How to Replace Dad
It turned out exactly as I thought.
The Tartaros Tower was engulfed in flames.
The servants and soldiers were in chaos in front of the tower.
“Bring a wizard!”
“Water! Bring water! Quickly!”
I ran to the man commanding the soldiers with a pale face.
“Where is the Duke?”
“Huh?”
“Quickly!”
“He’s on the 5th floor, but the stairs are cut off due to the explosion.”
The stairs in the Esgard Tartaros Tower would be easy to cut off.
They deliberately chose wooden stairs so the lord could escape when the castle was in crisis.
It was to outrun pursuers.
Fortunately, since I had played the game, I knew the lord's escape route.
Through the escape route, I could reach the Duke.
I immediately ran around the tower.
‘500 meters west from the door. The 7th brick from the ground.’
I mindlessly felt the wall.
‘Please… found it!’
When I pressed the wall, a hole just big enough for one adult to pass through appeared.
I crawled through that path.
Following this path, I could reach the top of the tower faster than anywhere else, as it was the lords' escape route.
Originally, the stairs were in a spiral shape, but this escape route was climbed via a ladder.
The higher I went, the hotter the iron ladder became.
It was affected by the flames.
By the time I reached the 5th floor where the Duke was, my palm was burning with pain.
‘Hurry, hurry…!’
When I arrived at the 5th floor, I ran madly.
Because I was in a hurry, I tripped on the floor tiles and fell head over heels.
It seemed I had fallen badly, as my nose hurt as if it would break.
But I had no time to feel the pain.
“Where… where are you….”
I turned my head frantically searching for the Duke.
The flames had evolved with the mana I received from Luciarno.
Thankfully, I had learned magic.
How far had I run?
In front of a certain room, I saw soldiers who had fallen, seemingly swallowed by the explosion.
‘There it is.’
I ran into the room where the door had blown off and was wide open.
“Grandpa─!”
When I shouted and entered, what I saw was…
The Duke sitting with his back against the window, and in front of him, an old man lying down, and Ayabel.
‘Ah…!’
He had been suppressed by the Duke even after using Canaria.
As expected, the father of the Duke.
It seemed the Duke's martial prowess had been inherited from him.
The Duke looked at me with a disinterested expression.
“What are you doing here?”
“…”
“Did you think that little thing would be of help?”
“…”
“Just because I took you as a plaything doesn’t mean you think your abilities are great.”
“…”
The Esgard family has inexhaustible wealth and power that even the Emperor has to contend with.
Of course, talents would gather.
When experts from various fields gather, those with many minor skills lose their value.
The Duke asked in a low, emotionless voice.
“Is it regrettable that the weapons I desperately gathered are insignificant?”
“It’s not insignificant.”
“What?”
“Because I desperately gathered them, you can notice that the Duke is boasting now.”
I approached the Duke and put my arm around his shoulder.
“You must have been caught in the explosion, so you can’t walk.”
“…”
The Duke’s expression became cold.
“Do you think this way I’ll meet Aslan?”
“Can you stand up? Hold on a bit more.”
“Do you think that if Aslan gets the Esgard, he can take revenge on your father…!”
“Hey, really!”
When I shouted loudly, the Duke’s eyes widened.
The Duke probably found my attitude strange, but I was the one who was wronged.
“I just wanted to live!”
“Hah…”
“I wanted the Duke to meet my father!”
“I told you I don’t need Aslan…”
“Liar!”
I glared at the Duke defiantly.
Even though my heart was racing to death.
‘At first, I really thought the Duke judged that the Duke’s daughter was useless.’
But thinking carefully, it was strange.
If so, there was no reason to cherish Camellia.
Camellia.
The name of the Duke’s wife.
“The camellias in the garden are all withering! That! The Duke’s wife planted it!”
“…”
“Even though you haven’t burned the camellias, which are the source of the poison infection!”
“…”
“Tsk, while saying the Duke is not needed… the person who is not needed secretly watches over the son.”
“…”
I dragged the Duke with a choked face.
The Duke was still staring at me mindlessly.
“You are….”
“On the day I first met you in the castle. Actually, I came to see you, not the Camellia. To check on the adopted daughter the Duke brought in.”
“…”
“I can tell just by looking. I had a father who only saw me as a tool.”
The Duke also knew why he didn’t bring Yustea to the castle.
How could he bring his son to a castle with a former crown princess who killed his beloved woman.
‘I could protect him while he was alive, but after he died, Yustea couldn’t survive.’
Inside the castle, due to the former crown princess's threat, no power could be built.
So, the Duke must have raised his power outside the castle so that even after he died, Yustea could survive on his own.
Using hatred for the father as fuel.
‘It was strange from the beginning.’
No matter how poor San Miguel was, how did the Irregulars hide entirely?
It was strange that he gave the viscount title to Yustea outright.
“You were plotting behind the scenes.”
“…So you’re doing this. If I have feelings for Aslan, can you enjoy the power too?”
This old man was really something.
I glared at the Duke again.
“I! Just! I thought it would be good if the Duke met my father!”
After all, in the game, I became the Duke even without meeting him?
Of course, the father-son relationship never became smooth.
Even until the moment the Duke died, Yustea did not speak to him.
“I was too lonely because I couldn’t be loved by my father. I hope the Duke doesn’t go through that.
“…”
“So… please hug him when you meet. Those who can’t be loved by their father, that’s their wish.”
“…”
My sweat was pouring, but somehow I dragged the Duke out the door.
I briefly set the Duke down and took a sword sheath from the fallen soldier.
And handed it to the Duke.
“Use it as a crutch to go to the escape route. Since you’re a lord, you know, right? Climb the ladder somehow with your arms.
“You.”
“I’ll take care of these people and go.”
If I’m here, the siege can be stopped.
‘Just a little longer, Viscount Sintes will bring the wizards.’
I pushed the Duke.
“Go. Be careful. Quickly─.”
At that moment.
My head was dizzy.
‘Mana depletion was faster than I thought.’
My heart was pounding wildly, and tinnitus crossed my brain.
I couldn’t endure it and collapsed with a thud.
The Duke’s frozen face appeared.
“Go, quickly…!”
I barely spat out the words, chewing them.
I couldn’t breathe.
‘Endure. Please.’
I could endure this much pain.
I endured being beaten in the military barracks for a mistake at work.
I walked in thin clothes in the freezing cold after being chased out of work.
Even in the moment I thought I was drowning in the sea.
‘Still, if I die… then Yustea will take care of his mother?’
Me, dying while on a mission.
Wouldn’t he do that much?
It was the moment my vision was narrowing.
Chak─!
A sharp crackling sound, and unexpectedly, a face appeared.
“The only thing that makes people go crazy is you.”
…Luciarno?
With that thought, it was over.
***
Luciarno looked around.
‘He used my mana efficiently.’
He had evolved the flames to some extent.
If it weren’t for Yustea, everyone would have died long ago.
The Duke, who was mindlessly staring at Yustea from there.
“Let’s go.”
“Take care of this child first.”
“If you wish.”
Luciarno transported Yustea, the Duke, and the fallen people through a flying monster that instantly arrived at the 5th floor of the Tartaros Tower.
When the monster landed on the ground, Viscount Sintes came running.
“Are you safe, Duke─!”
“Call a doctor. Save this child.”
“Huh?”
“Quickly!”
The Duke was excited like this for the first time.
Yustea was immediately moved to the main character's room.
The capable doctors of Esgard clung to Yustea and treated him.
The Duke watched the scene with a stiff face.
Viscount Sintes cautiously spoke to the Duke.
“What is it? Did something happen in the tower?”
“…”
The Duke couldn’t take his eyes off Yustea.
“Grandpa─!”
When I shouted that and ran in, it was a bit funny.
The appearance of him covered in dust from head to toe, with nosebleeds, was quite pitiful.
It seemed like he was willing to risk his life for power.
But…
“Liar─!”
“I just! I thought it would be good if the Duke met my father!”
“So… please hug him when you meet. Those who can’t be loved by their father, that’s their wish.”
In the eyes of that child speaking like that, there was not a single lie.
His hands were burned, his legs were broken so he couldn’t walk properly.
The reason he ran into the fire was just that.
To meet the father that Aslan, who raised me, wanted to meet.
Even though he had seen the bitterness of the world after being abandoned by his real father.
Still clinging to people?
Where is such a stupid person?
So… it came to mind.
The conversation I had with Camellia, who was pregnant with my child.
“Why are you praying so desperately. Give me a talented child who can safely inherit the title of Duke?”
“I prayed for a kind child.”
“What?”
“A kind child who melts an ice-like man like you in an instant.”
“Haha, I must melt well.”
“Well. Don’t be too rigid with the world. If it’s not this child, maybe this child’s child might melt you.”
Camellia. You were really wise.
***
My head hurts.
I groaned while unable to open my eyes.
‘Still, since I’m in pain, I must be alive?’
I pressed my temple with my palm and barely opened my eyes.
What I saw was.
“Are you okay?”
“Yustea?!”
When I shouted in surprise, Yustea nodded his head.
“How… here San Miguel…? No, there’s no such room in San Miguel…”
I looked around the room in a panic.
And when I tried to get up, he poked my forehead.
“It’s Esgard Castle. If you answered, lie down.”
“How did you come in?”
“I got a message from San Miguel. It said to come to the castle because the daughter collapsed.”
“Eh… then…”
When I blinked, Yustea said.
“The Duke will come to the room soon. Your mission was successful.”
“Wah─!”
I jumped up as if I had been electrocuted.
Yustea frowned.
“Lie down.”
“It’s okay. This is mana depletion, so as long as mana is recovered, it’s fine. So don’t worry─.”
When I was about to say that, I flinched.
I got excited and mentioned mana depletion.
I couldn’t let him notice that I was purifying the mana.
Then he might figure out I was the saint.
“Eh, so… what happened was…”
“I evolved the fire.”
“Huh?”
“I heard that you evolved and then used the Botella I received from Prince Luciarno to the point of exhaustion.”
So it was summarized like that.
After all, the Purifier is a being that appears in the scriptures.
So, I couldn’t imagine that I had purified, so concluding that I evolved and collapsed was reasonable.
I quickly nodded my head.
“Yes, that’s right.”
“…”
“So, then, what will you talk about with the Duke? Since I’ve seen the Duke first, I know the conversation style a bit. …Yustea?”
Yustea just stared at me quietly.
I tilted my head.
“Why that expression…?”
“It’s uncomfortable.”
“Huh?”
“My chest is tight.”
“Does it hurt?”
“When I heard that you collapsed again, that’s why. Why?”
I rolled my eyes.
Uncomfortable and tight chest.
It doesn’t seem to hurt anywhere.
‘Then….’
“It’s burdensome?”
“Is that so.”
Even I would feel burdened if my subordinate risked his life to complete a mission.
I don’t know what he’s going to demand.
“Don’t worry. I won’t ask for anything weird.”
“…”
“If Yustea meets the Duke, that’s fine.”
“Even if I ask for it.”
“You don’t have to do that much. It’s not a contract.”
“Then write a contract. A contract where I give you what you need.”
At that moment.
“I don’t get the feeling that the conversation is going off track.”
The door opened and the Duke appeared.
When I saw the Duke, the words I said at the Tartaros Tower came to mind.
At that time, I was so excited that the words came out without passing through my brain.
‘Oh no.’
I quickly pulled the blanket.
And tried to get up.
“Lie down, my puppy.”
…Did I hear wrong?
Due to mana depletion or shock from falling, I was hearing nonsense.
But I didn’t have time to ask what I heard wrong.
“Since this child risked his life, he deserves compensation. Do you want to be recognized as my son?”
“I don’t need the Duke’s recognition. What I want is the world’s recognition.”
“Your appearance is like your mother, but your way of speaking seems to resemble me.”
“Stop saying disgusting things.”
Wow.
I rolled my eyes to the right, then left, looking at Yustea and the Duke.
Where did the touching father-son reunion go?
The temperature in the room seemed to drop to below zero.
The Duke smiled coldly.
“Do you think you will be rewarded with the world’s recognition?”
“It’s just getting back what was mine.”
“Power, admiration, wealth, those things?”
“Sit down.”
Yustea looked at the Duke with a dry gaze.
Only then did the smile leave the Duke’s face.
“Pride is excessive.”
“Especially with such disgusting blood.”
“What if you don’t give it?”
“I’ll take it.”
What?!
I flinched and kicked the blanket and sat up.
“Hey…!”
“Lie down.”
“Lie down, my puppy.”
Both said at the same time.
How can I lie down…
Soon, it seemed like a blood feud between father and son would break out.
“So, what Yustea says is to publicly declare that you are his son. Because I need a legitimate position to compete for the succession. I really have no intention of pointing a sword at the Duke.”
I grabbed Yustea’s collar and shook him.
Right? Right?
Yustea’s eyebrows twitched.
But because my expression was too earnest, he just turned his head.
I looked at the Duke again.
“So, Duke….”
“Yes.”
Eh?
Because he answered too readily, I flinched.
The Duke had a smile.
It was not the calculated smile I had always seen, but a truly kind smile.
“If my puppy wants it, I’ll do it.”
…Probably my ears are not wrong.
Puppy, really.