How to Replace Your Dad - Chapter 164

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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How to Replace Father
Chapter 164
* * *
The diplomatic delegation from Ilfarm was received with great honor as they entered the palace.
The Emperor himself greeted Prince Terius, the delegation’s representative, and arranged a lavish party.
Not only the Imperial Family, but the noble houses also extended their hospitality with utmost generosity.
They did not hesitate to present their heirs through protocol, and in fact, there had been considerable maneuvering behind the scenes to include them in the ceremony.
Especially among families with high Mana Stone usage.
That is….
‘Families like ours, where Mage-Knights form the backbone of military power.’
Roji of the Olvera Family, famous for producing excellent Mage-Knights, silently clicked her tongue.
She was the one who had attacked Yustea and Stella when they were separated from the knights during the Family Tournament preliminaries, fought against her older brother who participated as a knight through Yustea’s resourcefulness, and then let him escape.
Roji watched the delegation from a corner of the hall with a displeased expression.
Romeban Olvera, noticing his troubled sister, approached with a furrowed brow.
“What are you doing.”
“I’m already irritated—don’t make it worse, Romeban.”
“And you still haven’t broken that habit of calling me by name instead of brother, even here in the Imperial Palace?”
“Sorry. There’s an incurable disease where I lose my composure around insufferable people. That’s also why I won’t go near the delegation.”
The delegation was arrogant.
They made demands for everything and treated the Empire’s nobles like servants.
“They let in someone who isn’t even a noble.”
He meant Stella.
The girl was there, surrounded by the heirs of the great houses and the delegation.
Prince Terius deliberately kept Stella at his side.
It was disrespectful to the Empire itself to forcibly insert a commoner expelled from her family into a ceremonial delegation composed of young nobles.
Romeban sighed.
“Three hundred Mana Stones. The purity is beyond words, and the internal capacity is seven times more than what’s sold on the market. In times like these, when there’s nearly a shortage of Mana Stones, don’t you know that an amount like that should light fires in people’s eyes?”
“Which is why they’re all squirming around here. Those magnificent heirs of the Seven Families.”
In one corner of the hall stood those bearing the crests of the Seven Families.
Out of propriety, they didn’t approach the delegation like a swarm of bees, but they too showed signs of anxiety.
Guinevere of the Nevarro Ducal House was among them.
Roji spoke with irritable tone.
“Where’s Yustea?”
“She said she’d kill her if they met.”
“We need at least a Saint to save face.”
“Her physical condition isn’t good, so she can only participate a few days from now.”
“She’s avoiding Stella.”
“Well, most people seem to think so.”
Romeban glanced around.
Among the clusters of gathered nobles, that particular rumor inevitably arose.
“She must be avoiding Miss Stella, after all. She’d probably be flustered.”
“She couldn’t have predicted that Miss Stella would re-emerge in the Empire in this manner.”
And.
“Still, it’s a bit unseemly for a figure like a Saint to fear Miss Stella.”
Furthermore.
“Perhaps Heaven’s blessing isn’t with Miss Stella after all?”
“Whether it’s Heaven’s blessing or not, she certainly has talent. Now, after Andres and the First Prince, even Prince Terius, the likely heir to the Ilfarm throne….”
Such was the consensus.
Public opinion regarding Stella had completely reversed.
* * *
Terius chuckled softly, gazing at Stella.
Stella’s cheeks were entirely flushed.
“Is the hall too warm?”
“Oh, no. I’ve met so many people here in the palace after a long time, and it seems I’ve gotten excited….”
Stella laughed, pressing her flushed cheeks with the back of her hand.
“If you’re tired, why not rest for now? We’ve prepared a room for you in the palace.”
“Really?! Ah, no… I’m not tired….”
Stella fiddled with the glass she was holding shyly.
“I’m just happy. I haven’t come to a crowded place since leaving my family. Everyone has become kind again, and it makes me so glad….”
“Is that so? Then let me make my benefactor even happier.”
“What?”
Terius handed his glass to a servant and raised his voice.
“Your Majesty.”
The Emperor, in conversation with the nobles, turned to look at him.
Terius approached the Emperor and spoke.
“I thank you for your warm welcome. I am pleased that the relationship between the Empire and Ilfarm grows more solid.”
The Emperor smiled, raising his wine glass.
Prince Terius bowed lightly and continued.
“However, to merely enjoy your hospitality would contradict Ilfarm’s tradition of repaying kindness throughout one’s lifetime. So I make this proposal.”
As Terius raised his hand, Ilfarm’s servants set down massive boxes with a resounding Bang!
“Eight hundred Mana Stones. As a gesture of gratitude for your welcome, I offer them as entertainment. What if Your Majesty and I were to place a wager using these Mana Stones?”
“What did you say…?”
‘Eight hundred stones? Not three hundred?’
They had known that Terius brought more Mana Stones than reported in the trade volume.
But the report had definitely said three hundred.
Eight hundred Mana Stones of Ilfarm’s quality would be an astronomical sum.
‘He intends to raise the stakes considerably.’
Terius wore a deep smile.
“However, since Your Majesty and I cannot directly compete, what if each of us appointed a representative to conduct the match?”
The faces of the Empire’s nobles froze.
“How dare you suggest a contest with His Majesty! Your Highness should exercise restraint!”
The elderly nobles, who had been generals of the Imperial Army, spoke up indignantly.
The vice-delegate of the delegation and Ilfarm’s Prime Minister chuckled and spoke.
“It is merely entertainment. Is this not the greatest empire on the continent? Ilfarm should not be a fearsome opponent.”
The Emperor’s eyes grew cold.
If he refused the contest now, it would be said that the Empire feared Ilfarm.
Those sharing borders with them might seize this opportunity to invade.
The already turbulent Empire would suffer a serious blow.
It was at that moment when the nobles were becoming restless.
“It seems Ilfarm lacks the understanding that a contest with the Empire’s Emperor is not fitting.”
Prince Luciano of the Empire appeared.
All eyes turned to him at once.
“The Empire does not avoid contests. However, let the parties be myself and the Prince.”
“But we are the foundation upon which our nations rest. We cannot afford to shed blood. It is right that we appoint representatives.”
“Are you afraid?”
Terius’s eyes gleamed with fierce intensity.
The delegation flinched.
‘The Prince has a strong competitive spirit. If this continues, he’ll insist on competing directly…!’
Then they would lose their original purpose.
To damage the Empire’s prestige without cost to Ilfarm.
Ilfarm’s Prime Minister quickly intervened.
“If the heirs of two nations shed blood, it will be a wasted journey for the sake of national relations. So—.”
“Then how about this.”
The Empire’s Emperor spoke up.
“A Hostage Capture Competition.”
“Pardon?”
“Let the hostages be Prince Luciano of the Empire and Prince Terius of Ilfarm, and each nation’s representative will secure their respective prince.”
To explain the rules simply:
1. The Empire’s representative rescues Luciano.
2. Ilfarm’s representative rescues Terius.
3. Whichever arrives first wins.
While representatives of each nation would participate, the prince and the prince would have no need to shed blood.
Ilfarm’s nobles groaned.
‘If our prince entered the competition and the representative loses, our nation’s prestige will be severely damaged.’
‘Moreover, Prince Luciano could assist the Empire’s representative.’
‘Damn it. We planned for the Empire’s people to fight amongst themselves while we reaped the benefits.’
However, since Terius had proposed the wager first, backing down would look cowardly.
Terius was not a man to accept such humiliation.
“Agreed. However, let the prince’s representative be the Saint, the Empire’s pride. I wish to directly witness the capabilities of the Empire’s renowned Saint.”
“So be it.”
The Emperor laughed heartily with a pleased expression.
And he winked at Luciano.
‘I helped well, didn’t I? You and Yustea, display your abilities freely.’
But Luciano glared at his father as if to pierce him through.
And that was not all.
Marquis Esgaroth and his son Aslan, standing at a distance, ground their teeth as if to tear each other apart.
‘We didn’t want to put Yustea in the competition.’
‘That bastard….’
The Emperor was dismayed.
* * *
The competition was set for the very next day.
Ilfarm had appointed Stella as their representative.
Stella and Terius came outside the palace to scout the Empire’s mountain, the venue for the competition.
Stella watched Terius survey the mountain’s geography and hesitated.
“Are you really sure about having me…?”
“Why wouldn’t it be? If you’re concerned that you’re not a citizen of Ilfarm, don’t worry. Rather, being an Empire citizen means it will be seen as us having no intention to embarrass the Empire.”
“That’s not it….”
Stella murmured, rubbing her fingertips together.
“I’ve lost to Yustea every time… I’m just worried whether you can trust me….”
Emma, who had been attached to comfort her daughter before the competition, quickly interjected.
“How could that be you losing to Yustea? It was Andres’s knights losing to Esgaroth’s knights.”
Then, with a disarming smile, she looked at Terius.
“The Prince will help you greatly, won’t he?”
“Of course.”
Terius took Stella’s pale hand.
“I believe in your potential.”
“Potential…?”
“Yes, you’re someone who can surely manage it.”
“Your Highness….”
Stella’s eyes grew moist with emotion.
“Since I left my family, I’ve had no confidence in myself. I thought no one believed in me….”
“Don’t lose yourself just because the situation is difficult, Stella.”
“Yes. I’ll do it. I’ll succeed.”
Stella nodded firmly with both fists clenched.
He smiled gently and looked around again.
“This mountain is where you used to play?”
“Yes. Since it borders the slums, the nobles never came near. Yustea was the same.”
It was practically her own backyard.
“That’s reassuring. Show me the same resourcefulness you displayed when you escaped the assassins.”
“What? Assassins—?”
Emma quickly pulled Stella away before she could speak.
“Mind yourself. It’s time to take your medicine. Your body hasn’t fully recovered yet.”
She dragged Stella away roughly.
Once they were far from Ilfarm’s delegation, Emma lowered her voice and looked around.
“You were the one who fended off the assassins. You shot an arrow at the one pursuing you, and in trying to pull the assassin away from the prince who had rushed at you again, you both fell into the river together.”
“What are you saying…? All I did was save the prince who was pushed to the riverside….”
“It was you. Let’s just say it was what you did.”
Stella flinched.
“The Prince is under a misunderstanding?”
“Yes. The Prince must never know.”
“But that’s a lie….”
“Don’t you want to be robbed by Yustea again!”
“…What?”
Stella’s face hardened.
“The Prince’s eyes were injured and he couldn’t see the face of the person who saved him from the assassins. But there was only one girl of your age from the nobility in that area at the time.”
“…!”
Stella bit her lips tightly.
‘It was you again?’
The conversation she’d had with GM came back to her when she was going to save Terius.
“Why do I have to be the one to go to the riverside? Couldn’t someone else be told, and they could save the person who was pushed there?”
[GM: Stella, this isn’t the Main Story.]
[GM: So I can’t naturally assign it to you with my power.]
[GM: This story belongs only to ‘the current Marquis Andres’s daughter.’]
“That damned story again….”
[GM: Trust me.]
[GM: I’ll make this story yours.]
‘It was originally Yustea’s story?’
Even that look of absolute trust?
Stella twisted her skirt tightly.
‘It’s unfair. Unfair. Unfair…!’
Yustea was simply born as Marquis Andres’s daughter from the start.
She received noble education from the beginning, inherited the connections made by the Andres house from the beginning, and grew up with nobility from the beginning….
‘If I had been born as the Marquis’s daughter from the start, I could have done everything.’
Then Yohaël’s first betrothed would have been her, she would have accomplished everything she was taught, and she would have naturally integrated into noble society.
Why do only you have everything?
Why only you…!
Emma quietly nagged her silent daughter.
“Your feelings don’t matter. We can’t do anything about it. So you must absolutely keep silent, understand? If we lose Prince Terius too, our mother and daughter…!”
“I won’t say anything.”
“What…?”
“It’s too unfair.”
For her to monopolize so much alone was unjust.
Stella’s eyes flickered.
* * *
The day of the competition arrived.
Ilfarm’s delegation was at ease.
“Though something unexpected happened, it worked out for the better.”
“Yes. If the Empire’s prince were to suffer defeat in a competition he entered, the Empire’s prestige would plummet.”
“Indeed. The loss is already planned.”
Because the Empire’s prince would be more familiar with the Empire, they could select a location favorable to Stella as the competition venue.
And there was one more thing.
“The Saint’s mind isn’t quite sound, you say?”
“Prince Luciano will be running around with a child of three or four years old.”
They laughed and entered the assembly hall for the competition viewing.
The expressions on the Empire’s nobles’ faces were exactly as expected.
‘They all look like they’re at wit’s end.’
Ilfarm’s Prime Minister let out a small chuckle.
The Saint had remained secluded until just before the competition.
There had been no preparations such as scouting the competition venue in advance.
By this point, even the Empire’s people had noticed.
‘That there’s something wrong with the Saint’s state.’
Though Esgaroth was desperately suppressing it, the rumors were spreading like wildfire.
The Empire’s people were murmuring uncomfortably.
“Shouldn’t we suspend the competition at this point?”
“The Mirror World broadcast has already begun. How do we stop it now?”
“If His Majesty used his authority to cancel the competition….”
“His Majesty is troubled as well, but in the end, he cannot step forward.”
The Emperor truly felt as though he might die.
‘I thought the combination of Luciano and Yustea was guaranteed victory.’
But there was a problem with the Saint.
Yesterday, he had summoned Marquis Esgaroth and asked if the rumors were true, but the Marquis said nothing.
‘So it is true!’
How dare he hide it so brazenly?
Had he known, he would not have made the foolish decision to push the competition!
But there was no pretext to cancel the competition.
The Emperor clenched his teeth.
Ilfarm’s people made no attempt to hide their derision.
Even the Prime Minister was grinning, asking when the competition would begin.
The Emperor spoke with the feeling of biting his tongue.
“Connect the Mirror World.”
The competition venue appeared displayed within the Mirror World.
But then….
Everyone watching, including the Emperor, opened their eyes wide.
“What, what is this!”
“Huh?”
“…!”
Ilfarm’s delegation, the Empire’s nobles, and even the Emperor himself stood up and fixed their gaze on the Mirror World.
[Wheeee—!]
That girl controlling two hawks by blowing a whistle…!
“It’s Yustea!”
Guinevere cried out sharply.
Yustea, aged eleven.
The competition venue, which might as well have been her front yard, and using hawks as her eyes!
“Wahhhhh—!!”
The nobles cried out.
The Emperor felt like shouting hurrah.

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