I’Ll Protect My Tyrant Dad! [EN]: Chapter 90

I stared intently at the Captain and Ted, tilting my head.

But neither of them answered. I looked at them with a puzzled expression and spoke once more.

“Why, did you all know about that rumor?”

It was then. From behind me, Deadry muttered in a grim voice.

“How could we *not* know about that rumor.”

“……Huh?”

At those words, I swallowed hard and looked at Deadry. Had the day finally come to determine the truth about Dad’s rumors? What if my dad was really an evil villain, as the rumors said?

Just as all sorts of thoughts swirled in my head, Bench chuckled and said.

“Who in the Mirmord family *doesn’t* have such a bad reputation?”

Bench, who had been laughing, stomped her foot once.

The candlestick on the table fell to the floor. I blankly watched the scene and moved my lips.

“……Sister. You’re as cool as a huge elephant.”

It seemed like Deadry’s eyes trembled slightly… but I couldn’t see it clearly, so I don’t know.

I placed the well-tucked napkin on my lap and diligently dipped my food to eat.

Deadry, Bench, the Captain, and Ted all seemed to be watching me. I ate diligently and then raised my head, saying.

“Why are you all making those faces?”

“Haha…….”

“Ted, do you have something to say?”

“……No, I don’t. The Lady’s words are correct. Matthias……”

He quietly looked at me and then opened his mouth casually.

“He treats Sien well. He’s a better father than anyone else.”

Everyone in the room nodded as if there was no disagreement with those words.

It was quite a contrasting attitude from when I had said, ‘There’s a rumor that my dad is a scary tiger!’ I tilted my head and then parted my lips again.

“Yeah, my dad is amazing to begin with!”

Strangely, my spine tingled, but I tried not to pay attention to it.

***

That evening.

Ted and the Captain sat facing each other.

After the Captain said to Ted in a combative tone, ‘I have something to say,’ they took over one of the mansion’s empty drawing rooms and began a private conversation.

“What’s wrong?”

At Ted’s thoughtful question, the Captain simultaneously pouted his lips and furrowed his eyebrows.

A slightly embarrassed Ted was about to ask again what was wrong when the Captain’s expression crumbled.

“Even though Matthias told me not to say anything, shouldn’t we at least give her a hint? Honestly, I didn’t think anything of it at first, but now that I’ve grown attached to Sien, I feel guilty.”

“……Are you saying that the rumors about Matthias are true? That he’s a murderer and has walked a path stained with blood, and we should tell Sien?”

The Captain’s eyes sparkled.

“Yes! That’s right! Everyone knows about Matthias, but Sien, his own daughter, doesn’t. There’s a limit to how much you can make a person a fool! You’re a paladin [a righteous warrior or knight], so you value the truth, right? Should we tell Sien, even just a little bit?”

The Captain was so passionate that my ears were ringing.

However, Ted was not in a position to respond to his passion. He gave a weak smile and shook his head.

“Well. I don’t recommend it. First of all, Matthias told us not to say anything.”

The Captain made a sulky face.

The Captain was also scared of Matthias, who had ordered him to remain silent when he was young, and he thought it was okay to pretend not to know for Sien’s happiness.

Strictly speaking, he had thought that the story of Matthias being kind was a ‘white lie’ for Sien.

But since he became a teenager, guilt had been piling up in his heart.

He felt that it was wrong for everyone to succumb to Matthias’s power and deceive Sien. The arrow turned to Ted, who was an adult and was deceiving Sien like that.

“……Are you, a paladin, succumbing to power? At least you, Ted, knew from the beginning that this lie was wrong!”

Betrayal flickered in the Captain’s eyes at Ted’s words. The Captain seemed to understand that this whole thing was an act of deceiving Sien.

“You’re just the same as the henchmen of power.”

When Ted didn’t say anything, the Captain quickly concluded that everyone around Sien was succumbing to Matthias’s power and couldn’t say anything to Sien.

“You can’t hide it forever. No matter how much of a Matthias Mirmord he is. And does it make sense that only Sien doesn’t know about Matthias?”

Then Ted, who had been silent, suddenly spoke.

“Captain, do you think the truth is always the top priority?”

“Of course! Knowing the truth is more important than anything else!”

Ted quietly smiled as he looked at such a Captain.

This energetic boy seemed to have been bothered by the fact that he was lying to Sien, who had saved him, since a while ago.

Then it was his turn to step in and extinguish his guilt.

Ted quietly opened his mouth.

“Captain, can I say one thing?”

“……Yes, please do.”

“Matthias Mirmord doesn’t want to reveal his identity to Sien.”

“I’m sure he doesn’t!”

“Do you know why?”

The Captain, who had been passionately speaking with veins popping out of his neck, now had a puzzled expression.

He didn’t even know why Ted was asking him this question.

“What does that have to do with anything?”

“Ted, let me ask you again. Do you know why Matthias can’t confess to Sien that he’s a murderer?”

“That’s……”

As he watched the Captain, who couldn’t say anything, he opened his mouth.

“Originally, you don’t want to show your flaws to the person you love.”

Ted understood Matthias’s heart well enough.

Because he also has someone he loves.

But whether the Captain could properly understand his heart was another matter.

‘If he doesn’t understand, it can’t be helped.’

……That’s what I thought.

“…….”

The Captain bit his lip silently without saying anything.

Ted, who was staring at such a Captain, mustered up the courage to say the next words.

“I also…… I don’t want to show my flaws to my brother, Acid.”

Acid still keeps his distance from him, but Ted was even pleased with that fact.

Because he always wanted to be a good brother to Acid.

As if he understood his heart, the Captain suddenly opened his mouth.

“Um, my mom too……”

“……Huh?”

Ted only vaguely knew about the Captain’s ‘mother,’ but he had noticed that at least the Captain’s mother had been away from the Captain for quite a long time.

‘Is this a situation that’s strangely similar to ours? Acid doesn’t think of me that much…….’

That thought made my mouth bitter. He quietly looked at the Captain and closed his eyes before opening them again.

But even after waiting a little longer, the Captain didn’t say the next words.

It seemed like the Captain, whose energetic appearance from before was gone, couldn’t open his mouth because he kept hesitating. Ted felt that this was the time for him to bring out the Captain’s voice in an adult-like manner.

“Yes, your mom too?”

“My mom, too, left because she didn’t want to show me her flaws. Because she loves me.”

Ted quietly looked at him and moved his lips.

I didn’t know exactly how to answer such a heavy question related to family.

But one thing was certain.

“Yes. Because she loves you, she didn’t want to show you her flaws. Matthias too, and me too. So, even though we know that we’ll have to reveal our flaws someday, we want to stop it right now.”

At those words, the Captain’s stiff expression softened.

He had understood everything.

“Ah……”

Ted smiled like a sigh as he watched the Captain’s expression change. Then, the Captain said the next words.

“Then, I understand why Matthias Mirmord is doing that. I also don’t want my mom to find out that I used to be a little thug who ran the back alleys.”

Ted briefly admired the Captain, who was showing a dignified attitude unlike his days in the orphanage when he looked like a country rat covered in grime.

“You’ve grown up a lot too.”

“Yes, a lot of time has passed……”

The Captain suddenly said the next words.

“Above all, it’s thanks to Sien Mirmord. If it weren’t for her, I’d still be resenting my mom.”

“……You’re saying quite interesting things.”

Ted nodded as he stared at the Captain’s puzzled expression.

“Yes, I also grew up thanks to Sien. My brother too.”

At that moment, a small bond bloomed between the Captain and Ted. They were among those who had been saved by Sien.

Ted found his brother, his brother Acid opened his abilities and survived thanks to Sien, and the Captain grew up in an orphanage and came to a good family. I also heard a story about my mother.

They gained a new life thanks to Sien.

Therefore…….

“We’ll keep the secret for now, although you’ll find out someday.”

At first, it started with Matthias Mirmord’s threat, but now it was a calculation to help Sien not see the flaws of the person she loved.

“……Yeah, well. Honestly, watching that little kid wriggling around trying to protect her dad……”

The Captain didn’t finish his sentence, but Ted seemed to know the next words. Ted added briefly, following the Captain’s words.

“It’s cute.”

“Yes, it’s cute.”

Yes, Sien was still cute.

They smiled softly as they stared at each other. It was a small, everyday change that wouldn’t have existed if it weren’t for Sien.

Then, the Captain broke the warm atmosphere and said.

“But, you know.”