How to Replace Your Dad - Chapter 45

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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 45

A hellish silence flowed through the office.

It was a deeper quiet than before.

Only after a long while did one of the Elites finally speak up.

[I think there’s something wrong with my ears.]

[If it’s about child-rearing methods, I seem to have heard correctly. Haha…]

Even Yuise and the Clan Leader frowned.

“What do you mean by that?”

“Yes, please explain in detail.”

Aslan spoke with a strange attitude.

“Exactly what I said.”

“…Pardon?”

“Pardon?!”

[Are… are you having a child?]

Upon reaching the conclusion that there would be a child, the Clan Leader and Yuise swallowed dryly.

“It’s something to celebrate, but… still, a child at such a busy time… Considering the dangers ahead, we’d need to assign a whole unit for protection… no, do we even have the capacity to spare unit-level members right now…”

The Clan Leader was the first to agonize.

“This is driving me crazy. Really…”

Just as Yuise and the other Elites in the Mirror World were also agonizing,

Antonio stared intently at the Clan Leader.

“Then will the Young Lady become the new Clan Leader?”

Yuise spoke in an irritated tone.

“Why is this idiot spouting nonsense again. Why would Yustea come up there.”

“If the Clan Leader raises the Young Lady, she becomes the successor. If she’s the Clan Leader’s successor, she’s our new Clan Leader.”

“What kind of…”

Antonio frowned.

“Are you guys stupid? Is the Clan Leader a hermaphrodite? How can he make a child when he’s never met a woman.”

The Elites flinched.

Yuise swallowed dryly.

‘Who’s calling who… no, more than that, he really intends to make Yustea his child?’

Not just giving her status for a mission, but really?

The Elites simultaneously looked at the Clan Leader.

The Clan Leader answered nonchalantly.

“That’s right.”

“…!”

“…!!”

The Elites in the Mirror World froze.

Just not disowning her immediately was already amazing, but he really wants to make her his daughter?

The Elites were flabbergasted, but the Clan Leader’s face remained unchanged.

“So go investigate properly. Child-rearing methods.”

It wasn’t a level they could persuade him against.

The Elites in the Mirror World held their heads in their hands.

The butterfly that had infiltrated the Irregulars had finally brought a storm.

* * *

The next morning.

Even though dawn had broken long ago, I couldn’t get out of bed.

I stared blankly into space while gripping the blanket.

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

“…”

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

“…”

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

“…”

“I really want to become your father.”

“Wow…”

This was already the fourth time I’d traced through the memory, but I remember every single word.

It wasn’t a dream.

It was definitely reality.

“Wow…”

This was also the fourth time I’d let out that exclamation.

Just then, I heard a knock on the door.

“Young Lady, breakfast is ready in the restaurant.”

It was Charlie’s voice.

Only then did I hurriedly get up.

“Yeah, I’ll be right out.”

I quickly got ready and left the room.

As we walked to the restaurant, Charlie spoke in a bright voice.

“Today’s menu is paella. You like it, don’t you, Young Lady?”

“Mm-hmm…”

“Yesterday the Medical Association President and his son attacked the Clan Leader, right? They were immediately caught and sent to the underground prison though.”

“Yeah…”

“There was an emergency meeting called in the middle of the night, it was chaos. They say it’s execution for treason. The vassals got so scared they became so well-behaved…”

“I see…”

“Young Lady?”

When I answered absent-mindedly, Charlie tilted his head and looked at me.

“Huh?”

“What’s wrong?”

“Well… it’s nothing.”

“You’re not sick, are you?”

“No.”

“That’s a relief… oh, it’s the Clan Leader.”

Charlie smiled brightly and looked at the men walking far ahead.

“He must be going to eat. You could have breakfast together… Young Lady?”

Charlie called me once more.

It was because I had quickly hidden behind a pillar.

I stuck close to the pillar and said.

“Charlie, go eat at the military camp.”

“But I need to escort you, Young Lady…?”

“I’m fine. I don’t think I’m very hungry.”

“…?”

I quickly turned around.

I could feel Charlie looking at me strangely, but I couldn’t answer him.

It wasn’t for any special reason.

I just don’t know what to do with myself when I’m happy like this…

* * *

At that moment, in the Clan Leader’s office.

The Clan Leader and Yuise looked at each other.

“What do you think?”

“…Well, I didn’t want Yustea to be disowned either. You feel the same way, don’t you, Clan Leader?”

“That’s right.”

“But why are you anxious?”

“Wouldn’t it be because of that?”

Both their gazes turned toward the Clan Leader and Antonio.

The Clan Leader was examining the books that Antonio had randomly grabbed from the library.

The titles were as follows:

【Babies Raise Their Parents】

【A Beginner Dad’s Baby Food Challenge】

【Parenting Bible: Understanding Developmental Characteristics】

【Please Teach Me, Teacher ~How to Be a Dad Loved Even During Adolescence~】

“….”

“….”

This is a bit excessive.

No, quite a lot….

Antonio held up 【I Hate the Sight of My Son-in-Law, But I Chose Embracing Over Assassination】 and said.

“Don’t we need this?”

The Clan Leader nodded with a serious expression.

“Do I really have to embrace him?”

“You do.”

“Next.”

“Then what about 【If You Want Your Adult Daughter to Call You Sweetie, Read This Book】?”

“Not bad.”

This is maddening.

The Clan Leader and Yuise shook their heads simultaneously.

In any case, the Clan Leader made an effort.

Even amid his busy schedule, he thoroughly read adolescent education books (thanks to Yuise’s dissuasion that the time for child-rearing had already passed).

The Clan Leader was exhausted.

The Elites scattered across various regions made his communication device ring incessantly.

[Are you really going to leave things like this? The path to becoming a Marquis is already treacherous enough, and now a daughter from Andres? Do you think this makes sense?]

[For once, Cesar’s opinion is correct. If you need a child, it doesn’t have to be that girl.]

[Cesar told me to contact you. Haha…. But I agree it’s a troublesome situation.]

The Clan Leader became haggard in just half a day.

Yuise was equally tormented.

“Would this book be better next?”

“…She’s fifteen, what are you going to do by learning about developmental characteristics from the beginning? She’s already fully developed.”

“Then bring me a book on how to tuck in blankets properly.”

“You just tuck blankets in roughly…. She won’t die from having it pulled up to her head.”

“I heard children can die just from pressing on their heads.”

“That’s about newborns whose fontanelles haven’t closed yet….”

“Doesn’t she look as fragile as a child?”

“Yustea carries a backpack twice her size! She’s healthier than most girls!”

He had to answer all sorts of questions.

Just because he was supposedly the most familiar with women among the Elites.

Answering questions alone was exhausting, but the Clan Leader even frowned after hearing the answers.

“She collapses frequently. She’s not healthy.”

“If you jump out of carriages or get caught in fire accidents, even adult men would collapse.”

“She’s smaller than her peers. Look. The books say someone her age should be at least 165 centimeters tall on average.”

“That’s because she’s still growing, so we won’t know until she’s fully grown… This is really driving me crazy.”

The Clan Leader was serious about raising a child.

Seriously….

Eventually, Antonio, Yuise, and the Clan Leader had to be detained by the Clan Leader for two full days as punishment for being at Kuaron Castle.

Well, Antonio seemed excited unlike Yuise and the Clan Leader though.

“How about throwing 15 years’ worth of birthday parties?”

“…That might not be bad.”

The Clan Leader and Yuise shouted.

“This is someone who finds even a single ribbon burdensome at 2,200 potatoes.”

“Besides, it’s 14 years. The 15th birthday hasn’t come yet.”

“Are you saying you’ll do it?”

“…Oops.”

The Clan Leader and Yuise sighed deeply enough to make the ground sink.

Yuise checked the sun high in the sky outside the window and said.

“But Yuste….”

The Clan Leader glanced at him sharply.

Yuise cleared his throat and changed his words.

“Hasn’t Young Lady woken up yet?”

The Clan Leader’s expression changed.

Even if yesterday she fell asleep exhausted from crying until the next day, she hasn’t shown her face all day today.

She’s someone who wakes up early.

Antonio said.

“Is she feeling unwell?”

Yustea was sensitive to others’ affairs but extremely indifferent to her own.

Since she often hid her illnesses, it was concerning.

“Should I check?”

When the Clan Leader asked, the Clan Leader stood up.

“I’ll go.”

The Clan Leader and the Elites left the room.

They were walking down the corridor when.

“Should security logs be written in formal language? Official documents should be written formally, but security logs can be in casual language too.”

Yustea’s voice could be heard from a distance.

Antonio looked pleased.

“She doesn’t seem to be sick.”

With that, Antonio raised his arm high.

“Young La─.”

But then it happened.

Swoosh.

Yustea disappeared like lightning.

“…?”

“…??”

The Elites looked bewildered.

Thinking she might not have heard, they went looking for Yustea again.

But….

“Young Lady.”

Swoosh.

She disappeared again.

The next time too.

“Young Lady!”

Swoosh.

And the next time as well….

It became clear.

Yustea was avoiding them.

Yuise looked at the Clan Leader.

“What did you talk about with Young Lady Yustea at the end?”

“That I would become her father.”

“So what did she say?”

“She cried and said ‘yes.'”

Then Antonio said “Ah.”

“She must have really hated it…”

Then the Clan Leader furrowed his brow.

“What?”

“She really hated it but had nowhere to go, so she couldn’t disobey the Clan Leader’s words, right?”

“….”

“She originally became an adopted daughter because of a mission. From the Young Lady’s perspective, the Clan Leader is her boss.”

“….”

“If your boss suddenly says he’ll really make you his daughter… wow, that’s awful.”

“….”

The Clan Leader looked at the Clan Leader and Yuise.

The Clan Leader and Yuise quickly averted their gazes.

If that wasn’t the case, there would be no reason to avoid him.

* * *

I reached the garden gazebo and caught my breath.

Running away like crazy every time I encountered the Clan Leader was exhausting me to death.

Charlie looked at me with a strange expression.

“Did the Clan Leader perhaps say he’d kill you if he ran into you?”

“No!”

I shouted in surprise.

“The Clan Leader isn’t like that. He’s a really good person.”

“Then why do you run away like that?”

“…It’s a habit.”

I let out a deep sigh.

I’m used to suppressing unpleasant emotions, but suppressing joy or happiness is different.

My face keeps heating up and my lips get all soft, making me look unsightly.

The people of Andres hated that expression of mine, calling it uncultured.

So hiding became a habit.

‘I need to fix this.’

Even though I think that every time, my feet move on their own.

What if the Clan Leader finds it unpleasant?

What if he takes back his words about making me his daughter…

Then…

I hit my head with both hands.

Charlie jumped up saying “Oh my!”

“Why are you hitting yourself? Hit Antonio instead!”

“I want to go to the Clan Leader for dinner.”

“Should I tell him you’d like to have dinner together?”

“Yes.”

“Understood.”

Charlie left with quick steps, saying he’d deliver the message right away.

I sat on the gazebo bench and sighed.

‘Put strength in my legs, raise the corners of my mouth. And tell him that his words yesterday made me happy.’

I steeled my resolve while recalling the sequence like learning etiquette.

While I was doing that, Charlie returned before I knew it.

“Young Lady, the Clan Leader says dinner is fine.”

I stood up with a start.

‘Was he in a bad mood?’

Of course he would be, right?

Who would like a child who runs away as soon as they meet, after being given such a good opportunity?

I clenched both hands into fists.

‘Let’s apologize. After apologizing…’

I was swallowing dry saliva when Charlie continued speaking.

“He asked if he could see you before dinner.”

“…Huh?”

“Over there.”

Charlie gestured toward the back of the gazebo.

When I turned around, I could see a familiar collar.

“….”

I couldn’t say anything and just stared at where the collar was.

A low voice echoed through the quiet gazebo.

“Even if you hate it, I can’t take it back.”

“….”

“I won’t do something like disowning you.”

“….”

“I’ve already decided to make you my child, so I’ll work hard to change your heart.”

“….”

“I’m even learning about child-rearing… educational methods. I’ll be a better father than Count Andres. So…”

He hesitated.

Because I had grabbed his collar.

The Clan Leader looked at me with surprise.

“…You were already a better father than Count Andres from the beginning.”

“You don’t hate it?”

“I didn’t run away because I hated it.”

“Then.”

I hesitated for a long time before speaking.

“…Because I liked it.”

“….”

“Because I liked it so much…”

How could I not like such a father?

A father who wouldn’t abandon me even if I made mistakes.

A father who would immediately come after me even if I ran away.

“May I really think of the Clan Leader as my father?”

He looked at me and slowly placed his hand on top of my head.

He ruffled my hair and smiled.

“Yes.”

I thought much later, reminiscing about today.

That day was when this place became my home.

My home, where I have a real father.

“Should the title be Father?”

“Should I call you Father?”

“….”

“…?”

He quickly turned his head and said.

“…Dad is good. It seems closer.”

I smiled brightly.

That day, I replaced my dad.

Time passed.

Upon arriving at the Archipelago, I jumped down from the carriage and said.

“Dad, it’s snowing!”

Antonio Yuise quickly followed behind me.

“Young Lady, your coat! Your coat!”

“The ground is frozen. You’ll fall, Young Lady.”

Dad, who got off the carriage after us, said.

“Be careful, Yusi.”

It was four days before the year-end festival.

* * *

Marquis Esgaroth said he would announce Dad’s existence at the year-end festival.

For that day, we father and daughter, along with Antonio and Yuise, came up to the Archipelago.

Our lodging was Esgaroth’s Second Manor.

While unpacking at the lodging, there was a knock knock sound at the door.

It was Dad and Antonio.

“If you’re roughly settled, let’s go out.”

“Where to?”

“To your mother.”

“…!”

I looked at Dad in surprise.

Then Antonio grinned.

“You actually wanted to go see her as soon as we arrived at the Archipelago, right?”

That was true.

I was too busy with territorial affairs to find any time to come to the Archipelago.

The Irregulars had never governed a large territory like Cuaron before, so they needed my help.

“Can I really go?”

“Yes.”

“Dad too?”

“I need to pay my respects.”

I smiled brightly and hugged Dad’s waist.

Dad patted my head.

So Dad, Antonio, and I immediately headed to where Mother was entrusted.

We traveled by carriage, but were stopped at the boundary of the Second Manor.

Antonio stuck his face out the carriage window.

“It looks like it’s under control. What’s going on?”

The area where the Second Manor is located is a district where the upper class of the Archipelago lives.

They’re controlling such a place?

While wondering what was happening, someone who appeared to be from the Imperial Army knocked on the carriage.

“We are investigating the attempted assassination of the Prince of Tabilra that occurred at the Grand Salon. Come out. There will be an inspection.”

So the attempted assassination of the Tabilra Prince is happening now.

Tabilra was a country that ranked among the top five on the continent.

It was a matter that required even the heads of the Seven Families to be inspected.

Dad, Antonio, and I soon got off the carriage.

Outside was bustling with people.

It seemed like even the great nobles moving from the Grand Salon were all being inspected.

I looked at Dad while waiting for our turn to be inspected.

“Dad, aren’t you cold?”

Just as I was adjusting Dad’s coat.

“Yustea? Isn’t that Yustea!”

I turned my head toward where the voice came from.

Middle-aged nobles were gathered there.

Looking at one of them, I held my breath.

Rohan Andres.

Because he was my biological father.

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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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