How to Replace Dad
The meeting of the elders ruling the empire wasn't special.
It was nothing more than chatting over tea or playing card games.
Of course, the content wasn't ordinary.
“Tobar Duke, I heard that old man died.”
“According to our intelligence department, the eldest son killed him. They're trying to pass the succession to the second son. Heh, why is the family like this. I'm going to die.”
“It's the eldest and second son fighting, but how about the eldest and second princes in the palace? I heard that Prince Luciano said he'd come find the eastern region that was taken by monsters with some great tactics.”
“It's not baseless confidence. The Empress's complexion was yellow.”
Such amazing stories flowed casually.
The Duke of Esgard, who was looking at his cards, whispered to me.
“You gave Ingu to Prince Luciano, right?”
“...!”
I flinched.
I already knew that I had asked Irregular to steal Ingu.
‘Scary grandfather...’
“I gave one... just one.”
“You stole three, why only one?”
“Two were for emergency use. And one was already used.”
While wondering if he might ask for it back, the Duke's card pack caught my eye.
It wasn't a particularly good hand.
The Duke seemed about to fold this round and placed his card.
I quickly grabbed the Duke's hand.
“You’re going to die?”
“Yeah. That old man's hand seems better than mine.”
The old man the Duke mentioned was the former Duke of Nevarro.
The former Duke of Nevarro was looking at his granddaughter Guinevere with a cheerful expression, their eyes meeting.
The two had puffed up shoulders as if they had a great hand.
Other elders were also placing cards, seemingly giving up this round.
The former Duke of Nevarro laughed heartily.
“Oops, sorry. I've won three rounds in a row by myself.”
The elders clicked their tongues.
“You’re not that skilled, don't get cocky. Thanks to your granddaughter.”
“Haha. Our Guinevere is the goddess of luck, after all.”
The former Duke of Nevarro said that while staring at the Duke of Esgard.
It was a clear provocation.
“If you fold, I'll win this round too...”
Just as he was about to sweep the coins, the Duke of Esgard opened his mouth.
“Raise.”
“...What?”
“I'm doing it because this kid asked for it.”
The former Duke of Nevarro frowned.
The other elders looked interested.
Guinevere was helping the former Duke of Nevarro's game.
The Duke of Esgard was me.
The elders were holding cards, but it was a duel between Guinevere and me.
The former Duke of Nevarro soon sneered.
“If you want to die gloriously, I won't stop you.”
The round started.
The former Duke of Nevarro didn't change his cards.
And on the Duke of Esgard’s turn, I said.
“Change two cards.”
“Only two?”
“Yes.”
I changed two cards.
The Duke, after checking the received cards, frowned slightly and looked at me.
The former Duke of Nevarro, who didn't miss that, burst into a hearty laugh.
“Unusually foolish judgment. Then, don't show your cards.”
The former Duke of Nevarro and the Duke of Esgard flipped their cards simultaneously.
And the people who saw the cards....
“...!”
“...!!”
The elders' eyes were wide open.
It was completely different from what they expected.
The Duke of Esgard won.
Moreover, the Duke of Esgard's hand was a royal straight flush.
Yeah, the ultimate combination, the one with the probability of winning the lottery.
“Eh, how...!”
The former Duke of Nevarro shook his hand and shouted.
The Duke of Esgard chuckled.
“I wonder. My goddess of luck must have been stronger than yours.”
At that, the elders laughed heartily, saying “What a great man.”
The former Duke of Nevarro and Guinevere's faces turned sour.
***
Watching the elders' card game with his guards, Yuis let out a laugh.
‘What the heck is this?’
The Duke of Esgard was sweeping the game.
It was all thanks to Yustea.
“This time, you only need to exchange one card.”
“Yeah, yeah.”
“Hmm, all-in?”
“Yeah, yeah.”
If Yustea just did as she said, an amazing hand combination would be completed in one go.
The Duke of Esgard almost scooped up the coins.
Of course, the former Duke of Nevarro was frustrated and couldn't hide his expression.
“...Are you changing cards this time?”
“Uh... that...”
Guinevere was flustered and couldn't even show her true skill.
After the game ended, there was a short time for table maintenance.
During that time, Yustea left the room to go to the bathroom.
Yuis, who was in the role of bodyguard, quickly followed behind her.
“How did you do it?”
“Huh?”
“Card game.”
“Ah. I knew what kind of hand would come out.”
“What?”
“If you look closely at the back of the cards, the patterns are very subtly different.”
Cards in this world aren't printed like on Earth.
Especially the cards used by these great nobles were high-quality items handmade by painters.
Since they were made by human hands, there had to be differences.
‘If you look at the cards the elders are holding, you can see the combinations.’
And you could guess which cards were left.
Also, since there's no separate dealer, the old men take cards directly from the card pack.
As the card pack slightly twists, you can peek at the edges of other cards.
“You figured that out?”
Yuis shook his head.
Even Yuis, who prides himself on his sharp eyes as the head of the intelligence department, couldn't distinguish the difference.
“Yeah. More than that...”
Yustea looked around to confirm no one was there and said.
“You did well!”
“...Yeah, I guess so.”
Everyone was amazing.
“The top of the medical field, former tower master, former chancellor... No one like that old man.”
Yustea's eyes sparkled.
With an extremely excited expression, Yuis smiled faintly.
“Weren't they the faces I saw when I was the Andres daughter?”
“Only during events or from far away.”
Although she was the daughter of Andres, she wasn't in any official position.
Her role was limited to social activities or diplomatic events for foreign women.
So, even if she went to the palace, she couldn't enter places where politicians gathered.
“When did you eat Luciano?”
“I naturally acted as the back duke. Meeting politicians was done by my father or the Empress.”
When Yustea raised her head, Yuis let out a ‘heh’ laugh.
Whether he did or not, Yustea clenched her fist.
“I’ll work hard.”
“Cheer up.”
Yuis nodded with eyes burning with desire.
After that, Yustea and Yuis returned to the room.
In the room, the old men were chatting.
The center of the conversation was Guinevere, the granddaughter of the former Duke of Nevarro.
“So, Guinevere is taking an advanced course at the academy?”
Then the former Duke of Nevarro laughed heartily.
“It's not a place anyone can just go. Originally, we were going to have her graduate early and educate her within the family, but how much the professor begged...”
While glancing at the Duke of Esgard.
Yuis clicked his tongue inwardly.
‘Trying to make up for losing the card game with academic achievements?’
Mentioning early graduation was obvious.
It was clear that Yustea had told her granddaughter about graduating early from the regular course.
Others were hit hard because the professor didn't contact them about the difficult early graduation.
The Duke of Esgard was still smiling, but his eyebrows twitched slightly.
Other old men laughed and said.
“Guinevere has very good grades even in the advanced course? Interested in philosophy?”
“Of course. Especially I respect Plato. His theories are all easy to apply.”
“What do you think of the philosopher Plato?”
“Plato is considered an old philosophy by recent scholars. Is there value in theories that are difficult to realize? I think so too.”
Answers came without hesitation.
The elders admired the broad perspective they couldn't see in young people.
However, the party involved's expression was different when asked about philosophy.
Yuis narrowed his brows for a moment.
‘That's not a proper expression.’
Looking closely.
That old man is the former Tower Master, Duke of Gillon.
‘What was Duke Gillon's info like.’
While rummaging through information in his mind, Yuis flinched.
And quickly gave Yustea a fierce eye signal.
‘Look at me. Look at me!’
But Yustea didn't look at Yuis.
It was because Duke Gillon asked Yustea a question.
“The one the Duke of Esgard brought. Do you feel the same?”
‘No way!’
Duke Gillon was a pureblood fanatic who had a statue of Plato in his house.
If I say the wrong thing here...!
At that moment of thinking.
“I... sometimes call him father.”
“...?!”
Yuis looked at Yustea with a surprised expression, muttering in a dazed way.
Even Duke Gillon's face was startled.
“Father?”
“He is the father of philosophy...”
“Eh, why do you think that?”
“I’ve precisely understood the essence of philosophy. Philosophy has meaning in understanding the principles of phenomena...”
“Indeed! A kid who can talk!”
Duke Gillon shook his hips with excitement.
“Especially the part about having to acknowledge desire is impressive!”
“Of course...”
“If you only apply theories to politics, it's not difficult. In a hierarchical society, how easy is it to acknowledge desire!”
“My heart is exactly like that...”
“The point is that we must exclude excessive interference from the state. Competition creates better quality!”
“How come you only say right things...”
“What a pleasant conversation! Uha ha ha!”
With appropriate timing, Duke Gillon made the old man spit out his breath.
It wasn't over there.
“By the way, do you know? The place where Plato's theory can be best unfolded is Esgard...?”
“Esgard?”
“The place with the least central interference in the market. That's why all kinds of merchants and experts gather. So, it's as easy to obtain magic tools, experimental materials, etc., as in the empire.”
“Of course.”
Duke Gillon stroked his chin and pondered.
“Although I didn't consider it because of the invasion of the immigrant race, if not for that, it might not be bad as a previous tower site...”
At the mention of previous tower site, the eyes of the former Duke of Nevarro and Guinevere widened as if ready to pop out.
“Wait! Didn't you say the previous tower site was in mind for our Nevarro estate!”
“Thinking about it, Nevarro has too much interference in the market. It seems difficult to obtain experimental materials...”
“No...!”
The former Duke of Nevarro clicked his tongue.
Duke Gillon looked at the Duke of Esgard.
“How do you have such good land?”
“Land is easy to make.”
“I’d like to hear more details.”
Yuis looked at Yustea with surprised eyes.
Yustea smiled brightly.
‘If the previous tower becomes ours, that would be great. Right?’
While making mouth movements.
‘I deliberately made that story come out!’
What a great girl.
Not only Yuis guessed Yustea's intention.
The elders looked at Yustea with interesting faces.
“The Duke of Esgard seems to like it.”
“Speaking of which, I heard that when you were the Andres duke's daughter, you were quite smart. Always number one at the academy.”
“Oh, even better than Guinevere?”
“My grandson was in the same year as those kids, but I couldn't follow Yustea Andres...”
“No, where did that old man find such a kid?”
The former Duke of Nevarro, who heard the elders whispering, clenched his fist.
The Duke of Esgard smiled faintly.
“It's not just 14 wins and 13 losses.”
“Ugh...!”
Finally, the former Duke of Nevarro couldn't hold back and slammed the table with a bang! and stood up.
And, grumbling, he left the room.
Guinevere, flustered, followed behind him.
***
“Looking at it this way, you're smart, and looking at it that way, you're clever.”
The Duke rubbed my cheek vigorously and said.
“Are you in a good mood, Duke?”
“Of course.”
“If the Duke is happy, I'm happy too.”
“Where did this come from.”
The Duke held my cheek gently and shook it.
“I’ll come back after discussing the previous tower site. Come along and take a look. If you need anything, request it.”
“Yeah.”
The Duke laughed ha ha ha, cheerfully, and left.
Of course, other knights followed the Duke.
After that, only Yustea and Yuis remained in the corridor.
We walked silently.
And when we reached a place with no one...
“Well done.”
“Yeah.”
Clap. High five.
Yuis smiled and lightly patted my head.
“What on earth did you put on your tongue. You did really well...”
While saying that, he stopped, looked back at me.
“Miss.”
What?
Suddenly changing the title.
This meant there were people listening nearby.
I turned my head.
Soon, the sound of footsteps approached.
The sound of horse hooves and clacking shoes.
Knights were coming escorting someone.
They slowly revealed themselves from the darkness.
As soon as I saw the army-blue cape, I stiffened.
The pattern engraved on the cape was so familiar.
Two snakes intertwined in an eight shape.
...It was the Andres pattern.
An elderly noblewoman with her head held high among Andres knights appeared.
The knights escorting the noblewoman retreated in a line.
Even in old age, her posture was straight without a single wrinkle.
Her face was expressionless.
The noblewoman stared at me quietly and said.
“It’s been a while, Yustea.”
Yuis looked at me.
I clenched my trembling hand.
Why didn't I think of this.
If such great nobles gathered here, she could come.
“I... greet you, Grandmother.”
Esmeralda Andres.
My grandmother, called the woman of iron blood.
***
Grandmother stared at me quietly.
“Your head is high.”
“...”
I lowered my head.
Clack, clack.
The shoe sounds approaching me felt like thunder.
Like when I was the Andres daughter.
“Has a lowly merchant properly raised her child. I never expected much from the beginning.”
“...”
“But you’re even more foolish than I thought, Yustea.”
“...”
“If you couldn't hold your position and were exiled, you should have been ashamed and hidden. Why did you bring your dirty feet all the way here where I am.”
Grandmother's words, as always, pierced my ears like a knife.
“You need a warning.”
Grandmother gave a signal to the knights.
The knights charged towards me.
Yuis's face twisted. It was when he was about to put his hand on the sword hilt.
“Anyone who dares to lay a hand on my puppy must pay with their neck.”
An unexpected voice came.