Margrave’s Bastard Son was The Emperor - Chapter 525

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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 524
A Small Secret of the Hollin Family
“I’ll take my leave.”
*Clatter.*
A massive dining table large enough to seat dozens simultaneously.
All members of the Hollin Family had gathered for the meal, yet until Kayla’s announcement, the atmosphere had been nearly silent. Since the Count had offered no remarks, the household staff watched only Kayla’s expression, maintaining their silence.
Her brothers seized the moment, speaking over one another at once.
“Where to? The battlefield?”
“Kayla. I was about to bring up that very matter.”
“You mean the Prince’s condition for an Empress?”
“I suspect it will be withdrawn soon. Why not wait a bit longer? I’ve never heard of making military participation a condition for Empress candidacy.”
“I agree with my brother’s opinion. Kayla, I understand your passion, but the battlefield is far too dangerous. Rather than that, wouldn’t it be better if we all worked together to find another way?”
“Sister, but wouldn’t Kayla handle it well? She’s held a sword far more than most soldiers.”
“Is holding a sword the same as using it to cut down people? Stay quiet.”
“Tch. You’re always like this with me.”
“Father. Do you truly intend to send Kayla to the battlefield?”
“Second Brother, wipe that smile from your lips before you speak. If Kayla’s position opens up, you’d be the happiest of all. Or perhaps you should go in her stead instead. Ah, wouldn’t the Prince prefer that? Since my sister would be more helpful than you.”
Even as seven siblings clamored over one another, Kayla examined only the dull blade of the knife in her hand.
She was displeased. Whether it was a massive greatsword or this small piece of cutlery, every blade in her hands had to have a sharp, keen edge.
When Kayla gestured to a servant to bring her a different knife, Marquis Hollin moistened his lips with his glass—a gesture suggesting he would speak. The siblings’ commotion ceased at once.
“Kayla. Will you be alright?”
“Yes. I can handle a sword well enough. And didn’t the Prince say I wouldn’t need to be mixed in the thick of battle? There will be much I can help with from the rear.”
“Even the rear is still the battlefield. Life and death hang in the balance with each passing moment.”
“The same is true here. The rise and fall of our family hangs in the balance with each passing moment. We’ve already lost our territories near the imperial palace, and our business rights are now precarious. If I don’t become Empress, isn’t the Hollin Family facing extinction?”
At Kayla’s argument, her second brother whispered to another sibling.
“That Mole tribe or whatever, you know?”
“Yes. They said if we want to continue with general weapons manufacturing, we must compete with them on quality and rebid.”
“Tch. What could those Mole bastards possibly produce anyway?”
Pretending not to hear her second brother’s whisper, the sibling turned their gaze away, though their own face was thick as a toad’s.
“But Kayla. If a stray blade cuts you down, to whom shall I hold accountable?”
“I understand your concern.”
Hollin had many enemies. Even excluding Davion.
For the past ten years, seizing the opportunity of the Burgos civil war, she had charged forward like a madwoman. Those brought down by Hollin numbered like mountains, and those who had reached the depths of ruin were too numerous to count. Beyond that, there were also nobles lurking about, watching for their chance.
Even blood brothers habitually watched each other’s throats, so there could be nothing less than more danger.
‘If I go to the battlefield, there may be assassination attempts under the cover of chaos.’
The faces of her siblings and several external factions flickered through her mind, but Kayla brushed away the thoughts with a light shake of her head.
“Don’t worry. Davion will certainly not step forward. She attends parties constantly—would she have time if she were busy? And she can’t exactly hand over her fortune either.”
At Kayla’s sharp remark, laughter leaked out from various corners.
Truly foolish creatures. They do nothing but idle away their time, yet now that they’ve been given titles for appearances’ sake, they actually believe they’re contributing to the family business.
She inspected the fresh knife the servant had brought. Seeing the blade was sharp and keen, her mood improved slightly. Kayla sliced through the meat with it—perfectly straight and without a single flaw.
“Father, please don’t worry about me. You should be more concerned about other families joining in.”
Rather than being checked from an awkward position, I would become the sole Empress candidate. At least then, there would be no clumsy assassination attempts.
Kayla chewed her meat, cut to the proper size, and wiped the corners of her mouth with a napkin.
“And my brothers.”
“Hm?”
My brothers, who had been mindlessly consuming wine and meat, paused and turned to look at Kayla.
“My brothers should go to Burgos.”
“What? Why?”
“Because I’m leaving to ‘participate’ in Burgos. To prepare for any unforeseen circumstances, wouldn’t it be better not to be within the same borders? And Mother has been wanting to see my brothers very much.”
“Ahem.”
My brothers looked at the Count with displeasure, but he simply set down his cutlery to signal the end of his meal and stood up.
“Everyone, continue your conversation.”
“Father!”
“Please sit down, Brother.”
As my brother started to stand in protest with a clatter, Kayla issued her ‘command’ without even glancing at him. Her tone was gentle, yet everyone at the table felt the coercive weight behind it.
My brother, who had awkwardly begun to rise, reluctantly sat back down and took a long drink of wine.
“Not long ago, before selling the estate, I sent Jeonseogoo to Burgos.”
“Are you talking about when Ian Hielo came to the mansion?”
“Yes, you know well. I’m not sure of the details, but Minister Ian Hielo seemed to realize that we were trying to sell the estate to a third party.”
“Hmph. What’s so ingenious about that?”
“The problem is that he discovered the third party was connected to Burgos.”
A hint of bewilderment flickered across my brothers’ eyes as they sipped their wine.
“The estate has already been sold, and since we haven’t made any particular moves on our end, it passed without issue for now. But I’m worried about the future. For me to become Empress, various things need to be put in order.”
“So, what do you want us to do in Burgos?”
“First, meet with Mother. Then she will explain the detailed plan to you.”
“No, I refuse. I can’t go. Do you know what will happen to me if I cross the border?”
As one of my brothers set down his glass roughly, Kayla smiled faintly. As if to say she couldn’t understand how he dared speak so confidently about something he shouldn’t be saying.
“I will also cross the border, Brother.”
“You’ll have countless eyes and ears around you. Especially with the Prince at your side, of course you’ll be safe!”
“And you will have Mother at your side. What could you possibly fear?”
“Are you asking because you don’t know? What’s the use of blood ties!”
“Be quiet.”
Screech.
Kayla scraped her plate with her knife and set it down roughly, as if discarding it.
“They say even the portraits in the imperial palace have ears. The Marquis Hollin mansion would be no different.”
A small, dark secret that the Hollin Family possessed.
Outwardly, all of the Hollin Family’s children were legitimate heirs of the Marquis Hollin, but the reality was somewhat different.
From long ago, the Marquis Hollin had two women.
The Countess, who bore three children as the mistress of the household, and the secret woman who bore Kayla and other children.
Kayla smiled brightly and slowly rose from her seat.
“I’ve known since childhood that you lack caution, but lately it’s become excessive. Brother.”
“Father sheltered you, and now you’re getting cocky.”
“It’s precisely because of how you are that Father has such high expectations of me. Honestly, if it weren’t for Mother, could we have sealed a deal with Burgos? I’m asking whether you, so accomplished, could have even sold a single blade. The Countess understood this long ago and stepped aside—so that at least a useless brother like you could play the role of a man!”
“Kayla!”
One day, the Countess vanished without warning. Officially, she went down to her distant hometown for recuperation and lost contact. Very occasionally, she seemed to send letters to her biological children, but even those became sparse, and it had been years since anyone received one.
“I’ll kill her!”
“Kayla, that’s too harsh!”
Crash! Shatter!
A glass flew through the air and shattered, but the other siblings sitting around continued chewing their meat as if accustomed to such outbursts.
“If it weren’t for that lowborn mother of hers, Mother wouldn’t have gone down like that! With such filthy bloodline!”
“If it’s so filthy, why don’t you run straight to the imperial palace and report it? Who would suffer the most? Besides me, it would be the brother who spends all his time in and out of court.”
Thus the position of Countess fell vacant, becoming a blemish on the Count. Hollin had concealed this obvious flaw with countless lies.
In the midst of this, an internal conflict broke out in Burgos, and Kayla’s mother sensed it as an opportunity for the family’s revival. So she ‘returned’ directly to Burgos and established a weapons supply line amid the civil war. As the Count’s consort.
To the outside world, she was a consort who suddenly appeared after more than a decade, so damage control was necessary. The troubled Count Hollin soon devised a clever solution.
He granted Kayla’s mother the status of the reclusive Countess. The birth of a ‘false Countess’ had occurred.
“So, Brother.”
Kayla approached him slowly and grasped his shirt collar firmly. Though the gesture seemed like she was adjusting it, he felt the humiliation of being grabbed by the throat.
“While I’m being reasonable, go beyond Burgos. You should at least know when to stop living uselessly, shouldn’t you? Go and wait, following Mother’s instructions.”
If they couldn’t even protect the weapons business rights, they’d have to shift their business direction. Mana stones buried beneath the rubble, raw gems, or high-grade goods circulating during the civil war, and so on.
“And who knows? Depending on circumstances, perhaps your brothers will save me and the Prince from war.”
“What are you talking about now?”
“Use your imagination a little. As for being spoon-fed, ask the lady down there for that.”
Pat.
Kayla lightly tapped her brother’s shoulder and left the dining hall. The other siblings eating there then rose one by one and followed her. All of them possessed either violet eyes or black hair.
Crash!
“Ack! Young Master! Are you alright?”
“Blood, there’s blood!”
“Bring something to stop the bleeding! Hurry!”
The sound of dishes breaking and the servants’ fussing echoed, but Kayla ignored it and walked down the corridor. From the far end, the Butler approached and whispered to her.
“Miss. You have a visitor.”
“Is it my visitor? Who are they?”
“Well…”
As the Butler whispered to Kayla, her brow furrowed.
Chloe’s close friends had come to the Hollin residence? The intention was transparent, but surely they weren’t that foolish?
“Let them in.”
“Yes, Miss.”
Kayla neatly arranged her hair visible through the window, then headed to the main entrance to receive her guests.
* * *
“Iaaaan!”
Boom!
Scratch—Romandro, who had been filling out documents, startled so badly that his pen dragged across the page in a long line. He was almost finished! Just one final line to complete! Thoroughly irritated, Romandro crumpled the document and hurled it at Berik.
“You brat, you scared me half to death!”
But Berik simply tilted his head and easily dodged, then rummaged through his pocket and pulled something out.
“Ian, did you see this?”
“See what?”
“The guest list for the Foreign Ministry’s invitation. I saw it on Minister Jairot’s desk, and it’s insane. Look at this!”
Berik rarely showed interest in documents, so what could it be? Ian set down his pen, while Romandro grabbed every scrap of waste paper within reach and threw them all at Berik.
Whoosh, whoosh—even if the papers hit him, Berik wouldn’t flinch, yet he dodged them all anyway. Romandro, his blood boiling, suddenly jumped up and lunged at him.
Swish.
Regardless, Ian carefully read the document Berik had handed him. It was a list of foreign dignitaries to invite—apparently shared temporarily since the Prince would need protection during the coronation ceremony. It would soon reach the Magic Department as well.
“Astana, this part?”
“Yes! Hasha is coming too!”
“What’s the big deal about Hasha coming? It’s been a while since we’ve seen him, but it’s hardly worth making such a fuss over—”
He stopped. Romandro realized something and turned his head. He’d grasped why Berik was making such a fuss. From a small nation like Astana, there was only one person worthy of an imperial invitation.
Ian quietly read the words written on the final line of the document.
“…Hasha and Tokundai, King of Astana.”

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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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