How to Protect My Sub Male Lead Dad

“I-I was wrong. P-Please forgive me for once, even if it is only in the view of my patron Marquis Carson….”

“Why should I? Even if I were to tear you to pieces now, it would only add one more stigma to my many. And am I not, as you say, a natural monster?”

“I, Your Highness, Y-Your Highness, please……!”

“Take them away.”

At Hart’s command, the waiting servants entered the room.

“Please forgive me just once!”

“Save me! Spare me! Your Highness!”

De Bichon and his assistants crawled on the floor like worms before Hanelope.

But the servants only dragged them away.

Hanelope was terrified in Hart’s arms.

‘Where are they taking them? What are they going to do?’

As she watched nervously, Hart patted her back.

“We should go.”

But comparing to the first time the caress was subtle.

In the hallway, the maids were waiting. And behind them, Sherry and the maids in charge of Hanelope stood trembling.

“…….”

Hart stared at them coldly.

He was a benevolent master to his employees. But he had no mercy for those who failed to properly take care of his own flesh and blood.

He was about to announce their punishments.

“You guys were scared, weren’t you?”

In his arms, Hanelope pecked her little lips.

“It’s okay now, the Prince has punished all the bad people!”

The frightened servants looked up in surprise.

Hanelope flashed them a reassuring smile.

“Hurry up and say ‘thank you’ to the Prince.”

“Th-Thank you…….”

“T-Thank you, master!”

The observant servants soon read the mood and bowed.

They knew that the little master had their backs.

“Hah….”

Hart could only laugh in disbelief.

‘If you do this, how can I punish them.’

But he wasn’t offended at all. Rather, he was amused by what the little thing was doing.

“Let’s go.”

“Okay.”

In the end, Hart was forced to overlook the mistake of the maids.

“My Lord, let me show the young Lady to her room.”

Sherry held out her hand to receive Hanelope.

Her cheeks flushed as she looked at the Young Miss. Hearts seemed to leap out of her eyes. She wasn’t the only one. The other maids were just as enamoured of the sweet, kind Young Lady.

The sight of their faces, all eager to embrace Hanelope, made Hart want to act petty.

Hart’s eyes glowed wickedly.

He clutched Hanelope tighter and tighter in his arms. The maids, as well as the tiny body in his arms, looked at Hart in astonishment.

“I will be taking her.”

The maids in charge could only wriggle their hands in pity.

All of them wanted to monopolize this soft and warm presence in the mansion!

However, they could not say anything because they had committed a sin.

Hart sneered at them as they bowed their heads in shame and walked down the hallway.

The child stared up at Hart with wide eyes, never blinking and without breathing.

Hart finally noticed her gaze and frowned.

The child’s face looked sad.

‘I guess she was upset too.’

When Hart went to see Hanelope choosing her clothes, what welcomed him was criticism from designers and assistants and Hanelope with an almost crying face.

‘I’m used to being chastised, but this little guy isn’t.’

I was thinking of ways to comfort a child.

However, unexpectedly, She covered Hart’s ears with small hands and said, “Dad, don’t listen!”

He chuckled at the sound, recalling the chirping of a sorrowful bird.

 

***

 

‘Seeing him smile.. Dad… I guess Hart’s feeling a bit better now.’

Hart wondered if the child was only concerned about him and not expressing her own sadness.

He had never coaxed a child before, and he was wondering what to do when he saw Hanelope doing something strange.

She was pressing her small lips against his chest and blowing out small breaths, “Hoo, hoo-“

“What are you doing?”

“Hoo- I’m doing it for you.”

“Why would you do that?”

“Because your heart is hurting.”

“Mine? Why?”

Hanelope looked at Hart with a pained expression.

Then, she patted her chest.

“It’s all right. You can tell Hanelope everything.”

“I don’t know what the hell you’re talking about.”

“The people who came to make clothes for Hanelope, those bad people! It’s sad that they cursed at the Prince.”

“…….”

“If you don’t tell me what you’re upset about, you’ll get sick. You can tell Hanelope anything you’re angry with.”

The child had an infinitely serious face.

Hart rarely showed emotions, but he almost laughed out for a moment.

Hart instead poked Hanelope’s soft cheek with his long index finger.

“This baby doesn’t have to worry about that.”

“Hanelope is not a baby, I’m just young….”

”It’s what it is.”

“It’s definitely different.”

Hanelope fought back, imitating what Hart had said in the past.

“Adults don’t whine about something like that, so don’t worry.”

Hart said with a smirk.

The child pouted her lips.

‘You’re lying.’

Hanelope knew how lonely Hart was in the original.

He’s been criticized for too long, like a daily occurrence. Just because he’s used to it, doesn’t mean it can’t hurt.

He just rationalizes to himself that he’s fine because he doesn’t want to be in agony.

’If you keep pushing it hard like that, your heart will explode.’

How can I melt Hart’s frozen heart?

Suddenly Hart frowned.

“One unpleasant thing came to my mind…”

“What is it? What is it?”

Hanelope urged, flapping her legs in the air.

‘I have to comfort him with a lot of confidence.’

Hart spoke seriously to the child, who clenched her tiny fist.

“You said ‘Dad’ before, but why did you change the address to ‘Your Highness’ again?”

“?”

“I want you to stick with one.”

“Ah.. Okay, Your Highness.”

Hanelope said with a slightly discouraged look.

I called him Dad without realizing it As expected, he didn’t like it.’

I was just wondering if we got close. I wanted to call you dad someday.

‘I guess that wasn’t the case. I’ll have to be more careful in the future.’

Hart’s expression became even more disapproving at the polite words that he even slightly removed his leaning body.

Hanelope, who glanced at the silent man, asked cautiously.

“Your Highness, you know… Are we really going to see my grandfather, the Emperor?”

‘Is she nervous because her grandfather is an Emperor?’

Hart tried hard not to ask naive questions.

But the conflict did not last long.

It was because of the child’s next question.

“Can I go to a place like that?”

Are you really going to take me to the Emperor?

I asked with half doubt.

Hart stared at me and said with a face that showed as if I asked a crazy thing.

“Why not? You are my daughter.”

“?”

I looked up at Hart with surprised eyes.

’Really? But why?’

Hart and the Emperor did not face each other unless it was a necessary.

But you’re making an audience for me.

I’m the illegitimate daughter of a son the Emperor doesn’t like!

‘I’m sure the Emperor will hate me. He’ll be mad at Hart again.’

Frankly, I didn’t understand why Hart would take such a risk.

It would be awkward to meet the Emperor.

‘You’re not going to act mean enough to grab the back of the Emperor’s neck, are you?’

Of course, I also had plans to meet the Emperor in the future.

‘Because one of the sources of Hart’s suffering is the Emperor. We need to untangle the mess of the thread.’

I planned to take the opportunity to catch the eyes of the Emperor.

‘But I didn’t expect it so soon.’

I wish we didn’t have to, at least for Hart now.

“But it’s…”

Hart looked at me in silence, then explained why in a calm tone.

“If you have an audience with His Majesty, no one will doubt your legitimacy.”

Legitimacy?

’Is that why?’

Of course, for the legitimacy of illegitimate children, there was no way as surer and fast as the Emperor’s approval.

The first thing Duke Eisen did was also getting an approval for legitimacy.

‘But Hart is not in urgent need of a successor.’

He’s not even married.

More than anything else –

‘…why do you want to go so far for me?’

Hart sighed as if he read my mind.

When I flinched, he patted me on the back with an awkward touch.

“I have always despised the royal family or aristocrats for not being responsible for the blood they gave birth to. They admit it officially, but drew a clear line. As if the children were from another world. If you’re going to act like that, you shouldn’t have given birth in the first place. Why do you let a child bear the responsibility of being born, when you were the ones responsible?”

Hart spoke in a scathing tone, and looked at me. His sharp eyes softened.

“I don’t know if you understand.”

Hart smirked as if it was funny to himself that he had talked as much in front of the child.

’A sense of responsibility.’

That was one of the points that made me like Hart in the original.

‘No matter what happened, he tried to take responsibility for what he did.’

So he actively settled for Asta’s doings.

Even when completing Asta’s requests, he tried not to harm the powerless people.

‘It was a problem because Asta wasn’t like Hart.’

He also directly compensated the victims.

‘As a result, Hart was even more misunderstood.’

Now I understand.

Hart came to pick me up again, and he immediately announced that he was a daughter…

‘It was because of responsibility.’

I almost had a different expectation.

But I wasn’t sad.

Even if he didn’t have any special feelings for me, he was nice enough to treat me equally, just because I was his daughter.

’As expected of my favorite.’

When I fell more in love with him and looked blankly, Hart, who misunderstood something, thought for a moment and said.

“You don’t have to go if you don’t want to.”

“What?”

“It’s tiring to curry favor with His Majesty and socialize with the high-nosed aristocrats. The persistent gazes that would follow the first prince’s only daughter must be annoying.”

“…….”

“There are many other ways not to let others look down on you. Even if you don’t do anything bothersome and play comfortably, it doesn’t change the fact that you are the daughter of the empire’s first prince.”

***