Margrave’s Bastard Son was The Emperor [EN]: Chapter 459

“Can we even go back?” Mellania asked, anxiously fidgeting with her fingertips as she turned around.

Piles of gold coins and various jewels. And among them, priceless historical artifacts that were beyond measure.

Mellania felt like she was in a dream. She had thrown herself down on the vast land, only to find herself inside the imperial palace’s storage.

In fact, until she saw the outside, she couldn’t be sure if this was the imperial palace. After all, wasn’t the opponent Rutherford? However, the fact that the first person she met upon arriving was a mage with orange eyes served as some sort of proof.

“Young lady. Could you please be quiet? I understand you’re worried, but it’s too noisy for me to concentrate. If your hands are empty, why don’t you pick up some of the gold coins lying on the floor?”

A huge painting depicting the earth and the moon. And in the middle, a thick red line drawn as if it were a wound.

Rutherford’s mages frowned and snapped at Mellania. Their colleagues had arrived and spread throughout the palace, but here was a young lady who had seemingly rolled in from nowhere, causing a ruckus. It was no wonder they were on edge.

“Ugh…”

“Hey, hey, hey. Wake up.”

“This is driving me crazy. What the hell did she put on it!”

Rutherford’s mage stomped on Acorella’s head as he yelled at her.

It was a painting made with magic stones. It shouldn’t be affected by ordinary contamination, but what this imperial mage had applied was not just simple paint. It was an unknown liquid. It caused an error between the magic stones, preventing the passage back from opening properly.

A mage grabbed Acorella’s hair and yanked her head back.

“If you don’t open your mouth, I’ll make you look like that one over there.”

“Ah…”

The mage pointed to the head attendant. He had guided Acorella inside, only to be attacked. Blood was endlessly gushing from the cleanly severed cross-section of his neck.

Next to him were three guards, and next to them were five servants who had been moving items. Even in the darkness, the shapes of the corpses were clear. Acorella looked at them with blurry eyes, then began to giggle.

“Heh, heh, heh…”

“Are you laughing?”

“Ah, you little shits who don’t even know what I put on it, you think you’re so great because you outnumber me?”

“Is she crazy!?”

“You’re not the only ones with friends. I have friends too, you bastards…”

“She’s completely lost it. Gone mad.”

“40 grams of Catloyne, 25 grams of Luron, 120 grams of Tapiarogue, 70 grams of Dallon…”

“What?”

The mage pressed his foot on Acorella’s neck as if she was being annoying. Her face flushed red as blood rushed to her head, but Acorella didn’t stop laughing.

“Look, cough, even if I, tell, tell you, you wouldn’t, understand.”

“Should we kill her? We need to reduce the number of imperial mages anyway.”

The mage asked Rutherford, pulling out a dagger from his waist. However, Rutherford didn’t even flinch at the commotion, instead slowly walking around the exhibition hall, examining the imperial treasures. The older the item, the longer his gaze lingered on it. Rutherford turned around with a bright smile.

“No. It’s fine. You guys open the door. You have to do it before the others return. Or else you’ll die.”

He was not the kind of master who would make empty threats with their lives on the line. The mages swallowed hard and nodded, then went back to the huge frame, focusing on opening the passage.

Taking advantage of the opportunity, Acorella crawled towards the door. She had to quickly inform everyone of this fact. The name they had been talking about in the meeting, Rutherford, had infiltrated the imperial palace. He had harmed the imperial people and was hiding like a shadow throughout the palace to bring in the Vergos people….

“Ugh…”

“Mage. Look, there’s a light in her eyes.”

“Let go of me-!”

“Praise her. But can you stay still?”

Crack!

“Aaaah!”

Rutherford squatted down next to Acorella, who was crawling, and carefully grabbed her ankle. Then, without hesitation, he twisted the joint. With the sound of bones dislocating, Acorella screamed in pain.

“Lord Rutherford. We found it.”

“Okay. Good.”

If the person calling him from behind hadn’t spoken, her other ankle would have been broken as well, he thought, as Rutherford followed his subordinate’s guidance deeper into the exhibition hall.

Rows of colorful brooches were lined up on a waist-high display case. Rutherford hummed a tune and smiled.

“Hmm. There are more than I thought.”

“Indeed. After the purge of the seven central nobles, there was a reshuffle, and it seems everyone was desperate to lick the imperial family’s heels.”

“Good. Take them all. Let’s see how the noble lords of Bariel will react.”

They were the seals of the Bariel nobles who had sworn allegiance to the imperial family. Entrusting a seal meant giving up everything in the family. It was a direct display of loyalty, but he was curious how the nobles would feel, think, and act if the proof of that act was lost.

“Lord Rutherford. All the gold coins are bundled. We’re ready to move them as soon as the passage opens.”

“Good. You’ve worked hard.”

“It seems the imperial palace will soon realize what’s happening. Should we join them?”

At his subordinate’s suggestion, Rutherford took out his pocket watch. Tick-tock, time was passing, but an unexpected problem was causing trouble.

According to the original plan, it should have taken exactly two hours. Within two hours, they were supposed to loot the entire imperial storage, and bring Bania, along with the Vergos delegation and Damon.

“Ah, this is really a headache.”

“We will find another way to get out of the imperial palace. Lord Rutherford. Don’t worry. We will open a portal to ensure your safety…”

“The portal isn’t the problem. The portal.”

As Rutherford’s mages declared their determination, he chuckled and leaned against the wall.

The raid on the imperial palace was to effectively empower Vergos. If Vergos was moved with funds stolen from Bariel, wouldn’t one side suffer a loss while the other side maximize its gains?

Moreover, to preserve legitimacy within Vergos as much as possible, Damon’s body was needed. It would be good if he was alive, but even if he died, it wouldn’t be a big problem.

Rutherford slowly swept back his black hair and muttered.

“When will we escape the imperial palace and return to that hill, and how can we open such a large portal right now? It’s not something you can handle. It will only create more of our people who will inevitably be left behind.”

“…Lord Rutherford.”

His words were meant to consider the possibility of information about him being leaked if his subordinates were left behind, but they seemed to have misunderstood, looking quite moved.

Mellania watched the scene quietly from one corner. Clark was gathering and organizing the corpses, and the mage crawling on the floor was still moving towards the door without giving up. She didn’t understand what was happening right now.

‘Am I really on the right path?’

A small but strong desire to restore the name of Hyman in Bariel had led her to Rutherford.

But wasn’t this something she couldn’t handle? If this was truly the imperial palace, and if the mage crawling over there was Ian’s person, what should she do?

It was a far cry from the actions she should take to repay Ian, who had spared her life even after her family was destroyed. At least, in Mellania’s own way.

“Haa.”

Mellania sat down, clutching her head, and Rutherford’s group, who were passing by, only glanced at her without saying anything.

Creak.

Acorella, her fingertips trembling, barely managed to pry open one of the doors. A beam of light poured in through the inch-wide gap. Rutherford put his watch back in his waist pocket, then strode towards her and grabbed her ankle.

“Hey. Where are you going? You have to solve the problem you caused.”

“Ah, ugh, damn it…”

“Do you want your right leg to be broken too? Huh?”

“Get lost, get-”

Buzz! Buzz!

Boom!

Acorella released her magic power as if resisting. She aimed it directly at his face, as if to blow away his handsome features. But it fizzled out like a firework in the sea, leaving only a brief flash of light before disappearing.

Acorella stared up at Rutherford with wide eyes. This feeling was….

“Lord Rutherford. She keeps bothering us, should we just kill her?”

“You should say you’ll kill her after solving the passage problem. Huh? Don’t just act recklessly without thinking. ”

“…I’m sorry.”

“If everyone does their job in their respective positions, everything will go smoothly. Keep that in mind.”

“Yes, Lord Rutherford.”

Rutherford tidied Acorella’s messy hair, then slowly stood up. The mages were in charge of the passage, and the subordinates had gone to rescue the Vergos members. So, he also had to do his job.

Creak.

Ian. Let’s bring Ian. Just as Rutherford thought that and was about to step out the door.

“……”

A vast, empty hallway. A boy with golden hair and golden eyes stood alone. Rutherford’s eyes widened slightly, and then a smile spread across his face.

“Hahaha.”

At their master’s laughter, the subordinates shifted their gaze, and they quickly deduced the identity of the beautiful boy they had encountered. They went back to their tasks in the exhibition hall as if nothing had happened.

“How dare you come here, are you out of your mind?”

A sharp voice. Ian was not hiding his anger, dripping with magic power. How dare they act like this in the very heart of the Bariel imperial palace? Whether Rutherford was a proxy of God or whatever, he would tear him to pieces to protect his dignity.

But Rutherford, as if Ian’s anger was nothing, just smiled brightly and approached.

“Ian. I was just about to come get you.”

“Stop right there.”

“You’ve grown up well. You still look a lot like you did when you were little.”

“I said stop!”

「Restraint」.

Buzz! Buzz!

Whoosh!

As Ian unleashed his restraint magic, beams of light shot up from his feet, running along the walls and ceiling.

He had intended to bind Rutherford, but he easily dispelled Ian’s magic with a light wave of his hand.

Clang!

As easily as breaking glass.

The smile on Rutherford’s face was visibly fading. He tilted his head as if puzzled, and carefully examined Ian’s face. At a very close distance. Ian’s reflection flickered in Rutherford’s black eyes.

“Ian?”

“……!”

Tap!

Rutherford lightly lifted Ian’s chin with his fingertips, and Ian roughly pushed him away as if he had been insulted. He didn’t know what kind of connection he had with the illegitimate child Ian, but right now-

“Ian. When your master comes, you should say ‘Welcome,’ and wag your tail. Where did you get that venom in your eyes?”

“My master is Bariel.”

“Oh, really?”

Just as Ian was about to gather his magic power again and unleash it on Rutherford.

Rutherford gave a short command.

“Kneel.”

“……!”

Thud!

Gravity instantly pressed down on Ian’s shoulders. Before Ian could even realize something was wrong, he staggered and leaned against the wall.

“Ian. Kneel.”

“I….”

Thud!

It was bewildering. It was just a command, not magic, and there were no special devices, so how could the world change because of his words?

As Ian struggled, sweating profusely, Rutherford frowned.

“Ian, kneeling before your master is not something to be ashamed of. Did you forget my face because it’s been so long since we met?”

Rutherford slowly stroked Ian’s head, applying pressure downwards. His knees bent against his will. Ian’s mouth was bleeding from clenching his teeth.

And finally, Ian succumbed to the force and knelt. Rutherford smiled as if he had done a good job, gently stroking the boy’s head.

“Good job, little one. Remember this from now on. This is the posture you should take before me.”

Part 1, End.