How to Protect My Sub Male Lead Dad

“I’ve analysed the drug, and it’s unbelievably poisonous! The mere touch of the powder is enough to cause side effects.”

“Do you have proof? After what you’ve done before, I don’t trust your word.”

Flushed with embarrassment, Philen spoke up.

“Since I became His Majesty’s personal physician, nothing like this has ever happened! The water brought by the Saint alleviated his symptoms. The only thing that has changed here is the useless medicine from yesterday!”

Philen tossed the vial of medicine I had given to the Emperor.

Gritting his teeth, Hart grabbed Philen by the scruff of the neck.

“Watch your tongue!”

The chilling whisper seemed to freeze even my ears.

If the Emperor had not been present, he might have pointed a sword at Philen.

“I.. not… breath.. save… me..”

Philen’s face turned blue. He looked at Asta for help.

Asta, who had always been by the Emperor’s side, raised her head.

“Your Majesty, it may be hard to believe, but a poison was detected in the vomit of His Majesty.”

“What?”

“It’s the first time something like this has happened. I don’t want to believe it either, but there’s no avoiding suspicion on Hanelope.”

“Do you think Hanelope knows to make something so dangerous?”

“She’s very good at handling drugs, isn’t she? She woke me up when no one else could.”

Asta stared at me, with her serpent like gaze.

The assembled servants started murmuring.

Perhaps Asta had called them here on purpose.

“Come to think of it, didn’t Prince Hart’s daughter have exceptional talent in pharmacology?”

“Those who’ve seen her say she’s just an ordinary child, so I’m not sure how she could have done this.”

“Isn’t it possible that there’s a mastermind behind this? It is well known that His Majesty and His Highness Prince Hart are not on good terms…”

Hart released Philen’s collar with a snap and stood in front of me protectively.

“If you malign my daughter based on speculation, I will not stand idly by.”

It was then that the Emperor opened his puffy eyes.

“It seems you’re not very concerned about my safety.”

Without a trace of displeasure, the Emperor stared at me.

“Hanelope, this Emperor will ask you himself. Did you give me the medicine, knowing this would happen?”

He was covered with hives, his face puffy with fever, but it couldn’t hide his piercing gaze.

I took a step forward and answered.

“Yes, Your Majesty. The medicine I gave you does have this effect just by touching the powder.”

“What?”

Everyone in the room was stunned.

The Prince’s daughter was trying to harm the Emperor! Equally surprising was the fact that this young culprit easily confessed.

Even the Emperor lost his composure and stared at me with his upper body half raised.

“Why did you do such a dreadful thing? Who told you to harm me?”

It was enough to make any child, or even an adult, cower in fear. I had prepared myself, yet my hands trembled.

But I gritted my teeth and looked straight into the Emperor’s eyes.

“I did it all by myself, Your Majesty,” I said. “Since you were ill, I wanted to cure you.”

“Making me look like this, you’re saying you tried to cure me?”

“His Majesty is recovering.”

I took the vial that was thrown away.

The scattered powder enveloped my tiny hands. Seeing that, Hart screamed in horror.

“Hanelope!”

“Dad, don’t worry. I won’t get sick.”

And then I swallowed the entire pill.

I could hear people gasping around me.

“What are you doing?”, the Emperor asked in surprise.

“This medicine is for expelling bad things that have accumulated in the body. It’s okay for me to take it since I don’t have such things!”

I have a heredity disease, but it doesn’t react to this kind of medicine.

I trudged over to the Emperor.

And I stroked the Emperor’s burning hand with my two small hands.

“Your Majesty has a lot of bad stuff in your body, and it’s all coming out now from the hives, and through vomiting! Once it’s all removed, you won’t feel sick anymore.”

“So what we found in my vomit was poison that was already accumulated in this body?”

“Yes! That’s right!”

I laughed heartily, glad that the Emperor understood.

“Then how long do you think it will take for all the poison to be expelled from my body?”

The Emperor asked, testing me.

I answered without delay.

“One day! Tomorrow, Your Majesty will feel refreshed and robust.”

Normally, the effect of this medicine is immediate after vomiting. But the Emperor had been accumulating bad things in his body for a long time, so he needed a day.

“If it’s as you say, I’ll get better tomorrow. Then someone must have fed me ‘bad things’.

The Emperor mused.

“Yo-Your Majesty, do you believe this child’s excuse?”

Philen exclaimed hurriedly.

The Emperor pondered for a moment, then turned back to me.

“Then I will ask Hanelope some more questions. Do you think that my headaches are due to the things that have accumulated in my body?”

“Yes. His Majesty’s face is often red-ish. Your chest feels stuffy and you’ve been drinking a lot of water, haven’t you?”

“How did you know that? Did Sofi tell you?”, the Emperor asked.

I nodded my head.

“His Majesty has a lot of heat in his body, and I heard that you take red Panax¹ root as a medicine.”

Panax root is a medicinal herb similar to red ginseng.

“Panax is a high-quality medicine. It restores vitality to the body, benificial for alleviating headaches as well.”

“But it’s not good for people who have a lot of heat in their body.”

“T-That’s for people who are unaware!”

Philen hurriedly interjected as the Emperor’s expression changed.

It was him, the one, who prescribed Panax.

“You’d have to take an enormous amount of Panax root to have any adverse effects, but I always give His Majesty the appropriate quantity.”

“Physician Philen, don’t get agitated. The child might have memorized all this, but she lacks experience. Please forgive her mistakes as naivety.”

Asta glared at the sulking Philen.

‘Is this how you’ll play it?’

I shook my head firmly.

“Show me the Panax root His Majesty takes.”

“Wh-what will a child know..!”

There were small red pills inside. They were compacted powder made from crushed red Panax root.

I casually put one of them in my mouth and chewed it with a grimace.

“Mmmm….”

I frowned gravely, and the Emperor chuckled uncharacteristically.

“What do you think? Isn’t it too bitter for something as young as you to eat?”

“Umm… it’s weird.”

“Weird?”

“It’s not only made from crushed red Panax root. It also contains… an excessive amount of caffeine.”

Philen’s face became pensive.

“Caffeine, when combined with red Panax root, multiplies it’s effectiveness.”

The air in the room turned cold.

“Even if you take only one of these pills, it’s equivalent to consuming a ton of Panax. Since His Majesty has excessive body heat, you shouldn’t consume it much, but you’ve been taking this medicine every day. That’s why harmful substances have accumulated in your body.”

“Ho-how could y-you know just by tasting it? R-Red Panax root is a r-rare product from the E-East. General p-people wouldn’t k-know….”

“Then you can make other imperial physicians analyse the pills. I’m sure what I said will be correct.”

“……!”

Analysing the pills will reveal Philen’s sinister plot.

He had used Asta’s influence to push the other candidates so that he could be the Emperor’s personal physician.

They are probably the most eager to prove his guilt.

He tossed the vial at Philen’s feet.

‘This is bad!’

The Emperor’s gaze followed the vial and slowly settled on Philen.

Philen broke out in a cold sweat and shivered.

I knew it from the first time I had seen the Emperor. His eyes were bloodshot, his neck red, hands and feet were swollen. His body was already bursting with heat.

‘It’s as if Philen had put a roaring fire inside him.’

In truth, the headaches the Emperor had suffered at first were minor ones.

They were the kind that would quickly come and go.

In the original, Philen pretended to cure the headache, prescribing things that were bad for the Emperor’s body. He then adjusted the concentration of the medicine, giving the Emperor hope that his headache was getting better.

‘But he wasn’t meant to recover.’

Someone was to play the role of the savior.

I glared at Asta.

‘The Fountain of Life- Actually, it’s a hoax.’

Asta had plotted a scenario where she would use the ‘Fountain of Life’ to cure the Emperor’s illness.

It was to make the Emperor, who was wary of divine power, fully believe and accept her as a Saint.

“The headaches are not life-threatening. But taking root in daily life was tormenting. It makes you lose your appetite, you can’t sleep, and it gets painful. Anyone would be glad to escape from this situation.’

In the original work, Asta gained the Emperor’s trust through this incident and rose to power.

She becomes a centre of power, capturing both the temple and the Emperor.

‘But now that’s not going to happen!’

“Lock Philen in the dungeons.”

“Yo-Your Majesty!”

The Emperor ordered as the room turned into a turmoil.

“What’s all this noise? Do you think this Emperor’s decision is hasty?”

“Your Majesty…”

Asta tried to convince the Emperor.

The Emperor swatted her hand away as if it were a nuisance. The Saint gulped at the sight.

Asta was the only one priest the Emperor kept close. They thought he was particularly fond of Asta, and were surprised to see her being treated so coldly.

Ignoring their confusion, the Emperor spoke, “I will wait and see if this child is right. If all the poison that Philen has deposited in this body is expelled, I will be cured.”

“…….”

“If she is right, I will capture Philen and bring him to justice by executing him. If not, I will set him free.”

“…….”

“Does anyone have a complaint?”

The Emperor glanced coldly to his left.

No one defended Philen. None of them were not unaware that it was a dangerous gamble. Even Asta could only bite her lip as Philen was dragged away, wailing.

It was Asta who had recommended Philen as the Emperor’s physician.

“Everyone disperse. I would like to rest.”

The Emperor said as he lay down on his bed.

We all stood up, but Hart scooped me up in a quick hug.

“I’ll take my leave.”

“Looks like you’ve been waiting for my order to leave.”

“Normally, my little girl would be asleep at this hour. I need to put her back to bed.”

Hart said, looking out the window, where the dawn had not yet broken.

“I guess your daughter’s sleep is more important than your father’s illness.”

“I’ll leave.”

Hart didn’t deny it.

After saying goodbye, I pounded my fist into Hart’s chest on my way out.

“Dad, you can’t talk like that. You have to say, no.”

“It is a grave sin to lie in the presence of the Emperor.”

Hart said without batting an eye.

‘Ehhhhh….’

What should I do with this stone?

Breaking the ice between the Emperor and Hart was not going to be easy.

The only consolation was the Emperor’s cold voice behind us,

“Why is the Saint still here? Get out.”

 

Notes:

(1) Panax aka Korean Ginseng:

https://www.webmd.com/vitamins/ai/ingredientmono-1000/Panax-ginseng