Margrave’s Bastard Son was The Emperor

“Uung…”

Jin whined softly, rubbing his face against the pillow. No matter how well-versed he was in imperial etiquette, when it came to mornings, he was no different from ordinary children.

The child lay face down, barely opening his eyes to look around. Xiaoshi, who usually sat on the sofa at the foot of the bed, was nowhere to be seen. Instead, Ian was leaning against the wall, slowly reading something.

Jin immediately recognized it as “The Chronicles of Roberside.”

“Lord Ian?”

“Are you awake?”

“…Where’s Xia?”

At Jin’s call, Ian slightly turned his head. Judging by how he had his fingers inserted between the pages, it seemed he wasn’t simply reading through, but carefully examining the book.

Why is Lord Ian doing that with a children’s book? As Jin blinked his drowsy eyes, Ian rang the servant’s bell.

“I sent Xiaoshi on a brief errand. He’ll be back soon, so don’t worry. Instead, how about having breakfast with me today?”

“I’d love that.”

Ding-

As the bell rang, Jin felt his mind clearing a bit. Soon, a servant came running in response to the call.

“Did you call, sir?”

“His Highness coughed. Make preparations.”

“Yes. I’ll serve the meal shortly.”

Even while this was happening, Ian didn’t let go of the storybook. Jin, curious, approached Ian. Wondering if he had seen wrong, it was indeed “The Chronicles of Roberside.” The portrait of Roberside, Jin’s distant ancestor and the guardian of the Carbo Temple, was faded from handling.

“But why that book?”

“Your Highness, didn’t you say that when you read this story before bed, Roberside always appears in your dreams? That he plays with you in fun ways?”

“That’s right. Yesterday I looked at something else before sleeping, but without fail, it’s always like that.”

Jin nodded with a bright smile. Playing with Roberside was always enjoyable. Especially when he was with Arsen, it felt like the only escape.

Ian held up the book and asked, “May I borrow this for a few days? It’s not available even in the imperial library, so I’d be grateful.”

While there were many books about Roberside, the storybook Jin had couldn’t be found anywhere else. It was a special edition published by the Carbo Temple. Jin nodded, indicating his permission.

“You like the book too? There’s no need to ask. Feel free to read it.”

“Thank you.”

“Prince Jin. The bath is ready for you. The preparations are complete.”

“Oh, yes. Ian, I’ll be back soon. Let’s eat breakfast together.”

Jin followed the servants with light steps. As soon as the door closed, Ian pulled up a chair and began to thoroughly examine the storybook.

‘It’s strange. Is it really a coincidence that Roberside appears in Jin’s dreams every time he reads this book? Isn’t it too frequent to be just a child’s fantasy born from enjoyment?’

And above all, Roberside had appeared to him too when he read the storybook. Although it wasn’t a pleasant situation, with magical beasts running rampant and trying to kill Arsen.

Ian could still vividly hear his desperate cry: ‘A child who should never have been born. Kill him!’

Tap tap, Ian gently tapped Roberside’s portrait as he gazed down at it. Roberside, who last sealed the magical beasts, Arsen’s ability not recorded in history, the peculiarity of the oracle…

A hypothesis formed in Ian’s mind, but he couldn’t voice it carelessly before securing definitive evidence.

‘If my guess is correct, what happened to Arsen in the original history? Since Jin becoming emperor remains unchanged, there must have been an event that caused Arsen’s downfall.’

As Ian was deep in thought, Jin, having finished his morning preparations, came running out looking fresh. The child grabbed Ian’s arm, urging him to have breakfast.

“Lord Ian. Let’s go to the dining room. The chef said he prepared duck meat today. Oh? But I don’t see Romandro either.”

“He went with Xiaoshi.”

“Is that so?”

Jin rolled his eyes and gestured for Ian to come closer. As Ian bent down to lend his ear, Jin whispered a very careful secret.

“I think Romandro and Vivianna’s child will be a girl. Fortunately, she’ll look just like Vivianna, so she’ll be intelligent and pretty.”

“Where did you hear that?”

“Lord Roberside told me!”

Jin’s dimples appeared softly. Ian, looking a bit surprised, gently grasped the child’s shoulders and glanced behind them. The servants quickly lowered their heads and retreated with small steps.

“Does Roberside tell you such things too?”

“Not often, very rarely.”

“Is there anything else he’s told you?”

“Hmm. Ah, about the last magical beast that Lord Roberside dealt with. It’s not in the book, but-“

Jin searched his memory as he took Ian’s hand. Then, very carefully, he drew something on Ian’s palm, tracing lines. It seemed to be some kind of writing, but Ian had never seen it before and couldn’t understand it.

ᚫᚱᛋᛖᛀᛖ

“He said this is how to write the name.”

“How do you read it?”

“Well, he wrote it on the ground with a tree branch.”

As far as Ian knew, it wasn’t a script from any nearby country. Since Roberside was from the early days of the nation’s founding, could it be an ancient script? Or was it a fantasy created by Jin? While Ian stood still, familiarizing himself with the letters, Jin exchanged greetings with passing mages.

“Good morning.”

“Did you sleep well, Prince Jin?”

“Your tie looks very nice today.”

“You look great too! Thank you!”

The two entered the dining room. Two place settings were prepared at the large table. Just as Ian was about to sit across from Jin-

Bang!

Suddenly, the dining room door burst open, and Romandro appeared, drenched in sweat. He was breathing heavily and quickly met Ian’s eyes.

“Romandro?”

“P-Prince Jin is here too.”

“Didn’t you go to take care of some business? Come in. Have you eaten?”

Unlike Jin, who welcomed him warmly, Ian stopped unfolding his napkin and observed Romandro. And Xiaoshi standing behind him too. The two were holding the indictment documents, divided between them and clutched tightly to their chests.

“Lord Romandro.”

“I-Ian. Um, you see.”

“Catch your breath. Xiaoshi, you too.”

Seeing those who went to file the indictment burst in looking like this, Ian realized that his concerns had become reality. They had divided the papers to prevent losing everything at once if an accident occurred. It meant that Romandro had felt that level of threat.

“Close the door, and everyone withdraw.”

Creak.

At Ian’s order, the servants bowed deeply and left the dining room. Jin, not understanding the situation, just widened his eyes and tried to read the atmosphere. Something seems to have gone wrong, right?

“What happened?”

“Huff, huff, it, it seems they were trying to snatch it.”

Romandro collapsed into a chair, panting. It wasn’t a term to use in front of a prince, but there was nothing else that could appropriately express this situation.

“Duke Hayman, I didn’t think he’d stoop so low. Fearing there might be problems with the carriage too, I walked. If I hadn’t met Quintana midway, my knees would have given out.”

If he had taken a carriage and been kidnapped, there would have been no way out. In the end, Romandro chose to walk, and halfway through, he met Quintana, sent the two mages ahead, and came back first.

“They say Eric, the person in charge, had a carriage accident. It seems he won’t be coming in for a day or two, and the staff there for receiving documents, and the people gathered around, all seemed very suspicious.”

“How crude.”

Ian moistened his lips with lukewarm water. Crude, but a somewhat certain method. It seemed that Hayman’s side was trying to adjust things so that the general assembly would be held after Arsen’s magic confirmation ceremony. With only a few days left, direct physical intervention was indeed the most effective.

“And Ian. I think there are people from the Hayman family in the Ministry of Magic too. Even the two mages who went with me earlier, ah, how should I put it. They felt a bit… off?”

At Romandro’s whisper, Jin’s eyes widened like a rabbit’s. The Ministry of Magic has far fewer people compared to other departments. Also, they generally have a high level of wealth and a lofty sense of pride, with a firm belief in their solidarity.

Despite this, if Hayman’s influence had reached there, how many could there be throughout the entire imperial palace? It was a point where one could truly feel that Hayman was a noble above nobles.

“I see.”

But Ian nodded lightly, as if he had expected it.

“Intuition isn’t something to be easily dismissed. If you felt that way, Lord Romandro, it’s certainly worth investigating.”

“You knew about this too, didn’t you? That’s why you assigned Xiaoshi to me. I, without this kid, I might have cried out of fear. Really. As I was running, Vivianna’s face kept flashing before my eyes, oh my!”

Romandro grabbed Xiaoshi’s shoulders and shook them, groaning. Ian gave a bitter smile at his behavior. It’s easy to suspect others, but weeding out one’s own side is always difficult.

“Ian, how did you notice? Hm?”

“…I just hoped it wasn’t so.”

Hoping it wasn’t so. That statement assumed that reality was not like that. Apart from the imperial palace setting, that’s how human life was. Ian recalled Naum’s words as he lightly folded his napkin.

‘Your Majesty. When three people gather, one is a traitor, and one has the potential to defect. What remains is Your Majesty, so trust only yourself.’

‘…And you?’

‘Your Majesty. Don’t trust me either. Always doubt me, but keep me close and take advantage. Trust always leads to injury. I don’t want Your Majesty to get hurt.’

Why couldn’t he have taken those words to heart then? Ian bit his lip lightly, also remembering his nephew Crony.

Romandro, Xiaoshi, and Jin watched Ian’s heavy silence. His expression was impassive, but his eyes were deep. A whirlwind of countless emotions could be felt.

“Lord Ian?”

At Jin’s call, Ian raised his head and smiled brightly.

“Are you alright?”

“I’m fine. It was something that had to be done sooner or later.”

“What kind of…?”

mages, at least, must not be swayed by trivial matters. Great power comes with great responsibility. Those who have taken the mage’s oath should not do such things.

Ian lightly rang the bell, ordering the meal to be served.

Ding.

“Find out about the current condition of Eric, the person in charge. And prepare documents to send an official letter to the judiciary. When sending people, attach two mages from different departments. I won’t accept volunteers.”

“Pardon? Ah, yes, yes. Understood.”

“And tell the two mages who went with Romandro to wait in their respective rooms. I will meet with them as soon as the meal is over.”

The servant was flustered by the sudden instructions, but only for a moment. He soon scurried off to relay Ian’s orders. Romandro gulped down the remaining water and asked.

“Ian. We’ll need to use the truth potion, right?”

“The Magic Stone Management Department already knows how to neutralize it. If they know, it means other mages can know too. There’s no trust.”

Ian picked up a knife with his right hand and a fork with his left. Then, very elegantly, he cut a tomato. What was once one soon became two, then three.

“We’ll weed them out in a different way. The Ministry of Magic is one body and one mind; if there’s something else inside, it’s not needed.”

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