How to Protect My Sub Male Lead Dad

“There is a Chatty tree in this pot. It’s a favourite tree of His Majesty’s, but as you can see, it’s withered”, Professor Frank said.

The children’s jaws dropped at the mention of the Emperor’s favourite tree.

They realized that if they could bring the Chatty Tree back to life, they could catch the Emperor’s eye.

“Try to revive the Chatty Tree with the growth magic you are about to learn. You can’t bring back the dead, but you can revive a withered tree with around third tier magic.”

The excited children were immediately disappointed.

Third tier? Most of the students were at the beginner level of mana cultivation. Even if they had mastered magic, they were at circle one or two.

‘Only Ulrich is at the third circle of magic.’

After all, this gathering was reserved for Ulrich.I could see that the children were intimidated. Only Ulrich stuck his head out in defiance.

‘Don’t act so arrogant.’

I’m not good at starting spells anyway, but I felt sorry for the other kids.

They were either nobles raised with privilege or commoners with exceptional talent, and yet they had to make way for Ulrich.

‘What’s worse is that Ulrich actually has talent.’

So, even if Professor Frank provides biased education for Ulrich, there’s some justification.

‘But it’s not right to deprive other children of opportunities because of that.’

Professor Frank transferred the magic formulas from paper to the chalkboard.

‘Wow, the formulas are incredibly complex and long.’

This is a third-circle spell, isn’t it?

Before I came to the Academy, I had received a basic education in magic formulas. But compared to the one and two-circle magic formulas I had learnt, the three-circle ones were truly expert level.

I grunted as I tried to wrap my head around the formula.

“Then I’ll show you how to use the formula for initiation.”

Professor Frank cleared his throat. Richter stepped forward and cast magic on a withered Chatty Tree.

With the incantation, a yellow mana flowed from her and enveloped the withered Chatty Tree. After a few wriggles, new leaves sprouted from the previously lifeless branches.

“Wow…”

I clasped my hands together in amazement.

My voice echoed through the quiet classroom, and everyone’s attention focused on me.

Richter’s face turned red with embarrassment.

Professor Frank looked at her and said mockingly, “It’s not even that great of a spell. It’s a common spell for teachers who are at the third or fourth level. But you’ve never seen anything like this before, unlike the other students, Young Lady.”

I felt a pang of annoyance at the mockery.

I wasn’t the only one being laughed at, even Richter was being belittled as unimportant.

I spoke with a twinkle in my eye, “Then, Professor Frank, why don’t you show us as well? If Assistant Richter can do this much, I’m sure your performance will be even more impressive!”

“Wh-what?”

Professor Frank was taken aback.

‘As expected…!’

He writes the magic formulas on paper and delegates the magic ignition to the assistant. It was suspicious. He clearly lacks adequate capability as a professor.

‘It must be because of your excellent assistant, Richter, that such a person could come to the Imperial Academy.’

“That, that…. There are only has two pots for the students to practise on! I can do it easily, but it would be equal to wasting a pot. I’ll show you another time. Now, come on, get in line and practise!”

Professor Frank quickly set the students to work, practising their magic.

Unsurprisingly, no one succeeded.

“It’s too hard for them to do.

When it was his turn, Wuli approached the pot with an arrogant look on his face. Ulrich exaggeratedly arched his brow, and yellow mana flowed from him. After grunting for a while, he produced a tiny new leaf on the Chatty Tree.

The room was filled with a mixture of amazement and envy.

I couldn’t help but clap along.

‘He’s really good.’

“It’s you, Ulrich! The hope of our academy.”

“I’m just working hard for His Majesty. I want to support him by his side!”

“Hehe. I’m sure you will.”

Professor Frank and Ulrich chattered away in their own world.

Professor Munich, seated behind the room, jotted something on a paper with a bored expression.

‘It was soon my turn.’

I read the formula again and again written on the board.

‘I won’t be able to succeed, but…….’

It was a little comforting to know I wasn’t the only one who couldn’t do it.

“Princess Hanelope, your turn.”

I walked nervously to the flowerpot. I read the formula on the board once more and flinched.

‘Hmmm… That formula is a bit verbose. It’s overly inefficient and… I think it would be more efficient with a few tweaks.’

Richter, who thought I was stiff with nerves, whispered.

“It’s okay to fail.”

It was a small but sweet thing to say.

“Thank you, Miss Richter.”

I said, smiling, and Richter was surprised.

“You don’t have to address me formally, Princess. Just call me Richter.”

“You’re going to be a professor soon, aren’t you?”

“It’s not that simple.”

There was a sadness in Richter’s voice as she spoke modestly. Professor Frank was jealous of his genius assistant, who has risen to the rank of professor. He couldn’t bear to see Richter become an independent professor.

‘Richter was a helpless genius wizard in the original book who was dragged down together with Professor Frank for manipulating grades.’

That was Richter part in the original novel.

I chanted the incantation and cast the spell on the flower pot.

Immediately, I felt mana flowing out of my body.

“?!”

No! This will drain the mana that protects my heart!

I panicked and tried to draw the mana back, not knowing how retract the spell.

But the mana had already flowed away, and the Chatty Tree had begun to grow.

‘Wait a minute… Is the Chatty Tree growing?’

That can’t be!

I’m terrible at magic! It wasn’t just producing a few leaves… It was getting so big that soon it was touching the ceiling of the classroom.

“Ugh, ugh, what’s going on!”

“The tree is growing like a monster!”

The kids screamed in alarm.

When the Chatty branches reached the ceiling and could not extend any further upwards, they began to elongate sideways. Then it blossomed into a huge flower bud. The bud wriggled like it was going to burst.

Everyone screamed, and the petals, which looked like human lips, snapped open.

And then-

♪  When the liar acts cocky ~ You have to give him a spanky~ ♪

This was the Chatty Tree in its true form.

“Shut up, shut up!”

A distraught Professor Frank hit the Chatty Tree’s thick trunk.

 ♪ Why are you making a fuss when you are louder ~ You should have been spanked sooner ~  ♪

“Y-You cheeky tree! What have you done, Princess! And why has the Chatty Tree turned into a monster?”

 ♪ I’m supposed to sing when I grow ~ This stupid Professor doesn’t seem to know ~ Somebody beat him up cause he’s so slow ~♪

The children began to giggle at the Chatty Tree’s song.

Professor Frank’s face turned bright red.

When there were no more interruptions, Chatty Tree sang a rousing song and closed her petals again.

Suddenly, the classroom was quiet.

“W-What on Earth just happened!”

“Princess, have you modified the magic formula?”

Miss Richter asked, replacing the panicked Professor Frank.

“Me?”, I asked, startled.

Richter nodded, her face calm.

“Yes. You did. To have the withered Chatty tree sing, the magic you learned today wouldn’t have sufficed. It would only be possible with a higher-level magic, which involves modifying and enhancing this magic formula.”

“But I’ve never learned to modify a magic formula.”

“That’s the point. Did you, by any chance, change the formula yourself?”

The first time I cast the spell, I panicked when my mana suddenly drained away. So I wasn’t concentrating when I started the spell….

‘Then I unknowingly changed the magic formula!’

Before casting the spell, I thought the formula was inefficient and thought of a more efficient way. However, in my panic during the magic startup, I unknowingly started the formula I had modified. I blushed bright red.

“I’m sorry! I didn’t mean to do that, I was just so nervous…”

“Why are you apologizing?”

Richter asked, as if she didn’t understand.

“What?”

“It’s a big deal that you modified a magic formula without learning it. What’s more, the formula you modified from a higher level of magic, which means you are at least level 3 or higher”

“?!”

The classroom fell silent.

A newbie who entered the academy for the first time today was using third tier magic.

‘Even a fantasy novel wouldn’t be like this.’

What the hell is going on? There must be a reason. Did someone intervene? Did my dad bribe someone to not cause me worry?

But even so, Frank was genuinely baffled.

‘My father wouldn’t do that.’

It was then that Richter smiled gently.

“You’ve done well.”

She smiled, and the whole world seemed to lighten up.

One by one, the kids who had been holding their breath began to speak up.

“Wow, that’s amazing, did you hear? She’s third tier.”

“If it’s higher leveled magic. She’s even better than Ulrich.”

“She beat Ulrich in general education, and now she’s done it again!”

The clapping made my ears burn. But the kids were genuinely happy.

I thought to myself, ‘Maybe it’s because of Wuli that they’re so happy. All the pent-up emotions they’ve been holding back from him have been released.’

Sure enough, Ulrich was glaring at me.

He opened his mouth with a fierce expression.

“We need to investigate, she must have cheated…!”

“Your magic skills are better than I thought.”

It was then-

Professor Munich, who had been sleeping in the back of the room, slowly rose to his feet.

He stepped up to the podium and looked down at me.

“Finally, it is worthy of His Majesty observing the lecture.”

 

 

Notes:

• Magic tier/circle are the same thing. The bigger the number the better they are.