Margrave’s Bastard Son was The Emperor [EN]: Chapter 216

“Your Highness, are you alright?”

Jin’s pupils trembled as he read the note. Romandro called out to him worriedly, but the child kept staring at the note, not responding. He kept rereading it, wondering if he had misread it, but nothing changed.

Romandro turned to Ian.

“…”

However, Ian was just calmly sipping his tea. Seeing the completely opposite reactions of the two, Romandro dared to make a request.

“Your Highness, if you don’t mind, may I take a look?”

“Ah, yes, yes. Go ahead.”

“…Gasp.”

Romandro hurriedly took the note, and without realizing it, he stopped breathing. Judging by Jin’s reaction, he didn’t think it would be a good oracle, but…

– Cursed one, you cannot defy fate. Die for Bariel. Then, glory will be bestowed upon the world.

To anyone, it was an oracle that fit Jin and Arsen’s situation. The cursed child, Jin. And the fate that was foreseen from birth.

Romandro crumpled the note and looked around. The servant was still waiting with his head bowed.

“Was this message from the temple only sent to us?”

If so, it would be better to bury it here. The political situation was already leaning towards Arsen, and if this oracle was made public, it would be uncontrollable. There would be a lot of talk about the credibility of the oracle, but if two similar ones were given, even those who didn’t believe would start to believe.

“It has also been delivered to the administrative department. There was only the department name written without any special distinction, so I assume it’s the same content.”

“Oh dear! Oh, dear!”

Thwack!

Romandro roughly hit his forehead and sighed. The administrative department, of all places? Within half a day, everyone in the Imperial Palace would know about the new oracle. He clutched his head and collapsed onto the table.

“…”

Silence fell again. The silence was so strange that Romandro cautiously raised his head. Jin was staring intently at a corner of the greenhouse as if thinking about something, and Ian was savoring the tea’s aroma. One was resolute, and the other was calm. Feeling puzzled, Romandro nudged Ian’s arm.

“Ian. Say something.”

But Ian just winked and signaled him to be quiet. As Romandro raised his eyebrows at his inexplicable behavior, Jin spoke.

“…I’m not the only cursed one in the Imperial Palace, am I?”

“That’s right, Your Highness.”

“I will consider this to have been given to my brother, Gail, not me.”

Gail was also cursed. If you think about it, his curse was a clear ‘fact’ with a known cause, unlike Jin’s oracle, which was impossible to verify.

Romandro, who had forgotten about Gail’s existence, exclaimed.

“That’s right. That’s right. This was given to His Highness Gail, not His Highness Jin. Yes, yes. That’s right.”

“Yes. I will believe that.”

Jin didn’t know who the oracle was exactly referring to, but he decided to believe that. He knew well how cruel and arduous a fate derived from belief could be. He had experienced more than anyone else how belief created a materialized fate. From now on, he would not accept any false words in his life. The child stared into the darkness and reaffirmed his resolve.

“That is an excellent decision.”

Ian praised Jin without reservation. In fact, Ian knew that Jin would become the emperor, so as soon as he saw the phrase ‘cursed one,’ he thought of Gail. However, he waited for Jin to realize it himself and act. Jin needed to fully recognize that he was precious.

“But what about Haiman? If Haiman finds out about this, no, even before that. If Arsen’s powerful vassals find out, they will try to kill my brother Gail again.”

They were already demanding Gail’s immediate trial from all sides because of the attack on Arsen. If they twisted the interpretation of the oracle in that direction, they would not miss the opportunity to attack. Ian nodded at Jin’s concern.

“That’s right. In fact, all the evidence against His Highness Gail is complete. He colluded with Haiman to cause a rebellion, and we have prepared the details of the transaction. The problem is the trial date.”

Unlike Marib’s trial, which was handled swiftly and unanimously, Gail’s was a bit complicated. Ian’s side wanted to hold the trial as quickly as possible, but Haiman, or rather, Haiman’s side, would not agree to the trial before dealing with Gail. They would keep finding fault and postpone the trial. Eventually, they would reach a limit and the trial would be held, but it was undeniable that it would take time.

“It would be best to observe the general assembly first and then set a new schedule.”

Ian winked at Romandro, asking if the indictment was progressing smoothly. Romandro confidently thumped his chest as if to say, ‘Trust me.’

“Okay. I understand.”

Jin unfolded the crumpled note, muttering as if to confirm once again that he was not the cursed one. Then, Ian snapped his fingers and released his magic. A small flame was born from his fingertips.

Zzzing. Zzzing.

“Your Highness. If you wish.”

If you wish, burn it. If it is something that displeases Your Highness, it has no reason to exist in this world. So, get rid of it.

“Thank you.”

Jin understood Ian’s hidden meaning and smiled. Then, without hesitation, he burned the note with the flame from Ian’s fingertips.

The ashes briefly fluttered, but they were so insignificant. The weight of the oracle that had been pressing down on Jin was so light.

“Your Highness. The sun is about to set. It would be best to return before the wind gets cold.”

“What about you, Lord Ian?”

“Of course, me too.”

The Magic Department was their workplace and their resting place. Jin dusted himself off and got up. The outside was unknown, but the greenhouse was still warm.

* * *

Perhaps it was because he had prepared since early morning and witnessed his brother’s death, Jin fell asleep in the carriage and was carried in by Siao Shi. Ian and Romandro wished they could lie down like him, but reality was not so easy.

Rustle.

“What’s next?”

“The Special Affairs Department has requested an interview. Do you remember? Vivianna promised to give us exclusive rights in exchange for printing the extra edition.”

“I remember. Schedule it in the remaining time. It will be even busier after the magic confirmation ceremony, so it would be better before then.”

A mountain of documents greeted Ian and Romandro. It certainly wasn’t this much when they left in the morning, but it was probably because reports from Quintana and other ministers had been added.

“And here, the indictment to be submitted.”

Romandro placed a thick stack of papers down. They were all lists of accusations regarding Haiman’s rebellion and serious crimes, about a hand span thick. Ian’s eyebrows arched at the unexpected volume.

“It’s about quality, not quantity. If unnecessary things are mixed in, it will take too much time for the judiciary to sort them out, which is disadvantageous for us.”

“They are all based on facts. Or should we only include the Black Armor rebellion? Then it would be about twenty pages from here to here.”

“Just a moment.”

Before it was officially submitted to the Imperial Palace, Ian was doing a final check. What was submitted in the name of the Magic Department was ultimately the same as being submitted in Ian’s name. He slowly reviewed it and pointed out the parts to be corrected.

“Here, revise this. Change the order of the list. Haiman does have shares in Chetur, but nothing has been revealed yet. It’s better to move it to the back.”

“Hmm, just a moment. Okay. I understand.”

Romandro’s quill moved diligently. They were working like that for a while when they heard a sound from outside.

Knock! Knock-knock!

Ian glanced at the clock. It was almost midnight. He seemed to know who it was just by the knock, so he lightly gave his permission.

“Is that Commander Acorella? Come in.”

“Oh, oh?! How did you know?!”

“Only Beric or you knock on the door like that.”

“Hahaha. Well, I heard that you’re submitting the indictment against Haiman tomorrow.”

She smiled, shaking a thick stack of documents in one hand. Romandro was so disgusted by the sight of white paper that he covered his mouth and looked horrified.

“Is that additional material? Ugh.”

“Oh my, are you experiencing Lady Vivianna’s morning sickness instead?”

“It’s not morning sickness, it’s, well, I feel sick just looking at new paper now. Seriously.”

“It’s the research results of the black ore obtained from the Chetur area.”

Ian tilted his head in confusion as he received Acorella’s report. Research results? Already? It was physically impossible to understand. Ian pressed his temples as if he had a headache.

“Commander Acorella. Don’t misunderstand. If you’re worried about adding it to the indictment, I’ll politely decline.”

“It’s not something done hastily. Of course, it’s still in progress, but it might be something that must be included in the indictment, so I’m submitting it.”

Something that must be included? Ian pondered for a moment and slowly read the report. The more he read, the more cracks appeared in his calm expression, which was clearly ‘surprise.’

“From what I understand now…”

Romandro recalled Acorella’s talk about the combination of organisms and waited for Ian’s question. Could Ian understand?

“This is a dragon’s scale?”

Clang. Romandro dropped the coffee he had picked up to wake himself up. It was not uncommon to see dragon teeth and various bones, but scales were a different story.

“S, scales? Scales? The scales I know?”

‘There is definitely a problem here.’

Ian sighed and rested his chin on his hand.

Dragons were considered inviolable divine beasts in the world. Regardless of their population, the myths surrounding them made them so.

Romandro rubbed his face with trembling hands and turned to Ian.

“Ian, do you know about the ‘Dragon’s Sacrifice’?”

In the chaotic beginning, the powerful dragons became weapons for humans and roamed the battlefields. The continent was split by the flames they spewed, and the gaps were filled with their tears, repeating this for hundreds of years to create the current crust.

The sight was so terrible in the eyes of God that he took away the dragons’ power and stopped the war.

“Isn’t it about how dragons lost their power due to human greed? Every country that calls itself a nation has signed the inviolability agreement. Bariel is also the representative signatory of that agreement.”

“Y, you know it well?”

In short, the whole world had formed an alliance not to capture dragons. However, the corpses of dragons that had ‘died of natural causes’ were exceptionally usable, and their teeth and bones were made into swords.

Acorella tapped the report and added.

“That’s why I was a bit confused. There was definitely something similar to magic, but the crystal was different. Oh, and it is said that a dragon’s scales are the first to rot away when they die of natural causes. It’s very difficult to obtain.”

“Does that mean it’s highly likely they were obtained while the dragon was alive?”

“I think they are operating a separate supply factory. There are actually several large ones near Bariel.”

There were several state-certified factories that waited for the corpses of dragons, raising them for a hundred years from birth to death. Ian handed Acorella’s report to Romandro and instructed him.

“Add this to the indictment as well.”