This Bastard is Too Competent

Flash!

"Wh-What? That's…!”

"Ugh, so bright!”

Light poured out of the annex from the space where Ian was supposed to be.

Everyone, even Karan, couldn’t close their open mouths as they stared at that place. 

"What? What happened?"

Everyone was distracted by the sudden light.

But only one person.

Karan's eyes couldn’t stop shaking.

The problem was not the light but the direction it was coming from.

That direction pointed to the most central part of the annex. There was only one room there, the exact place where Ian was trapped underground.

And there was nothing in the room to shine like that, be it a magic tool or anything else.

Then, there's only one possibility. 

‘Don’t tell me he had unraveled the secret of that place?’

But that was the only possible reason.

In the end, Karan could only grit his teeth as he recalled what he had done.

‘Damn it. I shouldn't have locked the prince there…!'

Of course, it was not yet clear whether Ian had unlocked the secret there.

All that was coming out of the annex now was light. There was no proof yet that Ian had gained anything from there.

Still, Karan was sweating in a cold sweat with his brows furrowed.

‘I have to check first. And if, by any chance, the prince did obtain the power there…'

He had to retrieve it somehow.

As Karan was about to run toward the annex with those thoughts.

The Second Prince, who saw Karan's expression, smirked.

He said his brother was hiding in fear.

The Second Prince was skeptical, but now he looked at the annex with a decisive look.

“Looks like my little brother is doing something very cute to greet his older brother.”

“!”

The Second Prince immediately took a step.

And the direction he was headed for was where the light burst out!

Karan was panicked. 

He couldn't show the secret of the castle to the royal family. It could have been taken away.

However, the Second Prince’s eyes glinted excitedly and he headed to the place where Ian was. 

“I don’t know what he is doing over there. I'll have to check on my brother's condition."

It wasn't because he was worried about Ian's life.

His gaze was eager to keep his rival in check, which would later become stronger with the support of Duke Garcia.

The guards behind him reacted to the movement of the Second Prince.

“We will accompany you.”

Karan was irritated by the prince’s unexpected behavior.

‘Damn it, why are these guys making a ruckus again?'

Karan could say for sure.

The prince must have noticed something. 

Still, he couldn't let him go.

Of course, he was not sure what happened inside either. 

‘It belongs to our family. It's the power that I must have.’

Karan hurriedly blocked the prince. 

"Your Highness, you don't have to concern yourself with such impertinent things. That's under our jurisdiction, so we'll take care of it."

On Karan’s beckon, the soldiers of the castle stopped the Second Prince.

On the outside, it was an attitude of politely guiding the way, but there was no way that the prince did not notice the meaning.

As expected.

"How dare you mere soldiers stand in the Crown Prince’s way?"

Even though he was not a crown prince yet, his words proved his confidence in the succession war.

Karan's eyes flashed. 

"Regardless of what you say, Your Highness, this is the private property of Duke Garcia's family. We will be in trouble if you go around as you wish."

"Trouble? Are you saying I am trouble?"

At that moment, sparks flew from the Second Prince’s eyes. 

At the same time, the servants screamed. It was because the prince unsheathed his sword and turned toward the soldiers who stood in his way.

The soldiers were at a loss.

No matter what, they couldn't point their swords at the prince.

And the Second Prince, who knew it very well, smiled and moved on.

“If you don’t get out of the way, I’ll cut you off.”

Karan shouted at the sight.

"This is against the laws of the kingdom! You are being rude, Your Highness!"

However, the Second Prince had an abominable look on his face.

What Karan mentioned was the rule that a member of the royal family should be polite even in the territory of a nobility. 

"Why are you getting so worked up? That's where my brother is. I'm just trying to make sure that my dear brother is not being abused or that this is a good environment for him."

‘Dear brother’ my ass!!

As Karan eventually couldn’t hold back his anger.

"Please stop this, Your Highness."

“!”

A voice came from behind the Second Prince. A simple yet heavy voice that no one could ever disobey thoughtlessly.

Karan flinched at the voice. 

"Father!"

It was none other than Duke Garcia, the owner of the castle. At the same time, the Duke glanced at Karan.

His eyes seemed to know everything that Karan had done.

Of course, the Duke had to call him later to check what he did specifically and why light burst from that room, but the Duke walked straight to the Second Prince.

"I didn't know you'd come to our place like this, so I was late to greet you. Please forgive me. I'll show you to the drawing room right away."

"I'm sorry, but I'll go to the drawing room later. I have somewhere else to go right now."

However, the Duke did not tolerate the prince's rudeness.

"What are you all doing? Go serve His Highness now!"

The prince looked displeased.

"Listen here, Duke!"

"Your Highness, please let me save my face. If you allow me, I will take you to the Seventh Prince.”

"Hmm…"

The Second Prince raised the corners of his lips instead of responding. 

He had read the intentions hidden in the eyes of Duke Garcia, who hated him.

‘If you make any more fuss in my castle, I won't let you go.’

It was the gaze that could command the whole world with one glance.

And Duke Garcia was the second duke that even the king could not ignore. 

Even if the Second Prince were to quickly ascend to the throne, he could not easily disregard the Duke.

Moreover, although the results were obvious, it was difficult to make him an enemy considering the upcoming battle of succession to the throne.

Still, he said what he had to say as a royal family until the end.

“However, Duke, isn't that my brother's residence? Shouldn’t I go check to see if he’s okay?"

"You worry too much, Your Highness. It's just a little internal accident. The Seventh Prince will be out shortly.”

"Really? I come to see him personally because I believe my younger brother is a better man than I am. Turns out he has no ability, and since he came from a humble background, he must have been anxious being in a situation where he can be attacked at any time.”

The Duke raised the corners of his mouth inconspicuously. It seemed like he managed to escape from Karan's prank, but that's all there was to it.

"That's right. He has so much to learn that he cannot compare yet with Your Highness, the young sun of the kingdom…”

It was then.

"What's going on here?"

“!!”

Everyone flinched at the familiar voice. A little boy was walking down the hallway.

However, the most disturbed among them was the Duke. 

He had no choice but to do so.

‘That figure is obviously…'

***

There was an awkward silence in the Duke's drawing room.

In the quiet drawing room, only the sound of the tea being prepared by the butler could be heard. Everyone there had grim expressions on their faces.

They didn’t have a close relationship in the first place. 

It was none other than a third party who broke the deadening silence.

Bang!

“!”

The door of the drawing room opened, and Ian appeared.

At the same time, everyone's eyes were focused on one place. There stood Ian who showed up in good clothes. 

"I'm a little late."

Striking, golden eyes. 

And the moment his gaze landed on the sun-like eyes, the Second Prince frowned as if he was displeased. 

"Took you long enough to wash."

Ian laughed instead of answering the thorny voice. 

He had washed his dirty body after coming out of the basement. It was just that Ian was being sulky that took him this long to bathe.

‘Wait as long as you can. I'm surprised you can be patient with that nasty personality of yours.’

In fact, it was very worth seeing him dying of frustration.

Perhaps reading his thoughts, Karan glared slightly at Ian. 

He couldn't run away because Ian asked to have a word with him instead of his brother before he went to wash up. And thanks to him, he suffered so much from the nasty Second Prince.

And yet, he dared smile in such a situation?

Karan could do nothing but grind his teeth while glaring at Ian. The Duke was also looking at Ian suspiciously.

That was obvious.

‘How the hell did you get out of there? And that energy was the ancestor of Garcia’s…'

‘It was definitely the energy of <Faith>, one of the Seven Virtues who followed the First King. What happened?’

‘No way…’

It was a look full of doubts.

The Duke even forgot that he was face-to-face with his opponent in the succession war.

However, Ian simply ignored them and only paid attention to the Second Prince.

"So, do you have anything to say?"

The Second Prince eyed Ian as if he was despicable.

"You lowly thing. I don't know where you have been living, but the filth doesn't come off even if you wash it."

Some people like you don't deserve to be royalty. It was a deliberate mockery, but Ian giggled again.

"Yes. This lowly thing is your brother."

"What?"

"I'm not officially recognized yet, but since you have come all the way here only to see me, your younger brother, there’s no need for me to prove it, right? I'm thankful to you, Brother."

The Second Prince's eyes turned sharp.

“A brazen kid, aren’t you?”

The servants next to him were nervous, feeling the air so tense as if a sword would be pulled out at any moment.

It was only natural.

‘Oh my god, he dares mess with the Second Prince.’

‘Is it true that he was a serf not long ago?’

And when the Duke gave a similar look, Ian laughed inwardly.

‘Yeah, you must be wondering why I'm so confident, including the things I did before.’

When Ian first heard that the Second Prince would come, he had been contemplating whether to hide his true self.

However, thanks to the power he gained from the basement, there was no reason to do that.

‘I didn't know that one of the Seven Virtues’ power would be there.’

He still had to go back to the room to check what kind of power it was, but he could tell that his body was recovering.

‘Anyway, this power is mine now.’

The Second Prince laughed at Ian's eyes.

"All right. You have kept me waiting for two hours, and as a younger brother, shouldn't you be punished? Being late for bathing is not a reason. There's no way the Duke's attendants can be so lax."

Ian smiled inwardly at the harsh gaze, but he deliberately made a sad face.

"Actually, I couldn't pull myself together from fear."

"Fear?"

The Second Prince had a hard time understanding Ian's words.

Having fear in this castle protected by the Duke. Could it be that he was afraid of being lonely?

While the two were talking, Karan quietly stood up from his seat. He was going to go check the basement where Ian was locked up.

He wasn’t sure if there was anything left in there.

‘It's the power of my family. There's no way someone else can have it.’

"Since the prince is present here, please have a leisurely talk. I should get going now.”

But Ian's golden eyes narrowed.

"Where are you going, Young Master Karan? My brother has come."

“!”

His eyes were as if challenging him to take a step from there.

Karan laughed.

"I better take my leave here so that the princes can have a chat with each other…"

“You can’t do that. You dared to make my brother wait.”

"Pardon?"

"Don’t you have to explain why you locked me in the basement after you heard that my brother was coming?"

At Ian's words, Karan's heart sank with a thud.