How to Replace Your Dad - Chapter 18

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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 18

Luciano let out a scoff as if finding it absurd, then narrowed his eyes into thin slits.

“It’s been three years since Ain’s madness began. His mother has fainted countless times from stress. If what you’re saying is true, then he’s been hiding it from his mother and even his attendants for three years.”

“Yes.”

“So how did you notice such a thing?”

I suspected it from the beginning.

In the game, there was no mention of Prince Ain having madness, which had been bothering me.

But I couldn’t say that, so I only explained the process that led to my certainty.

“Because he only eats my food.”

“…What?”

“Um, it’s a long story. When I first tried to cook for Prince Ain, the other cooks came and harassed me.”

I thought they were doing that because they were afraid of losing the opportunity to impress the prince.

But when I thought about it, it was strange.

“There’s no reason to try to impress a prince with madness, right?”

“So?”

“They had received orders from Prince Gaspard. They were putting medicine in Prince Ain’s food.”

Just to be sure, I secretly followed the head chef and found that he was indeed going in and out of Prince Gaspard’s quarters.

‘It was tough because the head chef moved around at dawn.’

Thanks to that, I’m still sleep-deprived now.

I also sneakily took and examined the medicine Gaspard had given to the head chef.

It wasn’t a life-threatening drug.

It seemed designed to gradually weaken him and make him collapse.

If Prince Ain collapsed, they could easily search his quarters and body.

So Prince Ain used madness as an excuse not to eat the food.

“The other cooks sent dishes with medicine slipped in, but he noticed them brilliantly and only ate my cooking.”

“He must have found out in advance which dishes had been tampered with.”

“Yes. Someone like that could never have madness.”

Luciano looked convinced.

“Impressive.”

“Right. It’s amazing that he acted like that for years.”

“No. I meant you.”

In the quiet warehouse, he looked at me with strange eyes.

For a long while, intently.

Feeling awkward under his persistent gaze, I quickly looked away.

Then Luciano chuckled and spoke again.

“I wonder if my brother knows.”

“…Knows what?”

“That he made a wasteful mistake.”

“…?”

Wondering what he meant, I blinked, and he tossed something at me.

What I caught reflexively was a small pouch.

‘What is this?’

When I opened it, my eyes widened.

They were jewels.

Crystals, pearls, and even diamonds were inside.

“Th-this…”

As I stammered in confusion, he said,

“It’s in place of the topaz that Ain was going to give you.”

Yesterday I had given up the topaz and fed Prince Ain instead.

I did think it was a bit of a waste, but how did he know?

I bowed deeply at the waist.

“I’ll work hard!”

As they say, even if you’re going to be a servant, it’s better to serve a wealthy household – Prince Luciano was incredibly generous.

Having earned a year’s worth of Mother’s medical expenses in one night, I smiled brightly.

* * *

‘I need to earn my keep.’

Having received a year’s worth of Mother’s medical expenses, I moved diligently to produce results.

I carefully observed Prince Ain to find out what he usually did.

Of course, I didn’t forget to examine his surroundings as well.

I also communicated diligently with Luciano.

Luciano temporarily suspended the northern expedition to give me time to observe Prince Ain.

It was good support.

And on the third night since arriving at the military camp.

I was now working on winning over the attendants.

“You made this for us?”

“Yes. It’s called hotteok and misutgaru. Please eat it before it gets cold.”

“Ooh…!”

The attendants excitedly ate the hotteok.

When they groaned from burning their mouths by eating too quickly, I promptly offered them iced misutgaru.

The mountain of hotteok I had brought was gone in no time.

‘Now, when this happens…’

“Ah, I feel drowsy.”

“You’re right…”

The sugar spike was making them sleepy.

Especially on nights like this.

What happens when you’re already exhausted at night and then become sleepy on top of that?

You desperately don’t want to work.

“I have to clean that damn snake’s cage.”

“I studied like hell and barely passed that difficult exam to become a palace attendant, only to end up serving some snake…”

“And it’s not just any snake? I might die while cleaning that cage…”

The attendants muttered with their eyes half-closed.

I was listening to their conversation while pretending to clean up the dishes, then my eyes widened.

‘Good, this is my chance.’

“Should I do the cleaning?”

“…Really?”

The attendants looked at me with sparkling eyes.

“Yes, I cleaned many animal cages while working at the breeding grounds.”

“That would be great, but…”

One of the attendants looked at me suspiciously.

“Why are you being so nice to us?”

I knew this question would come.

People naturally become wary when someone is too nice to them.

I rattled off the excuse I had prepared.

“I’m only working here temporarily thanks to Colonel Lagoni’s consideration. If I could build connections with the palace attendants, well…”

When I deliberately trailed off, the attendants went “Aha” and grinned.

“You need a job.”

“If that’s the case, we can help you.”

“We’ve received help from you many times too.”

I brightened my face and bowed to the attendants.

“Thank you. Please leave the cage cleaning to me.”

“Good. When you come to the capital, find me. I’ll arrange a good place for you.”

The servants laughed heartily.

Then they said their farewells and left with big yawns.

I quickly entered Prince Ain’s quarters.

The prince’s quarters were empty.

That didn’t matter.

‘I need to check on Eppy first.’

I looked around and quickly approached Eppy, the death servant.

Eppy, who was coiled up in the cage, made a hissing sound.

“Hello, Eppy. Are you hungry?”

And I pushed small pieces of raw chicken I had brought into Eppy’s cage.

Eppy only hissed and didn’t eat the chicken.

“It really is you. …A tracking animal.”

That was it.

‘A tracking animal isn’t an object. It’s an animal.’

To be precise, you turn an animal into a tracking animal.

The process goes like this.

1. Feed a special item to the animal you want to make into a tracking animal.

2. Once the item dissolves into the animal’s body, it’s complete.

3. If you consistently feed it something related to the object or person you want to track for over two weeks, it will track the target.

Once that happens, the tracking animal won’t eat other food to avoid mistaking the tracking target.

‘Just like how Eppy won’t eat the raw chicken.’

Having found the answer, I grinned.

I had thought Eppy might be a decoy and there could be another animal.

But then again, it would be difficult to keep an animal secretly.

But there was something strange.

‘Why did they specifically make Eppy into a tracking animal?’

No matter how I thought about it, I couldn’t understand.

“A death servant is too big…”

Just as I was muttering that.

“I didn’t know it would grow that big. At first, I thought it was just an ordinary snake when I chose it.”

“…!”

At the voice from behind me, I froze in shock.

It was Prince Ain’s voice.

Even though the owner of the quarters had arrived, I couldn’t turn to look at him.

Because what he had said was quite meaningful.

What I had said could have been interpreted as wondering why he kept a death servant.

But Prince Ain had accurately pinpointed my inner thoughts about ‘why choose a death servant as a tracking animal.’

I could hear the sound of him walking closer.

“Death servant babies are easy to mistake for snakes, aren’t they?”

He walked up to where I was crouching in front of the cage and met my gaze.

Prince Ain said.

“That’s why I specifically chose a death servant as a tracking animal.”

“…”

“Why so quiet? You should be denying it here.”

“How did you notice?”

I quietly looked into Prince Ain’s eyes.

“Hmm. I didn’t expect you to be honest so quickly. Why did you choose that approach?”

“Because you looked like you wanted me to say I didn’t know what you were talking about. Then you would have tried to cut off my head, wouldn’t you?”

“That would be too cruel. I was going to be merciful and just slit your mouth. As repayment since your stew was delicious.”

Ain stood up.

Then he sat on the edge of the cot and crossed his legs.

I also got up from my spot and approached him.

I stopped at a certain distance and looked at him.

Ain was looking at me with an interested expression.

“The reason you’re not running away is because you think your backing will protect you? Brother Luciano, I mean.”

“…”

“Did you really think I wouldn’t know? You underestimated me too much.”

“…”

“Gaspard is laughable, but Brother Luciano isn’t, right? So I thought I needed to pretend to be fooled.”

So that’s why he let me into his quarters and ate my food.

By keeping a spy close, he wanted to lower Luciano’s guard.

I stared at him intently.

“What’s your reason for revealing your true intentions instead of continuing to pretend?”

“Shouldn’t I naturally deal with a child who even knows how to check for tracking animals?”

He gestured toward the raw chicken placed in front of Eppy and continued.

“Don’t worry, I won’t kill you.”

When he tapped the table beside the cot, men entered from outside the quarters.

They seemed to be people Prince Ain had been keeping secretly.

“You’ll just take a ship and go very far away to do the same work you did at the military camp. Though your name will change. What, maybe Slave Number 34?”

When I flinched, he waved his hand with that characteristic sweet expression.

“Well then, farewell.”

The men began approaching me.

I looked at the curtain that served as the quarters’ door with a completely stiff face.

The prince made a humming sound.

“Trying to run? That’ll be difficult. Those men are experienced assassins.”

“You even hired assassins? Mercenaries would have been sufficient.”

“How naive of someone who was once a noble family’s young lady. It would be good to take the opportunity to deal with either brother or Gaspard.”

“I was waiting for you to say that.”

“What?”

Prince Ain looked at me as if I was talking nonsense.

That’s when it happened.

The curtain was cut in half and fell to the floor with a thud.

And the face that appeared was…

“I’m sorry, Ain.”

…Luciano.

* * *

Ain’s face immediately hardened.

Ain, who had been looking at Luciano with an expression of disbelief, turned his gaze to me.

“How…”

Then he shouted at me as I stood there silently.

“Answer me!”

“If Eppy was a tracking animal, I thought it would be impossible to steal. It’s too big, isn’t it?”

“So.”

The next answer didn’t come from me.

Luciano said as he strode into the quarters.

“She suggested we obtain it through other means.”

I had thought that if I discovered the tracking animal, Ain would try to deal with me.

The method would naturally involve breaking the law.

I was aiming for that moment to exploit his weakness.

I’m very grateful he even brought an assassin along.

“His Imperial Majesty has strictly forbidden contact with illegal organizations. If this becomes known, you’ll be in serious trouble.”

Ain let out a bitter laugh.

“Do you think His Majesty would readily believe what Prince Luciano says?”

“What if my testimony is added to it?”

With those words, another figure appeared.

It was Colonel Lagoni and his soldiers.

Of course, I had called them in advance together with Luciano.

‘The more witnesses, the better.’

Ain’s face hardened beyond measure.

He glared at me and abruptly stood up.

“I won’t let this slide!”

At that moment, Luciano twisted Ain’s wrist and subdued him.

Luciano looked at Ain with a cold gaze and said.

“Don’t touch my potato.”

What?

Soon Colonel Lagoni spoke to Ain.

“Don’t make things more complicated.”

It meant that if he caused trouble, they would immediately inform the Emperor of what Ain had done.

Ain ground his teeth with a grinding sound.

However, he soon slumped down onto the bed.

* * *

“So this is what they call a tracking animal.”

Luciano said, looking at Eppy inside the iron cage.

I nodded.

“If you release it, it will start tracking on its own.”

“If a monster wanders around civilian areas, it will cause an uproar.”

“How about informing the lord in advance? Death Servants are monsters with the ability to find water veins.”

“Tell the people to be at ease because we’re releasing it to find water veins?”

“That’s right.”

“Not a bad idea.”

As we were chatting in front of the iron cage, an irritated shout came from behind us.

“How long are you planning to loiter around here!”

It was Ain’s voice.

That’s right.

We were still inside Ain’s barracks with Eppy, chatting away.

Of course, after dismissing everyone else.

The only ones left in the barracks were me, Luciano, and Ain.

I turned my head to look at Ain while still crouched in front of the iron cage.

“Until Your Highness makes a choice, of course.”

“Whether to hand over the tracking animal and clean up the matter of hiring an assassin, or stubbornly refuse and have the tracking animal taken away?”

Ain glared at me as if asking whether that could even be called a choice.

I said firmly.

“No.”

“Then what?”

“Whether to hand over the tracking animal to Prince Luciano and become an ally, or have the tracking animal taken and become an enemy.”

“…An ally?”

Ain’s voice became strange.

Thinking this was my chance, I pointed at Luciano with both hands.

“Speaking of this person, he is the son of the First Imperial Consort, who is hard to distinguish in superiority from Her Imperial Majesty the Empress, his maternal grandfather served as Prime Minister as one of the heads of the Seven Families, and he himself is the prince most trusted by His Imperial Majesty.”

“….”

“….”

As I suddenly began earnestly promoting Luciano, both princes looked at me with bewildered expressions.

Nevertheless, I continued speaking enthusiastically.

“However, in the power struggle with the First Prince, who likewise has a maternal grandfather who is a head of the Seven Families, he is in the unfortunate position of being slightly behind simply because he is not the eldest son…”

“My unfortunate position is probably due to you handing over my achievements to the First Prince.”

“…Anyway.”

I avoided Luciano’s gaze and looked at Ain.

“If you board now, he’s a jackpot stock guaranteed to bring high returns.”

“Jackpot stock?”

“A rising star expected to be a huge hit. Something like that.”

Ain let out a hollow laugh.

“Since I can’t become Emperor anyway with my maternal family’s humble power, I should give up and follow Prince Luciano?”

Though he spoke sarcastically, I replied in a calm tone.

“I’m telling you to aim for the future.”

“What?”

“Just as you aimed for an opportunity while even acting mad, aim for another opportunity by Prince Luciano’s side.”

“….”

“Until Prince Luciano surpasses all the princes with powerful maternal relatives.”

Luciano let out a bitter laugh.

“That’s not something to say in front of me.”

“Will you fall for it?”

“Not a chance.”

This time I looked at Prince Ain.

“Do you think you won’t be able to seize an opportunity by Prince Luciano’s side?”

“…Not a chance.”

Ain and Luciano’s gazes clashed fiercely in the air.

Ain said.

“A temporary alliance wouldn’t be bad.”

“Let’s exchange the information we know.”

“Good. …And one more thing.”

Ain and Luciano approached each other.

Ain said.

“I’ll use that potato.”

“No. That potato is off-limits.”

Why are they acting like this.

This potato belongs to the Irregulars.

—————
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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