How to Protect My Sub Male Lead Dad

I was stunned and unable to do anything.

The sensation of the medicine going down my throat, pooling in my chest, and spreading to my heart was unbelievable.

The energy that burst out of my heart spread vigorously throughout my body.

Instantly, vitality surged through my previously limp body.

‘This can’t be real. Could it be this effective? It’s so amazing…’

I felt so energized that I wanted to run around. The effect was frighteningly immediate.

“Hanelope? Hanelope! Are you okay?”

Dad shouted in an alarmed voice.

He was tense, seeing me standing motionlessly. He looked terrified, as if the world was going to fall apart at any moment. Seeing that expression on his face, I couldn’t help but feel my heart ache.

With a face that seemed to laugh while crying, I said, “Dad, I did it! I made the medicine!”

Hart’s face lit up with surprise as he stared at me.

“Your complexion… it changed. Can medicine work so fast?”

“Yes. It’s my Mum’s creation. She was really good at making medicine. She was a genius!”

But Dad was still skeptical.

He stroked my plump cheek with a face of fear.

“Are you sure you’re not sick anymore?”

“Yeah! My heart is pounding rhythmically. The pain is gone, too.”

“Then you’ll be… fine now, won’t you?”

Dad’s voice trembled faintly at the end. I soon realized what he had meant to say.

‘So I won’t die, right?’

That’s what Dad was trying to ask.

‘He must have been worried that I would die.’

Feeling his concern and relief, I choked up as well.

I nodded vigorously.

“Yeah! I won’t be sick anymore. I’ll live a long, long time with you, Dad!”

I hugged him tightly around the neck.

He hugged me back, too.

“It’s a relief. I’m so glad I was able to save you.”

His breath of relief tickled my chest. Feeling like I was about to burst into tears, I deliberately spoke brightly.

“Thank you, Dad, for getting the berries! Thank you for saving my life!”

“This is nothing. Nothing at all.”

Even as I spoke, Dad’s voice was filled with emotion.

Then Maxim crept up behind him.

“It’s nothing? Young Lady, you have no idea how much His Highness went through to obtain this…”

Dad glared at Maxim fiercely.

Maxim fell silent again.

 

***

 

“Your face has improved, you were as pale as a porcelain doll before.”

Duchess Moltke said, while observing me.

“Your cheeks are a little burnt from all that running around.”

She teased me.

But I knew her words were filled with affection, so I smiled mischievously.

“Dad made a greenhouse for me! I go there every day and take care of the herbs.”

“Herbs? Right. You said your mother taught you how to make medicine.”

Duchess Moltke nodded.

I’ve been working hard on a cure for hereditary diseases. It was made from the herbs I grew in the greenhouse and the unripe berries my father brought me.

Ever since I started taking it, the pain in my heart and shortness of breath have disappeared.

‘Mum’s prescription was right after all, and I’m alive thanks to her.’

Mum must be delighted up in the heavens.

Of course, I haven’t fully recovered yet. I still needed to take the medicine regularly. But these days, I hear people saying that my complexion has improved wherever I go.

“I’ve left the gift I brought for you with the butler, so check it after class. If it’s not enough, I’ll get you more.”

“A gift?”

My eyes widen at the sudden word gift.

“You saved me and my husband. If we hadn’t given the mine to the Emperor as you said, we would have been in trouble. Who would have known that Asta, that damned thing, would try to frame us?”

The Duchess smirked.

“Imagine my surprise when I heard that Asta had been thrown out for framing me and my husband. She tried to hide in the temple, but someone spread the rumors. And they say the temple only attracts flies these days.”

Duchess Moltke looked disgusted.

‘The person who spread that rumor is our Maxim!’

I replied inwardly.

Lately, Maxim had become a master of schemes.

Once given the opportunity, he was eager to keep Asta away from her father.

I wanted to brag, but I couldn’t.

“By the way, the temperature is getting hot.”

“It’s summer!”

“Yes. That suffocating summer. And the jinxed morning glories are about to start coming in.”

The Duchess of Moltke gritted her teeth.

She remembered how the Duke of Moltke had got in trouble for secretly developing a mine under the guise of importing morning glory.

“But I’m afraid I can’t give you the morning glory I promised to get you, my husband has given up the trade. Even if he had continued, it would not have been as easy to import it this time.”

“Why?”

I widened my eyes and asked.

“I heard that some madman monopolized all the contracts for the importation of morning glories and signed them for twice as much, with penalties.”

“Then the people who used to import the berries must really hate him.”

“His Majesty will surely take notice as well. The import of morning glory is strictly controlled by the Emperor because they are luxury items.”

The value of the morning glory to the empire was growing by the day.

The berries are used in spices and medicines, but most of all, the flowers were exceptionally beautiful.

‘A beautiful, mysterious flower from a distant land that cannot be found on our continent.’

It was perfect for stimulating the vanity of wealthy individuals.

‘But does that mean it will become harder for me to obtain the fruits for my medicine?’

However, for some reason, I felt that Dad would still be able to acquire them. He had always been able to find them, even before they were officially imported. Suddenly, I became anxious.

‘Where does he get them from?’

I was so curious that I pestered Maxim to tell me, but he said only this.

“It’s true that His Highness has traveled far and wide in search of unripe morning glory berries, But he kept the matters secret from me as well. He said the trading partners consider it a matter of security.”

I asked coyly.

“Is there any chance I can get the morning glory before the importation starts?”

“Why? Do you want it so badly?”

Duchess Moltke hit the nail on the head.

I smiled awkwardly and evaded the question.

“Normally, it’s impossible to get them. As I said, the state strictly controls the import period and quantity. Unless it’s smuggling?”

Smuggling?!

I was stunned.

‘Did Dad smuggle?’

I remembered that whenever I asked him how he got the berries, he would always evade the question.

He avoids my gaze! He always says, ‘Don’t worry, you don’t need to concern yourself!’

He keeps it hidden even from his retainer, Maxim, saying that the trading partners consider security important!

‘Hiding it to such an extent… It’s the behavior of someone involved in something dishonest.’

I went white due to shock.

“What’s with the look on your face? Are you already worried that it’s time to study?”

Duchess Moltke chuckled, not realizing my turmoil. She placed a thick book on the desk. As she put it down, the door to the study opened.

“Aunt, if you were coming, you could have informed me.”

It was Dad. He looked puzzled.

“I came to see Hanelope, not you.”

“The official audience is over, so there’s no need for further etiquette lessons. It’s Hanelope’s time to play, as the children of her age.”

“Does Hanelope’s status as a Princess cease to exist just because the formalities are over? I will continue to teach her to be a worthy noblewoman, and…”

Duchess Moltke glanced at my father.

“The Emperor has been requesting Hanelope’s presence at the palace. Why are you refusing?”

I’d never heard that before.

I opened my eyes wide and looked at Dad.

Dad… averted my eyes.

‘Was this really happening behind?’

Dad! Why did you do that!

From smuggling to rejecting the Emperor. It felt like a stab in the heart.

“I know your purpose was to have your daughter recognized by the Emperor, but does it make sense to get what you want and ignore His Majesty?”

“I am not ignoring him. Hanelope has health problems. She needs to rest and stabilize.”

“Resting? Is that so? Her face looks pretty good.”

Duchess Moltke said, poking my whipped cream like cheeks.

“Is it because His Majesty is trying to get her admitted to the Imperial Academy?”

What the hell is she talking about?

The Imperial Academy was originally an educational institution for the nobility to study and network.

However, in recent years, it has also been training wizards by order of the Emperor.

‘High-ranking nobles and royalty who had been home-schooled were admitted, as well as talented commoners.’

The reason for this was to combat the temple, which had captured the hearts and minds of the people by performing miracles with holy power.

Divine power and magic were symbols of authority and power respectively.

They were even sources of military strength.

‘Another thing- To keep the temple faction in check by raising them as imperialists from a young age.’

His Majesty planned to send me to such a place! I’m an idiot who doesn’t even know the ‘ma’ in mana.

“Absolutely not.”

Fortunately, Dad had no intention of sending me to the Imperial Academy.

The Imperial Academy played a small role in the original story.

“The only impressive thing about it was the episode where the academy tries to make a move on Asta, only to be humiliated by Asta’s fake divine power.

Duchess Moltke said sternly.

“But didn’t the Grand Temple invite Hanelope?”

I doubted my ears.

“Moreover, it’s an invitation from the Pope. Unless you have an excuse as valid as preparing for enrollment at the Imperial Academy, you can’t casually refuse it. So, Hart, you have to choose one of the two.”

The more I listened, the more stunned I became.

‘Now they are inviting me to the temple?’

‘If it was the Great Temple, they should be gnashing their teeth because of me.

‘Why would a tiger invite a rabbit directly into his den?’

To gobble me up?

As I stood there confused, Dad said with a strictness.

“I’m not letting her go anywhere of the two.”

Then he said firmly.

“Neither of them made the offer for Hanelope’s sake, and I have no intention of dragging my daughter into a political strife.”

“Do you think it will go as you wish? Once this child starts social activities, it’s unavoidable.”

“If she doesn’t want to, then I won’t force her to socialize.”

“What?”

“If she doesn’t want to, I won’t ask her to do it. I can ensure she lives a comfortable life even without it.”

Countess Moltke was left speechless. Even she had nothing more to say.

I racked my brains.

‘I hate the Imperial Academy, but I must get close to the Emperor, so I can make him reconcile with my father.’

Actually, it’s not about reconciliation, the Emperor should apologize to Dad. But since the other party is the Emperor, I decided to start with reconciliation.

What if I become the Emperor’s personal physician?

‘Since I’m too young now, I can be Hansen’s assistant…’

But all my thinking was for naught.

A few days later, the Emperor himself kidnapped(?)  me.