Margrave’s Bastard Son Was The Emperor [EN]: Chapter 824

Ian stared at the spilled tea.

Jin had accurately grasped the relationship between himself and the magicians, using it to create a favorable move. There was no denying it.

Before the Prime Minister’s visit, the plan was simply to hold out from the outside, but now it was completely derailed. Unless he found another way to break through, things would flow as Jin wanted.

“I will not mention the Magic Department’s annex any further. You may do as you wish with the Magic Department, and leave the matter of the mana stone monopoly to the Imperial Palace. Once the situation is settled, I will separately investigate and punish those who intervened in the market price formation.”

It was a gentle voice, as if soothing a child. The Prime Minister himself poured tea into Ian’s teacup.

“So, send the gathered nobles back to their places, and Minister Ian, please return to your position as well. I also agree with your opinion regarding the Empress.”

He knew that the Emperor had a fondness for the Holy Knight, but the Prime Minister was against placing someone with no political advantage in that position. Since he agreed with Ian on this matter, wouldn’t a solution emerge if they planned for the future?

Ian stared at the tea the Prime Minister had poured, then looked back at the Imperial Guard members.

‘Three Imperial Guards.’

“Do not count the number of Imperial Guards. Do not even think about trying to gauge who they are. That would truly be crossing a point of no return.”

Ian chuckled at the Prime Minister’s warning. The suspension was certainly unexpected, and it was a choice that involved a great deal of risk. Yet, the fact that Jin had presented this meant…

‘He knows I’ve lost my magic power.’

The Imperial Guard member standing next to the Prime Minister was the proof. Normally, such security would be absurd, but now they could easily subdue Ian.

He was certain that they were also stationed near the magicians’ residence. In case a disturbance occurred here, they would be able to respond immediately.

‘But there’s something you’ve overlooked.’

That was Ian’s true purpose. What Ian wanted was not to regain the Magic Department’s rights and enter the Imperial Palace, but-

“I will resign.”

It was the resignation itself.

As Ian firmly stated his intention, the Prime Minister and the Imperial Guard members’ expressions crumpled.

“You know why the Imperial Palace has offered the suspension of the magicians, yet you say such a thing? That is not possible.”

The suspension was offered to prevent Ian from stepping down from his position as the Minister of the Magic Department. It was also for the sake of the greater good, and a safety measure to prevent the situation from escalating to the worst.

But resignation here? Sorry, but it wouldn’t be accepted.

“I know you are a responsible person.”

Yet, if Ian insisted on resigning, the burden would fall entirely on the Magic Department. And this would ultimately leave room for interpreting it as disobedience to the Imperial Palace’s orders and having impure intentions.

“Yes, it is because I am responsible that I intend to resign.”

“I don’t understand what you mean.”

“Please return to the Imperial Palace and convey my intentions to His Majesty. You will soon understand.”

The Prime Minister stared into Ian’s eyes for a long time before rising from his seat. He gave one last warning.

“You have no cards left.”

“Yes. It seems so. That’s why I’m going to borrow one.”

What did he mean? The Prime Minister looked at Ian with a puzzled expression, but he didn’t seem inclined to answer. Eventually, the Prime Minister left the hotel with the Imperial Guard members.

Left alone in the lobby, Ian slowly crossed his legs and picked up the cold teacup. A staff member who had been watching from afar carefully approached and replaced it with a warm cup of tea.

“Excuse me.”

“Thank you.”

It was a place where the Prime Minister and the Minister of the Magic Department discussed the political situation. The lobby was quiet, and this was all intentional. Ian looked around and muttered softly.

“It won’t do if there’s no one listening.”

“Yes?”

“I’m sorry, but could you send someone to the Mailly Daily? I have something to convey.”

“Of course. I’ll prepare a pen for you.”

“No. I’ll tell you verbally.”

The staff member, who was about to bring a pen and paper, stopped.

“Verbally?”

“Yes. Listen carefully and convey everything without missing a word.”

Ian sighed softly and smiled. If the Imperial Palace was trying to hold onto him and not let him go, he had no choice but to borrow the hands of another.

“Tell them that Ian Hielro secretly saved and helped the youngest daughter of the traitorous Hyman family, Melania, escape.”

The staff member blinked, wondering if he had misheard. Then, as if telling him to get his act together, Ian patted his collar and added.

“This was a unilateral decision by the Minister of the Magic Department, who wanted to catch Rutherford, and although it turned out as intended, there is a problem with betraying the trust of the Imperial Family. It would be good for the Mailly Daily to dig into this and investigate it in detail, and inform the entire Bariel [the name of the country or region].”

“Um, Minister Ian?”

“You can say that I reported it, but I don’t think they’ll listen to that. If you need proof, it will be in the Magic Department within the Imperial Palace, so tell them to request it there.”

Understood? Ian lightly patted the staff member’s shoulder as if he was done. The staff member, who had been standing there blankly, ran out of the hotel at Ian’s urging. If he sweated a bit, he would quickly come to his senses.

‘There’s no room for rebuttal when it comes to treason. The act of saving Hyman itself is a serious crime. If the people find out about this, the Imperial Palace will have no choice but to punish me. Jin won’t be able to declare that he was involved either. The magicians don’t know about it, so they won’t be able to get involved. To quell the uproar, my dismissal is the only way.’

The problem was the magicians.

If they found out that the Imperial Palace was trying to pressure Ian by using the suspension as a pretext, there was no telling how they would react. Perhaps the Imperial Palace was also worried about this, which was why they only told Ian about it.

‘But they might find out someday. It’s better to quickly sever the relationship between me and the Magic Department before that happens.’

To do that, it would be most effective for Ian to directly select and appoint the next minister.

Ian tapped his crossed leg and pondered for a moment. Who would be better, Hale or Acorella……

“Hey.”

“Yes!”

At Ian’s call, another staff member came running.

“I want to go to 12th Street on Central Road 1. Could you prepare a carriage for me?”

“It’s not that far from here. We can leave right away. Do you need to go all the way into the alley? Shall I bring a small carriage?”

“No. It’s a mansion on the main street.”

“Ah, is it the one where explosions often occur?”

It was Acorella’s mansion. Ian had decided on Acorella as the next minister and wanted to meet her to discuss the current situation. He could use his deteriorating health as an excuse for the Magic Department members. This way, at least no one would try to dissuade him from resigning.

Clatter, clatter!

As the staff member said, the mansion wasn’t that far from the hotel. However, perhaps because the Imperial Palace was in disarray, the streets were also quite busy and chaotic.

But Acorella’s mansion was even more of a mess. The yard was full of all sorts of boxes and sacks scattered haphazardly. It was a scene that was hard to believe was where someone lived. It was Ian’s first time at Acorella’s mansion, so he was a little taken aback.

“Minister. Is this the right place?”

“…Maybe.”

“If someone lived here, they’d probably get sick and die.”

So, was that why Acorella didn’t go into her mansion and stayed like a ghost in the Magic Department? Ian gestured for him to wait for a moment and knocked on the mansion’s front door.

Creak! Creak!

Thud!

The sound of the front door was also strange. At the sound, a few neighbors came out and greeted him.

“Who are you? Are you perhaps from another country? If you’ve come to deliver some strange substance, just throw it in the yard. If you knock on the mansion door, it might suddenly explode.”

“I know the owner of the mansion is a magician from the Magic Department, Acorella.”

“Yes, you’ve come to the right place. But if you want to meet that person, it would be faster to go to the Magic Department. She comes here maybe once or twice a year? It’s hard to see her face except when she comes to find something.”

Thanks to that, even if all sorts of strange experimental subjects run wild inside the mansion, there’s no way to control them! It was fortunate that they couldn’t get out of the mansion, thanks to some trick she used.

Ian suddenly felt that something was wrong.

“Hasn’t Captain Acorella come to the mansion?”

“To the mansion? Why?”

“Why, you ask……”

Because he had ordered her to leave the palace and reside in her mansion.

The neighbors laughed and waved their hands. If she had come, they would have definitely known, they said.

“If she comes once, she breaks the windows, and the roof collapses… There’s never a quiet day, so there’s no way we wouldn’t know. One hundred out of one hundred times, she’ll be in the Magic Department.”

“…Oh, dear.”

Ian realized. Acorella hadn’t left the palace. He had clearly told the coachman to make sure, but he didn’t know how she had tricked him.

‘This is crazy.’

To contact Acorella, he would have to send someone to the Imperial Palace, and if he did, Jin would surely notice and have a chance to intervene.

Sending Romandro was even more out of the question. The Imperial Palace was like enemy territory right now. If he sent him, there was no telling how he would be used as a means to pressure Ian again.

But Ian couldn’t go either.

“Acorella……”

Ian muttered softly and then shut his mouth. Thanks to this, things had become tangled up again. Very thankfully.

* * *

“Ugh, my ears are itching.”

Acorella muttered, picking at her ear. Who was talking about her? Anyway, they had nothing better to do.

“I’m busy, you moron.”

After the Imperial Palace officials took the Siltham potion, the second floor was quiet. Thanks to that, Acorella was able to conduct experiments to her heart’s content, and it gradually became so bold that she was now openly spreading out and using experimental materials.

Acorella brought her nose close to the bubbling potion and sniffed. This warm, yet pungent and spicy smell!

“Let’s see, let’s see……”

Acorella rummaged through the cupboard and took out the necessary items, and if anything was missing, she would take the mana stones used in the Magic Department building and use them. Well, she would get an earful if she got caught later, but later was later.

Boil, boil, boil!

“Oooooh!”

The reaction immediately rose when she added the last ingredient. Bubbles formed, and colorful smoke began to rise.

Acorella bit her lip tightly with a blissful look in her eyes. She felt like she would shout for joy if she didn’t keep her wits about her.

“It’s done, it’s done! It’s done!”

She completed the final stirring. Acorella put down the stick and clenched both fists. Then, she began to wiggle her hips as she walked around the dark laboratory alone.

“Now, all I need to do is find a test subject. Ugh, I thought I was going to die from frustration.”

The ultimate memory recall potion to fill in the gaps in her memory! It was finally complete! While waiting for the potion to cool, Acorella frantically wrote down her experiment records.

Then-

Thud.

“-!”

The sound of footsteps in the hallway!

Damn it! Did those bastards have magnets on their bodies? Why did they always come crawling when she made a potion?

Acorella hurriedly covered the workbench with a cloth and hid the potion whole. It was hard because of the hot and spicy smell, but she could endure this much.

“Didn’t we look at the second floor already? We took all the data then.”

“Yeah, but they told us to look again.”

“Wow, there must be something here. There are experimental tools scattered everywhere again?”

Acorella licked her lips. She seemed to be contemplating whether to lick the memory recall potion she was holding. However, the voices that followed made her calm down as if cold water had been poured on her.

“When will the magicians return?”

“It’ll take a while, right? The minister stormed out, so he’ll never come back on his own until the matter is resolved.”

“……?!”

Minister Ian stormed out? Did he leave the palace? Where to? Why?

“He’s going to get fired.”

Minister Ian? By whom? How?

Acorella’s eyes flashed as she peeked out. It was a moment of deliberation. Should she grab those guys and beat them up, or should she wait and see……

“The Prime Minister went to see Minister Ian, so wouldn’t it have been conveyed?”

“Stop right there! Freeze!”

“Uwaaaah!”

Acorella couldn’t hold back and jumped up, and at her sudden appearance, the officials fell over as if they had fainted.

Acorella’s orange eyes gleamed madly.