How to Replace Dad
The carriage of Esmeralda, the wife of the previous Marquis Andres, arrived.
The servants who were supposed to welcome her without notice were all tense.
"I greet the great madam."
"Rohan (Marquis Andres)."
"He is inside."
Esmeralda strode into the mansion.
The servants lining the walls bowed in unison.
Between them appeared a middle-aged woman in a dress.
"You've come. Mother."
It was Emma, Stella's mother.
As she approached with an awkward expression, Esmeralda replied coolly.
"Her noise about the incident at the Tower of Magic. She got scolded at the picnic for injuring her face."
At that, Emma said in surprise.
"Since I pitied the animals taken as test subjects..."
"So she broke into the Tower of Magic, smashed the cages, and released the animals!"
Emma was at a loss, twisting her hands.
"The issue with the Tower of Magic has been settled, so please set your worries aside."
Marquis Andres appeared.
Esmeralda's expression froze more as she saw her smiling son.
"Do you have any idea how much I skimmed from the Tower of Magic's mouth under the guise of sponsorship?"
"It was money I was supposed to throw away every year for the sake of the relationship with the Tower of Magic. How much more could I add without harming the family?"
"And then you didn't even put Andres on the list of candidates for the previous Tower of Magic?"
Emma shrugged her shoulders.
There were several reasons why Andres wasn't on the list, but one that couldn't be denied was Stella.
The person who invaded the Tower of Magic and caused trouble is the daughter of the lord.
In a place like that, the opinion of the Tower of Magic mages was that security would be dangerous.
Marquis Andres still had a sweet smile.
"The promising mage expected to be the next Tower of Magic master is deeply connected with Stella. The previous Tower of Magic can be done later..."
"Yustea isn't a candidate for Tower of Magic master, but is aiming for the previous master."
"Eh?"
"At the picnic, after exchanging a few words, he made Esgarot, who was quite low on the list, a strong candidate for the previous Tower of Magic."
"What are you saying?"
Only after Yustea's name came out did the smile disappear from Marquis Andres' lips.
Emma, who had been hiding behind the Marquis, also looked at Esmeralda with surprised eyes.
"The Duke of Esgarot brought that child."
"...Why the Duke?"
"The participants at the picnic expected to adopt that child as their son."
"There's no way."
"You don't know what he's thinking. But it's clear that Stella is far behind Yustea."
Emma flinched.
She was a former maid of the Marquis family, and she met Marquis Andres after his first marriage failed.
The previous Marquis couple never accepted a daughter-in-law who was a maid.
To make Emma and him break up, he married her to Dia, Yustea's mother.
To Emma who went through that process, Esmeralda was a target of fear.
However, she couldn't stand even her daughter's slander.
Emma said with a deathly pale face.
"Stella has many good friends, and the Marquis also said that her smile brightens the family..."
"So, has she actually been of any real help!"
Emma flinched and grabbed the Marquis' collar.
"Even if you attach a great teacher, her grades are at the bottom, and her manners are poor, so she can't even be sent to social events!"
"That's... that's because I'm not used to it yet..."
"It's already been 4 years. It's been 4 years since your daughter entered this family."
"..."
"Yustea debuted in society at the age of eight, and was called to the Empress's palace countless times. Even in that, her academic record was always the top student."
"..."
"The entire family affairs were all in Yustea's hands. But what is your daughter doing!"
"..."
Emma became speechless, head down.
"Please stop, Mother."
The Marquis said quietly.
Esmeralda's face distorted.
She was about to shout something, but soon closed her eyes tightly as if holding back her anger.
Esmeralda approached her son and lowered her voice.
"That warehouse I was managing. It was taken away."
"I'm investigating it."
"Even though only Yustea knows the code from the outside, you can't be sure that he is the culprit."
"..."
"You can't be sure if he managed the code as well as Yustea?"
"..."
Esmeralda turned her head to Emma, who was tense.
And raised her voice again.
"Not only the daughter, but the mother is useless too."
However, Yustea was different.
There was no place where he wasn't satisfied.
Even if given a task, he would stay up all night for a month and perfect it.
Thinking about that makes me feel sorry.
The impatient feeling doesn't go away even as time passes.
So I came to check.
So, not feeling sorry.
There was a substitute.
But when I came to the mansion, the emptiness of that child was even more evident.
"Rohan, I'm suspicious. Were we too hasty?"
"No."
"Well. If you meet that child again, you might feel it."
Emma's expression hardened more.
***
The Duke who promised to be handsome left, and I tilted my head.
Even if the Duke buys more clothes than this, I have no intention of going.
The Duke is treating me well because I'm the Duke's adopted daughter.
He doesn't treat just me well.
The Duke who brought me into San Miguel is amazing even if I didn't prove anything.
'So I have to stick with him.'
Even if the Duke enters Esgarot, he doesn't want to abandon me.
To do that, the important thing is Valboa territory.
I asked Yuis.
"Have you collected information about Valboa territory?"
"Yeah. I found out the list of nobles involved in the merger territory selection. Next month, at the central meeting, those nobles will gather to decide the selection criteria."
The examiners were decided first.
The examiners decided the test topics after meeting.
"Perfect. Who is the examiner?"
"That became a bit difficult..."
"Why?"
Yuis sighed and said.
"Sintes Viscount and Belmonte Viscount."
They were the expected selections.
There are three great figures in Esgarot: the Three Pillars.
Valboa Viscount.
Sintes Viscount.
Belmonte Viscount.
'Since Valboa is excluded, only Sinte and Belmonte remain.'
They were naturally supposed to be included as examiners.
But what is the difficulty?
Seeing my puzzled expression, Yuis continued with a hesitant expression.
"...And Sol Viscount. It's these three."
"What?!"
As soon as I heard the last person mentioned, my eyes widened.
Not one of the Three Pillars, but a famous person whose name I knew.
...Crazy about bribes.
Yuis muttered with a mix of irritation.
"They're setting up a table to eat bribes. I really can't figure out their minds."
"With 1, 2 ten thousand gold, it's impossible...?"
"There's already a crazy carriage loaded with gold heading to Sol's jurisdiction..."
No way.
It's getting complicated here.
I groaned.
***
First, I decided to target Sinte Viscount.
Among the three examiners, he was the one with some connection.
I went to Sinte's mansion under the pretext of visiting Astor.
Astor welcomed me with a happy face.
"Welcome, Yustea. What is this?"
"I made some pies because the apples were ripe and delicious."
"Your father would like it. He secretly eats Yustea's jam too."
"Is Viscount there?"
"He'll be coming soon. Very urgently."
I blinked at what that meant.
Dada! With tremendous footsteps, Sinte Viscount barged in.
"Selling my words?! Not a son, but some bastard...!"
Sinte Viscount, who came in with a red face, stopped when he saw me.
"Why Yustea..."
Then, seeing Astor smiling behind me, he remembered the purpose and pouted his face.
"Where is my cute cutie pretty?"
"It's in the stable, where else?"
"...Are you not selling it?"
"You asked if I was selling. Because Mother wanted to sell the horse. Father who can't remember his wife's birthday but remembers the horse's birthday."
Sinte Viscount cleared his throat.
"You should have written a letter so I wouldn't get confused. I was in a hurry because I asked if the horse price was good..."
"I have to comfort Mother, so Father, please welcome the guest."
Astor winked at me.
'Ah, he knew I wanted to meet Sinte Viscount and prepared the seat.'
With gratitude, I quickly bowed my head.
Astor smiled brightly and waved her hand lightly.
Then she went up the stairs, stopped after a while, and looked back at the Viscount.
"Ah. If Mother likes horses that much, sleep in the stable from now on."
With that, she ran up.
Sinte Viscount said with a sad face.
"I didn't forget my wife's birthday, I just misread the date..."
"Did you tell your wife that too?"
"It's hard to say..."
"Why?"
"My wife used to have the hobby of breaking the spines of thugs when she was young..."
Hmm. I was scared that if I spoke, the Viscount's spine might break too.
***
I took the Viscount to the shopping district.
The Viscount, who got off the carriage, looked at the sign with a puzzled expression.
"Flower shop?"
"Yes. I'm going to buy a gift for the Viscountess here."
"Wouldn't a jewelry shop be better?"
"Do you like jewelry?"
"Thinking about it, I bought diamonds and got scolded for not buying dried fish instead."
I smiled kindly and took the Viscount into the flower shop.
The Viscount still had an uneasy expression even after entering the flower shop.
"My wife doesn't like flowers much. She'll get tired of it."
Then, a middle-aged woman who seemed to be the owner of the flower shop said.
"Oh, your noble lord seems not to know your wife's heart well."
"Hm?"
"The flowers that give your heart to your husband make your wife happy. Right, young lady?"
The Viscount looked at me as if to say really?
I smiled and nodded.
"The point is to put your heart in it. Not to soothe or to end cheaply."
"Really...?"
"Is there no flower with memories of the Viscountess?"
"...She liked cosmos. On the way, she said she saw pretty flowers and wanted to show them to you, so she cut them and smiled shyly."
The Viscount's lips curved into a smile as if recalling memories.
The Viscount, who chose a few pretty cosmos, looked around at other flowers.
"Gladiolus was liked too. She said it looked like you, so she brought it to stick in her hair next time."
"I see."
"She also liked gladiolus... The strong flower, she gave it as a first date gift because it resembled her."
"Then, how many gladiolus?"
The Viscount's chosen flowers were various in color and shape, so they didn't look very pretty together.
Even the Viscount who saw the completed bouquet looked disappointed.
"Will my wife really like this?"
"I think she'll like it very much."
"Then it's good."
The Viscount smiled awkwardly.
Then he gave a silver coin generously to the flower shop owner and completed the payment.
So we left the flower shop.
Then the Viscount stopped at the purple flower placed in front of the flower shop.
"Viscount?"
"..."
The flower shop owner asked the Viscount who was staring at the flower without responding to my call.
"Will you give that too?"
"Can it be packaged separately?"
"Of course."
The owner who received the silver coin quickly packed the purple flower.
The Viscount who received it smiled awkwardly.
"Flowers from Astor..."
He hesitated at the flower named after his daughter.
"That child really doesn't like flowers, but seeing as fathers buy flowers one by one. Haha, Yustea must have received them often from her father?"
"No."
My biological father didn't even know what month my birthday was.
I prepared for my birthday but he didn't come even once.
Would such a person buy flowers for me thinking of me as he passed by like the Viscount?
The Viscount looked at me in confusion.
"Ah, I..."
I shook my hand quickly as his face was one of not knowing how to handle it.
"It's okay. Should we go to another place sooner?"
"I bought flowers?"
"Flowers are good, but if I give flowers and a gift, it's even better?"
"Ah."
He nodded as if he had realized something big.
"The Viscountess is said to be interested in bows. I know a good weapons shop."
The Viscount followed me with a mesmerized face.
***
The gift was indeed effective.
The Viscountess who received the bouquet of flowers gathered from memory said this.
"I was going to kill you, but you found a way to live."
The Viscount said while sweating profusely.
"Th, there is also a bow of your favorite brand."
"...Tikari?"
"Arrows are also Tikari!"
"What?! Astor, tell the kitchen to prepare a luxurious meal for my father!"
Thus, the cold war in Sinte's mansion was perfectly concluded.
Astor chuckled and looked at me.
"Thank you. I attached you to help my father, but instead we received help."
"If it was helpful, I'm happy."
"It was a very big help. So..."
Astor shouted at the Viscount.
"Valboa territory, how about pushing it a little?"
Sinte Viscount, who was having a passionate hug with the Viscountess, cleared his throat.
"Helping someone is against the principle."
"Damn you...!"
At the moment Astor was about to cry, the Viscount continued in a gentle voice.
"By the way, it seems that Sol Viscount also likes this weapons shop."
"Why is this story coming out here?"
"Sol Viscount is also crazy about weapons and uses all the money he collected to buy Tikari."
"No, why suddenly..."
"You know there are eleven treasures of Tikari? One each from the Seven Families, a few in the imperial family too.... I heard Sol Viscount's wish is to get those treasures."
"Instead of nonsense, something with nutritional value...!"
At the moment Astor was saying irritably, I grabbed her hand.
"It was a sufficiently nutritious story!"
"Eh?"
The Sinte Viscount just told me how to seduce Sol Viscount.
'Tikari's treasures.'
Sol Viscount, no matter how much money he has, can't get it because of lack of authority.
By bringing that, he can secure Sol Viscount's favor.
"Thank you. I'll go now."
I quickly bowed my head.
Astor and the Viscountess said.
"It's almost dinner, why don't you have dinner too."
"Yes, Yustea."
Then Sinte Viscount smiled.
"Go. It's a child with things to do."
It was a signal to go quickly and secure the Tikari's treasures.
I greeted the Sinte family again and headed to San Miguel Castle.
Upon arriving at San Miguel Castle, I rushed to find the Duke's room because I was in a hurry.
When I arrived in front of the room out of breath, the Duke, Vice Duke, Antonio, and Yuis were walking from the opposite corridor.
"What's so urgent, young lady?"
"I have to see the Duke. That, Sol Viscount. With the treasures of Tikari, I can persuade..."
Just as I was saying that.
The Duke suddenly extended something.
"...Eh?"
I was surprised and looked at the Duke.
Because what he handed was a beautifully packaged daisy.
"This... why..."
"While checking the territory, I saw a flower shop."
"Eh?"
"Seeing this, I remembered your thoughts."
"..."
I stared at the daisy quietly.
When I was silent, he said.
"If you don't like it, it's fine..."
I quickly grabbed the daisy.
"It's mine."
"..."
"I will take it. I will take it..."
How does the Duke always give me what I want most?
I couldn't say it because I was embarrassed.
Actually... I was envious of Astor.
It was so envy that I could receive flowers from my father...
My nose became stuffy.
I accepted the daisy, rubbed my eyes with the remaining hand, and said.
"Thank you..."
"..."
The Duke stared at me quietly.