Chapter 55: Who's Helping Whom?

“I will say it again. I passed the test. This is the genuine work of Gardio von Laverbaum.”

People were astonished at the sight unfolding before their eyes.

In particular, Orlando seemed to have forgotten to speak and could only gape.

It was inevitable.

‘Another painting in the painting?’

In the original painting, a gorgeous, elegant noblewoman with black pearls was lying in bed. But now it had become a completely different painting.

Everyone’s reactions were only natural.

“Su… such an explicit painting!”

“There is no way a decadent painting like that belongs to Laverbaum! How could he…”

The new painting revealed a naked lady without a single thread on her body. It also seemed like she was seducing the artist to make love in a suggestive way.

The shocked nobles were speechless.

“Wh, what a prostitute…!”

It must have been quite a shock, but seeing the bewildered people, Ian smiled inwardly.

‘Everyone doesn’t know Laverbaum’s true face. Well, it’s unknown at this time.’

Gardio von Laverbaum was famous for his elegance and aloofness. However, he had a pretty sleazy life when he was young. Of course, it became known later when his memoirs were discovered.

‘Was he a count? He had a secret relationship with a marquis’ woman.’

The interesting thing apart from its content was that the moment this painting was revealed, the history of art would change significantly.

At the same time, Florence, known as a forger, was actually a disciple of Laverbaum.

He made money from his replica works, finding and repainting the past paintings of his teacher. All to protect his teacher’s honor.

‘Of course, I don’t think Laverbaum himself cared.’

But Florence thought differently. Still, he couldn’t get rid of it as it was his teacher’s work, so all he had to do was paint it over with a special chemical.

‘Seeing that he insisted it’s his own painting, Florence must be worried that the truth of the painting will be revealed and his teacher’s disgrace will be exposed.’

He might be going to cover it all by himself.

But Ian didn’t bother to explain it to that extent.

Instead, he told the nobles who looked at him with strange faces.

“You don’t have to look at me as if seeing a ghost. It’s just that I’ve met Laverbaum in person in the past.”

“What?”

“What are you… You were obviously a serf from the countryside… Ah! No way!”

Ian smiled.

“Laverbaum is said to have wandered the continent to paint the masterpiece of his life. That was to paint angels and demons.”

The angel he was looking for was an innocent little child. It seemed that he came to his village while looking for a model.

Ian recounted that Laverbaum told Ian about the painting while he was drunk.

“He said it was a lifelong regret. He had committed a crime that should never have been done.”

In a word, it was a blatant lie, but it wasn’t exactly a lie. Ian had never met him, but it was true that Laverbaum came near his village.

‘It was also my dead friend that met him.’

Yet, Orlando clenched his teeth.

“Let me check for now.”

That said, it was practically useless already.

Hence, the king smiled very proudly.

‘I thought you wouldn’t pass the test.’

It was a ridiculous test in the first place.

All the test problems showed his reluctance to hand over Crystal Palace to the prince.

In particular, the last test was not meant to appraise the painting’s authenticity but rather to test Ian’s luck in a 50-50 probability.

‘No, even if he said it was a counterfeit, I’m sure I would have said it was genuine. It’s hard to recognize even for an expert.’

Nevertheless, despite still questioning it, the king accepted the test for two reasons.

One was because of the nobles who emphasized deep significance to the Crystal Palace.

The other purpose was to take this test as an opportunity to make Ian study, and he wanted to check how far Ian’s learning ability and perseverance were.

In other words, the king never expected Ian to pass.

Therefore, from the beginning, he thought of bestowing Ian with other rewards and entrusting him with other tasks.

‘Yet he actually passed the test.’

The king burst out laughing as if he had been hit in the back of the head.

“Since this has happened, there’s nothing we can do. Very well, I will acknowledge that Ian Kaistein has passed the test.”

“!!”

Some nobles shouted at the king’s conclusion.

“However, Your Majesty, the authenticity of the last test is still to be determined…!”

The king glared fiercely.

“Even though I agreed to your stubbornness, wasn’t it a nonsensical test in the first place? It seems that the verification has already been completed since he passed the ninth test.”

“!”

“Didn’t you bias the Seventh Prince for the sake of fairness in the succession war? If that is the case, then for the sake of fairness in the succession war, the same problems should be shared with the other heirs.” n/o/vel/b//in dot c//om

The nobles froze.

In particular, the Third Prince shook his head as if he hated it. Just by looking at the test papers that Ian took, he already had a headache.

“Or should we discuss the qualifications of those who are also eligible to stay in this palace?”

“Pardon my impertinence, Your Majesty.”

“We were short-sighted.”

Galon smiled proudly at the sight.

Now that things had eventually reached this point, Marquis Adelas could only shoot a glare at his youngest son.

As if questioning how this could happen.

But.

‘Sorry, I have done everything I was told. I trained at night and exhausted myself. It was actually my older brother who prepared that kind of test.’

Nathan shook his head with a look of discontent.

The nobles looked at each other in dismay.

“Isn’t this… If it’s like this, isn’t it completely over?”

“I can’t believe the Seventh Prince has become the owner of the Crystal Palace. Since it has come to this, I can only hope he will fail to entertain the envoy.”

“However, this envoy is very important. If a war were to break out…”

“That’s true, too. This drives me crazy.”

The brothers were looking at Ian with various emotions.

The Third Prince was congratulating sincerely, but his eyes had changed a little.

From a cute little brother to a true rival.

The First Princess was seething in anger. The Second Princess was jealous. The Fourth Prince stared coldly as if he was thinking of something sinister.

The reactions of the Fifth Prince and the Sixth Prince abroad were unknown, but perhaps the Second Prince would have flipped upside down had he been here.

But that didn’t matter now.

“You have proven yourself worthy of yours. Now I have to keep my promise.”

“!”

Ian’s lips curled up at King Eloin’s words.

‘Finally, it is the time of the long-awaited reward.’

Sure enough.

“As promised, the royal territory in the north is yours from now on.”

“Thank you very much, Your Majesty.”

Although it was not comparable to the capital or other duchies, it was a vast territory that could house tens of thousands of permanent residents.

And the territory right next to the territory of Lavaltor was almost equivalent to that of the counts’.

Ian smiled inwardly.

‘But it’s not the land that matters; it’s the people and the things there.’

However, the king did not stay still at Ian’s elation.

“But I will still hold the territory hostage. It is not easy to develop that land. I will take special care of it.”

Not only were taxes exempted for five years, but it was also possible for people to migrate.

Truly the best exceptional benefit a king could offer.

Ian trembled with excitement.

‘With this… I can prepare for the competition as well as the Battle of Ranking.’

Now, he was finally on the same line, or in some ways, just a little ahead of the other brothers. Of course, he couldn’t let his guard down. They had simply the most powerful maternal families.

Knowing that, the king did not forget his advice.

“The reception for the imperial envoys is of great importance. The future hegemony of the Central Continent is at stake. Make sure you prepare well without anything lacking.”

“I will keep that in mind, Your Majesty.”

It was then.

At that, the nobles bowed as if they had been waiting.

“Your Majesty, I have a request.”

“!”

“Even though the Seventh Prince has become the owner of the Crystal Palace, he is still young. I am worried about whether he will be able to take on such an important duty.”

“Therefore, please allow us to help His Highness.”

But King Eloin smiled coldly as if he could read their thoughts.

“That’s fine. I will bear all the responsibility. I will entrust it to the Seventh Prince.”

“But, but this time, the envoy…”

“Do you want me to say it twice?”

The nobles hurriedly bowed their heads at King Eloin’s words.

He seemed gentle now, but he was once an undefeated king who painted the throne with blood in the past.

The nobles paid their respects to Ian while leaving their seats with bitter hearts.

“Congratulations, Your Highness.”

“I sincerely congratulate you on becoming the owner of Crystal Palace.”

As soon as the nobles were about to politely retreat, the king smiled wickedly.

“Where are you all going?”

“I-I am going to announce the good news.”

“And to direct administrative affairs in accordance with this matter…”

King Eloin raised the corner of his mouth.

“That’s great, but shouldn’t we lay what we forgot before that?”

“!!”

The king’s eyes flashed as if asking where they were running away to.

“You will have to put out your bets to the Seventh Prince here.”

“!!”

The nobles who placed their bets felt like strangling themselves inside.

Their faces looked like they were really unwilling to hand it over, but they had no choice.

“As promised with Your Majesty, I will give His Highness 500 soldiers and 100 cavalry.”

“I will give [Lady of the Night], the treasure of our family.”

“I will dedicate 1,000 servings of food and supplies to the Seventh Prince.”

They looked at Marquis Adelas as if it was unfair.

This feeling was the same as having their warehouses robbed for doing something unnecessary.

But it wasn’t them that was hurt the most.

Grit.

“I will give you my family’s summer villa. Now the owner of it is the prince.”

Marquis Adelas might have bled quite a bit.

The Adelas marquisate was also famous as a tourist destination.

And they just handed over the most expensive and beautiful villa there. Even if it was the marquis’ own territory, the damage would be truly painful.

But Ian’s words were even more painful.

“That’s great. I was hoping to get some fresh air at the Adelas marquisate soon.”

“…!”

Marquis Adelas looked at Ian with a slight frown.

Was that prince making fun of him?

But Ian really meant it.

‘There are still hidden treasures in the Adelas marquisate.’

Ian needed a reason to visit the marquisate, and it worked. Of course, he needed some personal skills, so he should definitely take that.

King Eloin laughed and said.

“I will send you my personal gift soon.”

“Thank you very much, Your Majesty.”

Ian’s eyes lit up.

He was curious what the personal gift would be, but since it was King Eloin, he couldn’t send anything crap.

‘Is he going to send something related to the reception of the envoy?’

No, he might send something unexpectedly insignificant.

Anyway, if he won the hearts of the envoys with hunting and the like, he might get help from a foreign country.

Of course, it was not good to have foreign help, so that would be the last resort.

‘The necessary cards have been gathered.’

Ian smiled.

***

After the test was over, the royal family and nobles left the Crystal Palace.

Then someone approached Ian.

“I’m sorry for being late, Your Highness. His Majesty has finally accepted my resignation.”

It was none other than Lavaltor’s eldest son Fiosen who was bowing in front of Ian. The king seemed to readily let him go because Ian passed the test.

“Now with this, I can always be by your side.”

“Welcome, Sir Fiosen. I will count on you.”

However, there was a man who hated the appearance of Fiosen.

“What!? Why is Sir Fiosen assigned to you?”

It was Nathan.

Ian replied to Nathan as if he had just remembered.

“Come to think of it, I had conversations with Lavaltor while Sir Nathan was away. Sir Fiosen will be my knight in the future. Get along well with each other.”

“What? With him?”

Fiosen stared at Nathan, who was for some reason bewildered, in disgust.

He didn’t seem to like Nathan very much. Sure enough, he whispered in Ian’s ear.

“Your Highness, I will be on hand to take care of you 24 hours a day, but Sir Nathan is most likely a spy for the First Princess. Don’t rely on him too much.”

“!”

“No, he is a rotten jerk who is too much to deal with in the first place.”

He spoke the last sentence out loud.

And at that scene, Nathan almost burst a blood vessel.

“I can hear you! And I don’t know about Galon, but you can’t!”

Ian tilted his head blankly seeing the two knights bickering.

Lavaltor and Adelas were obviously in different factions. They didn’t get along well, but he didn’t think it was to the point of acting like an enemy like that.

As if reading his thoughts, Galon whispered.

“They have been colleagues since their training camp days. So was I.”

“Ah…”

Even though they were both children of great aristocratic families, it seemed like Fiosen, who was the standard of a model student, would never fit in with the prodigal Nathan.

It was then.

“You didn’t use the card I gave you, Your Highness.”

Duke Garcia approached Ian. He then glanced coldly at Karan.

‘You can’t even do simple things like this.’

Anger was apparent in his face, but Ian smiled as if covering for Karan.

“I was lucky enough to have a good sponsor. After all, Duke Garcia’s card is intentional, not based on favor. Wouldn’t it be better to choose favors if possible?”

“Favor… is it?”

“It would be nice to lend without any conditions, interest-free, and for an indefinite period.”

Did this brat ask to lend that big sum of money without any conditions?

Duke Garcia’s eyes narrowed. By the looks of things, it seemed like he needed the Secret Special Force to dig into Countess Aria.

But it was not right for him to proceed while weighing on profits like this.

“Then let me do you an unconditional favor this time because it will be hard for you to treat the envoy alone. Besides, you need some armed force to get the ingredients you want.”

Nobody would disturb him this time.

It was when Duke Garcia thought so.

“Then, I wish I could be of help to you, Your Highness.”

Someone interrupted between the Duke and Ian with a smile.

That man was none other than…

“What? Adelas, you are going to help His Highness?”

…Marquis Adelas.