How to Replace Your Dad - Chapter 248

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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 248
The expressions of the princes and princesses hardened.
It had been only three hours since the announcement of the First Test of the Crown Prince Competition.
Gaspard cried out.
“How could this…!”
Ain also swallowed a hollow laugh.
“Remarkable….”
No one had foreseen this situation.
That the very candidate taking the Crown Prince Competition would become bait…!
Ludovico’s face had gone ashen, and so had Ujina’s, who held the Covenant Document.
* * *
[Confirmed. You’ve done well.]
I checked the message from Luciano.
I set down the Communication Stone and smiled broadly.
The Irregulars looked haggard.
This operation had required moving quietly in particular—ensuring no information leaked to the princes and princesses.
So having moved with only the Elite, they were all exhausted to death.
Yuise especially, being the head of the Intelligence Division and having worked the hardest, looked utterly spent.
“Get some rest.”
“What are you planning to do….”
Yuise asked in a weary tone.
There was a steely edge to his tired voice.
“I’m heading to the Mining Area.”
“Then you can’t rest even more. You’ll need an escort.”
I shook my head.
And I pointed to the only person among the Irregulars’ Elite who looked reasonably intact.
It was Antonio, munching away at bread.
He nodded with a cheerful face.
“Yeah, yeah. I’m here, you know. Trust me!”
“….”
“….”
“….”
The looks in their eyes were entirely skeptical.
Cesar in particular rose from his seat, as if Antonio might make some mistake among the princes and princesses.
“I’d sooner accept death by overwork than trust that.”
Then Miliano spoke.
“Let’s have faith.”
“Yeah, trust me, I’m telling you!”
As Antonio spoke with swagger, Miliano quickly added:
“Besides, the Young Lady is here, and Prince Luciano is here too.”
Though he smiled gently, his expression made clear he didn’t trust Antonio at all.
The other Elite members looked reluctant but soon settled into their seats.
Not trusting Antonio himself, but trusting me and Luciano, who would serve as Antonio’s safety pins….
And so I boarded the carriage with Antonio.
Antonio wore a sullen expression.
“Everyone worries so much. I’m a man of etiquette now, you know.”
Just as the carriage was about to depart.
When the carriage lurched and stopped because of an old man who suddenly jumped in front, Antonio stuck his neck out the window and shouted:
“Old geezer, you’re gonna end up in the afterlife before anyone else at this rate!”
“….”
“I’m truly a master of etiquette now, Young Lady.”
Watching Antonio sit back down and go on about propriety, I smiled indulgently.
I sent a quiet message to Luciano.
[I’m taking Antonio as an escort.]
A reply came at once.
[Attach six knights, including an adjutant.]
The master of etiquette had won no one’s trust.
* * *
We arrived at the Mining Area.
The atmosphere was tense.
Especially among the princes and princesses.
They arrived at the mines in a frenzy, and the task was resolved before they could even pitch the barracks—understandably, the mood was grim.
The moment I stepped out of the carriage, Luciano extended his hand.
I accepted his escort and descended from the carriage.
As I stepped down, a sharp voice flew at me.
“What on earth did you do!”
It was Gaspard.
He stared at me with a cold expression.
Both princesses were also watching me with rigid faces.
A princess asked:
“What’s going on?”
“Right. Your power holds no merit for the Eastern lords. No matter what you proposed from Esgaroth, which lies so far from the east, it would have offered them little advantage.”
That much was true.
The Eastern Region was fertile, and its agriculture was highly advanced.
Having found the crops most suited to this land, they harvest without greatly depleting the soil’s nutrients.
The lords themselves were also relatively young, so they had no need to obsess over health like elderly men.
My Restoration was not an alluring power to them.
But how could I have won over the Eastern lords….
“You all calculate only gain, so no answer emerges,” I replied with composure.
“Only gain…?”
“What….”
The princes and princesses, who had been muttering, went pale in an instant.
‘Right. I made them think of loss, not gain.’
When I visited, the Eastern lords wore indifferent expressions.
Among them were some who:
“You’re quite confident, truly. But in the east, the name ‘Saint’ is little more than a fancy brooch.”
“If you’re coming here to prance about, why not try elsewhere?”
—spoke with such sarcasm.
So I told them:
“It’s only because what you possess has value now that you speak this way, my lords.”
“…What did you say?”
“What if crop prices collapsed?”
“What nonsense are you spouting!”
“What if we cultivate wheat—the lifeblood of your domain—on lands near the harbor?”
“…!”
I smiled broadly.
“It would not match what grows in Your Lordship’s fields, perhaps, but because of that, I could distribute it far more cheaply. Merchants and foreign nations would have no need for Your Lordship’s wheat.”
“Wh-what?”
“The market is a cruel place. When supply increases, prices fall—such is its law.”
“You…!”
“How would Your Lordship maintain your current wealth after suffering the market’s cold judgment?”
The Eastern lords became docile in an instant.
“My power is not merely a means for salvation, after all.”
The princes and princesses, catching my meaning, turned deathly pale.
“Th-threatened them, didn’t you?”
“To threaten in such a way is…!”
The moment the princesses cried out, I tilted my head.
“Threaten?”
The princesses hesitated.
I spoke quietly to them:
“Did I truly render other lands fertile?”
“That’s…!”
“Did I even make contact with the lords of other lands?”
“….”
“I merely described the various ways my power could be employed.”
I smiled sweetly.
The princes and princesses clenched their teeth.
Only Ain chuckled softly.
“Dominating the board merely by existing.”
As he stretched, his Deathservant Eppy made a sound and coiled around his legs.
Tapping Eppy lightly, Ain glanced around at everyone.
“So wouldn’t it be better to abandon such pointless ambitions?”
This was a declaration.
A declaration to support Luciano.
Because of it, the princesses’ eyes trembled faintly.
An abacus was clicking wildly in their minds.
What if they antagonized Luciano needlessly and failed to gain the crown prince seat?
What would happen after?
Even after Luciano became Emperor, would their necks remain intact?
And so the princesses reached their conclusion.
“Really, the Empire’s blessing isn’t just empty talk~.”
“Indeed. We’re so proud, Holy Maiden.”
They too had not survived easily in the Imperial Palace.
The quick-calculating princesses swiftly flanked me on both sides.
“How about some tea?”
“My, sister. If it’s tea leaves, I have something good for you.”
Ohohoho.
Ahahaha.
Watching the atmosphere turn suddenly warm and cordial, Gaspard clenched his teeth.
He left, frustrated and not knowing what to do with himself.
There were others who could not approach me.
Ludovico, who had strutted about after learning the first test was in the Eastern Region.
And….
“How could she be so barbarous under the name of Saint….”
Ujina, muttering as if squeezing the words out.
* * *
Inside Luciano’s barracks.
Ain stroked Eppy and asked:
“So what now?”
“We should return, shouldn’t we?”
Outside was bustling.
Luciano was preparing to return to the capital.
Having perfectly completed the task, there was no reason to stay longer.
At my words, Ain rested his chin in his hand.
“The First Test isn’t over with this.”
That would be the case.
The Crown Prince Competition was a survival format.
Eliminating the losers until one survivor remains.
“It can’t be that only Luciano survives the first round. The princes and princesses must have other ways left to pass the test.”
“Right. …It seems Yohaël is probably taking a different approach.”
Yohaël alone was absent from the Mining Area.
Though he had repeatedly lost to me, Yohaël was undoubtedly a capable figure.
He likely foresaw that I would win over the lords.
So he was taking a different approach.
Ain asked:
“But you’ll return without interference? Without hindering them?”
“Yes.”
“Having already seized advantage, shouldn’t you eliminate a rival who could obstruct you in the first round? I would.”
“Do Luciano and I really need to do that?”
I blinked.
Ain let out a hollow laugh.
“Quite confident. Do you have a certain way to win in rounds two and three as well?”
“No.”
Then Ain straightened, as if asking what that meant.
I smiled softly.
“You’re here, Prince Ain.”
“…What?”
“You’re wise, so you’ll hinder them as much as possible.”
“….”
“That’s what I’m counting on.”
And I casually gathered the maps of the mines.
‘I should keep these, since this place definitely connects to another entrance linked to the Restoration Council.’
They might prove useful someday.
I was tapping and organizing the maps when—
I felt a steady gaze fixed on my cheek.
Ain was watching me with an odd expression.
“Why?”
“…What makes you trust me with such a role?”
His expression asked what I would do if he betrayed me.
I replied casually:
“Who else would I trust if not Ain?”
“There’s no substitute, then.”
Ain’s expression shifted.
He snorted and draped himself across his chair.
I wrapped the maps carefully in cloth and spoke:
“Among all of them, Ain is the only one I want by my side.”
“….”
His eyes widened again.
“…Why.”
“You’re sharp. You have integrity. We enjoy each other’s company. …But how much longer must I explain? I came without a servant, and I’m busy.”
As I looked at him with exasperation, Ain fell silent.
Luciano, seated at the head of the room watching us, let out a quiet laugh.
“I agree.”
“…Have you ever disagreed with anything she said?”
Luciano placed a hand on Ain’s crown.
Ain flinched.
Luciano spoke:
“If all my brothers and you drowned, I wouldn’t hesitate an instant. I’d pull you out first.”
“….”
“Yustea, what about you?”
After tying the cloth bundle’s strings properly, I answered:
“It’s obvious.”
Ain sat up abruptly after a brief silence.
“Where are you going?”
I asked, and Ain said:
“To obstruct the princes and princesses. Where else?”
He left the barracks brusquely.
Luciano chuckled softly.

* * *
After gathering what I needed, I went outside.
“Antonio, load this onto the carriage—.”
Just as I was about to speak.
Someone suddenly seized my wrist and pulled.
Startled, I turned to find it was Ujina.
“We need to talk.”
“About what?”
At my words, Ujina clenched her teeth.
“I have something to say. Spare me a moment.”
Something was wrong with her state.
The pupils that once gleamed with arrogance were now deeply sunken.
By the way her lips were pressed tightly together, she seemed greatly distressed.
“I’m busy getting back. We need to leave.”
“Stop it already!”
Ujina cried out.
I frowned.
“Pardon?”
“How long will you keep hindering me? What have I done wrong to you?”
A hollow laugh escaped her.
She was anxious and didn’t know what to do, yet her mouth was still sharp.
Her state appeared quite odd.
It seemed she had sensed that Ludovico would be eliminated in this test.
She seemed to be trying to resolve things between us, yet Ujina still could not abandon her pride.
Her face had gone pale, with only her eyes bloodshot.
Her whole body trembled—she was that wounded in pride.
‘I should send her back.’
Creating a needless commotion wouldn’t benefit me.
Having decided that, I spoke to her calmly:
“It appears the Sixth Princess Consort has a considerable misunderstanding.”
“If it’s because of something with Prince Luciano….”
What more nonsense was this.
‘Ah.’
She was under the impression that I was deeply offended because of Ujina’s approach toward Luciano.
Which wasn’t really the case.
That look of hers did bother me, but I’m far too busy to respond just because something bothers me.
“That’s truly a misunderstanding—”
The moment I spoke, Ujina bit her lip.
“Just because Prince Luciano shows me favor, that doesn’t justify this.”
What madness was this….
I was thinking that when—
Beep—!
A strange sound came from somewhere.

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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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