How to Replace Dad 58
Everyone rose from their seats.
The first prince smiled.
The servants who followed him entered in a group and offered bouquets to the countesses.
“Flowers may be shy in front of the countesses' dignity, but please accept them.”
With his polite and sweet words, all the countesses smiled.
The duchess also spoke with a pleased expression.
“It's been a long time. I hope you've been well.”
“Yes. I'm glad that Aunt has been healthy too.”
The first prince smiled and looked around the garden.
“I heard that Aunt is in the capital on the way and came to visit suddenly. I hope I haven't troubled the ladies.”
“There's no such thing. We will consider it an honor.”
“In that case, I'm glad.”
The first prince looked at me.
“Yustea.”
The countesses looked at us with curious faces.
It was well-known that I had devoted myself to the first prince.
Nobles usually have their marriage partners decided from birth.
Noble marriage is originally a bridge connecting families.
Not many marry for love.
But I liked the first prince too much from a young age.
I gave him my all.
But I was discarded in an instant.
How interesting this story would be for people in this world without movies or dramas.
I greeted him.
“It was an honor.”
“I've heard a lot about you. Thanks to you, it doesn't seem like it's been that long since we met.”
The wind blew, making his blonde hair flutter.
His slightly lighter golden eyes curved softly following his gaze.
If you make the word 'prince' into a person, it would be like him.
A white and neat face.
Sweet eyes that suit white horse and green well.
A warm voice like spring sunlight.
The 'prince' in my memory faced me without any rust.
“I'm embarrassed that the commotion reached even the prince's ears.”
“It can't be a commotion.”
The one who said that turned to the duchess.
“If it's okay, I would like to talk to Yustea separately.”
“I will prepare the seats.”
The duchess looked at me and chuckled.
Then she told the steward to show me the greenhouse.
After he left first, I bowed to the countesses.
“Then, for a moment.”
“Yes. Take your time.”
The countesses smiled, but they couldn't hide the regretful eyes.
It was a pity to miss the entertainment.
The steward guided me.
I walked a little apart from the steward, with Yuis following behind me.
Yuis whispered to me.
“Why did that unlucky guy suddenly come?”
“Well...”
But it's clear that the duchess didn't come because she heard that Aunt is in the capital.
The prince's purpose was me.
And the duchess's purpose is....
“I want you to become crazy about the first prince again and abandon Esgard and go to Andres.”
“You mean the imperial prince who doesn't listen to the emperor's words?”
“Yes. If it's Andres who listens well, but...”
“How much did you go crazy about this guy to guess that he would abandon Esgard and choose the first prince?”
“Yeah!”
When I nodded vigorously, Yuis's face crumbled.
As we whispered and walked, we soon reached the greenhouse.
When I entered the greenhouse, the first prince, who had already taken a seat at the table, pointed to the opposite side.
I bowed lightly and sat in the seat he indicated.
“There are many interesting stories.”
“I'm mortified.”
“Let's not be so formal? Like before.”
I treated him as a prince in front of others, but when we were alone, I treated him comfortably.
He was one of the few people who let my guard down in the past.
Since he was my older brother O'Neill's friend, we had known each other since childhood.
Instead of O'Neill, who was inferior to others, he was my older brother.
He was my friend and the person I admired at the same time.
I sighed and said.
“If you want.”
“Your tone is the same, but your name has become unfamiliar. Yustea Esgard.”
“I'm Quaron.”
The prince raised his eyebrows and looked at me.
I added while casually looking around the greenhouse.
“Yustea Esgard Quaron. My father is Viscount Quaron.”
While I was saying that, the servants brought in trays.
While they placed the tea set on the table, the first prince stared at me quietly.
“You've become a saint.”
“Yeah.”
“When did you find out?”
“Recently.”
“So, when exactly recently.”
The first prince's voice lowered.
Yuis narrowed his eyes.
Yuis felt a different pressure from the first prince's voice than before.
People who hadn't been close to Prince Yohael thought of him as a gentle and wise man.
But this was his true nature.
A young me thought of Yohael as chocolate placed in front of a starving animal.
While intoxicated with the sweet taste, he slowly dies.
After dancing with red-hot iron shoes for that gentle smile, after the show, Yohael, who finished the performance, discarded the dancer without a second thought.
Yohael was not a cruel man at all.
“Did you find out you were the saint during the first holy wave?”
“No, not then.”
“Then the second?”
“...”
“Or on the day of the saint verification?”
“What exactly do you want to know?”
I asked, and Yohael propped his chin.
“Why did you ask the saint verification to enter the Holy Tower to Lucciano instead of me.”
“So, did you rush to know your true identity on that day and not hide your opponent?”
His eyes curved softly.
That meant yes.
At that time, a teacup was placed in front of the first prince and me.
I picked up the teacup and answered.
“The opponent was hidden. Because I hid it, it was Prince Lucciano.”
“Why?”
“Because I don't like you.”
At the moment I answered casually, a clinking sound was heard.
The servant's hand that was moving the teapot slipped.
Surprised by my words.
The servants and knights all lowered their heads to hide their surprised expressions.
Yuis's eyes widened as he looked at me.
And the first prince himself...
“An unexpected answer.”
“That's a pity.”
“Are you serious?”
I nodded and said clearly.
“Very. Really. Completely.”
Everyone in the greenhouse held their breath.
Although trying to avoid gazes desperately, it felt like they were focusing on our conversation.
The first prince hummed softly.
This was his habit when calculating opponents.
“It seems your heart is quite hurt.”
When I looked at him as if asking what he was saying while holding the teacup, he answered.
“The duchess came looking for the empress. You say your heart is hurt and you avoid Andres.”
Upon thinking about it, I had been receiving calls from the mansion continuously.
I ignored the calls from Andres along with the other guests.
“How about letting it go thinking it's a mistake? Stella said she would forget the poison incident.”
The first prince picked up a cookie from the plate with sweets and handed it to me.
I stared at the cookie.
“You used to give me cookies like this often when I was in Andres?”
“Did I?”
“Every time I did cruel things to you, you gave me cookies like this.”
“Ah.”
“You know I am weak to this kind of action.”
The first time we met... that is, the day I became infatuated with him.
I was hiding in a corner of the Andres mansion crying.
Because the Duke of Andres didn't give me a satisfactory performance.
I was afraid he would know and coldly reject me.
When I was squatting and crying for a long time, someone bent down and met my eyes.
“Why are you crying?”
It was the first prince who had come to the mansion to meet my older brother O'Neill.
He handed me a wrapped cookie with a surprised sniffle.
“Would a sweet thing help?”
“You asked me when we first met if giving me a cookie would help stop my crying.”
“It seems you smiled while saying it helped.”
“Actually, it didn't.”
I took the cookie from his hand and continued.
“I liked your hand more than the cookie you offered.”
I said while narrowing my eyes and examining the cookie.
“It can't be bad. You're handsome.”
“...What?”
The first prince, who was smiling, opened his eyes wide.
It was a face I hadn't seen before.
He always had a relaxed look as if he knew what I was thinking.
I shrugged.
“You give me sweet words with such a handsome face, and I don't just pass it off and endure it?”
“Should I say thank you?”
He chuckled.
As if it was really fun.
“Actually, what I liked more than the cookie was the touch of the hand when receiving the cookie. Then I couldn't sleep at night because I was too excited?”
“I don't know what to say. Only unexpected words come out.”
“But now it's not like that. Maybe because you're looking at a more handsome person.”
“...What?”
I bit the cookie with a crunch.
“Tasty. Bring Stella.”
“What do you mean?”
“Stop pretending to be deadly. It's unlucky.”
A small gasp was heard.
I stood up from my seat.
“If there's nothing more to say, I'll go. Please return safely.”
And turned my back without hesitation.
Yuis, who met my eyes, secretly gave a thumbs up.
I smiled and left the room.
Yuis followed me with a grin.
***
Yohael, left in the greenhouse, quietly looked at the table.
A half-bitten cookie was left on Yustea's plate.
The servant approached.
“I will order your arrest for blasphemy.”
“Why do you attach blasphemy?”
“That's...”
“You said stop pretending to be deadly, it's unlucky?”
“...”
The servant swallowed with an awkward expression.
Yohael chuckled.
“Since it's done, inform the empress palace. Tell them it was unfortunate.”
“Yes...”
When the servant retreated, Yohael stood up.
He looked at Yustea's seat for a moment.
I had known the girl for a long time, but it was the first time seeing that expression.
The first time seeing those eyes, the first time hearing that tone.
It felt unfamiliar as if it wasn't the person I knew.
“A person whose calculations don't add up is the first time.”
It was strange that the child who could see through any thoughts just by meeting eyes was now not like that.
“But now it's not like that. Maybe because you're looking at a more handsome person.”
“...Who? Someone more handsome than me.”
If it was Lucciano, it would be no fun.
The first prince's gaze when turning back was cold.
***
“Who is the more handsome one? Me?”
“Yeah? Dad.”
When I answered cheerfully, Yuis's expression became displeased.
But he couldn't say anything.
Because he was a face genius who everyone recognized.
While thinking that,
“When I was young, I wouldn't have been able to say such words.”
“I would have said it even if I saw it. Yusi.”
At the voice calling me, I quickly turned my head, and Dad and the Duke of Esgard appeared.
Yuis seemed to have closed his mouth because he saw Dad.
“How did you come?”
“I heard that the duchess called you.”
“So, you called the duke too?”
“I came because there was. ...Hurry news old man.”
Dad's expression became more displeased than Yuis's.
I looked at the Duke of Esgard.
“You have to go down to the estate soon, so there aren't many people to meet from outside?”
“That's right.”
But why did you come back so quickly?
Seeing that expression, the Duke of Esgard laughed.
“Because Zavid came up.”
I was startled and opened my eyes wide.
Zavid. Dad's half-brother.
That is, the real culprit of the fake incident, the son of the duchess.
“I have something to say. About the fake incident.”
At the moment I was about to tell the fact that Zavid was the real culprit.
Dad said to me.
“I'll handle that. Just give me Zavid's seal.”
“How did you... hear that from Yuis?”
I couldn't tell Dad because I was busy treating Ross.
But how did he know?
“Princes these days aren't just protected.”
Dad had investigated and determined the culprit and found evidence.
Amazing.
I found out through Ross and Roslyn, who cast the curse, so it was easy.
But Dad is different.
Without any information, even unable to use Yuis, the information manipulator, he reached there.
So, he must have known the curse caster's identity too, and since they knew I took in the Ross siblings, they covered it up.
“The tea party is over. The countesses and the prince will return, so you too go to the second floor. You need to prepare to go down to Quaron.”
“Okay.”
Dad stroked my head.
After greeting Dad and the duke, I went to the carriage waiting area with Yuis.
***
Knock knock.
The duchess opened the door of the office with a loud slam.
In the office, the duke, Aslan, and the administrator were sitting.
She glared at the duke.
“You brought that one to where I am?”
“Yustea came, is there a reason Aslan can't come?”
“Because you touched that girl? So you stopped the party I hosted and sent the guests back in embarrassment!”
The duchess shouted.
The administrators looked awkward.
Even if they pretended to be cultured and old, their nature doesn't change.
The duchess was a princess who took the emperor's favor and lived without fear of anything in the world.
Once her eyes turned, she raised her head even to the duke.
The duchess shouted.
“Isn't it a girl who came for the sake of both sides? What problem is there in what I brought to contribute to the family.”
“Shut your mouth.”
“Since I have the saint in hand, I will call her out and use her in various places in the future. How about sending her as the concubine of the seventy-year-old Tabira king...!”
The duchess who was shouting flinched.
Because she saw the man who came after her.
A big man with black curly hair tied in one.
Her son, Zavid.
“Zavid, why are you...”
“I came for something to do. Mother, why are you making such a fuss.”
“What's the matter without any news.”
“The bastard doesn't know how to be ashamed and is roaming around the capital, so I have to step in.”
Zavid said that and looked at Aslan standing in front of the duke.
“Yeah, you that lowly guy—.”
At that moment.
Bam!
Aslan threw a punch right in front of Zavid.
Zavid, pushed away, crashed into the wall with a bang!
The duchess ran to him lying there.
“What kind of thing is this!”
“If the tip of the sword is pointed at someone else's child, it means your own child will be pierced in the stomach.”
“What, what...?”
Aslan's fist again pierced Zavid's face.
“Keuk!”
Right next to the hand of the duchess holding Zavid.
The duchess, startled, took a big breath.
“You, you...”
“From now on, if you lay a hand on my daughter, I will make your child like this.”
“...”
Aslan grabbed Zavid's hair and said.
“If you lose consciousness, it's troublesome. Your sins are not settled yet.”
His red eyes flickered sinisterly.