How to Replace Your Dad - Chapter 209

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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 209
It was the Empress’s Charity Party.
With so many nobles gathering, it was the perfect place to conduct an investigation.
“I’d like to go.”
“Alright. But what about your partner?”
The partner would naturally be that person.
I smiled quietly.
* * *
The Imperial-owned Pavilion within District 1 of the Archipelago.
I stepped down from the carriage holding my partner’s hand and looked around.
‘Looks like every nobleman in the capital showed up.’
While I was away, the Empress seemed to have regained considerable influence.
To be able to mobilize so many powerful figures like this meant she truly had.
I handed my invitation to the guard standing before the assembly hall.
“Yustea of Esgaroth.”
The moment I spoke my name, the atmosphere around me shifted in an instant.
Even those who had been chattering away in small groups suddenly glanced at me with a start.
“So the rumors were true.”
“Rumors?”
“That the Saint had returned. That it was she who offered a Magic Stone to Prince Ain.”
“I see….”
I entered the assembly hall under a flood of curious gazes.
The people inside the hall also stared at me in surprise.
The first to approach me were Guinevere and Roji.
Guinevere looked genuinely delighted.
“Just handing over a Magic Stone and vanishing like that? We couldn’t reach you no matter how much we tried. Do you know how worn out I’ve become?”
As Guinevere put on a wounded expression, Roji let out a scoff.
“Yustea just wasn’t happy to see us, that’s all.”
“Yeah, and Roji’s upset about it too!”
“I didn’t say I was upset.”
“You asked me multiple times if Yustea went back just to see Prince Ain.”
“…Twice.”
“It was three times.”
Roji faltered.
Then, with a suddenly emotional expression, she spoke.
“How long are we going to stand here? Let’s go.”
At that, Romeban, Roji’s brother, interjected.
“My apologies. My younger sister doesn’t know how to speak politely.”
“Don’t worry about it.”
When I replied with a smile, Roji’s expression turned skeptical.
Romeban pressed down on Roji’s head with one hand as he spoke.
“Moreover, it seems she was quite hurt that you left the Empire without a word. I felt the same way.”
“There were reasons it had to be that way. And I….”
I took hold of Roji’s and Guinevere’s hands.
“I missed you both.”
“Yustea….”
“…Then at least send a letter or something.”
Guinevere’s expression was one of emotion, while Roji grumbled with a blunt look on her face.
As we exchanged greetings, a man standing behind Guinevere bowed his head toward me in acknowledgment.
Seeing my puzzled expression, Roji let out an amused laugh.
“That one’s Guinevere’s fiancé.”
“What?”
I looked up in surprise, and Guinevere smiled, raising only the corners of her mouth.
“We got engaged last year.”
The man standing behind Guinevere greeted me.
“I am Mateo Caron. My father is the Marquis Caron.”
“I’m Yustea Esgaroth.”
“There’s hardly a soul in the Empire who doesn’t know the Noble Lady. It’s a pleasure to meet you. I’ve heard you’re a dear friend of the lark.”
The lark….
Roji’s face flushed red, and Romeban laughed heartily.
And the lark in question—Mateo Caron’s—smiled with graceful serenity.
“Roji came with Romeban, and your partner is….”
I introduced my partner.
“Father.”
That’s right.
I had come with Father.
The Guinevere group looked taken aback.
At my age, it was rare to bring one’s father as a partner.
That was when it happened.
“Welcome.”
It was the Empress’s voice.
Everyone in the assembly hall rose to their feet at once.
The crowd parted like the Red Sea wherever the Empress walked.
She came straight toward us.
More precisely, toward Father.
Father offered a proper greeting.
The Empress swept her ear-length hair behind her ear and wore a demure smile.
‘Wow….’
Even I, who had attended social parties since childhood and was accustomed to controlling my expression, found it difficult to maintain my composure.
Her fondness for Father was plainly evident.
I quickly looked away.
The Guinevere group’s expressions seemed awkward.
‘That they looked surprised to see me bring Father….’
It wasn’t just Mother who knew of the Empress’s fondness for Father.
Everyone knew. Absolutely everyone.
Roji was shaking her head when she seemed to catch Romeban’s warning whisper.
The Empress turned to look at me.
“I heard you had returned. That you studied abroad to broaden your knowledge while I was away.”
“Thanks to His Majesty’s consideration, I was able to see a much wider world.”
“I’d like to hear more details. Come to my table.”
And with that, she glanced at Father.
‘I’m absolutely not the main target here…?’
In any case, I couldn’t refuse the Empress’s words.
As I obediently followed her, Father’s eyebrows twitched.
We ended up sitting beside her for a full hour.
“That place has especially beautiful night-blooming cherry blossoms. Do you enjoy flower viewing?”
“….”
“The flowering trees in the Imperial Household gardens have also bloomed profusely. If you don’t mind, it would be nice if you’d come enjoy them with Yustea.”
She was even trying to set up a date.
‘I’ll call this the second tragedy of beauty….’
It truly was a tragedy.
The only saving grace was that the perceptive Duke Navarro came to rescue Father.
Guinevere’s father, that is.
“Your Majesty, would you mind if I borrowed him? I have some matters concerning the northern monster subjugation I’d like to discuss.”
Father stood up immediately, before the Empress could even respond.
* * *
Aslan had finally escaped the Empress.
The Marchioness Navarro, who had been waiting at a distance with her husband and Aslan, quickly handed him a champagne glass.
“You must need a drink! Here, quickly!”
“…I’ll take it.”
The Marchioness Navarro cupped her cheeks and shook her head.
“Life does bring such things. While I find it amusing to watch, you must find it quite awkward.”
“My dear….”
Duke Navarro wore an uncomfortable expression, but the Marchioness’s eyes sparkled.
“Is His Majesty starting to show discomfort as well? What did you hear in your recent private audience?”
The Marchioness was full of curiosity.
Aslan narrowed his brows.
He had certainly heard words in his private audience with the Emperor.
“For people like us, marriage holds no personal meaning. Especially not marriage with the Empress. All I considered was whether she would befit the role of Imperial Consort.”
“….”
“The Empress is far younger than I, so it’s even more certain she entered the marriage without emotional attachment.”
“…What exactly are you saying, Your Majesty?”
“Only that I understand the situation.”
The Emperor smiled with a sneer.
“But if the Imperial Family’s reputation is at stake, that’s another matter.”
“That was not my intention, Your Majesty.”
When Aslan spoke coldly, the Emperor shook his head.
“See that you exercise proper restraint.”
“….”
He wanted moderation just as much as the Emperor did.
Aslan let out a heavy sigh.
While his father spoke, Yustea’s eyes were darting about restlessly.
“…So the Imperial Palace has been focused on cultivating talent. The charity event is also for the nobility’s social contributions….”
After Aslan left, the Empress’s gaze did not turn toward Yustea.
Even as the Empress spoke, she was gazing fixedly at Aslan.
The wine in her glass had not diminished at all.
‘Hmm, this conversation has no substance.’
Having lost all her attention to Aslan, I couldn’t gather any useful information.
‘Maybe I should have kept Father beside me.’
When he was here, he would speak freely about anything.
Just because the Empress had lost interest in the conversation didn’t mean Yustea could answer halfheartedly.
She tried to respond earnestly to whatever came up.
“Yes. My mother has also been paying close attention to selecting sponsored children recently.”
That was the moment.
“It does not seem appropriate that Dia Neroban is in charge of selecting sponsored children for Esgaroth.”
The moment Dia’s name came up, the Empress’s expression hardened.
The Empress set down her glass somewhat roughly.
“Though they say they’re engaged, Dia Neroban is far too involved in Esgaroth.”
“….”
“I find that regrettable. I also pity him, since he became engaged to her only because Dia Neroban is your birth mother.”
“….”
Her expression was clearly full of hostility.
The moment Dia’s name was mentioned, the Empress lost her composure.
At first, she had sometimes been even glad that he was engaged to Dia.
An engagement purely for her daughter’s sake.
She had thought he would never develop feelings for Dia.
But….
“You should stop drinking.”
“A chance to compare wines. Free, at that. The ones our Trading Post distributes are quite….”
“Stop comparing when you can barely stand.”
She supported the drunk Dia, or held the wine glass in her stead.
When she placed the back of her hand against Dia’s cheek to check her temperature, it felt as though her organs were twisting.
It was the first time in her life.
Such an emotion.
“I heard that he came running to save me. He rushed straight to me when the monster appeared.”
The Empress’s voice grew bashful.
That unforgettable incident.
She vividly remembers his arms wrapping around her shoulders to protect her from the monster.
It was embarrassing for the Empress’s dignity to have physical contact with a man outside the family,
“N-no, let go. The Imperial knights are sufficient—!”
“You should keep quiet.”
“What did you say?”
“If you bite your tongue, it’ll be awkward for both of us.”
She looked up at his face, beautiful as though not of this world, from within his embrace.
Eyes fixed on the monster, bright red like jewels.
The time she had thought those eyes unpleasant because they were the same color as Luciano’s seemed distant now.
He subdued the monster and tended to her.
“It’s…it’s fine, really….”
“It was a monster carrying deadly toxins.”
“I am the Empress of this Empire. This much is…!”
He knelt and examined her ankle, then lifted his head.
And spoke with an indifferent expression.
“What does status have to do with pain?”
“…He was a man who understood me.”
Only Aslan understood her, suffering terribly despite holding the most glorious position.
As she mumbled in a daze, she suddenly stiffened.
Yustea was looking at her with an odd expression.
The Empress grasped her glass again and turned her gaze away.
“That’s why my mind is drawn to him. Your birth mother is not a woman befitting him, all the more so.”
Dia Neroban was a reckless and avaricious woman.
If she held his side only because of her daughter, she would have acted submissively….
Yustea spoke.
“Father has no objection to the engagement.”
“What?”
“He and my mother are on good terms.”
The Empress’s eyebrows twitched.
“Is that so.”
“Moreover, there is no reason their relationship needs Your Majesty’s approval.”
The Empress’s lips twisted.
The unbridled tone was unmistakably like Dia.
Of course, for Yustea, his engagement to her mother was a great advantage.
There would be no danger of being pushed aside by a new wife.
The Empress stared at Yustea with a cold face.
“So he is more pitiful than I thought. And his daughter too, blinded by her own gain.”
“Your Majesty, Father is devoted to my mother—.”
“Dia Neroban is a burden to him. But if it were me…!”
If I had met him first…..
Yustea regarded her with an expressionless face.
“Hypotheticals are meaningless. Father chose to be with my mother.”
The Empress bit her lip hard.
“And I know what will become of him because of Dia Neroban….”
The Empress rose abruptly to her feet.
The attendants behind her hurried to follow.
Yustea watched the Empress’s departing figure with wide eyes.
‘What will become of him because of my mother?’
The Empress knew something.
Her tone was full of certainty.
The Divine Divination that predicted Father’s death.
Something that could involve Dia in that matter.
Yustea gripped her skirt tightly.
‘That’s it!’
* * *
I quickly went to Father.
And I pulled at his collar.
“Let’s go.”
“…?”
Father obediently let himself be pulled along by me.
After we left the assembly hall, Father asked.
“What is it?”
“I think I know what episode is about to happen.”
“What episode would that be?”
“The Kidnapping of Noble Ladies.”
It was an episode where certain factions would kidnap noblewomen and noble ladies during the party.
When Stella was the protagonist, Emma would be the one kidnapped.
And Stella and Count Andres would step forward to rescue the kidnapped noblewomen and noble ladies.
In this story, I am the protagonist.
Which means….
“Mother is going to be kidnapped.”
And Father would suffer severe injuries in the process.

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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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