How to Protect My Sub Male Lead Dad

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Two chubby sparrows flew to the ceiling.

“The birds are flying away!” Someone shouted.
“Catch them!”
“Don’t let them escape!”

The devotees scrambled to catch the sparrow. They chased after the bird, tripping over their own feet or bumping into each other. But Todd and Natu managed to sneak away.

They were deliberately causing trouble.

‘If I had known you were going to be mischievous, I wouldn’t have helped you.’

Reading my mind, Todd and Natu stopped being naughty and scurried out of the cave.

“Cough! Cough!”

Somewhere, the sound of groaning could be heard. It was the old man who had been chasing the sparrows.

“Sir!”

The guards rushed to the old man. The old man’s face was pale, and he was trembling. He seemed to have strained himself from sudden vigorous activity.

‘Luckily, he’s breathing properly and it seems to be just a simple spasm.’

But the guards, unaware of this fact, panicked.

“You can’t leave us like this!”
“My time has come. P-Please, fulfill Aite’s will in my place…”

I sighed deeply and grabbed the old man’s hand.

The old man, who had been groaning, suddenly opened his eyes wide.

“Elder, what’s wrong?”
“How is this happening.. How can clear divine energy overflow throughout my body?”
“What? Your hair?!”

The old man touched his head. Thick black hair was growing between the thinning white ones.

‘I’ve used too much power!’

I quickly let go of the old man’s hand. But the old man, feeling the divine energy disappear suddenly, looked at me with a surprised expression.

“Did you heal me?”
“I just helped you recover. I know a bit about magic.”
“Who do you think I am, a fool! This isn’t magic!”

The old man stood up abruptly, straightening his back without realizing it. People were astonished once again.

“Sir, your hunched back straightened!”

I started pinching my forehead. I hadn’t used my powers for a long time, and I couldn’t control it properly.

“It is possible through magic.”

But the old man shook his head in denial.

“I’ve spent a lot of money on famous doctors, temples, and mages. But this is the first time such immediate and evident results have appeared. It’s like…”

The old man stopped speaking, apparently overwhelmed by his own emotions. Then the eyes of the guards looking at me started to gleam.

“Is it divine power? Then is she…?”
“A saint…?”
“NO!”

I couldn’t help reacting violently. I hated being called a saint.

‘Saints are even more terrifying than demons.’

But those who didn’t know the reason were puzzled by my excessive denial.

“But that power just now…”
“It’s a folk remedy.”
“A folk remedy?”
“Yes. I don’t have divine power. It’s a secret method.”

I was about to explain further. But sounds of awe erupted again. People were staring at the ceiling shrouded in darkness.

“D*mn it,” Brantley sighed softly.

As I looked at the ceiling with curiosity, my eyes widened.

Gorgeous golden vines were descending from the wall at a rapid pace.

The brilliant light of the vine leaves illuminated the darkness of the ceiling, and like sprinkling gold dust, it rushed down towards us.

It was so beautiful that just looking at it made you want to worship.

The guards were enchanted seeing the vines. Some knelt and started chanting. If an ordinary person saw this, they would turn into a believer.

‘Except for Brantley, who is staring at the vines with annoyance.’

In the center of the brightly lit ceiling, there was a yellowish-orange gem embedded. Beautiful golden vines were growing from that gem, like a gift from the gods.

‘It looks exactly like Todd and Natu’s sealing stone!’

Then, is that Aite’s sealing stone?

At that moment, the golden vines that descended from the wall started slithering towards me.

“?!”

The golden vines soon wrapped around me in a circle and started coiling around. After a while, beautiful golden flowers bloomed on the vines above me.

The old man who saw this exclaimed, “God chose to fulfill the young lady’s love!”
“What?”

I repeated in shock.

“This vine, as you can see, is a sacred representative of the gods, and when it surrounds a person and flowers, it is a sign from the gods to fulfill that person’s love.”

According to the old man’s explanation, the sacred vines could travel anywhere along walls or ground.

Therefore, they could appear unexpectedly anywhere, not just in temples.

“When we hear about the sightings, we help them to fulfill their love.”

But there was a problem, ‘Who am I in love with?’

I stared blankly at the golden petals.

I pretended to be infatuated with Brantley, but it was just an act because I wanted to keep seeing him.

‘After getting close to him, I planned to bring him to the capital.’

But did I make too much of a scene?

‘They all believe I’m crazily in love with Brantley.’

The devotees looked at Brantley with hopeful faces. But the vines didn’t even approach Brantley. It was as if the person I had fallen in love with wasn’t him.

“What’s happening?”
“Could it be that the lady’s feelings have changed?”

People murmured in confusion.

I found myself looking at Brantley without realizing it. But Brantley just stared at the vines, avoiding eye contact with me.

 

* * *

 

“Who could it be?”

The person I had fallen in love with. Even after returning to Barbetz’s, that was all I could think about.

Thomas?

“…Impossible.”

Just thinking about it was dreadful.

“Then Fritzka?”

But no matter how much I thought about it, he was just a reliable friend.

The same with Katherine.

“Could it really be Brantley?”

But the golden should have appeared to the next person.

The vines didn’t appear in either Barbetz or Mount Cran. Where is my partner?

Brantley had advised me not to be swayed by Aite’s tricks when he saw me off.

“Well, considering he tried to set up Todd and Natu, maybe it’s just a prank again this time.”

Thinking like that made me feel much better.

Plus, I heard that a small festival was being held in the village under Mount Cran.

Soon I forgot about the vine incident.

 

***

 

One day, as usual, I came to see Brantley.

“Sir Knight!”

I looked up at Brantley, my face flushed with excitement. He looked down at me impassively, his face was like a rare masterpiece drawn.

I took a step closer to him in impatience, “Did you get it?”

Brantley narrowed his eyes.

We had been seeing each other every day for a while now, and I knew what that look meant. Brantley ment- ‘I do. But I won’t do it.’

Haa.

Brantley was so obedient when he was younger.

“Are you going through puberty?”
“What?” Brantley asked in bewilderment.
“It’s nothing.”
“I don’t think so.”
“Whatever!”

I pouted my pink lips and looked at him with as adorable an expression as possible. Honestly, I thought I looked pretty cute, but he didn’t seem to notice.

‘It seems like he’s avoiding eye contact again.’

But I wasn’t going to give up.

“Come to the festival with me!”
“Me?”
“Yeah! I’m planning on sneaking out of the dorms at night, I might need an escort?”

Brantley didn’t hide the look of incredulity on his face at my brazen statement.

“Hehe.”
“I’m not helping you break the rules.”

Brantley said lazily, taking a step back.

This small festival, more of a village feast, was nonetheless the largest event in the vicinity of Cran Mountain.

‘It’s a perfect time for an outing.’

It was dangerous at night, so we at least had to go in pairs.

‘And that’s why I’ve been coaxing him all this time!’

Brantley remained unmoved.

‘It was like banging my head on a wall.’

At this point, even I couldn’t help but feel frustrated.

‘Why did you grow up into such an unyielding man?’

He refuses to go to the town for a meal. Doesn’t go with me to buy clothes.. And now he’s not willing to go to the festival!

I don’t think I’ve ever been rejected so many times in my life in such a short period of time.
I felt dizzy with shock.

‘Maybe he only acts like that because it’s me.’

I puffed out my cheeks and looked at Brantley.

“If you don’t want to hang out with me that badly, I’m going with someone else.”
“Who?”

Brantley, who I expected to brush it off immediately, asked back.

My mind went blank because I didn’t expect that question.

“Well, that’s…”

Brantley chuckled with a relieved expression. He seemed quite pleased that I didn’t have a partner to go to the festival with.