Margrave’s Bastard Son was The Emperor [EN]: Chapter 414

“Halt!”

A Luswennian soldier waved his hand, signaling the approaching luxury carriage to stop.

It wasn’t coming from enemy territory, but based on its direction, it wasn’t an allied messenger either. It was likely traveling from Bariel or another village within Clifford.

The Luswennian soldiers simultaneously raised their spears, displaying their vigilance, and frowned at the sight of the approaching carriage. It wasn’t a war carriage. The coachman was also not armored, but rather an ordinary person one might see anywhere.

Could they have taken the wrong road? But the carriage didn’t turn around, continuing to approach while slowing down.

Neigh!

“It looks like a Bariel carriage.”

“What should we do?”

“Report to the higher-ups.”

As the soldiers moved urgently towards the back, a woman named Alenara opened the door herself and stepped out of the carriage.

She dusted off her hands and then looked over the soldiers. She didn’t know much about war, but was it normal to set up camp in the middle of nowhere like this?

“I’ve come to see King Eriphony of Luswenna.”

“What are you talking about?”

“I am Alenara Seroda, the daughter of Seroga, a central noble of Bariel. If you tell His Majesty, she will surely let me in, so stop the nonsense and move.”

Clink!

Alenara said this while flicking a small gem—a very small ruby—and shaking a fan lightly, as if it were a symbol of the king and herself.

The soldier quickly picked up the gem, constantly looking around. There were many eyes watching. In this situation, he couldn’t secretly pocket it and had no choice but to report it to his superiors.

The soldier coughed and gestured as if to wait for a moment.

“Hey, miss. I’m going to stop now…”

“You can’t. I can’t ride a horse.”

Feeling frustrated and anxious about entering the war, the coachman wanted to return immediately. But Alenara silenced him with a single word and faced the soldiers standing expressionlessly. Hurry, hurry…

“Come in. But please understand that there will be a body search.”

“Of course.”

Alenara raised both hands, indicating she didn’t care about anything.

After a brief body search, she followed the soldier into the camp, where the gazes of dozens, nearly hundreds, of people poured in at once. The rumor that a noble from Bariel, and not just any noble, had entered spread instantly.

At this crucial moment when the war was on the verge of defeat, Alenara’s appearance sparked considerable interest.

“This way.”

Swish!

As the soldier pulled back the tent flap, a strong wind blew in, swirling around the inside. Alenara straightened her fluttering hair and looked ahead, soon meeting the gaze of King Eriphony, who was smoking a cigarette.

Eriphony had her hair tied high in a single ponytail and was leaning back on a sofa, with a half-empty bottle of alcohol in front of her.

“Lady Alenara. It’s been a while.”

Eriphony smiled, lightly opening her arms as if to welcome her. But the atmosphere inside was the opposite of her smile, and the faces of the generals gathered beside her were almost ashen.

Alenara, though not wearing a dress, slightly bent her knees and stepped inside.

“It’s even more unique seeing you in a place like this. Clothes other than dresses suit you very well.”

“It’s an honor, Your Majesty.”

“I have a mountain of things to ask you. Shall we start with the most basic? Why did you come here? Hmm?”

From Bariel, or perhaps a double agent sent by Ian? Eriphony’s three-eyed pupils flashed coldly. If so, she could use it to her advantage and gain some information from their side.

Since they had been in contact since the Crown Prince’s appointment ceremony, there was no way Ian wouldn’t know. Eriphony asked Alenara, almost half-convinced, as if testing her.

“I was worried whether my letter had been delivered to Your Majesty, so I came here myself. My small desire to confirm Your Majesty’s well-being made me take this big step.”

“Ah, the letter.”

Eriphony looked at Eldert. How many letters had she received? Since Eldert had cut off the ones without important content, Eriphony didn’t know exactly how many attempts Alenara had made to contact her.

In a fleeting moment, Eldert blinked his eyes about six times. She had sent quite a few, Eriphony thought, taking another puff of her cigarette and smiling.

“It arrived well. Of course.”

“Your Majesty-”

“But you see, Lady Alenara, our relationship is quite different now than it was at the Crown Prince’s appointment ceremony. As you can see, this place is not a place with marble sculptures but a battlefield where corpses are piling up, and the relationship between Bariel and Luswenna has also changed. I honestly don’t know why you came to see me.”

Alenara paused for a moment. It felt like a broken clock suddenly started ticking again.

Even if she were to propose defection to Luswenna again here, it didn’t seem like Eriphony would easily accept it. No, it would be better if that were the case.

Could it be…

“Does Bariel know you’re here?”

If they used the letters she had sent as evidence for blackmail? She realized she could fall to the bottom. The night she met Eriphony was so sweet that she hadn’t realized her feet were rotting from the tips.

Alenara swallowed dryly and managed her expression.

“No. My brother led the support troops into the Clifford Wall, and I left midway to come here. So, they wouldn’t know.”

“Support troops? How many?”

Eriphony frowned and touched her temple. She was already watching the situation, wondering if the war would end due to the mistakes on the Vergos side, but support troops? Eriphony chewed on her cigarette for a moment and then rubbed it out on the table.

“Lady Alenara. I asked how many support troops there are.”

“Well, I don’t know since my brother is in charge of the support troops. I just came along because I thought I could see Your Majesty Eriphony if I came this way.”

“Is it in the thousands?”

Alenara smiled faintly. Tick-tock, the broken clock started working hard. Judging by her expression, Eriphony didn’t seem to want to end the war like this.

Even if her actions could become a weakness that bound her, it was also an opportunity for Eriphony. It was as if support troops who could join her side at any time had entered the Clifford Wall.

If chaos broke out inside the wall, it wouldn’t matter whether the King of Vergos was captured or not. Advance unconditionally. Advance no matter what. It would be the most important opportunity in all the battles she had fought so far. A chance to bet everything, including her life.

“Your Majesty. To know that, I would have to return to my brother, and if I did, my brother would ask me. Where have you been?”

She couldn’t return empty-handed. Give her a definite answer. Alenara was saying that. Whether to give her royal authority or a title equivalent to it, or to use her actions as an excuse to bring her down to the bottom.

Eriphony swept her hair to one side and scanned Alenara up and down. How could she trust someone who had betrayed her own country? No matter how she thought about it, she didn’t want to accept her defection, but for now, she seemed like a useful card.

“Then tell them that you have met King Eriphony of Luswenna in person.”

Yes. If she wanted to come to Luswenna that much, she would allow it. As soon as Eriphony’s approval was given, Eldert subtly turned his head, and Alenara bowed her waist gracefully.

“Yes, Your Majesty. Is there anything else you would like me to tell my brother?”

“Alenara, this is something I want not only from your brother but also directly from my lady. Can you do it?”

“Just give me the word.”

“I want Ian Hiel to be eliminated.”

Just killing a person was not easy for her, let alone Ian Hiel? A mage? The minister who was most trusted in the empire and called the current power?

When Alenara was flustered and couldn’t answer, Eriphony kindly got up and grabbed her shoulder. Because of the height difference, Eriphony’s waist bent flexibly.

“If you can’t eliminate him, I want you to at least temporarily hold his magic power. I’ll give you a dagger made of Idgal [a rare, magic-resistant metal]. After seeing Ian’s blood with your own eyes, come this way. It would be even better if your brother could take control of the inside of the wall.”

Alenara felt a sense of desperation, including determination, in Eriphony’s grip on her shoulder. Look at this? Alenara dared to place her hand on the back of her hand and answered with a very pitiful tone.

“Yes, Your Majesty. I will do my best.”

“And if possible, I would like you to tell me the situation inside in detail.”

“Of course. Your Majesty, do you need a negotiation table?”

“The best thing for now is the absence of Ian Hiel and the other mages. Bariel will surely hold Luswenna responsible, but that won’t be light enough to be discussed at the negotiation table.”

“I see. I understand what you mean.”

The Clifford side’s momentum seemed to be even greater than what she had heard from the messenger. Now that there was a truce, if she played her cards right, she could gain merit on the Bariel side and on the Luswenna side.

Alenara decided to stand between the two sides instead of assassinating Ian.

Since they would eventually sit at the negotiation table anyway, wouldn’t it be better to meet quickly under her leadership? The point was to explain her friendship with Luswenna to the Bariel side in a straightforward manner.

Swish!

“Your Majesty!”

It was when Alenara was writing and erasing all sorts of thoughts in her head. A soldier’s urgent voice was heard from outside the tent. The generals tensed up and unknowingly rose from their seats, and Eriphony moved away from Alenara and looked for her bow.

“What’s going on?”

“There’s, there’s something strange in the distance.”

“Strange, what is it?”

“It would be better if you saw it yourself.”

Eriphony took the telescope and went outside the tent. At that moment, she felt the ground shaking very slowly. Thinking it was a mistake, she turned around and saw that the others were also pausing, noticing something strange.

Eriphony fixed her gaze in the direction the soldier was pointing. They were on a hill, and since it was the Clifford land, which mainly grew grapes, the surroundings were clear. Therefore, she could immediately recognize the mysterious smoke the soldier had mentioned in the distance.

“What is that?”

Faint gray smoke.

It was similar to a dragon’s breath rising from the cracks in the split earth. Eriphony frowned at the natural phenomenon she had never seen before and immediately called the mages.

“Do you know what that is?”

“No. I, I don’t know.”

The Luswennian mages had never seen the beginning of a rift either. It was a moment when the beneficiaries of a long-standing civilization became ‘mere humans’ in an instant.

Zaira, who saw it from the side, told the king.

“Your Majesty. Whatever it is, it would be good to inform the palace. There is no faster way than to fly through the sky, so please allow us to send the message.”

“The mage who went on reconnaissance has not yet returned.”

“Please send at least me first. I can go and come back in one day with all my strength.”

And she glanced at Alenara. It was clear that she was a noble lady from Bariel, even though it was their first meeting. Both the lady and the king seemed to have a clear will to continue the war, so if Eriphony gave the order, she would go to the palace to save her family and defect to Bariel. And she had to mention that woman to Sir Ian.

Meanwhile, Alenara carefully observed the mages, engraving their appearances in her mind.

‘Let’s remember the number of mages. From the conversation, it seems they plan to request support troops from the palace, so I should tell them that two or so mages have left their posts. I will gain the trust of the Bariel side with that.’

Alenara smiled faintly when she made eye contact with Zaira, and Zaira accepted it indifferently. They were the same kind of altered beings, so why didn’t she like that person? Did this mean that her balance was already shifting towards Bariel?

Zaira shook her head, saying it was something she couldn’t understand.