This Bastard is Too Competent

Ian’s eyes shone sharply.

In fact, it was all he wanted to take away from the beginning.

But Fiosen and Galon…  

He was a bit angry now. So he was going to swipe everything he owned all the way down to his spine.

‘Well, I’ll leave the bones behind.’

If he simply took everything, it was obvious who the other brothers would be after. He would only pluck out the kernel and leave what he didn’t need so other brothers could take it.  

With those thoughts in mind, Ian opened his mouth. 

“The first thing I will ask for is your palace.”

The Second Prince was the owner of the Sapphire Palace. 

The largest and most luxurious palace, it was also used as a banquet hall for the royal family on special occasions. It was a stark contrast to the Opal Palace, which was used to entertain envoys.

But to give it away?

The Second Prince glared at Ian as if it was ridiculous.

But that was fine.

“Alright, I’ll give it to you. I can get back as many such splendid palaces as I want later on…” 

“You just have to leave everything in the palace, the people and things there, and go out.”

“What?” 

The Second Prince’s face froze.

He had an inkling of what he meant.

That’s why he gritted his teeth. 

“It’s not something that can be done with one of the three claims. At least all three of your wishes…”

As he was about to say this was out of question unless he put down his bet.  

Ian’s eyes flashed. 

“Referee. My brother greatly disparages the extent of the three claims in the Battle of Ranking. Is this really unprecedented?” 

“!” 

The referee was not just someone who came to confirm the outcome of the match. He was a person sent by the royal elders in charge of the Battle of Ranking. Of course, he knew all about the history of the royal family.

The referee shook his head.

“There is a record in the past that when you take over a palace, everything in it is included.”

“…!” 

The Second Prince’s face contorted.

The referee seemed a little astonished. This was information that one would not know well unless they checked the old records of the Battle of Ranking.

But Ian grinned. 

“Did you hear that? There’s a precedent.” 

“…” 

The Second Prince’s face turned ashen. 

It was inevitable. 

Sapphire Palace was the gathering place of the Second Prince’s forces, and all his secret troops were hiding as attendants. Also, that place held all of the properties stored.

The Second Prince was sweating profusely. 

‘I thought it was the safest place in the royal castle.’ 

If everything in the palace were taken away, there would be a big problem. 

‘I don’t have any operating expenses to pay the spies right now. Everything in progress and planning has to be stopped.’

Of course, it was possible to borrow operating expenses from the nobles in the past. But now, no one seemed to believe in him.

This was fatal. 

Therefore, the Second Prince stubbornly refused. 

“Don’t talk nonsense! Do you think your poor palace is comparable to mine? It is too big a demand for merely using one claim, not all three —!”

The Second Prince, who was furious, immediately held his temper. Then, he smiled as if he were still trying to arouse sympathy from the young Ian. 

“Ian, I’m still your brother. If the royal family gives it to you, I have nowhere to go right now. Where would I stay without a palace?”

“How about sleeping on the ground?”  

“!” 

Ian’s eyes glinted, telling him to quit his bullshit. 

“Since when did we Kaistein get our own palace for free? Even I had to prove my qualifications myself.” 

“…!”

“Did you forget? It was you, Brother, and the First Princess who were constantly fussing about the qualifications of the Crystal Palace.”

The Second Prince bit his lip tightly. 

“And aren’t you staying at the annex now? It won’t make much difference.” 

“That’s…” 

But then Ian smiled as if he just remembered. 

“Coming to think of it, the annex is also a part of your palace. You should leave that, too.” 

“Ian Kaistein! Do you think such a thing will be tolerated?!” 

Then Ian’s smiling face froze. 

“For someone seeking my arms and eyes, you sure speak out of both sides of your mouth. Do you think the more valuable the other party asks for, the more you have the right to respond?”

“…You!”

“Otherwise, should we ask Duke Lavaltor as the overseer?” 

“…!” 

At that moment, the Second Prince trembled. 

It was only then that Duke Lavaltor, who was selected as an overseer, caught his eye.

He actually used the brainwashing he had planted secretly on Fiosen with the assumption that he would win.

‘I was trying to win and take his life as well as the position of the betrothed since birth.’

After that, he planned to kill the young lady of Lavaltor at the wedding, further drying up the Lavaltor family line.

But now it was just a pipe dream. 

Flash. 

It was because Lavaltor’s eyes staring at him glinted with unusual light. In the first place, an overseer’s job was not just as a spectator, but an upholder of a promise.

“Haven’t you already checked His Highness the Seventh Prince’s conditions in advance? If you continue to refuse, Second Prince, the overseers will have no choice but to hold a meeting and compare the weights themselves.”

The duke was speaking formally, but the Second Prince knew it by looking at his eyes.

The look intent on killing the Second Prince.  

At the very least, he would show no mercy in his hands on him, who brainwashed his successor.

It was natural for the Second Prince’s body to tremble. The Second Prince said, staring at Ian with hostile eyes. 

“Fine, I’ll do what you want.” 

He didn’t have any choice. All he could do was promise for the future.

Even though his Sword of Domination was broken and only one arm was left, he would surely ascend to the throne and pay back this disgrace.

But Ian didn’t forget to add a word. 

“Oh, right. You must leave the annex you are currently staying in and all the palaces attached to it.”

“Huh. Collecting knights is the Third Prince’s hobby, but I never knew you had a hobby of collecting palaces.” 

The Second Prince nearly burst a vein. Having many palaces wouldn’t make him the master of the royal family. Despite that, Ian smiled without care. 

He wasn’t interested in palaces which were cumbersome to manage in the first place. 

‘Because there’s only one person I need anyway.’

The Third Prince’s Achilles’ heel.

Ian was planning to take one of the maids of the Sapphire Palace. If only he could take out that person, Ian didn’t care about the palace at all.

He made things so big to fool the Third Prince and others. 

In other words, he intentionally shrouded what he was aiming for.  

‘Not to mention the additional gains aside.’

However, it was still too early for the Second Prince to be relieved.  

“Then I’ll tell you the second condition.” 

“…!” 

At the voice that followed, the Second Prince gulped nervously. 

He couldn’t imagine what else Ian would demand on top of depriving him of his palace. Rather, he could slowly ask the claims for the Battle of Ranking, but why would he do that here? 

‘What’s next? Is it my faction’s force? Or is it the pasture and horses that Lavaltor gave?’

He couldn’t come up with anything because there were so many things that he could think of. 

Then Ian’s eyes gleamed. 

“What I want is the things you’re wearing right now.” 

The Second Prince looked at Ian speechlessly.  

“What do you mean?” 

“I’m telling you to leave everything you have or wear here. That means, naked.” 

“!?” 

The Second Prince looked around in panic. At a glance, well over thousands of people were surrounding the area. 

“You mean here? In front of this many people?” 

The almighty Second Prince was flustered and about to say he was taking the joke too far. 

But Ian’s eyes were not joking.

“If you don’t like it, give me your neck.” 

“You little…!” 

The Second Prince glared at the referee. Still, it was just too unfair. 

“What are you doing just looking! Right now, that punk is arrogant and is trying to tarnish the honor of the royal family. This is also against the royal law…”

“It doesn’t matter.”

“What?” 

The referee bowed his head and said. 

“This was often the case at the time when there were a lot of the Battle of Ranking matches.” 

“…!” 

It was a way to beg for life in the fierce Battle of Ranking in the past.  

It was an insult that the loser accepted instead of paying with his life to protect his own life. 

“In other words, honor.” 

The Second Prince cried as if he had been wronged.

“Did you mean to go naked in front of all these people? At least underwear…”

“The one aiming for my arms and neck asks so much.”

“!” 

“Then decide. Life or honor.” 

The Second Prince’s lips trembled. No matter how hard he thought about it, there was no other way around.  

He was too greedy to be decapitated in a place like this.  

“Fine, I’ll do it. But… I will never forget this.” 

At the words, the Second Prince’s chamberlain shouted hurriedly. 

“What are the guards doing? Hurry up and cover His Highness’ body!” 

It might still be visible, but at least insults would be minimized. 

But then Ian frowned. 

“What are you doing there?” 

“Pardon?” 

Ian’s sharp call made the chamberlain flinch. 

The chamberlain didn’t seem to understand why Ian was doing that all of a sudden. 

But soon Ian smiled and opened his mouth. 

“Aren’t you the chamberlain of the Sapphire Palace that my brother has relinquished? Then, aren’t you supposed to work for me from now on?” 

“…!” 

The chamberlain turned pale. But it wasn’t even wrong. 

In the first place, a chamberlain was assigned to each palace. He wasn’t the Second Prince’s personal attendant.

The chamberlain immediately bowed his head. 

“I’m sorry, Your Highness the Second Prince.”

“!” 

After saying those words, the chamberlain headed to where Ian was.

The Second Prince shook at betrayal, but it was no use.  

Moreover, the problem lay elsewhere. 

‘If he opens his mouth, all of my plans will fall into his ears.’

Soon after, Ian beamed into a smile. 

“So, when are you going to take it off? I want to finish the Battle of Ranking quickly and go back to rest.” 

Grit.

The Second Prince’s eyes were literally blazing with killing intent. 

But he soon resigned himself and took off his clothes. 

‘I will never forget this grudge. I will surely repay you even if I sell my soul.’ 

In the meantime the Second Prince took off his clothes, the crowd fell into a great commotion. Although the guards covered the perimeter, they could still somewhat see it. 

It was a great humiliation.  

The Second Prince spoke with chilly eyes. 

“Are you satisfied now? Then I’ll get going.” 

“Wait a minute.” 

“What? You still have something to say!” 

“You’re a royal, though.” 

“Ha.” 

The Second Prince smirked. He had a sarcastic look on his face as to whether he would return the clothes now.

But Ian wasn’t such a good person.

“You have to leave that behind, right?” 

“What?” 

“Did you forget? I have told you to put down everything you had on and leave. The royal family doesn’t go back on their words.” 

“…!” 

It’s the necklace of the Second Prince. 

It was to leave the necklace on his bare body. 

Then the Second Prince shouted in bewilderment. 

“E-even this… This one is… ” 

“What I want is to leave everything behind and go back naked. Have you forgotten already?” 

“…!” 

Ian smiled seeing the necklace worn by the Second Prince. 

He wasn’t actually doing this to humiliate the Second Prince. 

That necklace was what he aimed for in the first place. 

Or, to be more exact, the ring on the necklace. 

[Ring of Promise].

‘I was confused about what kind of item it was exactly, but that’s the only thing that fits when I look at it like that.’

That was the item holding the First Princess’s rein. That item prevented the First Princess from killing the Second Prince. 

So, it was what Ian wanted. 

Noticing something, resentment flared up in the Second Prince’s eyes at once. 

“Don’t tell me… What you’ve been aiming for since the beginning is not my naked body…”

“Hm? What are you talking about?” 

The Second Prince felt like grabbing Ian by the collar. 

“Did you know that from the beginning? Did Sister tell you to do this?” 

“I don’t know what you’re talking about since a while ago. I just want you to not bring anything with you.”

Defeat was apparent in the Second Prince’s eyes for the first time.  

It never crossed his mind that this ring be taken away. He tried to resist not giving it to him, but due to Duke Lavaltor’s bloodthirst he continued to shoot at him… 

Clink. 

In the end, he had no other choice but to untie his necklace. 

He spoke with bloodshot eyes. 

“Don’t forget, I’m not done yet. I’ll take your life… for sure” 

He truly meant it. 

As the Second Prince moved, the area around the arena was astir.  

But then.  

“Oh! One last thing.” 

“What is it now!” 

This time, the Second Prince did not even look back. He had taken all of his away and had nothing to give anymore. 

However, for this time, Ian was serious. 

“I’ll demand using my last claim. Apologize to Sir Fiosen right now.” 

“!!” 

This time, even the nobles were surprised.  

Fiosen and Duke Lavaltor especially seemed completely taken by surprise. 

“Did you think you could get away from this for using the Sword of Domination? I want you to get down on your knees and put your head to the ground.”

The Second Prince couldn’t help trembling after hearing Ian’s words. 

And. 

Thud! 

The first Battle of Ranking match ended with a harsh thud.