How to Replace Your Dad - Chapter 185

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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 185
* * *
The restaurant.
After finishing her meal, Mother patted her belly contentedly.
“I’m so full I could die.”
The physician of House Esgaroth let out a strangled cry at the sight of Mother’s satisfied expression.
“That’s exactly the problem! You very well might die!”
After spending years in a coma, she’d gorged herself the moment she awoke.
No amount of persuasion had stopped her.
“Given how long you’ve been unconscious, your stomach cannot function properly. You must begin with rice water and adapt gradually—that’s what I’m telling you!”
The physician clutched his head in both hands as if in pain.
Mother ignored his protests entirely and beamed at the maid attending her.
“Sweet girl, fetch me something cool to drink after the meal. Lemon and syrup, if you please.”
“Absolutely not! Ice and lemon are poison for your health, poison!”
“Good heavens, you’re terribly loud.”
As Mother scratched at her ear, the physician’s anguish deepened into the verge of tears.
The Irregulars and Luciano stared at Mother with wide, rounded eyes.
“Miss’s mother is, well….”
“Hmm….”
“Yes, she’s definitely something….”
They trailed off, casting sidelong glances my way.
I understood. They couldn’t very well call her a madwoman to her daughter’s face.
I exhaled a long sigh.
“Mother, Londe is right. I think it would be better if you stopped eating.”
Mother spat out the straw from her drink with a ptthhh and spoke.
“How thoughtful of you. And so kind~.”
Her voice had taken on a sickeningly sweet tone.
A far cry from the bandit-like figure of moments before—now all gentle expressions and graceful movements.
The physician looked as though he might faint from bewilderment.
Mother paid his reaction no mind whatsoever.
Instead, she quickly claimed the seat beside me and launched into a storm of kisses.
“Surely a magnificent meal would be prepared downstairs, wouldn’t it? It would be rude not to eat.”
“That was prepared for Father and the Irregulars. Your portion was supposed to be very thin gruel!”
“But Mother is truly fine. Very healthy, I assure you.”
Well, it would be.
That’s why I didn’t press the matter of her eating.
Mother’s illness had been a penalty imposed for interfering with the game without authority.
‘It seems the penalty was lifted when the assigned Game Master changed to me.’
Her complexion was nothing like when she lay bedridden.
She looked far healthier than even in my childhood.
I addressed the physician while Mother continued her enthusiastic barrage of kisses.
“Thank you for coming, Londe.”
“…I’m not sure how much help I’ve been.”
The physician spoke sharply, glaring at Mother.
I shook my head. Throughout, Mother remained locked in her passionate kissing.
“Please don’t say such things. I rely on you greatly, Doctor.”
“Miss….”
The physician teared up again.
He had been wounded in spirit from dealing with a patient who ignored his every word.
Sniffling with the comfort he’d received, he bowed his head.
“With the Saint present, there is little cause to worry about your mother’s condition. I shall take my leave.”
“Safe travels.”
I bid farewell to the physician while still bearing Mother’s affections.
Everyone gathered in the restaurant watched our mother-daughter pair with expressions that seemed to ask, ‘Who is the adult here?’
It was a familiar gaze I’d received since childhood.
After the physician departed, I opened my mouth quietly.
“Don’t you have something to do?”
Mother flinched at my cold tone.
Only then did she pull away from me and glance toward the head of the table.
That is to say, toward Father, whose eyebrows had been twitching throughout the commotion of the restaurant.
Father, who had received a kick from the birth mother of his adopted daughters without yet hearing an apology, still waited for her words.
‘So now, truly, she should apologize….’
“I suppose I owe you an apology. So, why are you holding someone else’s daughter?”
“….”
“….”
The restaurant fell silent.
Father’s expression darkened.
Before I could react, Father rose from his seat.
“She’s not someone else’s daughter. She’s mine.”
“Well then, shall we go to the bedroom?”
Everyone in the restaurant, myself included, started at Mother’s words.
Even Father’s brow furrowed.
Mother merely shrugged.
“I need to confirm whether you two know each other properly. I was beginning to wonder if perhaps I’d committed infidelity without realizing it.”
Between Father’s teeth came the grinding sound of clenched jaw.
It wasn’t easy to infuriate even the Irregular Clan Leader to such a degree.
One of Mother’s many nicknames—the source of all calamity—came back to mind.
Father spoke as if restraining his anger.
“I….”
“After I lost my physician husband, I adopted your daughter and raised her as my own, overcoming the schemes of both Andres and the Marquise of Esgaroth—if you must know.”
“…!”
Everyone looked at Mother in shock.
Mother had been awake for barely thirty minutes.
Most of that time had been spent eating.
As a result, I hadn’t had the chance to explain the situation to her.
The servants of Esgaroth had merely attended to the meal; they hadn’t briefed Mother on the circumstances.
Yet she’d grasped the situation in an instant.
Mother raised an eyebrow and spoke.
“My daughter called you Father. If I hadn’t committed infidelity I have no memory of, there’s no explanation but adoption.”
“How did you deduce the schemes of Andres and the Marquise?”
“This is the First Residence of Esgaroth. It cannot be used unless you are a blood heir.”
“….”
“The fact that it’s being used means you must be a hidden son of the Marquis of Esgaroth. If that’s the case, the Marquise’s interference would be inevitable.”
“….”
“The servants here show respect toward my daughter. That means Yustea has gained considerable authority. If that were so, the ambitious prince of Andres would naturally come targeting her again.”
“….”
The restaurant grew quiet.
Both the Irregulars and Luciano looked at Mother as though beholding a genius.
Antonio breathed out, “Wow….” and spoke to me.
“Is your mother a genius?”
I smiled brightly.
The great merchant who had built the Merchant Guild, one of the top three in the Empire, with her bare hands.
The Empress of Commerce.
Mother hadn’t earned such titles for nothing.
And I deeply admired her for it.
It hit me then—Mother was truly back.
My most reliable ally in the world.
“But there is one person I cannot account for.”
Mother’s gaze turned toward Luciano.
“Why is the Second Prince here?”
Luciano immediately rose to his feet.
“I am Luciano. I am Yustea’s beloved—.”
Mother launched herself forward.
I cried out urgently to the Irregulars.
“Stop her!”
In the chaos that ensued, Father’s mouth curved upward.
“Satisfying, though I won’t forget the kick to the face.”
Mother and Father were my strongest allies, yet to Luciano they were the greatest mountain to overcome.
* * *
I took my seat at the restaurant table with an exhausted expression.
The Irregulars looked utterly drained.
They’d barely caught Mother’s foot mere inches from Luciano’s face.
Luciano sat across from me, though he’d pulled his chair back a bit.
He was clearly ready to flee should Mother attempt another assault.
‘I’m sorry….’
I sent him an apologetic look, and Luciano sighed.
A system message from Luciano appeared before me: Your mother is far more frightening than your father.
I laughed awkwardly at the message.
Father was relatively genteel by comparison.
Mother—in the past as well—would appear with a wooden sword whenever young men approached my side, glaring daggers at them.
In the meantime, the Clan Leader briefed Mother on the current situation.
Upon hearing the explanation, Mother folded her arms and nodded.
“The Restoration Council and the Game Master, is it? You’ve had a rough time.”
“Yes, we did our utmost—.”
“My precious dear.”
Without a care for anyone else’s hardship, Mother rubbed my cheek.
The Clan Leader fell silent.
Mother paid him no mind and spoke on.
“Yusi, have you progressed through the Great Drought episode?”
“Oh, well, not yet….”
I faltered in my response.
“You know about episodes?”
“Before my return, I was aware of the episodes you’d progressed through.”
“I see….”
“What happened with Prince Ilfarm?”
“I’ve forged a good connection with Terriars. We traded for the Mana Stone Pre-trade Right and something else, but that was—”
“Ilfarm’s scattered subordinate list.”
“…!”
She knew that much.
I looked at Mother in surprise.
That’s right.
I had received a list of Ilfarm’s scattered subordinates stationed across the continent.
One of those subordinates was a key character to clearing the Great Drought episode.
“Exactly. I asked for Ilfarm’s scattered subordinate list. One of Ilfarm’s subordinates possesses the Key of Water Path.”
The Key of Water Path refers to a sacred relic-class item that summons rain.
“But the Key of Water Path is randomly held by one of Ilfarm’s scattered subordinates. We’ll have to find out which one.”
“Once you enter the episode, they’ll appear nearby. Before my return, they were with Andres.”
“Then this time….”
“They’ll likely be in Esgaroth.”
My face brightened immediately.
Having someone else who’s progressed through the story before is invaluable.
Mother glanced at the people gathered around the restaurant table.
“What are you all sitting around for?”
“Pardon?”
“…?”
“What exactly are you saying?”
The Clan Leader, Yuise, and Cesar looked at Mother.
“The Great Drought, obviously! We need to stockpile food!”
As Mother shouted, the Irregulars jolted to their feet.
That’s right. The Great Drought doesn’t primarily affect those progressing through the episode.
It’s the common people who suffer.
The Great Drought kills upward of three hundred thousand people.
The North, with its scarce farmland, suffers the worst.
The North where the Esgaroth Estate lies.
Mother’s voice rang out clearly.
“Events tied to the Great Drought bring riots and plunder! If you fail to distribute food properly, you’ll ruin the estate—!”
“Yes, yes!”
“Contact the accounting office at once!”
“I’ll go to the Citadel myself!”
Under the fierce command of the great merchant, everyone’s feet caught fire.
* * *
Deep into the night.
Pale moonlight poured into Yustea’s bedroom.
Dia quietly stroked her daughter’s sleeping cheek.
“When did you grow so much….”
Before my return, Dia’s relationship with her daughter had not been good.
Dia’s goal before returning had been to leave Andres safely with her daughter.
So she worked with burning eyes.
To revitalize the trading company to such an extent that even Andres wouldn’t dare touch it.
‘The work I did for you caused you the greatest pain.’
She hadn’t cared for her lonely daughter.
The Game Master had exploited that gap, and his manipulation had gradually strained the relationship between mother and child.
‘If only I had focused on you back then….’
Your goals and my goals could have been different.
Dressing you in noble clothes and providing lavish meals wasn’t the entirety of a parent’s duty….
So after returning, I made a vow.
To express my love freely.
To show you how much I love you, how dear you are to me.
Yet it was she who had been loved in return.
Dia knew her body could not recover.
It wasn’t an illness—it was closer to a curse.
But her daughter had never given up.
Her hands, which had known nothing but a pen, worked until they were covered in calluses, enduring every cold shoulder.
Even when Dia cried out for her to stop, she would sneak away to work the moment her mother fell asleep.
And when she returned with warm potatoes bought with that money, she smiled as if she’d gained the whole world.
Dia smiled as she brushed back her restless daughter’s hair.
“Sweet dreams, my dear.”
Dia tucked the quilt up to her daughter’s chest and left the room.
As she walked down the corridor, it happened.
[Where are you going?]
She turned her head sharply.
“Watching me now, are you? How presumptuous, Aslan.”
[If you leave, Yusi will be sad.]
“Then stay by her side.”
[Are you going to find the Game Master?]
She hadn’t completely eliminated the Game Master.
One day, he would reappear before Yustea.
It was Dia’s deepest concern.
Dia scoffed.
“What do you take me for? I’m a master of regret.”
[…What did you just say?]
Dia spoke with utter confidence.
“I made my daughter lonely for her sake. I won’t let her fall into anxiety again.”
[Even if—]
“Even if it costs my life, I’ll die at Yusi’s side.”
To have one more day together.
[Then where are you going?]
“To kill the bastards who stole from me.”
Aslan’s voice fell silent for a moment.
After a long pause, he spoke again.
[Money… what…?]
“Do you think I’d leave Andres without a single coin to my name?”
She had set aside enough money for her daughter to survive without her.
She’d merely entrusted it to avoid Andres’ pursuit.
To various merchant guild leaders she’d dealt with in the past.
“Those wretches swallowed the money the moment I disappeared and never gave it to my daughter.”
Dia clenched her teeth.
Her eyes burned with fierce determination.
“I’ll salt-cure every last one of those filthy swine.”

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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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