This Bastard is Too Competent

Chapter 39: People Gathering

Ian was lost in thought as he headed for the Crystal Palace.

‘What kind of nobles would it be better to recruit?’

Kaistein was divided into five major powers.

The most famous ones among them were.

Lavaltor of the North.

Garcia of the West.

Kaistein in the center.

It was the power of the royal family, the two duchies, and the nobles.

Among them, Duke Lavaltor had a mighty army to deal with the barbarians of the north, and Garcia had accumulated enormous wealth through the Golden Road in the west.

The royal family possessed the equivalent force consisting of a significant number of standing armies and the Royal Knight Order, all of whom were senior knights. In addition to it, they owned all the magic tools from ancient times.

It could be said that it was a three-way war between the three powers.

Of course, there were other forces to keep in check that should not be ignored.

‘There is an alliance of nobles in the south.’

They were gathering power to such an extent that it was difficult for even the two dukes to ignore.

Moreover, Marquis Adeles of the East was hiding his power.

Adeles in the East particularly had a close relationship with Ian's knight, Nathan.

‘Nathan is the second son there.’

Ian heard that Nathan was so promising in the family that he once had the right to succeed. Now, for whatever reason, he’s a knight of Duke Garcia.

And the problem started from here.

‘It's easy to take Duke Garcia's hand. They are hoping for it too.’

However, he had to live at risk of being betrayed at any time. It was a choice that Ian, who knew the future, didn't want to grab the least as possible.

That's why he was interested in Duke Lavaltor.

‘Duke Lavaltor does not lie and has a fair personality. I won't be stabbed in the back.'

If they hadn't been tied to the Second Prince by marriage, their family wouldn’t even have a reason to support that stupid older brother. What if there was the letter from Ian and the situation of him cutting off the Second Prince’s arm on top of that?

‘He may no longer support the Second Prince.’

Besides, if Ian could turn that support back to himself, it would be great. Not only that, but if he could even get support from other nobles, he would have a lot of cards he could handle.

‘Come to think of it, since when did the Southern Nobles Alliance move? They must have moved because of something.’

It was clear that it was such a big deal that the entire kingdom was bustling.

‘Brother Third Prince came forward at that time, so the Southern Nobles Alliance obviously came to support him.’

Ian narrowed his brow when he thought about it.

There was still time for that to come, so it was necessary to look into this matter. Until then, he would use whatever support Garcia could offer. 

Of course, it would have been nice to make Karan, who was under the Duke’s order, completely his own man.

It was then.

"We're here. This is the Crystal Palace."

Ian, who had moved along with the servant, opened his mouth wide without realizing it. 

It was because a beautiful castle stood high in front of him. 

‘Crystal Palace.’

It was also a quiet place in the deepest part of the palace. Although it had the disadvantage of being small, it was a beautiful place built with glass and crystal as the name suggested.

Ian smiled in satisfaction.

‘I never expected this palace to be mine.’

Because this place was so precious that even the First Prince, who was the crown prince, did not receive it.

Thinking so, Ian smiled and he was about to go up.

“Who dared to give up that place!”

“!”

Ian turned his head at the familiar voice.

On the first floor, a familiar face appeared from not far away.

It was the Second Princess.

She seemed to be in her late teens. Her gorgeous, seemingly sociable face exuded elegant dignity, typical of the royal bloodline.

However, she came early in the morning only to hear the news that Ian's palace had been decided.

"I was in charge of the arrangement of the Seventh Prince’s palace. I'm sure I have told you to place him in Opal Palace."

Ian's brow narrowed at the remark. 

Of course, Opal Palace was not a bad place. It was a place used to hold banquets for envoys from other countries.

However, it was significantly different from the place where King Eloin stayed when he was a prince. For the successors, this palace held the meaning of overthrowing the other brothers and taking the throne. 

It was natural for the Second Princess to be angry with her servant.

Sure enough.

“The arrangement of the palace is my authority. But some jerk dares not ask me first before sending the Seventh Prince here and disregard my order.”

"I-it's…"

The servant was sweating profusely and could not even answer. 

And at that moment, upon seeing Ian, the Second Princess approached him with a warm smile. It was a flawless smile.

"It's our first time seeing each other. Your performance at the ceremony was very cool. ”

Ian replied with a smile instead of an answer. 

“I am honored to be able to call a beautiful person like you my sister.”

Unlike the cold First Princess, the Second Princess smiled softly and said to Ian.

"I am sorry to have made you walk in vain because of the mistakes of the servants. I'll send someone back to you in a minute, so you'd better get back to where you were."

"Pri… Princess?"

The servants were flustered.

But the Second Princess didn't mind them.

“As the head of the palace, I order you again. Correct the mistake and bring the Seventh Prince to his place right now.”

The Second Princess’s eyes looking at her servant were cold, unlike when she looked at him. However, when her frightened servants did not move and only glanced around, the Second Princess’s eyebrows rose slightly.

"What are you doing now?"

"Well, that's…"

It was then. 

“By what right does Sister say that?”

As Ian pushed her servants back, the Second Princess smiled softly as she matched his height. She talked as if to appease Ian, as if telling a child what was right and wrong.

"The head of the palace is the queen. I am the person in charge of helping the queen  and managing the palace. Are you thinking of going against the orders of the queen now?”

Instead of answering, Ian just stared at the Second Princess. The Second Princess smiled at the look.

"I thought it was a mistake, so I was going to let it slide this time, but I don't think I can. Maybe we should find out who did it and punish them severely."

Right at that moment.

“Then, the queen must be punished severely.”

“!”

Everyone turned their heads in surprise at the unexpected voice.

The Third Prince Louis, who suddenly showed up, was smiling behind the Second Princess.

The Second Princess was taken aback by his words.

"Brother, what did you just say?"

"Exactly as I said. It means that it was the queen who gave this place to him."

The Second Princess stared at the Third Prince as if he was speaking nonsense.

"What are you talking about? No way the queen is giving the Seventh Prince… that place?”

"Yeah, well. The final approval was made by the queen, but the queen did the arrangement anyway.”

"No way. The queen must be—!"

“Being angry with me doesn’t change anything. In that case, how about going to her now?”

The Second Princess quietly bit her lip.

It was because of the betrayal of the queen whom she thought was on her side. She couldn’t believe the queen agreed to let this place go.

‘The Second Prince, the child she gave birth to herself. Has she already forgotten that it was the youngest who cut off Brother’s arm?’

It was truly unbelievable.

The Second Princess then turned around.

"Pri-Princess! Where are you going!"

"I'm going back."

The servant followed the angry Second Princess. However, that direction was not the Rose Palace, the main palace of the Second Princess. Instead, she was heading toward the Lily Palace. It was the direction of the First Princess’s palace.

The Third Prince shrugged at the sight.

‘I didn't know the queen would give this to the youngest.’

Honestly, it was unexpected, but the Third Prince soon approached Ian and stroked his head slyly.

"Youngest, I can help you, but don't underestimate the noble factions. Because they're after you.”

Ian immediately raised his guard. The Third Prince was a great enemy who once tried to kill him in the past. 

However, unlike then, the Third Prince whispered secretly.

“Rope in Lavaltor. I don't think the nobles will just let the Second Prince's case go. Well, or just Garcia is fine.”

The Third Prince did not wait for Ian's answer and turned around. 

Ian didn't even have time to stop him.

The Third Prince turned around and winked as he flashed a sly smile.

‘His letter came to Duke Lavaltor…’ 

The Third Prince remembered the time when a knight of the First Order came to see him yesterday.

The First Knight Order belonged to Lavaltor, but he was personally close with them.

“So, what are the trends of the nobles?”

“Yes, it's exactly what you guessed. And it seems that the Second Prince has sent a letter to the commander, Duke Lavaltor. It looked like he asked for help. Here it is.”

The Third Prince’s face darkened, but he smiled lightly as he checked the correspondence he received. 

“Who tore it up so fancily?”

“The commander tore it up himself.”

Recalling that time, the Third Prince smiled.

He still liked Ian. It was true that they were in the same situation, but Ian was also different from the other brothers who were blackhearted.

So, he wouldn't let him die in the Battle of Ranking.

‘Even if he ripped Brother’s letter, there’s no way Lavaltor would move for the Seventh Prince.’

Ian was on Garcia's side. 

After the Third Prince left.

Shhh.

From the shadow of a tree at the spot where the Third Prince had gone, a woman appeared.

A shadow of small stature, wearing the same outfit as the man who attempted to assassinate Ian in the annex.

The woman promptly took out a crystal ball.

“Reporting. The Seventh Prince is assigned the Crystal Palace. Also, from the Third Prince’s remarks, he is seemingly supporting him…”

[What? Louis?]

The voice from the crystal ball was none other than the Second Prince’s voice. 

He found it ridiculous to hear the news of Crystal Palace. At the same time, he seemed to get more heated when he heard that the Third Prince, the biggest thorn on his side in the succession war, favored Ian. 

His anxious voice soon was heard.

[What happened to Lavaltor? Why doesn't he reply to my correspondence?]

"According to the report of No. 2, the duke himself moved the First Knight Order. It must be for the Second Prince. He is your father-in-law."

Then, the Second Prince’s voice softened a little. 

[Yeah. Duke Lavaltor wouldn't abandon me. He seems to be trying to deal with him himself.]

"Then shall I continue to follow the Third Prince?”

[No. From now on, keep an eye on the damn youngest. Since he has been officially announced as the Seventh Prince, distinguished guests and envoys from other countries will come next month during the Founding Day. We have to deal with him before that. Well, before that, I think Lavaltor will gather the nobles and take care of him.]

"I will follow your order."

When the assassin was about to disappear back into the shadows.

"Ugh!"

Someone yanked the assassin from behind at once. It was a nimble, ghost-like move.

And it was the hand of a firm and honest man.

At last, he dragged the assassin toward his lord, and his lord smiled.

"Well, I knew it."

Ian gestured to Galon, who had captured the assassin. 

***

‘A scented candle here as well?’

Ian frowned. 

As if they knew he would come, the scented candle in question was mixed in the training ground.

‘Well, it doesn't seem to affect me, so it doesn't matter.’

He called Duke Garcia's physician just in case, but he said he had no problem because he was too healthy. 

In fact, he felt better.

However.

‘If it wasn’t with good intentions…’

If that was poison and if that had been in the same place in the past, his past self might have gotten addicted.

But now he was not too worried.

He had a reason for it. 

Woong! Woong!

<Faith>, which was radiating a soft light from Ian's heart, and the First King's cloak. 

They were demonstrating their power as if protecting Ian.

Still, it felt awful to have bad feelings.

Fwoo.

Ian extinguished the candle and quietly collected the evidence. When Karan had finished investigating, he was thinking of using it in reverse.

But there was something else important now.

"You're here."

Galon handed him a wooden sword.

“Would it be okay with me instead of Nathan?”

"Yes, there's no other answer if I die in the <Battle of Ranking>. They'll try to kill me before I become an adult. We have to be careful of sneak attacks."

It wasn't only that.

The upcoming National Founding Day would be an event where the successors' abilities would be tested, and someone would surely announce the Battle of Ranking before that.

‘I don’t know if the rumored Fifth and Sixth Princes will come.’

Ian had never seen them in his previous life, but he was not sure this time. It was because the future was changing.

When Ian arrived at the training ground while talking to Galon.

"Hmm? Who are you?"

There were some knights standing on the training ground. They were all royal knights. 

The knights bowed to Ian.

“The First Princess sent us. She asked us to help with your training for the competition and the Battle of Ranking.”

Ian sneered. 

The First Princess?

"My training will be helped by Sir Galon here, so you can go back."

Ian was blatantly driving them out.

But they didn't budge and instead approached Ian.

"I am sorry, but it will be in your favor to receive the sincerity of the First Princess rather than Sir Galon, who doesn’t live up to the name of the Three Great Knights of the Continent."

"We've prepared a special training for you."

“…”

But Ian snorted. 

"My training teacher is my choice. Go back now."

"I can't do that. Her Highness the First Princess ordered it herself. I think those who have a lot of hands-on experience will be much more helpful to you."

It was the moment when Ian was about to argue back at their words.

“Then shouldn’t you go back?”

“!”

Another knight arrived. This time they were all dressed in blue uniforms. 

They were the First Knight Order, one of the best Kaistein forces defending Kaistein. 

“We are sent by Duke Lavaltor. He told us to help the prince train.”

What? Lavaltor?