How to Replace Your Dad - Chapter 99

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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 99

Stella’s face turned pale.

Luciano’s gaze was cold, and even the unit members glanced at her with disdainful expressions.

It was definitely true.

I had answered the questions from the unit members and Luciano, but not Stella’s.

Because she would argue against anything I said first, and I didn’t want to waste time trying to persuade her.

Stella became quiet.

Thanks to that, the unit members and I could examine the statues much more comfortably.

Antonio’s unit member muttered.

“These look like real works of art.”

“What?”

“Ah, the statues lined up in front of the door. Unlike the statues randomly placed in the rear area, their poses and expressions really look like sculptures.”

Indeed, the statues lined up in front of the door looked like sculptures.

A brave pose with a sword extended.

Cowering in fear, a pose that truly conveyed terror.

A pose with one arm covering the eyes and the other arm stretched out.

Not just the poses, but the expressions were also vivid, unlike the statues placed in the rear area.

Another unit member said.

“They must have selected only those kinds. To sell them.”

Everyone seemed to accept this explanation.

I asked Stella.

“How did your unit members become statues?”

“…The servant has a flashlight. When you’re exposed to that flashlight’s beam, you become a statue.”

“Was there anything strange about the flashlight?”

Stella furrowed her brow.

Then, after thinking about something carefully, she groaned “Hmm…”

“Come to think of it, when the servant turned the flashlight to make it emit light, the head maid said, ‘You have to turn it to the right.'”

“To the right…”

“The light came out even when turned to the left. So I thought it was a bit strange.”

“I knew it.”

Then the unit members looked at me.

“You knew it?”

“What would you do if the ghosts shone the flashlight on you?”

“Well… I’d be bewildered, or think it might be a magical tool and avoid it.”

“The statues in the rear area are exactly like that. But look at the front ones. They’re in poses of attacking or being afraid. …As if they knew what role the flashlight played.”

“…!”

The unit members flinched.

Stella blinked her eyes.

“Why is that?”

“They didn’t select statues worth selling. They made them into a sellable condition.”

In other words, they had undone the petrification once to make them into poses of being terrified or attacking.

One of the unit members said.

“We could undo the petrification if we just had the flashlight.”

“Right. By turning it to the ‘right.'”

That’s when it happened.

I felt an eerie sensation.

Goosebumps rose on my forearms.

Stella flinched.

“The ghosts are coming…”

“Let’s go.”

“Right, let’s escape quickly…”

“No, back to where we were imprisoned.”

“What?”

I grabbed Stella’s forearm and hurriedly ran back to where we had originally been imprisoned.

The unit members looked bewildered, but followed me anyway.

After Luciano came in too, I said to Philip.

“Lock it again. Quickly!”

“Huh? Yes…”

When Philip hurriedly put the lock back on, Stella looked horrified.

“Why aren’t we running away…!”

I pressed my index finger to my lips.

Stella flinched and closed her mouth.

Not long after, the door opened.

[You pulled quite a cute stunt.]

The muscular head maid raised her eyebrows with a terrifying expression.

Stella’s arms trembled.

[Count Papan said he didn’t send anyone.]

Stella glared at me.

Her face said ‘I told you so.’

She thought we were now dead because we didn’t escape quickly and were trapped by walls on all sides.

[The price for daring to deceive the Marquis of Great Eonia…!]

“We were wrong!”

I prostrated myself flat.

The ghosts furrowed their brows.

“If you give us another chance, I’ll work so hard that my bones turn to powder!”

[A rat skilled in lies doesn’t suit the Marquis of Great Eonia.]

“That’s probably true, isn’t it? I made such a grave mistake out of fear when you said you’d turn my brothers into statues…”

I sniffled and pressed my fingertips to my lips.

The unit members looked at me with bewildered expressions.

“Broth… huh?”

Antonio’s unit member muttered like that.

Stella looked incredulous.

The ghosts furrowed their brows.

[Brothers?]

“I was separated from my brothers and just reunited with them, dreaming of a new life as we escaped, but I was afraid of losing them again…”

When I drooped my shoulders pitifully, the head maid blinked.

But soon she frowned.

[You’re trying to deceive me again. How could this premium product and this washbasin come from the same womb!]

When she said premium product, she pointed to Luciano, and when she said washbasin, she pointed to Antonio’s unit member.

Antonio’s unit member seemed to choke up and shouted “Damn it!”

Another unit member quickly covered his mouth.

I said while sniffling.

“We’re all half-siblings with different mothers.”

[Half-siblings…?]

“We’re all children of the clan leader, but our father was expelled. So we lived as slaves or soldiers under the new clan leader…”

Blah blah blah.

A ‘tragic tale of struggling siblings’ poured endlessly from my mouth.

At the part where ‘my brothers risked their lives to attack the carriage to save me from being sold to the old count,’ the ghosts even shed tears of emotion.

“…?”

“….”

“…Ha.”

The unit members, Luciano, and Stella stared at me intently.

I didn’t mind and trembled my shoulders slightly.

“So we gathered like this and hid in the cave, but when I came to my senses, we were here.”

Everyone fell silent.

The servant ghosts, except for the head maid, looked at us proudly, saying [Yes, yes.]

The head maid crossed her arms and stared at me intently.

Her gaze was terrifying.

She slowly opened her mouth.

And….

[How—pre—cious—!]

She let out a scream-like shout and covered her mouth with both hands.

[Oh my, you’ve suffered so much!]

“Thank you for understanding. But having deceived the Marquis of Great Eonia… I’ll say goodbye to my brothers and leave now.”

I grabbed my neck with tearful eyes.

“Please forgive only my brothers…!”

Then the head maid slapped down my hand with a bang!

[Poor child, don’t do that. We’ll all live a new life together in this Eonia territory.]

“You would forgive someone like me…! Oh my!”

[Yes. This Eonia will become your paradise.]

“Head Maid!”

The head maid and I embraced each other.

However, my body passed right through the head maid.

[Give this child and those two men the honor of serving the young lady and young master, and put those washbasins… somewhere out of sight.]

[Yes….]

[Follow me.]

The ghosts waved their hands while sniffling and crying.

“…Wow.”

“….”

“…?”

The unit members, Luciano, and Stella looked at me with different expressions.

Luciano whispered to me.

“What are you?”

“I once helped with theater troupe scripts….”

It was the most popular touching story among the public.

Especially the servants loved it.

The part about suffering all kinds of hardships under a violent clan leader resonated with them.

[Shall we go then.]

The head maid smiled brightly.

I smiled back and followed her.

While doing so, I sent hand signals behind my back.

The target is the flashlight.

Find it and restore the statue.

The unit members who realized why I suddenly went back to tug at the servants’ heartstrings shouted “Uwah!”

[What’s wrong?]

When a ghost asked, quickly….

“The.whole.family.can.be.together. I’m.happy.”

“Yes, that’s right…. And this guy originally can’t speak well.”

Yustea’s team, accustomed to acting, performed with emotion while secretly glaring at Antonio’s unit member.

* * *

‘What on earth is that kid?’

Stella looked at Yustea with an astounded expression.

It was amazing how she manipulated the ghosts with all kinds of lies without batting an eye….

[Oh my, why are the dishes like this….]

“Ah, I did that. Silver tarnish comes off cleanly if you use vinegar, salt, and hot water.”

[Who cleaned the windows like this?]

“That was me. Newspaper is the best for cleaning windows, so I used discarded newspapers.”

[It looks brand new!]

[I’d believe you if you said it was new!]

She completely captivated the ghosts’ souls.

Thanks to that, the ‘Epic of Scattered Siblings’ was gaining even more credibility.

She displayed such skillfulness that it really seemed like she had suffered all kinds of hardships as a maid in a castle.

In contrast, she herself….

[Waaah—!]

A ghost girl about 8 years old burst into tears.

She had accidentally poked the girl’s mouth while feeding her.

The head maid rolled her eyes and came running.

[Oh my, young lady!]

[It hurts! It hurts, Margaret!]

Once the ghost girl starts crying, she rarely stops her tears.

The head maid, who cherished the young lady dearly, glared fiercely at Stella.

[What exactly can you do!]

Her voice thundered through the castle like a roar.

The humans who were each doing their work flinched.

In this castle, there are humans besides Stella’s pursuit team and Yustea’s pursuit team.

They were using handsome ones as servants.

They looked at Stella with fed-up expressions.

“How many times is she going to do that.”

“This is driving me crazy. We’ll have to do the ‘game’ again.”

“Damn it….”

The humans glared fiercely at Stella.

The blonde mage, who was a member of Stella’s pursuit team, also squeezed his eyes shut.

Because they would really have to play the ‘game.’

The head maid shook a bell.

Then with a growling sound, a house-sized Cerberus appeared.

This was what they called the ‘game.’

The humans would be chased and run from that Cerberus.

If caught, they might have their arms or legs torn off and eaten.

Seeing such scenes, the ghost girl would stop crying and clap her hands while giggling.

“Chris….”

Stella called the blonde mage, not knowing what to do.

He gritted his teeth.

In his eyes was an anger toward Stella that had never been seen before.

Because of Stella’s mistakes, he had lost his right hand on the first day and one ankle yesterday.

But if the ‘game’ started this time, his whole body might be torn apart and devoured.

Yustea’s pursuit team members also swallowed dry saliva with tense faces.

That’s when it happened.

Ding—.

A clear and pure sound was heard.

Yustea had struck a water glass with a silver spoon.

The Ghost Girl’s gaze turned toward Yustea.

Yustea smiled brightly and struck another glass.

Ding—.

This time the sound was different.

Yustea used the other water glasses and silver spoon to play a children’s song.

The Ghost Girl forgot about crying and scurried over to Yustea.

[How does it make sound?]

“It produces different tones depending on how much water is in them.”

[That’s the song Mother used to sing. For me to sleep well…]

“Really? Can you sing it too, Young Lady?”

When the Ghost Girl sang, Yustea played the melody with the water glasses.

The Head Maid chuckled softly.

[You’re quite talented. You must be used to children.]

“I’ve done childcare work before.”

[How remarkably capable.]

The Head Maid laughed warmly as if she was quite pleased with Yustea.

Then she looked at the people with a cold expression.

[That child’s efforts are commendable, so I’ll send Lulu back this time. But if you make another mistake, it won’t end with just ‘play.’]

She warned them fiercely.

The people let out sighs of relief.

The Blonde Mage also exhaled a trembling breath.

“Chris, thank goodness…”

Stella grabbed the mage’s collar.

The mage roughly shook her hand away.

“Chris…”

“Please just…”

“What?”

“Do it properly. Properly.”

Stella’s eyes trembled faintly.

Chris was the man who had been Stella’s guard.

Originally he had been Yustea’s guard, but after Stella came to Andres, he became her guard.

This was because he had gone to the Clan Leader and declared he wanted to serve his true master.

He was that loyal.

He was the only one left from the Pursuit Force.

Stella, who had only him to rely on, swallowed dryly.

But Chris ground his teeth and said:

“I can’t even hold a sword anymore. Because I lost my right hand. Because of you.”

“….”

“But I have to survive and escape this damn Ghost Castle. So I can save my younger sister, the only family I have left in this world.”

“….”

“So please! …do it properly.”

Chris brushed roughly past her.

Then he bowed his head toward Yustea.

Yustea only glanced at him briefly, but Chris kept his head lowered for a long time.

Stella walked unsteadily down the corridor.

In the Central Corridor connected to all sides of the second floor stood a statue of Yohaël.

The Head Maid had placed him here as decoration, having turned him into a particularly beautiful statue.

Stella crouched down in front of Yohaël’s statue and sobbed.

“This place is like hell, Yohaël…”

It’s natural to be bad at it since it’s the first time.

Even when she was young, before becoming the Noble Lady of Andres, she had never done such work.

Father had given Mother plenty of money.

So there was no reason to work under others.

She crouched under the statue for a long while.

Until the presence of others around her disappeared.

How much time had passed?

She heard someone walking toward her.

It was the sound of a person.

It was Luciano.

Stella looked at him with teary eyes.

“Why would Your Highness come to me…”

“….”

“Ah, I’m fine.”

Stella wiped her tears with the back of her hand and stood up.

She smiled as if trying to be brave, but soon tears began falling again.

“Just having you come is comforting—.”

It was at that moment she was speaking.

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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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