Rather Than The Son, I’ll Take The Father

Translator and Editor: Effe and Elnie

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Chapter 79

I never thought I’d hate Gilbert even more than I used to.

I thought that he had already fallen to the lowest level of my likeability meter, so there would be no bottom line for him to thread over.

But, in reality, there has always been something that provides a whole new definition of ‘the worst’.

Hoo, let’s take a deep breath. I’m not as patient as Aedis, but I’ll give it a try.

“The two of you have to be my daily escort knights for the rest of the day. Of the two of you, the one who escorts me with better skills will be pardoned of their debt.”

Shaula smirked at my words.

“Your Grace, are you sane?”

“Speak.”

“But I mean, you’re a weak person-”

“Don’t play with me. Power is also power. No matter how strong you are, you think you’ll be able to withstand all the people I control? Whether it’s 10,000 or 100,000 people, speak only after you bring them down and crush them. I’ll only cut you some slack once.”

Shaula licked her lips. For some reason, her face looked slightly reminiscent.

Why is her complexion like that?

Feeling a little uncomfortable, I shook my head.

“And to answer the question, of course I’m sane. I’m hoping that you guys get along while fighting. The explanation is over. I’ll be out in 30 minutes, so get ready.”

***

I was uncomfortable to show my back to the two children who only had bad feelings towards me.

Still, there were two more people accompanying me, and Raven was sitting on my shoulder, so it was a little comforting.

“By the way, I’m in a weak state right now, so keep an eye on me. One person would have their debt forgiven, so the other person might really fall behind.”

Anyway, Gilbert, who came out on time, frowned.

“How long do you think it will be possible to just trust and stick to Father?”

I didn’t have to answer that.

“Who believes in and sticks to whom?”

“…”

Gilbert bit his mouth at the voice of the man who was very clearly biased towards his wife.

Shaula was also shocked to see Aedis walk out.

“Your Grace, you are cowardly.”

Gilbert also seemed to agree, so I laughed.

“Who is the coward, the one who used words to attack and hurt me, or the one who left me while I was vomiting blood?”

“…”

“…”

I blinked at the two troublemakers who were speechless.

“Remember that I said one might fall really behind? Could you please take care of me as my escorts?”

While Shaula scratched the nape of her neck, Regen poked his face out.

“Your Grace!”

All right, we’ve all gathered.

I waved my hand to Regen with a fresh smile.

“Welcome, Lord.”

Regen was very excited.

“Are we really going to play outside the castle together? Us together?”

“Yes. Are you looking forward to it?”

Regen nodded his head vigorously. It looked like his neck would break.

His dazzling, sparkling eyes were unbelievably adorable.

Gilbert twisted his lips, as if the friendly atmosphere between Regen and I was annoying.

“Regen, come here.”

In the past, Regen would have immediately listened to Gilbert’s words..

Even though I read him children’s books for several nights, had breakfast and tea time together, and helped him with homework, Gilbert just couldn’t leave Regen’s name out of his mouth once.

But for some reason, Regen hesitated.

Staring at me.

Regen lifted his heel and lowered it, and did not rush towards Gilbert.

Rather, he gave Gilbert a look that looked like he was hoping that Gilbert would take back his call.

“B-but if I go there, I can’t walk side by side with Her Grace…”

Aedis was also surprised.

I saw hope.

Hope that Regen might be able to escape from his brother’s grasp!

Oh, I can’t give you a tea you like too much. In this case, it is not good to sip one more glass.I pressed my lips together until my smile was hidden.

“I think I’ll feel energized if I walk with the Lord, but I can’t be greedy. Today is a great opportunity for the Lord, so I’ll yield you to Gilbert.”

Shaula didn’t wonder why Gilbert was Gilbert and Regen was the Lord.

Her gaze rested on Raven, who was picking at his feathers while perched on my shoulder.

“I’m hungry. Can I eat that crow?”

“Kaaaak?!”

Fortunately, Regen had not heard it.

Regen’s rabbit-like eyes fluttered as he stared at me and Gilbert alternately.

The misunderstanding was cleared up as I undid Pymon’s seal and explained that I wasn’t sick, but Regen was still worried about me.

I didn’t need to act or buy sympathy, so I hid the pain as much as possible.

Regen, having decided to do something, clung to me.

“You don’t have to yield! I-I’ll help you with this side! As for that side, uh, Father’s going to take it!”

……Really?

Regen chose me now, right?

With Gilbert in front of him?

As if feeling my doubts, Regen grabbed my hand.

He seemed to express with his whole body for me to not shake off his hand.

It felt like my mind was fading away.

“Then I’ll hold you without hesitation.”

I held Regen’s and Aedis’s hands, respectively, and smiled.

Now that this is the case, before we get to the point, can I scratch Gilbert’s stomach a few more times?

“Lord, shall we go eat ginger ice cream?”

***

We headed to the downtown area. Although it was not as large as the capital, it was densely populated and vibrant.

I bought delicious food for Regen, whose eyes were droopy, and gave him a tour of the theatre.

Of course, Gilbert and Shaula looked like they were going to die the whole time.

They didn’t like being swept away by the crowds, and the act of looking after someone while holding their temper seemed utterly tedious.

After playing hard, Regen was carried onto Aedis’s back. But I still had work to do.

I thought about sending Regen back to the castle first, but he grabbed Aedis’s clothes and didn’t let them go, so I decided to just bring him along.

“It would be much better to hunt for beasts rather than treasure. The forest is full of things that will come at me the moment I snap my fingers.” Shaula continued to grumble.

I handed several sacks that I had purchased from the merchant to the two troublemakers.

“What is it, Your Grace?”

“Now that I’ve played my heart out, I have to work.”

“Is this torture?”

Shaula seemed genuinely pained to be in the same room with an unspecified number of people.

She had a desperate expression on her face as if she had been punished by having to spend her whole life in a rabbit hole while abandoning her beastly habits.

It was as if she had lived somewhere in the wild.

Shaula appears to be in her late 20s.

She said she didn’t know her own exact age either.

Of course, she doesn’t even remember her birthday, and she doesn’t care.

When she was the knight-leader of the Kalakis Grand Duchy, I looked through the papers she had written, and found that she only had one guardian in the list of family members.

It was assumed that even the guardian had recently become deceased.

What the hell is this woman?

Aedis didn’t care about Shaula’s complaints, and took us to Eire Forest.

It was in front of the cave Pymon had taken me to.

I only said that it was a place full of gems and gold coins, and I did not explain it in detail, but without a doubt, it was one of my destinations.

Wondering how he knew about it, I turned to Aedis.

He was deep in thought.

“It’s kind of…”

Aedis asked, tilting his head.

“Did you want something in this cave?”

“Do you know who made this place?”

“I think I made it.”

Excuse me?

Aedis had a strange look that was saying that it wasn’t a big deal, as if he had accidentally found a coin that he had dropped 500 years ago.

“It was a long time ago, but I remember putting it away because there was nowhere to dispose of it.”

I remembered a newspaper article that said there were several more secret caves like this one.

“Did you hide them in some other places too?”

“About ten?”

Huh.

It was a little shocking that my lazy and unfaithful husband was actually richer than me.

Pymon described the cave as a rare treasure trove.

The wealth of the Grand Duchy was so great that Toliman Elliott’s antiques frightened the vassals and caused them to furrow their eyebrows. Including Aedis’ personal share, he could buy an empire.

“For now, let’s go inside to see if there’s still anything we can use.”

The husband smiled prettily at his wife, who had come to rob his own treasury.

…I should have roughly known who the cave owner was from the fact that there was also a barrier that blocked spirits?

But when I first talked about the cave, Aedis’s reaction was so bizarre that I couldn’t even guess.

[-A barrier that also blocks the entry of spirits? It’s a pity it’s not a destructive barrier.]

You talked like a completely different person!

I opened my eyes, unamused, and strode inside, but only then did Shaula realize the purpose of the sacks and grumbled.

“Your Grace, you need a porter, not an escort, huh?”

I ignored it and went ahead, stopping at Aedis’s murmuring.

“Did you install a trap or not?”

“…”

He was trying to remember, but it didn’t seem like anything was coming to mind.

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