Margrave’s Bastard Son was The Emperor - Chapter 422

—————
This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
—————

Chapter 422
Fire. Like the Clouds in the Sky
Click.
The coachman instinctively sensed something had gone wrong with the carriage. As he slowly pulled the reins taut, the man sitting in the passenger seat waved a flag to signal the situation to those behind them.
A verdant plain.
Similar to what I had witnessed at Cliffford, yet it was a hillside distinctly tinged with Bariel’s character. The guards who had been following silently began to reduce their pace, and soon the entire procession came to a complete halt.
“What’s the matter?”
“Something seems caught in the wheel. With each rotation, I hear that clicking sound and feel a grinding sensation. Are the carriages ahead and behind having no issues?”
“The front seems fine, and the rear… let me check.”
“Yes. Besides, it’s about time we rested anyway. It might be good to report this to Ian and take a brief respite.”
“The air certainly is different. I never knew taste could be dissolved into the air itself. Now that I’ve returned to Bariel, I recognize that flavor I’ve breathed my entire life.”
The coachman smiled softly and bent at the waist. His hands carefully traced along the front and rear wheels. Though all the technicians were gathered together, they had to be sensitive to even the slightest noise when transporting such distinguished passengers.
Meanwhile, Ian descended from the carriage and called to the coachman.
“Is there a problem?”
“Ah, Ian. No, it appears the carriage wheel picked up an angular stone and rolled over it. The support bracket bent slightly, but it should be fine with a bit of repair.”
“If the carriage breaks down in the heart of the empire, we’ll be in a bind. Though no eyes watch us here, once we venture further in, the gaze of Bariel’s citizens will pour down upon us wherever we tread.”
Ian examined a small map that fit in his palm as he spoke. To ensure the fastest possible travel, they had chosen a route that did not avoid rough terrain but rather embraced it.
As a result, even after entering Bariel, meeting citizens was like plucking stars from the sky. All that was visible were herds of goats passing by, endless gentle hills, and the gradually exhausted members of our party.
Ian watched the mages stretch languidly. Because the carriage swayed so much, the mages who had been flying through the sky were now battling nothing more than motion sickness.
“Take your time and repair it properly. It’s better than having the mages’ carriage, carrying news of victory, break down halfway through the journey.”
“I’ll make sure it’s fixed securely.”
“We’ll spend the night here. There’s flat ground, and given the herds of goats around us, the danger from beasts should be minimal.”
“If we rest here tonight, we should reach the capital around the day after tomorrow. Probably early morning.”
“That’s better than rushing to arrive in some awkward afternoon. Now, everyone unload the baggage and let the horses rest.”
“Yes, Ian. I’ll prepare the meal.”
“Berik! Do you see that herd of goats over there? Bring some back today! Otherwise, I’ll only give you one portion!”
“A hunting party? What hunting party?”
“The goat herd. Over there.”
“Oh! The animals are moving!”
“I didn’t think goat meat tasted good.”
“Does he think he eats meat for taste? He eats to survive. Berik! While you’re at it, scout the surroundings a bit! See if there’s a place to draw water.”
Patter, patter, patter!
Before the mages could even finish shouting, Berik was already dashing up the hillside at full speed. Since their provisions were limited, what was allocated to Berik amounted to near-starvation from his perspective. If he couldn’t sustain himself at each meal, that is.
Ian watched Berik’s retreating figure, then nodded to Heil. He answered with a knowing glance and immediately turned his body toward the carriage where Damon was being held, taking the lead.
Creak.
As the carriage door opened and a cool breeze swept in, Damon’s brow furrowed.
A gag placed to prevent self-harm or suicide. Limbs bound tightly. A guard constantly present, showing no respect for one who had been a foreign king. But above all, with all his senses heightened, his sense of smell detected the scent of Bariel.
The foreign essence carried on the wind. Damon lifted his clouded eyes and looked toward Ian. Due to the backlighting, Ian’s face was not clearly visible.
“Is everything alright?”
“Yes. It is.”
“No disturbances?”
“All quiet.”
“Well done. Rest a moment before your shift change.”
As I shifted my body beside the carriage door, the Guard thanked me and stepped away.
I settled into the seat across from Prince Damon and slowly crossed my legs. At regular intervals, I checked whether Iza was still alive, but their silence was heavy enough to frustrate any observer.
Would this time be the same? When I habitually drew out a cigarette that Heil had been saving, Prince Damon’s gaze shifted toward it—a purely reflexive reaction. With my insides churning and everything threatening to unravel, only a cigarette could soothe me while erasing the scent of Bariel’s wind.
I noticed his reaction keenly and extended my hand toward Heil.
“Yes?”
What was I asking for? Heil looked at my hand in confusion. He didn’t have any reports on him right now. After hesitating for a few seconds, Heil tried to clasp my palm, but I firmly struck the back of his hand and spoke.
Smack.
“A cigarette.”
“Ah. Yes, yes. A cigarette. But sir, you don’t smoke.”
“Not for me. For Iza.”
Iza. A sudden demotion from Prince Damon. Heil felt awkward hearing it himself and glanced at Prince Damon. But he showed no particular reaction, as if he couldn’t hear my words at all.
Heil handed me all the remaining cigarettes and closed the carriage door. Except for the faint light filtering through the curtains, darkness enveloped the space around us.
“It’s rather like a livestock pen.”
Seeing this, I offered a sharp jest. I’d never been confined in a pen myself, but it was easy enough to imagine—the helplessness of being bound entirely and transported somewhere unknown.
“Want to smoke one? If you fidget with the cigarette in your mouth, it’s dangerous. The ash gets hot.”
I held the cigarette between my fingers and waggled it. I was offering to loosen the gag briefly so he could take a moment of rest like a human being. Otherwise, he would know what sort of ‘punishment’ awaited him. Only the one holding the cigarette could truly understand how hot the ash burned.
Prince Damon stared at me silently. Silence meant consent. I slowly shrugged and removed his gag. Blood that had been overflowing no matter how much he swallowed trickled down.
“We’ve already entered deep within Bariel. Damon. You have been defeated, and there is no path forward for you now. When we reach the palace, there will be interrogations centered on the Magic Ministry, but I’m curious about what you’ll say—words that won’t be recorded.”
“….”
I lit the cigarette and offered it to him. Like a wild beast wary of a stranger, Prince Damon watched it for a long time before finally taking the cigarette I offered between his lips.
A deep breath in and out, and the scent of blood seemed to linger in the exhale.
“Why would you be curious about what won’t be recorded? You, of all people, care most about what will be.”
“A single sentence contains countless opinions layered upon it. Sometimes that noise becomes so loud it clouds judgment. So I wish to hear your pure words—untainted by anyone else’s opinion.”
Pfft. Prince Damon let out an absurd laugh and turned his head away. His expression said he thought I was spouting nonsense. Was this the kind of leisure a victor could enjoy?
“Enough. Just kill me instead. If you thrust a sword through my heart, I’ll gladly tell you my final words. About Rutherford and regression? Or the secrets of the Kingdom of Burgos? I’ll spill everything until my last breath.”
Phew. Prince Damon defiantly blew smoke into my face. I didn’t blink once. I let the smoke drift away elegantly and spoke that name.
“Timothy will—”
A pause. A sudden change visible in his eyes. Prince Damon froze, smoke still held in his lungs.
“Timothy will see your state.”
“….”
“While our Prince stands tall and watches alongside others, Timothy will stand straight and look down upon you bleeding and bowing your head.”
Something snapped in Prince Damon’s eyes.
He hadn’t anticipated this. The worst scenario he’d imagined in this swaying carriage wasn’t actually the worst after all. It seemed he’d come to realize that he’d been clinging to faint hope all along.
Would it be only Timothy? Every citizen of Burgos dwelling in central Bariel would witness his pathetic end.
“By then, you won’t be able to say what you wish to say, so it’s best not to miss this moment.”
Another small proposal was whispered. In exchange for preventing his reunion with Timothy, why not bare everything?
Rutherford, the regression technique, and Prince Damon’s younger siblings. I carefully picked at the thread that entangled all these things, my fingertips probing delicately.
Damon flicked out the smoldering cigarette and crushed it beneath his foot.
“Rutherford is—”
Then, as if resigned to it, he muttered in an irritated tone. Above all else, he wanted to avoid meeting Timothy again. If only he could prevent it with the smallest edge of an incident….
“Rutherford is one who communes directly with God.”
“God?”
Ian smiled and pointed to the sky with his fingertip.
God? The one who gazes down upon Gaia at a glance, who listens to all of Gaia’s sounds simultaneously? The one who exists as a single entity, yet dwells within countless humans across the entire world?
“…Is he from a temple?”
“I’ve heard similar things said, but I cannot be certain. However, when you meet him directly, you understand why he is called that. Rutherford is one who communes with God to harmonize the world. Ian. No matter how skilled you are, you cannot escape that harmony.”
“So you too have fallen to this state, Damon.”
Hmm. Ian smiled wryly and countered Damon’s mockery. If he was helpless, then surely the other was helpless as well, was he not?
Knock, knock.
“Ian. Is everything alright?”
Just then, Heil knocked on the door from outside and asked with concern. Damon turned his head as if he had said all he needed to say, and Ian realized he would hear Damon’s voice no more.
“Come in.”
“My, the smoke….”
“Air it out briefly, then increase the guards to two.”
“Ah, two?”
To use two when one would suffice—this was an order to loosen the gag.
Ian stepped slowly outside and breathed in the fresh air. In the distance, Berik chasing a herd of mountain goats appeared no larger than a fingernail, and above him towered massive cumulus clouds billowing upward.
‘Are you hiding behind that?’
God. If you gaze down upon all of Gaia, then you must also see what I am looking upon now. It seems better than Rutherford, so why do you not reveal yourself?
“Ian. They’re preparing a meal.”
“I see. I’m not hungry.”
“If you say that, Berik will come running like a shot, asking for the leftovers. It’s bothersome, so please refrain.”
Heil clicked his tongue and straightened his collar, and soon two guards entered the carriage. Until the door closed again, Damon did not look outside.
That was the pure words of Damon that Ian had heard. The last statement that could be heard outside the imperial palace, one that would never be recorded.
* * *
Neigh!
Clatter, clatter!
The Coachman sniffled at the sight of the central walls of Bariel in the distance. His own home, which he longed to return to, shimmered before his eyes.
It was just past morning, yet Berik was remarkably awake. With his forehead pressed against the window, he gazed down at the rough path below.
“Ian.”
“Yeah?”
“Isn’t this the path we took when we came up from our frontier with Romand?”
“Why do you speak like that?”
“Right? Hasha was with us too.”
“Yes, that’s right. There’s only one mountain path leading into the center. This is also the mountain where we stopped when we brought the light of divine revelation from the temple.”
“I thought so. See, I really do have good memory.”
“Berik, weren’t you directionally challenged?”
“That’s a bit different.”
What could be different? I watched the back of Berik’s head as he continued gazing outside, tilting my own in confusion. Berik kept murmuring as if fascinated.
“Back then, I couldn’t have imagined this moment at all.”
“This moment? Which one?”
“Literally, this. Entering the imperial palace and gorging ourselves on meat, then heading out to the battlefield and returning like this.”
“It was amazing back then, wasn’t it?”
“Yeah. A completely different…”
“A different world.”
“Right. It was a completely different world.”
I closed my book with a snap and gazed down at the center visible in the distance. White balloons slowly rising into the air. Berik’s eyes gradually widened.
“This time will be an even more different world. You’ll see what kind of acclaim the citizens of the Bariel Empire send to the warriors returning victorious. Look. They’re already creating massive clouds from down there, aren’t they?”
Come here, they seemed to say—like clouds in the blue sky, this is where you belong. The cheers the citizens sent from afar were rising higher and higher into the heavens.

—————
This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
—————