How to Replace Your Dad - Chapter 218

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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 218
A strange silence settled over the camp.
Mother and Father were quiet for a moment.
Mother spoke first.
“We were sparring.”
“How exactly do you spar to end up with both of your lips like that…?”
Mother fell silent.
Then Father spoke up.
“We were eating dinner.”
“Tonight’s meal was shredded jerky and vegetable juice, though.”
That wasn’t a menu that would leave lips like that.
I was casually pointing out the logical fallacy when I suddenly caught my breath.
“Ah.”
Mother and Father spoke at the same time.
“Don’t say ‘ah.'”
“Don’t you dare ‘ah.'”
I was barely breathing.
I glanced away quickly.
“That is… well, you see… something’s come up. Very urgent, actually… anyway…”
I shuffled backward.
“No!”
“Don’t spare us!”
Mother and Father cried out again simultaneously.
I laughed kindly.
As I laughed mechanically and kept backing away, Mother and Father rushed toward me like arrows.
“Yustea, listen. This is— well, you see—”
“Yusi, it’s a misunderstanding.”
“Ha ha…”
I backed away further.
“Skinship and combat have similar contexts. After all, it’s a matter of touching skin, and he and I were just exchanging—in a combative sense—our mouths…”
“Please just stop talking.”
“Ha ha ha…”
I put more distance between us.
Then I turned and bolted.
The matter of my biological mother and adoptive father kissing was something I’d rather not know about.
Behind my despairing parents, I heard laughter burst out.
It was Antonio, but the Irregular Elite quickly shoved a fist into his mouth.
Mother and Father despaired even further.
* * *
Dia and Aslan returned to the barracks.
Dia frowned sharply at Aslan as he hurried in behind her.
“How can you come in together like that?”
“It’s my barracks.”
“Everyone can see us. You need to keep your distance.”
“If I remain apart there in everyone’s view, rumors will take root quite nicely, won’t they?”
About the Clan Leader enduring there out of necessity to avoid being with Dia—all the Irregulars would know by tomorrow.
Dia and Aslan’s gazes clashed fiercely.
Dia grabbed her head and groaned.
Curses came out unbidden.
“Damn it, I’ve gone mad!”
“I’m the one losing my mind.”
Aslan narrowed his brow and looked at Dia.
“You were the one who threw yourself at me.”
That was true.
This kiss had begun with Dia.
It had happened last year on Yustea’s birthday.
The biological mother and stepfather were heavy-hearted, having sent their daughter alone to a distant continent.
Their daughter was a kind child.
Even on her birthday, she hadn’t received gifts for three years straight, and when they risked only the briefest messages, fearing discovery by the Reconstruction Council, she would smile and thank them for their birthday wishes.
But sometimes a child who was too mature only tormented her parents more.
On her birthday, it was hard to endure without drinking.
For three years, the two had each raised a glass at their respective workplaces.
But last year, on their daughter’s birthday, the two had rarely shared the same schedule at Esgaroth Castle.
Aslan was already drinking on the terrace.
Dia came out looking for a place to drink.
Those bearing the same sorrow became, if only for that night, fellow drinkers.
And then, deeply intoxicated in the dawn…
“My Yustea was an obedient child from the start. But there was something a bit strange about her. Stubborn, perhaps. Odd.”
“I know.”
Aslan bore a gentle smile.
It was different from his usual impassive expression.
Eyes tracing beautiful contours, lips softly curved.
Softly curved… lips.
Soft… lips.
It was Dia who grabbed his collar and pulled him close.
“What—”
“Close your eyes.”
“…!”
And so she consumed his lips.
After that, whenever emotion flared and their eyes met, their lips would meet.
Aslan’s eyes narrowed.
“You’re the one who took my lips.”
“Then why did you close your eyes?”
“Because you told me to.”
“The moment we finished, you lunged like a starving beast saying ‘again’—!”
Aslan’s hand quickly covered Dia’s mouth.
But it was too late.
Clatter!
The tray fell from Yustea’s hands as she entered the barracks carrying snacks.
“Y-Y-Yustea.”
“Y-Yusi, wait—”
Yustea shuffled backward again.
Dia and Aslan’s faces turned pale and froze.
* * *
The next day.
“…”
“…”
“…”
Mother, Father, and I left the camp quietly.
Mother and Father kept fidgeting as they looked at me.
But I had nothing to say.
Whatever I said would feel awkward.
In the end, Mother and Father could only look at me from a distance, deflated like scolded puppies.
Luciano, who came to see us off, laughed softly.
“That was entertaining.”
“I didn’t find it very entertaining…”
Luciano glanced at my deflated parents and lowered his voice.
“Does it bother you that the two of them are like that?”
“It’s not that. If they get along, that’s good. It’s good, but…”
I looked around and whispered to him.
“If they break up, things get complicated.”
“What?”
Just kissing and then breaking up makes you want to quit school—if they break up with me caught between them?
Wouldn’t they want to throw away their engagement and everything else?
Luciano’s eyes widened a bit, and he burst out laughing.
“That’s something you can worry about after you two are dating. And if they don’t break up, that’s not a bad thing for you either.”
“Pardon?”
I blinked at words I never expected to hear.
Actually, these were truly unexpected words.
“They kissed without dating?”
When I first saw Mother’s smudged lipstick and the trace of it on Father’s lips, I did suspect for a moment.
But yesterday, when I brought snacks to try to have a conversation with the embarrassed pair, I clearly heard it.
“The moment we finished, you lunged like a starving beast saying ‘again’—!”
They did.
They did it.
They definitely did it.
Luciano glanced at Mother and Father with amusement in his expression.
“A kiss isn’t proof of being lovers.”
My eyes widened, and my face slowly twisted.
I scowled and turned to look at Mother and Father.
Mother and Father flinched.
I walked briskly over to confront the two of them.
“You’re not dating?”
“Huh?”
“What?”
Mother and Father’s eyes flew wide open.
I put my hands on my hips and narrowed my brow.
“You kiss without dating? What happened to your sense of chastity?”
As I spoke with blazing eyes, Mother and Father stiffened.
“I’m disappointed. I didn’t think you’d lack sense of responsibility.”
As I glared, Mother and Father hastily opened their mouths.
“That’s not what—!”
“Yes. Let’s just explain—”
When my expression still didn’t soften, the two of them suddenly shouted.
“W-We are dating!”
“Yes. Seriously.”
Only then did my expression relax.
“There we are. I was startled. My apologies for the misunderstanding.”
When you’re dating seriously, not even a daughter can criticize a kiss.
I turned back to Luciano with a satisfied expression.
“You two are sincere.”
“Indeed.”
But something felt odd.
Luciano turned his head and his shoulders shook slightly.
“…?”
I tilted my head looking at him, then turned to look behind me.
Mother and Father were standing with dropped shoulders, looking like they’d made a mistake.
‘Were they embarrassed to admit they were dating?’
Well, anyway, as long as they don’t break up like Luciano said, it was good for me.
After all, they’d truly become Mother and Father.
I decided to help with their romance and smiled brightly.
* * *
Luciano said he still had orders from the Emperor to carry out at the border.
With even Yohaël, who was like an enemy to him, coming along, it seemed like urgent business, so I cheered him on.
And so we returned to Esgaroth.
Anne and Calipso came with us.
The moment we stepped through the portal, a familiar voice called out.
“Young Lady.”
It was the Clan Leader and the Irregulars stationed in Esgaroth.
I embraced them all and exchanged greetings.
“How have you been? Have you been well?”
“Aside from missing you, we’ve been doing well enough.”
The Clan Leader smiled.
The other Irregulars welcomed me too.
As we exchanged greetings…
“Yustea—!”
Another voice called from far away.
It was Grandfather and his vassals.
Grandfather rushed toward me without even glancing at his returning son.
“Why have you come so early? Hmm?”
“Something seems likely to happen.”
“If you’ve determined that, then it must have been unavoidable. Let me see.”
Grandfather turned my face this way and that, checking for any injuries.
When I first entered Esgaroth Castle, I had been gaunt from all sorts of part-time work.
But now, eating well and sleeping well, I’d put on weight.
I must look much better than before.
Grandfather rubbed his face against my cheek in welcome, then paused.
By this point, Mother and Father would normally have jumped in, but they were quiet.
Grandfather half-closed his eyes and looked at the two of them, whose pupils seemed clouded.
“What’s wrong?”
The two of them looked genuinely exhausted.
“We’ll report on our return later.”
“We’ll head inside…”
Father and Mother said this respectively, then withdrew with weary expressions.
I went to Grandfather’s office in their place.
As I explained everything that had happened, Grandfather nodded.
“An executive of the Reconstruction Council, then.”
“It’s Anne.”
As I introduced the Anne I’d brought, she blinked slowly and spoke.
“Anne.”
Her words tumbled out without honorifics or anything, and the Irregulars flinched.
Grandfather laughed softly.
“She seems to have the skill of an Irregular Elite. That works well. It’s been a shame not to have a female guard assigned to you.”
“Anne is tired. Anne wants to go sleep now.”
“There are some things to teach her. Marquis Sintez.”
At his call, Marquis Sintez bowed.
“Yes, sir.”
“Throw her into the Torch Society.”
I looked at the Clan Leader uncertainly.
The Clan Leader was flustered before he could even answer.
“To that extent?”
“The deeper one learns, the better.”
Marquis Sintez smiled gently and spoke to Anne.
“Let’s go.”
“…?”
The Clan Leader whispered.
“It’s a gathering of the ladies of Esgaroth. Asta, the Marquis’s daughter, and Nicola Donati, who was with you in the selection for an adopted daughter, are members.”
“Ah.”
At the mention of those welcome names, my face brightened.
But I flinched at what came next.
“The Marquis of Pashard from the Archipelago had his daughter Madison educated, and she’s apparently become a perfect lady…”
“That Madison from Pashard?”
Madison was an even more wild troublemaker than Stella.
Her specialty was groin kicks, her hobby was grabbing hair.
Because of that, she’d been almost buried from society.
“That Madison is now using polite feminine speech…”
I tried to imagine Madison
“Good day to you.”
—saying such things with a giggle, but it failed.
But Madison aside…
“Anne will find it harder. She hasn’t received any education at all.”
“Anne doesn’t do that sort of thing.”
Anne snorted as well.
Marquis Sintez spoke with a benevolent expression.
“Leave it to us.”
“Anne can break everything?”
I shook my head at Anne.
“You can’t hit people.”
“Since Yustea says so, Anne will endure. But if Anne doesn’t want to learn, Anne won’t.”
Anne was confident.
I too thought it would be difficult to convince Anne to accept the education.
But I couldn’t not try, so I decided to send her to this place called the Torch Society.
“Could Calipso join them as well?”
Calipso beside me flinched.
Since she too had learned nothing while locked in a tower, I thought it would be good for her to learn at this opportunity.
“Do you not wish to?”
At my question, Calipso clenched her skirt tightly.
“Beautiful posture…”
“Pardon?”
“Can I learn beautiful posture like yours…?”
“Well, yes, I suppose.”
“Then I will learn.”
Grandfather asked.
“Will you keep the Saint of the Reconstruction Council here?”
“Until Father decides. Esgaroth should be safest after all.”
“Very well.”
Grandfather had an odd expression but soon nodded.
“Rest now. You must have worked hard.”
“Yes.”
I exchanged warm greetings with Grandfather.
Calipso was staring at me.
Marquis Sintez took Anne and Calipso away.
Anne had an expression that said she absolutely would not learn anything troublesome.
‘I hope at least Calipso learns something.’
Thinking this, I went to my room.
A real rest after so long was sweet.
* * *
I woke up after a long afternoon nap.
As I was stretching, I heard a tremendous knocking.
“Young Lady, Young Lady!”
“Yustea!”
It was the Irregular Elite.
Wondering what was wrong, I opened the door, and the Elite spoke urgently.
“Miliano has been kidnapped!”
“What?”
Was it the Reconstruction Council’s doing?
I stiffened in shock.
“Deploy soldiers immediately for a search—!”
“No, wait, look at this!”
Antonio hurriedly handed me something like a note.
The note said…
He is now mine, so please do not search for him.
“…?”
Do not… search?
That was when
Anne and Calipso, who had returned from the Torch Society, arrived.
Anne spoke with a hollow expression.
“Anne has returned in polite speech.”
“…??”

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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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