This Bastard is Too Competent - Chapter 116: What He Had Arranged

A return gift from Ian.

It was one of the chamberlains who told him what it was.

He shouted in an urgent voice.

“Now the Second Young Master is groveling in front of His Majesty.”

It’s Heinley Garcia.

He was having an audience with the king alone and confessing his sins.

However, Duke Garcia scrunched his face in anger, not believing the chamberlain’s words a bit.

“Your joke has gone a little too far. Can’t you see me talking to His Highness right now?”

“I am not lying! You must go and see it! It’s urgent!”

The Duke was stunned at the chamberlain’s urgent look.

“That can’t be. He may be my child, but he is wanted now. How can a wanted man break through the royal security?”

“I don’t know about that! But if you don’t go now, it will be a problem. The Second Young Master is bringing up the name of the Garcia family!”

“What?”

“The Second Young Master says it was not him who rebelled against the country but Young Master Ceres! His Majesty has even given the order to capture the First Young Master!”

Duke Garcia was at a loss for words.

It was absurd enough that the second bastard of a son wanted for treason to the royal family appeared before the king.

But, as if that wasn’t bad enough, he was selling the name of his older brother, his eldest son?

That, too, for his own survival?

However, the Duke had no choice but to believe the chamberlain’s words.

‘This person is the one I bribed. There is no way he would lie about something like this.’

But then, the Duke tilted his head.

‘That idiot wouldn’t have the ability to do that.’ 

Moreover, the king even ordered his eldest son to be captured under the second son’s persuasion?

If his second child had that ability in the first place, he wouldn’t have chosen to throw him away so easily.

It was just then.

Jolt.

Duke Garcia asked with a cold face.

“Is this really your gift in return?”

“Yes. Do you like it?”

“!?”

Duke Garcia’s face hardened at Ian’s reply.

His face was full of disbelief, wondering how Heinley had managed to break through the royal security in the first place.

But what Ian said was not a lie.

‘I’m not the only one who came on the dragon.’ 

It was not just with the crown prince of Cantum either.

His knights, as well as Heinley, had been brought in stealthily, and Rio Banzaim dropped them off right in front of the royal palace.

They had easily crossed the royal security laden with multilayer defense.

And it was as Ian planned.

‘I am setting my eyes on the throne of Kaistein, and the person standing in my way the most is Duke Garcia. So, I will nip him off here.’

If Ceres was made to pay for his sins, the position of the next duke would naturally fall to the second-eldest son, Heinley.

Heinley had sworn to follow Ian.

Duke Garcia could no longer oppose him.

‘Heinley is the spearhead for that.’

And at that, Duke Garcia gritted his teeth and growled.

“So this is how you repay the favor I’ve shown you all this time. I am speechless.”

The false accusation against Heinley was a token of reconciliation to Ian.

He wanted to smoothen things between them, even if it meant forsaking his second son.

It was also meant to forget the past bad blood between them.

‘You once again reject the hand I extend to you.’

Grit.

Duke Garcia glared at Ian as if he were going to chew him alive.

Of course, that was not the only reason he was angry.

‘I made a lowly serf into a royal, and now you hit me in the back of my head?’

In the end, Ian only received the countless favors he had sent thus far.

A hundred soldiers and, not to mention, the Invincible Galon.

Not only that, Ian also received his third son Karan’s secret support and the wealth of the Duke family.

But what he gave back was always malice.

Reaching this point, Duke Garcia could no longer take it anymore.

‘This is an all-out war. I will never forgive you.’

Grit.

As Duke Garcia turned his back and walked away with clenched teeth.

Ian left a meaningful remark.

“Was that really a favor? The one who sent his eldest son to kill me?”

Duke Garcia’s steps halted.

“What are you talking about? I sent my eldest son to kill you?”

“Could it be that the great Duke Garcia is denying it now?”

“I don’t understand what you mean—”

“I clearly saw Ceres Garcia trying to kill me by joining hands with Arak of Bahara. I also caught a glimpse of the power of the Seven Sins he possessed. Are you still going to make excuses after all this?”

“!?”

Duke Garcia’s face stiffened.

‘Ceres was in Bahara? And the Seven Sins?’

But Ian hadn’t finished his words.

“I have identified the personnel of your Secret Special Force as well as their faces. Are you still going to make excuses?”

“…”

“And, as you said, it would be courteous of me to pay the favor I received back. Therefore, I limited my gift to your eldest son, not you. Do you still resent me?”

“…”

Duke Garcia was completely rendered speechless, unable to come up with any retort.

Although the fact that Ian knew about the Secret Special Force was surprising, Ian’s statement that he would repay the favor and seek revenge limited to Ceres was as shocking.

‘I never thought there would be someone who would do me this kind of favor.’

Doing the patriarch of the great Garcia family a favor.

It was a mistake that nobody but a greenhorn could easily make.

However, Ian was different.

He had proved his resolve through actions rather than words.

This was a favor given to him trusting in the superiority of his skills.

So, Duke Garcia kept his mouth shut.

‘I can’t believe the day will come when I will be treated like this.’

But he had no time to dawdle.

If Ian’s words were true, Ceres would definitely be in deep trouble.

If his eldest son were ever to be guilty of a crime, the succession of the Garcia dukedom would be disrupted.

Thus, he could only speak calmly while containing his fury.

“I have something important to do right now, so we shall continue our talk at a later time.”

“Of course, Duke.”

Duke Garcia hurriedly disappeared, following the chamberlain’s lead.

Ian kept his eyes peeled at his back, his gaze chilly.

And at that moment.

“I am sorry to have kept you waiting, Your Highness.”

Ian was finally able to meet the person he had been waiting for.

***

Gulp. 

Heinley gulped in nervousness as he stood in front of the door to the king’s palace.

 

‘Is this really going to work? Won’t I really end up being decapitated under the guillotine if I do this?’

He had no other choice.

He had originally planned to bid his time while hiding under Ian’s shadow.

However, Ian’s words dragged him here.

“You will go to the royal castle with me.”

“What?? Why me?”

“Why? You must confess your sins to His Majesty yourself and get your punishment.”

“What?”

He thought it was ridiculous at first.

However, he changed his mind after hearing Ian’s next words.

“If you’re going to keep living in hiding, I won’t stop you. But think carefully. This is another opportunity.”

“What do you mean?”

“If you have hard evidence that Ceres was in cahoots with the enemy, your sins would be washed away, and this will be a golden opportunity for you to take over the Garcia family.”

“!?”

That was why Heinley resolved himself.

And at this moment.

With determined eyes, Heinley handed a rope to the royal guards.

“Now, tie me up with this rope.”

“Pardon? Are you serious?”

“How can I, a criminal, walk on my own two feet in front of His Majesty? Tie me tightly.”

“I understand.”

That was also what Ian suggested.

To express his willingness to pay for his sins while avoiding King Eloin’s wrath.

‘He said that if I wanted to die, I would live instead.’

Ian was using the same method Duke Garcia used in his previous life.

And, sure enough, the royal guards seemed to be impressed by Heinley’s attitude and tied him up with the rope.

 

Squeeze.

“Aargh! Wait a sec! Be gentle.”

“But you said to tie tightly just now…”

“Still, my blood has to flow, right? Argh! I told you to be gentle!”

Of course, unlike the Duke, he was too much of a drama queen.

In any case, Heinley was able to stand before King Eloin.

He knelt before the king without delay and banged his head to the floor.

“Your Majesty! This sinner, Heinley Garcia, begs for your mercy!”

That was what happened.

And right now, King Eloin was genuinely furious.

“Say it again. What did you just say?”

“I have never betrayed Your Majesty or this kingdom. It was all the will of my brother, my family.”

“!”

But Heinley continued as if he had nothing to lose.

“I have already told His Highness Ian, but I have gathered evidence of my brother’s treason, told him all the facts, and pleaded with him for mercy.”

“And yet you still came to see me?”

“His Highness said that he would convict me of my sins, but before that, the first thing I have to do is to beg Your Majesty for mercy.”

Sure enough, the evidence was clear as day.

The circumstantial evidence that Ceres tried to accumulate wealth using the Northern Expedition was brought before the king.

This was the result of mobilizing the family’s connections that still remained in the Garcia dukedom, which they stopped by while riding the dragon.

“As you can see from the documents, Ceres Garcia tried to make a fortune by selling war supplies to all countries while the three countries were fighting.”

Had he been successful, he would have amassed wealth of an unimaginable amount.

However, everything went down the drain because the Northern Expedition ended too quickly and Ian mobilized his soldiers to seize the supplies. Instead, it only ended up filling Ian’s belly.

It wasn’t just that.

“I have also brought the testimony of those among the surviving servants of Bahara who heard the conversation between Ceres and the former king, Arak.”

They couldn’t see his face because of the mask.

However, the movement of the Garcia family’s supplies and people was incontrovertible circumstantial evidence.

Heinley shouted, slamming his head to the floor.

“I don’t know about my father, Duke Garcia. However, I assisted in my brother’s plan to kill His Highness Ian and fail the Northern Expedition. As a sinner, I ask Your Majesty the price of my sin!”

All Heinley was charged with was selling Ian’s information to another country.

But Ian had already pardoned that sin.

King Eloin was completely dumbstruck.

‘It is a crime pardoned by the king of a country, albeit a vassal state. The fact that he brought it up again…’

Public opinions that ignored it due to its status as a vassal state might surface.

It was not a good choice for Ian, who had just become king, nor for the king of the suzerain country.

On top of that, Ian ordered Heinley to ask forgiveness again from Eloin for the sin he had already committed.

‘That means, he took into account my face as the king of the suzerain country. That rascal.’

King Eloin, having finished his thoughts, commanded the royal guards at once.

“Arrest Ceres Garcia right now! You may mobilize all the royal forces! Investigate everything he did during the Northern Expedition!”

King Eloin did not interrogate Heinley.

As if it was a matter of course, he ordered Ceres’ arrest and a secret investigation.

That was only natural.

‘The supplies mentioned on this document are much more than I thought. That means, there is a lot of hidden wealth in Garcia.’

The problem was, all the supplies were war supplies.

Swords, bows, arrows, and even siege weapons.

A large number of supplies that should have been reported to the royal family without exception showed up.

This was something Garcia should never do regardless of how much wealth he had under his name.

Thus, King Eloin had no other choice but to punish Garcia, who was growing his power on the sly.

Heinley, however, inwardly burst into a laugh.

‘It’s settled. It’s all as His Highness Ian said.’

The sight of King Eloin in distress was the decisive evidence.

Heinley recalled his conversation with Ian.

 

“His Majesty is cruel enough to earn him the nickname Blood Lion. There is no way he will spare me!”

“Don’t worry, His Majesty will not kill you.” 

“How come?!” 

“Well, killing Heinley Garcia, who is not the heir to the family, will not have much of an impact. Rather than that, he would aim for the bigger picture.”

Sure enough, Ian’s lips curled up into a strange smile in the next second.

 

‘Anyway, it worked out as he said.’

King Eloin went after Ceres instead of Heinley, and going after Ceres meant that Duke Garcia was also in deep water.

With this, the Garcia family would surely fall into his hands.

Even so, the king was still a king.

“However, your sin is heavy. We can never overlook it as is.”

A strong sense of intimidation surged forth from King Eloin’s body.

It was such a crushing aura that Heinley, with his head lowered, broke into a cold sweat.

It felt like he knew all about his plans.

Heinley hit his head on the floor again, sweating profusely.

“Of course, Your Majesty. I will accept the price of my sin as you decide. I have only one request, if I may.”

“A request?”

“I have committed a sin unpardonable by His Highness Ian, so I hope he will give me a chance to atone for my sin.”

“Huh?”

King Eloin raised one corner of his lips, looking intrigued.

‘Is this also his plan? Not bad. Won’t he eat up the Garcia family at this rate?’

But he couldn’t just do as Ian wanted.

He was the king of Kaistein, once renowned as Blood Lion.

Just when King Eloin was about to put on his ruthless look of the past.

“Duke Garcia requests an audience!”

Duke Garcia entered the audience room.

He cast Heinley a cold glance. His hunch was telling him that something was going wrong.

The Duke gritted his teeth while showing courtesy to the king.

“You’re really intent on bringing down the family, aren’t you?”

“No, Father. I am truly sincere—”

“Shut that mouth!”

Duke Garcia calmed his anger.

 

‘The first thing to do is negotiate with the king. Regardless of what Ceres has done, I cannot allow the Seventh Prince to do whatever he wants.’

The same was true even if he had to open up the family’s entire warehouse.

But things didn’t go his way.

Just as he was about to ask the king for a private talk.

“Marquis Adelas requests an audience!”

“Count Vandal requests an audience!”

“Count Osiris requests an audience!”

Requests for an audience from numerous nobles came flooding in.

No, it wasn’t just them.

“Her Highness the First Princess requests an audience!”

“The queen is coming!”

The entire royal castle was literally on the move.

“His Highness Ian requests an audience!”

No, this all had been arranged by Ian.