How to Replace Dad 23
“...That’s enough. I know you have no attachment to the treasure vault.”
The duke let out a mocking laugh.
It was a look of utter disbelief.
But soon he raised an eyebrow and fixed his gaze on me.
“Why are you telling me this information instead of using it yourself?”
“Knowing the information alone isn’t enough. I need someone to break through the guards, crack the code, carry away a mountain of treasure, and have the strength to keep it from being stolen afterward.”
“Not meaningful?”
“Moreover, the moment I touch it, the family will know it’s my doing and kill me. But you aren’t like that.”
I met the duke’s eyes without flinching and continued.
“It has no value to me, but it does to you, Your Grace. I know more about such things.”
So please don’t drive me away. Please.
I forced strength into my trembling hand and pressed it against the floor.
And I bowed my head deeply.
“Please let me live in San Miguel.”
“Hm.”
“I’ll work hard at anything...”
“Do it.”
“...Huh?”
His quick agreement surprised me. I lifted my head, only to find the duke still wearing the same indifferent expression.
“Information disruption, illegal fishing, blackmail, usury, tending to enemy deserters... and many more.”
The list of things I had done after being driven out of Andres spilled out in a steady stream.
The duke let out a small sigh.
“If your father had planned to bring you back to Andres, he wouldn’t have allowed you to work for a criminal organization.”
“...”
“Do not touch the camellias.”
“...”
With that, the duke rose and left the room.
But I remained frozen in my kneeling position.
It wasn’t out of relief.
“I was scared.”
He already knew everything I had hidden.
Even the few days I had spent tending to enemy deserters.
My heart pounded as if it wanted to burst from my chest.
The name of his alias flashed through my mind.
“The Northern Conqueror.”
A terrifying man.
* * *
“But I have to do it.”
The first thought that crossed my mind when I returned to the steward’s office after a full day of work was that.
Running away out of fear is only possible for those who have somewhere to run to.
“Yeah. Let’s work hard.”
And when it comes to work, thorough preparation is essential.
So I would be thorough...!
“I need to make sweets.”
I had decided to make preserves using magerst herbs.
Magerst was almost as popular as ginseng among the elderly in this world.
It improved blood flow, strengthened bones, aided muscle growth, boosted immunity, stamina, liver, lungs, and skin—everything.
Of course, it was just a placebo effect.
In reality, it wasn’t a miracle cure.
Still, there was no noble who wouldn’t love magerst preserves.
They were good for health, and they paired perfectly with the tea nobles sipped like office workers grabbing a coffee break.
“I need to dry the magerst.”
Magerst had to be dried in the shade so the cells wouldn’t be damaged.
I searched the estate for a dark, quiet place away from foot traffic.
That was how I found a warehouse deep inside the grounds...!
“Sister, do you not know? This is the only way for us.”
A whispering voice came from inside the warehouse.
“Huh? That voice...”
While I was tilting my head, another voice replied coldly.
“You’re insane. The you I know no longer exists in this world.”
“Sister...!”
There was a scuffle, and soon familiar faces burst out from the warehouse.
“As expected, Ayabel and Asta.”
The two froze when they saw me standing blankly outside.
Ayabel’s face turned cold.
The kind expression from the first time was gone.
“What did you steal? Like a rat.”
I had suspected it was serious from the tone, but it seemed important.
“I didn’t steal it. I was on my way to this warehouse too.”
“There’s no reason for a young master to come to such a shabby warehouse!”
When Ayabel raised her voice.
“Enough.”
Asta stepped forward.
Asta turned her back to me and blocked Ayabel.
“It’s our fault for talking about important matters in a place everyone uses. It’s not Yustea’s fault.”
“Do you believe that?”
“Let’s go, Yustea.”
“Sister!”
Asta grabbed my wrist and pulled me away.
Ayabel’s gaze toward me was icy.
But what mattered most to me was something else.
“I need to dry the magerst...!”
Asta was too firm for me to say anything.
In the end, I was dragged away with a sad face.
* * *
Ayabel returned to the steward’s office.
As soon as she entered the central courtyard, the servants rushed to her.
“That girl is with Asta behind the estate.”
“Just leave her? She’s getting more out of hand.”
The servant girls looked furious.
Among the Esgard girls, no one didn’t know Asta.
It wasn’t just because she was the only daughter of the prestigious Sintes family.
Her tall, beautiful figure.
Among her peers, renowned in martial arts.
Her bold personality.
The things she wore sold like hotcakes in the guild the next day.
In short, Asta Sintes was a celebrity not only in Esgard but throughout the territory.
“Go dry it. What does a San Miguel girl who looks inferior know? Won’t you listen to Ayabel’s words?”
One servant girl grabbed Ayabel’s arm and insisted.
But at that moment.
Ayabel shook off the hand with a fierce sound.
“Ah, Ayabel...?”
I couldn’t believe it was the always kind Ayabel.
When the girls froze in shock, Ayabel said without lowering her voice.
“I’m tired. Go away.”
“Yes...”
The girls withdrew with understanding.
After that, Ayabel returned to the room.
Since it was the room shared with Yustea, her things filled the opposite bed.
Things that couldn’t be imagined as noble girl’s possessions.
All old handkerchiefs.
A broken pen handle wrapped with cloth for rough repair.
Teacups whose purpose was unknown, all covered in handprints.
“Compared to that...”
The words from the vassal lingered in my mind.
I saw Asta and Yustea sitting side by side on the bench outside the window.
Asta was looking at the sad-faced Yustea with a cute expression.
...Just like when Lucianno had looked at Yustea during tea time.
Ayabel muttered as if chewing on it.
“It’s not yours...”
Everything that should have been theirs.
* * *
Behind the steward’s office.
I sat next to Asta, staring into space and thinking.
“This is troublesome...”
Why did they keep staring.
The long gaze was very burdensome.
“I was just answering Asta’s words.”
When we arrived behind the estate, Asta said.
“What would have been better for me to do...”
“...?”
“At first, she wasn’t like that. Ayabel. She was a lovely child. If I had been wiser, maybe the child wouldn’t have gone astray.”
“...??”
“I was her adoptive sister. I didn’t fulfill the role of older sister properly. It’s pitiful. How does Yustea think of me like this.”
“Hm. Well... self-awareness overload?”
If someone who should not go astray because they have to be good at being adoptive sister, wasn’t there a problem from the beginning?
Thinking it was their own fault was strange.
Asta paused at the word self-awareness overload and didn’t speak for a while.
Then suddenly she burst into laughter.
“I’ve never seen someone comfort like this that it’s not your fault.”
It wasn’t comfort, it was an answer...
“I’ll invite you to my garden. Anytime.”
Better to look at the garden than dry the magerst.
And I wished those servants glued to the window would leave.
“Garden? Just now Asta said the garden?”
“Why are you...!”
The servants were about to bite their handkerchiefs because the garden was such a huge place.
She would hear from Asta, but she didn’t care and smiled brightly at me.
I turned my gaze away.
“Eh, I have something to do...”
“Really? Can I help?”
“No. It’s something that will dirty my hands...”
“It’s something with a friend, what’s wrong with getting my hands dirty a bit.”
“Friend...?”
“Didn’t know. I’m trying to get close because I want to be friends.”
“...?”
“It won’t be bad. I treat my friends very well.”
Then she finally turned toward the window.
And looked at the servants with cold eyes.
“If something unfair happens to a friend, get angry. Very.”
“...!”
The servants flinched and lowered their heads.
They slowly backed away and soon left the window.
Asta smiled and shrugged her shoulders.
“That’s how I feel.”
“Eh, I want to do the work alone...”
“Then there’s no choice. But can I use this much?”
Asta put gloves in my hand.
They looked expensive, like they would pop out of the eyes.
On the wrist part, the name was embroidered.
Astbelata Sintes
“Astbelata...?”
“It’s my real name. Asta is the abbreviation. If you like it, you can take these gloves.”
Asta stood up from her seat.
And left cheerfully, but I sat there frozen for a while.
It wasn’t because I got expensive gloves.
Astbelata.
“The name mentioned in the game.”
Originally, Nicola had come to Esgard castle to perform the duke’s mission.
Nicola fails the mission.
He gets poisoned and dies in the Esgard castle.
And the person who confessed to poisoning was...!
“Astbelata.”
Her.
* * *
The next morning.
I was walking through the steward’s corridor, lost in thought.
“But why did Asta poison Nicola?”
The reason wasn’t in the game.
Only that Astbelata confessed.
“Hm. I should distract him. As long as it’s not me...”
“What?”
“Wah!”
Startled by the sudden voice, I looked ahead.
When did they come, Ain and Lucianno were right in front of me.
I flinched and asked.
“What’s the matter here?”
Then Ain yawned and answered.
“On my way out of the castle.”
“Why outside the castle?”
“Because Peppi said his condition is abnormal, so I came to check.”
Peppi was the Death Servant Ain made as a tracking orb to find the saintess.
“What’s wrong with Peppi?”
“He doesn’t move around near the castle. In fact, he’s digging into the ground to enter the castle.”
“Into the castle...?”
I flinched.
If he tries to enter the castle that much, it means Peppi has detected me as the target.
Ain replied with a sharp expression.
“Yeah, probably inside the castle...”
“In, inside the castle?”
“...To mate.”
“...”
“Damn intercourse.”
Now that I think about it, I heard that the Death Servant guards the Esgard underground prison.
So this Death Servant is probably male.
Good thing Peppi is in mating season.
I let out a sigh of relief in my heart.
Just as Ain muttered, “I let him meet a male before coming to the castle. Beast.”
Lucianno said.
“Where are you going from dawn?”
“Not going, I went and came back. To make magerst preserves.”
Showing the box with magerst preserves, Ain shrugged.
“You’re busy with all sorts of things from dawn. Anyway, work hard.”
After saying that, Ain passed me.
But Lucianno didn’t move in front of me.
“Huh?”
Thinking he had something to say, I looked, and he suddenly placed his hand on my forehead.
Surprised, I froze, and he said with narrowed eyes.
“You have a fever.”
“Eh?”
“See a doctor. You seem to be in very bad condition.”
After saying that, Lucianno moved his feet.
“Do I look that bad?”
Yeah, my body condition wasn’t normal.
If it was normal, I wouldn’t have failed to sense someone approaching.
I was skilled at catching the scent while doing various things.
But even when the duke appeared yesterday and when facing the princes today, I didn’t feel the scent.
Probably because of all the things I’ve experienced, I’m tired. Also the mission burden.
“I should handle the miscellaneous tasks in the morning and rest a bit.”
With that decision, I immediately went to work.
Thanks to the thorough work yesterday, most things were done before sunrise.
“And the problem with the garden stones was solved differently from yesterday.”
Probably the gardeners moved hurriedly when the duke came and went yesterday.
He laid large pebbles on the ground so dust wouldn’t fly even in the wind.
Plants with even a little damaged leaves were replaced.
“But the camellias are still left like that.”
The withering camellias that the duke said to just leave yesterday.
Why did he say not to touch the camellias of this level.
While thinking that, I was touching the camellia tree’s trunk.
Pat—!
From the fingertips touching the camellia, a hazy light spread.
At the same time, my head felt dizzy.
I clutched my forehead and staggered.
“What?”
It felt like my body was drooping like a wet cotton.
Suddenly, my condition worsened.
Like...!
“Mana depletion phenomenon seen in books.”
Is it because I’m a Purifier that I’m purifying the camellia’s illness?
But does treating plant illness deplete mana this much?
Recently, I had absorbed so much of the duke’s mana.
“No way.”
I hurriedly sat down and dug into the ground with my bare hands.
Even without a shovel, the ground dug softly.
Someone had dug the ground before me.
After digging with conviction, I found a pouch in the soil.
The pouch was soaked in turquoise liquid as if something inside had melted and disappeared.
I didn’t see the contents with my own eyes, but I could guess what it was.
After infecting with Ingu poison, it leaves turquoise liquid and disappears. The infected object must be burned immediately. If it comes into contact, the toxicity is exposed. (More details)
An item seen in the game.
“Big trouble.”
The camellia infected with Ingu is a tree the duke treasures.
Then...!
“The duke must have been poisoned.”
I groaned and buried my face in my knees.
“I’m done for.”
If the duke dies like this, the duke’s wife’s son will take the title, and the duke will become a duck in the Han River.
Fortunately, since I’m a Purifier, I can purify the duke’s poison... but to do that, I need to meet the duke.
The duke is not someone I can meet as I wish.
“Then there’s no choice.”
I sighed deeply and stood up from my seat.
* * *
That night.
In the Irregular’s residence within the Esgard direct territory.
An Irregular member ran to Duke Aslan with an urgent communication orb.
“Urgent contact from the headquarters.”
Aslan connected the communication.
Then.
[Little teacher, no, Yustea, no, no, no, miss...!]
[Get out of the way!]
[Duke! It’s the miss!]
The vice duke and Antonio shouted noisily.
Aslan’s eyebrows twitched.
“What happened.”
After the vice duke pushed Antonio away with a thud, the vice duke’s voice was heard.
[The miss is in the underground prison.]
“You mean she was captured?”
When Aslan said in a cold voice.
Again, Antonio said.
[No. She went to the underground prison.]
“So you mean she was captured.”
[No, no, she didn’t get captured, she just went!]
[Yes. That’s right, Duke!]
Even the vice duke joined in.
The duke narrowed his brows.
“...What?”
At that, the vice duke shouted.
[She went to the underground prison saying she broke the duke’s camellias and asked us to go capture her with both hands outstretched!]
“...?”
* * *
“If it’s someone too noble to meet casually, then make them come to you.”