How to Replace Your Dad - Chapter 258

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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 258
* * *
I changed clothes quickly.
I did it in the hose storage box attached to the Rear Garden, with Luciano keeping watch.
When I emerged in a Trainee Priest’s uniform, Luciano let out a sigh.
“So? How exactly are you planning to get into the Imperial Palace Temple?”
“I’ll go in first. Come around sunset.”
“First?”
“Yes. I need time to approach the World Tree and deploy the Magic. If you’re in the Temple, the clergy will be on edge and I won’t be able to move freely. Come once I’ve prepared.”
“Understood.”
“And one more thing.”
As my expression turned serious, creases formed between Luciano’s brows.
“This sounds important. Tell me.”
“It is important. Could you tell the Empress Dowager that…”
“The Empress Dowager?”
“Tell her I was too embarrassed to be around you, so I ran away. That I went home.”
…
Luciano, who had been concentrating on my words with his brow furrowed, shut his eyes tight.
“Is that important?”
“Yes, because then the Empress Dowager won’t search for us while we’re safely returning to our own time from the Sanctuary with the Magic.”
Still bewildered, Luciano exhaled without another word.
“We’ll meet in the World Tree Corridor.”
“Yes. I’ll have everything ready for our return before you arrive.”
And so Luciano and I headed in different directions.
Getting to the Sanctuary wasn’t particularly difficult.
Dressed in a Trainee Priest’s uniform and with a Veil pulled over my head, no one recognized me.
At the Sanctuary entrance, I presented the Identification Token I’d prepared beforehand along with the uniform.
“Priest Maria. You may pass.”
As the guard spoke, the Thorn Gate opened with a heavy creak.
I passed through the gate.
‘Good.’
So far, no problems.
I entered the interior of the Sanctuary building.
‘Now the difficult part—getting to the World Tree Corridor…’
Passing through the Temple entrance isn’t particularly complicated.
Dangerous individuals are already filtered out at the Imperial Palace entrance, and there are Senior Priests inside to oversee things.
But the World Tree Corridor is different.
If I damaged the World Tree even by accident, it would be a catastrophe for the Terretsa Church.
‘First, I’ll look for an opening around the Corridor…’
I was walking with such thoughts when it happened.
“You there, girl.”
At the voice from behind, I went rigid.
An adult woman wearing a Veil was gesturing toward me.
Behind her stood Trainee Priests about my age.
Children called Prodigy Disciples.
Only those under twelve with exceptionally outstanding Divine Power are selected.
These children train in the Imperial Palace Temple for about a year, serving under the Senior Priests.
‘Though “training” mostly means menial work.’
So this woman calling me meant…
“Didn’t you hear the order for all Prodigy Disciples to gather and sort the tea leaves?”
“Ah…”
As I hesitated, the woman sighed deeply.
“This is why children raised in comfort don’t work out.”
…
“Listen. You may have been treated as a genius outside, but things are different here. If you slack off, I’ll report you to the Disciplinary Priest.”
“I apologize…”
“Now that you understand, go sort the tea leaves at once. If you don’t finish by sunset, I’ll have your dinner removed.”
The Female Priest issued her threat and herded the children along.
‘I don’t have time for this.’
Bad luck that I’d gotten caught up in this.
While I lamented silently, the children headed toward the backyard.
The backyard was spread with an enormous mat.
It was large enough for a dozen grown men to lie down on comfortably, and it was packed with dried tea leaves.
One child burst into tears.
“I want to go home. Waaah….”
Then the other children began to sniffle as well.
‘Oh dear.’
Prodigy disciples were brought to the temple and trained to keep them from growing arrogant.
According to what the female priest had said, children born with such tremendous divine power from birth would have been celebrated everywhere else.
The Imperial Palace Temple deliberately assigned them trivial work.
The labor had its purpose, but it was no wonder the children found it grueling.
“Sniff… sniff….”
“I hate this now! I want to go home…!”
“Waah….”
Even the boy next to me began to sniffle.
‘Wait, this boy… I know that face.’
I studied the boy’s face carefully.
I was right.
He was the nephew of Asunta, who would one day become Pope.
‘Ignis. That’s Ignis.’
A friend of my brother Onel.
The same Ignis I’d seen in Marquis Andres’s Territory alongside Benjamin, who was of the House of Becker and actually an executive of the Reconstruction Council.
Ignis and Onel weren’t friends yet.
So Ignis didn’t know my face, and was simply crying miserably.
I recalled the conversation that Ignis and Onel would later have.
“So you were a prodigy disciple in the Imperial Palace…. Yet I never ran into you.”
“I was stuck doing menial work inside the Imperial Palace Temple, so there was no chance of crossing paths with you, attending all those fancy parties.”
“Menial work?”
“Yes. It’s education meant to temper the arrogance of prodigy disciples. Though I was assigned something more respectable than most.”
“Being from a family that has produced high priests for generations. So what task did you receive? Did you even draft policy?”
“Policy? The greatest honor for a prodigy disciple is preparing the Pope’s tea.”
“Quite the distinction, I must say.”
That’s how Onel had spoken, with unmistakable sarcasm.
But my eyes gleamed.
‘The Pope’s tea preparation…!’
If I could convince Ignis to hand over that task to me, I might be able to enter the World Tree Corridor under the pretense of moving the Pope’s tea.
But he wouldn’t give it up easily….
‘I need to win his favor.’
That would be simple enough.
Since he was miserable from the tedious work, all I had to do was handle this task for him.
“Should I do it?”
“…What?”
Ignis and the other children looked at me.
“The sorting of tea leaves.”
“You’re saying you’ll do all of it alone?”
“Yes!”
The children forgot they’d been crying and scoffed.
The look on their faces suggested they couldn’t imagine how I’d manage all of this by myself.
“Will you use magic or something?”
“You’ll get punished if you use magic without permission!”
“You couldn’t use it anyway. The barrier prevents it.”
The children’s expressions showed complete disbelief.
Ignis also stared at me, utterly baffled.
Then he folded his arms.
“If you can do it, then go ahead and try.”
When he grew older, he’d smile so gently—but now his prospects looked rather dim.
The other children wore similarly skeptical expressions.
But I smiled softly.
* * *
Ten minutes later.
“…!”
“…?!”
The Prodigy Disciples stood with their mouths hanging open.
Some rubbed their eyes in disbelief.
Even Ignis stared at the scene with wide eyes.
One child spoke up.
“Is she from a tea plantation labor family…?”
“A Prodigy Disciple working in the tea fields?”
“But if she weren’t born a tea laborer, could she do that?”
The tea leaves that had covered one entire corner of the garden were diminishing at an incredible pace.
If she weren’t a tea plantation laborer, then surely she must have been born under the Star of Labor.
At first, none of the children had believed Yustea’s claim.
Even if all the Prodigy Disciples worked their eyes out picking leaves, they wouldn’t finish until sundown.
Moreover, she’d said she’d do it herself, then immediately rushed off toward the soldier without even sorting a single leaf.
The children had thought to themselves.
‘She said she’d do it alone, but it looks like she can’t manage after all.’
‘She’s running away.’
But when she reached the soldier….
“Excuse me, might I ask for your assistance?”
“Me? I’m not a knight.”
“My goodness! Your bearing and presence—I truly took you for a Holy Knight…!”
“M-me? Ahahaha!”
“Sir… forgive me, soldier. Might you have a winnowing basket we could borrow?”
“A winnowing basket? There should be one in the warehouse.”
The soldier’s jaw dropped like a wooden bucket as he brought back the basket.
She placed tea leaves into the winnowing basket, then shook it vigorously, sifting out the smaller leaves.
After filtering out the small leaves once, she spread the larger ones flat and, with the precision of a hawk’s gaze, deftly picked out the worm-eaten leaves.
The speed was beyond description.
Ignis stirred, struck by the sheer velocity.
“Are you seeing this right? Surely this leaf is usable….”
“The bottom half’s been eaten by worms.”
“Ah. But that one over there really does look usable….”
“The leaf tip has oxidized.”
“I see.”
She truly was sorting at that exact pace.
In the end, Yustea completed the entire batch of tea leaves in just forty minutes and dusted off her hands.
Even the classification was flawless.
Leaves that were large and deeply colored.
Leaves that were somewhat smaller but deeply colored.
Leaves of varying sizes but with tender, fragrant character.
The children’s jaws dropped.
‘She was definitely born under the Star of Labor.’
‘She has received the blessing of labor.’
‘A true laborer….’
Shocked by Yustea’s work capacity, the children fell silent for a moment.
Then their faces brightened.
They’d nearly spent hours kneeling and toiling, but the work was done in an instant.
“Let’s tell them it’s finished.”
“Yes.”
“Wonderful, we can rest now.”
The children rushed off excitedly.
Yustea made a small noise of alarm.
“Wait! Don’t—”
But the excited children paid no heed and brought back a Priest.
The Female Priest who had driven the Prodigy Disciples into the back garden opened her eyes wide.
“It’s already done?”
“Yes!”
Now they could rest.
Just as the children’s faces were about to light up with joy.
“Then go to the Laundry Place and fold the sheets.”
“…Yes?”
“What are you standing around for? Go on.”
“Yes, yes….”
The children’s faces fell again.
After the priest left, Yustea shared a lesson in the ways of the world, her expression benevolent.
“Finishing work quickly doesn’t mean rest will come.”
“If rest doesn’t come, what does?”
“The next task.”
The children’s faces grew sad.
So they trudged off toward the Laundry Place.
The sight of sheets draped thickly along every clothesline dampened their spirits—but only for a moment.
Another astonishing thing happened.
“…Wow.”
“What is…?”
The girl born under the Star of Labor was not merely skilled at sorting tea leaves.
Snap-snap-snap-snap-snap-snap.
The sheets hanging at the Laundry Place were folded in three seconds flat. Crisp, clean folds.
The sheets were so large that two people usually had to fold them together, but Yustea simply grasped a particular point, lifted it high, and flipped it back and forth a couple of times before folding it neatly.
Again, the work was finished in thirty minutes.
The children put into practice the wisdom Yustea had shared with them.
They chose to rest in a corner rather than report to the priest.
“Incredible! How do you work so well?”
“The strongest laborer!”
“A wizard of work!”
Yustea paused, uncertain whether to accept this as praise.
After all, she was a Saint and a Noble Lady of the Ducal House.
Still, the children’s eyes were full of admiration.
‘Then what about Ignis….’
Yustea glanced around.
Ignis was nowhere to be seen.
Was he resting somewhere else?
As she turned the corner of the Laundry Place to search for him, something emerged.
A water pouch suddenly appeared from beyond the corner.
“…It’s lemon water, chilled.”
It was Ignis.
“You want me to drink it?”
“Then why else would I bring it out?”
“Thank you.”
As Yustea took the water pouch, Ignis let out a dry cough.
“…Thanks to you, the children can rest.”
“You care about your friends.”
“Care, nothing. I just hate hearing them whine about how hard it is every day. Anyway… the work finished faster because of you. I’m going.”
He was turning to leave.
Yustea quickly caught his arm.
“Wait!”
The moment she grabbed his arm, Ignis flinched and stepped back with a start.
“What, what, what are you—!”
“Oh, I just… had something to say….”
“Even so, you can’t just grab a man like that!”
A man?
At ten years old, shouldn’t he still be called a child rather than a man?
While Yustea hesitated, Ignis’s face flushed crimson and he coughed awkwardly.
“A-anyway, l-let go of me.”
Yustea understood.
‘Ah.’
So it wasn’t a rotten disposition after all—it was puberty. She’d thought something was off about his demeanor, different from when he was younger.
Releasing his arm, Yustea spoke gently.
“Hey… aren’t you going to rest?”
“I need to go prepare tea for the Saint.”
Yustea’s eyes brightened.
‘All right, let me work my charm now.’
He’d grown fond of her for taking the work off his hands, so if she played her cards right, he’d bend.
“Would it be all right if I went? Meeting you has always been a dream of mine….”
She was about to elaborate when—
“…Fine, then.”
“What?”
That easily?
Ignis turned his head sharply, his face flushing crimson.
“In exchange, tell me your name.”
Yustea blinked.
‘Adolescence is exhausting.’
To think reason could vanish so completely.
She paused to consider.
She couldn’t give her real name—Yustea was out of the question.
She decided to dust off the name she’d used at the Central Temple.
“Maria. I’m Maria.”
“Maria….”
The murmur of his voice stirred an odd memory—of a certain fiery prince.

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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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