Imperial Throne

Chapter 104: The Truth from Years Ago (1)

Night fell.

Ion and Akar entered the City Lord's Manor swiftly through the underground passage from the inn.

However, as soon as they returned to the manor, Akar sensed something unusual in the atmosphere of the residence.

“Something happened?” Ion glanced around and lightly placed his right hand on the hilt of his longsword.

Akar shook his head, his expression somewhat odd. “I don’t know what happened.”

The father and son walked out from a room and soon encountered several guards on duty in the corridor.

Akar stepped forward quickly to inquire.

“What happened?”

“Knight Commander Akar!” one of the guards immediately saluted Akar.

Akar recognized these guards as villagers from Fisher Village.

Anna never concealed her control and balance over the Guard Squad, so the security of the City Lord’s Manor was usually handled by Shunes and the soldiers under his command.

Only when Shunes was assigned to other tasks would the villagers from Fisher Village take over the manor’s security.

Earlier today, when Akar left the manor, the guards on duty were still the soldiers under Shunes.

But now the guard shift had clearly changed, which meant Shunes had been dispatched for some task.

“The Lord flew into a rage earlier this evening, and the Vice Knight Commander has been summoned back.”

Akar’s face showed a look of surprise.

“Where is the Lord now?”

“I don’t know.” The guard shook his head.

He was only responsible for standing guard, how could he possibly know Anna’s whereabouts?

At this moment, Akar also realized that his question was somewhat thoughtless. After a brief consideration, he led his father Ion toward the reception room. After all, they had arranged to meet there, Ion’s visit was a secret one, and his public identity was that of a caravan leader seeking a trade deal. Therefore, he could only meet the local lord in the reception room. It wouldn’t have been proper to meet in the more personal study.

The more established the lineage of a Bloodline Noble, the more particular they would be about such formalities.

Soon, the two arrived at the reception room.

The two guards outside the door, upon seeing Akar and Ion, immediately opened the door. Without hesitation, Akar walked straight inside.

Following right behind was Ion.

This was Ion’s first time meeting Anna.

Golden hair as dazzling as the sun, eyes as bright as gemstones, and skin as delicate as milk.

That was Ion’s first impression of Anna, and the next thought that followed was: truly a rare beauty, no wonder his son had fallen so deeply for her.

“My Lord, what happened?” Akar asked with a sense of urgency right away.

Anna didn’t respond directly. Instead, she casually waved her hand to signal the two guards to leave. Then she waited quietly and gracefully for a while, making sure the footsteps had faded before she turned to Ion and said softly, “It’s an honor to meet you, Father. I am Anna Billy. Please forgive me for not being able to salute you due to my condition.”

Watching Anna’s impeccable manners and how she addressed herself, Ion let out a faint sigh internally.

She did not mention her status or title at all. From the beginning, she placed herself in the position of Akar’s wife and even directly pointed out that she was now carrying Akar’s child.

Schemes, depth, means, just like her noble etiquette, equally peerless.

Ion couldn’t help but sigh inwardly: If not for the fact that he had spent the past few years adjusting to the identity of a Bloodline User, becoming accustomed to their pride and restraint, and had seen the airs of nobles during his time in the Kingdom’s army, not to mention the dark realities he had learned during his years in the mercenary corps, he might not have been able to see through Anna’s seemingly harmless yet genuinely appealing little tactics.

Especially when coupled with the boost from her unmatched beauty and aura, Ion finally understood why his son was utterly enthralled by this woman.

“Ion. Ion Soderbell.” Ion sat down on a nearby chair before speaking. “How is your health? Are you feeling unwell anywhere?”

Only after sitting down did Ion notice another small detail: Anna had deliberately remained seated. The purpose was to allow Ion to look down upon her, and paired with her omission of status and her subtle display of vulnerability as a pregnant woman, it placed her instantly in a position of weakness, not arrogance or discourtesy, which instead made her more likely to evoke sympathy.

“Thank you for your concern,” Anna said weakly. “My body is mostly fine, and I’ve kept the physician’s advice firmly in mind. I try my best not to get angry, to avoid affecting the child, but some people just insist on provoking me.”

Ion knew this was Anna subtly steering the conversation.

But since she currently wanted to present herself as a good wife, she hadn’t initiated the topic forcefully, instead leaving the control of the conversation to Ion.

“Did something troubling happen?” Faced with Anna’s gesture of goodwill, Ion glanced at Akar and chose to accept it.

“Do you remember someone named Barney?”

Akar’s expression subtly shifted.

But Ion remained completely calm. He nodded slightly and said, “I remember. Back when I served as the deputy leader of a mercenary group, Barney was a young man in our group. He was very sharp and quite capable, so he was quickly promoted to squad leader.”

Ion did not deny it.

He had already seen through it.

Everything Anna had subtly displayed earlier, her composure and craft, was all laying the groundwork for this question. She was practically showcasing her own capability and intelligence. Thus, to feign ignorance or deny it now would be a sign of disrespect.

So, since Anna had chosen to be candid, Ion naturally wouldn’t reject her goodwill.

“He’s not dead,” Anna said. “He was the one who betrayed the Iron Wolf Mercenary Group back then.”

Ion was stunned at first, then a wave of unrestrained fury washed over his face. “Where is he?”

“He’s already locked in the dungeon,” Anna said. “After betraying the Iron Wolf Mercenary Group, he took a sum of money and fled to Gem City, where he recruited thugs in the slums and formed an underground gang called the Jackal Gang. Over the years, they expanded through all kinds of dirty methods. Today, it was because he set his eyes on you after you entered the city that he approached me through Azman.”

“Azman?”

“Second son of Knight Berman,” Anna explained. “He was a Bloodline Knight who died during the attack on the Iron Wolf Mercenary Group.”

“I know who you mean,” Ion nodded. “When we escaped back then, a Bloodline Knight tried to stop us. But he couldn’t defeat me and was killed by my hand.”

Anna glanced at Ion and fell silent for a moment before speaking. “In fact, according to Knight Mokas, Knight Berman wasn’t dispatched to intercept you. The Iron Wolf Mercenary Group had a leader and two deputy leaders. Besides you, the other deputy leader also escaped. So Knight Berman was actually pursuing that other deputy.”

Ion’s expression changed sharply at those words.

He wasn’t stupid and immediately understood Anna’s implication.

“You’re saying…”

“I can’t be certain,” Anna shook her head lightly. “But at the time, Knight Berman was supposed to be attacking the mountain summit. Yet he suddenly appeared at the mountain base.”

“Hoo…” Ion suddenly exhaled deeply, falling into silence. “In that attack on Iron Wolf Mountain, how many managed to escape?”

“According to Knight Mokas, only your family and the other deputy leader managed to break through.”

Anna had replaced the word “escape” with “break through.”

It was indeed a euphemism, a rhetorical choice nobles favored.

However, Ion clearly didn’t care about that.

“You’re saying Raven was the only one who escaped? What about his family?”

Anna shook her head and spoke softly. “I’m not clear on the details of what happened then. But if Knight Mokas wasn’t lying, this Deputy Leader Raven you mentioned may have abandoned his wife and daughter. …And if I’m not mistaken, your family being intercepted by Knight Berman might also have been the result of Raven’s intentional diversion. He probably didn’t expect that you were a Bloodline User.”

Ion knew well that their identity couldn’t withstand close scrutiny, especially with the military techniques and knowledge he had displayed.

So any noble who looked into them would eventually uncover their past with the Iron Wolf Mercenary Group.

Therefore, when Yam established the name “Soderbell Family,” Ion had already mentioned during the first family meeting with Yam and Akar that if their time living at Iron Wolf Mountain was ever discovered, they should not deny it.

Instead, they should admit it openly and shift the blame to Ion. Yam and Akar were to claim they had only learned later that they were qualified to become Bloodline Users.

If a source had to be traced for the Soderbell Family’s Bloodline secret, Ion had decided he would be that source.

“I once served in the Kingdom’s border reconnaissance unit. At the time, I tried awakening the Berserk Bear Bloodline, but it failed. When I returned to my hometown, I found that my father had passed away, and my mother soon followed. Afterward, I took the Bloodline Awakening Potion for the Flame Hound Bloodline they had left me, and this time, I awakened very easily. In truth, I still don’t understand how.”

Ion spoke slowly, stating that he hadn’t known much about the world of Bloodline Users in the past.

“I never told Raven about any of this because of my parents’ warning. They told me never to reveal my identity as a Bloodline User, but I still don’t understand why. …However, that escape from Iron Wolf Mountain made me realize something, just because I wanted a peaceful life didn’t mean I could live one. That’s why I later had Yam and Akar awaken their Bloodlines too.”

“I see,” Anna smiled gently. “If you hadn’t changed your mind back then, I might never have met Akar.”

Hearing this, Ion glanced at Akar, sighing again inwardly.

He didn’t know whether to lament the fickleness of fate.

Had it not been for Baron Hess’s insistence on wiping out the Iron Wolf Mercenary Group, he might never have discovered the secret of that sword. He wouldn’t have become a Bloodline User, and none of what followed would have happened. Akar and Anna certainly wouldn’t be together.

But now that everything had already happened, Ion wouldn’t dwell on it.

He only knew that after tonight, the “Bourbon Lineage Bloodline” of his family would be firmly established, whether Anna chose to investigate them further or not. The words he had spoken tonight would become a seed, enough to provoke curiosity in anyone to ask: “Why did Ion’s parents want him to hide his Bloodline User identity?” And then they would arrive at the answer they wanted.

Moreover, for Ion, tonight had already yielded much.

He had found the culprit behind the fall of the Iron Wolf Mercenary Group.

And he had also uncovered Raven’s true nature.

Though he didn’t know if Raven was still alive after seven years, if he was, Ion swore he would kill him with his own hands!

“There’s one more thing,” Anna added. “According to Barney’s confession, the reason he targeted you was because he wanted to find the Rusty Sword your eldest son Arsen once obtained.”

“Rusty Sword?” Ion’s face showed a look of confusion at the right moment. “My son died in an accident during a mission with the mercenary group. Among the belongings returned by his companions was indeed a rusty longsword. But it was just something he picked up for a few copper coins from a weapon shop in Gem City. His thought was that if he polished off the rust, it could still be used.”

“I later regretted it deeply. If not for that Rusty Sword, perhaps Arsen wouldn’t have died.”

Hearing Ion’s heartfelt words, Anna also fell silent.

After a moment, she finally spoke again. “I’m not entirely sure of the details, but… if Barney wasn’t lying, that sword of your son Arsen might not have come from a weapon shop. And… he might not have died from a mission accident, but was murdered.”

“Where is Barney!?” Ion stood up in agitation.

“In the dungeon,” Anna said in a deep voice. “Vice Knight Commander Shunes just finished interrogating him and is now organizing a team to destroy the Jackal Gang completely.”