How to Replace Your Dad - Chapter 80
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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 80
Deep wrinkles formed between Onel’s brows.
He looked at me frantically and asked.
“What?”
“I called you a madman.”
I crossed my arms and looked at him with an expressionless face.
“How strange. Both the Marchioness and you.”
“….”
“Only now do I become precious to you.”
“….”
“You think an apology will solve everything. Well, maybe it could. I was that easy a person to you all.”
“….”
“But not anymore.”
“….”
“I met people who think of me as infinitely precious even when I was at my most wretched.”
“….”
Onel couldn’t say anything.
His Adam’s apple moved up and down.
I looked at him coldly and continued speaking.
“Let me be clear, if there’s something wrong with our relationship, it’s not because I reminded you of your miserable past.”
“….”
“It’s because I chose the wrong person to love.”
I shouted to the coachman’s seat.
“Stop. I’m getting off.”
“…Go to the castle at least. What are you getting off for in the middle of the night.”
“Yuise is chasing after us outside.”
Onel narrowed his brows and looked out the window.
Yuise, sitting on the coachman’s seat, was driving his horse like mad, chasing after us.
His face looked quite fierce.
That face was so funny that I laughed a little.
Onel looked at me like that.
And said as if grinding his teeth.
“Stop.”
The carriage stopped.
Just as I was about to get off.
Onel threw something at me.
It was some kind of pouch.
When I opened it, there was a round yellow bead the size of a fingernail.
The moment I saw what looked like a pearl, my eyes widened.
“It’s the Essence of Ecstasy I promised.”
“Thank you!”
“….”
I smiled brightly and headed toward Yuise.
Yuise ground his teeth with a grinding sound.
“From next time, I’ll have to assign two guards. I almost called the Clan Leader thinking you were kidnapped.”
“He shouldn’t come. That would be big trouble. But look at this. The Essence of Ecstasy.”
“…?!”
Yuise’s eyes widened too.
“Now I won’t get hurt from lack of mana.”
“Yeah!”
He looked at me and smiled brightly.
* * *
Through the window, Yustea’s smiling face caught his eye.
There had been times when that child smiled like that in front of Onel too.
“Brother got first place again, right? Grandmother was pleased. I was so happy too, so—.”
And it passed by.
“Brother’s birthday cake. I asked Her Majesty the Empress Dowager, and the patissier from the Empress Dowager’s palace—.”
And it passed by again….
Onel turned his gaze away from the window.
The carriage began moving again.
Arriving at the castle was quick.
When he arrived, there was a summons from his father.
“I heard there was a commotion at the marketplace.”
“…Yustea encountered a cook from the restaurant where she used to work in the past. The cook didn’t recognize Yustea’s status and was rude—.”
“So, did divine instability occur.”
“….”
The Marquis’s eyes flashed.
Onel looked at his father with a hardened face.
“To think Yustea went through such hardships.”
“It’s natural for a child expelled from the family to go through such hardships. You couldn’t have failed to anticipate that much when you asked to have that child’s name erased from the family registry.”
“At that time, Stella was… Stella was in great danger….”
At that time, Stella was hovering between life and death.
She coughed up blood countless times a day.
Even with dozens of healers and doctors attending to her, she didn’t get better.
They couldn’t even figure out what kind of poison she had consumed.
The first talk of expelling her from the family was a threat.
If she didn’t tell them what kind of poison it was, she would be expelled.
So tell them.
Yustea stubbornly kept her mouth shut.
So….
“Now I think this. Maybe it really wasn’t Yustea….”
“That would be right.”
“…!”
At the words that came out readily, Onel’s face hardened stiffly.
He couldn’t immediately understand what he had just heard.
He was so flustered, so dumbfounded….
“What do you mean by that….”
“It was the Ancien Empire Restoration Society that poisoned Stella. They probably thought a saint wasn’t necessary. So they tried to eliminate Stella, a promising saint candidate.”
“What? How did the Ancien Empire Restoration Society approach Stella?”
“It was Benjamin.”
“What….”
“Your friend Benjamin is a member of the Ancien Empire Restoration Society.”
“…!”
“There’s no way Yustea would poison Stella. That child would rather drink lye herself than feed poison to someone else.”
Because he thought that way, he excluded Yustea from the initial investigation.
And he found out.
It was Benjamin who poisoned Stella.
And that Benjamin was a member of the Ancien Empire Restoration Society.
“Knowing that… knowing that, why…!”
“Thanks to the poisoning incident, I formed an alliance with the Ancien Empire Restoration Society. I promised them positions as meritorious subjects when their desired task succeeds. It doesn’t matter if they fail. The Empire will fall into chaos, and chaos always leads to the revival of power.”
“So that’s why you gave up Yustea.”
“That’s right. She was a suitable target. Dia’s growing influence was getting on my nerves.”
In exchange for sparing Yustea’s life, Dia handed over the entire trading post.
And then she left, holding her daughter’s hand.
“How… how could you do such a thing!”
Yustea was completely innocent.
All the evidence was fabricated.
Deceived by it, they drove Yustea away.
So that innocent child had suffered all kinds of hardships.
“She washed dishes at a restaurant. While being looked down upon by lowly people.”
“So I heard.”
“Her hands are covered in wounds.”
“It seemed that way.”
“You… you’re not human—!”
A bitter smile appeared on the Marquis’s lips.
Rising from his seat, he approached Onel, who had turned pale.
The Marquis grasped Onel’s chin with his fingertips and spoke.
“I’m regretful too. Not only did she become a Saint, but she’s accomplished all sorts of feats.”
“….”
“So I’m thinking of taking her back.”
“….”
“This time, very preciously.”
Moonlight poured in through the window.
Light shattered along the outline of Marquis Andres, Rohan Andres.
His eerily glowing blue eyes were as chilling as those of a snake.
“So when that child stays at Andres, I’d like you to turn her heart around. Her mother seems to have failed.”
“….”
Onel gritted his teeth.
* * *
[So when that child stays at Andres, I’d like you to turn her heart around. Her mother seems to have failed.]
Oscar’s crow chattered.
The crow had eavesdropped on the conversation between the Marquis and Onel in the Marquis Andres’s chamber while pretending to swim through the night.
Yuise’s face was utterly cold.
“Marquis Andres really isn’t human.”
[So that’s why you gave up Yustea.]
[That’s right. She was a suitable target. Dia’s growing influence was getting on my nerves.]
I was curious.
About why all the evidence in the poisoning incident pointed to me.
Since this was a game obsessed with the protagonist Stella, I thought maybe I had to disappear to solidify her relationships with family members.
But that wasn’t it.
“Since Marquis Andres ordered the fabrication, it couldn’t be helped.”
“That piece of trash. I’ll kill him!”
As Yuise tried to rush out, I grabbed him.
“It’s okay.”
“It’s not okay. How can a biological father commit such an absurd act…!”
“It just made what I need to do clear.”
“What?”
“If I can’t devour the Ancien Empire Restoration Society, then Stella shouldn’t devour it either.”
“That’s true, but why bring that up here?”
“I can make the Ancien Empire Restoration Society and Andres into enemies.”
“Is there a way?”
“The Marquis is a meticulous person. He’ll have evidence that can prove the Ancien Empire Restoration Society.”
“Find it and make it public?”
“Right, if that comes from the Marquis’s hands, he’ll become complete enemies with the Ancien Empire Restoration Society.”
“But how are you going to find that…”
Yuise, who had been muttering, flinched.
“Don’t tell me you.”
“I’ll lure Marquis Andres outside, so search his room.”
“Well, it’s what I always do anyway, but will you be okay?”
“I have to…”
Even though it’s disgusting.
I made a sad expression.
* * *
The next day.
The Marquis’s wake-up time is early.
He starts moving when it’s pitch dark and sits at his desk before dawn breaks.
He was looking at documents in his office.
Rustle.
“….”
Rustle.
“….”
Rustle.
The Marquis put down his documents.
Then he got up and headed toward the window.
“What are you doing.”
He had been hearing sounds of someone outside the window all along.
The culprit of the sounds was crouched down, wearing a large-brimmed hat so their face wasn’t visible.
“I-I’m sorry.”
“…?”
It was a familiar voice.
The crouched figure raised their head.
It was Yustea.
Holding a flower in each hand.
“…I wanted to put some flowers in the vase.”
“….”
“Since I’m leaving the day after tomorrow.”
“….”
“It’s absolutely not because I like you, Marquis. I find you disgusting. But still… since I’m leaving, I wanted to do at least one last thing.”
“….”
“Since I got caught, I’ll just give these to you and go.”
Yustea stood up hesitantly and held out the flowers.
“….”
Lily of the valley, which surely means happiness.
Marigold, which means health.
When living with Yustea, these flowers were always in the office vase.
“…You came just to give me this?”
“Yes.”
“You don’t seem to hate me as much as I thought.”
“That’s a misunderstanding. I really hate you.”
The Marquis chuckled softly.
“You’re leaving the day after tomorrow.”
“Yes, all the contamination has been resolved and well….”
“Don’t you think about staying a bit longer? It seems like you and Onel have a lot to talk about.”
“Onel is holed up in his room and won’t come out. Even when Benjamin and his friends came looking for him last night, he wouldn’t come out.”
He seemed shocked by his father’s inhumanity.
The Marquis raised an eyebrow slightly.
‘How useless.’
The Marchioness was also staying shut in her room, shocked just the same.
For Yustea, family was the most precious thing.
‘With two of them shut away, in the end you’re the only one left, aren’t you?’
Yustea smiled secretly.
The Marquis’s gaze shifted sideways.
After a moment of silence as if thinking about something, he spoke.
“Are you going to the contaminated area today too?”
“Yes. It’s the final purification. And after checking tomorrow, I’ll leave right away.”
“I’ll go with you.”
‘I knew it.’
He wouldn’t want to let Yustea slip away.
Just having a Saint meant great significance to both the Imperial Palace and the Temple.
To the Ancient Empire Restoration Society, she was a powerful weapon.
Yustea rolled her eyes around.
“Oh, then would you like to follow later? I’m going to ride a horse.”
“Horse?”
“Since I’ll never come to Andres again, let me take one last look around my hometown.”
The Marquis stared intently at Yustea’s eyes.
There was no sign of trouble at all in her words about following.
‘She’s planning something.’
He didn’t know what kind of scheme she was trying to pull, but it wouldn’t be particularly bad to play along.
“Let’s go together.”
“Then do as you wish.”
Yustea said to meet at the stable in 30 minutes and left.
As she was walking away with big strides, she went “Ah” and stopped, then turned back to look at the Marquis.
And she bowed her head politely.
“Good morning.”
“Good morning… Father….”
The face that used to greet him shyly and hesitantly overlapped.
When did you start looking me straight in the eye?
* * *
I quickly went up to my room.
“Success. I’ll take him out like this, so search through both the room and the office.”
“Got it.”
“Carol is in charge of organizing the office, Mrs. Anita is in charge of organizing the room. Remember this in case you need their help.”
“I remembered.”
After saying that, I put on a thick coat and hurried to the stable.
Marquis Andres was already at the stable.
The horse Marquis Andres chose was a white horse.
It was a horse that boasted the finest bloodline among thoroughbreds, and it was so fast it had the nickname of divine horse.
And my horse was….
“Wow, Annie, it’s been so long….”
I rubbed my cheek against Annie’s face.
She was like a daughter to Chlorsio, Marquis Andres’s horse.
She was small before I left, but now she had become a fine mare.
“May I ride Annie?”
“As you wish.”
So the Marquis and I mounted our horses and set off.
We rode through forests and fields, avoiding the crowds.
It felt very refreshing to ride a horse after so long.
It was refreshing, but….
“Ow….”
After more than an hour, it became painful.
Horseback riding… it was hard work.
When I started groaning, the Marquis stopped his horse.
Since it was winter, we decided to stop for a while on the frozen grassland.
Sitting on a flat rock, I patted my back.
“Weren’t you good at horseback riding?”
“I am good at it. It’s just hard to ride for a long time.”
“Before, you didn’t have trouble riding for hours.”
“I endured it because I didn’t want to disappoint you. I wanted to be a useful daughter to Father… Ah.”
I stopped mid-sentence after speaking carelessly.
“I wanted to be a useful daughter to the Marquis.”
“I don’t judge usefulness by such things.”
“I suppose you wouldn’t. That’s why you favored Stella who brought you information.”
“….”
“But you know what? I know a lot of information too.”
I stretched out my index finger and said.
“Ghosts live in the Yopis Family Graveyard.”
“That would be natural since the graves are contaminated.”
“And when they see me, they say ‘Don’t know, run away, damn it!’ and flee.”
“….”
When I grinned, he had an incredulous expression.
“That’s information, right?”
“I did learn that you’re a child who knows how to curse.”
“It means the ghosts are that afraid of me. I’m a really scary purifier, you know.”
“You….”
“Oh, are you cold? You dressed too lightly.”
He shouldn’t say it’s cold and suggest we go back quickly.
I took off my incredibly thick fur coat that made me look almost like a walking bear when worn, and draped it over the Marquis’s shoulders.
“It’s warm, right?”
“….”
He became silent again.
‘We can’t have a conversation.’
I need to stall for time somehow.
Isn’t there anything that could help?
‘Ah, come to think of it, the divine prophecy percentage is almost full.’
Name: Yustea Esgaroth Quaron
Class: Saint
Traits: Purification, Healing, Status Window (Activated), Divine Prophecy (100% (More))
MP: 55/59
.
.
‘As expected, it rose.’
Here it climbs up like crazy.
Is this how it normally works?
Thinking that, I activated the divine oracle.
Then.
Count Andres falls into first love.
‘…What?’
At that age?
His stamina is good too!
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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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