How to Replace Your Dad - Chapter 23

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Team. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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How to Replace Your Dad

Chapter 23

“…That’s enough. I understand you have no attachment to the treasure vault.”

The Marquis let out a hollow laugh.

His expression showed he found it absurd.

However, he soon raised an eyebrow and stared intently into my eyes.

“Why are you telling me this information instead of using it yourself?”

“Just knowing the information alone is meaningless.”

“Meaningless?”

“I need companions to break through the guards, disable the codes, and carry away mountains of treasure. I also need the power to keep the treasure from being stolen after obtaining it.”

Besides, the moment I touch that place, they’ll know it was me and the family will kill me.

But the Marquis is different.

I continued speaking without avoiding the Marquis’s gaze.

“It has no value to me, but it has value to you, Marquis. And I know more things like that.”

So please don’t drive me away. Please.

I pressed my trembling hands firmly against the floor.

And I bowed my head deeply.

“Please let me live in Sanmiguel.”

“Hmm.”

“I’ll work hard at anything…”

“Do so.”

‘…Huh?’

So readily?

When I raised my head wondering what was happening, the Marquis had a nonchalant expression.

“Information manipulation, illegal fishing, blackmail and threats, loan sharking, caring for enemy stragglers… Plus many others.”

Everything I had done since being expelled from Andres was listed one by one.

The Marquis chuckled softly and said.

“If your father had intended to bring you back into Andres, he wouldn’t have created flaws by having you work for illegal organizations.”

“…”

“Don’t touch Camellia.”

“…”

With those words, the Marquis left.

But I remained frozen in my kneeling position.

It wasn’t from relief.

‘From fear.’

He knew everything, even things I hadn’t revealed.

Even the care I gave to enemy stragglers for just four days.

My whole body pounded as if it had become one giant heart.

His nickname came to mind.

‘Ruler of the North.’

He was a fearsome man.

* * *

‘But I have to make it work.’

That was the first thought I had when I returned to the servant dormitory after working all day.

Running away because you’re scared is only possible for those who have somewhere to run to.

“Yeah. Let’s work hard.”

And thorough preparation is necessary when it comes to work.

So I need to be thorough…!

‘I should make snacks.’

I planned to make candied fruit with Margerst herbs.

Margerst was almost as popular as red ginseng among the elderly in this world.

It supposedly improves blood circulation, strengthens bones, helps muscle formation, boosts immunity, increases energy, benefits the liver, lungs, wrinkles, and basically everything.

Of course, it was a placebo effect.

In reality, it wasn’t such a cure-all.

Anyway, there wasn’t a single noble elder who disliked Margerst candied fruit.

It’s healthy and goes well with tea that nobles enjoy like office workers getting coffee IVs.

‘I should dry the Margerst.’

Margerst must be dried in shade to avoid damaging the cells.

I searched around for a place that was dark, quiet, and rarely frequented by people.

That’s how I discovered a warehouse deep within the dormitory…

“Sister, don’t you understand? This is our only option.”

I heard a whispering voice from inside the warehouse.

‘Huh? This voice is…’

While I was puzzling over it, another person replied coldly.

“You’re crazy. The you I knew no longer exists in this world.”

“Sister…!”

I heard sounds of arguing, then familiar faces burst out of the warehouse.

‘As expected, Ayabel and Astaya.’

The two stopped short when they saw me standing blankly outside the warehouse.

Ayabel’s face turned cold.

The gentle expression from when I first met her was nowhere to be found.

“What did you eavesdrop on, you little rat?”

I had suspected from her serious tone, but it must have been very important content.

“I wasn’t eavesdropping. I was also heading to this warehouse.”

“There’s no reason for a servant to come to such a shabby warehouse!”

Just as Ayabel raised her voice.

“Stop it.”

Asta stepped forward.

Asta turned her back to me and blocked Ayabel.

“It’s our fault for having an important conversation in a dormitory everyone uses, not Miss Yustea’s fault.”

“You believe that?”

“Let’s go, Miss Yustea.”

“Sister!”

Asta grabbed my wrist and strode away.

Ayabel’s gaze toward me was cold.

But what was important to me was something else.

‘I need to dry the Margerst…!’

Asta was too tense for me to find an opening to speak.

In the end, I was dragged away by her with a sad expression.

* * *

Ayabel returned to the servant dormitory.

As soon as she entered the courtyard of the dormitory building, servants rushed to her.

“That girl was with Miss Asta at the rear of the dormitory.”

“Should we just leave it alone? She’s getting more and more out of line.”

The servant girls looked extremely annoyed.

There wasn’t a single girl in Esgaroth who didn’t know Asta.

It wasn’t just because of her status as the only daughter of Sintesga, the most prestigious family in Esgaroth.

Her tall stature and beautiful appearance.

Martial arts skills that ranked among the best of her peers, including males.

Her bold personality.

Her sense of style was so exceptional that whatever she wore would sell like hotcakes at the merchant guild the very next day.

To summarize, Asta Synthesis was a popular figure who had followers not only in Esgaroth but throughout the empire.

“Go and stop her. What’s this about some lowly Sanmiguel girl? Won’t you at least listen to your sworn sister Ayabel?”

One of the servant girls grabbed Ayabel’s arm, making a fuss.

But at that moment.

Ayabel shook off the hand with such force it made a harsh scraping sound.

“Ah, Lady Ayabel…”

It was hard to believe this was the always gentle Ayabel.

As the girls froze in confusion, Ayabel spoke in a flat tone.

“I’m tired. Leave.”

“Yes…”

The girls retreated, reading the mood.

After that, Ayabel returned to her room.

Since it was a room she shared with Yustea, the opposite bed was full of that girl’s belongings.

They were shabby things unimaginable for a noble girl’s possessions.

All worn-out handkerchiefs.

A fountain pen with a broken shaft roughly repaired by wrapping it with cloth.

Various containers of unknown purpose, all stained with fingerprints.

‘That insignificant thing.’

Something that amounts to only that much.

“Compared to that, you are disappointing.”

The words she’d heard from the vassal echoed in her mind.

Outside the window, she could see Asta and Yustea sitting side by side on a bench.

Asta was looking at the sad-faced Yustea as if she found her adorable.

…Just like how Luciano had looked at Yustea during tea time.

Ayabel muttered through gritted teeth.

“It’s not yours…”

All of it should have rightfully been hers.

* * *

Behind the servant quarters.

Sitting side by side with Asta, I stared into space and thought.

‘This is troublesome…’

Why does she keep staring at me?

That persistent gaze was very burdensome.

‘I just answered Asta’s question, that’s all.’

When we arrived behind the quarters, Asta had said.

“What should I have done better…”

“…?”

“She wasn’t like that from the beginning. Ayabel, I mean. She was a lovely child. If I had been wiser, maybe that child wouldn’t have gone astray.”

“…??”

“I was that child’s sworn sister. I failed to properly fulfill the role of an older sister. It’s pathetic. What must Lady Yustea think of someone like me.”

“Hmm. How should I put it… excessive self-consciousness?”

If someone would only avoid going astray if their sworn sister did well, wasn’t there a problem from the beginning?

Thinking it’s your own fault is strange.

Asta paused at the words “excessive self-consciousness” and was silent for a while.

Then after some time, she suddenly burst into laughter.

“You’re the first person I’ve met who offers comfort like this.”

It wasn’t comfort, it was an answer…

“I’ll invite you to my garden. Come anytime.”

Rather than seeing the garden, I’d like to stop Margeust.

And I wish the servants pressed against the window glaring at me would also leave.

“Garden? Did Lady Asta just say garden?”

“Why would she invite such a person…!”

The garden must be an incredible place, as the servants looked ready to bite their handkerchiefs.

Though Asta could surely hear them, she paid no attention and just smiled brightly while looking at me.

I quietly turned my gaze away.

“Uh, I have things to do…”

“Really? Shall I help?”

“No. It’s work that gets your hands dirty…”

“When it’s work with a friend, would getting your hands a little dirty matter?”

“Friend…?”

“You didn’t know. I’m trying to get close because I want to be friends.”

“…?”

“It won’t be bad. I’m very good to my friends.”

Then she finally looked toward the window.

And stared at the servants with cold eyes.

“When unfair things happen to my friends, I get angry. Very much so.”

“…!”

The servants flinched and lowered their heads.

They began slowly backing away and soon left the window area.

Asta smiled brightly and shrugged her shoulders.

“That’s how I feel.”

“Uh, I want to do the work alone…”

“Then it can’t be helped. But will you at least use these?”

Asta pressed gloves into my hand.

At first glance, they looked expensive enough to make your eyes pop out.

They seemed custom-made, with a name embroidered on the wrist part.

Asbelrata Synthesis

“Asbelrata…?”

“That’s my real name. Asta is just a shortened version. If you like them, you can keep those gloves.”

Asta stood up from her seat.

And left cheerfully, but I sat there as if nailed to the spot for a while.

It wasn’t because I’d gotten expensive gloves.

Asbelrata.

‘That’s a name mentioned in the game.’

Originally, it was Nicolle who came to Esgalott Castle to carry out the Clan Leader’s mission.

Nicolle fails in her mission.

She ends up dying from poisoning at Esgalott Castle.

And the person who confessed to putting in the poison was precisely…

‘Asbelrata.’

It was her.

* * *

The next morning at dawn.

I walked down the corridor of the main quarters, lost in thought.

‘But why did Asta poison Nicolle?’

The game didn’t include the reason.

It only mentioned that Asbelrata had confessed.

“Hmm. Maybe I should stop worrying about it. As long as it’s not me…”

“What isn’t?”

“Ahhh!”

I was startled by the sudden voice and looked ahead.

Before I knew it, Ain and Luciano were right in front of me.

I asked in surprise.

“What brings you here?”

Then Ain yawned and answered.

“We were on our way out of the castle.”

“Why outside the castle?”

“They said Eppy’s condition is strange, so we’re going to check.”

Eppy was a death servant that Ain had created as a tracking animal to find the saint.

“Is Eppy sick somewhere?”

“It won’t budge from around the castle. It’s even digging underground trying to get into the castle.”

“Into the castle…?”

I flinched.

If it was trying so hard to get in, Eppy must have sensed me, its target.

Ain replied with a sharp expression.

“Yeah, it seems like inside the castle…”

“In, inside the castle?”

“…it’s coming to mate.”

“…”

“Damn mating season.”

Come to think of it, didn’t they say a death servant was guarding Esgaroth’s underground prison?

That death servant must be male.

Thank goodness Eppy is in mating season.

I inwardly calmed my racing heart.

Just as Ain was muttering, “I let her meet males before coming to the castle too. Animals, really,” Luciano spoke.

“Where are you going from dawn?”

“I’m not going, I went and came back. I was making Margust preserves.”

When I showed him the box containing the Margust preserves, Ain shrugged his shoulders.

“You do all sorts of things from dawn. Anyway, good luck.”

Saying that, Ain passed by me.

But Luciano didn’t move from in front of me.

‘Huh?’

I was looking at him wondering if he had something to say when he suddenly placed his hand on my forehead.

As I froze wondering what this was about, he narrowed his eyes and said.

“You have a fever.”

“What?”

“Get examined by a doctor. You seem to be in very poor condition.”

Only after saying that did Luciano start walking.

‘Do I look that unwell?’

Well, my physical condition wasn’t the same as usual.

Normally, I wouldn’t have failed to sense others approaching.

I had become an expert at catching signs while doing all sorts of tasks.

But yesterday when the marquis appeared, and today when I encountered the princes, I didn’t sense their presence.

I must be tired from experiencing various things. There’s also the burden of the mission.

‘I should handle the miscellaneous tasks in the morning and rest a bit.’

Having decided that, I immediately went off to work.

Thanks to handling things thoroughly yesterday, most tasks were finished before sunrise.

‘Plus, the stone problem in the garden has been resolved unlike yesterday.’

The gardeners must have moved frantically after the marquis visited yesterday.

They had spread large gravel all over the ground so that dust wouldn’t blow even in the cold wind.

They had even replaced all plants with even slightly damaged leaves.

“But they left this camellia as it was.”

The withered camellia that the marquis had said to leave alone yesterday.

Why did he tell them not to touch only this camellia?

Just as I was thinking that and touching the camellia’s trunk.

Flash—!

A pale light spread from my fingertips touching the camellia.

At the same time, my head became dizzy.

I staggered, clutching my forehead.

‘What is this?’

My body felt like it was drooping like wet cotton.

My condition deteriorated rapidly.

It was like…

‘The mana depletion phenomenon I read about in books.’

Could it be that because I’m a ‘Purifier’, I’m purifying the camellia’s disease?

But would mana be depleted this much just from treating a plant’s disease?

I had absorbed so much of the clan leader’s mana not long ago.

‘No way.’

I hurriedly sat down and dug the ground with my bare hands.

The ground dug softly even without a pickaxe.

Someone had dug the ground before me.

After digging the ground with conviction for a while.

I found a pouch in the soil.

The pouch was soaked with blue-green liquid as if something had melted and disappeared inside.

Although I didn’t see the contents of the pouch with my own eyes, I could guess what it was.

Artificial Poison

A forbidden poison.

After infecting an object, it leaves behind blue-green liquid and disappears.

Poisoned objects must be burned immediately. Contact will expose you to toxicity. (More)

It was an item I had seen in the game.

‘This is serious.’

The camellia poisoned with artificial poison is a tree the marquis cherishes.

Then…

‘The marquis must have been poisoned.’

I groaned and buried my face in my knees.

‘I’m screwed.’

If the marquis dies like this, the marquise’s son will ascend to the marquis position, and the clan leader will become a sitting duck.

Fortunately, since I’m a purifier, I could purify the marquis’s poison… but for that, I need to meet the marquis.

The marquis isn’t someone I can meet just because I want to.

‘Then I have no choice.’

I let out a deep sigh and stood up.

* * *

That night.

The Irregular’s Residence in the Esgaroth Dominion.

An Irregular clan member rushed to Clan Leader Aslan with a communication device.

“There’s an urgent contact from headquarters.”

Aslan connected the communication.

Then.

[Little Teacher, no, Yustea, no, no, the young lady…!]

[Get out of the way!]

[Clan Leader! The young lady!]

The Clan Leader and Antonio shouted noisily in a commotion.

Aslan’s eyebrows twitched.

“What’s the matter.”

There was a thud sound as if the Clan Leader had pushed Antonio aside, then the Clan Leader’s voice was heard.

[The young lady is in the underground prison.]

“You mean she was captured.”

It was when Aslan spoke in a cold voice.

Antonio spoke again.

[No. She went to the underground prison.]

“So you’re saying she was captured.”

[No, no, she wasn’t captured, she just went!]

[Yes. That’s right, Clan Leader!]

Even the Clan Leader joined in.

The Clan Leader narrowed his brow.

“…What?”

At those words, the Clan Leader shouted.

[She said she destroyed the Marquis’s camellia and went on her own, extending both hands asking to be arrested!]

“…?”

* * *

‘If someone is too noble to meet carelessly, then I just need to make them come to me.’

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Team. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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