How to Replace Your Dad - Chapter 246

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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 246
I made an absurd face upon hearing the news Yuise had brought.
“The timing on this is something else.”
The First Task of the Crown Prince Selection Trial was resolving the Eastern disturbance.
And yet Count Andres, who held dominion over the East, had been kidnapped.
I let out a small groan.
‘The Reconstruction Council certainly has reason to snatch him.’
At first, Count Andres had frequently made common cause with the Reconstruction Council.
Even Stella’s poisoning incident, from which I’d been driven away—it was actually perpetrated by the Reconstruction Council.
The Count had turned a blind eye to that and, instead, pinned the blame on me to contain the scandal.
There were quite a few other matters tangled between them.
‘But at some point, it seemed he cut ties.’
The auction incident over the Fragment of Grace was especially clear proof of the break.
Andres and the Reconstruction Council had clashed fiercely over the Fragment of Grace.
“It’s possible the Reconstruction Council came to see Count Andres as a target for removal because of the Fragment incident.”
Even Yuise thought so.
I sank into thought with my arms crossed.
Yuise shrugged.
“Regardless, everyone will reach the same conclusion now.”
Right.
I nodded.
“We rescue Count Andres.”
That way, by earning his gratitude, we could have him—the dominant lord of the East—rule over the other Eastern lords.
But….
“I’ve somehow ended up having to save my enemy’s life.”
“Why should we save the Young Lady’s sworn enemy!”
“What a pain….”
“He doesn’t seem like a man worth saving, but ah well.”
The elite soldiers of the Irregulars voiced their complaints.
I agreed with them.
‘Why do I have to rescue Count Andres!’
Unwilling to become entangled with him, I frowned.
‘And there’s one more thing that bothers me.’
I exhaled a long sigh.
* * *
Imperial Palace.
Empress Lira stiffened when she heard the maidservant’s whisper.
“What?”
As the Empress’s expression hardened, her daughter-in-law Ujina lifted her head.
“What is the matter?”
“…Luciano has headed toward the Mining District in the East.”
“The Mining District? What could possibly….”
Ujina, who had been frowning, suddenly took a sharp breath.
“The First Task of the Crown Prince Selection must be related to that place.”
“Most likely. Yustea—that girl must have gotten wind of the trial’s details beforehand.”
“….”
“The Crown Princess Dowager is too much. Treating her pregnant niece like a stone when—”
Hearing the muttered words, Ujina bit her lip.
Though she seemed to be blaming the Crown Princess Dowager, in truth she was reproaching herself—that even with the title of niece and bearing an Imperial Heir in her womb, she could not bend the Crown Princess Dowager to her will.
Resentment toward Yustea burned through her throat.
Most of all, her child—who should have received the entire people’s attention and blessing—had been cast into shadow.
Because of that detestable girl’s cunning tricks.
Ujina wrung her skirts tightly.
That was when—
“Ujina must have done her best in her own way.”
Ludovico, the Empress’s son and Sixth Prince, entered.
The Empress’s expression soured at his words.
“To hear you speak, one might think I blame Ujina.”
“Don’t you?”
Ludovico smiled gently and sat beside Ujina.
Empress Lira’s expression grew even colder.
“Can it be you don’t see your mother losing sleep over her worries about you?”
“How could that be.”
Ludovico smiled softly.
“There is no one in this world who cares for me as you do. I respect and cherish you above all others.”
“….”
At last, a smile appeared at the corner of Empress Lira’s mouth.
“How could I not know my son’s filial devotion.”
With a soft laugh, she laid both her hands upon the back of his.
“Luciano has headed for the Mining District. It must be for the First Task, so you should depart at once as well.”
“You’re well-informed.”
“I’ve laid threads in many places.”
“If I ascend to the throne, it will be entirely thanks to your maternal grace.”
Empress Lira laughed with satisfaction.
“You and your words.”
Watching this unfold, Ujina gritted her teeth.
‘Always just the two of them….’
The Empress blamed Ujina the moment anything went wrong.
Ludovico, always kind to the Empress alone while keeping Ujina in the background, was worse still.
The Empress was about to speak when Ujina cut in first.
“Without knowing the purpose, rushing to the Mining District will only exhaust your troops’ strength and spirit. It would be wiser to first discover why he went to the Mining District, then act.”
Ujina looked up at Ludovico.
Empress Lira’s expression turned icy in an instant.
“It’s better to go down first and secure a position before the trial announcement arrives!”
“Forgive me, but wouldn’t Her Majesty the Empress or the other Empresses already know this information you’ve received?”
“Wh—what?!”
“If they know and yet haven’t moved, there must be a reason, wouldn’t there?”
Empress Lira’s mouth opened and closed soundlessly before she exhaled hot breath.
“You….”
“The Mining District in the East—I happen to know someone there. I’ll check if there’s something special about this.”
Ujina lifted her eyebrows slightly.
Empress Lira’s lips clamped shut.
‘That girl…!’
Empress Lira had chosen Ujina as a daughter-in-law not solely because she was the Crown Princess Dowager’s niece.
Among the women who desired Ludovico, she was the one most aware of her place.
She never dared contradict her mother-in-law, always keeping her head bowed.
But after becoming pregnant, she’d grown arrogant.
Daring even toward the Empress herself.
Ujina linked her arm through Ludovico’s.
“If you’re preparing to depart for the East, I’ll gather information quickly.”
“…Yes.”
Ludovico swallowed a sigh unseen.
Being caught between the two women was exhausting beyond measure.
That night.
Ujina questioned those in the household for information.
“There’s a rumor that an entrance to the Reconstruction Council exists in the Mining District of the East.”
“The Reconstruction Council?”
“It’s a rumor circulating quietly among the miners. And besides….”
Ujina lowered her voice.
Ludovico asked, “What?”
“What is it?”
“One of the miners saw something strange in the night.”
“Something strange, you say…?”
“The man was drunk, and it was deep night, so the other miners thought he’d seen a drunken phantom. But the miner who witnessed it insisted strongly, it’s said, several times over.”
Ujina swallowed hard and spoke.
“That Count Andres was dragged away by men in black hoods.”
“…!”
Following Luciano, Ludovico took his first step in the Selection Trial.
* * *
The Mining District.
Luciano’s knights frowned at the sight of the procession arriving at the foot of the mountain.
“That’s the banner of the Sixth Prince’s palace.”
“The mutt. The mutt’s coming. You’ve caught the scent already and come running? But what’s that, anyway. …A carriage?”
At the center of the procession was a luxurious carriage.
The carriage door opened, and it was not Ludovico alone who emerged.
Ujina, her still-flat belly cradled proudly in her arms, also looked around with a gentle smile.
Luciano’s knights spoke in hushed tones.
“I hear she’s carrying the Imperial Heir. Should she really be coming to a place like this?”
“Right.”
Their puzzled gaze lingered on Ujina only briefly.
Luciano’s adjutant, who had been studying the map, stiffened and frowned.
The mine owners were leading their workers straight to the Sixth Prince’s carriage.
“Ah, Miss. We haven’t seen you in so long.”
“Miss nothing. You mean Crown Prince’s Consort.”
“Haha, forgive this old fool’s rudeness.”
The mine owners hurried over and bowed deeply.
Ujina lifted the corners of her mouth gently and spoke.
“You’ve been fond of me since I was small. Just because I’ve become a Crown Prince’s Consort—how could I forget such memories? Don’t worry about it. Treat me as you always have.”
The mine owners burst into laughter.
Luciano’s knights were taken aback at the sight.
They had shown deference to Luciano, but not such enthusiasm.
When they’d asked to search inside the mine, the owners had made various excuses and shown reluctance.
Fearing they might lose the mines if the Prince found something to hold against them.
But this….
“What is this, exactly.”
“Not one of them, but several came running….”
Luciano’s knights were at a loss for words.
The adjutant quickly turned to a nearby knight.
“Tell Prince Luciano that the Sixth Prince’s Consort has arrived.”
“The Sixth Prince’s Consort has arrived, you say? Not the Sixth Prince?”
At the uncertain expression, the adjutant gritted his teeth.
“The most important person here is the Sixth Prince’s Consort.”
“Yes, sir?”
The second-most powerful figure in the East after Andres was Count Karka.
The Crown Princess Dowager’s brother, and Ujina’s uncle—Count Karka.
The Mining District of the East was practically Karka’s territory.
That Ujina had come in person meant they could no longer expect cooperation in searching the mine.
The knights’ faces paled as understanding dawned.
The knight who’d received orders from the adjutant rushed toward Luciano.
“Your Highness!”
As he came running, Luciano, who had been inside the barracks, spoke.
“The Sixth Prince’s Consort has come.”
“Yes? …Yes, that’s correct. How did you….”
“Ludovico wouldn’t have brought such a weapon if he didn’t have to.”
“The mine owners came running like servants attending their master. Every last one.”
“I see.”
Luciano, who had been tapping the map, rose to his feet.
Leaving the barracks, he headed toward Ludovico and his wife, who were surrounded by mine owners.
Ujina, who had been exchanging pleasantries with the mine owners, caught sight of Luciano and flinched, clutching at her collar.
‘Every time I see him….’
Ujina exhaled hotly.
From childhood, he’d been like a masterwork a visionary artist had devoted a lifetime to creating.
As he grew and his features hardened, even respectable ladies blushed like girls in his presence.
There were women shameless enough to fall deliberately just to catch his eye once.
Because he had eyes only for Yustea, countless women had given up in tears.
Ujina was one of them.
‘If only Yustea didn’t exist….’
Perhaps he would have been her husband instead of Ludovico.
Luciano was so tender to his woman.
His mother, Empress Regina, was also famous for her warmth toward her daughters-in-law.
‘Unlike certain others.’
Ujina tucked her hair behind her ear and lowered her neck shyly.
Ludovico greeted his brother.
“You’re here, brother.”
“If you’re going to be cunning, at least do it properly.”
“…Pardon?”
“When you show your true intentions so easily, it’s pathetic.”
As Luciano smiled, Ludovico’s face hardened at once.
“What do you…mean….”
“You would have been more interesting if you’d simply admitted you followed me here.”
“….”
The composure vanished from Ludovico’s face.
His bare face, hidden beneath the smile, was revealed.
“People will think I broke the rules.”
“As if.”
“But why must you speak like that…!”
As Ludovico’s voice rose, Ujina quickly grabbed his arm.
Raising one’s voice first was the same as proving oneself desperate.
Quick-witted mine owners might change whom they bet on.
“Your Highness.”
“….”
Ludovico clicked his tongue silently.
But soon he turned a haughty gaze on Luciano.
“You seemed anxious.”
“Did I.”
“Or else, why else would you come running so suddenly? You were worried I’d find ‘him’ first, weren’t you.”
“Haha.”
Luciano laughed softly.
He regarded Ludovico calmly.
“Even if you find him first, bringing him back is another matter.”
“…Pardon?”
“Do you think you alone could defeat the Reconstruction Council and bring Count Andres back?”
“…!”
He’s speaking so openly about the Reconstruction Council and Count Andres?
If word spreads and all the princes and princesses come rushing?
Ludovico’s face hardened once more.
“…What do you mean by that.”
“Do the math. Think it through. Your soldiers alone can’t manage it.”
“Brother!”
Luciano swept his gaze across the surroundings.
The mine owners, who had dismissed the kidnapping of Count Andres as mere rumor, went pale.
“Is there…is the Reconstruction Council in this place?”
“If fighting breaks out between the Reconstruction Council and us here….”
The mine would be sealed immediately.
Until the Reconstruction Council’s root was torn out.
The mine owners cried out in panic.
“Wh—what is happening?”
“Is the Reconstruction Council truly here?”
“When will we be able to resume operations if fighting breaks out with them!”
Ludovico fell silent in alarm.
Ujina, too, was cold with sweat and didn’t know what to do.
Only Luciano remained composed.
“Don’t worry too much.”
“Yes? But….”
“If we recover Count Andres quickly, there won’t be any need for battle.”
“Th—then it’s fortunate….”
“Very quickly, that is. If it becomes a war of attrition, reinforcements will be sent and it’ll turn into a massive engagement.”
Quickly….
The mine owners swallowed hard.
It no longer mattered who held the Eastern interests.
What mattered was who could calm the situation quickly.
‘Not Prince Ludovico.’
‘The man who can settle this quickly is….’
That man who had led countless battles to victory since childhood.
Luciano.
The mine owners’ expressions shifted.
Ludovico and Ujina’s faces turned grave.
* * *
Ludovico’s barracks was prepared.
The moment Ludovico entered the barracks, he shouted.
“Didn’t I say the threads in the East were secure!”
The mine owners turned around.
All of them were now looking to cooperate with Luciano.
Ujina, gnawing at her fingernails, cried out.
“If you hadn’t gone and provoked Prince Luciano like that, none of this would have happened!”
“What did you say?!”
Ludovico’s barracks grew loud.

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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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