How to Protect My Sub Male Lead Dad

《 Crimson Ears Bulletin 》 was described as notorious in the original.

The papers folded at the corner of the table seemed to be the said newspaper.

‘It was spread out in the middle of the table when I first entered the room.’

Hart had hastily put it away as soon as I appeared.

‘But even with it folded, I could still see some of the words.’

I feigned distraction and read a few lines from the article.

「Prince Hart’s secret outing turns out to be… astonishing reveal!」

「Shocking news! Prince Hart secretly spotted at a slave trading site…」

They were sensational articles that I couldn’t look at directly.

‘Bad guys. They’re still harassing Hart, aren’t they?’

The 《 Crimson Ears Bulletin 》 was the newspaper that used to publish malicious articles about Hart according to the original story.

However, the publisher was secretive, so it was impossible to know who was behind these articles.

Hart himself was not particularly keen to find out.

In the original, he didn’t care about public opinion.

“Asta, I don’t care what people think of me, as long as I can do it for you.”

But I care!

This line made my insides burn.

‘Then why is this newspaper in your office? The original Hart wouldn’t have cared.’

There were even some pretty serious faces discussing how to respond to the malicious article.

‘I think this was an important agenda item, so why did they stop it as soon as I arrived?’

Maybe it wasn’t because of me.

Was it a topic he didn’t care about, but the vassals brought up?

‘That’s why Hart doesn’t want to talk about it anymore, so he brushed it aside.’

Likely that’s what happened. I nodded to myself, coming to my own conclusion, when a large hand tossed the newspaper under the table altogether.

The hand belonged to Hart.

I looked up and locked eyes with him, he was staring at me.

“What are you cooking up in your head while nodding?”

Why is he suddenly picking up a fight!

I rubbed my eyes in disbelief, but then I remembered what Hart had said.

“You should call me ‘Dad’ so we don’t look awkward and act more confident and relaxed than before.”

Could I use that to fight back? I rolled my eyes, brought my hands to my cheeks, and smirked.

“That’s because I like my dad so much.”

Hart’s eyebrows twitched.

He was taken aback by my sudden affectionate tone.

It was amusing to watch him panic as he held the weights in front of his vassals.

There was a murmur around him.

“Could this be the same…!”

“Come to think of it, I heard that the Prince brought in a child…”

The vassals who had been staring at me opened their mouths in unison.

They were anxious to ask and had spotted a golden opportunity.

Eyes sparkling with curiosity, they gawked at me.

‘It was pressurising.’

Instinctively, I huddled close to Hart.

I didn’t want him to protect me.

‘I just felt safer being there.’

It was then,Hart’s hand wrapped around my small shoulder and squeezed. It was a casual touch, trying to make me relax.

I looked up in surprise, but Hart’s face had returned to a stoic expression.

“If you already know, what are you spinning your words for? Aren’t you trying to ask if this is my daughter?”

The vassals who’d been stabbed in the gut stared at each other, their mouths tightly shut.

Hart twisted the corners of his mouth up in amusement and said.

“Yes, this is my daughter. Her name is Hanelope von Reinhardt.”

Hart announced that I was his daughter.

Then the vassals lifted their bowed heads, and one by one their eyes shone upon me.

Their gazes were a mixture of curiosity and favour.

But I wasn’t as frightened as I had been the first time. Was it because Hart had his arm around my shoulders?

‘If they’re looking at me like that, I should be polite, right?’

I lifted my maple-leaf like hand and waved timidly.

“Hello?”

“Ooohh, the lady waved hello to us…..!”

“The Young Lady is very kind and cute.”

“My son is just her age, but why is he so different, huh…”

The vassals spilled out the words they’d been holdinng, not paying attention to Hart.

Some of them shouted, and others waved at me.

‘They’re surprisingly cute middle-aged men.’

Later, when things went bad for Hart, most of them would turn their backs on him.

Suddenly-

“Miss, do you remember me?”, said a man with a handsome brown moustache and noticeably classy clothes.

It was the man I’d bumped into outside Hart’s office before.

‘You’re that extra uncle!’

His full name was Baron Matthew.

I waved my hand in greeting.

“Uncle, it’s been a while!”

The vassals turned to look at Baron Matthew in unison.

“I can’t believe the lady greeted him personally.”

“How did he become acquainted with the young lady?”

They sounded a little jealous.

Baron Matthew spoke haughtily.

“I just happened to see her the other day.”

“What a coincidence! Do you think we don’t know how sly you are, Baron Matthew? You got a head start without telling us.”

“It really was a coincidence. I didn’t expect the Lady to greet me either. I guess she must have liked me. Haha, ha…”

The chuckling Baron Matthew instantly turned to ice.

Hart was staring at him like he was going to chew him up.

After glaring at Baron Matthew, Hart turned to me.

“Where and how did you meet Baron Matthew?”

His tone was stern for some reason.

I blinked nervously and said, “I just met him in front of dad’s office. While I was waiting for dad who never came, we were aquainted.”

So it’s because of you, Hart, that I met Baron Matthew.

Hart was dazed, as if he’d been hit in the head. But he soon regained his stern, adult face and demanded.

“You are the daughter of a Prince, so you may speak to my vassals in a lower tone, and above all…”

Hart continued with his strictness.

“Do not wave to any adult. Don’t even pretend to know them. The world is more vile than you realize.”

“You don’t want me to do this?”

I made a small wave of my hand, and Hart nodded, his expression sombre.

Something about that look made me wary of the vassals.

‘Isn’t it a bit embarrassing?’

I glanced at Baron Matthew, who had just been labeled as a vile adult.

When he made eye contact with me, he smirked shamelessly and said.

“So, you’re trying to finalize the matter of the 《 Crimson Ears Bulletin 》 because of the young lady after all.”

‘What was he talking about?’

I looked up at Hart, unable to understand.

He was blank, expressionless. In fact, he seemed to be fidgeting.

The other vassals spoke up.

“His Highness called the meeting in a hurry, and then you said your daughter wouldn’t like it if she saw it in the papers. I thought I was the one who misheard.”

“I thought my ears were acting up. But it was really for the Lady. If she’s that cute, I’m sure even I’ll be….”

The meeting was forcibly concluded as soon as I appeared. At the same time, Hart had quickly put the newspaper away.

‘Did he do that so I wouldn’t see those articles?’

Suddenly, I remembered the day the people from the boutique criticized him.

“Dad, don’t listen to them!”

“The people who came to make Hanelope’s clothes, they bad people! It’s sad that they’re bad-mouthing the Prince.”

I fretted that day in case Hart would hear something bad.

But he looked stoic.

Surely you’re not saying that Hart started caring about public opinion just because I don’t want him to receive criticism.

There’s no way.

Hart is a man who doesn’t care about anything but Asta’s reaction.

‘Besides, we’re not even that close yet!’

You’re lying, it’s all a joke, right?

I looked at Hart.

He was frowning out of the corner of his eye. Then he looked at me and, as if reading my expression, said.

“Don’t mind them.”

Yeah, because it can’t be true…

“I’m not going to let you witness any of those things you hate.”

His voice was so low that only I could hear it.

I was stunned for a moment, wondering if I had heard it wrong. My heart was racing. I knew I hadn’t misheard, but still-

‘It feels weird. It’s quite awkward. What’s wrong with Hart…’

Just as I was about to say something to him-

“Hush, hush, everybody be quiet. The lady mustn’t know, so stop it.”

Baron Matthew waved his index finger in the air.

‘But I already came to know because of him..’

Just then that I heard a small male voice from the corner of the office.

“And the child you asked Duchess Moltke to educate was also the young lady?”

It was a frail-looking man.

Hart nodded.

“Yes. For an audience she needs to learn the basic etiquette.”

“But will the Duchess agree? No, even if you ask, it’s not like…”

Everyone looked worried.

It was the natural reaction.

‘Because the Duchess of Moltke is a very demanding person.’

The only Princess in the empire, both fastidious and feisty.

That was the Duchess of Moltke, Sofi.

‘At the same time, she is the only sister favoured by the Emperor, and an aunt who cares deeply for her nephew, Hart.

In the original, Duchess Moltke blamed Asta for the falling out between the father and son.

She tried to keep Asta in check and make them reconcile.

‘Until her sudden death.’

A sigh escaped her dry lips at the thought of the upcoming tragedy.

‘I’ll prevent it.’

After the meeting, some of them stayed to talk with Hart, while others left the office.

I glanced at the newspaper Hart had tossed on the floor, and slipped out of the office.

Then I sprinted to one of the vassals ahead of me.

“Mister, hello!”

At the cheerful greeting, the vassal turned to me, grinning broadly.

“Miss, when did you come out here? Do you have something to tell me?”

“Yes! I want to show you something!”

I laughed bashfully, like an innocent child. Then I grabbed the hem of my yellow skirt and twirled around.

“Is it a new dress? You’re cute as a chick.”

“Yeah! Sherry said it was pretty, too. The first designer was very bad but the new one was nice.”

“The first designer?”

The vassal looked at me curiously.

It was a well-known fact that the once prosperous costume shop went out of business overnight after visiting Prince Hart’s mansion.

Reason: The designer and his assistants had committed an imperial offence.

Hart was the one who was insulted.

But no one knew the exact details. Not even Hart’s aides.

“Can you tell me happened with the designer?”

The vassal asked, his mouth watering.

Hoping an immature child would tell him the secret that Hart wanted so badly to keep hidden.

“Ungh, this is  supposed to be a secret…”

I whispered in his ear. The vassal’s eyes widened.

“I mean.. Really! How could they do that!”

“Shhh! It’s a secret!”

I said seriously, putting my index finger to my mouth.

The vassal smiled sheepishly with a face as if he realized and made a face like agreeing with me.

“I understand, Young Lady. Don’t worry, I won’t divulge this to anyone.”

He didn’t look trustworthy at all.

But it didn’t matter, because I said it hoping he would tell ‘someone’.

‘I remembered the incident that was being discussed in the meeting. In this mansion, there were informers working for the newspaper.’

It can’t be the employees.

‘If it was then my story would be published first.’

The illegitimate daughter of a Prince causing a nationwide stir.

What a mouthful!

But most of the stories in the papers are about Hart’s secret outings.

‘A person who isn’t familiar with the mansion but knows Hart’s schedule.’

It had to be Hart’s vassals.

‘There were spies!’

I’m going to bait them and find out their identity.

I let the man in front of me go, and went to meet with another vassal.

“Hello, mister!”

I said with a wide grin as his eyes widened.

“I want to show you something!”