How to Replace Your Dad - Chapter 36

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Team. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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How to Replace Your Dad

Chapter 36

* * *

There was nothing particularly special about a gathering of the elders who ruled the Empire.

All they did was drink tea and chat, or talk while playing card games.

Of course, the content wasn’t ordinary.

“Marquis Tobar, that old fool died, didn’t he.”

“According to our Intelligence Department, his eldest son killed him. Afraid he’d pass the inheritance to the second son. Ugh, why are my cards like this. I’m going to die.”

“Speaking of eldest and second son fights, what about the eldest and second sons of the Imperial Palace? I heard Prince Luciano said he’d reclaim the entire eastern region taken by monsters with some amazing tactics.”

“It doesn’t seem like baseless confidence. The Empress’s complexion was yellow.”

Amazing stories were casually exchanged.

Marquis Esgaroth, who was looking at his cards, whispered to me.

“Did you give the population to Prince Luciano?”

“…!”

I flinched.

He already knew that the Irregulars had diverted the population at my request.

‘Scary grandfather….’

“I gave him one…. Just one.”

“You took three, so why only one?”

I was saving two for emergencies. And I’d already used one.

While I was rolling my eyes, worried he might ask me to return them, the card hand the Marquis was holding caught my eye.

It wasn’t a very good hand.

The Marquis seemed about to fold this round and was about to put down his cards.

I quickly grabbed the Marquis’s hand.

“Are you going to fold?”

“Yes. That old man’s hand seems better than mine.”

The old man the Marquis mentioned was Marquis Nevarro.

Marquis Nevarro was making eye contact with his granddaughter Guinevere with a pleased expression.

Both of them had their shoulders puffed up as if they’d gotten an amazing hand.

The other elders were also putting down their cards one by one, seemingly giving up on this round.

Marquis Nevarro chuckled and said.

“Sorry about this. I’m winning alone for the third round already.”

The elders clicked their tongues.

“Don’t get cocky since it’s not your skill. Getting help from your granddaughter.”

“Haha. Our Guinevere is a goddess of luck.”

Marquis Nevarro said this while staring directly at Marquis Esgaroth.

It was a clear provocation.

“If you’re also folding, then this round is also mine….”

Just as he was about to sweep up the coins, Marquis Esgaroth spoke.

“Raise.”

“…What?”

“This child wants me to.”

Marquis Nevarro frowned.

The other elders looked intrigued.

The one helping Marquis Nevarro’s game was Guinevere.

For Marquis Esgaroth, it was me.

Although the elders were holding the cards, it was a showdown between Guinevere and me.

Marquis Nevarro soon snorted.

“If you want to die gloriously, I won’t bother stopping you.”

The round proceeded.

Marquis Nevarro didn’t change his cards.

And on Marquis Esgaroth’s turn, I said.

“Change two cards.”

“Only two?”

“Yes.”

So he changed two cards.

And the Marquis, after checking the cards he received, momentarily frowned and looked at me.

Marquis Nevarro, who didn’t miss this, burst into hearty laughter.

“Seems you made an uncharacteristically foolish judgment. Then let’s reveal our hands.”

Marquis Nevarro and Marquis Esgaroth simultaneously flipped their cards.

And those who saw the hands….

“…!”

“…!!”

The elders had wide eyes.

Of course, since the result was completely different from what they expected.

It was Marquis Esgaroth’s victory.

And Marquis Esgaroth’s hand was a royal straight flush.

Yes. That strongest combination with lottery-winning odds.

“H-how…!”

Marquis Nevarro shouted with his hands trembling.

Marquis Esgaroth chuckled and said.

“Well. It seems my goddess of luck was stronger than your goddess of luck.”

At those words, the elders laughed heartily, saying “What an amazing man.”

The faces of Marquis Nevarro and Guinevere soured.

* * *

Yuise, who was watching the elders’ card game with the other guards, let out a hollow laugh.

‘What is that really?’

Marquis Esgaroth was sweeping the game.

It was all thanks to Yustea.

“This time, just exchange one card.”

“Yes, yes.”

“Hmm, shall we go all in?”

“Yes, yes.”

Just by doing whatever Yustea suggested, amazing card combinations were completed instantly.

Marquis Esgaroth practically swept up all the coins.

Naturally, Marquis Nevarro looked frustrated beyond measure.

“…Are you changing cards this time?”

“Uh… well….”

Guinevere was so flustered she couldn’t even show her real skills.

After the game ended like that, there was a brief table maintenance break.

During that time, Yustea left the room to go to the restroom.

Yuise, playing the role of guard, quickly followed behind her.

“How did you do it?”

“Huh?”

“The card game.”

“Ah. I knew what cards would come out.”

“What?”

“If you look carefully at the back of the cards, the patterns are very slightly different.”

The cards in this world aren’t printed like on Earth.

Especially the cards used by such great nobles were luxury items handmade by artists.

Since they were made by human hands, there were bound to be differences.

‘Looking at the cards the old men are holding, I can see all their combinations.’

And I could also guess which cards remained.

Also, since there was no separate dealer, the old men took cards directly from the deck.

As the deck gradually shifted in the process, I could catch glimpses of the edges of other cards too.

“You could distinguish that?”

Yuise shook his head.

Even Yuise, who prided himself on his keen eye as the leader of the intelligence unit, couldn’t discern such differences.

“Yeah. More importantly…”

Yustea looked around and confirmed no one was nearby before speaking.

“You did well to come!”

“…That’s true.”

They were all incredible people.

“A giant in the medical field, a former Matap master, a former chairman of the Privy Council… There’s no treasure trove like this.”

Yustea’s eyes sparkled brightly.

Yuise chuckled at her extremely excited expression.

“Wouldn’t these be faces you saw when you were Noble Lady Andres?”

“I only saw them from very far away at events.”

Though she was Andres’s daughter, she didn’t hold any official position.

Social activities and protocol duties for foreign female ambassadors were about the extent of Yustea’s role.

So even when she went to the Imperial Palace, she couldn’t access areas where politicians came and went.

“What about when you were screwing over Luciano?”

“I naturally worked behind the scenes. Meeting politicians was done by my biological father or the Empress.”

When Yustea lifted her chin proudly, Yuise let out a small laugh.

Regardless, Yustea clenched her fists tightly.

“I’m going to work really hard.”

“Go for it.”

Yuise also nodded with eyes blazing with desire.

And so Yustea and Yuise returned to the room.

Inside the room, the old men were deep in conversation.

The center of the conversation was Guinevere, the granddaughter of Marquis Nevarro.

“So, Guinevere is taking advanced courses at the Academy?”

Then Marquis Nevarro laughed heartily and said.

“It’s not a place just anyone can go. Originally, I was going to have her graduate early and educate her within the family, but the professor begged so desperately…”

As he said this, he glanced sideways at Marquis Esgaroth.

Yuise clicked his tongue inwardly.

‘Trying to make up for losing at cards with academic credentials?’

Bringing up early graduation was also blatant.

He must have heard from his granddaughter that Yustea had graduated early from the regular program.

He was dismissing the early graduation that others found difficult as something the professor hadn’t initiated contact for.

Marquis Esgaroth was still smiling, but his eyebrows twitched slightly.

The other old men laughed and said.

“Guinevere has very good grades even in the advanced program? Is she interested in philosophy too?”

“Of course. She particularly admires Favion. His theories are all easy to apply.”

“What do you think of the philosopher Plautus?”

“Plautus represents outdated philosophy, which is the recent consensus among scholars. What value could there be in theories that are difficult to implement? I think so as well.”

The answer came without hesitation.

The old men were impressed by the broad knowledge they couldn’t see in young people.

However, the expression of the person who had asked about philosophy was different.

Yuise narrowed his brows briefly.

‘He looks displeased.’

Let me see.

That old man is Count Geron, the former Matap master.

‘What was Count Geron’s information again.’

Yuise, who had been searching through information in his head, startled.

And quickly gave Yustea intense eye signals.

‘Look at me. Look at me!’

But Yustea never looked at Yuise.

Because Count Geron had asked Yustea a question.

“You, whom Marquis Esgaroth brought. Do you think the same way?”

‘No!’

Count Geron was a pure-blood fanatic who even kept a statue of Plautus at home.

If she says the wrong thing here…!

It was at that moment he thought this.

“I… sometimes call Plautus Father.”

“…?!”

Yuise looked at Yustea in surprise as she murmured with a wistful expression.

Even Count Geron looked shocked.

“Father?”

“He is the father of philosophy…”

“Wh-why do you think so?”

“He accurately grasped the essence of philosophy. Philosophy has meaning in understanding the principles of phenomena…”

“Indeed so! There was a child who understands!”

Count Geron got excited, even lifting his buttocks.

“Especially the part about acknowledging desire was deeply moving!”

“Of course…”

“It’s difficult because they only try to apply theory to politics. How easy is it to acknowledge desire in a class-based nation!”

“That’s exactly how I feel…”

“The point is that excessive state interference should be eliminated. Competition creates better quality!”

“How can you only say such correct things…”

“How delightful this conversation is! Hahaha!”

With well-timed agreement, she made Count Geron even snort with excitement.

That wasn’t the end of it.

“But do you know? The place where Plautus’s theories can be best implemented is Esgaroth…”

“Esgaroth?”

“It’s the place with the least central interference in the market. Because of that, all kinds of traders and experts gather there. So it’s almost as easy as the capital to obtain magical tools, experimental materials, and such.”

“That would be so.”

Count Geron held his chin and pondered deeply.

“I hadn’t considered it due to foreign invasions, but excluding just that, it might not be bad as a Matap relocation site…”

At the mention of Matap relocation site, Marquis Nevarro and Guinevere’s eyes widened as if they would pop out.

“Wait! Wasn’t the Matap relocation site supposed to be our Nevarro Estate!”

“Come to think of it, Nevarro has too much market interference. It would probably be difficult to obtain experimental materials…”

“No…!”

Marquis Nevarro’s mouth gaped open and closed.

Count Geron looked at Marquis Esgaroth.

“Do you have any suitable sites?”

“Sites can always be prepared.”

“I’d like to discuss this in detail.”

Yuise looked at Yustea with surprised eyes.

Yustea smiled brightly.

‘The Matap, it would be nice if it became ours. Right?’

She mouthed the words.

‘She deliberately made that topic come up!’

She really was an amazing girl.

Yuise wasn’t the only one who guessed Yustea’s intentions.

The old men looked at Yustea with interested faces.

“Marquis Esgaroth would be pleased.”

“Come to think of it, she was quite renowned for being clever even when she was the Marquis Andres’s daughter. She was always first place at the Academy too.”

“Oh, even more than Guinevere?”

“My grandson was in the same year as those children, and he said he could never keep up with Yustea Andres…”

“No, where did that old man Marquis Esgaroth pick up such a child?”

Hearing the old men’s whispers, Marquis Nevarro clenched his fist tightly.

Marquis Esgaroth chuckled.

“It’s not 14 wins and 13 losses for nothing.”

“You…!”

Finally unable to bear it, Marquis Nevarro slammed the table and shot up.

Then he stormed out of the room, grumbling.

Guinevere hurriedly followed after him in confusion.

* * *

“Look at you being so clever and precious.”

The Marquis said while roughly rubbing my cheeks.

“Are you in a good mood, my lord?”

“Of course.”

“If you’re happy, my lord, then I’m happy too.”

“Where did such a thing come from.”

The Marquis gently grabbed and shook my cheeks without hurting me.

“I’ll go discuss the Matap relocation matter, so just look around or something. Request whatever you need.”

“Yes.”

The Marquis left with cheerful laughter.

Of course, the other knights followed the Marquis.

That left only Yuise and me in the corridor.

We walked silently.

And when we reached a place where no one was around…

“Well done.”

“Mm.”

Clap. We high-fived.

Yuise grinned and lightly pressed down on my head.

“What did you coat your tongue with. You did really well…”

As he was saying that, he paused and looked behind me.

“Miss.”

What?

He suddenly changed his form of address.

This meant there was someone listening nearby.

I turned my head.

After a moment, I heard approaching footsteps.

The sound of military boots and clicking dress shoes.

Knights were escorting someone.

They slowly revealed themselves from the darkness.

As soon as I saw the navy blue cape, I froze.

Because the crest embroidered on the cape was all too familiar.

That crest of two snakes intertwined in a figure-eight pattern.

…It was the Andres crest.

Among the Andres knights, I could see an elderly noblewoman with her hair done up in a bun.

The knights who had escorted the noblewoman stepped back in a line.

Her upright posture remained perfectly straight despite her advanced age.

Her face was unreadable.

The noblewoman looked at me quietly and spoke.

“It’s been a long time. Yustea.”

Yuise looked at me.

I clasped my trembling hands tightly together.

Why hadn’t I thought of this possibility.

In a place where great old nobles gathered like this, she could have come too.

“I… greet you, Grandmother.”

Esmeralda Andres.

Known as the Iron-Blooded Woman, she was my grandmother.

* * *

My grandmother stared at me intently.

“Your head is held high.”

“…”

I lowered my head.

Click, click.

The sound of her shoes approaching me felt like thunder.

Just like when I was the Andres noble lady.

“I had no great expectations to begin with, wondering if a lowly merchant could properly raise a child.”

“…”

“But you’re more foolish than I thought. Yustea.”

“…”

“If you couldn’t keep your position and were driven out, you should have known shame and lived in hiding. What reason do you have for daring to bring your dirty feet to where I am.”

My grandmother’s words pierced my ears like blades, as always.

“You need a warning.”

My grandmother gestured to the knights.

The knights rushed toward me.

Yuise’s face contorted. Just as he was placing his hand on his sword hilt.

“Anyone who lays a hand on my puppy will have to leave their neck behind.”

An unexpected voice was heard.

—————
This chapter was translated by Lunox Team. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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