How to Replace Your Dad - Chapter 114

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Team. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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How to Replace Your Dad

Chapter 114

“Mother!”

Gaspard flinched in surprise and stepped in front of the Empress.

“Gaspard, stand back.”

“Why are you doing this? Why are you treating Stella like…!”

“Did I not tell you to stand back—!”

The shout echoed through the inner chamber.

Stella froze, holding her slapped cheek.

‘Her Majesty the Empress… Her Majesty…’

The Empress had never particularly doted on Stella.

Unlike Gaspard and Yohaël who protected and fussed over Stella, she had scolded her several times for unladylike behavior.

However, she had never humiliated her in such a public place with so many eyes watching.

Rather, she had subtly supported her.

The fact that Stella, who was half commoner blood, had blended into the system without difficulty was largely thanks to the Empress.

It was because the Empress had consistently called Stella “daughter of Andres” in front of the nobles.

‘I thought she secretly cherished me… I thought that…’

Stella looked at the Empress with an expression of disbelief.

“Your Majesty, why…”

When she asked hesitantly, the Empress answered sharply.

“You made Luciano into that state!”

Stella, who had been opening and closing her mouth, flinched.

“N-no. I had no choice but to protect the other princes…!”

“Had no choice?”

“I had to deceive the Reconstruction Society. To make them believe I had joined hands with them. And I was going to escape when I found an opportunity.”

Stella spoke frantically.

However, the reaction in the hall was different from what she expected.

The nobles lined up on both sides with carpet in the center were cold.

Some lowered their voices and whispered.

“The expression we saw in the Mirror World was hard to see as fabricated.”

“Of course.”

“She sacrificed Prince Luciano, who was on her side, as a scapegoat to keep the Saint in check.”

Stella looked around, flustered by the whispering sounds.

It wasn’t just the Empress who was angry.

Everyone’s expressions were ice-cold.

Stella looked at Count Andres.

“F-Father, please say something. Please?”

Count Andres gave no answer.

“…!”

Her breathing trembled.

Besides Count Andres, all those she had trusted remained silent.

Even the nobles who had doted on her turned their heads away with sighs.

“Why… why are you all treating only me like this… in that situation, sacrifice was unavoidable…”

“Nonsense!”

An elderly man with a small frame shouted.

It was Count Thasar, who had served as a great general.

He was an old man famous for usually doting on Stella.

He had shown affection like a grandfather to Stella, who was kind, knew loyalty, and cared for the people.

Stella muttered in confusion.

“Count…”

Her voice trembled, but Count Thasar’s expression showed no signs of softening.

He shouted in fury.

“It wasn’t sacrifice but elimination! How dare you attach the noble name of sacrifice to your choice of whom to abandon!”

“B-but…”

Stella moved toward Count Thasar in confusion.

“It’s common for soldiers to be chosen for sacrifice in war. The incident at the Reconstruction Society headquarters was the same. We were at war. So…”

“Choosing who to sacrifice? How careless.”

“C-Count…”

“I acknowledge there are situations where wounded soldiers who cannot escape from advancing enemy forces, and soldiers other than those dedicated to our core attacks, are inevitably left behind.”

“Yes, so…!”

“However, if you intend to call it sacrifice at the very least, it should be a tearful answer based on the process of elimination.”

“…”

“What was the criterion for choosing the scapegoat there?”

“That’s…”

“Can you prove that emotion didn’t enter into your calculation!”

Stella flinched and bit her lip.

Count Thasar sternly reproached Stella.

“You can’t. Whether judged by operational capability, combat and support abilities, or even by status, the one who should have been sacrificed was you.”

Stella shed tears drop by drop.

However, Count Thasar pressed her coldly.

“Yustea Cuaron devised means to return together even with someone like you. But you chose the Saint, who had the ability to be key to escape, as a sacrifice tool.”

“That’s… that’s because…”

“How dare such a person speak of sacrifice! Stop your honeyed words!”

Count Thasar clicked his tongue.

Even Count Thasar, who had especially doted on Stella, turned away coldly.

There was no one to take Stella’s side.

Her face flushed red.

Her hands trembled with humiliation.

‘This is too much…’

She couldn’t bear the injustice and misery.

The Empress looked back at the Emperor.

“Your Majesty, please make Stella Andres take responsibility for this incident, and severely punish Count Andres, who is her guardian, as well.”

“…”

The Emperor, who had been slowly tapping the armrest with his fingertip, opened his mouth.

“Understanding the situation comes first.”

He turned his gaze to Yustea.

“How did you inform them of the Reconstruction Society’s location?”

Yustea bowed her head before the Emperor.

“It was a handkerchief.”

Then Aslan took out a handkerchief from his chest.

An attendant received the handkerchief and delivered it to the Emperor.

It was an unusual handkerchief with fabric patched together haphazardly.

The Emperor’s eyes narrowed as he examined the handkerchief.

“I saw through the Mirror World that it was delivered through an executive of the Reconstruction Society. However, I don’t understand how you informed them of the location.”

“That is a map of the North, Your Majesty.”

“…A map?”

Yustea nodded.

“The largest white silk is Esgaroth, the hemp next to Esgaroth is Marcelso, and the apricot-colored linen to the right of Marcelso is Nahodo.”

The Emperor spread out the handkerchief fully to examine it.

The northern nobles gasped “Ooh…”

“That wool is from our Torehon.”

“That black part is from our Paton.”

Yustea smiled brightly.

“That’s right. The blue thread connections represent rivers, and the stained parts are mountains.”

“…!”

The Emperor and nobles looked surprised.

The scale was all wrong, so it was hard to recognize.

However, if one knew the marking system in advance, they could sufficiently guess the locations.

“Did you give your father advance notice about the handkerchief?”

“Yes. I marked the location of the Reconstruction Society headquarters with blood to indicate the place.”

“How did you figure out the location when you were only inside the headquarters castle?”

“Because of the mountain range formation and food ingredients.”

From the mountain range formation, she discovered it was southeast of the Roass Mountains that cross the north.

There were four regions in the southeast with fortresses of this size.

She could definitely narrow down the candidates.

‘But why the food ingredients?’

The Emperor looked puzzled.

However, the northern nobles who were quick with northern news flinched.

“It’s the bread!”

“It’s because of the wheat war, right?”

A northern noble shouted.

Yustea smiled sweetly.

“Yes, Your Majesty. The north is land unsuitable for wheat farming, so flour prices are very expensive. Especially in winter when trading post movement is difficult.”

“I know that much. But didn’t you cooperate with trading posts to open distribution routes? I heard prices stabilized because of that.”

“Yes. But there are estates that didn’t cooperate.”

Noble supremacists who couldn’t accept that nobles should bow their heads to trading posts.

They didn’t help with opening distribution routes.

Therefore, they always struggled with flour shortages every winter.

“…!”

The Emperor and nobles from the east, west, and south widened their eyes.

“Give me food.”

Could it be that her shameless demand for meals was…!

The nobles burst into exclamations.

“Is she really fifteen?”

“What insight…”

“Goodness…”

Marquis Esgaroth chuckled.

One of the nobles said to Marquis Esgaroth.

“How on earth did you raise her?”

“I didn’t raise her.”

“Well, of course…”

She was educated at Andres after all.

When the noble smiled awkwardly, Marquis Esgaroth said.

“What raised that child was the love and ambition within her. No matter how great an education one receives, they couldn’t grow up as magnificently as that child.”

No matter how he thought about it, that child was a once-in-a-lifetime treasure.

He glanced to the side.

Count Andres’s expression was cold as ice.

The Emperor quietly gazed at Yustea.

And soon…

“Hahaha!”

He burst into hearty laughter.

Everyone was flustered seeing him laugh while hitting the armrest with his palm.

It was rare for him to be this delighted.

However, recently he had been pleased often, and it was all related to Yustea.

Stella bit her lips.

‘Why… why only that child…’

The gazes of people looking at Yustea contained interest.

Count Andres also stared intently at Yustea.

The Emperor said.

“Well done.”

“I’m embarrassed.”

“Don’t you want to live in the Imperial Palace?”

“…Pardon?”

‘Oh no.’

Yustea flinched.

She made the mistake of questioning the Emperor’s words.

‘But anyone would have done the same.’

Don’t you want to live in the Imperial Palace?

Look. Aren’t the other nobles also looking at the Emperor with surprised faces?

Everyone knew it meant marriage into the Imperial Family.

The princes’ gazes fixed on Yustea.

Marquis Esgaroth and Aslan frowned.

The Emperor smiled and leaned toward Yustea.

“Won’t you fully display your talents in the Imperial Palace, hmm?”

“I… I am…”

“Yes.”

“I’m insufficient to become an Imperial Consort. Also, I’m too young and foolish to serve Your Majesty…!”

Suddenly, the hall became quiet.

The nobles’ eyes widened.

The Empress also looked at Yustea with an incredulous expression.

The princes narrowed their brows.

And the Emperor…

“Me? With you…?”

He muttered in an absurd voice, then burst into laughter once again.

He bent over at the waist and laughed endlessly.

Other nobles also turned their heads and trembled their shoulders slightly.

Even the Empress laughed silently.

The Emperor, who had been slapping his knee while laughing, said.

“I didn’t know you were such an amusing child. Hahaha!”

The Emperor said while chuckling.

“I have a conscience too. Would I marry fifteen-year-old you to old me?”

“…”

“Well, fine. Let’s stop this talk and wrap up.”

The Emperor stood up from his seat with a smiling face.

He declared.

“Regarding the Reconstruction Society, I will handle it with a principle of zero tolerance. To Yustea and Cuaron who rescued the princes… yes, I grant 5,000 sacks of flour and the land of Everly.”

With that, the gathering was dismissed.

* * *

‘Ah, I thought my heart would drop.’

I sighed as I left the great hall.

Some nobles seemed to remain behind to discuss the upcoming situation.

Since Grandfather and Father were included in that, I was on my way out alone.

As I was walking, someone approached me.

“Your Highness.”

It was Luciano.

He received a pen and small notebook from his attendant.

You wisely avoided marriage with a prince.

I nodded my head.

‘The Emperor seems like a warm uncle at first glance, but he’s cold.’

He would thoroughly calculate and decide which prince would become my marriage partner.

In the end, it meant I was at risk of becoming a trophy in the princes’ power struggle.

“Yes, well…”

Do you dislike it that much?

“Of course I dislike it. It could be Yohaël.”

What about someone else?

“It’s meaningless. It’s not like Prince Luciano would be included in that.”

Luciano had become a chimera and lost the nobility that was the symbol of royalty.

‘So he wouldn’t support Luciano.’

That uncle would judge it beneficial to hide him as much as possible if he’d become a disgrace to the Imperial Family.

But it was strange.

Luciano stopped writing and stared intently at me.

“Why?”

“…”

“…?”

When I made a puzzled expression, Luciano soon wrote again.

You don’t know what you just said?

“That I’d be fine with Your Highness?”

“…”

“It’s true, so what’s wrong with that? You said you’d take responsibility.”

What happened to Luciano is largely my fault.

So I should take responsibility for him.

I said “Ah” and looked around.

Then I separated him from his attendant, dragged him to a corner, and whispered.

“I granted Your Highness a crest at the stronghold—how is it? Can you recover?”

Luciano crossed his arms and looked at me.

His expression was very displeased.

“Your High… ugh.”

Luciano grabbed my chin.

Then he narrowed his eyes and suddenly brought his face close.

“Fool.”

His words were strangely clear.

When I blinked, Luciano pressed his forehead against mine with a tap.

I was startled and opened my eyes wide.

Soon he moved away from me and scribbled in his notebook again.

Fine.

Take responsibility.

“Marriage…?”

In a different way.

“Then how?”

I want to become your lover.

I flinched and stared at the notebook.

Then I looked at Luciano once more, then at the notebook again.

“What’s the difference between marriage and being lovers…? No, lovers… why?”

I was so flustered that words wouldn’t come out properly.

Luciano shamelessly tilted his head.

Do you think I’m a pushover?

“That’s…”

Luciano, who had been scribbling something in his notebook for quite a while, suddenly pulled me close.

And then, smooch.

His lips touched my cheek.

“What are you doing…!”

You did it too.

Did he predict my reaction and write this in advance?

Since I was making an incredulous expression, he turned to the next page.

He had written something else too.

I don’t follow around women I’m not interested in for days on end.

“Interested… in me?”

Another next page.

When you broke off your engagement with Yohaël, I was happy.

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Team. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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