How to Replace Your Dad - Chapter 172

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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 172
“Wh-Emma, what is the meaning of this?”
Gilbert’s face had gone pale.
His sister spoke to him in these terms.
“I’m going back to the Andres Family. To do that, I need to dispose of Yustea, and you’re going to help me.”
He’d come to deal with Yustea, but the subject herself was already waiting.
‘This fool—where did he get caught?’
Gilbert’s face contorted as he stared at Emma.
Yet Emma too was caught off guard.
‘Did Claren betray Stella and me?’
No, that couldn’t be.
Claren had forced upon them a blood oath—a binding oath that would claim their lives if they broke the contract.
Moreover, Claren had sought to include a clause in the oath: “neither party may divulge the terms of this contract to any person.”
Without intending to forfeit one’s life, betrayal was impossible.
The oath had never been formally sealed.
Should things go wrong, she’d planned to pin it all on Claren.
She’d had no intention of leaving evidence via a blood oath.
Stella herself had refused to use one.
Yet before the deal, she’d extracted a sworn pledge as proof that she wouldn’t betray anyone.
A sworn oath that she would assist in Emma’s enterprise—the smuggling trade with Ilfarm.
If exposed, it would shake the entire Family; there was no reason to run such a risk to help Yustea.
‘This girl is trying to deceive me.’
That had to be it.
If she’d already seized evidence, there’d be no need to wait here.
She could report it to the Imperial Palace for swift resolution, and it would have been the perfect chance to finish Stella completely.
Yet she was waiting here nonetheless—the reason was obvious.
‘She’s sensed my dealings with Claren, but she has no proof.’
She’d set up some sort of recording device here and was waiting for her to confess with her own lips.
‘She underestimates me—how foolish.’
Yustea was a girl raised gently within the walls of a great noble household.
Though she’d endured a few years of hardship, her experience couldn’t compare to Emma’s.
Emma forced her lips into a twisted smile.
“I haven’t the faintest idea what you’re talking about.”
Yustea regarded Emma with a composed expression.
“It would be wiser for you to confess now and seek forgiveness, Emma.”
“I’m afraid I don’t understand. Whoever should explain this absurd situation is you.”
“Shouldn’t you first explain why you came to Claren’s workshop at this hour?”
“A trifling matter. The reason for visiting a workshop is obvious enough, isn’t it? To commission magical crafting.”
“Magical crafting? You?”
Emma sighed with visible exasperation, then pulled back her hood.
“It’s for Stella, of course. The girl has been at Prince Terius’s side day and night, pouring out her strength, so she’s likely hit her physical limits.”
“…”
“I came to consult whether magical crafting could provide support.”
“…”
Yustea watched Emma in silence.
Gilbert, who had been greatly flustered at first, now widened his eyes and glanced back and forth between Emma and Yustea.
Even he, who lived in a small province far from the Archipelago, knew who Yustea was.
She was the daughter of the first wife, someone Emma despised—and her face had been broadcast across the Empire during the Family Tournament.
As the atmosphere shifted, Gilbert leaned close to Emma with a sneer.
“Words certainly do carry weight even with nobility.”
Emma regarded Yustea with an arrogant expression.
“So it falls to you, not me, to explain this situation.”
Emma folded her arms and stepped closer to Yustea.
“Why appear out of nowhere and seize upon this? And how did you know I’d be coming here? Did you follow me?”
“Emma.”
Yustea’s expression was utterly frigid.
Seeing her thus, Gilbert broke into a jeering laugh.
“You seem quite flustered, Holy Maiden. One can hardly blame you for finding it embarrassing that a saint has been tailing a common man.”
“I’d prefer if you kept to the essentials, Gilbert.”
“You even know my name? Ha—what an honor.”
Gilbert showed no trace of his earlier confusion.
He carried himself now as though he’d seized victory.
“It speaks volumes about how much the Holy Maiden has been concerned with Stella.”
“Is that so.”
“Ah, might that displease you?”
“What makes you think so?”
“You seem reluctant to be discovered caring for Stella. …Clearly, coming to this place without even a single guard, alone and unprotected as you are.”
Gilbert moved closer to Emma and continued.
“Certainly, it’s not conduct that would please your noble peers—having stationed people to watch the family of your own half-sister out of fear.”
“As I’ve said, keep to the point. I’m well aware that you and your brother are prone to excessive speech.”
Gilbert’s brow twitched.
“Well, well. So the rumors were true—you’re as sharp-witted a girl as they say.”
“What are you doing, brother?”
Emma looked toward Gilbert with anxiety.
“What if there are hidden recording devices?”
She lowered her voice to a whisper; Gilbert snorted in response.
“Can’t you read the situation? Even if we recorded her, all she’d do is confess to following us. But confessing is off the table now.”
“But—”
“She’s too proud to admit she still cares about Stella.”
Yustea watched the siblings and muttered coldly.
“Is foolishness the family tradition?”
Gilbert’s eyes flashed dangerously.
“Try my patience, will you? You damned brat.”
He seized Yustea by the throat.
Emma did nothing to stop him.
Foolish Gilbert might have simply lost his temper, but his rash action revealed something crucial: not a single guard entered to intervene.
She’d come alone.
‘You came by yourself.’
Yes—just as Gilbert said, she didn’t want to appear as though she were monitoring Stella.
And she couldn’t have avoided inheriting that pride from Dia’s bloodline.
‘All the better.’
Even if recording devices had been hidden, they would have no hand in Yustea’s demise.
Gilbert would serve as the sacrificial piece in removing the Spiral Coffin, leaving no loose ends.
Gilbert, still gripping Yustea’s throat, spoke in an ominous tone.
“Your eyes—they have that same sharp look as your mother. How grating.”
It was Dia who had stopped Gilbert from selling Emma into servitude.
Driven off by Dia, he’d been unable to approach Emma for some time.
“Take it up with your mother in the next world—this debt is hers to settle!”
It was at that moment Gilbert raised his fist.
Bang, bang, bang, bang!
A dull sound echoed from outside the door.
Emma’s eyes snapped toward the entrance.
The door flew open, and soldiers poured in.
Walking between them was a woman with long platinum blonde hair.
“My apologies. You asked me to observe, but violence seems to exceed all bounds of propriety.”
“…!”
Emma’s face went rigid.
Radia Claren.
At sixteen, she was the eldest daughter of the Claren family—the elder sister of Radel Claren, with whom Emma and her mother had made their deal.
Yustea let out a sigh and brushed aside Gilbert’s hand.
Gilbert, startled by the soldiers, surrendered meekly, his eyes trembling.
“Wh-Emma, what is the meaning of this?”
Emma swallowed dryly without reply.
‘Could the safeguard have been…’
Yustea straightened her rumpled collar and spoke.
“Clearly, cooperating with the Empire’s finest craftsman—one who wields absolute authority—is more sensible than relying on Radel, whose judgment is clouded by obsession.”
Radia’s eyebrow rose slightly.
“Being called ‘better than my brother’ hardly sounds like praise, given how unremarkable he is.”
“The praise was in what came after—’the Empire’s finest craftsman.'”
“That part I’m satisfied with.”
“Though it came rather soon. He should have taken at least one blow—it would have allowed us to escalate further.”
“A saint beaten in the Claren workshop would cause far more harm than good, particularly given the Lady’s adoptive father and adoptive uncle.”
Your family is all too hotheaded for such risks.
As Radia’s expression conveyed this, Yustea’s brow narrowed.
Thinking of Aslan and Marquis Esgaroth, who would come charging down at the mere sight of peers her age in the Imperial Palace, she had nothing to say.
“You seem to concede the point—you’ve gone silent.”
“I’m merely conserving effort. There’s little dignity in further excuses.”
“Then how shall we handle that?”
“Gently won’t work, will it.”
How casually these children discussed such matters.
The soldiers exchanged bewildered glances as they watched Yustea and Radia.
Emma and Gilbert looked haggard, scanning their surroundings frantically.
Gilbert, his mouth opening and closing soundlessly, finally spoke.
“That is… well, you see… Stella! Stella lost face in the competition, and I just… without thinking…!”
“Silence!”
Emma’s roar cut through the air.
Gilbert flinched.
Emma’s gaze was lethal.
“Don’t you dare blame Stella for your own loss of composure!”
She couldn’t let this touch Stella.
Emma cried out.
“This is that man’s blunder alone! It has nothing to do with Stella or me! I was merely startled by his actions—!”
“Does removing yourself from the equation change anything?”
Yustea spoke quietly.
Radia glanced meaningfully at the soldiers.
They dragged forward a figure.
It was Claren.
He trembled as he clung to his sister’s legs.
“R-Radia…!”
“I have proof that you sought to move the Spiral Coffin. There’s no need for excuses.”
“Did you tell Father? About this—what happened is—!”
“I’ve already found that damned oath in your room and delivered it to Father. There’s no further need to prove your lack of wit.”
“I-I was doing it for the Family—!”
“It was personal ambition to best me. The Family nearly faced ruin because of you.”
Emma ground her teeth.
‘So Claren was caught by his own sister.’
It appeared Radia had done something to the Spiral Coffin beforehand.
That must have been the safeguard Yustea had mentioned.
‘That idiot tried to take the Spiral Coffin without checking, and—’
“Not all of this is Claren’s fault, so don’t be so resentful.”
“Wh-what?”
“I learned of this plan before Claren ever touched the Spiral Coffin.”
“How could you have—”
How had she known?
Where had information leaked?
From what Radia said, Claren hadn’t revealed anything.
Only Claren, herself, and… knew of this.
“Your daughter came to our workshop.”
“What did you say…?”
Radia’s tone turned glacial.
“She told us that you and that wretch—Radel—were conspiring to target the Spiral Coffin.”
“That’s impossible…”
Why would the girl…
‘No. That can’t be right.’
Why would Stella…
Why would she expose her?
It was at that moment.
Crash!
Gilbert smashed through the window and fled.
Startled, Emma quickly followed him out through the broken pane.
Radia let out a sigh.
“This is why I hate fools. Do they truly believe they’ll escape?”
Yustea spoke.
“Perhaps haste is best? If we’re careless, there may be complications.”
“Indeed. Otherwise, all this discretion would be pointless.”
As Radia gestured, the soldiers dispersed in an instant.
Claren’s face brightened.
Radia turned to him.
“Handling this discreetly doesn’t mean Father will overlook your crimes.”
Radia kicked her brother with devastating elegance.
Boom!
The force was far too destructive for so graceful a motion.
Yustea gazed out the broken window.
She watched Emma’s fleeing figure for a very long time.
* * *
In an alley, hidden beneath a pile of refuse, Emma clapped her hands over her ears.
Outside the alley, she could hear Gilbert being dragged away, shrieking.
“No, no, no! I was just fooled by Emma’s words—!”
Hearing him being hauled off, Emma covered her trembling mouth with her own hand.
‘The Imperial Palace… I have to reach the Imperial Palace.’
She needed to seek aid from Prince Terius.
Even Yustea wouldn’t be able to seize her before the Prince.
Emma scrambled out from beneath the refuse heap and bolted through the streets.
‘Does she think I’d believe her?’
Stella would never betray her.
“My daughter would never do such a thing…”
That girl possessed such noble character.
Such a precious child.
She could never have abandoned her.
It was impossible.
Absolutely impossible.
Certainly… certainly…
‘Really?’
The stray thought made Emma falter.
Stella’s strange behaviors kept returning to haunt her.
Her insistence on forgoing the blood oath.
The way she’d deliberately sent Emma herself on the errand.
How the girl, who would normally have been confused, had calmly met with Claren.
“No…”
It was in the midst of this murmur that someone blocked her path.
Emma’s eyes widened as she looked up.
“…!”

* * *
Deep in the night, within the Imperial Palace.
Terius greeted his unexpected midnight visitor with a smile.
“I never expected you to come at this hour. …Yustea.”
Facing Terius, Yustea spoke.
“I came to ask you something.”
“And what might that be?”
“Why you deliberately allowed Emma to overhear the location of the Spiral Coffin.”
“…”
Terius and Yustea’s gazes locked.

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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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