How to Replace Your Dad - Chapter 208

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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 a Father
Chapter 208
Ain let out a quiet laugh toward Gaspard, then asked Yustea for a handshake.
“I’ll take it gladly.”
Yustea shook his hand with a bright smile.
Only Gaspard felt his stomach turn at the two of them wearing such mischievous expressions.
* * *
Prince Ain’s Palace.
“How on earth did you find the Magic Stone?”
Ain asked me.
His expression suggested bewilderment—the Imperial Soldiers and all the mobilized families couldn’t even find a lead, so what was this about?
‘Well, I’ve played the game, after all….’
Hunting for Magic Stones was something that appeared in the game as a matter of course.
As someone with game experience, I naturally knew which monsters carried Magic Stones.
But since monster hunting on the Highland was legally forbidden, and Magic Stones had to be surrendered to the nation anyway, I’d simply had no interest until now.
“I suppose I was just lucky.”
I glossed over it vaguely since I couldn’t mention the game.
Ain didn’t look entirely convinced.
But then he merely shrugged his shoulders.
“Doesn’t matter. Let’s say you were lucky. What’s important is that I’m the one presenting the Magic Stone to Father.”
“Quite so!”
“Though your romantic luck seems a bit wanting.”
“Romantic luck?”
“Your luck with a spouse, so to speak.”
Ain said this while crossing his legs.
“Luciano left the country two days ago for state talks. He went with Yohaël.”
“Ah….”
When I groaned, Ain let out a quiet chuckle.
Then he leaned forward lightly, drawing closer to me.
“How about this opportunity?”
His eyes softened in a gentle arc, his lips curving into a beautiful line.
Ain, whom I hadn’t seen in four years, had changed.
He’d grown considerably taller, and now he was a man suited more to a deep, rich fragrance than the sweet scent of honey.
Most of all, he’d grown to resemble Mother more and more—the Mother who’d even earned the Emperor’s favor—making him subtly decadent.
Ain gently took my chin in his hand.
“A perfect time to play with fire.”
His voice dropped lower, his eyes deepening.
And so I….
“Empress Regina! Empress Regina!”
I shouted out the name of Luciano’s mother, the Empress who cherished me like a daughter-in-law.
The moment the name of that formidable Inner Palace woman—who could even poison food—escaped my lips, Ain quickly clapped a hand over my mouth.
“I was joking. Just joking.”
“Mmphmh mhm mhm mm mmmhm mhm. (Do you think the Empress would see it that way?)”
When I left the Empire four years ago, Empress Regina had gripped my hand tightly—
“Betrayal earns only death.”
“I would never betray Prince Luciano, Empress….”
“That meant if my son were to betray, I would demand he atone with his life.”
—leaving Luciano utterly speechless with such words.
Ain withdrew his hand with a dissatisfied expression.
“You’re still impenetrable. Being earnest beyond measure suits you and Luciano—a match made in heaven.”
“I’m grateful for your kind words.”
When I bowed my head, Ain clicked his tongue.
“Then I’ll be going. Don’t forget that thirty percent of the Magic Stone is mine.”
“That’s foolish. I’m not the sort of villain who’d steal your share.”
“I’m relieved you know the value of your life.”
As I rose, Ain waved his hand.
“Welcome back.”
His expression was bright and unguarded.
I smiled in return and left the room.
When I exited Prince Ain’s Palace, an Esgaroth carriage was waiting.
It was time to head back to the Manor.
The Irregular Elite waiting before the carriage spoke.
“We should hurry. The Clan Leader is waiting. …With a very frightening expression.”
“Young Lady, why not flee right now? When the Clan Leader gets angry, he’s truly, really, very, exceptionally terrifying.”
“Well, this might be a good chance to experience an angry Clan Leader. It would be good for my heart.”
“If you need heart medicine, just say the word, ha ha.”
“You… are done for….”
It was true.
I was about to get thoroughly scolded for returning without permission.
I became gloomy.
* * *
Esgaroth Manor.
“Raise your hands. Lift them high!”
The Irregular Elite giggled as they watched me, now nineteen and past the threshold of adulthood at eighteen, standing with my arms raised.
Embarrassment weighed far heavier than the ache in my arms.
I wore a sullen expression.
And I fixed my gaze on the figure who was thoroughly scolding me.
“You just came back without a word? Even knowing how dangerous it was, you did such a thing!”
My scolder was shouting harshly.
Not Father—but Mother.
Father, for his part, stood behind Mother with a somewhat flustered expression.
Though admittedly, Father hadn’t been flustered from the start.
When I encountered Father at the Manor, he’d looked very angry indeed.
He was so angry he couldn’t contain his energy, and I, thoroughly cowed, had bowed my head.
But then….
“Yustea Esgaroth.”
Mother had entered the Manor calling my name.
It seems to be a universal constant across all dimensions that mothers use surnames when they’re angry.
She’d arrived with an even more ominous presence than Father, and let out a shout.
It was rare for Mother to be this angry with me in my entire life.
The last time I’d seen it was when I was driven out of Andres.
Despite Mother’s objections, I’d taken on dangerous work to earn money for medicine, and had returned gravely injured.
The day I came back bleeding profusely, Mother had been furious like this.
The Irregulars and Father would likely never have seen such a side of her.
Mother was normally helpless with me, expressing her love in what bordered on cloying affection.
So this was all the more shocking to witness.
When the scolding first began, even the Elite hurried forward, frantically trying to stop her.
“Lift your hands properly!”
A thunderous shout erupted.
I hastily corrected my posture before I collapsed.
And I stammered out a response.
“It wasn’t thoughtless. I had a reason to come back….”
“Of course you had a reason! But no reason more important than your life would bring you into the Empire before the Red Lunar Eclipse ended!”
“….”
“But whatever your reason, you shouldn’t have returned to the Empire. If you’d thought of your anxious parents, you absolutely shouldn’t have!”
“….”
“It seems you haven’t been scolded enough yet.”
Mother strode forward and pulled a Fencing Sword from its place on the wall.
With the rubber-tipped Fencing Sword in hand, Mother spoke coldly.
“Lift your skirts.”
The eyes of the Irregular Elite widened.
“No, no, Dia!”
Antonio quickly stepped in to stop Mother.
Yuise and Miliano joined him in trying to persuade her.
“She’s surely reflected enough.”
“Yes, surely she has.”
But Mother pushed the Elite away.
“Stand back. I’m going to thoroughly correct that careless habit of hers today.”
I was done for….
I kept my eyes clenched shut.
My body suddenly lifted into the air.
“…?!”
I gasped in surprise, looking up to find Father hoisting me onto his shoulders and running off.
“Stop right there?!”
Mother shouted, but Father deftly fled.
“I can’t allow hitting.”
“Allow? You dare speak of allowing? Stop right there, or I’ll tell you I’m leaving the Empire!”
I hung from Father’s shoulders, watching Mother thrash about wildly and the Irregulars fumbling to stop her.
Finally, I looked at Father.
“You two give me no chance to even be angry.”
I hugged Father tightly.
Father sighed.
“I missed you.”
“I missed you too. …So much.”
Father smiled helplessly.
I couldn’t bring myself to tell Mother and Father that I’d leave the Empire again, even if I received a hundred blows.
If there was even a small chance that Father might be the one to die, I couldn’t stand by and do nothing.
Just as my parents held me dearer than their own lives, I too had something more precious than my life.
Mother.
And….
My Father—the one I chose.
Still clinging to Father’s shoulders, I cried out.
“I’m not going! I can’t go! I’ll stay alive and live peacefully with my family!”
When I, who had always been docile from our first meeting, began to cry out like a spoiled child, Father looked shocked.
Mother let out a soft gasp of surprise.
I raised my voice even louder.
“Look, I can throw a tantrum like this now!”
“….”
“Why would it be wrong to protect people who’ve made me so honest?!”
“….”
“I’m going to have everything. I’ll work to have it all. Both the freedom to be honest and safety!”
“….”
“Because I’m the daughter of greedy Mother and Father!”
As I declared this passionately, Mother’s pupils trembled.
Father too stood still.
Mother gripped her head and groaned.
“There’s no parent who can overcome their child, they say….”
Father set me down on the ground and nodded.
“We will never be able to overcome this child.”
Mother threw down the Fencing Sword and opened her arms.
My face brightened at once, and I ran to Mother.
‘Ah, Mother’s scent.’
Held in Mother’s embrace, I finally felt at ease.
I had come home.
To my longed-for home.
* * *
The next morning.
Mother didn’t return to Esgaroth last night; she slept at the Manor.
As she watched me eat breakfast, Mother rested her chin on her hand.
“A funeral for your grandfather?”
“Yes. Though it’s also possible it’s for Count Andres.”
“I’d prefer it to be the Count….”
Mother glanced sideways at Father.
“Is there any danger of his death?”
“Nothing seems suspicious to me.”
“Hmm.”
Mother interlaced her fingers and stretched, sinking into thought.
“Could it be that?”
“That what?”
“The Empress seemed to be eyeing your father.”
“The Empress?”
I frowned.
“To gain Esgaroth’s support and solidify Yohaël’s succession….”
“No—as a man.”
“Pardon?”
I even dropped my fork, staring at Father.
At first I couldn’t comprehend it at all, so I had to mull over Mother’s words several times.
‘As a man?’
Romantic interest?
It was already ridiculous that a married woman would take an interest in Father, but for it to be someone of the Empress’s station was beyond absurd.
Faced with a melodramatic story that surpassed even the wildest dramas, I gaped.
Father, having apparently known already, merely averted his gaze.
Mother smirked.
“Did you know the Empress and Yohaël returned about three years ago?”
“I heard that His Majesty wanted to diminish the power of the Seven Families and push new forces forward. It’s said he decided to use Yohaël as the central pivot for that.”
Most of the Seven Families had fallen into corruption.
The Empress’s birth family, House Sanponce, and House Becker had even produced officials for the Reconstruction Council.
The Emperor’s decision to overturn the power structure of the Empire was something he’d resolved before I left.
But the Seven Families, who had maintained the apex of power for centuries, were no easy opponent.
To push the new nobility forward, the Emperor brought back Yohaël to serve as the central pivot.
With House Sanponce expelled and Yohaël having lost his maternal family, he couldn’t possibly challenge the Emperor’s authority.
It was the perfect central pivot for the Emperor’s purposes.
“The Inner Palace is still under Empress Regina’s control. The Empress has turned her attention elsewhere.”
“Charity work, I heard.”
“About a year after the Empress’s return, a monster appeared at a Charity Party attended by the major families of the Archipelago.”
Mother looked at Father while folding her arms.
“Your father was the one who saved the Empress from that monster.”
Father frowned.
“Marquis Nevarro kept pestering me to do something….”
Which meant he hadn’t intended to save the Empress.
“But what does it matter? After you saved her from the monster, the Empress’s eyes turned into hearts.”
“….”
“I felt like I was watching a scene from an opera.”
“….”
“Since then, how obsessed the Empress has been with me. I nearly killed her.”
Mother clicked her tongue.
I looked at Father with half-closed eyes.
Father bowed his head.
“So this is the danger of being handsome….”
Father let out a long sigh at my murmur.
“She’s been expressing interest so covertly, and because your father won’t budge an inch, she’s gone nearly mad.”
“The Empress could be dangerous.”
It was worth investigating.
Only someone with the power of an Empress could kill someone of Father’s or Count Andres’s caliber.
Mother said, “Ah.”
“Then why not attend this year’s Charity Party?”
“The Charity Party?”
“An invitation just arrived. It says a partner must be brought.”
Naturally, a gentleman’s partner was her husband.
I understood now why the Empress had emphasized bringing a partner.
“She’s trying to summon Father….”
“The danger of being handsome.”
Father bowed his head even further.
He looked truly exhausted.

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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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