How to Protect My Sub Male Lead Dad

Lady Melanie rushed to the study at once.

As expected, Hanelope was sitting in a chair, sleeping soundly.

“How pathetic! Dozing off in front of someone so esteemed?”

Despite the events that unfolded because of her own actions, Mrs. Melanie blamed Hanelope and sneered at her.

“Now that the Duchess of Moltke won’t be coming back, I hope you’ll get the rest of your work done, so I don’t have to bother cleaning after this vulgar illegitimate child.”

That day was not far off.

A look of evil anticipation crossed Lady Melanie’s face.

But her hopes were quickly dashed when Duchess Moltke visited again. This time with more preparations.

‘I’m glad, but how am I going to handle this…?’

I felt like crying.

I was in the midst of trying to balance myself on one foot while placing a book vertically on top of my head.

In the end, the book fell to the floor with a thud.

‘NO!’

I felt despair, like a king losing his crown.

The lesson of placing objects on the head and maintaining balance. It was a training often done by noble children to walk elegantly.

But placing a book vertically on my head!

‘I’ve never heard or seen anything like that!’

I had practised placing the book horizontally on my head many times, but I had never imagined doing it vertically.

The Duchess of Moltke, who actually planned this brutal exercise, stood impassively with her arms folded.

“You’re out of shape.”

“N-no!”

“Your brain is functional, but your body is zero….”

“I can do this!”

I exclaimed desperately.

But Duchess Moltke only shook her head.

“Today’s lesson will be balancing books on your head.”

“What?”

The joy I felt when Duchess Moltke came again quickly melted away with the punishment like lesson.

I held the book on my head and timidly extended a glass bottle.

“Another gift?”

“Yes…”

The Duchess of Moltke accepted the bottle with sharp eyes.

She opened it and sniffed it. She seemed to notice something.

During our last lesson, Duchess Moltke drank all the juice I gave her. To be precise, the juice that Lady Melanie had laced with sleeping pills.

‘I thought she might not drink it, but she was so enthusiastic about the lesson that she felt thirsty.’

Feeling exhausted, Duchess Moltke ended the lesson early.

Though she felt sorry, but had no choice.

‘I analysed the juice left behind, and thankfully it didn’t contain anything bad.’

Duchess Moltke looked at the glass bottle carefully.

“You said your nanny gave you this, didn’t you? And she also asked you to secretly drink it?”

“Yes. But I’m giving it to the Duchess to show my thanks!”

“Does your nanny give you this juice often?”

“She tells me to drink it every day.”

“Doesn’t it make you sleepy when you drink it?”

The asked question was suspicious.

“Mmm, I’m not sure. I don’t remember after I drink it.”

“You don’t remember?”

“I often doze off. My nanny says it’s because I’m lazy. I used to be a diligent child before….”

I tilted my head with a reflective look.

“Ha… Giving such a thing to a child!”

Duchess Moltke muttered something reaching an affirmation.

‘Drinking it herself, Duchess Sofi had experienced the drowsiness similar to fainting.’

This time, Duchess Moltke didn’t drink the juice but took the juice with her.

‘Maybe she’ll send it for inspection.’

As planned.

“From now on, don’t drink the juice even if your nanny gives it to you.”

“What?”

“Do as I say. If you drink it again, you’ll be in trouble.”

Duchess Moltke seemed to be inexperienced in dealing with children.

“But she’s doing it for my sake, so I nodded my head obediently.

Today, Duchess Moltke gave me a lesson in imperial etiquette.

What to do in the presence of the Emperor, things to watch out for, and so on. Things that would actually help me. They were practical things that would be helpful.

‘Although Duchess Moltke is force-feeding me an enormous amount, just like she always does.’

Didn’t I have enough of studying in a previous life?

I gradually caught up with her Spartan lessons.

“I-It’s already….”

Duchess Moltke sighed as we quickly finished our assignment for the day.

“It seems your brain has robbed your body of all its talents.”

At the same time, she was amused.

I sulked, picking up the fallen book and placing it back on the crown of my head.

“That’s enough.”

Duchess Moltke said, putting the book down.

“There’s nothing more to do today, but if you have any questions, you can ask.”

She could have just left when I was done, but the Duchess of Moltke was willing to spend more time with me.

I was grateful.

There was something I wanted to learn.

“I want to learn how to use a map!”

“Maps?”

Duchess Moltke’s eyes widened in surprise.

I scurried to one side of the study and brought a large atlas, whimpering.

“I don’t know how to look at it.”

I unfolded the section I had already marked.

One corner of Duchess Moltke’s mouth lifted.

It was a map she knew well.

“This is a map of the southeastern part of the Empire. This is our capital, and if we follow this caravan road, we will reach Stofen, the largest port in the Empire.”

The Duchess of Moltke explained, pointing to each part.

“For your information, this is the estate of our family, the Dukes of Moltke. There are many larger and more fertile estates, but my husband loves this little piece of land and mountain.”

She added kindly.

It sounded a bit like boasting.

‘The Duchess of Moltke is the most enviable Princess in the world, and she cannot be proud of a small estate. It is her husband, the Duke of Moltke, that she wants to show off.’

The Duchess of Moltke, Princess Sofi, loved her husband, Simon Moltke, very much.

It was her choice to marry him.

‘Originally, it was Simon Moltke’s half-brother who was supposed to marry Princess Sofi.’

His father, who was deeply infatuated with his mistress, ignored Simon, the eldest son, and had his inheritance taken away.

All he had was his unusually good looks.

Princess Sofi even went on a hunger strike for Simon. Eventually they were married, and he became Duke of Moltke. Simon was devoted to his wife, his benefactor, and lover.

‘So when the Duke of Moltke dies in the original, the Duchess dies of a broken heart.

I looked up at the Duchess of Moltke, who was smiling faintly.

A girlish excitement flashed across her face at the mere thought of her husband.

I read the name of the small mountain she was gazing at.

‘Mount Paro.’

This was it.

The starting point of all tragedies.

“Where is the Duke of Moltke?”

I asked with a twinkle in my eye, and the Duchess of Moltke turned to me.

“My husband? He’s in the harbour at Stofen on business. You should know that, when summer arrives, the importation of morning glory berries will soon begin.”

“Wow! And the Duke has gone to buy the berries?”

“He’s already signed a few years’ worth of import contracts and has gone to make arrangements. He’s so resourceful that he doesn’t need to advertise much, but he always makes huge profits.”

“Wow…..”

“Of course, we don’t sell to just anyone. He has a selected group of secret clients. But if you want, I’ll give you the berries as a special gift.”

The Duchess of Moltke opened her mouth to brag about her husband, even though I hadn’t asked her to.

I stomped my feet and clapped my hands like a delighted child. I didn’t forget to shout, “The Duke is so wonderful!”

Duchess Moltke smiled broadly.

‘I can’t believe the icy Princess could be shy.’

‘How dare the Duke deceive the Duchess of Moltke who loves him so much!’

If there was one fatal flaw in the Duke of Moltke, it was his greed for money.

He grew up in poverty, neglected by his parents.

‘Even the illegal iron ore mining is because of his greed for money. He deceives his wife, the Princess because if she knew, she would freak out.’

I tapped the map with my little finger, hiding my true thoughts.

“So, he went this way, straight along this road?” I pointed to the gold-colored road.

“No. He went this way.”

Duchess Moltke pointed to another road marked with a blue line.

“Huh? Why? It’s faster to go this way.”

“There’s a territory that my husband likes, Paro, in the middle of the blue road. He always stops by there on his way. It’s such a tranquil and beautiful mountain even to me. He has such a sensitive soul.”

“So he’ll be arriving at the harbour later than everyone else?”

Duchess Moltke snorted at my concern.

“While others focus on how fast they can secure and sell more fruits, my husband is different. He keeps the fruits and sells them at high prices during the seasons when they are hard to find.”

Morning glory berries are delicate and spoil quickly.

To preserve them for longer, he had to use a special method.

They had to use an expensive tool that kept them at a specific temperature.

However, the tool required a huge amount of mana stones.

“Then the Duke has to get a lot of mana stones! The Duke will be very busy!”

“I know you’re fond of the Morning Glory flower and all that, but what we have is enough. It’s equal to stones needed for two years of winter heating.”

I blinked in surprise.

“Uh, no, you can’t. You need enough mana stones for ten years of heating to keep the Morning Glory fruit from rotting.”

“What do you mean? My husband can’t be wrong.”

“I’m confident! My mum bought me a book on Morning Glory from the Eastern Continent. That’s what it says there…”

“A book from the Eastern continent?”

Duchess Moltke’s eyes flickered.

Even she had never seen a book specializing in the Morning Glory Flower published in the Eastern Continent.

She wouldn’t know why others wouldn’t store Dawn Morning Glory fruit for long.

‘Because the maintenance cost is higher, and the efficiency is lower.’