Margrave’s Bastard Son Was The Emperor [EN]: Chapter 413

“Sir Ian, please calm down!”

“Hey, what are you doing? Why aren’t you stopping him?”

At the harsh shouts, the mages rushed over and grabbed Ian. Even though he was a prisoner, he was still the king of an enemy nation. It was only right to guarantee him a certain level of treatment, according to international norms.

Ian, at his subordinates’ urging, clenched his teeth and released Damon’s hair. The twitching of his jaw hinted at his deep anger.

“Oh, great mages.”

“You be quiet. Sir Ian, are you hurt? Why are you doing such rough work yourself?”

“It seems the side effects of magic haven’t completely worn off.”

“Yes. Leave this to Clifford. There’s no good that will come from us getting involved. You know that.”

“Calm down, Sir Ian. Let’s eat. You should go out before Beric eats everything.”

The mages patted Ian’s hand, adding worried words. No one paid attention to Damon, who had slumped powerlessly with heavy shackles, except for Hale.

Hale scanned Damon up and down, checking if there were any problems. Even though Bariel had made a huge contribution to the current war, this was a war between Clifford and Burgos. As a king who was a prisoner during a truce, any problem could be used as an excuse.

Not from the outside, but from within, from those who were glaring to keep them in check in the Imperial Palace.

“The rumors about the Magic Department reached even the ends of Burgos, and it seems they weren’t just illusions. Sir Ian, despite being of humble origin, born and raised in the borderlands, you’ve established yourself very well. Honestly, bloodlines can’t be ignored.”

“King Damon. I told you to be quiet.”

“Or, were you just born that way?”

Damon grinned and dusted off his collar. The shackles clinked with his movements. Hale anticipated that the man would utter insolent remarks and pushed the mages away.

But was there any action faster than words? Damon revealed a secret about Ian that he knew, or rather, a secret that was half-fabricated.

“Is it because you have royal blood that you’ve found your place?”

The mages’ heads twitched for a moment. Their ears moved reflexively. It was to understand what King Damon had just said.

Ian only stared down at Damon with cold eyes, while he kept nodding and smiling.

“Say something, Ian!”

“Sir Ian, he, he, he seems crazy. The King of Burgos isn’t in his right mind. Haha.”

“Even so, to mention the royal bloodline. This is a grave crime, even among the most serious. It would be good to set an example.”

“Yes. It’s fully possible to do it without His Highness Jin’s order. Shall we cut him? It would be better to cut him and knock him out.”

The mages were flustered and blurted out vulgar words. The more they did, the more Damon went on a rampage, spouting nonsense. That Ian was of royal blood.

“Those who are suspicious should go back to Bariel and verify it. I swear on everything that he is of royal blood! What you see isn’t everything. Who are you following? Is the Ian you know really Ian? Huh?”

The mages’ shoulders flinched at the sharp shout. Hale immediately brought a gag and stuffed it into Damon’s mouth, then looked at the soldiers.

No matter how thoroughly they controlled it, they were Cliffordians, not Barielians. If Prince Noah wanted to hear it, he could. So, it was necessary to package it as much as possible as a baseless, unfounded roar from the enemy.

“Sir Ian. It seemed like you had something to interrogate King Damon about. Shall we bring Acorella? Although the effect isn’t certain yet, there’s a Siltham potion. To some extent, you’ll be able to get what you want, Sir Ian.”

Love becomes love the moment it’s recognized, and a problem becomes a problem the moment it’s recognized. When Hale passed over Damon’s struggles without any reaction, the mages also slowly stopped their agitation.

“…It’s fine. It has too many side effects.”

His Highness Crown Prince Jin needed to see Damon kneeling and being beheaded with his own eyes, to show the empire’s majesty to the world. Also, his severed head should be displayed in the direction Selena was looking, to comfort her on her way to the afterlife.

All of this would be a sharp warning to Burgos and the surrounding countries.

So, they couldn’t give Damon a Siltham potion made on the spot. It was right to return to Bariel as soon as possible and give him the finished product stored in the Magic Department. Since the head of the Magic Department was Ian anyway, he would be able to hear Damon’s true confession without anyone’s interference.

Ian wiped away the sweat and lightly brushed off Hale’s hand.

“Tie him up tightly. Keep the gag on except when he’s eating or drinking. We’ll return to Bariel as soon as the camp is organized.”

Return to Bariel!

The mages couldn’t help but smile with joy and grabbed each other’s shoulders. Although Clifford was a beautiful land, how could it compare to their homeland?

The very reason they had left Bariel was to bring Ian back, so the mages could be proud that they had perfectly completed their mission.

“Yes. Let’s go back. Or how about Sir Ian going back first? Mages and magic swordsmen have good mobility, so they can catch up even if they leave late. If Sir Ian leaves first with King Damon, we’ll follow soon.”

“Yes. Let’s divide them in half.”

“Shall we check those who have regained their magic power first? I’m one of them. My power is about half back. I think I’ll be fully recovered by the evening.”

Let’s send Ian to the Imperial Palace first.

The mages all thought so and winked at each other. There was Romandro there, and His Highness Jin, and above all, the Imperial Palace that Ian loved. It seemed like a better choice to send him up first than to continue in an unstable state here.

Ian pondered for a moment, then nodded.

“Alright. Then tomorrow morning.”

“Yes. Tomorrow morning! I’ll inform the Clifford side.”

“Also, inform Minister Tweller. The Imperial Defense Department will provide troops to escort him. The Imperial Guard is with Beric and Barsabe.”

The mages supported Ian and glanced back. Damon’s piercing eyes were still following them, so they avoided his gaze and focused on Ian. Ian didn’t seem to be shaken by Damon’s baseless words.

Was this normal? Was it because it was such nonsense that it wasn’t worth reacting to? Or? Ian’s usual personality would have made anyone who insulted the Imperial Family pay the price, but did he let it go because the other party was also a king?

Hale quickly wrapped things up, but it was inevitable that questions remained in the mages’ minds.

Tap.

The mages watched Hale support Ian as he went upstairs. Then, someone muttered.

“Hey, guys.”

“Huh?”

“What if, just what if. Just a crazy what if.”

“Why are you setting it up like that?”

“What if Sir Ian is a hidden member of the Imperial Family and he created Idgal? What would you do?”

“You’ve caught his nonsense.”

Laughter erupted here and there, but the one who had spoken continued his hypothesis quite seriously. What if Ian was a member of the Imperial Family that could never be officially acknowledged?

There had been so much talk in the Imperial Palace. That they were trying to seize power by putting the young Crown Prince Jin forward. One of the ways the Imperial Family could control mages was through magic sealing stones.

If he had created Idgal to challenge the authority of the Imperial Family, although they couldn’t be sure what it was? Then, wouldn’t Ian’s tracking magic, which had reacted to King Damon’s pendant, also gain some validity?

They couldn’t say for sure with only fragmented clues, but one thing was clear.

‘Is the Ian you know really Ian?’

Damon’s last words. Besides the Ian they knew, there was something deeper and more secret about him.

As the mage’s face darkened, someone snapped their fingers in front of his eyes.

Snap!

“So, what are you going to do about it?”

“Huh?”

“What if Sir Ian is of royal blood, and what if he created Idgal? Is there anything we’ve heard directly from Sir Ian in what we’re talking about now? We’ve only heard the other side’s story. The Minister hasn’t said anything, so why are we worrying about it?”

“Right. It’s natural for all sorts of rumors to spread during wartime. And whatever it is, I don’t think Sir Ian would do anything that would harm Bariel.”

They had been watching him directly from the time of the civil war until now. He had thrown himself to save Crown Prince Jin, shed tears at Selena’s death, and rushed alone towards the leaders of the Burgos camp. No matter what questions there were, Ian’s actions were exemplary.

“Because it’s Sir Ian, I want to just watch and see, even if there are circumstances.”

“Me too. He’ll tell us someday.”

They had even abandoned the Imperial Palace’s orders to meet Ian and had dropped down to this distant Clifford. For them, the only path to look at and walk was Ian.

“…Well, honestly, if it weren’t for Sir Ian, I think I would have left the Magic Department a long time ago.”

There had been many storms. The mages could not escape the center of those storms, and especially before, there was a lot of conflict within the department due to Wesley.

But look at now. Since Ian took office, they had been moving as if they were originally one. Just as God is completely one, those closest to him were the same.

There were times when they felt like they had finally found their identity. A huge bond that could not be bound by the unit of the Imperial Palace department.

“I’ll go wherever Sir Ian goes. I’ll support whatever Sir Ian does. So, if there’s anyone who opposes it, please don’t say it in front of me. I don’t want to hear it.”

“He thinks he’s the only one who’s great. Me too, you know?”

“Yeah. What do we know? Let’s trust Sir Ian and wait. When we return to the Imperial Palace, there will be an investigation into Idgal.”

The mages awkwardly tried to smooth over the awkward atmosphere by hitting each other’s shoulders.

At that moment, a soldier who was watching from the ramparts gave a suspicious exclamation.

“Huh?”

“What’s wrong?”

“There, I see the Bariel flag. It looks like additional reinforcements.”

Additional reinforcements?

The rampart supervisor received the telescope, and the mages’ gazes also shifted there at once. The war was over, so what reinforcements?

And above all, there was no information received from Minister Maxim Tweller. The Imperial Defense Department’s goal in this war was to gain merit, so it was unlikely that someone other than his forces would have been separately dispatched. The pro-Tweller faction remaining in the Imperial Palace wouldn’t have allowed it.

“Mages. Would you come and take a look? It’s definitely the Bariel flag, but there’s another emblem behind it. It seems to be a noble.”

“A noble? Was there a border count who was in contact with Clifford?”

“I don’t remember one. You take a look.”

A mage lightly jumped onto the rampart and put his eye to the telescope. A familiar emblem. The mage called out the name involuntarily.

“It’s Seroga?”

“Seroga? That moron?”

“Shh! That’s blasphemy.”

“It’s okay. This is Clifford land, so we won’t get punished.”

“Oh, really? Why did that dumb moron come here?”

“I don’t know. I’ll go out to meet them first. It seems like they’re showing up way too late.”

The mage on the rampart informed his colleagues and was about to release his magic power to fly when it happened.

Thump.