How to Replace Your Dad - Chapter 244

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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 244
The Empress Dowager’s gaze turned toward me.
I swept my skirt wide and bent my knee.
“Your Majesty the Empress Dowager, I pay my respects.”
“Your poise grows more beautiful each time I see you. Come, sit here beside me.”
The Empress Dowager indicated the seat next to her.
The fiancées and fiancés of the princes and princesses wore tense expressions.
The empresses’ faces darkened with displeasure.
There were not enough chairs in the Empress Dowager’s reception room.
Well, surely there was no shortage of chairs in the castle itself.
What was scarce was space to accommodate the ambitions of those who wished to make their husbands or wives Crown Prince.
Yet when the Empress Dowager offered me a seat directly, there was cause for wariness.
Still, no one dared to complain.
‘After all, it was I who restored the Empress Dowager’s health.’
They all withdrew their gazes from me as if resigned, and turned instead to address the Empress Dowager.
Their enthusiasm was like the fever of a marketplace.
Nor were only the princes’ and princesses’ fiancées eager.
“Mother, do you see this child’s stubbornness? She insisted on seeing you now that you’ve recovered, and came rushing from the west—and I told her to be careful, that she’d just suffered a severe fever. But does she listen?”
Empress Lira swiftly thrust forward her daughter-in-law Ujina.
Ujina was the Empress Dowager’s niece from her natal family.
With such a contemptible appeal to bloodline, the other women’s expressions soured.
Ujina smiled shyly and offered her greeting.
The Empress Dowager set down her teacup with an “Ah.”
“It’s been so long. You’ve become quite the lady in the meantime.”
Then another empress swiftly interjected.
“It must be two years now. Since the planting festival the year before last, you’ve remained continuously in the Imperial Palace, Your Majesty.”
=When you were confined to the back chamber, none of these people came calling, yet now they speak of bloodlines.
That was the underlying meaning.
Empress Lira’s eyes turned sharp at once.
Yet before the Empress Dowager, she spoke with gentle laughter.
“Goodness, has it truly been two years? Ujina has been performing dawn prayers on your behalf all this time, Your Majesty.”
=Of course one can entrust such duties to a blood relative—anyone else would hardly do. Bloodline is paramount after all.
“And speaking of children, have there been any glad tidings? Ujina was the first to marry among them, and surely it’s time to expect news. If an Imperial Grandchild arrives, you would be overjoyed, wouldn’t you?”
=Are there no other blood relatives of yours among the grandchildren? The princes and princesses are all your blood.
It was like a silent battlefield.
The empresses, famous for their rivalry over the Emperor’s favor, laughed nervously and fired their volleys.
The other empresses stared intently at Ujina’s belly.
They meant to draw out Ujina, who’d shown no sign of children a year into her marriage.
Yet a deep smile played across Empress Lira’s lips.
Ujina too smiled with bashful delight.
‘Wait—could it be…?’
Tension settled over the Empress Dowager’s reception room.
The Empress Dowager set down her cup and fixed her gaze on Ujina.
“Don’t tell me there’s good news?”
“I wished to inform Your Majesty first, and so have kept it hidden until now. According to the priest and the palace physicians, it has been four weeks.”
“…!”
“…?!!”
“…!!!”
The Empress Dowager’s eyes widened, and the empresses in the room forgot propriety and gawked.
Just then, my future mother-in-law Empress Regina entered through the door and murmured softly.
“How underhanded….”
A second underhanded blow had struck.
The princes’ and princesses’ fiancées turned ashen.
The other empresses gnawed their lips or turned away to hide their discomfort.
“My goodness.”
The Empress Dowager laughed brightly and stroked Ujina’s belly.
Ujina’s gaze swept across the princes’ and princesses’ fiancées.
It was a smile of victory.
An Imperial Grandchild.
A tremendous weapon that would make even the Emperor himself shout hosannas.
* * *
From the Empress Dowager’s reception room, the crowd dispersed like an ebbing tide.
Remaining in the room were only the Empress Dowager lost in talk of great-grandchildren, Ujina, and her mother-in-law Empress Lira.
“Will Your Majesty choose the name for us?”
“Heavens, what an honor that would be.”
“Should I trust you with such an important task?”
As warm voices drifted out from the reception room, all the others’ expressions twisted.
The empresses who’d fled the Empress Dowager’s palace clenched their teeth.
The princes and princesses, who’d been waiting outside the palace for their fiancées and mothers, hurried over.
Luciano also approached me and Empress Regina.
He asked the foul-faced Empress Regina.
“Your expression seems troubled, Your Majesty.”
“Your grandmother values a grandchild above a benefactor.”
As if to say “what does that mean,” Luciano looked toward me.
I gave a slight shrug.
“Ujina is with child.”
Luciano let out a rueful laugh.
“The timing is absolutely perfect.”
“The Empress Dowager’s face lit up so brightly…. She sent word directly to His Majesty the Emperor.”
The Emperor’s face reportedly split with joy as well.
Rather than have her travel in that condition to the Imperial Palace, he would come himself—and so Ujina now waits in the Empress Dowager’s chambers for the Emperor’s arrival.
Empress Regina spoke with irritation.
“I wonder how much information she’ll extract from within those walls.”
I tilted my head slightly.
“Perhaps we should have produced a grandchild before developing her abilities….”
As I muttered to myself, something felt amiss.
“….”
“….”
Empress Regina and Luciano suddenly stiffened, both turning to stare at me.
“…?”
At my puzzled expression, Empress Regina seized my hand.
“I don’t think bearing a child before marriage is such a terrible thing.”
“I—what?”
“Why not set a new trend?”
“….”
I had no desire to set such a trend.
But as Empress Regina rubbed her cheek against mine and patted my back, I couldn’t protest.
“Perhaps you’ve matched my tastes perfectly.”
“P-please, Your Majesty, people are watching.”
My face was pressed against hers, and I let out a stifled sound.
The Empress paid no mind to others’ gazes.
“Lovely Yustea….”
Her voice was rapturous.
But it didn’t last long.
A servant came to inform Empress Regina that a visitor had arrived.
She stroked the back of my hand with a reluctant expression.
Then, as if glancing aside at something of little importance, she looked toward Luciano.
“Go and feed lovely Yustea something. She’s been growing thinner—or so it seems.”
…I’d eaten well since returning to the Empire after our travels, and had actually gained several kilos.
Though my cheeks had filled out with the weight gain, I had no idea what she meant by “thinner,” but I nonetheless bowed to her.
Empress Regina patted my cheek and departed.
Luciano looked at me.
“Will you stay the night then?”
“I beg your pardon?”
“You seem rather eager to make a child.”
He grinned mischievously.
Though he seemed to be joking, I stated firmly.
“It would be too late to conceive now.”
Even if I did, it wouldn’t help with the Crown Prince Selection Examination.
Luciano fell silent again.
With a bewildered expression, he spoke.
“Why are you shy about kissing but so bold about such matters?”
“Because I feel that desperate?”
I am the Empire’s Saint.
The only way to avoid being exploited was to make Luciano Emperor.
If another became Emperor, I might be used and drained my entire life.
Luciano placed his hand gently on my head.
“A child is a joy and a blessing. It’s not a tool to be used for such purposes.”
“…I know. I was joking.”
“Don’t be so impatient.”
He held me close as he spoke.
“Trust me. I’ll bring you the Crown Prince’s crown.”
I placed my hand on his waist.
“Please let me help.”
Making Luciano Crown Prince was not for my sake alone.
I would leave no uncertainty in the future of this precious man I loved.
My eyes gleamed with determination.
* * *
Days later.
Empress Lira smiled broadly as she regarded Ujina.
“That color suits you well.”
“The Empress Dowager gifted it to me. A red hue, she said, that brings good fortune and drives away evil.”
Ujina’s lips curved into an arrogant smile.
She’d received more than just gifts from the Empress Dowager.
The Emperor had begun commissioning a ship bearing Ujina’s name—a gift for when the child was born.
He’d promised to give it when the child arrived.
The Imperial family’s elders poured their attention wholly upon her.
Empress Lira chuckled and stroked Ujina’s cheek.
“Not even the Saint could match your fortune. How could my daughter-in-law be inferior to that woman?”
She draped a cloak over Ujina’s shoulders as she spoke.
“Tomorrow’s tea gathering is crucial. It’s the Empress Dowager’s first since her recovery, and we cannot fall short of expectations.”
“Surely no one could prepare a finer gift than I will offer.”
“Keep watch for what the Saint might attempt. Be prepared.”
Ujina giggled.
“Unless she produces a child within mere days, it will be impossible to compete.”
Empress Lira gazed out the window with a satisfied smile.
Carriages had gathered like swarming bees.
There were empresses aplenty, mobilizing not just their natal families but their factions—all desperate to glean hints from the Empress Dowager about the first round of selection.
Empress Lira’s gaze shifted toward Regina Palace.
“Regina’s age is ending soon.”
“Indeed it is.”
“The keys to this Inner Palace will pass from my hands to yours.”
Empress Lira’s eyes gleamed as she stroked Ujina’s belly.
The next day.
The Empress Dowager’s tea gathering began.
* * *
Those invited to the Empress Dowager’s tea gathering were women of distinguished families.
Guinevere and Roji were also among the invited guests.
Roji surveyed the Empress Dowager’s rear garden.
“The display of power is quite remarkable.”
Personal attendants could not be brought to today’s gathering.
Yet only Ujina had brought a physician, guards, and a personal maid in her attendance.
She was the most resplendent flower in the party hall.
The Empress Dowager remained at her side, attending to her every need.
Guinevere sighed.
“The timing is so unfortunate….”
“Can a single child really turn the Imperial Palace upside down?”
“It’s her first, that’s all. Among the princes, she’s the only one married, and even the married princesses have yet to bear children.”
“Tch.”
“His Majesty the Emperor has long awaited word of a grandchild, so it’s little wonder he’s excited.”
Roji shrugged, arms crossed.
That was when it happened.
“My goodness.”
Ujina rose from her seat and approached Guinevere and Roji.
“I greet the Sixth Prince’s consort.”
“…I greet the Sixth Prince’s consort.”
As Guinevere and Roji offered their greetings, Ujina’s smile deepened.
“How kind of you to come.”
Roji’s mouth twisted.
Originally, Ujina was unremarkable save for being the Empress Dowager’s niece.
Guinevere, who had enjoyed prominence since childhood as heir of the Seven Families.
Roji, from the family that commanded the Empire’s most powerful cavalry division.
Yustea, backed by Andres and betrothed to First Prince Yohaël.
A gap existed between them and Ujina.
Ujina’s prominence began only after she basked in the Empress Dowager’s favor and succeeded in marrying the Sixth Prince Ludovico.
Her words sounded as though she meant “how fortunate you are to be allowed to attend this place of glory.”
It was likely that she meant exactly that.
Judging from that self-satisfied smile.
Even Guinevere’s mouth went awry.
Roji’s eyebrows rose slightly.
“We have always accepted invitations to the Empress Dowager’s tea gatherings.”
Though as her niece, you were sometimes not invited at all.
This time it was Ujina whose expression changed.
“Still as arrogant as ever, I see.”
Roji shrugged lightly.
Ujina spoke.
“I’m curious. What wonderful gift did you prepare?”
Then Guinevere answered quietly.
“The Empress Dowager has announced that she will accept no gifts at this gathering.”
“That’s precisely the problem. As if gifts were mere objects.”
Ujina cradled her belly and smiled knowingly.
She seemed quite proud of having given the Imperial Palace the gift of a child.
“Surely Yustea is not the same as you two either?”
“That is….”
“….”
As the two fell silent, Ujina laughed aloud.
“Whatever you prepare, you’ll be nothing but support players. Though at the very least, you should have the sense to know it.”
Roji’s face crumpled with anguish.
“How dare—”
As Roji’s voice rose, all eyes turned toward them.
The Empress Dowager herself was beginning to rise from her seat.
“I apologize for the delay.”
Yustea’s voice came from the entrance.
She looked around, then fixed her gaze on Ujina, Guinevere, and Roji.
From Guinevere and Roji’s stiffened expressions, she grasped the situation at once.
Ujina’s smile grew even deeper.
It was then that Yustea’s lips curved upward.
“Apologies for the late arrival, Your Majesty~.”
Everyone stirred at her honeyed tone.
Prepared?
What exactly had she prepared?

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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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