Margrave’s Bastard Son was The Emperor - Chapter 613

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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 612. Adjustment
At Danit’s proposal, every Royalist official’s face went blank. A complete inspection? Of all the weapons? When Bariel’s massive army was already at their doorstep, she wanted them to surrender their arms?
From Burgos’s perspective, there could be no more infuriating or suffocating demand. Yet Mrs. Danit refused to back down, pressing her consistent argument forward.
“Why do you not answer?”
“What in the—”
“You said I was being unreasonable? Shameless? Those words suit you far better. You threatened me and my daughter, claiming the weapons were defective, yet you cannot produce the very evidence to prove it? Why don’t you try covering the sky with your palm!”
Her stance was clear: without proof that the weapons were faulty, this was nothing but slander from Burgos.
It was absurd and infuriating, but what made it worse was the inability to find any reasonable counterargument.
How could they refuse the inspection while still proving the Hollin Family’s betrayal? There was only one way.
‘Kaila’s confession.’
Without the involved party directly admitting the truth, the problem would be impossible to resolve.
The Royalist officials turned their heads aside and whispered among themselves, while Mrs. Danit watched them with tense vigilance. Her hidden hand clenched tightly within the folds of her dress. She knew well that the cornered men had only one path available to them.
“Excuse me for a moment.”
“I refuse. Give me an immediate answer.”
As the Royalists tried to leave, Danit raised her fan to stop them. It was clear they meant to go to where Kaila was being held. They might inflict even harsher torture on her daughter to extract a confession.
The Countess looked toward Heil and Nakina, seeking their aid.
“As a mage of the great Empire Bariel, I ask you to speak. If anything happens to Kaila here, I will retract every word I have said thus far.”
A complete inspection. The probability of the Royalists accepting was nearly zero, but if they did, they would face Bariel’s army with empty hands.
If they refused? Then they could not prove the Hollin Family’s guilt. This would be an insult to the imperial palace’s support of the Royalists, providing yet another justification to break through the gates.
Heil slowly chewed the cigarette in his mouth. It was crucial to bring this situation—flickering like a candle about to extinguish—entirely into the hands of the Emperor and Ian.
“Royalist official, what is your name?”
Heil gestured toward the oldest among them and asked.
“…Jorge.”
“Jorge. Good. If you refuse the complete inspection, return Princess Kaila to me unharmed. Otherwise, I will treat Bariel as an invader and report this to His Majesty the Emperor.”
“…Do you think that makes sense? Surrender the weapons!”
“Who said anything about taking them? We will merely verify whether the goods are defective and return them, so cease your worries.”
“Shut your mouth! Damn it all! The more your tongue wags, the louder your daughter’s screams will become.”
“Just try it!”
Danit, who had been responding carefully, suddenly let out a sharp cry. It was such a loud and heavy warning that even Nakina flinched.
Mrs. Danit glared at Jorge with lethal intensity. She did not blink once, her pupils fixed and unmoving.
“Go ahead and try. If even a single tear falls from my daughter’s eyes, I will tear your limbs apart. Curious, are you? Whether I can actually do it?”
Mrs. Danit stepped toward the Royalists one pace at a time. Though she was merely a woman with a fan, they unconsciously retreated, maintaining distance from her.
“I have accomplished everything I set out to do. You all saw it with your own eyes, did you not?”
“Ugh, ugh….”
“Bring Kaila. Before my eyes, right now.”
As Mrs. Danit reached to grab Jorge by the collar, the soldiers rushed forward to stop her, and both Heil and Nakina moved close to protect the Countess from them.
The situation hung by a thread. Nakina’s eyes were beginning to turn golden.
“Thought I was late, so I came—”
Though it was merely a quiet murmur, it was enough to draw everyone’s attention. Ian was looking down at them from the sky. And beside him hung Berik, clinging to another mage.
Heil and Nakina gestured for them to come down quickly, while the Royalists tensed at the arrival of the new mage and gripped their swords tighter.
“I apologize. Something came up.”
“Ian! Come quickly. This is a complete mess.”
“Yeah, it really looks like it! Everyone’s moving so slowly.”
“Berik! Just because it’s a mess doesn’t mean you need to spout nonsense too.”
*Thud.* As Nakina and Berik exchanged middle finger salutes, Ian descended.
The Royalist officials were bewildered by the sudden appearance of the young man, but from the respectful tone Heil and Nakina used toward him, they deduced his identity.
“…No, the Minister of Magic.”
Damn it! If the Minister of Magic had shown up, was this truly the end? I should have waited for Danit inside the gates of Kalamata instead.
“What’s the situation?”
“Well, you see—”
Heil whispered into Ian’s ear, briefly explaining everything that had transpired so far.
Meanwhile, Berik walked past the Burgos soldiers one by one, sizing them up for potential opponents, while Danit straightened her disheveled clothing.
“Hmm.”
Ian’s eyebrows rose with satisfaction as he absorbed the situation. Mrs. Danit had been an unexpected variable, yet her skill in maintaining control was remarkable.
Ian approached them with a gesture—a signal for everyone to lower their weapons.
“What, what should we do?”
“Give us your orders!”
But the soldiers hesitated, glancing nervously at the Royalist officials, and Berik immediately grabbed one by the collar, thinking ‘Got you,’ and delivered a headbutt.
*Crack!*
“Ugh, argh!”
“Ian said to put your weapons down! Peace, dialogue, and for fuck’s sake, a rational choice!”
His nose shattered from a single blow. Though they appeared similar in build, the difference in striking power was unmistakable. Given his crude temperament, was he a Mage Knight? Everyone watching shrank back with that assumption.
Meanwhile, Ian slowly walked between the Countess and the Royalists, naturally creating distance.
“First, I understand the current situation well. It seems we cannot reach any agreement right now, so as Minister of Magic, I propose this. To the Royalists first.”
Bariel wanted only one thing from the Royalists.
Submission and cooperation.
They occupied the capital of Kalamata and had rallied the people’s support under the banner of preserving the dynasty’s legitimacy. If they opened the gates and demonstrated a favorable stance toward Bariel, cultural integration could be achieved far more smoothly.
“Regarding autonomy, His Majesty cannot grant it immediately. You came this far with Bariel’s support over the past ten years, yet the moment Agiar fell, you changed your attitude, did you not? His Majesty finds this lamentable, so he has decided to observe further before making a decision.”
“Now listen, I’m sorry, but the people of Burgos are slowly beginning to realize something. Where did the true calamity that sparked Burgos’s civil war truly originate!”
“That was the failure of the incompetent Runkvis dynasty and those who served them. What are you trying to say?”
That Bariel had orchestrated the civil war between north and south, dragging it out? Wasn’t the fundamental cause rooted in the incompetent rulers who destroyed the nation? As Ian smiled questioningly and countered, the Royalists clamped their mouths shut.
“In any case, unless the Hollin Family’s wrongdoing is clearly proven, detaining Princess Kaila is an excessive and mistaken action. Above all, she is an imperial citizen, and we cannot arbitrarily imprison an innocent person without evidence.”
“What do you want?”
“Return the Princess to Bariel. Then I will speak favorably to His Majesty.”
“You’re saying that returning Kaila holds enough value to sway the Emperor’s heart? She is merely one among countless noble ladies. Judging by how she strikes from behind without fear in a foreign land, her temperament seems rather exceptional, though.”
“Yes, of course it has value.”
Ian added kindly.
“Surely you don’t expect autonomy to be granted to you without any connection to Bariel whatsoever?”
Runkvis blood flows through Danit and Kaila, does it not? By granting autonomy, it could proceed through mediation via the Hollin Family—this was what he was suggesting.
Having said this, Ian turned to look at Mrs. Danit.
“The Countess must clear her name regarding the weapons in question the moment she recovers Princess Kaila. Surely there can be no problems with an enterprise authorized by the Imperial Palace? If there are problems, then the Hollin Family must take responsibility for them.”
Though the Imperial Palace had orchestrated this scheme from the beginning, it was now a burden the Hollin Family alone would carry forward.
This was the Imperial Palace’s determination to avoid giving the Royalists any leverage, and furthermore, a mechanism to shield the Palace from liability in any potential settlement process while keeping the Hollin Family in check. If Kaila became the center of Burgos autonomy merely by virtue of carrying Runkvis blood, she would eventually grow beyond Bariel’s influence.
‘Whether you sell the family to make amends or offer up a life or two from the Hollin Family—that’s for you to decide. We invited a cadet branch of the Runkvis line to the table, so you must find your own way to survive.’
Danit read the meaning in Ian’s silence. It was absurd, but not entirely unexpected. Wasn’t that how all the Imperial Palace folk operated?
In any case, what mattered most right now was recovering Kaila safely, and if she could find her daughter, she could bear whatever dangers lay ahead.
“I will take responsibility.”
“Well then? It seems we’ve reached an understanding. Is there still something lacking?”
When Ian looked at Jorge and asked, they hesitated briefly before nodding. Ian patted his shoulder approvingly and offered encouragement.
“A wise decision. Do not forget that the lives of countless Burgos citizens rest upon this very moment. Now, send word into Kalamata’s walls. Bariel will arrive before the day is done—tell them to receive His Majesty the Emperor with all due glory. And do not forget to add the rest.”
That it was Bariel’s support alone that preserved Burgos legitimacy through the civil war; that the people of Burgos survived those ten harrowing years only thanks to Bariel; that Bariel eliminated the northern rebel forces the Royalists could not contain; and that a new Runkvis heir to succeed Damon Runkvis would soon arrive.
And most importantly of all—that the people of Burgos would reclaim their lost decade, and that Bariel would remain steadfast at their back.
“Do you understand?”
At Ian’s question, Jorge made his decision.
Though it appeared the Hollin Family had gained the upper hand for now, the Imperial Palace had essentially handed them a blade. That blade being the matter of inferior weapons shipments.
Once a portion of autonomy passed through the Hollin side to the Royalists, they could be purged then. There would be no public acclaim for those carrying Runkvis blood who supplied defective weapons to the Royalists.
“…I understand.”
“Good. Then, the Princess?”
“If you go south from here a short distance, there is a cottage.”
Upon hearing this, Mrs. Danit immediately mounted her horse, while Heil and Nakina took to the sky ahead of her.
Ian turned back to Jorge.
“Is the Princess’s condition satisfactory?”
“…Yes, well.”
“…I see. You must hurry and send word into Kalamata. His Majesty the Emperor will arrive shortly.”
With those words, Ian entered the manor where mother and daughter had stayed. He could guess at Kaila’s condition well enough, but he had not yet foreseen the new troubles her state would bring.

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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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