Margrave’s Bastard Son was The Emperor [EN]: Chapter 573

“He’s so composed. He’s not even crying.”

Those who attended the funeral praised Ian in unison. The child simply hadn’t grasped the concept of ‘death.’

Ian, holding the nanny’s hand tightly, stood quietly. His eyes met those of a man mixed among the guests. It was a persistent gaze. Even as everyone was praying with their hands together, he was looking at the child and whispering to someone next to him.

“But, what do we do? The child is so young?”

“How old did you say he was? Five? Six?”

“There is a nanny, but we can’t leave him to a non-noble. There must be someone among his relatives to take charge.”

“He’s a distant relative of the Imperial family, but given the current situation, it’s unlikely the palace will take care of him.”

“The child must have a lot of assets, right?”

“Hush, let’s refrain from such talk. This is not an appropriate place. We haven’t even covered the coffin with dirt yet.”

“What’s the big deal? It’s something we’ll have to discuss anyway.”

“It’s said that whoever takes care of Ian will also be given the right to manage the territory. That place is quite large, isn’t it? The quarterly taxes alone are said to be 100 gold coins. And that’s only for the territory.”

The nanny slowly embraced the child, as if wanting to block out the vulgar voices, since she couldn’t openly cover his ears.

Then, Ian looked up at his mother’s portrait, as was his habit. It made him feel like he was being held by his mother.

“…Nanny.”

“Yes, young master.”

“Can I never hug mother again?”

Ian was bright. He didn’t understand death, but he could comprehend it.

The nanny didn’t know how to answer, so she just remained silent. A marriage based solely on a contract, without love, was too dry, tragic, and meaningless. They might have thought it was a rational action for their own gain, but the nanny, having seen the end, couldn’t agree.

It was a failure, their deal was a complete failure. Not only did they make a life meaningless, but they also did something terrible to a child named Ian.

“Everyone, please be quiet.”

At that moment, the man who had been making eye contact with Ian spoke in a low voice. His deep, powerful statement instantly overwhelmed the surroundings. Whether it was the power in his voice or the voice of someone powerful, it was hard to tell.

All Ian remembered was one thing-

“We will take Ian.”

The moment his residence was decided.

That man was Chrony.

* * *

Swoosh!

“Again.”

It had been a week since Ian had entered Chrony’s mansion.

Ian felt his heart pounding and froze. The piano teacher had swung a pointer from behind. It was his first piano lesson in an unfamiliar place, and the forceful tone and threatening gestures were enough to make Ian tense.

The piano teacher roughly flipped through Ian’s sheet music, with his hands on his hips.

“Start from the beginning again. Don’t you know where you went wrong?”

“…Yes. Teacher. I don’t know.”

“Realizing that is part of learning. Look closely. And correct your posture. You need to convey emotion, but your concentration is scattered, so you can’t play it right. Young Master Ian. I have taught countless young nobles for decades, and this is the first time I’ve been so perplexed.”

Ian couldn’t answer and just fidgeted with his fingers. Where did it go wrong? He really didn’t know. The child placed his trembling hands back on the keys and unconsciously began to play.

The piano teacher watched sharply, then this time, struck the edge of the piano with the pointer.

Swoosh!

“Again!”

Swoosh!

“Again!”

Ian was completely fed up with the pointer getting closer and closer. Just as he was about to say he couldn’t do it anymore and ask to stop the lesson, he heard a commotion outside.

Knock knock.

“Excuse me during the lesson.”

“It’s alright, Lord Chrony.”

“It seems my father has woken up for a moment and I need to take Uncle Ian, is that alright?”

“Of course. We’ll end the lesson here for today.”

As Chrony gestured for him to come out, Ian quickly got off the piano bench and ran to him.

“How was the lesson?”

“…I don’t know.”

“You don’t know? What is it?”

But instead of answering, Ian just shook his head.

“What about the nanny? What happened to her?”

“It seems she has her own family, so she can’t come here. It’s a shame.”

Once again, something churned deep within Ian’s chest. He was sure they said she would come with him even if they moved to a new mansion, was it a lie? Was there no one to hold him anymore?

Chrony looked down at the child and continued.

“My father is your official guardian, but he is not well, so you won’t see him often. It will be entirely my role to help you adapt and grow well here, so if you have any discomfort or anything you want to share, please feel free to tell me anytime.”

“Yes. I understand.”

“In the afternoon, you have math and writing lessons. Are the lessons too much for you? It didn’t seem like there were any problems at the previous mansion.”

“…No. It’s fine.”

“I’m glad to hear you say that. I have high expectations.”

Chrony smiled and patted Ian’s head.

At that moment, Ian thought. Maybe the warmth that replaced the nanny’s embrace was here.

“Oh, and Uncle Ian. After the lesson later, please come to my office for a moment.”

At the questioning look, Chrony casually replied as if it were nothing.

“There’s something I need to delegate to you regarding the territory management. You just need to come and sign in the space I indicate. Ah, you don’t have a signature yet, do you?”

“No. I don’t.”

“Then it would be good to create one. I’ve already thought of a few, so you can choose one of them.”

Has something happened to the territory? Ian wanted to ask, but he couldn’t because they had reached the end of the hallway.

Chrony smiled and pushed the child’s back as if to say, let’s go in.

* * *

Swoosh.

“Territory division and sale delegation agreement….”

Ian muttered the words under the candlelight. Division, sale, delegation. He seemed to vaguely understand the meaning, but he couldn’t grasp it exactly.

Ian slightly raised his head and met the gaze of about six adults sitting on the sofa, watching him. Chrony and strangers. Lawyers, local lord’s representatives, managers, government officials, and so on. They had identified themselves, but he didn’t know why they were all gathered here.

“Is there a problem, Uncle Ian?”

“Ah, that is-”

“Surely you don’t not know the meaning?”

The lawyer sitting next to him crossed his legs arrogantly and interrupted, causing Ian’s cheeks to flush red. Chrony watched this quietly, then gestured to the lawyer to restrain himself, as if to show off.

“You’re being rude to Uncle Ian, Hilon.”

“Ah, I apologize.”

“Uncle. This is a contract to manage the territory more efficiently. It’s not a problem that you don’t understand it yet because you’re still young. You can learn. But the real problem is that everyone here has taken time out of their busy schedules to gather with great difficulty. To get your signature.”

Ian swallowed hard and hesitated for a moment. The more he did, the more the adults silently stared at Ian, letting out small sighs and clicking their tongues.

“…I understand. It’s for the sake of the territory.”

“Of course. Absolutely.”

“Where do I sign?”

“Here. Once here, and again here.”

Chrony jumped up and kindly pointed out the blank spaces with his hand.

Ian looked up at Chrony with uneasy eyes. Is it really okay? Then Chrony patted Ian’s head again and smiled.

“Don’t worry. It’s all for Uncle Ian.”

Ian believed him. No, he had no choice but to believe him. The child’s world was entirely dependent on Chrony now.

Ian eventually signed, and received a rather sweet reward.

“You did well. It seems you have a lot of worries, Uncle, so shall we go tour the territory together tomorrow? And skip the piano lesson.”

Ian didn’t realize that his face was instantly filled with joy. It was a change that only Chrony knew about.

* * *

“…I only found out later.”

Ian frowned slightly, as if pulling out memories from old dust. Those who were listening had even more serious expressions, but he didn’t notice as he was busy moistening his dry mouth with wine.

“The nanny wanted to follow me to Chrony’s mansion, but he turned her away.”

“Why?”

“The reason was plausible. He said that if the nanny came with me, I wouldn’t adapt easily to the mansion and would only seek her embrace. Furthermore, he had his own philosophy, so he would use the nanny he had. It all sounded plausible.”

“But you were too young.”

Ian chuckled slightly at Jin’s words.

“That’s right. I was too young to know. At that time, I was desperately looking only at Chrony, so I couldn’t see myself.”

“So, continue telling us.”

When Tweller’s glass was empty, his direct officer got up and brought a bottle of wine. It was already the second bottle. Ian murmured, recalling the faded face of the piano teacher.

“The piano teacher was so strict because of Chrony’s orders. I only found this out much later. After I ascended the throne, I met the teacher again while reorganizing the imperial orchestra.”

What did he feel when the teacher confessed that it was Chrony who had ordered it, and that there was not a single flaw in the young emperor’s performance? Anger? Bewilderment?

No, it was sadness. The young version of himself was so pitiful and pathetic that Ian turned away without a word.

“Anyway, it was like that. Chrony was quite kind to me. He provided me with a complete education and made sure I could grow up with the same standard of living as the previous mansion. If you only looked at the surface, he fulfilled his role as a guardian….”

But within that, there was a shackle that bound Ian so he couldn’t escape. There were so many things that he couldn’t even mention here.

“His father was the legal guardian?”

“Yes. It was nominal. It was just a safety measure to avoid responsibility if something happened to me. Most of Chrony’s family businesses were conducted that way.”

“Ian, so what happened to the territory?”

Berick asked, leaning halfway back with his chin propped up. He had drunk three or four glasses while others had one, so he seemed to be getting drunk.

Ian raised his glass as if he had expected the question.

“When I was able to directly check the operating history, the territory was exactly one-tenth of its original size. The mansion had been sold long ago, and the rest of the assets had evaporated. It was the result of Chrony managing it under the guise of living expenses.”

“That’s a real bastard. Shit.”

Burp. Berick burped loudly, and Jayrut smacked his head, scolding him to be more polite.

But Jin, the highest-ranking person, was staring at Ian with a blank expression. As if something had come to mind.

“Hilon, is that the Hilon I know?”

“Yes. That’s right.”

Hmm. Then, as if thinking about something, he kept tapping the table with his fingertips.

Minister Tweller drank half of his full glass of wine in one go and asked.

“So what happened?”

“It was a peaceful time. A time where I just stood still, not even knowing I was sinking into the mud. But everything changed from ‘that day.’”

“What do you mean by ‘that day’?”

Ian took a moment to catch his breath.

The point where his life began to flow vigorously.

It was definitely….

“It was when I first used magic.”