How to Replace Your Dad - Chapter 234

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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 a Father
Chapter 234
* * *
The next night.
I sensed a presence and bolted upright in bed.
After checking on Michiya and Isis, who shared the room with me, I bunched up clothes in the bed.
I arranged them to look like a sleeping figure, so the two of them wouldn’t know I’d left if they woke.
Then I slipped quietly out of the room.
Waiting outside was Grianne, Benesa’s attendant.
I quickly pulled Grianne away from the door.
“How did it go?”
She smiled awkwardly.
I sighed.
“Another failure, then.”
“The barrier isn’t easy to break. I wish I’d acquired a trait that could dismantle it covertly.”
I’d like that too, if such a trait existed.
But we couldn’t summon desired traits on command.
Look at us now—we’re faithfully completing tasks without knowing what traits the divine will grant.
“Finding a way to enter the Inner Palace openly would be faster—”
I flinched mid-sentence.
Grianne had covered my mouth and was peering around the corner.
As I blinked, she whispered.
“Someone’s there.”
Someone?
At this hour?
It was three in the morning.
Only someone with sinister intentions like Grianne and me would be moving about at this time.
I crept along the corner wall and peered in the direction Grianne was looking.
‘That’s our room.’
Isis was emerging from our room.
Why was Isis moving about at this hour?
Grianne and I exchanged glances and tilted our heads in unison.
Then—Michiya came out right after Isis!
‘What?’
They weren’t leaving together—they came out one after the other.
What on earth for?
After the two had disappeared, I whispered.
“Where could they be going?”
“I’m not sure. But the fact they’re moving at this hour suggests they’re doing something they can’t let others know about.”
“Could there be something happening that we don’t know about?”
“It would be worth checking.”
“You follow Isis. I’ll trail Michiya.”
“Understood.”
We split up.
Isis went out through the back door, with Grianne following her.
And Michiya…
‘It looks like she’s heading for the restaurant.’
She was moving quietly within the dormitory.
Hunting for the restaurant.
What secret business could she possibly have at the restaurant?
I followed her as quietly as I could.
Michiya entered the restaurant.
Inside, she went into a small private room in the corner, and the moment I saw where she’d gone, I stopped short.
‘Ah.’
I’d figured it out.
I walked forward briskly and opened the door.
The private room—or rather, the supply storage attached to the kitchen.
Michiya spun around, startled.
With bread crumbs all over her face.
“That’s my food, Michiya.”
Michiya’s face went pale.
So she’d come to steal and eat my food in the dead of night.
I exhaled heavily.
* * *
A lock lay at Michiya’s feet—one I’d hung on the pantry.
The fact she’d picked it meant she was no amateur thief.
‘So she came specifically targeting my food.’
Well, it had to be that way.
I was the only one in this dormitory storing food.
“This… this is… well…”
Michiya’s face grew deathly pale.
I could see every emotion playing across her features—the shock of being caught, the shame of stealing trivial food, all of it.
I stood with my arms crossed, staring at her.
Michiya clenched her teeth hard.
“Putting a lock on a shared pantry was wrong to begin with!”
“…”
“If things were like this, shouldn’t we share food and comfort each other first?”
“…”
“I know you’ve always been petty, but acting like this—determined to survive alone—”
“What about a drink?”
Michiya, who’d been shouting indignantly, flinched.
“…What?”
“Your throat must be dry. Should I brew some tea?”
“…”
Michiya turned her head away sharply.
She probably realized her own words didn’t make sense.
This was a harem competition.
We had to survive among rivals.
There was no need to comfort them and share food.
‘That would just make me a fool.’
I took tea leaves from the pantry.
Just fragments, but tea leaves entering the royal palace smelled wonderful when properly strained.
I boiled water and served the tea.
I also added a few pieces of bread and some ricotta cheese made from milk about to be discarded that morning, along with a bit of yuzu-rind jam.
“Don’t crouch while eating. Sit properly.”
“…”
“It means you can eat at your own pace.”
“…!”
Before I could finish speaking, Michiya was stuffing bread into her mouth indiscriminately.
The plate was laid waste in moments.
She gulped down hot tea while making choking sounds, then stuck out her tongue with “Ouch! Ouch!”
There wasn’t a shred of composure to be found.
Michiya, eating so voraciously, suddenly hiccupped.
“Ugh…”
I quietly poured her another cup of tea.
With her head bowed low, she made a sound and tears burst forth.
‘It must have been so hard.’
For someone like her, who’d lived in elegance her whole life, this competition had to be unbearable.
‘Actually, it would be hard for anyone, noble or not.’
Many were denied even basic necessities—unable to wash, let alone brush their teeth.
Some had gone days without food.
Even the noble ladies who’d entered with lavish dresses and jewelry couldn’t secure enough food.
They fell asleep hungry, never once eating their fill.
‘This harem competition is abnormal. In fact, the entire Gilose royal palace is.’
If such a competition were held in the Avalon Empire, the nobility would have risen up like a swarm of bees.
The public would have attacked the Imperial Palace, making the Emperor’s position precarious.
But Gilose’s nobility remained silent.
Surely they weren’t ignorant of what their own blood relatives were enduring.
“Does the Young Lady’s father say nothing about this?”
“What could he say? If the king decides to use the nobles as targets for a hunting festival, it’d be a disaster.”
“…He goes that far?”
No wonder he had a reputation as a tyrant.
As I groaned, Michiya glanced at me.
“Why are you giving this to me? …This.”
She tried to point at the plate but flushed with embarrassment.
She was ashamed the plate had been so thoroughly cleaned.
“Because I know what starvation feels like.”
“You know, yet you don’t give to others?”
“They didn’t do anything. You did something.”
“…”
“I dislike people who do nothing but wait for help.”
Michiya’s eyes widened.
I stood up from my seat.
“If you’re hungry again, tell me. I’ll trade food for labor or things like skirt lace.”
“…”
Michiya gave a small nod.
* * *
The next day.
Groans were echoing through the dormitory.
“I’m starving to death.”
“Now I have no clothes left to trade for food either.”
“Didn’t Casla leave this morning?”
“Debora too…”
The candidates, clutching their stomachs and whimpering, suddenly turned their heads.
Yustea was emerging from the supply storage.
She smelled pleasant as always and looked radiant.
“She must have washed and eaten.”
“It’s infuriating. While the rest of us are starving, she alone eats to her heart’s content.”
“And locking up the pantry—I’d help others and comfort them.”
A candidate watching Yustea leave the restaurant spoke up.
“Why don’t we destroy it?”
“Pardon?”
“The pantry. That woman should suffer like we do.”
“That’s… actually a good idea.”
The candidates’ eyes gleamed.
They rushed toward the supply storage in a group.
Inside the glass-fronted pantry lay all the provisions Yustea had gathered from around the palace.
One of the candidates reached for the pantry when—
“What are you doing?”
Michiya’s voice came from the doorway.
The candidates laughed and rushed forward.
“We’re going to smash the pantry and take the food. Pour water on it, and no matter how base that woman is, she won’t be able to eat it.”
“Besides, thanks to us, the servants’ tastes have improved so much they won’t even trade discarded items anymore.”
“She’ll either starve to death or have to abandon the competition.”
As the candidates tittered—
“Could you at least show some restraint?!”
Michiya’s voice thundered out.
The candidates shrank back, falling silent.
“Michiya…”
“Leave.”
“No, we just—”
“Are you going to do something even more shameful?”
“…”
The candidates exchanged confused glances.
Michiya’s demeanor was entirely different from yesterday.
She slammed her hand on the pantry and glared at them menacingly.
“If you try this again, I won’t forgive you.”
The candidates left awkwardly, exiting the supply storage.
I couldn’t understand why Michiya had suddenly taken Yustea’s side.
“What on earth happened?”
“I’m not really sure…”
Then it happened.
Dong—dong—dong—
A bell rang out.
The sound announcing a competition notice.
The startled women hurried to the courtyard.
* * *
The candidates gathered outside the dormitory.
I positioned myself among them, watching the Administrator in his clean official robes.
Grianne, who’d appeared at my side, spoke.
“Could it be the third round?”
“I’m not sure.”
My eyes narrowed.
‘The second round doesn’t seem finished yet.’
I’d expected about half the candidates to be eliminated.
But only six had left during the second round.
The candidates were actively contemplating escape.
Yet they’re holding the third round already?
The Administrator announced.
“Notice of the third round competition. Three treasures are hidden within the royal palace. Candidates are to search the palace grounds and gather before the Imperial Palace.”
“…!”
I stiffened.
Not because the third round started sooner than expected.
‘A treasure hunt within the royal palace.’
It didn’t exclude the Inner Palace.
Which meant…
Grianne and I exchanged quick glances.
‘We can enter the Inner Palace!’
Then the Administrator provided more details.
“The treasure you must find is a cow’s horn.”
I could barely contain my excitement.
The candidates whispered.
“A cow’s horn—isn’t that the one in the king’s, queen’s, and queen mother’s bedchamber?”
So we were being invited to enter the Inner Palace!
We had more than enough reason to slip in.
The Administrator continued.
“Complete the task before the sand in the hourglass runs out.”
A massive hourglass began to turn, sand pouring down.
The candidates scattered urgently.
Grianne spoke.
“They’re all heading for the queen mother’s palace.”
“The queen is bedridden, and entering the king’s chamber would be impossible. They’ve concluded the only option is the cow’s horn from the queen mother’s bedchamber.”
“What about us?”
“Of course—the Inner Palace.”
“We should split up. Separate movements increase our odds.”
“Understood.”
With that, we dispersed immediately.
I headed straight to the dormitory.
Fortunately, I’d prepared a maid uniform in advance.
‘Good thing I thought to trade clothes for it.’
I put on the maid uniform and rushed toward the Inner Palace.
I stood at a distance, observing the entrance to the Inner Palace.
‘Could I slip in among the maids?’
I was considering this when—
“You there.”
A strange voice called from behind me.
I turned, startled, and saw a maid in black robes looking at me.
She checked the brooch I was wearing and spoke.
“Are you from the Tea Chamber?”
“…Yes? Yes.”
“Follow me.”
The maid said this.
‘This is unexpected luck.’
I’d heard the Gilose royal palace was short on maids, with frequent new assignments.
It seemed the maids didn’t know each other’s faces well—that’s how this happened.
I was filled with elation.
‘If I just enter the Inner Palace like this—’
My time in Gilose would be over.
But the moment I’d just entered the Inner Palace—
[Yustea.]
[Yustea!]
A message appeared before my eyes.
It was from Luciano.
I quickly replied.
[Luciano?]
[Get out of there right now!]
What…?

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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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