Margrave’s Bastard Son was The Emperor [EN]: Chapter 523

“I will go.”

Clatter.

A massive dining table, large enough to seat dozens at once.

The Holin family was gathered for a meal, but until Kayla’s statement, the atmosphere had been almost silent. With the Duke not saying a word, the family members were merely watching Kayla, keeping their mouths shut.

Her siblings spoke up simultaneously, as if they had been waiting for this moment.

“Where to? The battlefield?”

“Kayla, I was about to bring that up anyway.”

“You mean the Crown Prince’s condition for the Empress?”

“I think it will be withdrawn soon. How about waiting a bit? I’ve never heard of participating in war as a requirement for Empress.”

“I agree with my brother. Kayla, I know your passion, but the battlefield is too dangerous. It would be better if we all came up with a solution together.”

“Sister, wouldn’t Kayla do well? She’s held a sword more than most soldiers.”

“Is holding a sword the same as using it to cut down people? Be quiet.”

“Tch. You always pick on me.”

“Father, are you really going to send Kayla to the battlefield?”

“Second Brother, wipe that smile off your face before you speak. You’d be the happiest if Kayla wasn’t here. Or why don’t you go instead? Ah, I guess His Highness wouldn’t want that? My sister would be more helpful than you.”

Even as her seven siblings bickered, Kayla only examined the dull blade of the knife in her hand.

She didn’t like it. Whether it was a massive longsword or a small piece of cutlery, for her, a blade always had to be razor-sharp.

Kayla gestured for a servant to bring her a new knife, and the Duke of Holin wet his lips with his glass. It was a signal that he was about to speak, and the siblings’ commotion immediately died down.

“Kayla, are you sure about this?”

“Yes. I can handle a sword. And His Highness said I don’t have to fight on the front lines, right? There will be many things I can do from the rear.”

“Even the rear is still a battlefield. Every moment is a matter of life and death.”

“Isn’t it the same here? Every moment, the rise and fall of our family is at stake. We’ve already lost our territories near the Imperial Palace, and even our business rights are in danger. If I don’t become the Empress, the Holin family will face ruin.”

At Kayla’s words, her second brother whispered to another sibling.

‘Is that about the mole people or whatever?’

‘Yes. They said if we want to continue our regular weapons business, we have to compete with them in quality and bid again.’

‘Tch. What can those moles even make?’

Pretending not to hear her second brother’s whisper, her sibling turned away. As if he wasn’t the one with a face like a toad.

“But Kayla, if a stray sword were to cut you, who would I hold responsible?”

“I understand your concerns.”

The Holin family had many enemies. Even excluding Davion.

Over the past ten years, they had recklessly pushed forward, taking advantage of the Vergos civil war. Those who had been brought down by Holin were countless, and those who had reached the bottom of their lives were too many to count. On top of that, there were nobles constantly looking for an opportunity to strike.

Even blood-related siblings habitually checked each other’s necks, so it was bound to be worse with outsiders.

‘If I go to the battlefield, there might be assassination attempts under the guise of chaos.’

Kayla briefly thought of her siblings’ faces and a few external forces, but she shook her head lightly to clear her mind.

“Don’t worry. Lady Davion will definitely not be able to go. She attends parties every other day. How would she have time? And she can’t just give up her assets.”

Kayla’s cynical remark caused laughter to leak out here and there.

They were such fools. They were no different from those who just played around, but they seemed to think they were actually contributing to the family business just because they were given titles.

She checked the new knife that the servant had brought. Seeing that the blade was sharp, she felt a little better. Kayla used it to cut the meat. Very neatly, without any rough edges.

“Father, don’t worry about me. You should be more concerned about other families joining the war.”

Rather than being checked in a mediocre position, she would rather become the sole Empress candidate. At least then, clumsy assassination attempts would disappear.

Kayla chewed the properly cut meat and dabbed her mouth with a napkin.

“And brothers.”

“Huh?”

Her male siblings, who had been mindlessly drinking and eating, stopped and turned to look at Kayla.

“You all should go to Vergos.”

“What? Why?”

“Because I’m leaving for Vergos to ‘participate’ in the war. Wouldn’t it be better to be within the same border in case of an emergency? And Mother also misses you all very much.”

“Ahem.”

The brothers looked at the Duke with disgusted expressions, but he simply put down his cutlery, signaling that he was done with his meal, and stood up.

“Continue your conversation.”

“Father!”

“Sit down, brothers.”

As her brother stood up in protest, Kayla ‘ordered’ without even looking at him. Her tone was gentle, but everyone in the room felt the coercive attitude.

The brother, who had awkwardly stood up, reluctantly sat down and drank his wine.

“Some time ago, before we sold the territory, I sent a letter to Vergos.”

“Are you talking about when Ian Hielo came to the mansion?”

“Yes, you know it well. I don’t know the details, but it seemed like Minister Ian Hielo knew we were trying to sell the territory to a third party.”

“Hmph. As if that’s such a brilliant move.”

“The problem is, he realized that the third party was related to Vergos.”

The eyes of her brothers, who were swirling wine on their tongues, briefly showed bewilderment.

“The territory has already been sold, and we haven’t made any special moves, so we’ve gotten through it for now, but I’m worried about the future. If I’m going to become the Empress, things need to be sorted out in many ways.”

“So, what do you want us to do in Vergos?”

“First, meet with Mother. Then she will tell you the detailed plan.”

“No, I don’t want to. I can’t go. How do I know what will happen to me if I cross the border?”

One of her brothers slammed his glass down, and Kayla gave a faint smile. As if she didn’t know who was being so brazen.

“I am also crossing the border, brother.”

“You will have many eyes and ears around you. Especially with His Highness the Crown Prince, you’ll be safe!”

“You will also have Mother by your side, so what are you so afraid of?”

“Don’t you know? We’re not even blood-related!”

“Be quiet.”

Screech.

Kayla scraped her plate with her knife and then roughly put it down.

“They say even the portraits in the Imperial Palace have ears. It’s no different in the Holin family mansion.”

The small, dark secret of the Holin family.

Outwardly, all the children of the Holin family were the direct descendants of the Duke, but the reality was a little different.

From a long time ago, the Duke of Holin had two women.

The Duchess, who was the mistress of the family and had three children, and the secret woman who had Kayla and other children.

Kayla smiled brightly and slowly got up from her seat.

“I knew you were careless since you were young, but it’s getting worse these days, brother.”

“Father has been protecting you, so you’ve become arrogant.”

“It’s because you’re such a mess that Father has high expectations for me. Honestly, if it weren’t for Mother, would we have been able to make a deal with Vergos? I’m asking if you, my talented brother, could have sold even one blade. The Duchess knew this early on and gave up her position. At least so that a fool like you could be of some use!”

“Kayla!”

One day, the Duchess suddenly disappeared. Or, officially, she went down to her distant hometown for recuperation and lost contact. It seemed that she occasionally sent letters to her own children, but even that had become infrequent, and it had been several years since they had received one.

“I’ll kill you!”

“Kayla, that’s too harsh!”

Clang! Crash!

A glass flew and shattered, but the other siblings who were sitting there just chewed their meat as if they were used to it.

“If it weren’t for your lowly mother, our mother wouldn’t have gone down there! You dirty blood!”

“If it’s so dirty, why don’t you run to the Imperial Palace and report it? Who would be the most upset? I would be, and so would you, brother, who is constantly in and out of court.”

Thus, the Duchess’s position became vacant, and it became the Duke’s disgrace. Holin had been covering up this obvious flaw with all sorts of lies.

In the meantime, a civil war broke out in Vergos, and Kayla’s birth mother sensed that this was an opportunity for the family’s revival. So, she ‘returned’ to Vergos herself and pioneered a supply line for weapons to Vergos, which was in the midst of civil war. In the capacity of the mistress of the Holin Duke.

Outwardly, she was a mistress who had suddenly appeared after more than a decade, so some kind of solution was needed. The Duke of Holin, who was racking his brains, soon came up with a clever idea.

To give Kayla’s birth mother the identity of the Duchess who was in hiding. The birth of a ‘fake Duchess’.

“So, brother.”

Kayla slowly approached him and firmly grabbed his shirt collar. It was a gesture as if she was fixing his collar, but the person felt as if he had been grabbed by the scruff of his neck.

“Go to Vergos while I’m being nice. You should at least be useful. Go and wait for Mother’s instructions.”

If they couldn’t even protect their weapons business rights, they would have to change their business direction. Magic stones, raw stones, or luxury goods that were circulating during the civil war, etc.

“And who knows? Depending on the situation, you might save me and His Highness the Crown Prince in the war.”

“What are you talking about now?”

“Use your imagination. Ask the lady down there to spoon-feed you.”

Thump.

Kayla lightly patted her brother’s shoulder and left the dining hall. Then, the other siblings who were eating also got up one by one and followed her. All of them had purple eyes or black hair.

Clang-!

“Eek! Young master! Are you okay?”

“Blood, he’s bleeding!”

“Bring something to stop the bleeding! Quickly!”

The sound of dishes breaking and the fuss of the servants could be heard, but Kayla ignored it and walked down the hallway. At the end, the butler approached her and whispered.

“Miss, a guest has arrived.”

“Is it my guest? Who is it?”

“It’s…”

As the butler whispered to Kayla, her brow furrowed.

Chloe’s close ladies had come to the Holin family? Their intentions were obvious, but surely. They weren’t that stupid, were they?

“Let them in.”

“Yes, Miss.”

Kayla neatly arranged her hair, which was reflected in the window, and then headed to the front door to greet her guests.

* * *

“Ian-ahhhh!”

Crash!

Scribble, Romandro, who was writing a document, was startled and drew a line through the letters. He was almost done! Just the last line! Romandro, who was furious, crumpled the document and threw it at Beric.

“You startled me, you jerk!”

But Beric easily dodged it with a nod, and then rummaged through his pocket and took something out.

“Ian, have you seen this?”

“What is it?”

“The Ministry of Foreign Affairs’ invitation list. I saw it on old man Jerritt’s desk, and it’s crazy. Look!”

Beric, who usually didn’t show interest in papers, what could it be? Ian put down his pen, and Romandro crumpled every piece of waste paper he could grab and threw it at Beric.

Swish, swish, it wouldn’t even faze him, but Beric deliberately dodged them all. Romandro, who was furious, jumped up and pounced on him.

Swoosh.

Regardless, Ian carefully read the paper that Beric had handed him. It was a list of people to be invited to foreign countries, and it seemed to be a temporary list shared because they had to guard the Crown Prince on the day of the coronation. It would soon arrive at the Magic Department as well.

“Astana, this part?”

“Yeah! Hasha is coming too!”

“What’s the big deal about Hasha coming? It’s been a while since we’ve seen him, but it’s not something to make a fuss about-”

Pause. Romandro realized something and turned his head. He realized why Beric was making such a fuss. In the small country of Astana, there was only one person who could receive an invitation from the Empire.

Ian quietly recited the phrase written on the last line of the paper.

“…King Hasha and Tokundaira of Astana.”