How to Protect My Sub Male Lead Dad

When Asta was cornered, Archbishop Liang spoke up, “Count Munich, are you saying that the wrath of God caused the Saint’s offering to rot? That can’t be true. His anger likely stems from the audacity of presenting a ‘gift’ in such a disrespectful manner.”

“Don’t you think so?”

Professor Munich looked at me and the rest of the students. Jacob, as well as the Spigent twins, stood frozen in horror at the words ‘wrath of God’.

Frowning, he stared at me and Brantley, but soon lifted his head, apparently deciding not to leave this task to the children.

“Then I’ll present the gift myself…”

“If God is angry, I’ll appease Him!”

‘I have to put an end to this situation.’

I’m the one who knows the whole story. I picked up the corn without giving anyone a chance to stop me, and chanted the spell.

“Princess..!” Professor Munich stopped dead in his tracks.

The chick coloured light yellow mana seeped in, the corn began to grow. As the color deepened, so did the development of the kernels.

The eyes of the people grew wide in surprise.

After a while, I lifted the grown corn with both hands.

“A gift to God!”

Asta with her rotten corn and me holding a delectable one. In the eyes of the people, the ‘will of the gods’ would appear to be with me.

The square, which had been filled with silence, slowly began to rise into an uproar.

“You all should try it too”, I said to the children who had come with me.

Encouraged by my success, the Brantley and Spigent twins soon grew corn that looked mouthwatering. The magic of children had done what holy power could not.

The Emperor smiled with satisfaction and clapped his hands, “I’m sure Prache will be very pleased with my gift!”

Archbishop Liang stood like a statue.

Asta, in disbelief, took another ear of corn from the box and cast a spell. It also turned black and rotten. She glared at me, with resentful eyes.

‘Did Asta finally realise that the corn was switched?’

But it was too late.

“Those children succeeded, but the Saint failed.”

“Perhaps the rumours of her decreasing power were true.”

“Her power is not only weakened, it’s shameful for her to be addressed as a Saint at this point.”

“Is there anything special about the temple? Comparing to the children from the academy…”

The tide had already turned in our favour. There was nothing Asta could do. All she could do was tremble, her face pale with embarrassment.

“Were you surprised?”, Dad asked me as I stepped down from the altar. His face was a mix of nervousness, anxiety, and relief.

“It was fun. Dad, did you see?! I grew a corn this big!”, I said spreading my arms wide.

“That was great, Hanelope.”

Dad, who had been stroking my hair, suddenly looked worried. “But in future, you can ask the grown-ups to do things like this. It’s too dangerous for a little girl like you. Do you understand?”, Dad urged.

I nodded.

‘I don’t think I’ll be able to keep my promise.’

Dad, I’m sorry!

 

***

 

As I returned to my seat, I realized that Richter, who had been with us just now, was nowhere to be found.

“Where is Professor Richter?”

“She hurriedly ran off just now. Judging by how she clutched his stomach, I guess she needed the restroom urgently.”

Fritzka said, pointing to the back of the square.

I ran towards it.

When I got there, I saw Richter slumped over on a bench in the corner of the square.

“Professor Richter!”

Clutching her stomach in agony, she spotted me and quickly pretended to be fine. But her pale face was covered in a cold sweat.

“Professor Richter, are you ill?”

“I’m fine, I just feel a little queasy.”

“You’re lying!”

I rubbed my small hand over her waist that she was clutching. Richter bit her lip in pain.

“Professor, you’re hurting.”

“Princess, go back. I’ll be there soon.”

Richter tried desperately to hide her ‘secret’.

I stared at her stomach. She was clothed, but I could see a faint red glow behind the cotton fabric.

“It’s just from eating the wrong cookie, so don’t worry about it Princess…”

“Professor Richter, what did you do with the pendant?”

Richter’s face hardened at my question.

“It’s nothing to worry about. I’ve sealed it well, so you don’t have to worry about it anymore.”

“But that pendant was talking to me earlier..”

“What…?”, Richter was aghast.

“Is that so? Even ‘that method’ didn’t work.. Don’t worry, Princess. I’ll get it properly sealed this time…”

“Where is the pendant now, and where did you seal it, Professor?”

“That’s…”

I pointed to Richter’s waist.

“Here. You sealed it in your body, didn’t you, Professor Richter?”

Richter’s eyes flickered.

Without waiting for an answer, I pulled up Richter’s robe.

A red gemstone pendant was embedded on her slender waist. The pendant looked precarious, as if it would burst forth again through the swollen flesh and blood at any moment.

‘I was right! Richter sealed the pendant inside her body!’

When sealing magic or tools don’t work, the last resort was to seal it directly into the body of a living creature with a will.

It was the strongest sealing method, but also the most dangerous.

‘If the body cannot handle the power of the sealed object, it will be destroyed.’

Richter’s body was in pain because it couldn’t handle the power of the pendant. Even the thick bandages were nearly torn apart by the jewel’s power.

“Professor!”

Richter quickly lowered her robe.

“It’s all right. Don’t worry.”

“You’re lying! You’re not fine! You’re in pain!”

“This is the only way. Sealing it in my body is the safest.”

“No, it’s not. Your body can’t handle it!”

“It will be fine, if we can seal it anyhow.”

“No! The pendant is still talking to me. Please give it back to me. The gem is only hurting you.”

Richter shook her head with a stern expression, “I can’t put the Princess in danger.”

“Maybe it’s not a danger to me.” I hesitated, then added, “The pendant saved me from a crisis earlier, when I was sneaking around, and it told me that someone was coming and to avoid him, so maybe he’s not a bad guy.”

“What?”

Richter frowned as if she didn’t understand.

“So give me the pendant back. If you keep it sealed on your body, the professor might die!”

“I can’t. We still don’t exactly know what this thing is!”

Richter was stubborn. She was doing it for my sake. But I couldn’t let her health deteriorate either.

I looked at her and said, “I’m sorry, Professor Richter.”

“What are you talking about all of a sudden?”

“You might feel a little pain.”

“?”

I released the mana that had been filling my heart. Immediately, the pendant on Richter’s waist reacted. It began to vibrate violently.

“Princess, what are you doing…!”

Richter was stunned, then gritted her teeth in pain. The pendant eventually popped out of Richter’s body and settled on my hand as if it were its place.

“Princess, don’t…”

Richter passed out from the pain.

“Professor Richter!”

Startled, I shook her.

A translucent window appeared before my eyes.

[ ‘Uncle Rabbit’ tells you not to worry. This human is fine. You can’t get rid of me! ]

I glared resentfully at the impudent pendant.

‘You hurt Professor Richter like this…’

I hated it so much that I smashed the pendant with my fist. The letters on the window flickered,

[ ‘Uncle Rabbit’ thinks you’re mad at him for some reason ]

“You made Professor Richter sick.”

[ ‘Uncle Rabbit’ looks at you and says, “It was inevitable. Something like that is bound to happen if a weak human tries to contain me.” ]

“Professor Richter is strong, she’s a better mage than I am.”

[ ‘Uncle Rabbit’ is frustrated that you don’t seem to know the true nature of your power yet. The source of your power is not just mana… ]

“What are you doing here?”, Professor Munich’s voice came from behind me.

I stopped reading the screen and turned my head. The translucent window disappeared with it.

“Professor Munich!”

“Were you… Richter?”

Professor Munich gasped as he spotted Richter. I quickly grabbed his big hand and brought him to Richter.

“Professor Richter is sick, she fainted. Please help her!”

“Lately, she seemed to not be feeling well. I told her not to overdo it, but she wouldn’t listen and ended up fainting.”

After a quick glance at Richter, Professor Munich shook his head, “There doesn’t seem to be anything wrong with her health…”

“She should be fine now, the cause of pain seems to be absent.”

“Did the Princess do something? After all, your birth mother was an excellent physician.”

I did take action. But not in that way. I used a slightly ‘physical’ method.

I replied timidly, only to myself.