Margrave’s Bastard Son was The Emperor - Chapter 267

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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 267
The Secret Eater
“J-Jin! Take a look at this!”
Romandro called out to Jin awkwardly. The Boy sat on a park bench with an expressionless face, his lips pressed firmly shut. Anyone could see his mood was poor. Romandro waved bread around repeatedly, trying to lift the Boy’s spirits.
“Wow, there really are a lot of pigeons here!”
“Sir Romandro, they’re tearing at your pants leg.”
“Huh? Argh! Xiao, try catching this.”
“I’ll catch it if you throw it.”
“Pigeons, you wretches! Oh no, stop flying!”
Flap! Flap!
Was survival in the city ever easy? The pigeons pecked relentlessly at Romandro’s bread, fluttering their wings and cooing incessantly.
Unable to move even a single step as they swarmed around him, Romandro realized something had gone terribly wrong.
“Oh no, you feathered devils! Xiao, help me!”
“My apologies. Count Ian instructed me never to leave Jin’s side.”
“You fool, how far is it from there to here?”
“Throw the bread far away.”
“Argh! Argh!”
Romandro flailed about, pecked from all sides, performing a solo act. Though laughter threatened to escape, Jin simply hugged his knees and sighed deeply. Just moments ago, everything had been so joyful and happy—how could his mood flip so completely in an instant?
“When will Count Ian return?”
“He said he would only look around briefly, so he should be back soon.”
It was a mistake. I shouldn’t have brought up Timothy’s name there. The man left such a strong impression that I mentioned him without thinking. Ian had said he would take only Berik and look around the inner grounds before returning.
“….”
“Please cheer up.”
“My mood is perfectly fine.”
“….”
Xiaoxi scratched his chin awkwardly. Though Jin claimed to be fine, he hadn’t even glanced at the pigeons since arriving at the park.
Lost in thought, Jin kept changing expressions with his arms crossed. His brows furrowed, then his lips pressed tight, then he sighed again—the cycle repeating endlessly.
‘Really, Count Ian is too much.’
I honestly understood that Ian’s response was the correct one. Whether it was a misunderstanding or not, the person in question was crucial to the foreign delegation, so verification had to be thorough. And I recognized that bringing me to an unfamiliar, crowded place would increase the burden on my guards.
But I couldn’t help feeling a bit resentful. It was pouting, yes—but justified pouting.
Whoosh.
Jin rose from the bench to walk for a bit. At the same moment, the nearby bushes rustled faintly. The hidden knights moved to follow Jin.
“Sir Romandro, Jin is moving.”
“Huh? Where are you going? No wait, where are you going? Jin!”
“I’d like to walk a bit.”
“Let’s go together. Argh! You wretches! Get out of the way!”
“Did you discard the bread?”
“I did, but the smell lingers. They keep clinging to me!”
Xiaoxi alternated his gaze between Romandro under pigeon assault and Jin, then followed behind the Boy. He could still hear Romandro’s cries from behind.
Whoosh.
The Boy let his thoughts drift as he surveyed his surroundings.
Lovers whispering affections while seated on benches, families napping on mats, a dog chasing a ball with unbridled enthusiasm—Bariel’s peace protected such a kaleidoscope of moments.
Jin was walking along the flower beds.
“Young one.”
Someone was calling to Jin? It was an elderly woman draped in a tattered robe, her wares spread neatly across a cloth. Miscellaneous items of indeterminate purpose were arranged with meticulous care, and behind her, a handcart overflowed with sundries.
“Are you calling to me?”
“Forgive me, but would you pick up that bead for me?”
A crystal bead rolled slowly across the ground, some distance from Jin. At the old woman’s request, Xiaoxi moved first, catching it and handing it to her.
“Thank you.”
“….”
Xiaoxi noticed beneath the robe that the old woman had no legs. Jin gazed with curious interest at the items on the cloth and the crystal bead. It was as though the night sky itself had been captured within it.
“Is it a decorative bead?”
“Hmm. How could it be? For a gypsy, decorative beads are an impossibility. We use these to see the past, read the present, and divine the future.”
Ah, a gypsy. The very gypsies he’d only heard of in tales.
There were rumors that the chieftain of the Cheonryeo Tribe was a gypsy, but otherwise, they had no connection to Jin whatsoever.
“Are you curious? Shall I show you?”
“Show me what?”
“Whatever you desire.”
Jin crouched and smiled broadly. What could this mystical power divine when even the Empire’s Prince couldn’t discern it? And more importantly, he knew that nothing was more uncertain than prophecy of the future.
His own life was proof. Even the divine oracle, which he had believed without question to be the voice of God, had been a lie. What then could a street gypsy possibly tell him?
“I’m afraid I have no money on me at the moment.”
“I do not accept money.”
“Then what?”
As the wind stirred, the old woman’s face briefly emerged from beneath her robe. Her features seemed to dissolve beneath deeply etched wrinkles, yet her smile was gentle. Looking closely, it appeared there was a gap in her cheek—as though she possessed gills like some aquatic creature.
“I am one who consumes secrets. Speak your secret aloud so that I may hear it. Then it ceases to be a secret, and I consume it. Even the most trivial will do. In exchange, I shall recite to you the past and future I perceive within you.”
Interesting. Was this the typical business practice of gypsies? Jin pondered quietly.
“Even something trivial?”
“Yes.”
“You won’t reveal it to anyone else?”
“Of course not. Since I have consumed it, you too shall be unable to speak of it to others. Should you have shared it with someone, theirs shall be bound by the same constraint.”
Hmm. What should he tell her? Jin wiggled his toes as he pondered, and then thought of something.
The old woman gestured for Xiaoxi to step back as though to keep him from hearing, then leaned her upper body closer. Without legs, she braced herself on her elbows against the ground.
“In truth, when I demonstrated reading the foreign language.”
More precisely, when I read the foreign language before Count Ian.
“Mm-hmm.”
“It wasn’t the first time I’d done it. I had practiced beforehand. I wanted to be praised.”
“Oho!”
What a delicious secret indeed! The old woman laughed with great delight, her chuckles growing louder. As her breathing grew ragged, the gills on her cheeks seemed to quiver.
“Excellent. This is a secret only you know. Quite delicious. Delicious indeed.”
The old woman caressed the crystal bead with satisfaction. Then the glimmers within it began to move slowly, as though possessed of their own will. How extraordinary. It felt much like the first time he’d witnessed Count Ian’s magic.
“…That scar.”
The Old Gypsy murmured softly to herself. Jin glanced around cautiously. Xiaoxi spotted Romandro rushing toward them in the distance and waved to signal their location. A few pigeons still hadn’t been chased away.
“It’s fortunate, child. Had it been otherwise, you would already be dead.”
Xiaoxi turned in surprise. Setting aside the suspicion, it was truly an audacious thing to say. Jin tried to stop her, but I gently grasped his arm and held him back.
“Remember that scar is the beginning of all your questions. And doubt—let it guide you. It will help you grow and protect you. A lonely child you are. How pitiful.”
Without realizing it, Jin touched the scar at the edge of my chin. The beginning of all my questions was this scar? Now that I think about it…
‘Count Ian first extended his hand to me then.’
From that day forward, he whispered that I was precious and urged me to dry my tears. I wondered if he was merely comforting a child caught up in rebellion, but I could clearly remember that moment of change.
“And keep your distance from the light. You know well that one cannot shine brightest beside a greater light.”
“What exactly are you seeing?”
“What you show me.”
The crystal ball’s light extinguished. Romandro, who had rushed over hastily, brushed pigeon feathers from himself and examined Jin and the Old Gypsy. Was she suspicious? As Romandro’s eyes narrowed, she laughed and touched the orb.
“Welcome. Would you like a reading as well?”
“No, that’s fine. But you shouldn’t be doing this here.”
“Hmm? Why is that?”
“This is a no-fortune-telling zone. If you go back toward the Main Gate over there, there’s an authorized spot. It would be best to move before the Administrator finds out.”
“Oh my, how careless of me. I haven’t been here long and didn’t know. Thank you for telling me.”
The Old Gypsy slowly gathered her belongings and laughed awkwardly. As she did, her robe lifted completely. Jin also noticed she had no legs.
“Can I help?”
“Child, how kind you are. But it’s alright. If I couldn’t manage this much, wouldn’t that be too sad? Go on now.”
Jin nodded and turned to leave with the group. She was truly a curious person—even as they walked away, I kept glancing back. Romandro sensed this and asked both of them.
“Did something happen?”
“She gave me a reading. Said she was one who consumes secrets.”
“Ha, well. How theatrical. Old-fashioned stuff.”
“Are there many like her?”
“They’re all over this marketplace. From those claiming to consume souls to charlatans spouting nonsense about coming from the future—it’s all just survival tactics dressed up as mystique.”
As Romandro and Jin chatted away, forgetting they were supposed to be traveling incognito, Xiaoxi subtly gave them a warning look. They’d drawn a bit of attention lingering at the fortune-telling stall, so caution was warranted.
“What time is it, Romandro?”
“Hmm. We just passed four in the afternoon.”
“Count Ian still has some time before he arrives…”
The pigeon feeding in the park had ended rather anticlimactically. Should we just finish our schedule and return? Still, it felt a bit disappointing.
“Why don’t we go pick up Count Ian?”
“He instructed us not to come.”
“Not into the alley—just nearby.”
“Hmm. Well, we can’t just stand around here indefinitely anyway… Should we look for a teahouse where we can rest comfortably?”
“That sounds good.”
“I wonder if that Berik fellow is behaving himself.”
“Don’t worry. Berik does listen well to Count Ian’s orders, doesn’t he?”
Once we reunited, the final schedule was to stop by Romandro’s Manor for dinner together and then enter the palace.
Jin turned back as we left the park. The legless Gypsy had vanished without a trace, leaving only trampled grass as evidence of the fortune-telling stall.
* * *
Meanwhile, in the back alley where Ian and Berik had ventured.
The party’s concerns were not entirely unfounded.
I frowned as cigarette smoke curled toward me from all directions, waving my hand dismissively. Beneath the acrid stench lingered subtle notes of sourness and sickly sweetness—surely drugs and aphrodisiacs. I laid down my card hand and tapped my remaining chips rhythmically.
“Oh, quite the player, aren’t you?”
“Hold on, hold on! I’m not out yet.”
“Idiot! Fold already. The only card that beats his hand is an ace. And that one came out earlier.”
“Argh! Damn it! This is infuriating!”
“Good grief, can’t even calculate your hand and you’re complaining.”
“Hey, deal me in at this table too. I want to play.”
The spectators gathered around my table grew steadily. As the atmosphere intensified, the sound of beer glasses clinking echoed from the surroundings, punctuated by someone’s cheers and shrieks mingling with the music.
“Haven’t seen him before. Is he from around here?”
“From out of province.”
“Don’t like the look of him.”
“You always say that whenever you see a handsome guy.”
It was absurd enough to be dragged into a gambling den unexpectedly, but to draw such attention during a covert mission was ridiculous. I pressed my brow and glanced toward the iron cage opposite. Berik was trapped inside, eagerly gnawing at meat.
“Ian! Fighting! Come on, you’ve got this!”
“You….”
When our eyes met, Berik shook the cage bars enthusiastically in encouragement. The guard standing watch complained about the noise and jabbed him with a skewer, prompting Berik to glare and spew curses.
“That hurts! You trying to kill me?!”
“Enough of your nonsense.”
“Yeah, right back at you. When I get out of here, you’re the first one I’m coming for.”
I made a mental note never to bring Berik along on such ventures again, then flipped my cards face-up. Exclamations of amazement erupted from all corners.

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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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