How to Replace Your Dad - Chapter 217

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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 217
* * *
As Raphael vanished, the monster that had been holding him down turned its gaze toward me.
“Wait!”
I cried out before the attack could begin.
The monster hesitated.
“We will not interfere with Your Majesty’s rest.”
The mist condensed, reforming into the human shape I’d first seen.
The monster let out a hollow laugh.
[You seem to have forgotten that you attacked me.]
It was gesturing toward Anne.
It was asking whether Anne and I had attacked the monster.
“Anne was forced to move by that rude person who just vanished, and I only tried to save her.”
I bowed respectfully to it at once.
“As long as that one is gone, we will never disturb Your Majesty’s noble peace.”
The monster studied me for a long moment.
And then….
[You must keep your word. Unless you wish to experience the agony of bone and flesh twisting.]
—With that, it withdrew.
Once the monster disappeared as well, my tension finally broke and I collapsed where I stood.
“I thought I was done for.”
But something felt strange.
Anne and Oscar were staring at me in silence.
Their eyes wide as saucers.
“What?”
Confused, I asked, and they spoke.
“How did you make Babelus back down with just a few words?”
Hearing Oscar’s words, I learned that the monster condensed from mist was called Babelus.
Anne’s brow furrowed.
“Babelus has a strong ego. There’s no way he’d let a human who attacked him live.”
“If someone has a strong ego, doesn’t that just mean you need to preserve their ego?”
A respectful posture without fault, and the polite title of “Your Majesty.”
He was satisfied with my manner.
A human who belittled a monster—and one at that who had neutralized someone as powerful as Raphael—showing him courtesy. That pleased him.
When I explained this, Anne and Oscar fell silent.
A hollow laugh escaped from both of them.
I smiled broadly.
“Either way, it’s our victory.”
“…What.”
“….”
Oscar chuckled, while Anne turned her head away sharply.
It was agreement.
I took Anne’s hand.
“Come with me.”
“….”
“I’ll give you a rabbit doll, a pretty dress. You can do whatever you want, Anne.”
“….”
Anne bit her lip hard.
Her gaze wavered.
‘This child must have been lonely.’
So much so that she clung to the hand Benjamin first offered her.
I know that loneliness.
“I want to be with you, Anne.”
“….”
Anne’s face twisted.
Completely distorted.
But I didn’t dislike it.
It was that pure, childlike face I’d seen at the headquarters where the Ghost Castle dungeon was located.
“…Yes.”
The number of people escaping became two.
Oscar, smiling, relocated us outside the Reconstruction Council Castle.
* * *
The border. The Irregular’s Camp.
Though quiet, an unprecedented tension hung in the air.
Bang—!
The sound of a table being struck echoed from inside the barracks.
It was Antonio.
“How much longer do we have to wait? If the Reconstruction Council does something to the young lady…!”
This was the first time Yustea had been dragged away alone.
Even when she entered enemy territory solo, everything had unfolded within her plan.
Oscar was said to be in the Reconstruction Council, but one person alone would struggle to escort Yustea perfectly.
“Lower your voice. We’re not without communication, are we?”
“Do you know the young lady and Oscar? They’re not people who show their hand even if something happens.”
That was true.
But….
[‘Master of the Eight Fools’ has completed the task.]
[‘Raphael (Guardian of the Old Empire’s Aesthetics)’ Enslavement conversion complete.]
Miliano, who had access to the channel, thought.
“Seems like you’re really turning things upside down.”
What was being called, in other words…
…a complete mess.
“…What?”
“You’ve neutralized one of the Reconstruction Council’s leadership, haha….”
The barracks fell silent in an instant.
Confusion, shock, and turmoil flickered across the faces of the Irregulars.
Shortly after, Yuise grabbed her forehead.
“What on earth are you doing!”
Some made sounds of amazement, but it did nothing to ease the worry.
“Now that you’ve captured a leader, you’ve become the Reconstruction Council’s enemy for real. Can you even escape?”
Cesar asked with a furrowed brow.
Abel, who had been sending messages through the system window received from Yustea, spoke flatly.
“No… response…”
The Irregulars fell silent again.
“What’s happened?”
“This is maddening.”
Yuise and Cesar both furrowed their brows, then looked toward the highest seat.
Luciano sat rigid, staring at the Communication Stone.
Waiting for word of Yustea’s escape.
And behind him….
“….”
Calypso, whom the Reconstruction Council had marked as their new Saint, was gripping Luciano’s collar with an anxious expression.
Cesar’s face was displeased.
“You said you’d protect that one….”
Yustea had gone in Calypso’s place and was captured instead.
And if Calypso hadn’t escaped and asked Luciano for help in the first place…
The Reconstruction Council wouldn’t have brought their army.
Cesar’s cold gaze landed on Luciano.
“A wise decision, truly. You’ve surrendered the Saint of the Empire and gained the Saint of the Reconstruction Council.”
At the sarcastic remark, all eyes poured onto Cesar and Luciano.
Luciano looked at Cesar.
Cesar twisted his lips.
“How did you receive the distress signal? Were you in contact with the Reconstruction Council’s Saint from the beginning?”
“I was communicating through Oscar.”
“Ah, so you were interested in the Reconstruction Council’s Saint from the start.”
There was no outward emotion in Luciano’s expression, though his skin prickled with lethal intent.
“If there’s no replacement target for duplicating Yustea, the Reconstruction Council and GM’s momentum will weaken. That’s what I judged.”
The attention focused on Yustea would die down as they searched for a new target.
I thought we could protect Yustea that way until the Red Lunar Eclipse came.
“Ah, yes. An excellent judgment. You’ve secured a duplicate target, yet lost Yustea in the process.”
Cesar’s hellish mouth spewed flame indiscriminately, even at the Prince.
The Irregulars broke cold sweat, their mouths agape at Cesar.
A prince, a prince.
Do you want to be arrested for treason?
Tone it down.
Silent outcries poured forth, but Cesar simply crossed his arms, saying nothing.
“Your mouth sewn shut?”
Cesar’s gaze reached Calypso.
The atmosphere was chillingly sharp.
Calypso flinched, gripping Luciano’s collar harder.
“I, I was….”
“You don’t know the location of the Reconstruction Council Headquarters. You don’t know the leadership roster. You don’t know their plans. What made you confident enough to ask the Prince for rescue?”
“….”
“You should have brought something, at least. Something that made it worthwhile to save you. Right?”
“I’m, I’m sorry….”
Calypso’s gaze trembled.
Cesar suddenly cried out.
“Stop with that sorry business and try to remember something—!”
That’s when it happened.
A voice came from outside the barracks.
“Water, please. Water….”
All eyes turned toward the outside at once.
Luciano rushed out first.
The woman taking water from a soldier—that is, Yustea—turned to look at Luciano.
“Oh, I’m back—.”
She was embraced mid-sentence.
Yustea’s eyes went wide.
Yustea looked at the bewildered Elite Irregulars behind Luciano.
“…Everyone’s watching.”
She spoke haltingly.
But Luciano only let out a hot breath.
“Don’t ever do this again. My heart felt like it was sinking.”
“Well… I could have contacted you, and Oscar was there, so it was fine….”
Luciano lifted his head.
His gaze turned cold.
“What?”
“…I’m sorry.”
Yustea laughed awkwardly.
She soon patted his back.
“It’s fine, really.”
“I know you made a complete mess of things.”
“Did you hear? I made one of the Council’s leaders into an Enslaved Servant. With 3,000 Mana. And that’s not all.”
Yustea, flushed with pride, brought Anne’s hand over to her side.
“I recruited another leader. She’s incredibly strong.”
As Yustea looked at me as if to say ‘right?’, Anne glanced around and then, mimicking Yustea’s pose, raised her chin and spoke.
“My Mana is 3,500. That’s what she said.”
She pointed to Calypso, who had given her the exact number.
Calypso flinched.
Everyone fell silent.
Going in alone, she’d brought down one leader and brought back another as an ally.
“Is that a human or a monster….”
Cesar laughed incredulously.
The Irregulars shook their heads in disbelief.
And then….
Thump—!
Yustea, punched by Yuise, cried out in pain.
“Do that one more time, got it?”
Following that, Dia and Aslan came rushing out from the other barracks.
Both looked gaunt beyond words.
The people who rushed to Yustea wore smiles of relief.
Calypso watched quietly as Aslan tore Luciano away from Yustea.
* * *
Darkness had fallen.
While some soldiers left to watch for the Reconstruction Council’s Pursuit Force, I….
“This… this doesn’t seem right.”
I was being held on the lap of Luciano, who was sitting at an odd angle.
Not sitting—being held, because I truly was being held.
Grabbed and placed there.
Luciano looked down at me with a cold expression.
“Father and Mother are outside, and the Irregulars too….”
“So?”
“Why… why are you angry?”
“You really don’t know?”
“….”
I fell silent.
I had done wrong.
If I were in his place and he pushed me aside to get captured instead, I would’ve burned with anger from head to toe.
I would’ve worried for days on end.
As I hesitated, Luciano pulled me into an embrace and rested his chin on my shoulder.
“You have no right to lecture your mother.”
I swallowed dryly.
It wasn’t wrong, but I had no answer.
I wished he’d put a little distance between us.
‘What if my heart jumps out of my mouth.’
I was genuinely worried about it.
“Four years ago, it wasn’t like this….”
As I was thinking about where it all went wrong and what went wrong, Luciano lifted my chin.
“You’re an adult now, and so am I.”
“That’s….”
“So you need to keep your promise.”
His lips drew near.
I stayed rigid, eyes wide and round, when a low chuckle reached my ear.
“Close your eyes.”
My eyes shut of their own accord.
And so our lips met seamlessly.
I could feel the pulse in the hand Luciano held.
It was a kiss both careful and tender.
Without anyone teaching me, my arm naturally wound around his neck.
A sweet yet embarrassing sound echoed at the edges of my ears.
As we parted briefly, he spoke.
“I missed you.”
I stammered in reply.
“So did I.”
We pressed our foreheads together and smiled at each other.
He reached for my cheek again to draw closer—
That’s when it happened.
“I can’t take it anymore!”
Mother’s voice boomed.
Startled, I jumped down from his lap.
Luciano half-closed his eyes and clenched his teeth.
But he soon followed me out of the barracks.
I looked bewilderingly at Mother and Father glaring at each other in the torchlight.
Mother was shouting, while Father’s face was grimly set.
I pushed through the crowd and approached the two of them.
“What’s wrong?”
“An offensive. An offensive is the only answer. How much longer are we going to be dragged around by the Reconstruction Council!”
Mother shouted at Father.
‘Ah.’
It seemed the two of them were arguing over what to do about the Reconstruction Council.
Mother glared at Father.
“They’re not operating in shadows anymore. They’re kidnapping noblewomen and young ladies, launching direct attacks. How much longer will we just defend? We need to strike first!”
“Our information is limited. Our spy hasn’t grasped their full scale and operations either. Only their leader, Archduke Arcunterra, holds all that knowledge.”
The spy referred to Oscar.
Oscar diligently gathered intelligence, but so far it had been incomplete.
The Reconstruction Council’s leader and Oscar’s biological father hadn’t shared all his information even with his own son.
Father spoke.
“We need more information to gather. We must wait for the right moment.”
“Even now, the Reconstruction Council is gathering forces and collecting various powerful Holy Artifacts. What if they gain power that surpasses us while we wait?”
“Which is why we must also—.”
“There’s no such thing as a perfect victory! Losing no one is arrogance!”
Both Mother and Father’s arguments held merit.
With Oscar as our trump card, time could work in our favor, allowing us to take down the Reconstruction Council more safely.
But if their power exceeded our expectations, waiting would become poison.
I stepped between the two and spoke.
“Stop, please.”
Mother glared sharply at Father.
“Coward.”
“That’s enough.”
Not just the Irregulars, but Luciano too, and Anne and Calypso who burst from the barracks—everyone was watching Mother and Father.
I raised both hands, blocking their eye contact.
“Both of your points make sense. But if you argue while shouting, rough reactions come before logic. So….”
I paused mid-sentence.
I’d noticed something strange about Mother.
“Why is your lipstick smudged?”
“….”
Mother went rigid.
I tilted my head and looked at Father.
“And Father, what’s that on the corner of your mouth…?”
The moment I blinked, Father snapped his head away.

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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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