How to Replace Your Dad - Chapter 58
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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 58
Everyone rose from their seats.
The First Prince smiled brightly.
The attendants who had followed him came rushing in and presented bouquets to the noble ladies.
“The flowers may be shy before the noble ladies’ elegance, but please accept them.”
At his polite and sweet words, all the noble ladies smiled.
The Marquise also spoke with a pleased expression.
“It’s been a long time. I hope you’ve been well.”
“Yes. I’m delighted to see that you too appear to be in good health, Aunt.”
The First Prince smiled as he looked around the garden.
“I was passing by when I heard that you were in the archipelago, Aunt, so I came to visit suddenly. I hope I haven’t inconvenienced the ladies.”
“Not at all. Everyone will consider it an honor.”
“Then I’m relieved.”
The First Prince looked at me.
“Yustea.”
The noble ladies looked at us with interested expressions.
My devotion to the First Prince was a famous story.
Among nobles, it was common for marriage partners to be decided from birth.
Noble marriages were originally bridges connecting groups to groups.
Not many people married for love.
But I had loved the First Prince too much since childhood.
I had truly given him my absolute best.
‘Yet I was discarded in an instant.’
How interesting a story this must be for people in this world without movies or dramas.
I greeted him.
“I am honored by your presence.”
“I’ve heard about you often. Thanks to that, it doesn’t feel like it’s been so long since we met.”
His golden hair fluttered in the wind.
His amber eyes, slightly lighter than mine, curved gently along his eye shape.
If you were to make the word ‘prince’ into a person, it would be like him.
A fair and neat face.
Sweet eyes that matched perfectly with a white horse.
A voice as warm as spring sunlight.
The ‘prince’ in my memories faced me without a trace of tarnish.
“I’m ashamed that the commotion reached even Your Highness’s ears.”
“It could hardly be called a commotion.”
Saying that, he turned to look at the Marquise.
“If it’s alright with you, I’d like to speak with Yustea privately.”
“I’ll arrange a place.”
The Marquise looked at me and chuckled softly.
Then she instructed the butler to provide the greenhouse in the inner quarters.
He left first, and I bowed my head to the noble ladies.
“Then, if you’ll excuse me for a moment.”
“Of course. Make yourself comfortable.”
The noble ladies smiled, but couldn’t hide the regretful look in their eyes.
They were disappointed to miss the spectacle.
The butler guided me.
I walked a little distance from the butler with Yuise following behind.
Yuise whispered to me.
“Why did that annoying guy suddenly show up?”
“Who knows.”
But one thing was certain: he hadn’t come after hearing that the Marquise was in the archipelago.
The prince’s target was me.
And the Marquise’s purpose was…
“She wants me to go crazy over the First Prince again and abandon Esgaroth to go to Andres.”
“Because the Emperor wouldn’t give the imperial heir to Esgaroth, who doesn’t listen?”
“Right. Though he might to Andres, who listens well.”
“Were you so crazy about that guy that they’d assume you’d abandon Esgaroth and choose the First Prince?”
“Yes!”
When I nodded eagerly, Yuise’s face crumpled.
As we walked while whispering, we soon reached the greenhouse.
Entering the greenhouse, the First Prince, who had already taken a seat at the table, pointed to the opposite side.
I bowed my head lightly and sat in the seat he indicated.
“There’s been a lot of interesting news.”
“I’m embarrassed.”
“Why don’t you be comfortable? Like before.”
I had treated him respectfully as a prince in front of others, but spoke casually when we were alone.
He was one of the few people my past self spoke informally to.
Since he was friends with my brother Onel, we had known each other since childhood.
In place of Onel, who was no better than a stranger, he had been my older brother.
At the same time, he was my friend and someone I admired.
I sighed and said.
“If you want.”
“Your way of speaking is the same, but your name has become unfamiliar. Yustea Esgaroth.”
“It’s Quaron.”
The prince raised an eyebrow and looked at me.
I looked around the greenhouse without much interest and added.
“Yustea Esgaroth Quaron. My father is Count Quaron.”
While we were having that conversation, employees came in pulling trays.
As they placed the tea set on the table, the First Prince gazed at me intently.
“I heard you even became a Saint.”
“That’s right.”
“When did you find out?”
“Recently.”
“So when exactly recently.”
The First Prince’s voice lowered.
Yuise narrowed her brow.
She sensed a different kind of pressure in the First Prince’s voice than before.
People who had never seen First Prince Yohaël up close thought of him as merely a kind and wise man.
But this was his true nature.
As a child, I sometimes thought Yohaël was like chocolate placed before a starving animal.
You slowly die while intoxicated by the sweet taste.
After dancing in iron shoes heated by fire for that kind smile, Yohaël would discard the dancer without regret once the performance ended.
Yohaël was such a cruel man.
“Did you realize you were a Saint during the first divine wave?”
“Not then.”
“Then the second?”
“….”
“Or was it on the day of the Saint verification?”
“What exactly do you want to know?”
When I asked, Yohaël rested his chin on his hand.
“The reason you asked Luciano instead of me to enter the Holy Tower during the Saint verification ceremony.”
“So you’re asking if I found out your identity that day and was desperate enough not to be picky about who I asked.”
His eyes curved gently.
That meant yes.
Around that time, teacups were placed in front of the First Prince and me.
I picked up my teacup and answered.
“I was picky about who I asked. That’s why it was Prince Luciano.”
“Why is that?”
“Because I dislike you.”
The moment I answered nonchalantly, there was a clattering sound.
An employee moving the teapot had let it slip from their hands.
They were startled by my words.
Everyone from the employees to the knights tilted their heads slightly to compose their shocked expressions.
Yuise stared at me with wide eyes.
And the person in question, the First Prince…
“That’s an unexpected answer.”
“How unfortunate.”
“Are you serious?”
I nodded and spoke clearly.
“Very. Really. Completely.”
Everyone in the greenhouse held their breath.
Though they were desperately avoiding eye contact, I could feel them focusing on my conversation with the First Prince.
The First Prince let out a small “hmm.”
This was his habit when calculating his opponent.
“You really must be quite hurt.”
When I looked at him as if asking what he meant while lifting my teacup, he answered.
“The Marquise came to see Mother. She said you were so hurt that you were avoiding Andres.”
Come to think of it, there had been continuous contact from the estate.
I had ignored Andres’s contact along with the other guests.
“How about thinking of it as a mistake and letting it go? Stella said she would forgive the poisoning incident too.”
The First Prince picked up a cookie from the plate of refreshments and offered it to me.
I stared at the cookie intently.
“You used to give me cookies like this often when I was at Andres, didn’t you?”
“Did I?”
“Every time you did something cruel to me, you would give me cookies like this.”
“Ah.”
“Because you knew I was weak to this behavior.”
When we first met… that is, the day I came to admire him.
I was hiding in a corner of the Andres estate, crying.
Because I hadn’t achieved grades that would satisfy Count Andres.
I was afraid he would find out and treat me coldly.
While I was crouched down crying for a while, someone bent down to meet my gaze.
“Why are you crying?”
It was the First Prince, who had come to the estate to meet my brother Onel.
He handed me a wrapped cookie and said to me as I sniffled in surprise.
“Would something sweet help?”
“When we first met, you gave me a cookie and asked if something sweet would help stop the crying.”
“I think you smiled and said it helped.”
“Actually, it didn’t.”
I took the cookie from his hand and continued.
“What I liked wasn’t the cookie, but the hand you extended to me.”
I squinted my eyes and examined the cookie from various angles as I continued.
“How could I not like it? You’re handsome.”
“…What?”
The First Prince, who had been smiling, opened his eyes wide.
It was an expression I’d never seen before.
He was always so composed, as if he could predict me.
I shrugged my shoulders.
“With such a handsome face saying such sweet words, how could I not fall for it?”
“Should I say thank you?”
He chuckled.
As if he found it truly amusing.
“Actually, more than the cookie, I liked it when our hands brushed while receiving it. It made me so excited I couldn’t sleep at night.”
“I don’t know what to say. Only unexpected words are coming out.”
“But not anymore. Maybe it’s because I’ve seen someone more handsome.”
“…What?”
I crunched on the cookie.
“It’s delicious. I’ll take some to Stella.”
“What do you mean?”
“Stop acting so fatally charming. It’s annoying.”
Someone let out a small gasp.
I stood up from my seat.
“If you have nothing more to say, I’ll be going now. Please return safely.”
And I turned my back without any lingering attachment.
Yuise, who met my eyes, secretly gave me a thumbs up.
I smiled brightly and left the room.
Yuise followed me with a grin.
* * *
Yohaël, who remained in the greenhouse, quietly looked at the table.
On Yustea’s plate lay a partially bitten cookie, all alone.
An attendant approached.
“Shall I order an arrest for blasphemy?”
“On what grounds would you charge blasphemy?”
“That would be…”
“For saying that acting fatally charming is annoying?”
“…”
The attendant swallowed his words with a troubled expression.
Yohaël chuckled.
“Never mind, inform the Imperial Palace. Tell them it ended disappointingly.”
“Yes…”
As the attendant withdrew, Yohaël stood up.
He looked at Yustea’s seat for a moment.
Though he had known that child for a long time, it was an expression he’d never seen before.
An unfamiliar gaze, an unfamiliar tone.
It was so strange he wondered if this was the same person he knew.
“This is the first time I can’t calculate someone.”
It was peculiar that this was the child whose thoughts he could see clearly just by making eye contact.
“But not anymore. Maybe it’s because I’ve seen someone more handsome.”
“…Who could it be. Someone more handsome than me.”
If that’s Luciano, things would become boring.
The First Prince’s eyes were cold as he turned around.
* * *
“Who’s more handsome? Me?”
“Yes? Father.”
When I answered cheerfully, Yuise made a displeased expression.
But she couldn’t say anything.
Anyone would acknowledge he’s a genius when it comes to looks.
Just as I was thinking that.
“If you had seen me when I was young, you wouldn’t have said that.”
“I would have said it even then. Yusi.”
When I quickly turned my head at the voice calling me, I saw Father and Marquis Esgaroth.
So Yuise had closed her mouth because she saw Father.
“How did you come here?”
“I heard the Marquise called for you.”
“So you called the Marquis too?”
“He was here when I came. …Old man with quick news.”
Father’s expression became more displeased than Yuise’s.
I looked at Marquis Esgaroth.
“Don’t you have many people to meet outside since you’ll have to go down to the manor soon?”
“That’s right.”
Then why did he return home so quickly?
Seeing my expression, Marquis Esgaroth laughed heartily.
“Javid came up, you see.”
I was startled and opened my eyes wide.
Javid. Father’s half-brother.
In other words, the real mastermind behind the monstrous bird incident, the Marquise’s own son.
“I have something to tell you. About the monstrous bird incident.”
Just as I was about to tell them that Javid was the real mastermind.
Father said to me.
“I’ll handle that. Just give me Javid’s seal.”
“How do you know all that…. Did you hear it from Yuise?”
I was too busy treating Ros to inform Father of the news.
But how does he know?
“Princesses these days aren’t just protected, you know.”
Father investigated, confirmed the mastermind, and found evidence.
Amazing.
It was easy for me since I found out through Ros and Roslin, who were the ones who cast the alchemy.
But Father is different.
Without any information, and even unable to use Yuise, the intelligence chief, he reached that conclusion.
Then he must also know the alchemist’s identity, and knowing I took in the Ros siblings, he covered for them.
“The tea party is over. The noble ladies and princes will return, so you go to the Second Residence too. You need to prepare to go down to Quaron.”
“Yes.”
Father patted my head.
I greeted Father and the Marquis, then headed to the carriage station with Yuise.
* * *
Thud. Thud.
The Marquise walked loudly and threw open the office door.
Inside the office sat the Marquis, Aslan, and administrative officials.
She glared at the Marquis.
“You brought that thing to where I am?”
“Yustea comes, but is there a reason Aslan can’t come?”
“You’re doing this just because he touched some little girl? So you stopped the party I hosted and gave me the humiliation of sending the guests away!”
The Marquise shrieked loudly.
The administrative officials looked troubled.
Even if she pretends to be cultured in her old age, her true nature doesn’t change.
The Marquise was a former princess who monopolized the late emperor’s affection and lived without fear of anything in the world.
Once her eyes turned, she would raise her head even to the Marquis.
The Marquise shouted.
“Isn’t she a girl brought in for the sake of both families? What’s wrong with me trying to use her for the family’s contribution?”
“Shut your mouth.”
“Since we’ve gotten our hands on a Saint anyway, let’s call her out and use her everywhere from now on. How about sending her as the second wife to the seventy-year-old King of Tabira…!”
The shouting Marquise flinched.
Because she saw the man who entered behind her.
A large man with black curly hair tied back.
It was her son, Javid.
“Javid, why are you….”
“I came because I have business. Mother, what are you so angry about?”
“What brings you here without notice?”
“That bastard doesn’t know shame and is rummaging around the archipelago, so I had to step forward.”
Saying that, Javid looked at Aslan, who was standing across from the Marquis.
“Yes, you’re that vulgar bastard—.”
That was the moment.
Crack—!
Aslan threw a punch right at Javid’s face.
Javid, pushed back, hit the wall with a bang!
The Marquise rushed to him as he collapsed.
“What is this behavior!”
“When a blade points at someone else’s child, my child’s belly gets pierced.”
“What, what…?”
Aslan’s fist struck Javid’s face once more with a thud.
“Cough!”
It was right next to the Marquise’s hand as she held Javid.
The startled Marquise took a sharp breath.
“You, you….”
“If you lay a hand on my daughter from now on, I’ll do this to your child.”
“…!”
Aslan grabbed Javid’s hair and said.
“It would be troublesome if you lost consciousness. Your crimes haven’t been settled yet.”
His red eyes flickered ominously.
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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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