How to Protect My Sub Male Lead Dad

Gulp

The sour-tasting, pale yellow liquid slid down my throat.

I blinked my eyes open, which had been shut tight. My heart was pounding rhythmically.

“You’re definitely healthier now that you’ve been taking your medicine. You’re not sick anymore.”

Dad kept staring at me.

“Yes! I told the physician last time too.”

The physician who examined me yesterday was surprised as usual. “The Young Miss is quite healthy. Previously, when I saw her, I thought she had a chronic heart disease…”

The physician was bewildered.

“How many unripe berries are left?”

“Enough to use it 2 more times…”

I said nonchalantly and looked at my dad.

“Don’t worry, I’ll get you some more soon.”

With that, he left the room.

I followed closely behind Maxim as he left the room.

“Maxim, you have to find out where dad goes today.”

“Don’t worry, Miss”, Maxim winked at me and disappeared.

‘How on Earth does he get the berries?’

What was it he couldn’t even let his loyal servant know? As far as he could tell, Dad was dealing through an anonymous agent. Meeting every time alone… was suspicious.

‘There must be some connection to the smuggling of the Morning Glory berries.’

Today, Maxim had to find out who the anonymous agent and trader were and what Dad was doing with them.

It was clear that Dad was involved in something he couldn’t reveal to others.

‘To think my dad would do something wrong because of me…’

With a heavy heart, I made my way to the greenhouse.

Lush grass and trees. Fragrant flowers. Tempting fruits and precious herbs. Seeing them made me feel a little better.

I pranced around the greenhouse, watering, fertilizing, and gathering herbs.

Knock. Knock.

“Miss, someone from the Imperial palace came.”

I was picking herbs when Sherry called out to me.

I hurriedly ran out, and there, standing with a stern expression, was the court attendant I had seen before.

“Princess, His Majesty has summoned you.”

For some reason, it felt ominous.

Sherry stepped forward as if to protect me, “What’s the matter? His Highness Prince Hart is currently away and to summon the young miss alone.”

“It’s His Majesty’s orders.”

The servant spoke with authority, conveying, ‘Do you dare disobey?’

Fearing Sherry would get in trouble, I spoke up.

“Sherry, I’m going to the palace! I wanted to see the Emperor!”

“Then I will accompany Miss.”

The servant nodded as if it was a given.

‘Why is he calling for me suddenly? Is it because of the Imperial Academy?

The Emperor was waiting for me, not in the audience room but in his chambers.

No one was allowed into the Emperor’s chambers, so Sherry had to wait outside. I approached the Emperor at a cat’s pace.

It was my first time visiting the Emperor without my father.

My chest heaved with nervousness.

“Long time no see. I called for you so many times, I thought you were dead,” the Emperor said with a casual smile, making a chilling remark.

“I apologize for keeping Your Majesty waiting due to my poor health. I’m sorry. I will visit frequently from now on.”

It’s not my Dad’s fault, I was sick to visit. We will see each other often from now on.

That’s what I subtly hinted.

The Emperor seemed to understand my intention and looked at me intently, raising an eyebrow.

“Yes, let’s see each other regularly. I was thinking of enrolling you in the Imperial Academy. Since it’s near the palace, we can see each other.”

The Emperor swooped in without warning.

‘You brought up the academy right away?’

“I hope you will become an excellent mage.”

‘Is he deciding on my career path already?’

“How’s that?”

The Emperor turned to look at me, his mouth set in a tight line.

With his lips curled, the Emperor looked at me with curiosity.

A face filled with anticipation for my answer.

I swallowed nervously.

“I appreciate your words, Your Majesty, but I would like to be closer to you.”

“You want us to be closer?”

“I want to keep you healthy, Your Majesty, because I want you to live a long life.”

The Emperor leaned back against the back of the couch, looking a little unhappy.

“I’ve been sick a lot this time, and I know how hard it is to be sick. So, I hope His Majesty, whom I love, remains healthy.”

“I know your mother was a good doctor. She was Hart’s personal physician. You woke up the Saint who was thought to be poisoned and also cured my disease. Do you want to become my physician?”

“I’m still young and inexperienced. If I pass the test, I’d like to become an assistant to the imperial physician and help Your Majesty.”

“Haha. I’m glad you’re thinking of me, but…”

The Emperor chuckled.

“To be an assistant at your age, does this old man strike you as a tyrant who puts his young grand-daughter to work?”

“N-no, I mean…!”

“Don’t think about it. Focus on studying.”

I felt defeated.

‘No tricks were working.’

The Emperor was an old hand. He seemed to find it amusing to ruffle my hair as if it was a game, and smiled. But I was genuinely worried.

‘If I go to the Imperial Academy, I might lose the favor of the Emperor.’

I was confident in my studies. But what the Emperor wanted was more than just a smart grand-daughter. He wanted a grandchild who could become a powerful mage and challenge the Temple faction. A grand-daughter who would be useful to him in consolidating his power.

That’s what the Emperor wanted.

‘I don’t know much about magic. I couldn’t even train in mana because of my hereditary disease.’

Medications for the hereditary disease helps create a mana ring in the heart. This mana protects the heart and prevents it from collapsing.

‘The mana in my body is not even enough to protect my heart, it’s impossible to use magic with it.’

“I want to help His Majesty with what I’m good at.”

“You’re clever, I’m sure you’ll learn magic in no time.”

“I’m just a kid with a weak body.”

“A ‘kid’ who can cure my illnesses that even the imperial physicians couldn’t, and with mana training, your physic will get stronger.”

“…….”

“Is this because of Hart’s objection?”, the Emperor asked, frowning.

I shook my head vigorously in exasperation.

“N-no!”

“Don’t lie to me. I know Hart prevented you from entering the palace, as he hates me.”

“It wasn’t like that, it was just because I was sick, and Dad doesn’t hate His Majesty!”

I desperately defended my father.

The Emperor, who had been listening attentively, hesitated for a moment at my words, but that was all.

The Emperor said with a stern face.

“I forgot to mention, I heard from Sofi that you like morning glories.”

Why the sudden mention of berries? My heart raced with uneasy anticipation.

“Hart got his hands on the Morning Glory before it was officially imported. It was because of you, wasn’t it?”

“!”

“The morning glory trade is something the palace watches over carefully, so how did Hart get it without going through the official channels?”

The Emperor’s fiery eyes stared at me intently.

“Do you know?”

His question, filled with anger, made me stiffen.

The Emperor knew everything. He knew my father smuggled the morning glories because of me.

‘If I hadn’t been sick, Dad had no reason to do anything bad… Only if I was not sick!’

The Emperor had no intention of letting him off the hook.

Instead, it seemed like he would punish him even more severely.

‘I said I would protect him, but in the end, I became a burden.’

My aspirations to reconcile my father and the Emperor seemed to have turned to ashes.

“Hart, that boy! After all the mercy I’ve shown him time and again! Those who offend me usually end up in a snake pit or as shark food.”

“N-Not my dad!”

I spoke with a trembling voice, on the verge of tears.

“It’s because of me, I wanted to see it. Seeing me ill, he agreed to my tantrum.”

“…..”

“My dad isn’t guilty. It’s me who should be punished, Your Majesty! I’m the bad child.”

I looked up at the Emperor.

The Emperor glanced at his sobbing grandchild with cold eyes.

“Then will you makeup for it?”

“Ye-yes, please punish me.”

I sobbed and nodded.

The Emperor smirked, then held out a piece of fine paper to me.

He forced a pen into my small hand.

“Sign here.”

“What is this?”

My vision was blurred by tears, so I couldn’t see the words on the paper.

“It’s a memorandum stating that you will be punished without leniency. Hurry and sign.”

“Ye-yes… sniff.”

I clenched the pen and signed it in a mess.

The Emperor kept smirking at me.

“Is that what you call a signature?”

I dropped the pen in exasperation. The Emperor stifled a laugh and took the paper back.

“It’s not a sign, but more of a doodle. But it’s fine. You can learn how to sign properly at the Academy.”

The academy? How can I go to the academy when I’m in such trouble?

The accumulated tears started to pour. As my vision cleared, I saw the words on the paper the Emperor was holding.

‘…Application?’

At that moment, the door burst open with a loud bang.

“Your Highness, what rudeness! You can not enter like this!”

And the chamberlain was desperately pleading, holding onto someone.

“Your Majesty, why have you taken my daughter away without telling me…!”

I saw dad rushing in.

He was relieved to find me. But soon he was horrified to see the tears in my eyes and the paper in the Emperor’s hand.

“What have you done to my daughter!”

Dad asked fiercely as he scooped me into his arms.

The Emperor sneered at his son and waved the paper I had signed in front of him.

“My grand-daughter has personally signed the ‘admission application’ to the Imperial Academy. Is something the matter?”