This Bastard is Too Competent

Meanwhile, around the same time.

"Mother!"

The First Princess rushed into the queen's palace. However, the queen put down the teacup roughly as if annoyed.

Clack!

"Address me correctly. Has this royal daughter of mine forgotten her royal etiquette?"

At the queen's rebuke, the First Princess bit her lips tightly. Then she held her skirt and performed her manners.

"The First Princess greets the queen."

"Yes, what's going on?"

At the queen’s calm voice, the First Princess asked with her teeth gritted.

"Why did you give the Crystal Palace to the youngest? That place is….”

"It's the palace for the heir to the throne.”

"You know that, yet why!"

The princess was about to scream, but she immediately stopped speaking, fright creeping in.

It was because the queen was looking at her with cold eyes.

"My child is so pathetic. I can't believe you are aiming for the throne with that kind of mindset.”

"Mother!"

The queen sipped her tea slowly. The First Princess was frustrated, but she contained her anger and asked in a calm voice.

“Then please tell me why you gave up the palace.”

"Isn't that obvious?"

"What?"

The queen smiled bitterly.

“He is the one who severed the arm of my son, the most powerful heir to the throne. Isn't he a child with a bright future ahead? So, of course, I'll give it to him. For the future of this country."

“But it was because my brother was careless….”

But soon, the princess flinched at the heavy silence.

Sure enough.

"What do you mean careless? How can a person who aims for the throne say such a thing?"

The First Princess bit her lip. She felt upset, but now was not the time to argue with personal emotions.

"I understand, I'll keep it in my heart. But Mother, please pass on the matter of Crystal Palace to me."

“It has already been decided. His Majesty has also decreed it, so it cannot be reversed.”

"Mother!"

The queen she trusted spoke coldly. 

"Do not forget. You can lose everything by a single mistake. Will you let the youngest win once more in the Battle of Ranking to solidify his position as the successor?”

The First Princess’s eyes shone more savagely than ever.

"Never… it's never going to happen. I'm going to make it."

The First Princess retreated politely and came out of the queen's room.

She then smiled at the man who approached her from behind.

"That's unexpected. You didn't come last time.”

"If you call me, of course I'll come running."

A man approached the First Princess who came out of the royal palace in anger.

It was Nathan.

The First Princess calmed down her anger and asked.

“I was worried because I heard you were close to Sir Galon and that your personality was like a breeze. Have you finally made up your mind?”

"Of course, Your Highness."

Nathan smiled meaningfully. 

***

"Welcome. Your Highness the Seventh Prince."

Ian widened his eyes. 

The man who greeted him was Duke Lavaltor's eldest son, Fiosen.

And unlike Duke Lavaltor who never smiled, Fiosen had a bright smile on his face.

"Today seems to be a special day. I didn't expect another high-esteemed person to come again."

‘Again?’

It would be no ordinary person for Lavaltor to address them as an esteemed person.

And that person seemed to be one of the successors, but that wasn't the point now.

"I'm here to see the duke."

"Oh, unfortunately you missed him. My father just went on patrol outside the castle."

“A patrol? In the royal capital?”

"Yes. There are reports of bandits appearing around the castle. He is out to check."

That's absurd.

Bandits in the heart of Kaistein of all places. 

It was not a large-scale air raid, so of course, there was no need for Duke Lavaltor to go directly.

Ian narrowed his brow.

‘Come to think of it, the Second Prince has arrived at the castle.’

Duke Lavaltor might have gone to meet him on the pretext of a bandit attack.

However, Ian was looking at the next room. 

Woong! Woong! 

That was where <Faith> was reacted to. 

The basic functions of <Faith> were physical invigoration and sensory organs improvement. 

In particular, the stronger the opponent's strength, the more sensitive he got. That's why Ian could feel it. In other words, an existence with enormous power was crouching in the next room.

Ian smiled lightly. 

‘You don’t want to meet me in person?’

Eventually, Ian turned back as if he had no regrets.

"Then there's nothing to talk about with Lavaltor. I'll be on my way."

Fiosen looked flustered at the sight. 

"Excuse me, Your Highness! Please wait!"

"What is it?"

Fiosen looked at Ian as if he did not understand.

The prince before him used the Second Prince’s name to contact Lavaltor. Wasn't he being too unreasonable to send a letter and hold a knight hostage?

"Your letter is clearly well-received. Aren't you here to talk to us about it?"

“I came to receive the price of the Second Prince’s life along with it.”

"Then…."

But soon Fiosen paused.

‘You are not even Duke Lavaltor, are you capable of paying the price?’

It was because Ian's eyes seemed to say so.

Fiosen flinched at the look that should never be seen in a child's eyes, but he smiled without showing it.

"Your Royal Highness, please worry not. You can tell me about it. I'm the former deputy head of Lavaltor and the deputy commander of the First Knight Order. I have that much authority.” 

"What if Duke Lavaltor refuses what Sir Fiosen promised?”

"What? No, I swear he won't do that."

"Oath."

Ian, uttering such, blinked as if he had never smiled in the first place.

"Then can you swear on your Oath?"

“!”

For a moment, Fiosen flinched.

He had no choice but to do so.

‘Taking the <Oath> is something that could end one’s life as a knight.’

If a knight lied or did not keep their promises, they would lose the <Oath> they had. There was no way to get it back; it literally meant losing everything the knight had.

But Fiosen smiled. 

"However, that's only when the content of the letter is correct. Do you remember what you wrote in the letter?"

"Of course. I said I'd tell you the secret of the Second Prince. For the sake of the one and only daughter of Duke Lavaltor."

“!”

Fiosen doubted his ears for a moment. 

"P, pardon? For my sister? The content is different.”

Obviously, the content of the letter Ian wrote was that he had information that could destroy Lavaltor.

Fiosen wondered what he was trying to say to make such a provocation, so the duke allowed him to meet Ian.

But out of nowhere, Ian mentioned his younger sister.

“Would you like to hear it? If you don't want your sister to go through dangerous things because of the Second Prince, that is."

Right at that moment.

Bang!

The wall of the next room collapsed, and Duke Lavaltor appeared.

A tall, blue-haired man with sharp eyes donned in a neat knight uniform. 

Duke Lavaltor asked Ian with a ferocious look.

"Can you take responsibility for what you just said?"

He was the commander in charge of the knights of Kaistein and also the man standing at the apex of the knights.

If Ian didn't answer correctly, Lavaltor would slash his throat right away.

But Ian did not panic.

‘He was said to be a daughter fool. I knew he wouldn't be able to hold it in.’

Ian had no choice but to do this.

In the history of Duke Lavaltor, the story of the existence of his precious daughter and how much he cherished her was very famous.

But the Second Prince's secret had something to do with his daughter?

It was, of course, unbearable for Duke Lavaltor.

Ian smiled.

"Of course, I'll hang my neck if you want. Before that, Duke Lavaltor might try to break the engagement contract with the Second Prince."

Duke Lavaltor frowned slightly at Ian's confident smile.

The content of the letter as well as those eyes.

‘Even the Second Prince wouldn't be this confident.’

They were now in the midst of the succession war.

Was this little prince not aware that the Battle of Ranking had been announced and that it would not be strange to be secretly killed by his supporters at any time? 

No, if he were Garcia’s people in the first place, Lavaltor did not intend to bow his head even if he was of royal blood.

"All right. But if you proved to be wrong, you'd better be prepared."

Ian said calmly.

"There are two things that I'm going to tell you. First, it is about assassins."

"Assassin?"

“What if the Second Prince made members of Lavaltor knights as assassins and used them?”

The first to react was Fiosen next to him, surprised.

"Your Highness! What do you mean assassin? With all due respect—!"

However, Fiosen immediately shut up. It was because the duke raised one hand. 

After Fiosen shut up, the duke stared at Ian with cold eyes.

"We are Lavaltor. It can never be true."

If the knight was in the light, the assassin was in the dark. That was never going to happen.

Lavaltor's eyes became grimmer. 

But Ian curled up his lips.

"Of course, that is if they were born and raised in Lavaltor. But what about the people that the Lavaltor family took in?”

“The same goes for the younglings from outside Lavaltor who have come with a dream to become a knight.”

"Well, let's take a look at this.”

"What is this?"

“It is the object owned by the person who was targeting me.”

Duke Lavaltor had no choice but to scrunch his forehead on the object Ian put down.

A vial of poison and a shattered orb that the assassin carried. In addition to that, a blood-stained seal of the Lavaltor Knights.

And, as a side note, it was true that the seal of the Lavaltor Knights was really difficult to obtain.

‘A report certainly came.’

Obviously, some of the knights-to-be were reported to have disappeared. But only the newly introduced ones.

But did they make contact with the Second Prince?

Duke Lavaltor frowned.

Of course, it could have been possible for the Second Prince. The Second Prince often visited Lavaltor Castle to meet his fiancée.

Perhaps that's why Duke Lavaltor looked straight at Ian with interest.

"Fine. What's the second one?"

Duke Lavaltor exuded an intense bloodthirst, never to forgive him for daring to mention his daughter in such a thing.

He didn't even care that Ian was a prince. Of course, he was not ignoring Ian. 

It's just the eyes of a beast that would fight even at the cost of his life if his family and daughter's reputation were to be tarnished, even if the opponent was a king.

But Ian smiled.

"The second one is too good for me to disclose, so I can't tell you if you don't accept my condition."

Duke Lavaltor frowned.

Originally, he intended to chase him out after hearing his purpose of sending such a letter, but he changed his mind.

‘This prince knows something.’

Fiosen might have missed it out of confusion, but he didn’t.

The Knights' seal, apparently the assassin’s, was certainly genuine. If so, it was highly likely that the information related to his daughter was also true.

"What do you want, Lavaltor's loyalty? Honor? Or those with status?"

The successors of the throne could not receive support from the king in any way, whether it was wealth or military power.

In other words, they started empty-handed.

Therefore, the successors had to gather factions and financial resources to defeat their brothers in the succession of the throne.

As such, Lavaltor's support would be essential for Ian, who had fewer cards in hand.

In fact, Lavaltor was the guardian who protected the vast northern part and one of the only two dukes in the kingdom.

Lavaltor could give anything that Garcia could ever give.

Therefore, he stared at Ian as if to dare him.

But right then.

Ian smiled as if it were an opportunity.

“Then make the <Oath> first. Can the duke use his <Oath>?”

“!”

The room seemed to freeze at Ian's words.

But Lavaltor smirked.

On the day of the legitimation ceremony, it was true that he was paying attention to Ian, who had subdued the monster of the trial, as he was in the position of nurturing knights.

But that was all.

It only gave him the thought of meeting Ian.

But at this very moment, he became a little interested in this daring prince.

Sure enough.

"Is that it? Well, it's not hard.”

Fiosen became impatient at the fierce eyes of Lavaltor. 

"Father! You can't do this! You’re the head of the household and not anyone else to make such an Oath. Have you forgotten your position?"

Fiosen didn't know what Ian would ask for.

Although it was not going to happen, if the commander of the royal knights and the greatest of all knights were to lose his Oath, he could be a laughingstock for other nobles.

Even if he put not-disadvantageous conditions for the Oath, such as ‘no rebellion and joining hands with the Second Prince,’ and so on.

Fiosen stepped in front of Ian.

"Your Highness. Please allow me to take the Oath on behalf of my father, as the eldest son of the Lavaltor family and the deputy commander of the First Order. I will keep my word.”

Fiosen uttered the <Oath>.

"I, Fiosen, the eldest and a knight of the Lavaltor family, will pledge his Oath. As long as I don't betray my loyalty and honor as a knight or someone in the name of my family name, if there's anything Prince Ian, the seventh prince, wishes for, I will listen to it.”

Woong!

Finally, the <Oath> engraved on Fiosen's heart showed a response.

Now he had to give what Ian wanted. Otherwise, he would lose the power of his Oath.

"So, don't worry and please speak comfortably."

Ian flashed a smile as if it went as he planned. 

And although Fiosen also saw him smiling, he was curious.

What was Ian going to ask for with the secret of the Second Prince and the price of his life?

"I'll tell you in advance, but I can't give you our Lavaltor's support, Seventh Prince. The same goes for the First Knight Order. It's even more impossible to stage a rebellion."

It was only natural.

Lavaltor and the First Knight Order only listened to the king's orders.

It was then.

Finally achieving the first plan, Ian opened his mouth.

"All right, there is only one thing I want."

His Oath could have disappeared, yet Fiosen was confident. 

He would do the same because his family could comply with anything.

But soon that idea was shattered.

“Y-yes? I beg your pardon?"

The father-son duo flinched at Ian's words.

It was an absurd request for them.