Margrave’s Bastard Son was The Emperor - Chapter 414

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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 414
Fire. The Direction the Mages Look
“Count Ian, please calm yourself!”
“Hey, what are you doing? Aren’t you going to stop him?”
At the harsh sound, the mages rushed over and seized me. Regardless of my status as a prisoner, I was still a foreign king. Providing appropriate treatment was the correct course in international affairs.
I released King Damon’s hair at my subordinates’ insistence, my jaw clenched tight. The trembling of my chin betrayed the depth of my fury.
“Great mages.”
“You stay quiet. Count Ian, your hands aren’t hurt, are they? Why are you trying to do such rough work yourself?”
“It seems the aftereffects of the magic haven’t fully subsided yet.”
“Yes. Leave this sort of thing to Cliffford. There’s nothing good that comes from us getting involved. You know that.”
“Calm yourself, Count Ian. We’re about to eat. It would be best if you left before Berik eats everything.”
The mages patted the back of my hand reassuringly and added their worried words. No one spared a glance for King Damon, who sat helplessly weighed down by heavy shackles. No one except Heil.
Heil examined Damon from head to toe, checking for any problems. No matter how much Bariel had contributed greatly to the current war, this was a conflict between Cliffford and Burgos. Since he was a king held as a prisoner during the ceasefire, any issue could become a problem.
Those who watched from within, not without—those who glared from the imperial palace to check them.
“The rumors of the Magic Ministry reached the far ends of Burgos, so they weren’t mere illusions. Count Ian, despite your humble origins born and raised in the borderlands, you’ve established yourself quite splendidly. Honestly, bloodline is something one cannot ignore.”
“King Damon. I told you to be quiet.”
“Or perhaps you were simply born that way?”
Damon chuckled and brushed off his collar. The shackles clinked with his gesture. Heil anticipated that disrespectful words would spill from his mouth and pushed the mages’ backs.
But is there an action faster than words? Damon revealed a secret about me that he knew—or rather, one he had created half in error.
“Is it because imperial blood flows through your veins that you’ve found your rightful place?”
The mages’ heads flinched in an instant. Their ears reflexively moved. They were trying to comprehend in their minds what King Damon had just said.
I looked down at Damon with cold eyes, and he continued nodding his head and laughing.
“Say something, Ian!”
“Count Ian, he’s, he’s, he’s a madman. The King of Burgos isn’t in his right mind. Haha.”
“How dare he speak of imperial blood. This is a grave blasphemy. I think we should make an example of him.”
“Yes. We can carry it out without Prince Jin’s orders. Shall we cut him? It would be better to cut him and render him unconscious.”
The mages spilled crude words in their panic. The more they did, the more Damon raved, spouting nonsense—that I carried the bloodline of the imperial family.
“If you doubt, return to Bariel and verify it. I swear on everything that this man carries imperial blood! Appearances are not everything. Who exactly are you following? Is the Ian you know truly Ian? Hmm?”
At the sharp shout, the mages’ shoulders flinched. Heil immediately brought a gag and stuffed it in Damon’s mouth, then looked toward the soldiers.
No matter how thoroughly we controlled it, they were Cliffford soldiers, not Bariel soldiers. If Prince Noah wished to hear, he could. So we needed to frame this as much as possible like the baseless roar of an enemy without foundation or evidence.
“Count Ian. It seemed you had something you wished to interrogate King Damon about. Shall I bring Akorelra? The truth serum’s effectiveness isn’t certain yet, but we have it. To some degree, you should be able to obtain what you desire.”
Love becomes love the moment it is recognized, and a problem becomes a problem the moment it is recognized. When Heil passed over Damon’s struggles without any reaction, the mages too slowly ceased their agitation.
“…Very well. That has too many side effects.”
Prince Jin needed to witness King Damon kneeling and having his neck severed with his own eyes, so that the dignity of the empire could be proclaimed to all. Furthermore, his severed head needed to be displayed in the direction Selena was looking, to comfort her on her journey to the afterlife.
All of this would become a blade-like warning to Burgos and the surrounding nations.
Therefore, I could not feed Damon a hastily made truth serum on the spot. It was best to return to Bariel as quickly as possible and administer the finished product kept in the Magic Ministry. Since I was the Minister of Magic anyway, I would be able to hear Damon’s truthful confession without anyone’s interference.
I wiped away the beads of sweat and lightly brushed away Heil’s hand.
“Bind him securely. Keep the gag on him except during meals. We return to Bariel as soon as the camp is organized.”
Return to Bariel!
The mages could not contain their joy and grasped each other’s shoulders. Though Cliffford was indeed beautiful land, how could it compare to home?
The mages could take pride in having perfectly completed their mission, since the very reason they had left Bariel in the first place was to bring me back.
“Yes. Let us return. Or perhaps you should go first, Count Ian? Since mages and Mage Knights have superior mobility, we can catch up even if we depart later. If you head out first with King Damon, we will follow close behind.”
“Very well. We shall divide our forces accordingly.”
“First, let us check who has recovered their magical power. As for me, my strength is returning halfway. I believe I will be fully recovered by evening.”
Let me go to the Imperial Palace first.
The mages all thought the same thing, their eyes twinkling knowingly. Romandro was there, Prince Jin was there, and above all, the Imperial Palace that I loved was there. Rather than remaining in this unstable state, sending me ahead seemed like the better choice in many ways.
I pondered for a moment, then nodded.
“Very well. Then first thing tomorrow morning.”
“Yes. Tomorrow morning! I will inform Cliffford’s side.”
“And inform Minister Tweller as well. The Imperial Defense Ministry will provide troops to serve as escort. As for the Imperial Guards, we have Berik and Barsabe.”
The mages supported me while glancing back. King Damon’s keen gaze still pursued them, so they deliberately avoided that stare and focused on me instead. I seemed unperturbed by Damon’s baseless words.
Was this normal? Were his words so absurd that they deserved no response? Or perhaps, given my usual nature of making those who insult the imperial family pay the price, had I let it slide simply because the other party was a king?
Heil quickly wrapped things up, but the mages could not help but harbor doubts in their minds.
Thump.
The mages watched as Heil supported me and climbed upward. Then, someone murmured.
“You guys.”
“What?”
“What if. What if. Just what if.”
“Why are you stammering like that?”
“What if Count Ian is a hidden bloodline of the imperial family, and created Idgal? What would you all do?”
“That’s nonsense.”
Hollow laughter erupted here and there, but the one who had spoken continued his hypothesis quite seriously. What if Ian was officially an imperial bloodline that could never be acknowledged?
There had been plenty of talk in the Imperial Palace. That they were trying to seize power by putting the young Prince Jin forward. One of the ways the imperial family could control mages was the magic-sealing stone.
Though one could not say with certainty what it was, if Idgal had been created to challenge the authority of the imperial family, then would not my tracking magic’s reaction to King Damon’s pendant gain a certain degree of validity?
One could not make a definitive claim based on fragmentary clues alone, but one thing was certain.
‘Is the Ian we know truly Ian?’
Damon’s final words. Beyond the Ian they knew, there was something deeper and more secretive within him.
As the mage’s expression darkened, someone snapped their fingers in front of his eyes.
Snap!
“So what? What are you going to do about it?”
“What?”
“If Count Ian is imperial bloodline, so what? If he created Idgal, so what? Among what we’re talking about now, have we heard anything directly from Count Ian’s own mouth? We’ve only heard the other side’s story. The Minister hasn’t said anything special, so why are we creating these worries for ourselves?”
“Right. It’s natural for all sorts of rumors to spread during wartime. And regardless of what’s true, I don’t think Count Ian has done anything harmful to Bariel.”
Have we not watched directly from his side from the time of the rebellion until now? He threw himself forward to save Prince Jin, shed tears at Selena’s death, and charged alone toward the leaders of the Burgos faction. Whatever questions may linger behind, the fact that his actions serve as an example remains unchanged.
“Because it is Count Ian, even if there are circumstances, I simply wish to watch and trust him.”
“Me too. Someday he will tell us.”
We abandoned even the Imperial Palace’s orders to come meet him, falling all the way to this distant Cliffford. For us, if there is a path to walk while watching, is there anyone but Count Ian?
“…Well, honestly, if it weren’t for Count Ian, I think I would have left the Magic Ministry long ago.”
There had been many trials. The mages could not escape the center of those trials, and especially before, tensions had run high within the department due to Wesley.
But look at now. Since I took office, they have been moving as if they were always one. Just as the Divine is perfectly unified, so too are those closest to me.
There were moments when I finally felt as though I had discovered my true identity. These were not merely units of the Imperial Palace, but a single, colossal bond that transcended such divisions.
“Wherever you go, I will follow. Whatever you do, I will support it. So, if anyone opposes you, please don’t let them speak in front of me. I don’t want to hear it.”
“Well, we’re doing fine. Me too, right?”
“Yes. What do we know? Let’s trust you and wait. Once we return to the Imperial Palace, the investigation regarding Idgal will proceed anyway.”
The mages awkwardly patted each other’s shoulders, trying to dispel the uncomfortable atmosphere.
Then came the peculiar exclamation of a soldier standing watch on the barrier.
“Huh?”
“What’s wrong?”
“There, I see the Bariel flag. It appears to be reinforcements.”
Reinforcements?
The barrier supervisor received the telescope, and the mages’ attention instantly shifted in that direction. The war was already over—what reinforcements could there be?
And more importantly, I had received no notification from Minister Maxim Tweller. Since the Imperial Defense Ministry’s goal in this war was to establish merit, it was unlikely that forces outside his faction had been separately dispatched. The pro-Tweller faction remaining in the Imperial Palace would never have allowed it.
“Mages, would you come and take a look? The Bariel flag is correct, but there’s another emblem behind it. It appears to be a noble house.”
“A noble? Was there a Marquis bordering Cliffford?”
“Not that I recall. Why don’t you take a look?”
One mage lightly leaped onto the barrier and brought his eye to the telescope. A familiar emblem. The mage spoke the name of its own accord.
“It’s Sereo?”
“Sereo? That fool?”
“Shh! That’s blasphemy.”
“It’s fine. This is Cliffford’s land, so there’s no punishment.”
“Ah, really? Why did that idiot come here?”
“I don’t know. I’ll go greet him first. He seems to be making quite a late entrance.”
The mage on the barrier informed his colleagues, and in the moment he began to open his mana to take flight—
Thud-thud-thud.
Whoooosh.
A faint vibration resonating through the soles of our feet.
The mage tilted his head and pressed his ear firmly against the barrier floor, and soon he heard it clearly—the trembling of the earth.
It was a precursor to an earthquake.

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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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