Margrave’s Bastard Son was The Emperor [EN]: Chapter 846

The officials who had received Minister Rayburn’s urgent summons gathered at a mansion on the outskirts of the city. This was at his request, to meet as far away from the Imperial Palace as possible.

They had heard about the meeting with the Emperor, and they were worried that something was wrong. The officials waited for Rayburn with anxious expressions.

*Creak.*

“Minister Rayburn.”

“You’re all here.”

“What’s going on?”

“Shhh.”

Rayburn put a finger to his lips, as if asking them to wait a moment. The officials were flustered and fell silent, while Rayburn thoroughly patted himself down, checking for anything unusual. They were all puzzled, but soon realized what his actions meant.

‘Eavesdropping?’

The officials, realizing this, also patted themselves down as if searching. After doing that for a while, Rayburn let out a sigh of relief and slumped onto the sofa.

“The word got out.”

“Yes? What do you mean?”

“I don’t know what the Magic Department did, but they knew about our conversations. That we were trying to get a pardon using Ian Hielro.”

The officials gaped in shock.

In fact, this was a common occurrence during the time of the previous minister, Wesley. Therefore, even the choice of words was cautious within the Imperial Palace, and most meetings were held outside the palace.

However, since the position of Minister of Magic had been vacant for the past 10 years, and the mages were all out due to the war, they had become careless. They forgot that they were the ones who could eavesdrop on conversations anytime, anywhere.

“This, uh, how-”

“This is a big problem. We were careless.”

“Minister Rayburn. What did His Majesty say?”

Rayburn quenched his thirst with cold water before adding,

“Fortunately, he didn’t make a big issue out of it. I received a warning—or rather, a caution—to be careful, but there was one gain.”

“A gain, you say?”

“It’s certain. There was another intention behind Ian Hielro’s rebellion. And it seems that His Majesty and the Magic Department are aware of this and are condoning it. Otherwise, there’s no way they would have reacted like that.”

A glimmer of hope appeared in their despair. But the officials’ faces brightened only for a moment.

‘Then what? Isn’t the Emperor’s side already aware of our intentions?’

It seemed there was no other way. No matter how much they questioned Ian Hielro, the Emperor and the Magic Department would block it all.

“There is one more method left.”

“What is it?”

“The method Ian Hielro used.”

“…The Mailly Daily?”

“Yes. It doesn’t have to be there. In fact, that place has deep ties with the Imperial Family and Ian Hielro, so it’s not a suitable choice.”

It was about using public opinion.

Just as Ian Hielro attacked the Imperial Palace through the Mailly Daily, they could also raise questions about the Imperial Palace, forcing them to respond.

Directly stepping forward was too dangerous and ineffective, but if they succeeded in gaining the support of the people of the Empire, the situation would be completely different.

“The Imperial Family will have no choice but to actively explain this.”

“Um, but, you know.”

Someone who had been listening quietly asked cautiously.

“What if Ian Hielro is actually executed? Then it’ll be the end, and we won’t be able to turn back.”

“That’s right. Wouldn’t it be better to keep stalling for time? If the investigation becomes sluggish, another opportunity will come.”

It was a valid point, but Rayburn shook his head. He was certain. The reactions of the Emperor and Acorella that he had seen with his own eyes! Judging from that, they would never put Ian Hielro on the execution stand.

“Trust me. I’m certain, with everything I have. If things go wrong, you can kill me. No, I’ll bet my whole family.”

As Rayburn insisted with veins popping out of his neck, the officials, who had been hesitant for a moment, nodded. Right. Either way, their place was next on the execution stand. It was right to try anything.

“Since they could also switch the body with magic, it would be good to investigate that first. To deceive the public, they would use a corpse that is somewhat similar to Ian Hielro, right?”

“The head of Saint Central Hospital is my cousin. He has a cooperative relationship with all the central hospitals. I’ll check if there have been any requests from the Imperial Palace or the Magic Department for the handover of a body.”

“I’ll take care of the prison side.”

“Yes, of course. There’s no one more suitable than the Minister of Justice. Just in case, I’ll suggest installing a device to hinder magic on the execution stand. Under the pretext that we don’t know what Ian Hielro might do.”

“Let’s put pressure on them like that and observe the Magic Department’s reaction closely. If they’re trying to hide something, it’ll show. Mages are surprisingly naive.”

“I’ll contact the media. There’s a newspaper company that I have a regular partnership with as part of my family’s sponsorship business. It’s a small one, but since there are only a limited number of people in the Empire who can read, it’ll do.”

“Good. I’ll take charge of persuading the central nobles who are detained. They’ll be very worried since their lives are at stake. It’s important for the nobles to unite firmly.”

The officials nodded repeatedly and made plans. Until dawn, for a long time.

Rayburn was so tired that he didn’t notice that his shadow was unusually long.

* * *

“The body?”

“It’s ready. It’ll be brought into the Imperial Palace soon.”

Acorella shrugged her shoulders as she answered Ian’s question. Ian silently sipped his tea and remained quiet.

Acorella knew very well what that meant. So, she spoke to reassure Ian.

“So, don’t worry. If things really go wrong, we can just chop it up to quell any suspicion.”

“Yes, I’m not worried.”

“Aren’t you worried? That’s why you’re asking like this?”

“Well. It’s not so much worry as…”

Ian tilted his head and trailed off.

‘Regret.’

But Ian changed the subject and urged,

“Acorella. I trust you know what I’m going to ask of you.”

“Yes. Of course. To assist His Majesty well and develop the Magic Department. And-”

Acorella gestured with her head towards the construction site of the annex, faintly visible in the darkness outside the window, and added,

“You mean the construction of the annex.”

“Naum said so. When he was using forbidden magic, the god clearly told him to go to the Magic Department’s annex. But I haven’t even seen a single brick of it since I came here, isn’t that strange?”

He couldn’t forget when he first came to the Magic Department in Ian Bratz’s body. The place where he expected the annex to be was just full of trees. And that’s where he first met Gale.

“Hmm.”

Acorella rubbed her chin, thinking about something.

“Ian, when you first heard that.”

“Huh?”

“Wasn’t it when you were Ian Verosian?”

“…Was it?”

At that time, Ian was imprisoned in the dungeon by Cronie.

Suddenly, Acorella snapped her fingers as if she understood.

“Then go to the annex from when you were Ian Verosian. Then you might find the ‘answer’ that the god meant.”

Ian’s eyes widened slightly. He had a hunch that he was mistaken about something.

…What did Naum say while holding my hand in the dungeon?

“Ian, go that way. If you go, you’ll find a breakthrough…. He said that if you go that way, you’ll open up an opportunity.”

This was a statement that had gone through Naum’s subjective interpretation.

Then, what exactly did the god say to Naum? Ian frowned.

“What’s wrong?”

“I think I heard it. In the darkness of the abyss.”

“What?”

“The words the god said at the moment Naum used forbidden magic. …The memories are mixed. It must be because my darkness and Naum’s were mixed together.”

Ian kept tapping his temples, but he couldn’t recall the memory.

Acorella cautiously took out a potion and asked,

“Should I give you a recall potion?”

“No. It’s okay.”

“This is really effective.”

As Acorella urged again, Ian gave a faint smile.

Effective? He knew it better than anyone.

“It’s not that I doubt it, but I don’t think there’s a need to recall it. Because it’s not my memory, but Naum’s. And Acorella, I think your guess is right.”

Something that can be found in the annex when he was Ian Verosian, not Ian Hielro.

The only problem was whether he would remember this instruction when he went to the future.

“Don’t worry.”

Acorella comforted him lightly, as if she had read Ian’s thoughts.

“There’s a saying that the words of God are engraved on the soul. You won’t forget it.”

“…And you all?”

“Well. You might forget. But we’ll let it slide. We forgot about Ian once too.”

She hesitated for a moment and smiled.

“But Ian, you have to remember again someday. That’s all that matters.”

Ian placed his teacup on the table and reached out his hand to Acorella. She wiped her hand on her clothes and firmly grasped Ian’s hand. Tightly, as if it would break.

“Thank you, Acorella. So very much.”

“…I’m more grateful.”

“Thank you for believing in me when I went to the abyss with Rutherford. That you said we’d see each other again, it was truly… comforting.”

Acorella hugged Ian tightly. The hands patting each other’s backs were careful and tender.

“I want to say that now too. As long as you’re alive, we’ll see each other again. So, even if you leave the center, please stay alive. I’ll go see you with the kids.”

“Okay. The predecessor caused a big accident, so you’ll have a hard time. Good luck.”

“Yes, I’ll work hard to make the Magic Department solid. So that no one can touch it. Just watch. You’ll be surprised.”

Ian burst out laughing. At that moment, he turned his head at the sound of people rushing in from outside, and sure enough-

*Thump! Thump!*

*Crash!*

Before he knew it, the mages had come running.

“Ian! Look at that bastard Beric. Isn’t he a complete psycho?”

“He stepped on all the formulas and erased them all! Can we officially file a complaint with the Royal Guard?”

“I said I was sorry? Come on, I can just draw them again, why are you being so petty?”

“What? Draw again? Draaaw?! I haven’t slept for three days because of that, you jerk!”

“Stop exaggerating. Ian drew it in a few minutes.”

“If you’re going to compare, do it right, you idiot!”

As Beric and the mages grabbed each other by the collar and hair, Ian sighed and walked past them towards the backyard. There wasn’t much time left until sunrise, so he had to hurry and redraw them.

“Stop it, everyone, come here.”

“See, Ian’s going to do it for us.”

“Beric. You stay away. You’ll cause another accident.”

“Beee- Did you hear that? He said you should get lost!”

“No, how does that mean get lost?”

The mages and Ian’s back view gradually moved away. Acorella smiled at the familiar commotion.

Then, suddenly-

“……”

She was a little surprised to realize that her emotions were surprisingly calm. …It must be because she hadn’t realized it yet. She looked back at Romandro with a sigh of regret.

“Let’s go together, Romandro.”

“Huh? Me too? Is it okay?”

“Yes, well, all that’s left is to sort out the documents. And it’s been a long time since work hours ended.”

As Acorella nodded, saying it was okay, Romandro took a step back hesitantly. And then he ran after Ian and Beric.

“Iaaaann! Beric!”

“Romandro, be careful! Be careful! Down there!”

“Ouch!”

Acorella smiled again at the loud noises coming from the yard and cleared Ian’s teacup.

She had a hunch. Now that Ian had noticed the Imperial Palace’s affairs, his departure from the palace was truly not far away.