How to Protect My Sub Male Lead Dad

“You! Can’t you hear what I’m saying? Who are your parents? I’ll tell my father and make you and your father beg in front of me!”

As I stood still, Jacob screamed at the top of his lungs.

“You have no patience, and your personality is too impatient. You don’t qualify!”

I could see how he was raised.

“What did you just say?”

“I said you don’t have the wrong personality to be a Duke.”

“Wh-What, Are you sane!”

Another child stopped Jacob from lunging at me. Unlike Jacob, who was shorter than his peers, he was a boy bigger in stature.

“Stay still. I’ll teach her instead.”

“Okay, give her a good beating.”

The big boy snickered and walked over to me.

Shaggy red hair and freckles, ears as big as lids.

‘He was Talizan, the right-hand man of Jacob.’

Unlike the Duke of Eisen, Jacob was a fanatic follower of Asta from an early age. After Jacob became an adult, he and Talizan, his right arm, had done many dirty deeds for Asta.

‘Evilness sprouted in them since young.’

I looked at Talizan with a ‘go ahead and try me’,  look on my face.

“It’s been a while since I’ve hit a girl.”

Talizan grinned in amusement and balled his fists tightly.

Suddenly, someone shoved me aside.

“I-I hate her! You get away from him!”

It was Brantley.

Brantley pulled me away and shouted desperately.

“She came to me just to insult me. She told me to leave the waiting room because I’m a bastard.”

“Is that true?”

“Y-Yes! So, you shouldn’t hit her.”

“Hmm… Then why don’t I hit you instead?”

Talizan asked, threatening Brantley.

Brantley nodded without a second thought.

“!”

I was appalled.

A young child was willing to endure pain for himself. How much violence does a child have to be exposed to make a decision like that?

Kids should be protected!

“Alright. Then you’ll take the hit first.”

“I will.”

“After hitting you, I’ll also hit that girl.”

“N-No! I told you, she hates me!”

“It doesn’t matter. I just want to hit her.”

Talizan opened his mouth wide and chuckled. Then he raised his fist towards Brantley.

“Don’t hit him!”

I shielded Brantley with my body.

But just as I thought I would take the blow…

“There you are.”

Someone walked into the waiting room. I looked up, startled by the familiar voice.

Shiny red hair and paper-white skin. Long, shadowy lashes and a dazzlingly beautiful smile. But there was an undeniable coldness in her eyes.

“Saint, you’re back!”

Jacob exclaimed, rushing over and clinging to the hem of Asta’s skirt.

Asta smiled fondly and hugged him.

“I came back early because I missed you, Jacob.”

“I missed you too, Saint!”

Jacob, who had been acting like a bully just a moment ago, giggled in Asta’s arms.

‘She’s back in the capital sooner than I thought. I wonder if she has already found evidence in Mount Paro?’

After soothing Jacob, Asta looked at me.

Her blue eyes captured the image of me protecting Bradley as if shielding him from harm.

“So you guys are playing here.”

Is this what it looks like?

It couldn’t be.

Asta clearly knew me and Brantley were being bullied, but she was acting like she didn’t.

“Ah…”

A sigh escaped Brantley’s lips.

Brantley’s face was filled with disappointment.

‘He believed the Saint would save him.’

Because that’s how Asta’s external image was.

But she shattered the tormented child’s expectations.

That wasn’t all.

“I should go see His Majesty now. Wait patiently, especially you, Hanelope, it’s your first time here today….”

All the children in the waiting room turned to look at me.

“This is the child His Highness, Prince Hart brought in from outside. She has no mother, poor thing.”

Their eyes flashed at me like hyenas on prey.

“Hanelope is not yet familiar with the life of nobles. She has never been to a place like this. So, help her and treat her well.”

Asta told those cruel children about my weaknesses, one after another.

“Hanelope, you too befriend the children. They are all children from noble households with high status. They are different from you, but now you have to adapt to this life. Understand?”

Asta’s icy hand stroked my hair.

Jacob glared jealously at the hand.

After giving them all the attack points, Asta quickly left the waiting room, as her job was done. All that was left were two rabbits waiting to be ripped apart by hyenas.

‘The only reason Asta is doing this is to keep me away from Hart.’

She wants me to be tormented and broken by these arrogant and cruel noble children. So that I can either leave on my own, or be abandoned by Hart.

“There was a reason why you pretended to be close to Brantley. Because you are both bastards.”

Jacob said with disdain.

“Those arrogant bastards don’t seem to know their place. Let’s teach them a lesson by taking turns hitting them.”

“Alright. I’ll hit them first!”

“I’ll pinch that pink-head first!”

They’re all just kids, but their behaviour was vile. My heart sank thinking, Brantley’s been dealing with all of this by himself. The moment I vowed to protect him, Brantley stepped in front of me.

“I-I’ll take two. No, I’ll take three hits, but don’t touch her. She didn’t do anything wrong.”

“Why was she not at fault? It’s wrong for a filthy bastard like her to pretend to be the same as us!”

Jacob shouted eccentrically.

I couldn’t take it anymore.

Jacob needs to get a taste of reality.

‘There’s a piece of wisdom from the ancestors that has been passed down from time immemorial, and it’s said…’

I rolled up my sleeves and lunged at Jacob in one swift motion.

‘Offense is the best defense!’

No one was prepared for my sudden action.

Until I grabbed Jacob by both ears.

“Ouch, ouch, it hurts! Get off me, ah, ahhh!”

I hadn’t even applied enough pressure, and Jacob was stomping his feet and screaming.

This was probably the first time, the young Prince had ever experienced anything like this.

“H-help, It hurts, Talizan, Get this filthy bastard off me quickly…. Ouch!”

“I’ll pull his ears even harder if you get any closer!”

At my urging, the children could do neither this nor that.

“Ouch, it hurts! Ouch! Ouch! I’m going to get to Daddy! AH!”

“Apologize first, then I’ll let you go!”

“N-No, I won’t! Why should I apologize to a bastard like him… Ah..ahh!”

“Look. Does it hurt? Imagine how much it would hurt if I hit you like you tormented the Young Master.”

“Oh, okay, I’ll apologies! Wahh!”

With that, I let go of Jacob’s ear.

Jacob rubbed his red ear and glared at me with wet eyes.

“Apologize!”

“Why should I?”

“You said you were going to apologize.”

“Why would I keep a promise to a bastard like you? Hey, grab her!”

Talizan and another boy grabbed my arms from both sides.

I couldn’t believe I’d been tricked by a child.

I knew how cunning and evil they were, and yet I believed them to be children, and now I had been stabbed in the back.

“You bad liar!”

“Lying to an illegitimate child is not considered bad.”

Jacob laughed meanly and raised his fist high.

But he couldn’t swing his fist.

“I told you not to!”

Brantley lunged forward and shoved Jacob’s body.

Brantley and Jacob fell to the ground in a tangle.

“Are you crazy! How dare you tell me …!”

“I told you not to bully her. Torment only me, only me!”

The two brothers rolled on the ground, seemingly wrestling, but Brantley had the upper hand.

Not surprising, since he was taller and more muscular.

Considering their height and build, it was an expected outcome. Brantley didn’t fight back, so he didn’t realize it, but if they had a proper fight, Jakob could never have defeated him.

Brantley completely overpowered Jacob and sat on his stomach.

“Don’t…. don’t hit me! It hurts! It hurts!”

“I won’t hit you. I’m not a person like you.”

“Waaaahhhh.“

It was time for Jacob’s ugly sobs.

Rattle.

The door to the waiting room opened, and for a moment, the air froze.

“Who invited these beasts into the palace?”

A sharp voice cut through the frozen air.

Through the tense atmosphere, a man with a dignified posture walked in.

Flowing silver-gray hair that resembled shining silver. Deep red eyes. Imposing lips firmly closed. And a handsome face that, despite his middle age, suggested the beauty of a younger man.

It was Robert von Reinhardt, the Emperor of the Berg Empire, the father of Hart, and my grandfather.

I felt my heart drop.

I had prepared so much to impress the Emperor. I wanted to re-establish a connection between Hart and the Emperor. But the first thing he saw was a mess.

‘I’m screwed…..’

Then the Duke of Eisen came out from behind the Emperor.

He tossed Brantley aside like a piece of luggage and picked up Jacob from beneath him.

“My son, are you all right? No, you’re not! Where and how badly are you hurt, huh?”

“Sob! Father! Th-Those filthy bastards…! Sob!”

“What? How dare a lowly thing touch my son!”

I was on the verge of tears.

Brantley was the Duke of Eisen’s son, too. But he had thrown Brantley aside and was only holding onto Jacob. I felt sorry for Brantley, who was slumped in the corner, not knowing what to do.

I couldn’t help myself and shouted.

“Brantley is also the Duke’s son!”

“What?”

Duke Eisen looked at me in bewilderment.

“Jacob harassed Brantley first! But why are you only comforting Jacob, Duke?”