How to Replace Dad 16
A certain mountain foot in the north.
This place, called a rest stop, was literally a station with a portal, a moving device installed there.
From the vicinity of the rest stop, the imperial army was busy preparing camp.
And in the middle of a test drive, I arrived there....
“Oh, Yustea!”
said Colonel, receiving an enthusiastic welcome.
“Hello, Colonel. Thank you for calling me.”
“It’s a stroke of luck for me that you were in the north.”
Colonel didn’t know I was in the north.
Because we had exchanged letters through the central district of the portal company.
I received or delivered letters when the company passed through the north to other countries, and Colonel sent me letters using the telegraph.
“It’s embarrassing to say this right after arriving, but I have a favor to ask of you.”
“A favor?”
Now that I think about it, that’s strange.
He usually didn’t call me for something like this, but this time he was begging me to come.
I liked his food a lot, but he wouldn’t ask someone who had been pulled out of the imperial guard just to make food for him.
He was famous for being straightforward in his work.
So he must have entered the elite course of the imperial family guard.
Colonel nodded with a serious face.
“Yustea, could you prepare the prince’s meal?”
“The prince?”
I had expected him to ask me to prepare meals for Colonel or the soldiers.
But the prince?
The imperial family’s meals were not something anyone could do.
You had to be a chef selected after thorough verification from the imperial palace, and the menu had to be reviewed by the imperial palace’s nutritionist.
When I showed a bewildered expression, Colonel glanced around and whispered to me.
“His Highness the Fourth Prince has madness.”
Madness.
It was the term for mental illness.
When I blinked, Colonel nodded and continued.
“His Highness the Fourth Prince won’t eat any food because he thinks someone wants to poison him.”
“That... is too bad.”
“Help me. You did find the strength of soldiers who were suffering from mental illness in the past, didn’t you?”
So that was why Colonel had looked for me so much.
If the prince fell during the guard duty, it would all be Colonel’s responsibility.
“Hmm.”
I thought for a moment.
It would be difficult, but it’s worth trying.
Because I had to become a substitute for the prince and the princes.
I nodded right away.
Colonel’s face brightened.
“Thank you so much. I’ll do my best to make sure the other princes don’t find out you’re here.”
“...Other princes?”
Of course, the Fourth Prince hadn’t come alone.
Originally, the princes “had” agreed to come.
But there shouldn’t be any prince this time who would hide my identity on the northern trip....
Could it be?
I looked at Colonel in surprise.
He said with an awkward expression.
“There are princes who might be a bit inconvenient for you.”
What kind of nonsense is this?
In the original game, the princes who had nothing to do with me were supposed to come...!
* * *
In the kitchen of the field kitchen.
I stood with an apron on, staring at the cutting board, and thought.
Should I run away now?
The reality was developing in a completely different direction from the story in the game.
This time, three princes had come on the northern trip.
The Second Prince, Luciarno.
The Fourth Prince, Ain.
The Fifth Prince, Gaspar.
The lineup is huge...
Excluding the Fourth Prince, Ain, the Second and Fifth Princes were unexpected people.
Both of them had been extremely unpleasant to me.
The Fifth Prince, Gaspar, was the older brother of the First Prince, my first love and fiancé.
And the Second Prince was...
Don’t think about it. Anyway, I can’t run away.
I shook my head vigorously.
If I ran away here, I couldn’t become a substitute.
Then I couldn’t go to the Esgard estate, and I wouldn’t be able to meet the duke and the count.
The more Irregular did well, the safer my future became.
I let out a deep sigh and tightened the apron strings.
Becoming a substitute comes first. I’ll avoid the unpleasant princes as much as possible.
After organizing that, I washed my hands first.
And when I was about to start cooking....
“Is this the girl Colonel brought in from outside?”
A huge man over two meters tall, wearing a chef’s uniform, approached me, leading the chefs.
The man over two meters tall seemed to be a chef too, judging by the chef’s hat he wore.
I lowered my head.
“Yes. My name is Yustea.”
The man over two meters tall glared at me with his arms crossed.
“What did you do?”
“What?”
“What trick did you use to charm Colonel?”
“Ah... dumplings.”
“What?”
“Colonel likes my dumplings. I worked at a field kitchen before, and since then he’s liked my food...”
It was the moment I was answering the question.
The man over two meters tall swept the bowl and cutting board in front of me and threw them.
Clang! Clang—!
The cooking utensils made sharp sounds and rolled across the floor.
“Did you think I was joking?”
The man over two meters tall glared.
On his back, the chefs who had been glaring at me had smiles mixed with mockery on their lips.
So those words weren’t questions at all.
They had come to vent their anger on me because they couldn’t grumble at Colonel.
They wanted to watch a helpless girl who had suffered under the pecking order and didn’t know what to do.
If I burst into tears and ran away, it would even damage Colonel’s pride for bringing me.
I sat down quietly and picked up the cooking utensils.
The man over two meters tall said with a smirk.
“I’ll ask again. How did you charm Colonel?”
“I told him I like the cooking.”
While answering that, I placed the cooking utensils on the table.
The big man’s face turned red.
The chefs watching burst out laughing in disbelief.
“Look at this?”
“She’s not an ordinary girl. Look at her wide-open eyes.”
The chefs provoked the man over two meters tall with sarcasm.
The man who had been walking with heavy steps pushed me.
“You don’t know how much you’ve charmed Colonel, but you can’t come here, you little thing.”
“...”
“It’s only right that we, qualified people, prepare the prince’s meal.”
“...”
“Don’t think about poking your nose into someone else’s opportunity and get out.”
The part that made me angriest was that point.
The northern trip was grueling work. If a chef who had taken on such a task was a low-ranking person in the imperial palace kitchen.
So I had wanted to look good to the princes this time, but I was furious that I had suddenly rolled in.
When I stayed quiet, the man over two meters tall raised his pot-like hand.
“Do you not hear me?!”
Even if he hits me?
Then there was no choice.
The chefs, thinking I was scared, snickered, but I....
“Colonel! Colonel!”
“...!”
“...!!”
I called Colonel out of nowhere.
“There’s violence in the kitchen! I’m scared to death! The chefs... ugh!”
The chefs, startled, covered my mouth.
They were so surprised by my reaction that they were stunned.
“What, what are you doing?!”
What was I doing? I was scolding them.
The chefs thought that if they acted like this, I would be scared and wouldn’t know what to do, but sorry, that’s not the case.
I was the one who had been driven out of Andres and had done all sorts of things.
Situations worse than this had happened plenty of times.
And I had realized.
Enduring and enduring would only make me a stress-relief doll.
My principle was to use whatever I could.
The chefs clung to me with pale faces, but it was already too late.
By now, Colonel, who had been waiting for the dumplings, had rushed in like a bullet.
“What kind of nonsense is this?!”
“C, Colonel...”
The man over two meters tall shrank back.
* * *
After that, things went as expected.
Colonel charged in with a snort, and the man over two meters tall and the chefs were severely scolded by Colonel.
“Those who received the imperial seal are blinded by personal greed and rebel against decisions for the prince’s safety?”
The man over two meters tall couldn’t say a word.
Until now, he had made several excuses and only heard shouts.
“The girl misinterpreted a few words of advice...”
“Let me hear that advice too.”
“I admit there was a somewhat dangerous atmosphere because I was worried about the prince...”
“Let me see how dangerous that atmosphere was.”
“We are here together with the qualifications of direct imperial family, so even if it’s Colonel, I can punish you at will...”
“I will immediately inform the palace that you are the incompetent ones who made the Fourth Prince starve for five days.”
Colonel, who glared with every word, got a K.O.
In the end, the chefs were clinging to Colonel’s pants and begging for forgiveness.
With the chefs’ laughter as background music, I moved around the cutting board and lifted my head with a “Hmm.”
“Colonel.”
Colonel, who had turned the chefs’ souls upside down, looked at me with a gentle expression.
“Yes, our Yustea. Do you need anything for the cooking?”
“No. The cooking is already done. Would you like to taste it?”
Then Colonel and the aides who had been glaring with him behind him rushed at me.
“I’ll taste...!”
“It’s hot food. If the superior’s tongue gets burned even a little, it’s a big problem. Dangerous work is...”
“Stop messing around and get out.”
In the end, Colonel took the tasting because rank was a weapon.
Colonel ate the hot rice porridge with his eyes closed and twisted his body as if his tongue was all scraped, then raised his thumb.
Good, the tasting is complete too.
Now it was time to meet the Fourth Prince, who had madness.
I carried a tray of food and headed to the tent where the Fourth Prince, Ain, was staying.
The Fourth Prince, Ain, is the first one.
I hadn’t seen even a strand of his hair when I was the Andres princess.
There were quite a few imperial family members who avoided external exposure, so I hadn’t thought it was strange.
Moreover, since there were no special rumors about the prince, I didn’t know he was hiding because of madness.
I arrived at the tent and opened my mouth.
No, I tried to open it.
“So where the hell is that tracking orb? Brother.”
If I hadn’t heard the sound of a person tumbling with a fierce voice.
Just hearing the voice, I recognized it immediately.
That madman!
It was the Fifth Prince, Gaspar.
Of course, the person who would call Gaspar “brother” was obvious.
Moreover, this was the Fourth Prince’s tent.
The person tumbling is the Fourth Prince, Ain.
In other words, it meant that the princes were fighting each other.
Even though I knew that the Fourth Prince, Ain, was being attacked by Gaspar, I didn’t rush in right away.
Gaspar was a person rumored to be cruel.
I had actually seen a noble being stabbed in the eye with a dinner knife right in front of me.
It was that reckless.
If I went in to stop him, I would just get caught with the Fourth Prince and couldn’t help.
I have to call someone else.
But I couldn’t rely on Colonel like the chefs.
He wasn’t in a position to stop Gaspar.
Then what’s left...?
“I’ll help.”
The voice from behind made me almost jump up in surprise.
I hurriedly turned my head.
A man in a hooded robe was looking at me.
Shining silver hair.
Sharp eyes with quietly glowing red pupils.
A perfect balance nose.
Lips boasting elegant curves.
A body of perfect proportions, as if it were a sculpture that a genius had devoted his life to, or not even a real existence.
Except for Count Aslan, there was no man more breathtakingly handsome.
Still, I stiffened as if I were facing death.
“...Prince Luciarno.”
The Second Prince, Luciarno.
It was him.
I quickly lowered my head.
“It’s an honor to meet you, Your Highness.”
A low voice fell from above my head.
“Is there something you need help with?”
“...It seems the situation inside the tent is serious. His Highness the Fourth Prince is waiting for Your Highness’s help...”
“I asked you.”
“I am...?”
“The former sister-in-law who interfered in everything.”
“...!”
It was over.
Inside, the princes were fighting, and in front of me was the grim reaper.
Yes, the person as uncomfortable as the cruel Gaspar was this Second Prince Luciarno.
Luciarno was the greatest rival of the First Prince.
My father had entrusted me with the task of restraining that Luciarno prince, saying to support the fiancé.
The foolish past me, who thought I had to eat poison even if it was a threat from my father, had worked hard to restrain Luciarno.
I had eaten quite a bit.
So to Luciarno, I must have been like an enemy.
I glanced at the tent and said.
“If I say that I’ve been driven out of the family and am just a potato covered in dust now, maybe the resentment will lessen a bit...?”
“No way. You took the tribal extermination you risked your life for and presented it as your brother’s achievement.”
“You can’t just ignore that you worked so hard but ended up being discarded like trash...?”
“Hmm. What would you think if I took the founding emperor’s seal that His Majesty the Emperor was going to bestow and brought it to you, brother?”
“If you want to punish me for being naive back then, and if you want, I’m ready to take a slap on the cheek...?”
“Did you think I was a crazy man who beats women?”
“No way. But do you know that there’s a scoundrel inside who beats you instead of a woman...?”
Now my heart was really racing.
Once more, I heard a thudding sound.
“I’m really sorry, but I know I committed a crime that deserves death, but our grudge will be settled next time, no, tonight I’ll come and offer my neck...!”
If I did that, the Fourth Prince would be in trouble.
The northern trip would end immediately, and then I wouldn’t be able to become a substitute and meet the duke and the count.
More than anything, I couldn’t lie down and relax.
It was the moment I was speaking desperately.
Swish—.
From inside the tent, the sound of drawing a sword from a scabbard was heard.
If a sword fight broke out, I couldn’t delay any longer.
It was the moment I was about to rush into the tent.
“This is a debt. Yustea.”
Huh?
Luciarno, walking past me, seemed slow.
And when he reached the curtain hanging in front of the tent....
Crack—!
With the sound of the wood splitting, the tent collapsed halfway.
The sword in Luciarno’s hand had cut through the tent’s support in one breath.
A fierce wind blew.
From the tent, the tent flaps fluttered, and the figures of the two princes inside were revealed.
The Fourth Prince, Ain, who had been sitting on the floor suffering from madness.
And the Fifth Prince, Gaspar, aiming a sword at him.
When Gaspar saw Luciarno standing crookedly in front of the tent, he burst into laughter.
“It’s not even summer, and there are bugs swarming, brother.”
“Don’t belittle yourself too much, Gaspar.”
Should I have run away earlier?
It was five minutes to total chaos.