Margrave’s Bastard Son Was The Emperor [EN]: Chapter 906

Pat, pat.

As small footprints appeared on the floor, Hana moved quickly, wiping them away. The doorknob was still firmly locked. Hana focused her energy on her fingertips and inserted a wire into the lock.

Click.

“Hana, will it work?” Ian whispered.

“Yes, this is easy. But since I can’t see my hands, it’s a little… um…” she replied.

She had no choice but to work more clumsily than usual. Ian anxiously scanned below the railing. Fortunately, he didn’t sense anyone coming or going.

Click. Clack.

“Oh, it’s open. Go in, Master Ian,” Hana said.

The door opened in an instant. Ian thanked her and slipped inside, and Hana closed the door. Then, she wiped the hallway clean, leaving no trace of moisture, and returned to the room.

Creak.

Ian, having entered Cronie’s study, first surveyed his surroundings. The interior was neat and orderly. Although it was dark with the curtains drawn, he could make out the shapes. Should he turn on the light?

Zzzing!

Ian created a small magic orb at his fingertip. It was a tiny light, like a firefly, but it brightened the surroundings. Ian strode towards the desk and rummaged through the drawers.

Rustle.

Carefully maintaining the order so that no papers would be disturbed, he quickly read the letters and grasped the contents. Most of them were reports about the management of the mansion. The handwriting was familiar, so it must have been written by the butler. It was similar to the handwriting on the invitation.

‘Nothing here.’

There was nothing particularly noteworthy on the desk. Ian opened the drawers from the top, one by one, and confirmed that the bottom drawer was also empty. It didn’t make sense.

‘Something’s strange.’

How could a personal study have such clean drawers? Even if it was just for simple tasks, it couldn’t be like this. It was the moment Ian was putting the drawer back in, feeling lost.

“Huh?”

He felt that the depth of the drawer was different. As if there was a hidden space. Ian reached inside the third drawer and felt around, discovering a small groove.

‘It’s here.’

Ian lowered his head to look inside and felt a chill. A secret space made only with a groove, without any special device. It seemed like he could just pull it out if he put his hand in, but given Cronie’s personality, would he have set up such a flimsy device?

Swoosh.

Ian squatted down and looked at the potion kit that Ako had packed for him.

“Briquettes… why did she pack this?” he muttered.

And next, the clone potion, the hallucination potion.

Ian stared at the clone potion for a moment, then opened the lid and poured it into his mouth. The sweet strawberry flavor spread throughout his mouth.

Saaah.

He felt a warmth in his body, which quickly subsided. Before he knew it, another version of himself, not transparent, appeared in front of him, standing blankly.

“Oh.”

“…Hello?”

The clone mimicked him, fidgeting its fingers. It was awkward, as if trying to adapt to a strange body.

Ian asked the clone to pull the groove.

“It’s inside here.”

“Can you try pulling the groove?”

“Try pulling the groove?”

“…Stop repeating me.”

“Stop repeating me.”

Ugh. The condition was terrible. Ian narrowed his eyes in displeasure, but the clone just blinked its eyes nonchalantly and put its hand in the groove.

At that moment, with a click, a gap seemed to open slightly-

Fzzzt! Crack!

A sudden beam of light burst out, instantly burning the clone’s body.

“……!”

Ian stepped back in surprise, and the clone, not even realizing it was being erased, turned to dust and disappeared.

‘Ha, a trap.’

If he had recklessly put his hand in, he would have been burned to death like that. Ian felt sweat trickling down his back and called for help outside.

“Hana. Hana, are you there?” he whispered.

But there was no reply. Either the potion’s effect had worn off, or she had returned first for some reason.

Ian looked around and pulled out the cloth from the stand, wrapping it around his hand.

‘The clone opened a small gap, so I just need to pull it.’

Would it be okay? Just in case, he tried to deploy a shield, but he couldn’t shake off the unease.

And at the same time, he fully realized that Cronie was really trying to kill him. Even if the trap wasn’t aimed at him, he had glimpsed the nature of someone who would surely kill anyone who crossed the line.

Creak.

Carefully, more carefully. As Ian opened the drawer, a thick bundle of documents and a small jewelry box were revealed. Just as Ian was about to pick them up-

“Will the clothes fit?” a voice asked from outside.

“Probably. By the way, who’s in charge of the mansion’s water management? Fire them immediately. What a disgrace,” another voice replied.

“Understood,” a third voice said.

He heard voices from outside.

Ian held his breath and slowly examined the documents. Surely Hana and Romandro would buy him more time.

Rustle.

‘It’s a list of bank accounts. Why is he keeping this here?’

Ian carefully examined the deposits and withdrawals with his small hands. Then, he learned a new fact. Cronie’s financial resources were less than he thought. As soon as money was deposited, it was transferred to different places, so the amount immediately available was only about 100 gold coins.

‘Huh? Here, this isn’t a transfer, it’s a withdrawal record.’

A considerable amount of money had been cashed out compared to his assets, and that item particularly caught his eye. Ian memorized the date and amount and then looked at the next document.

“…This is it.”

And he found a business card. It was a card that read , which seemed to be a merchant guild. There was a signature of the guild leader, so it seemed to serve as an invitation as well.

‘Could he have commissioned an assassination through this group?’

Ian pondered for a moment and then took the card. If Cronie returned and saw the desk, he would know that someone had broken in and triggered the trap. Since he would find out anyway, it didn’t seem to matter much whether he took it or not.

Saaah.

At that moment, the color returned to Ian’s fingertips. The effect of the invisibility potion had worn off. It would take a while to go through the hallway and back to the room from here…

Click.

Even while worrying, Ian didn’t stop his hands. It was the moment he opened the jewelry box that was in the corner.

“Ah.”

His body froze.

An amber-colored, familiar magic stone, Idgal. He didn’t know how he got it, but compared to the one Ako barely had, the stone looked bigger and sturdier.

‘This was supposed to be a magic stone that nullifies magic.’

Ako’s purpose seemed to be for research, but what about Cronie? What purpose did he have for possessing this? No, before that, where did he get this? Ian frowned at the ominous thought.

‘Take everything.’

He put everything that could be used as evidence into his pocket.

Ian looked at the other documents, but most of them didn’t seem to be related to the assassination attempt. It would be good to wrap things up around here.

Click.

He slightly opened the door and peeked outside, where servants were standing in the hallway. They were there to bring clothes and prepare for any additional requests. Since his invisibility had completely worn off, he couldn’t go out carelessly.

“Oh my, I’m talking about fully dried jasmine tea. Don’t you have any?” Hana asked loudly.

“Um, that’s not available in the mansion…” a servant replied.

“Then please prepare a similar flower tea. What if Master Ian catches a cold? He’s doing great work for the Magic Department! Don’t you think so?” Hana continued.

“Cough! Cough!” Romandro added.

Hana made fussy demands to send the servants away, and Romandro kept coughing. He didn’t know if he was imitating him or not.

The servants looked perplexed, and when Hana closed the door, they grumbled and went down the stairs.

“Such a fuss, there’s no fuss like that,” one servant muttered.

“I know. Isn’t it enough to just warm up the body?” another replied.

“Flower tea. Hmm. Was there any left in the kitchen?” the first servant wondered.

This was the moment. Ian shook the last remaining hallucination potion a few times and sprinkled it on the floor. Then, without looking back, he ran down the hallway.

Sway, sway, the background warped strangely, and a giant cockroach appeared on the ceiling. The servants who were going down the stairs screamed as if they were about to faint.

“Kyaaaaak!” one servant yelled.

“Kyaak!” another screamed.

Thud!

It’s supposed to be a hallucination potion, so why is a bug like that appearing? Even while running, Ian tilted his head as if he couldn’t understand Ako’s intentions.

And then, the door opened just in time. Hana, as if she had been waiting, wrapped Ian in a towel and greeted him.

Click.

“Master Ian, are you okay?” she asked.

“Yeah. I’m fine,” he replied.

“It was noisy outside,” Hana said.

“I don’t know. Ako gave me something weird,” Ian said.

What on earth…? Hana and Romandro were puzzled, but they decided to keep quiet, thinking that it must be something Ako would do.

Ian quickly dried himself and changed into the clothes the butler had given him. They were clothes that Cronie had worn when he was young, so they were a bit unpleasant, but there was no other way. From now on, the most important thing was not to get caught.

* * *

Meanwhile, the butler, disgusted by the commotion, went up the stairs and found the servants wandering around with brooms and dusters.

“What’s all this noise!” he demanded.

“Th-there’s a huge bug on the ceiling-!” a servant stammered.

“With guests here, what is this!” the butler yelled.

The butler yelled, then his gaze fell to the floor. The servants had been going back and forth, so it was almost gone, but there was a faint trace of moisture left. The butler gestured to the servants to stay still, as if telling them to wait.

‘What is this?’

None of the servants were holding wet items. But why was there moisture? Following it with his eyes, it led to the innermost hallway.

‘There’s only…’

The study was the only thing there?

The butler frowned and headed in the opposite direction. It was connected to the room where Ian and his party were changing clothes.

“……!”

Could it be?

He turned back to the study and tried the doorknob, but fortunately, it was locked. The butler hurriedly opened the door to the room where Ian was.

Bang!

“Ah,” Ian said.

Ian, having changed his clothes, was drying his hair in front of the fireplace. And Romandro was also sitting next to him, looking at him as if wondering what was going on. Ian frowned as if he was displeased.

“I wish you would have made a sound,” Ian said.

“I-I apologize. I was wondering if there was anything uncomfortable-” the butler stammered.

“It is uncomfortable for the butler to barge in like this,” Ian said.

There was a puddle of water on the floor. It was clear that Ian had gone into that room and come out, but there was no evidence. He couldn’t suddenly search their bodies, and he couldn’t enter the study because Cronie managed the key himself.

“I-I’m sorry,” the butler said.

“The host offered to let me live here, but the more I think about it, the more I don’t think it suits me,” Ian said.

Ian adjusted his collar, warming himself by the fireplace.

“The door opens without a sound, the faucet is broken and gushing like a fountain, and from the noise outside, it seems like there were even bugs,” Ian continued.

And a big one at that? Hana’s confident fist, raised as if to show off, was a bonus.

At Ian’s remarks, the butler had nothing to say and just bit his lip. It was something that shouldn’t have happened in a high-class mansion. Ian casually put the towel aside and asked.

“The Great Master must be in his bedroom, right? I’ll just say a quick hello and then be on my way.”

His bangs were still slightly wet, but he couldn’t stay in the mansion any longer. He gestured as if to lead the way, and the butler turned and guided him.

“This way,” the butler said.

Hana, Romandro, and Ian exchanged glances. Whatever it was, they would finish the conversation and ‘run away.’

Ian needed to deliver the business card and Idgal [a magic stone that nullifies magic] in his pocket to the Arena Minister. If Cronie had obtained a magic stone that nullified magic, it was a really dangerous thing, wasn’t it? While Ian was thinking about various things, they arrived at Lord Lato’s bedroom.

Knock knock.

“Master. It’s Lord Ian,” the butler said.

The butler knocked on the door and made a sound, but there was no answer from inside. Knock knock again.

“Master?” the butler asked.

The inside was strangely quiet.

The butler was startled and opened the door, revealing Lato lying neatly on the bed. He was so quiet, so deeply asleep that even his breath couldn’t be felt.