Chapter 185

Ian headed toward the duty room inside the Ministry of Magic’s main building.

Scattered across the lobby sofas were wizards who had wrestled with corpses all night, curled up in exhausted, hunched-over slumber. Groans, snores, and teeth grinding echoed nonstop throughout the space.

Carefully opening the duty room door, Ian saw Xiao Xi lift his head.

“You’re here.”

“And Lord Arsen?”

“He just fell asleep. He kept throwing tantrums and crying.”

Wiping cold sweat from his brow, Xiao Xi gave a faint smile. He’d been banging on the walls, calling for his mother, demanding to see Jin—causing quite a commotion. Even in the dim light, Ian could see fresh scratches on Xiao Xi’s cheek.

“Xiao Xi, you should rest. I’ll go in.”

Romandro patted Ian’s shoulder and stepped into the duty room where Arsen lay. Ian crossed the hall and opened the door to Jin’s room.

Creak.

“Dilaina will come looking for Arsen. If you can be with him, do so—but don’t push yourself.”

“Yes, understood.”

For now, they’d used the chaos as an excuse to prevent the meeting, but it was only temporary. Blood ties run deep. Once things settled even a little, Dilaina would likely dismiss Xiao Xi and take Arsen away.

A cold dawn light filtered softly into the dim room.

“Ughh.”

“…”

Beric, head down and half off the sofa, and Jin, lying neatly in bed, were both asleep so deeply they hadn’t noticed Ian enter.

“Jin may be out cold, but Beric should at least sense someone’s here. I told him to guard the room, and he’s just sleeping soundly.”

Ian muttered with a faint smile. Xiao Xi crept over and tugged Beric’s nose. Beric grimaced and groaned.

“Ugh, Ian, the pig bit my nose…”

“He’s not waking up.”

“Let him be. We’ll be busy this afternoon.”

As soon as Xiao Xi let go, Beric smiled blissfully and smacked his lips. So simple-minded—Ian could almost guess what dream he was having.

Sliding onto the bed, Ian examined Jin’s wounds. The bleeding had stopped, but any wrong touch could reopen them. From the portraits, the scars looked natural, as if he’d been born with them. But they were deep and painful.

“Ian?”

“Sorry to disturb you. Are you awake?”

Jin’s eyes fluttered open slowly, unfocused but recognizing Ian immediately.

“Has time passed?”

“Yes. A new day has begun.”

Ian straightened Jin’s blanket. The gentle touch lulled Jin’s eyes closed again. Ian wanted to let him sleep, but there was something he needed to say.

“Your Highness, Lady Dilaina has regained consciousness.”

Jin half-sat up, looking at Ian with a storm of emotions—relief, reluctance, fear, sorrow—all tangled together. He stammered.

“What should I do?”

“Your Highness.”

“I… I don’t know. No one ever told me. When a child abandoned by their mother meets her again, what should they do?”

Ian patted his back softly.

“There’s nothing you need to do. You’ve done nothing wrong. And before that, if you don’t want to see Lady Dilaina, I will stand in your way.”

“Do I… do I not have to meet my mother?”

“Of course not. Absolutely not. You can do whatever you wish. Until you’re ready to accept that you’re blameless, follow your heart.”

Jin lay back down, pulling the blanket up to his eyes. The thought that it wasn’t his fault—that it was Dilaina and Arsen who were at fault—circulated like a lullaby, soothing him.

“Sir Ian, I have a favor.”

“Anything, Your Highness.”

Jin peeked out from under the blanket and asked. The other wizards were busy, and neither Beric nor Xiao Xi could read. Ian chuckled softly and nodded.

“Of course. What would you like me to read?”

“Whatever’s closest.”

Apparently, the wizards had brought a few books from the palace at Jin’s request. Ian picked up the top one on the table.

The Chronicles of Roberside.

Roberside Carbo—the first head of the Carbo family, who had broken away from the temple. Ian flipped through the well-worn pages.

“Do you enjoy this?”

“Very much. Arsen finds it boring and won’t even look at it. But whenever I read it, Lord Roberside appears in my dreams and plays with me.”

A child through and through. Ian smiled faintly and settled in, reading aloud clearly.

[“You refuse to become a priest?” Roberside nodded to his siblings’ questions. “Brothers and sisters, serve the gods with pure hearts in my stead. I will go out and slay the monsters, pledging my love to the gods.” Though he was a devout follower, he could not ignore the suffering caused by the monsters.]

Xiao Xi leaned back in his chair, eyes closed, enjoying Ian’s steady voice and the soft rustle of turning pages.

[Roberside was incredible. One swing of his sword felled a hundred monsters; two swings turned rivers red with their blood. The people cheered, and Roberside pressed onward.]

‘A bit brutal for a fairy tale.’

Especially the illustrations—they graphically depicted monster corpses. Were these records from the time? The monsters Roberside faced were described in detail.

[“Spare me!” At last, Roberside faced a single monster—a demon in the form of a small child, begging for mercy. Roberside asked, “What are you?” The demon answered, “I feed on human wickedness.” As Roberside raised his sword to kill, the demon whispered slyly, “If you spare me, I will hide. But if you kill me, my brothers will avenge me and destroy all you have gained.” Though threatened, Roberside was brave.]

“…Swish. When Roberside killed the demon, monsters vanished from the Bariel Empire. Someone asked, ‘Lord Roberside, aren’t you afraid after shedding so much blood?’ He smiled and replied, ‘If I can be afraid instead of you, that is enough.’”

A full-length portrait of Roberside was on the back cover—silver hair whipping as he swung his sword. Since it was from the kingdom’s founding, it was impossible to verify how much was true.

‘A demon’s curse, huh.’

In hindsight, it seemed the curse had been laid. Comparing the Carbo family then and now, their power had dwindled to a pitiful degree. They were acknowledged but only barely present.

“Master.”

Xiao Xi called quietly. Ian, hand on Jin’s forehead, turned to see a blanket draped over his shoulders.

“You should rest too.”

“I’m fine.”

“You don’t look fine at all.”

Creak.

Romandro slipped in, glancing around to check if anything was missing. He crouched beside Beric, who had slipped off the sofa.

“Sleeping like a king, huh? Tsk tsk.”

“Ughh. Gah! Meat, ah, meat—”

“Always whining about meat, you must have a beggar in your stomach. Ian, Lord Arsen is asleep too. You should get some rest. It’ll be trouble if you collapse when things get busy. Arsen has guards posted.”

Under Romandro’s insistence, Ian reluctantly lay down on the sofa. The child’s steady breathing made his eyelids heavy.

Romandro muttered as he tidied the floor.

Rustle.

“What’s this?”

“A drawing Lord Jin made earlier.”

“Oh, nice. Bananas and tomatoes?”

“…He said it’s Master and Beric.”

“…”

Ian chuckled without meaning to. Romandro glanced at Jin and tucked the drawing aside.

“Art is best left to the artist, huh?”

“Still, bananas and tomatoes are a bit much.”

“Ian, about what you said earlier regarding Lady Dilaina—could you tell me more?”

A way to counter Ian, who held real power in the palace.

Eyes closed, Ian spoke, his voice heavy with fatigue—he was clearly about to fall asleep.

“Do you remember those at the meeting who said we couldn’t deal with all the traitors?”

“Yeah, there were quite a few.”

“There’s no substitute for them. That means they’re valuable. You can’t just cut them out easily. In any matter, the key is who holds that unique position in Bariel right now.”

The emperor? No. The emperor lay there but Bariel ran smoothly. Ian? The Minister of Magic had changed several times.

Romandro thought hard, then suddenly said the name.

“Highman?”

A faction that had clearly participated in acts of treason, yet no bureaucrat dared to move against them. Nobles among nobles, who had controlled the empire’s finances for nearly a century.

Ian nodded.

“If it were me, I’d propose this to Hyman: that if he supports Arsen, then when Arsen ascends the throne, he’ll overlook past mistakes.”

“But isn’t Hyman clearly a target for punishment?”

“They’re not like the corpses outside, whose heads can be severed overnight. If Hyman’s family claims it was just the youngest daughter acting on her own and offers an apology, there will be plenty of officials willing to let it slide.”

Above all, Prince Jin prioritized Ian’s support, and Ian was the one who had personally subdued Marib and Gale. His resolve to punish the traitors was firm, which made Hyman’s family uneasy. On the other hand, for Delaina, Ian was a powerful ally against them.

‘After forming an alliance, if we push Arsen forward, we can naturally push out the Hyman family too. We have no choice but to look for these small cracks.’

In other words, they would keep building justifications to apply pressure. At the same time, by checking their financial power and dispersing the banking influence across Bariel, the day would come when they could manage without them. That would be the true reckoning for the Hyman family.

“But Ian, I’m about to become a father myself, so I think I understand, even if just a little, what it means to be a parent.”

Romandro rested his chin on his hand, frowning. Abandoning a child was one thing, but he questioned whether selective love was even possible. Then, turning sharply, he asked,

“Don’t you think Lady Delaina is going a bit too far?!”

“…”

“Is he asleep?”

“He’s sleeping.”

But all they saw was Ian, sleeping like an angel. Romandro flopped down and stretched, while Xiaosi nodded off sitting up.

After a while, Beric was the first to wake. He mumbled, staring at the painting in front of him.

“…Banana? Tomato?”

Knock knock!

Click!

“Ian, Captain Akorella has a message about the amber gemstone report. They want you to check on the progress securing the magic-sealing stones.”

“Oh dear, he’s out cold. Should we wake him?”

“Yeah, no choice.”

“Um, Ian, can you hear this report for a moment?”

“They also found Gale, apparently. Ian? Ian? Please, get up.”