How to Replace Your Dad - Chapter 13
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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 13
I forced my stiff eyes to turn and looked around.
Come to think of it, these were somewhat familiar faces.
That burly man over there resembled the merchant guild leader.
And that goateed man beside Marquis Yopis resembled a famous doctor.
They must be their bloodlines.
Now I understand why someone as important as Marquis Yopis led them all the way here.
‘Stella must be sick somewhere.’
They must have come looking for medicine.
True to being the heroine of a game with dating sim elements, she has a weak body.
It’s probably not a life-threatening crisis yet.
When that time comes, they’ll be searching for me for organ transplants, not looking for medicinal herbs.
“Well now. Should I call this an interesting coincidence, or a terrible fate.”
At Marquis Yopis’s words, I answered in a flat voice.
“Terrible coincidence would be more accurate.”
“Your manner of speech has become rough. Is it the Irregulars’ influence?”
When the Irregulars were mentioned, I flinched.
‘He knows.’
Of course he would.
Last time at the marketplace, the Clan Leader saved me.
While showing the inverted cross that was the Irregulars’ symbol.
So this man would know that I was connected to the Irregulars.
Since he was the head of the Andres Intelligence Department.
‘I can’t let any more talk about the Irregulars come up.’
“Is there any reason for us to continue this conversation?”
“Who knows.”
“If not, then shut up and get lost. You’re disgusting.”
When I spoke coldly, he paused.
Then he looked at me with eyes gleaming with interest.
This would be the first time he’s seen me speak this way.
In that head of his, the worst insult I could manage would be something like “terrible coincidence.”
That’s how I lived in Andres.
Elegantly and gracefully.
Aiming to be a lady no one could criticize, I wore high heels and neck-choking dresses even on days I felt like collapsing.
The one who taught me all of that was Marquis Yopis.
In other words, that Rafael Yopis.
He never could have imagined even in his dreams that I, who had been so gentle, would utter the word “disgusting.”
After staring at me intently, he soon chuckled softly.
“Interesting.”
Then he suddenly grabbed my wrist and pulled.
In an instant, I was dragged toward him.
“Your beautiful fingers have become rags, and dust clings heavily to cheeks that never had a speck of dirt, yet why do your eyes shine brighter than they did at the mansion.”
“Let go.”
“And yet your pride still remains unbroken.”
“I said let go.”
“Open the carriage door. I need to take her to my jurisdiction.”
What?
What is this crazy bastard saying?
I tensed my entire body to avoid being dragged away by him.
“Rafael Yopis!”
But it was useless.
I had wandered the streets for two days without proper rest.
My body wasn’t capable of matching an adult man’s strength.
In the end, I was loaded into Marquis Yopis’s carriage.
The door closed just like that.
“What are you doing!”
I shouted, but Marquis Yopis maintained a calm attitude.
He simply opened the window lightly and commanded.
“Use whatever means necessary to get answers from the old man. You must not return to the head of house without answers.”
“Yes.”
The burly man and the goateed man who came with him bowed their heads.
The carriage immediately began to move.
Marquis Yopis just sat there with his legs crossed, wearing a bright smile.
“You’ve gone completely mad since I last saw you.”
“I have many things I want to ask. Shall we start with the Irregulars?”
“…!”
He hadn’t taken me for no reason.
The Irregulars, who were said to have a foot in all the major and minor affairs of the empire.
However, no one had been able to obtain useful information about them.
I was the thread to unraveling those Irregulars.
A snake-like man like him wouldn’t let such prey slip away.
Seeing my stiffened expression, he raised an eyebrow slightly.
“How did you meet the Irregulars?”
“….”
“Did you become a clan member?”
“….”
“Where are they now?”
I stubbornly kept my mouth shut.
“Have you become interesting, or have you become foolish? You know me, don’t you.”
“I know. That once we arrive at your jurisdiction, you’ll make me drink truth serum anyway, so it would be better to answer obediently.”
He laughed heartily.
I glared at him and continued speaking.
“And that if I’m going to spill everything anyway, it’s better to speak with my own mouth and get something out of it.”
“That’s right.”
“I know you, Marquis, but it seems you don’t know me.”
“No. I know you, miss. Including the fact that you’re very weak to my praise.”
That was true.
A single “well done” from him made me happy as if all my efforts had been rewarded.
I looked out the window.
The carriage had reached the edge of the forest.
Marquis Yopis looked at me.
“You should be a good girl. My cute little miss.”
“Please be a good girl. My cute little miss.”
…Just like during my foolishly good student days.
“There was a time when I was happy to hear such words.”
“Yes. So….”
“That means now is not that time.”
I suddenly threw open the carriage door.
The speed of a carriage embedded with magic devices was much faster than I had imagined.
Sharp wind rushed into the carriage.
“I pray we never meet again.”
“…!”
I jumped straight out.
In that final moment, I saw Marquis’s expression turn coldly rigid as he looked at me.
That face was Rafael Yopis’s true nature.
I knew it well.
‘If I were to go to his territory, I would be made to confess about the Irregulars through some terrible method.’
My body that jumped from the carriage rolled on the ground.
Fortunately, the grass absorbed some of the impact, but that was only partial.
Blood flowed from my face where I had hit something wrong.
But I had no time to feel the pain.
‘I have to run.’
I ran frantically.
Behind me, I heard Marquis Yopis’s voice.
“Stop! Catch that girl!”
Faster. Please…!
I couldn’t be caught like this.
I couldn’t be captured and speak the Irregulars’ name.
Some might find it ridiculous, but to me, that place was warmer than any fairy tale world.
“Thank you, Little Teacher.”
They thanked me when I worked hard.
“Be careful on your way.”
They told me to come back safely.
They gave me a room and said I could return.
“Is it so difficult to answer when asked?”
When I asked questions, I got answers back.
‘I can’t cause trouble for such people…!’
The dripping blood obscured my vision, but it didn’t matter.
I deliberately went through densely wooded areas.
So they couldn’t chase me with horses and carriages.
Even when sharp thorns pierced my entire body, I didn’t feel the pain.
I ran half out of my mind, not knowing how far I’d gone, until I was completely out of breath.
Before I knew it, hands were chasing me from behind.
‘No, no…!’
Ahead was a cliff.
A dangerous river with fast currents and lots of rocks.
‘But rather than being caught….’
“Miss!”
A hand grabbed me from behind.
Startled, I shook off the hand and ran toward the cliff.
“Stop!”
“Let go! I won’t tell!”
“Miss!”
“No! The Irregulars are good people! I’ll never tell…!”
That was the moment.
Whoosh, my wrist was pulled.
Only after being embraced by someone did I catch my breath.
“Calm down.”
Now I could finally see what was in front of me.
It wasn’t Marquis Yopis.
It wasn’t his subordinate.
“…Ah.”
The one who had been chasing me was….
These people gathered before me were….
And this man holding me was….
“…Clan Leader.”
…the Irregulars.
The Clan Leader, Antonio, and the clan members were looking at me.
I collapsed to the ground.
The Clan Leader and Antonio rushed to me as I crumbled like paper, drained of strength.
“You didn’t return for too long, so we came looking. But you were being chased, so we came to help.”
“We’ve dealt with those who were pursuing you.”
Hearing those words, my whole body trembled.
No, seeing them made me tremble.
I forced my stiff body to move and looked up at the Clan Leader.
“…I didn’t… tell them.”
“….”
“I will never… absolutely never… speak about the Irregulars….”
“….”
“So… please don’t abandon me….”
Tears burst forth.
The tear ducts I thought had disappeared after being expelled from my family poured out hot tears.
“….”
“….”
“….”
Everyone remained silent.
With that memory, everything went dark.
I finally fainted.
* * *
Yustea was moved to a room in Sanmiguel Castle.
A doctor who had been contacted and stationed at the castle in advance examined her.
“Her right arm and ribs are broken. Judging by the torn arm and head injury, it appears she jumped from somewhere.”
Then the clan member who had captured Count Yopis’s guard raised his hand.
“A carriage. According to the knight we captured, she jumped from a carriage.”
“A carriage?”
The expressions of Antonio and the other clan members hardened.
They could guess what had happened.
“Let go! I won’t tell!”
“No! The Irregulars are good people! I’ll never tell…!”
They must have asked questions about the Irregulars.
Yustea, afraid she would be forced to confess, jumped from the carriage.
“Why would she go that far….”
The clan members were bewildered when the doctor spoke again.
“That’s not all.”
“What else is there.”
To Antonio’s words, the doctor replied.
“There are multiple deep cuts layered on her wrists.”
“Cuts? You mean she was slashed? Those bastards did such things too?”
“A stab wound? So they used a knife? Those bastards went that far?”
“That doesn’t seem right. These are scars that have recently formed and healed repeatedly.”
“Then she suffered such treatment at the castle?”
While everyone was bewildered, Charlie from Antonio’s unit suddenly raised his head with a start.
“Could it be that thing…?”
“Do you have an idea?”
When Antonio asked, Charlie quickly opened the drawer.
What was inside was…
“Clarity stones?”
What was in the bowl was definitely clarity stones.
And what filled the empty spaces was blood.
Charlie spoke haltingly with a pale face.
“The young lady asked me when she left the castle. She said it was half blood and half holy water mixed together, and to add it twice a day. I thought it was chicken or cow blood…”
It wasn’t.
This was… so this was…
‘She was trying to break the clarity stone barrier with human blood.’
The amount of blood was considerable.
If something had gone wrong, her life could have been in danger.
Antonio let out a hollow laugh.
“She went back and forth to the Spiral Tower in that condition while watching the Clan Leader?”
“…”
The Clan Leader squeezed his eyes shut.
She had been struggling alone with all her might to survive.
Without showing once that it was difficult.
And yet she smiled as if she had gained the whole world at a single word of thanks.
Even after jumping from the carriage in that condition, all she managed to say was…
“So… please don’t abandon me…”
“Such a fool…”
Antonio spat out the words as if chewing them.
After that, no one could say anything.
Not even Clan Leader Aslan.
* * *
I blinked my eyes.
The first thing I saw was the ceiling of my room.
‘I’m alive…’
Thank goodness.
Though I had done it prepared to die, it would have been rather unfair if I had died like that.
I didn’t want to die because of Marquis Yopis of all people.
“How much time has passed…?”
Just as I was muttering that and trying to get up.
“Three days.”
“…!”
I was so startled I almost jumped up.
When I quickly turned my head, I saw a silhouette alone guarding the window in the quiet room.
A man so magnificent that even his outline breaking in the sunlight was breathtakingly splendid.
It was Aslan, the Clan Leader of the Irregulars.
“Clan Leader…”
“Don’t get up.”
Saying that, he approached me.
Sitting on a simple chair, he said.
“Anything else you’re curious about.”
“Then… what about Marquis Yopis…?”
“He had already retreated when we dealt with his guards.”
“I see. Do you happen to know what became of the old man at the herbalist’s shelter? He wasn’t captured by the nobles, was he?”
“He was the one who guided us to where you were. We freed him from the nobles’ hands.”
“That’s a relief. I can ask the old man about herbs that could substitute for clarity herbs… ugh.”
I tried to sit up again, but soon a groan escaped.
My injuries seemed more severe than I thought.
The Clan Leader furrowed his brow.
“Don’t move.”
“But…”
“He said to give you medicine. Preferably with thin soup.”
“Yes? Oh… I can eat though.”
The Clan Leader pulled over a tray.
On the tray were two plates.
A plate with medicine bottles and thin soup.
And there was also a plate with prepared salad, which contained…
‘Clarity herbs?’
The Clan Leader who placed a plate in front of me took the plate with the clarity herb salad.
“…Are you going to eat it?”
“…”
“You don’t have to eat it. The clarity herbs must taste terrible to you…”
“It tastes better than truth serum mixed with vomit.”
I widened my eyes in surprise.
‘Did he hear it from the Clan Leader?’
The Clan Leader moved his fork.
And looking at the clarity herbs, he said quietly.
“It reminds me of my teacher.”
“…”
“The teacher who died to save me.”
“…”
I see.
Unlike the rumors, it seemed he hadn’t harmed his teacher.
Rather, his teacher had given his entire life to save him.
I said while handling the medicine bottle.
“I had a teacher too.”
He looked at me.
“The point about becoming distressed when remembering is the same. Though my teacher was a terrible person, unlike the Clan Leader’s teacher.”
“…”
“So I’m envious.”
“…That old man wasn’t exactly a proper teacher either.”
The Clan Leader put the clarity herbs in his mouth.
Grimacing terribly, he said.
“He should have washed himself before going around.”
Hmm. So it doesn’t just taste like blood, but also smells like the teacher.
I giggled and picked up my spoon.
There was only the clinking sound of utensils in the room, but somehow it wasn’t uncomfortable at all.
Because I noticed that he was eating the clarity herbs that brought back painful memories because of me.
‘See? The Clan Leader is a good person.’
Ever since I cried on that cliff, my tear ducts keep malfunctioning.
I rubbed my reddened eyes vigorously and sniffled.
“….”
The Clan Leader flinched and looked at me.
Then he frowned for a long while as if pondering before asking.
“…Does it not taste good?”
“No.”
It was a bland soup without a single ingredient, but why did it feel more delicious than anything else?
* * *
That afternoon, Spiral Tower.
The Clan Leader, Antonio, and the Vice Clan Leader received contact from an Elite performing an intelligence gathering mission.
[…So the participants in the heir selection from the district including Sanmiguel are these six.]
Excluding Marquis Olivar’s son, all five remaining were women.
Since young princes were coming, they were probably aiming for the position of princess consort.
The Clan Leader, Vice Clan Leader, and Antonio were silent as they looked at the portraits the Elite had sent in advance.
[They are from more impressive families than expected though…. This is driving me crazy. Why are you all so quiet?]
Even Antonio, not to mention the Clan Leader and Vice Clan Leader, was narrowing his eyes and focusing on the portraits.
Antonio, who had been silently staring at the portraits, spoke.
“Isn’t something different?”
[What nonsense are you spouting again.]
“Isn’t it a bit different from our young lady? These girls have clothes that are somehow more….”
The skirts are much more voluminous and the sleeves are fluttering….
[They probably had them tailored at famous dress shops too. That’s what’s in fashion.]
“Before, they said dozens of ribbons were fashionable.”
[Fashion in the capital changes every month.]
Then this time the Vice Clan Leader frowned.
“So our young lady has to take the test wearing outdated clothes?”
[That would be the case. But why does that matter.]
“I heard teenagers sometimes find such things embarrassing.”
[So what. What’s the point.]
Have these people gone crazy?
Why are they suddenly concerned about clothes and saying “our young lady” at the end of every sentence?
The Elite spoke with an incredulous expression.
[Those two seem to have mold growing in their brains, so I’ll explain to the Clan Leader. …Clan Leader?]
For some reason, the Clan Leader was also frowning as he looked at the girls’ portraits.
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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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