How to Replace Your Dad - Chapter 44

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

How to Replace Your Dad

Chapter 44

I sat down heavily and spoke haltingly.

“Are you… safe?”

“As you can see.”

“Thank goodness…”

Only then did all the strength drain from my body.

As I let out a sigh, the Clan Leader helped me up.

When I flinched, the Clan Leader furrowed his brow.

“Are you hurt somewhere?”

“Ah…”

Just as I was hesitating.

Antonio’s Unit members spoke from outside the door.

“He fell in the corridor!”

“Really hard!”

It seemed the unit members had seen it and followed me.

I was so out of it that I didn’t even notice them following.

I said with an embarrassed expression.

“While running…”

“What urgent matter made you do that?”

“I thought something had happened to Lord. I heard the Medical Association President and his son had secretly left the manor, so I thought they had infiltrated… “

“What?”

“Well, the expelled Balboa Family uses poison. I was worried they might have gotten poison to attack Lord…”

“So you came running in such panic? Even getting yourself into this mess?”

I fidgeted with my hands awkwardly.

‘I acted like a fool.’

I should have properly assessed the situation before moving.

I must have looked like someone useless in an emergency.

The Clan Leader was looking at me intently.

“I’m sorry…”

Just as I said that and tried to back away sheepishly.

The Clan Leader strode toward me.

Then he suddenly lifted me up in his arms.

I froze in surprise.

He said to the Clan Leader.

“Lock those guys in the prison.”

“Yes.”

With those words, the Clan Leader walked down the corridor carrying me.

People walking in the corridor looked at us with surprised eyes.

The vassals craned their necks wondering what was happening.

The employees hurriedly bowed their heads, but the maids glanced at the Clan Leader with flushed faces.

And the unit members…

“What?”

“Huh?”

“The Clan… Lord is?!”

They looked as shocked as if they’d heard the world had turned upside down.

It was natural since the Clan Leader wasn’t someone who would carry anyone.

I was wondering what this was all about too.

“I can walk though…”

“You seem to have problems with your legs.”

“What?”

“You fell like that when you saved the old man at Esgaroth Castle too.”

“Ah… My legs give out when I’m surprised. But it’s not normally a problem. Um, if you have tasks to assign me, I can definitely handle them…”

“That’s not what I meant.”

‘Then why?’

I was curious but didn’t have a chance to ask.

By the time he finished speaking, we had arrived at my room.

A quick-witted butler passing through my room’s corridor opened the door for us.

The Clan Leader set me down on the bed.

Then he even covered me with a blanket.

I held the edge of the blanket while watching his expression.

“Um, the President and his son…”

“Don’t worry about it. It was intentional.”

“What?”

“I needed to make a proper example of at least one of them.”

I see.

He deliberately provoked the President.

To make him attempt on his life.

That way he could definitively expel him and the vassals would quiet down.

‘He’s amazing.’

My face brightened as I said.

“You deliberately stayed in the castle interior the whole time so they would use the secret passage.”

“I needed to identify the secret passages for the castle’s security.”

“Wow.”

I clapped my hands in delight.

Trying to protect the Clan Leader was really foolish of me.

Clan Leader Aslan of the Irregulars is someone who rises to marquis and becomes one of the pillars of the Empire without my help.

In the game, when he became a marquis, the ‘completed’ him was described like this.

A man called by epithets like God’s favorite, the embodiment of talent.

This man, equipped with brilliant talent and a mind tempered by a twisted upbringing, finally cuts through fate itself.

I giggled and said.

“I’m sorry for presumptuously worrying about you.”

“It makes my blood boil.”

“…What?”

I froze.

‘Did I upset him?’

It felt like my heart dropped.

My frozen self was reflected in those transparent red eyes.

I felt a chill of fear.

My biological father was scary when angry.

Even if I knelt in front of his room for three days and nights, he wouldn’t look at me.

In the end, he even abandoned me.

I immediately threw off the blanket and got out of bed.

Then I quickly knelt down and rubbed my hands together.

“It’s not that I didn’t trust the Clan Leader… It’s not that I thought I was better than the Clan Leader… I mean, I just… I’m sorry. I’m sorry. I’m sor…”

Just as I was pleading, the Clan Leader suddenly pulled me toward him.

“I’m angry because you’re apologizing!”

“…”

“You tried so desperately, so why are you apologizing? Why do you always act like you’re a criminal!”

“…Then… then what should I do…?”

“What?”

“I tried… and tried, but I couldn’t stay by your side… No matter how hard I tried… my efforts only made people uncomfortable… Even though I’m that kind of person… I’m clinging to you, Clan Leader… So I should apologize…”

“….”

“I’m sorry. But I still want to be here… I have to protect Mother… And… And… it’s warm…”

My whole body trembled violently.

My teeth chattered loudly as if I were completely consumed by cold.

“It’s so warm here… I’m sorry. I’m sorry…”

My body, beyond control, finally produced tears.

‘Stop it. Don’t cry.’

No matter how hard I tried, the burst dam of tears couldn’t be contained.

If I cry, he’ll hate me even more.

Everyone always did.

I bit down on the tender flesh inside my mouth to keep from making any crying sounds.

That’s when it happened.

He pulled me into his arms.

“…!”

When I opened my eyes in surprise, he spoke while holding me.

“Stop it…”

“….”

“I didn’t mean to make you say such things…”

“….”

“I’m sorry. I’m sorry…”

“Wuu…”

My tightly tensed muscles slowly relaxed.

Leaning against him as if collapsing, I cried out loud.

* * *

Aslan remembers the first moment he saw Yustea.

It wasn’t that he couldn’t avoid the child who came running out of the bushes.

He couldn’t avoid her.

“Dad─!”

The face crying out like that was so desperate.

Just like himself when he was desperately trying to survive.

On a momentary impulse, he brought Yustea with him.

And that child he brought…

“I made it secretly. …Sausage.”

She was strange.

Why did she know how to do so many things, and why was she so desperate?

Throughout the entire journey to Sanmiguel, he had never seen Yustea sleep.

Whenever there was a brief moment to rest, she would mend torn clothes, prepare meals…

Her bustling around was amusing, so he allowed Lorenzo to let her stay at the castle.

Yustea in the castle was consistent.

She tried to find something to do no matter what.

Whatever she touched became tremendously useful to the Irregulars.

“Little Teacher taught me letters!”

“Thanks to Yustea, we easily expelled Count Sanmiguel.”

Not only castle affairs.

“I know that mark. That’s a curse mark. It starts from the heart and spreads throughout the body. If it’s spread to the wrist, it’s a very serious situation…”

She even found a way to break the detestable curse.

Yustea was diligent.

Day and night, she watched over him and watched over him again.

“If you attach ice behind a fan, it’s a makeshift air conditioner! …Well, not really, but it’s very cool.”

“Did you know eating lots of sweets makes you sleepy? It’s called a sugar spike, and it’s not good for your body, but I thought it would be better for you to sleep even a little right now.”

“Oh, you’re awake? I’m sorry. I was trying to change your patch…”

Carrying a backpack as big as her body, walking up countless stairs while drenched in sweat.

Always watching carefully in case she might make him uncomfortable.

Strictly speaking, the Irregulars had only received help from that child.

Yet when someone claiming to be her former teacher tried to kidnap her to extract information about the Irregulars, she said this:

“Let go! I won’t tell you anything!”

“No! The Irregulars are good people!”

Those were the words she said after jumping from a speeding carriage and becoming covered in blood.

And still she pleaded.

“…I didn’t… tell them anything.”

“….”

“From now on… I’ll never… say anything about the Irregulars…”

“….”

“So… please don’t abandon me…”

Why?

All day he pondered why that child had done such a thing.

Antonio came with the answer.

“I asked her why she did it. She said it was because you answered her questions, Clan Leader.”

“….”

“She was happy that the Vice Clan Leader told her to have a safe trip, and she was happy when we occasionally picked fruit for her.”

It was foolish.

What was so special about such trivial things?

Even after trying so hard, she still watched others’ reactions.

Always apologizing and thanking, bowing until her back might break.

She never yielded even to difficult missions.

She nearly died going to meet Marquis Esgaroth.

Yet she giggled saying she had completed the mission.

That’s why his gaze kept going to her.

‘Won’t she come back injured from somewhere again?’

‘Isn’t she pushing herself to the point of collapse?’

‘Why does she keep apologizing after working so hard?’

Because she was foolish.

So very foolish.

So…

“It’s so warm here… I’m sorry. I’m sorry…”

He wanted to protect her.

This child who only knew how to love by throwing her whole body into it, desperately.

He looked at the child whose face was completely wet with tears.

“Yustea, I don’t know about parental affection.”

“….”

“I can’t promise I’ll be able to learn it properly in the future either.”

“….”

“But if that’s okay with you, if even someone lacking like me is okay.”

“….”

“I really want to become your father.”

Tears welled up once again in those large eyes.

Opening and closing her lips, not knowing what to do, that child forced out her voice.

“Yes…”

Those words.

He made a vow.

More earnestly than the day he had yearned for Esgaroth while standing before his master’s corpse.

To protect this foolish child who wept and was moved by even such a pathetic request for the rest of his life.

* * *

Aslan quietly watched Yustea, who had fallen asleep exhausted from crying, and hesitantly pulled up the blanket.

Is this the right way to do it?

Did I pull it up too much?

Is it stuffy?

She’s fifteen, not five, so would paying too much attention make her uncomfortable?

The man who had been thinking frowned.

“…I should have raised a child to know.”

He sighed and adjusted the position until the fabric of the blanket barely didn’t touch her chin.

Then he carefully closed the door and came out.

‘Wasn’t the sound of the door closing too loud?’

Will she wake up?

Is she a light sleeper?

Aslan pressed his ear to the door with furrowed brows.

Since he couldn’t hear any tossing and turning, she seemed to be sleeping well.

“….”

He put his hand on his waist and glared at the empty air.

After thinking for a while, he strode out of the room.

When he arrived at his office, Clan Leader Lorenzo, Yuise, and Antonio approached him.

Clan Leader Lorenzo said.

“The Paleta father and son have been put in the underground prison.”

Yuise also reported.

“We sent a letter to Esgaroth Mansion demanding punishment rights along with evidence. A reply will come within four days.”

Antonio yawned widely.

“I also assigned the clan members to guard duty. The Clan Leader told me to. He said the frightened vassals might attack.”

The Medical Association father and son incident was thus concluded.

The moment their heads were severed, the vassals would also quiet down.

Things were resolved quickly.

“Now we just need Marquis Esgaroth to announce the Clan Leader’s existence at the year-end ceremony. …Clan Leader?”

When Aslan remained silent throughout, the Clan Leader asked with a puzzled expression.

“Is something the matter?”

“Emergency meeting. Bring in the Mirror World to contact the Elites.”

“…!”

The Clan Leader’s face hardened.

Even Yuise and Antonio looked surprised.

An emergency meeting.

It was very rare for Aslan to convene an emergency meeting.

In Irregular history, there had been only two emergency meetings.

Both had been matters on which the fate of the Irregulars hung.

The Clan Leader gave Yuise a look.

Yuise immediately set up a barrier in the Clan Leader’s office and prepared the Mirror World.

Even Antonio prepared for the meeting with a tense face, drawing the curtains.

When the emergency call was made, the Elites appeared in the Mirror World.

The Clan Leader, Antonio, and Yuise sat around the sofa, while Aslan occupied the head seat.

[What is the matter?]

[Is it interference from the Imperial Palace or the Seven Families?]

[If you order our return, we will move immediately, Clan Leader.]

The Clan Leader, Antonio, and Yuise also looked at the Clan Leader.

The Clan Leader was concentrating with his chin covered by his clasped hands.

Though they didn’t know what it was, it seemed to be something tremendous.

The Clan Leader said with a stern face.

“Give your orders.”

Aslan slowly opened his mouth.

And what he said was….

“How should one raise a child?”

What?

For a moment, all the Elites were speechless.

‘What on earth is he talking about?’

The first to speak was one of the Elites in the Mirror World.

[What the hell, what is this?]

Aslan answered with a serious face.

“Everyone, investigate proper child-rearing methods.”

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