and sat up, only to realize he was on the sofa in Ian’s office. He had collapsed and fallen asleep without realizing it.
As Jin turned his head toward the commotion, his eyes met those of Berik, who was grinning with teeth bared.
“Berik?”
“It’s Your Highness who’s awake, not the master.”
Was this a dream? Berik, wrapped up in blankets, was being carried by Xiaoxi.
“Can you move?”
“Huh? If I could, I wouldn’t be like this.”
Unable to take even a single step, yet he had caught the scent of blood remarkably well and asked what had happened. The servant had no reason to lie, and told him plainly that Ian had collapsed. As a result, the burden fell to Xiaoxi.
“Iaaaan~. Should we eat meat together~? That one we had before, I’m going to order double this time~. If you don’t wake up, I’ll order triple~?”
Berik chattered away incessantly, calling out to Ian. At his voice, Ian’s brow furrowed slightly. Look at that, Berik delighted, saying it was working.
“How is Count Ian?”
“There is no danger to his life, they say.”
Xiaoxi answered thus and turned his body. Breaking the promise to only look at his face, Berik was being so noisy. It seemed he was about to put Berik back in his place. Realizing this, Berik twisted his body this way and that in resistance.
“Just a little more, no, really just a little!”
“…Shhh.”
“Shh! So put me down. Okay?”
While Berik was pouting, Jin examined Ian. His complexion had certainly returned to normal. His clothes had been changed at some point—they were neat and tidy. At first glance, one might think he was merely in a deep sleep.
Jin exhaled in relief and gazed out the window. The sun was setting.
“How much time has passed?”
“Three hours, Your Highness.”
Three hours. A world without Arcen had already moved forward that much. That demon who wore a face identical to mine, who sought to kill my very soul. My brother who had inflicted countless wounds too numerous to count. Those days when he existed had been so burdensome and heavy that this present moment felt strangely unfamiliar.
‘How strange.’
Arcen’s shadow had been so dark. I thought that if he disappeared, the world would look different.
But the sunset remained red, the wind still blew, and the clouds drifted on. Arcen, now that I looked back, had been nothing at all.
Clench.
Jin gripped the hand resting on his knee tightly and made a vow. No matter what difficulties lay ahead, I would not forget this moment. Even if it seemed an insurmountable burden, from a distance it was truly trivial. Just as Arcen had been.
Knock knock.
“Your Highness Jin. Did you cough?”
“What is it?”
At that moment, a servant carefully made his presence known. Standing at the door, he waited for Jin’s response. Had more time passed, he likely would have entered directly and woken him.
“The Prime Minister has convened an emergency council. Minister Ian and Minister Romandro have sent word that their physical condition prevents their attendance. The Magic Ministry is still in the midst of recovery efforts, so only Captain Heil will attend. The captain has already departed, and your carriage awaits.”
“…Very well.”
Jin rose slowly and straightened his clothes. This was not the time for such thoughts. Currently, the only prince in the imperial palace was himself. With Ian incapacitated as well, I needed to regain my composure.
Jin gestured to Xiaoxi. It was a command to follow.
Thud.
“Ow! That hurts!”
Xiaoxi roughly lowered Berik from the bed and hurried after Jin. The Magic Ministry was still quiet. Mages appeared here and there, but they all looked frazzled, whether they had stopped by briefly during recovery efforts or not.
“This way, Your Highness.”
“What of Romandro?”
“Lady Viviana is tending to him.”
Jin deliberated briefly before boarding the carriage. This was the first major council he would attend without Ian. I felt anxious and trembling, but it was something I had to do eventually.
‘They’ll want to confirm what happened inside the conference hall. Since I was the last one to walk out of there. Is there anything else I should know? Anything I should be careful about?’
Clatter clatter!
I couldn’t tell if my stomach was churning from the carriage or from nervousness. I couldn’t afford to make mistakes, lest Ian be troubled when he awoke.
‘Ian, he’s royalty! Hahahaha!’
Arcen’s final cry suddenly came to mind. Jin’s eyes widened and he shook his head. But strangely, the words that followed wouldn’t fade away.
‘Jin. You didn’t know? Why would Ian help someone like you? He has his own motives! …Only the royal bloodline is blessed to resist mental domination!’
Jin was the same. When mages and priests collapsed, clutching their heads, he stood unaffected, facing Arcen. And Prince Gail was no different. He entered without difficulty into the toxic miasma that soldiers couldn’t approach.
But why Ian…?
‘It doesn’t make sense.’
Ian is royalty? Then what about Philia? The former Count Derga? That demon Arcen had clearly sought to mock me right up until the moment of his death.
As Jin bit his lip gently, the carriage came to a slow stop. They had arrived before the main conference hall of the First Imperial Palace.
“We have arrived, Your Highness.”
Xiaoxi, seated in the back, opened the door and guided him out. Jin descended carefully and climbed the stairs with tension. And soon he came to realize.
Whoosh.
The gazes of nobles unfavorable to him, whispers with sharp edges, and the gestures of those on guard—all were glinting from every direction.

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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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