Margrave’s Bastard Son was The Emperor - Chapter 94

Chapter 94

Dive’s residence wasn’t far from the estate. The steward, who accompanied her on the lady’s orders, seemed lost in thought, staring outside the carriage. The death of his master must have been a significant shock.

“…Lord Ian.”

Ian responded by turning his head.

“Now that we are alone, I would like you to tell me the truth.”

“What are you referring to?”

“Do you truly have no relation with the lady?”

“Ah, really.”

“It’s an important issue for me.”

“Is that so? To me, it’s a pointless question.”

The steward was puzzled. If Ian and the lady weren’t involved, why did she seem so terrified, refusing to return to her bedroom? Her frightened behavior seemed like that of someone whose secret had been exposed.

“If the two of you really aren’t involved, it feels like all this tragedy started with my misunderstanding.”

If he had ignored the whispers of the servants, perhaps the Count, the lady, and Clark would not have had such a tragic night.

Ian chuckled softly to himself.

“Your name was Simon, right?”

“Yes.”

“Simon, who said it was a tragedy?”

“…Sir?”

“Is someone’s death always a tragedy? To the Count himself, certainly, but to those who wished for his death, what greater blessing could there be? I believe even you, as a steward, would understand.”

He had seen servants beaten to the point of writhing in pain and the lady bearing the bruises in their place, suffering beside them.

Simon covered his eyes with his hand and sighed softly. He couldn’t figure out what would be the right thing to do.

“And even if it is a tragedy, it’s not because of your misjudgment, but because of the Count’s damn character.”

Ian drew a clear line. As they spoke, the carriage slowed down. They had arrived at Dive’s residence. Being far on the outskirts, there were few houses around.

“Hmm. Quainter and nicer than I expected.”

A three-story mansion with a low roof. It could be called a palace compared to the homes of commoners, but it was quite modest for a noble’s dwelling. There was only a single willow tree planted in the small garden.

“Isn’t that Steward Simon?”

A servant, who came out at the sound, recognized Simon and bowed deeply. It was unusual for Simon to visit personally, especially with a stranger in tow.

“Is Lord Dive inside?”

“Yes. He’s in the middle of prayer.”

“There’s bad news. Lead the way.”

“Ah, yes. This way…”

At the mention of bad news, the servant led them inside. The interior of the mansion seemed unremarkable, except for the dark-themed paintings on the walls.

‘Prayer, huh?’

It was unexpected. In the borderlands, it was rare to find devout believers. In the central regions, near the Papacy and closer to magic, there was more reverence for the divine.

But here, where the power of a lord was almost equal to that of the emperor, everything revolved around the Count. There was no place for faith as a source of power.

“Please wait here for a moment.”

Creak

.

The servant led Ian and Simon to the drawing room. It seemed there were no others to attend to the mansion, as it was silent and devoid of any noise. Ian fiddled with the back of his neck, feeling slightly uneasy, and asked Simon.

“By the way, what kind of person is Lord Dive?”

“Lord Dive? Didn’t you know?”

“How would I know about the count’s brother’s affairs?”

Simon seemed to ponder how to describe him. While waiting for his response, Ian looked around the drawing room more closely.

A red-painted mahogany cross, a tablecloth with geometric patterns, dry leaves, colorful beads strung together as decorations, books piled up to the ceiling without any shelves…

“Except for his unique aesthetic sense, I really don’t know much about Lord Dive.”

Simon glanced at the firmly shut door and cleared his throat.

“Actually, I don’t know much about his childhood either, but I heard that Lord Dive was extremely passionate about his studies.”

“Passionate about studies?”

Simon, not being from the Merellof lineage and a settler, didn’t know the details of their childhood. He only knew snippets that had trickled down like rumors.

“The Count didn’t seem interested in anything academic except for money calculations.”

Simon wanted to argue but didn’t since it wasn’t entirely wrong and chose to ignore it lightly.

“The Count thought his passion for learning was a blessing, but later said it turned out to be a curse. He read a banned book from a foreign land.”

“A banned book? About what?”

“It was about the Undergod.”

“Ah, the Undergod.”

“Do you know of it?”

Ian gasped softly. The religion was dressed up in grandiose terms, but its essence was simple. It was a new religion that had emerged among the lower classes in another country. At that time, it was just one of many heresies, but over time, it grew in size and influence.

Bariel may be outside its influence, but other countries have suffered greatly from it. Religious wars have erupted due to it.

Since Merellof handled the trade of new goods coming into Barriel, it was natural that they would come into contact with such things. Ian crossed his arms and rubbed his chin.

‘Good grief, what a state this fiefdom is in…’

It was a complete mess. The Count, who was the lord, had severe paranoia and was mentally unstable, and his only heir was a heretic. It was a complete disaster.

‘In this case, it might be better to change the family head, as the lady suggested.’

No one could guarantee what would happen if power was given to a heretic. In the long run, it could become a threat not only to Ian’s fiefdom but also to Barriel itself.

Creak

.

“Simon.”

“Ah, Lord Dive.”

At that moment, the door to the drawing room opened, and Dive entered. Ian had expected him to be close in age to the Count, but he looked surprisingly young, in his late thirties. While he definitely resembled the Count, the overall atmosphere was quite different.

He had the aura of someone who would be in seclusion, devoted to prayer.

“I have received a response from the Undergod.”

“I have some bad news.”

“Who has died?”

Simon was startled by his intuition and just nodded, but Ian snorted in disbelief. It’s obvious that bad news would mean someone’s death. He found it ridiculous how Dive behaved as if he had guessed something extraordinary.

“Last night, the Count was attacked by a lower member of the house. The physician is currently stitching up his wounds for the funeral.”

“Haa.”

Dive let out a meaningless sigh. He seemed both distressed and relieved. He overlapped his fingers, touching his forehead, and murmured something.

‘Serious case, definitely a serious case.’

“Who is this gentleman?”

“Oh, this is baron Ian, the new lord of the neighboring fiefdom.”

Upon Simon’s introduction, Ian offered his hand.

“I’m Ian. I haven’t received an official family name from the Emperor yet, so please feel free to address me informally. A royal advisor is currently at our place, and Lady Lien Merellof asked for help, so I came here.”

Dive glanced at his hand and reluctantly shook it, responding. He seemed to have heard of Ian. Rumors that a bastard son of commoner origin had overthrown his father and become the new lord.

“What kind of help?”

“Starting with delivering this news to Mr. Dive, handling various matters at the mansion. Lady Lien seems quite out of sorts, so she needed someone to watch over things.”

“Really, my sister-in-law. Leaving family aside to bring in an outsider. I’ll prepare soon and return to the mansion.”

Ian smiled and nodded. However, there were several concerning points in their brief conversation. Despite Ian being young and from a humble background, he held a title, while Dive had none. There was an underlying condescension, as if Dive was looking down on him just because of his noble birth.

‘And he says he’s going back?’

It could be an overreaction, but Ian found Dive’s attitude, as if the mansion inherently belonged to him, particularly irksome. Dive left the drawing room to change his clothes, and Ian turned to Simon.

“Steward, do you wish for Mr. Dive to become the new family head?”

Simon hesitated for a moment, struggling to answer the sudden question. The Count might not have been a good master, but he had decent business acumen.

But Dive? Since reaching adulthood, he had never been involved in business, preoccupied with heresy and spending half his days in prayer.

“If he enters the mansion, you might lose your place, right? You’re not from the family’s previous lines of servants, after all.”

A steward is someone the family head entrusts with the management of the house. Since Dive already had a servant, if he returned to the mansion, it was natural he would appoint his own butler.

“I have no right to comment. I served the Count, and I only wish to honor the legacy of the Merellof family.”

“Hmm, really?”

Really?

Ian raised his eyebrows and asked again, but he couldn’t get an answer.

They followed Dive back to the mansion. Approaching the entrance, Ian noticed a familiar carriage…

“Isn’t that your carriage, Lord Ian?”

“Yes, it seems Beric moved quickly.”

Beric had returned from fetching Romandro. The officials arriving at the mansion made the knights visibly tense and defensive.

“Lord Ian, what is happening here?”

“Let’s go inside first. This is Mr. Dive, the only blood relative of the Count.”

“A royal advisor from the palace?”

“Yes. Please accept my condolences.”

“Condolences? That’s fine.”

Dive straightened up and led the way. He already acted like the owner of the mansion. Ian watched him and his butler rush in, then signaled Romandro with his eyes, indicating he wanted a word.

“Ian, I’m not sure exactly what’s going on.”

“A slave stabbed and killed his master. But the mansion’s knights seem to be up to something. They might be planning to seize the mansion.”

“Seize the mansion? Does that mean they’re after the lordship?”

Ian briefly explained the morning’s events, suggesting that they were planning to depose Lady Lien and deal with Dive as well.

“Moreover, Dive believes in the Undergod.”

“What? What kind of day is this? One disaster after another.”

“What’s the Undergod?”

“Beric, I’ll explain later. Just listen for now.”

Romandro scoffed in frustration. The Undergod! Among heresies, it was the one Bariel detested and found most troublesome. Any noble from the central regions would know it well.