Margrave’s Bastard Son was The Emperor [EN]: Chapter 591

“Ian, sir. Katimako, the puppeteer from Astana, has arrived.”

“Let him in.”

At Ian’s permission, the doors swung open.

Having been urgently summoned, Katimako was quite out of breath. He looked around as if he couldn’t understand what was going on, but no one dared to speak rashly. A woman was bound and blindfolded, sobbing, surrounded by people.

“What’s going on?”

“This is Barsabe. She’s a magic swordsman of the Imperial Guard, but it seems she’s been cursed by a puppeteer from Toolun.”

“A curse? Just a moment, excuse me.”

“Barsabe identified the target with her eyes and even attacked. It’s suspected that it came from Toolun itself.”

“…If it’s strongly bound, that’s entirely possible. What kind of attack was it?”

“It was the same mysterious attack that the people of Astana suffered during the Agiar battle. However, it was much stronger and heavier.”

Only then did Katimako realize the purpose of the tightly drawn curtains. They were a temporary measure to prevent their location from being exposed.

He gestured for a lamp, and one of the Imperial Guards brought a lit candle and held it in front of Katimako.

“Katimako, all the puppeteers were killed when Rutherford was captured. That means the one who cursed Barsabe is also dead, but I don’t understand why the curse hasn’t disappeared.”

“It depends on the type of curse. First, let me check. Barsabe, open your mouth. I heard there’s a wound made by a puppeteer inside your mouth.”

“Hic….”

Barsabe, who had been sobbing, slowly opened her mouth. Her colleagues, watching her, turned their heads away, their hearts breaking.

Katimako looked closely at the wound inside her mouth, then took out a small knife from his pocket.

“…Is it true that your vision is being transmitted?”

“Hic, yes. It is. It feels like the back of my head is empty. Like, my head isn’t mine, and it’s like a hole someone is looking through.”

“First, it’s fortunate that your mind is intact. Apart from puppetry, if all five senses are controlled, then the personality is destroyed. Barsabe, have you ever moved against your will or orders?”

“No, I haven’t.”

Katimako touched the wound inside Barsabe’s mouth with the tip of his knife. He could see the marks where the puppeteers had threaded the strings. He frowned and muttered.

“It’s not easy to perform puppetry on a living person. It seems that the control is incomplete because the puppeteer is dead…”

His mind was complicated. As he hesitated and trailed off, the Imperial Guards rubbed their foreheads with troubled expressions. They were holding back their words, afraid that Barsabe might hear them and that it would be transmitted to the other side.

“Barsabe, any other unusual symptoms?”

“Sometimes I hear someone’s voice. It’s just an exclamation like ‘I see,’ but earlier, it tried to persuade me to look to the side. I followed it without realizing it, but it wasn’t an unconscious movement. The voice was so vivid in my ear that I was surprised and turned around.”

“Hmm, I see.”

Katimako examined the inside of Barsabe’s mouth closely, then tapped one of the embedded threads with the tip of his knife. It was tightly intertwined, as if it had already become part of her body. He asked Barsabe for her understanding and muttered.

“First, I’m going to remove all the threads that can be removed, is that okay? It will hurt a little.”

“Of course. Please cut them all off without leaving a single one.”

Instead of answering, he acted immediately. Barsabe’s arms, tied to the chair handles, twitched, but that was all. She clenched her fists so tightly that the bones on the back of her hands protruded, swallowing the pain. As if her painful screams were shameful, she didn’t even let out a groan.

Watching this, the Imperial Guards turned their heads or bit their lips tightly, while Katimako examined the threads that were being cut quite easily and said,

“There’s a very difficult and dangerous curse among puppetry that is forbidden. It’s called ‘Double Puppet,’ and as the name suggests, it’s using puppetry in layers. Judging by the fact that the effect hasn’t disappeared even though the caster is dead, it’s likely this. There must be another caster.”

“Is there a possibility of breaking the curse?”

“Yes, there is. Any curse has a way to break it. Especially since puppeteers control their targets with ‘puppets’ that are shaped like them, there must be a core object. If that’s destroyed, you’ll naturally be free from the curse.”

Ian lightly frowned. That meant they had no choice but to find the puppeteer in Toolun, who was presumably connected to Barsabe. It was a method that couldn’t be done right away, so it was difficult.

“There’s another way. In Barsabe’s case, only sensory control has been achieved, so if we deal with that, we can cut off the connection.”

It meant giving up her sight.

The Imperial Guards who were listening together vehemently opposed it.

“No! We absolutely cannot do that!”

“Asking a swordsman to give up their eyes? That’s unacceptable!”

“…Everyone, calm down.”

“But Commander Jeyrat!”

“Can’t you be quiet?”

Katimako, whose spine had been chilled by Commander Jeyrat’s low warning, turned around with a start. Such a commotion during surgery, tsk tsk. As he straightened his knife again, Barsabe trembled and whispered.

“…It’s okay.”

“What?”

“Barsabe!”

“If what I see poses a threat to His Majesty the Emperor and Bariel… I’d rather live in eternal darkness. To me, that would be a more beautiful life than all the brilliant lights of the world…”

Tears were dripping down from under her blindfold, but there was no wavering in Barsabe’s voice.

All the Imperial Guards were saddened and couldn’t say a word, and Jeyrat covered his face with both hands. It was tragic and infuriating.

“No way.”

Then, Beric broke the silence and flatly denied it.

“There’s a way to break it, so why give up your eyes? And right now, the Imperial Guard has suffered heavy losses, and every single person is precious. You’re our tooth. If we lose you in this situation, it’s going to be really tough for us.”

“Yeah, that’s right! Beric is right. No matter what happens to you, the Emperor’s safety is still at risk. So please, let’s not give up so easily? Huh? They said they can break the curse.”

“We’ve sent too many comrades away. We can’t give you up for something like this.”

“Barsabe, stop crying, please.”

If it weren’t for the endless drops of tears falling from under her blindfold, people wouldn’t have even known that Barsabe was crying.

Jeyrat called Ian in a low voice.

“Minister Ian, what do you think?”

The Imperial Guards wanted to save Barsabe, but if the magic department, which was the core of the current power, opposed it, there was nothing they could do. They waited for Ian’s answer with tense faces.

“The fact that the enemy can attack His Majesty the Emperor just by identifying the location is a significant risk factor.”

As Ian answered quietly, Barsabe gripped the handles as if she had made up her mind.

“But that’s because this is Agiar.”

If either the puppet or the background didn’t exist, an attack was impossible. Agiar was a place where Toolun puppeteers had directly come to support, so it was possible to share information about the terrain, and there would have been no problem in creating a stage.

But what if they went outside of that?

Could they track movements even outside of Agiar?

They didn’t even have to go to the barren plains. Even if they just crossed the city walls, the information would flow, but it wouldn’t lead to an attack.

“Katimako, are you sure that no other senses besides sight are being transmitted?”

“Yes, judging from the current state, that’s correct. These guys must have been in a hurry. They handled it so messily that no transfer occurred. It’s a stroke of luck. The visual thread is too strong to cut, though.”

Everyone breathed a sigh of relief at the diagnosis that there were no problems with hearing and speaking, other than seeing.

“Minister Ian, shall we finish up now? If we cut this last bit, they won’t be able to hear anything the other side says to Barsabe.”

“Wait a minute!”

It was Barsabe who shouted. She wiped away the tears that had gathered under her chin with her shoulder and asked,

“How about leaving that as it is? We might be able to get information through it. If it’s just hearing without any other problems, I’d like to do that.”

“Well, it’s up to you.”

Katimako shrugged, and Ian nodded. If there was no other risk, there was no need to block the words coming from the other side.

Katimako took out some herbs from his bag and applied them to the inside of her cheek, preparing for the final step.

‘What Barsabe sees is also seen by the enemy.’

Ian watched the scene and pondered for a moment. It was quite dangerous, but conversely, if used well, it could become a great weapon.

As if the treatment was over, Katimako wiped the sweat from his forehead with the back of his hand and stood up.

“It’s done for now. I’ve sealed it well so that it won’t break.”

“You’ve done well. Barsabe, you must continue to wear the blindfold while you’re in Agiar. The Imperial Guard must thoroughly manage and supervise this. Commander Jeyrat.”

“Yes, Minister Ian.”

“I have no doubt that you will do well.”

Of course, if it meant protecting Barsabe completely, he would do anything. Jeyrat bowed lightly and lowered his head.

At that moment, Katimako adjusted his sleeves and called Ian.

“Um, if you don’t mind, could we talk a little more? I received a message from Astana. I’d like to talk about the Toolun puppeteers.”

“Of course. Go ahead first. Show him to the reception room.”

“Yes, this way.”

Katimako went out first, and Ian followed behind him. Then, the Imperial Guards all rushed to Barsabe and untied her bonds. They then grabbed each other’s arms and patted each other, sharing words of comfort.

“Barsabe, it’ll be okay. We’ll find your eyes.”

“Yeah. When we go to Toolun, we’ll pay them back double. Barsabe, don’t cry too much.”

Barsabe, unable to answer because of Katimako’s treatment, just smiled. She tightened her blindfold as if to strengthen her resolve, and then held out her fist.

Thud.

Then, her colleagues lightly bumped fists with her. In a world where she couldn’t see anything, it was the only path Barsabe could follow.

Creak.

Thump.

Meanwhile, Ian was heading to the reception room, organizing the situation with the mages. It felt like a huge storm had swept through.

“His Majesty the Emperor has finished his examination.”

“Are there no particular issues?”

“Yes, it seems he was slightly scratched by flying glass shards, but there are no other major injuries. And Ian, this is a letter that just came up from the Bariel magic department. Lord Romandro sent it urgently.”

“Lord Romandro?”

What was going on? If there was a problem in the Imperial Palace, the content would have been delivered directly to the Emperor, not the magic department. This was likely something related to the magic department or Ian himself.

Ian tore open the letter as he headed to the reception room, and then stopped walking.

“…Ian, sir? What’s wrong?”

The mages looked at Ian’s expression and asked, but there was no answer. However, judging by the way his eyes had turned cold, it was clear that the content was not positive.

Ian stood still for a long time, reading the contents of the letter, then folded the paper sharply and put it in his pocket.

‘…Philia has gone missing.’