This Bastard is Too Competent

Chapter 117: You Will Lose Everything

Duke Garcia the Iron Blood. 

He wasn’t worried too much even if Heinley accused his eldest son and family. 

It was only natural he thought so.

‘It is no exaggeration to say that this country runs with my money.’

He could proudly say that his family was among the top five in Kaistein, no, the continent even. 

Their financial power alone surpassed other forces. 

So, there was nothing to fear. 

‘If it doesn’t work, I can open one or two of the family’s warehouses to the king.’ 

Then King Eloin, who was busy strengthening the royal authority, would simply close his eyes to this. 

It might be a few, but it easily exceeded the royal palace’s annual budget. 

But how come this happened?

“Greetings to Your Majesty.”

Numerous ministers and successors. 

And even the queen. Practically all important people in this country gathered in one place.

Because of their sudden appearance, he couldn’t even make an offer. 

But they didn’t simply gather for no reason. 

The particularly problematic one was Count Vandal, who was now shouting with his face flushed.

“Your Majesty! Is it true what I heard?”

“What do you mean?”

“The legitimate son of a family thrust a sword into the precious body of a royal! This is a conspiracy!”

“It should never be overlooked, Your Majesty! Please punish the traitor!”

Following him, Count Osiris also raised his voice. 

They all belonged to the anti-Garcia factions. 

Most of them were those having caused trouble to Garcia’s financial resources as well as created disputes over business. 

Normally, they were a wicked bunch who did nothing but try pricking his side.

“We can’t let this slide!” 

“That’s right! How dare he point a sword at a royal’s body! Even if he is a duke, this is something we can’t just ignore!”

But now, they hurled their fury at him. 

Duke Garcia’s face turned grim. 

‘Just how come so many nobles have come…’

A flash of humiliation flickered past his countenance.

‘If it goes on, we might face a counterattack.’

So, Duke Garcia had no other choice but to quietly swallow his anger. 

All he did was stare at Ian, who was supposed to be behind all this. 

‘He did this. Is this what he aimed for?’

Ian, however, remained calm. 

‘What’s wrong? I haven’t even started yet.’

Duke Garcia took a deep breath. 

He tried to handle it quietly, but the things he could do were limited if rumors had already spread.

Now, not even the king could keep this quiet. 

Thus, only one way was left for him.

“Your Majesty, may this sinner Garcia say a word?”

“How impertinent! How dare the family of the sinner open his mouth to His Majesty—!”

Right as Count Osiris tried to cut off Duke Garcia. 

Chill. 

He shrank after seeing Garcia’s cold gaze. 

No matter how cornered a tiger might be, Garcia’s wealth and foundation were far from negligible. 

Ignoring him, the Duke bowed to the king. 

“I will disclose our property while the inspection of the Garcia family that His Majesty has asked for is ongoing.”

“Hmm…”

But the king shook his head. 

His expression was as if saying what the Duke proposed was nowhere enough in this current situation.

No, if anything, he looked like this was his chance. 

‘I actually needed to keep Garcia in check, so this works out fine anyway.’

In addition, it was a perfect opportunity to rip off Garcia’s hidden wealth as well. 

King Eloin could not have missed such a good opportunity. 

‘If you want to save your eldest son, that will not be enough.’

Duke Garcia gritted his teeth after reading the king’s eyes. 

He was indeed the father of his son.

Nevertheless, the Duke slowly opened his mouth, hiding his angry expression. 

“How can I stay still as a family that has become a criminal? I will make sufficient tribute to appease Your Majesty’s heart in addition to the first two conditions.”

“Oho?”

“That way, it will be possible to establish a new knight order that His Majesty has always wanted to create.”

“In exchange for covering this up?”

“Yes, Your Majesty.” 

King Eloin looked intrigued.

The creation of a knight order was not something that could be done with a penny or two. The funds to create it would be equivalent to several years’ worth of the kingdom’s budget.

Indeed, as one would expect from Garcia of Gold.

Duke Garcia bowed and looked at the king with a newfound confidence. 

The king stroked his chin. 

‘Of course, he thought I would accept that condition.’

It had to be that way.

The creation of the new knight order was one of King Eloin’s long-cherished dreams.

If that proposal was accepted, the creation of the knight order would be instantaneous. 

It certainly wasn’t a bad offer. 

‘The stronger the royal family’s finances, the stronger the royal authority. I guess I can’t help it this time.’ 

He had no other choice but to do what Duke Garcia wanted.

At that moment, King Eloin shifted his gaze to one side of the room.

“Hm? Come to think of it, how come the queen is here? You, who didn’t even come out of the main palace?”

King Eloin’s eyes turned to the queen. 

Then the queen smiled. 

“Your Majesty, I have heard that you have something interesting.”

“Interesting?”

The queen, who was regarded as a composed lady on any other day, , was now talking with a beaming smile on her face.

“I have heard that Your Majesty will have a very precious thing.”

“A precious thing?”

“I thought it originally belonged to the Seven Prince, but now it’s His Majesty’s.”

King Eloin tilted his head. 

But the queen simply smiled and bowed her head. 

This was the end of her and Ian’s promise.

It was as if she had nothing more to say.

The king had no choice but to call Ian.

“Speak. Tell me what the queen was saying just now.”

Ian leisurely spoke up at the king’s command. 

“The queen seems to be referring to Bahara’s wealth.”

“You mean the spoils of war? Hasn’t it already become mine?”

King Eloin frowned as if he was offended. 

What he said was not wrong. 

Having conquered Bahara, all the loot obtained would belong to the king of the suzerain country.

Those items were already being transported to Kaistein as they spoke.

But Ian’s words were not over yet. 

“It’s not exactly the wealth I gained this time. I suppose she was talking about the wealth you will receive in the future. I, the Seventh Prince Ian, wish to hand over the mining rights, trading rights, and all other rights in Bahara to Your Majesty.”

“What?”

“!?” 

Ian’s words sent a huge shock throughout the throne room.

What he meant was that he would hand over his rights as the king of Bahara to King Eloin.

The faces of the nobles, in particular, visibly paled.

Even King Eloin was at a loss for words for a moment.

‘Is he out of his mind?’ 

The business rights of an average kingdom were normally worth a lot of money.

That was something that even the king of a suzerain country could not dare to give away without permission.

In fact, the business rights inside Kaistein were strictly regulated, down to picking the bidders in a bill. 

King Eloin frowned, telling him not to joke. 

“Do you think that makes sense? How can you hand over such enormous rights with just a few words? Those Bahara people aren’t stupid and won’t just stay quiet.”

It was akin to selling out the country. 

It would not be strange if a rebellion broke out in Bahara rather than a mere riot. 

Yet Ian casually replied, still with his relaxed demeanor. 

“They said they would. They believed in me.”

“What?”

It was true.  

All Bahara’s ministers had already voted in favor of Ian’s plan. 

“If it’s going to be taken away, please sell it at a high price.”

“Rather than being taken away by those bastards, we’d rather leave it to you. Please use it as you wish.”

“We ask only one thing. Please protect the political realm of this kingdom.”

King Eloin, unaware of the behind-the-scenes, was speechless. 

He fixed his gaze on Ian’s confident appearance.

‘It doesn’t seem like he has the intention to lie.’

However, he couldn’t just believe it and gloss over it.

What kind of right was that?

‘Is he saying they all trust him and simply hand them over? What on earth did he do in Bahara?’

However, there was no justification or reason to refuse. 

Bahara, a country of warriors with mountainous terrain covering most areas, was rich in natural resources.

To be entrusted with the rights to it. 

If those rights fell to him, not to Ian…  

‘My position will completely overwhelm the nobles.’

Even the royal family was shaken by Garcia’s financial strength just now. 

If he obtained any of those rights, he would no longer be fazed by Garcia’s financial resources. 

Then, the nobles would split up among themselves.

‘And naturally, the royal authority will be strengthened.’

A symbol of overwhelming royal power, just like what Ian showed just now.

It might be possible to resolve one of the long-standing wishes of the Kaistein royal family.

Of course, the nobles were not fools either. 

‘Normally, they would have taken the lead in opposing it.’

But now, they were drooling as dogs would in front of a bone. 

Their eyes only hungered for the king’s attention in the face of profits that might fall on them. 

‘That means that the benefits are enormous.’

Even those ministers discarded their dignity and pounced on this. 

But the king couldn’t understand one thing. 

‘Why in the world is he doing this?’ 

Ian must be busy solidifying his own power, yet he even spared his attention to strengthen the royal authority of Kaistein, the suzerain country. 

Seeing King Eloin’s hardened face, Ian merely smiled. 

He did this all for no other reason.

‘This kingdom will be mine anyway. The more the royal authority is strengthened, the more I will ultimately benefit.’

Besides, he wasn’t going to just let it go.

Ian smiled at the troubled King Eloin. 

“To be precise, I would like Your Majesty to choose who will receive the rights.”

“Did you mean it?”

“Since it’s my first time being a king, there are many things I don’t know. I hope Your Majesty will teach me a lot.”

“Huh?”

Whether it was an auction. 

Or the king gave it away to his servants. 

Whichever way didn’t matter.

It meant that he would sign a contract with the person chosen by King Eloin.

The cause was passed over to the king, but the actual authority was still in his hands.

‘In any case, it’s up to me to decide what kind of contract to sign. But even that was enough to make the nobles drool.’

It was only rightly so.

“Th, this is ridiculous!”

A man rudely interrupted the conversation between Ian and the king.

It was apparent that the nobles from Duke Garcia’s faction would intervene.

“The kingdom’s business rights are under the jurisdiction of the Department of Treasury. Moreover, these business rights were obtained from the Garcia ducal family. How can you pass that up to the prince?”

“He is right. According to royal laws, these business rights belong to the Garcia family…”

“Pardon my impertinence, Your Majesty, but the rights must be transferred to the Garcia family according to the procedures.”

This was because all the rights that would be lucrative for the kingdom would be a loss to those involved with Garcia of Gold.

However, Ian stared at them in a cold voice. 

“You must be mistaken about something.”

“Pardon?”

“I’m handing over the rights of my kingdom to His Majesty. What does Kaistein’s law have to do with it?”

“Th, that’s—”

“I can’t say anything about Kaistein’s rights. However, Bahara is my kingdom. Don’t even think about doing it your way.”

The nobles of Garcia’s faction couldn’t come up with any retort. 

Recalling the meeting that took place in the afternoon, they dared not to even argue it. 

‘If we make a slip of the tongue, we’ll be in trouble again.’

‘We can’t just let it happen this time. We have to find a way somehow.’

Therefore, everyone went for Duke Garcia with an urgent look. 

‘Duke, please do something.’

‘At this rate, we could only let go without doing anything.’

The enormous rights of a country.

If they missed it, they could literally suffer an immense financial loss.

Worse off, unlike before, a new faction with financial power surpassing that of Duke Garcia might emerge.

However, Duke Garcia remained silent. 

‘Wouldn’t he usually have made a move first?’

‘Why are you just watching, Duke! You need to move quickly.’

No matter how anxiously the faction nobles looked at him, there was nothing he could do.

Duke Garcia did not move.

No, he couldn’t.

‘No way… Was this also what he was aiming for?’

It was because of the safety of the Garcia family as well as his eldest son. 

In such a situation, far from interfering with the plan to strengthen the royal authority, if he refused to approve it… 

‘The family itself might be blown into nothingness.’

The earlier proposal had already gone out the window. 

Even if he brought out dozens of his warehouses, there was no way the king would change his mind.

He might actually take the lead in ruining his family.

‘Do I really have to give up my eldest son?’

That was the only way to protect the family. 

Duke Garcia had no choice but to get down on his knees.

“I will arrest Ceres myself and bring him before Your Majesty for trial.”

It was a declaration of surrender in its truest sense. 

This was the first time for the Garcia family to bow before the king. 

But then, Ian cut in. 

“Don’t worry. Your eldest son has already been arrested.”

“Wh, what?”

“The royal guards moved with my knight. Perhaps they’re already picking him up from your private residence by now.”

“!?” 

Duke Garcia could only gape. 

Just when on earth had he moved so far? 

‘I can’t believe it’s the royal guards themselves. Could it be that the king moved as soon as the meeting was adjourned?’

It must have been to go catch his son. 

But it was too early to give up. 

‘I can simply insist that the second struggled to survive. We still have money here.’

It didn’t matter even if he was a king. 

Not only the presiding judge but also all the citizens of Kaistein were living on gold coins.

‘I will make sure you can’t mess with my eldest son.’

That was the last piece of pride Duke Garcia had. 

But right at that moment. 

“Your Majesty! Urgent news!”

“What’s going on?”

“Y-Young Master Ceres has escaped!”

“What?”

“He defeated the royal knights who were trying to apprehend him and escaped! Currently, the other royal knights are joining in and going after him!”

Duke Garcia felt dizzy. 

A mountain of gold in his possession was useless if his eldest son fled like this. 

He practically admitted that he was the criminal. 

‘You, you idiot! Why did you make such a choice?!’

But how did it come to this? 

Ian smiled as if he had known all along. 

‘Now, there will be only one choice you can make, Duke.’

If neither the first nor the second son worked.

All that was left was the third.

And the third son was also in Ian’s palm.

Ian’s lips curled up into a smile.

‘This is only the beginning. You will lose everything, Duke Garcia.’

It was a truly chilly smile.