How to Replace Your Dad - Chapter 211

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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 211
Abduction.
For someone who’d just said something so shocking, Guinevere’s expression remained perfectly serene.
“Well, it happened all the time in the old days. You’d wrap someone you wanted to marry in a blanket and carry them off.”
“….”
“Emperor Isabella obtained Duke Argo, who was absolutely gorgeous, that very way… and besides—!”
“…That was seven hundred years ago. I’d have hoped modern morality had advanced somewhat.”
“But once you decide to abduct someone, you’ve already given up being human—!”
She said something genuinely terrifying while grinning from ear to ear.
Oscar squeezed his eyes shut, his brow furrowed deep.
“Perhaps we should calm down for a moment….”
Oscar had the good fortune of being born with a genuinely pleasant appearance.
Tall, lean-muscled, with features that naturally drew people’s affection.
Such things had earned him a great deal with little effort.
But he had no intention of being the heir that the Nevarro Ducal House prized above all else.
Especially not when he remembered she was Yustea’s closest friend.
“Young lady, this is—”
But Guinevere, heedless of his protests, wrapped her arms around Oscar in one sudden motion.
Unexpected strength flowed from her delicate frame, and Oscar flinched.
Guinevere tilted her head to look at him. “Ah.”
“I picked up a technique from Roji for instantly increasing muscle mass!”
“….”
“I’m quite confident in magic.”
“….”
“You won’t go hungry, I assure you.”
Guinevere wore an almost bashful expression.
Oscar found himself thinking.
‘I’m losing it.’
At this point, he couldn’t help resenting Yustea.
What on earth had she taught her….
“Please, let go. Let go of me.”
“But we need to leave now if we’re going to catch the smugglers’ ship?”
She’d actually arranged a smugglers’ ship?
It seemed she was planning to flee the Empire entirely.
Guinevere laughed, embarrassed, with an “Ehehe…”
“Don’t worry. I won’t lay a finger on you until you’re ready….”
At her reassurance that his virtue was safe, at least, Oscar let out a hollow laugh.
No matter how he thought about it, it sounded like the roles had been reversed.
That was when it happened.
Footsteps echoed from beyond the door.
Oscar’s head snapped up.
‘Not just one or two people.’
Even Guinevere tilted her head with a confused “Hmm?”
“That’s odd. I made sure no one could access the attic.”
In that moment, he was certain.
These were Raphalo’s men from the Restoration Council.
“Is the casting preparation for the Geuljabsae complete?”
“Yes.”
Geuljabsae.
The instant he heard the word, Oscar slipped free of Guinevere’s restraint in a flash.
Guinevere’s eyes went wide.
“…What?”
The rope had gone slack, and suddenly he stood behind her, as if space itself had bent around him.
As though he’d warped through the very fabric of distance.
In Guinevere’s moment of shock, Oscar lowered his voice.
“Did Yustea attend the party?”
“What?”
“We need to inform her at once.”
“Because of the abduction incident?”
Oscar’s frown deepened at Guinevere’s words.
“Were you expecting this?”
“Yes. Yustea told me. She said a large-scale abduction would probably happen at my party.”
She’d expected it?
A laugh escaped him before he could help it.
‘She’s something else, that one.’
A woman who left no opening.
“Listen, Oscar. Don’t worry. Nevarro and Esgaroth have coordinated to station soldiers to respond to the abduction, and besides—”
“Soldiers won’t be enough. They’re using the Geuljabsae.”
“The Geuljabsae…?”
“A Sacred Artifact of the Old Kingdom held by the Restoration Council. It warps designated individuals within a set area.”
“Warps…?”
“Which is why we need to hurry—”
It was in the midst of this conversation that it happened.
Ziiiiing—
A strange sound rang out, and the air itself seemed to thicken.
Oscar stared at the empty space with a hardened face.
His golden eyes gleamed.
He’d read the flow of mana.
‘It’s already begun.’
Oscar bolted from the attic.
Guinevere rushed after him in a flurry.
Raphalo’s men had already vanished.
Through the window, the party hall came into view.
The people in the hall were being held down by a savage flow of mana.
“Honey!”
“Palbati—!”
Though their partners cried out, those held by the mana’s grip vanished as though being sucked into empty space.
“What… what is happening!”
“Marquis Nevarro…!”
The party hall descended into complete chaos in an instant.
In the midst of it, Marquis Nevarro stood rigid with shock.
Because his wife had vanished too.
“Mother…!”
Guinevere clapped her hand over her mouth in surprise.
Neither father nor daughter had imagined abduction by warp.
Small wonder.
Who could have anticipated that the barrier protecting the Nevarro Ducal House could be breached and its inhabitants warped away?
“Contact Esgaroth—!”
“A… yes, yes—!”
Guinevere seized her Communication Stone with trembling hands.
* * *
“A warp?”
I had arrived at the Nevarro Ducal House and was moving through it as I listened to Yuise’s report.
“The Geuljabsae, a Sacred Artifact of the Restoration Council, seems to have been activated.”
Yuise glanced around and whispered to me.
“According to Oscar, it’s a Sacred Artifact that warps designated individuals without interference from barriers.”
“How many Sacred Artifacts do those Restoration Council bastards possess!”
I gnashed my teeth as frustration welled up inside me.
I resented the Founding Emperor for not thoroughly plundering every Sacred Artifact from the Old Kingdom.
In the party hall, men who’d lost wives, daughters, or lovers were in an uproar.
Marquis Nevarro stood among them like a man bereft of his soul.
The men shouted at him.
“What on earth has happened!”
“How could such a thing occur in Nevarro’s salon!”
“Give back my wife—!”
A large-scale abduction of noble ladies and young women.
With their beloved taken by strangers’ hands, the atmosphere was murderous.
Marquis Nevarro, robbed of his beloved wife, had lost his usual composure.
He stood swaying as excited men shook him about.
Guinevere, too, found herself unable to respond properly.
“It’s my fault… I was distracted by other things, not paying attention to the party… because of me, Mother and all these people….”
It was utterly unlike her usual demeanor as the heir to Nevarro’s dignity.
Tears streamed down her face.
Mateo Caron, Guinevere’s betrothed, was doing his best to comfort her.
Even Marquis Nevarro’s father looked bewildered and helpless.
“Explain yourself! What is the meaning of this!”
“I will lodge a formal protest with the Imperial Palace. Not even Nevarro will escape unscathed for this.”
Mateo Caron, Guinevere’s betrothed, spoke up.
“The Marchioness has been lost to us as well. The Imperial Court has been informed, so an investigative team will be assembled soon.”
“What will become of my daughter in the meantime—!”
A strangled cry tore from his throat.
“My wife has a weak heart. If the shock of the abduction causes her to collapse…!”
“Explain yourselves! How could an abduction occur within Nevarro’s own walls!”
The nobles present, along with Nevarro’s vassals and soldiers, all wore expressions of bewilderment.
Just as they stood at a loss.
“The abducted women have been moved to the Border Region.”
—I stepped forward.
All eyes turned to me at once.
“One of the abducted women carries a Tracking Device. We’ve confirmed that the signal is being detected in the Border Region.”
“A… a Tracking Device?”
“In the Border Region?”
Shock registered on every face.
Marquis Nevarro and Guinevere’s eyes widened.
Even Marquis Nevarro’s father jumped to his feet.
“Is it true? Do we really have a Tracking Device?”
“Yes.”
I glanced sideways at Marquis Nevarro, the Marquis’s son.
‘You were prepared for the abduction, weren’t you.’
The Marquis looked at me with surprise in his eyes.
He seemed to have realized that I’d placed a Tracking Device as a precaution against losing the kidnappers.
The Marquis and the other men immediately grabbed hold of me.
“The location… please, give us the exact location….”
“We must move at once!”
They were in a state of panic.
I took a deep breath.
“Now—listen—here—!”
My loud shout made the men flinch.
“If you fall apart, who will rescue the women?”
Only then did the men’s hands slip away from me.
“Ah…”
“Right…”
I nodded, watching them swallow hard.
“I will rescue them.”
The men’s expressions brightened.
My declaration had set their minds at ease.
Marquis Nevarro grasped my hand eagerly.
“How about becoming my son-in-law? No, rather, my daughter-in-law?”
“…?”
Guinevere was an only child.
“If my son and daughter-in-law work together, a nineteen-year age difference is nothing!”
I smiled kindly.
While thinking about how relieved he must be to be talking such nonsense.
* * *
Sob…
Sob…
Ceaseless weeping flowed among the abducted women.
Some noble ladies clutched at their collars, gasping for breath.
“Father…”
“My dear…”
In the midst of those sniffling, Marchioness Nevarro squeezed her eyes shut.
She too had suffered the shock.
‘I never imagined they’d use a warp…’
A warp that rendered Nevarro’s barrier useless.
She’d never even heard of such a thing.
Marchioness Nevarro steadied herself and spoke.
“Everyone, the rescue party will be coming for us soon.”
Rustle.
“We must stay strong.”
Rustle.
“Only then will we remain safe until our rescue…”
Rustle.
The noble ladies listening to Marchioness Nevarro’s words with hollow eyes frowned.
Dia, who’d been crouching on the floor, had been doing something strange the entire time.
“Excuse me.”
“What on earth are you doing?”
She’d been doing this constantly since the kidnappers had locked her in.
Dia glanced at them briefly.
“I think… an escape might be possible.”
“What?”
“Pardon?”
The noble ladies and young women flinched.
Dia pressed her ear to the floor.
“I can hear water flowing. There’s a sewer beneath us.”
“A sewer…?”
“This seems to be a Trading Company Warehouse. When the tax collectors conduct emergency audits, merchants quickly move their goods, which is why they build warehouses over sewers. I’ve personally fooled a good many tax inspectors that way… anyway.”
Dia thrust her thumb upward.
“There’s an underground passage.”
The noble ladies’ faces brightened considerably.
“Then perhaps…”
“Thank goodness. We’re saved.”
While the young women embraced each other in joy, Marchioness Nevarro approached Dia.
The Marchioness whispered to her.
“Did Yustea not tell you to remain quiet and wait for rescue?”
“That was before these bastards used a warp.”
“But if we act rashly and those bastards panic and come charging in…”
That was when it happened.
The door burst open, and large men entered.
They glanced around and immediately approached Dia.
And then…
“Filthy rats.”
Spitting out the words, they ripped the necklace and earrings from Dia’s body.
The violence was so rough that blood trickled from Dia’s ear where the earring had been torn away.
“…!”
The timid noble ladies and young women covered their mouths with both hands and trembled.
The man who’d torn the accessories from Dia spoke.
“Check if it’s a tracker.”
Another man examined the earring and nodded.
“It is.”
The men glared coldly at Dia, then left the room.
Marchioness Nevarro hastily staunched Dia’s bleeding with her collar.
“Are you alright?”
“This much is nothing. But those bastards seem rough whether they’re panicking or not.”
Dia looked at the Marchioness with an expression that asked if staying here was really wise.
Marchioness Nevarro narrowed her eyes and spoke.
“Let’s escape. We’ll get out of here as fast as possible and turn those bastards’ guts into sausage!”
“I like the way you think.”
The two women of the Ducal House clasped hands and grinned fiercely.
* * *
Mateo Caron soothed the pale-faced Guinevere.
“Please don’t worry too much.”
“….”
“House Caron is organizing a rescue party as well. Trust me, songbird.”
Guinevere gasped with her face buried in her hands.
Mateo, who’d draped a cardigan over her shoulders, stood up.
“It will take time for the songbird to recover. I’ll act in her stead.”
The men who’d lost wives or daughters nodded firmly.
“Thank goodness Nevarro has you.”
“We trust only you.”
Mateo Caron left the room with them.
In the courtyard, Prince Ain and Prince Gaspard, who’d come to organize a rescue party at the Emperor’s command, had just arrived.
“I present my respects to you, Your Highnesses. I am Mateo of House Caron.”
The younger nobles gazed at Mateo, who spoke so freely to the Princes, with admiring eyes.
House Caron was one of the rising powers that had emerged after the Emperor abolished the Voting Rights of the Seven Great Houses.
To participate in a matter of such magnitude in mere years was remarkable.
Mateo’s chest swelled with pride.
It was as he savored the admiring gazes, his expression full of confidence.
“This one?”
Ain looked down at someone and asked.
Following Ain’s gaze, I saw Yustea.
A beautiful woman with a fragrance like full-blooming spring blossoms.
A beauty whose face now caught the eye before any title of Saint ever could.
Mateo licked his lips.
‘Guinevere really has been useful.’
She’d even become a fine bridge to Yustea.
Yustea blinked and approached Mateo.
“Sir, may I have a word?”
“Of course.”
He flashed his most charming smile.
That was the moment.
Crack—!
His center was kicked with tremendous force.
Consumed by violent pain, he collapsed, clutching at himself.
Then Yustea said.
“I took off Mom’s tracker.”
“What… what…?”
“Why would I mention the tracker otherwise. I was checking if there’s a Count hidden in here.”
And she’d never said there was only one tracker.
The other one was wrapped around Marchioness Nevarro’s wrist.

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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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