I’Ll Protect My Tyrant Dad! [EN]: Chapter 100

100. What Did You Call Me For?

November 14, 2023

Although I had never seen Axel’s face in person, I knew his handsome features very well from the portraits. Thanks to that, I could recognize him easily.

Deep-set eye sockets, prominent cheekbones, and arrogant red eyes shining between them. I swallowed hard and stared at him.

“It’s the first time I’ve seen you, Cienne Mirmord.”

“…What did you call me for?”

‘Actually, it’s not that I was called, but that I was kidnapped.’

I bit my lip tightly and looked at Axel. Then he grinned and gave a strange smile.

It was the first time I had ever seen someone who looked scary even when their cheekbones were raised and their cheeks were puffed up.

“First of all…”

Just as his words trailed off strangely, he raised his hand and slapped my cheek.

With a smack, my face turned to the side, and the inside of my mouth burst. Fortunately, I clenched my molars to prevent my jaw from dislocating, but after being hit with an adult’s strength, I felt blood flowing down my cheek.

“Shall we start with a few hits?”

I asked back with a pale face.

“It already feels like my cheeks are on fire, and you want me to get hit more?”

“Yes, that’s how I’ll feel a little better.”

Several more smacking noises followed.

Before the pain could subside, my neck was slightly strangled.

“Ugh.”

The tips of my fingers curled up tightly, and the shock of not being able to breathe struck my neck—no, my entire body.

Just as his hand loosened, I mumbled in a sleepy voice.

“Why are you doing this?”

No answer came back to my question.

I bit the inside of my mouth as I looked at the madman in front of me.

Instantly, I snapped to attention. Looking at the madness in his eyes, I felt like I could die here today.

‘There’s only one answer. Stay focused and get hints about where this is and how to survive.’

This place was dark and gloomy, with no windows and no light.

I was facing Axel, huddled in a dark and gloomy space that felt like it would drive me to madness.

I took a breath in and out, then looked at Axel.

“What do I have to do to relieve your anger?”

“It’s simple. You, whom Matthias Mirmord loves, will die here. Then that bastard will die too.”

At those words, I blinked my eyelashes and stared at him.

Seeing him talk about my death didn’t make me feel particularly happy.

“That’s quite an ambiguous expression, Cienne Mirmord.”

“So, is this my grave?”

“Well… I guess it could be.”

“Not bad. A temple as my grave.”

At my words, he burst into wild laughter. He was laughing so madly that saliva splattered all over my face.

“I guess you’re wondering where this is. Do you think it’s a temple? But you shouldn’t bother trying to figure it out. Even if you die soon, I don’t particularly intend to tell you where this is.”

Axel said to me kindly.

“But you’ll be a good bait, so I’ll put you to sleep for a bit. So it’s less painful.”

Instantly, I smelled a unique grassy scent flowing in this space and froze. Axel, who was watching me, tilted his head and then reached out to me again.

A blindfold was placed over my eyes.

After that, it was dark again.

I thought I heard a voice whispering in my ear, ‘You’ll see something more interesting when you wake up.’

***

I didn’t know how much time had passed again.

My stomach was already growling, and I was blindfolded again. But as my mind slowly returned, I steeled myself and thought again.

Axel didn’t tell me separately, but I could tell that this was inside the temple.

The way to know about this place was simple.

Even if he blocked my sight for a while, he couldn’t take away my sense of smell.

This place seemed to be in a vacuum, but I could smell a faint scent of grass from Axel. It was the scent of medicinal herbs mainly used in temples.

When I had stomachaches as a child, a woman in the village often got medicinal herbs from a nearby temple, so I knew.

‘I really hated it back then, but this is helpful. This is definitely a temple.’

I didn’t want to eat the porridge made with medicinal herbs, so I tried to run away when I smelled the herbs from the woman, and it turned out to be helpful in this emergency situation.

‘Which temple is it exactly? The Central Temple? And is it underground or above ground?’

If this place is underground in the Central Temple…

‘That means they’re really going to eliminate me without any repercussions. Because it’s a place only the Pope can enter.’

Everywhere in the world, there were eyes of Mirmord [spies or informants].

Moreover, I was widely known as a child favored by Mirmord. Getting rid of me openly would be a big risk for them too.

So, the only place where Mirmord’s eyes couldn’t reach was just one place.

It was an extraterritorial area where even the Emperor had to get the Pope’s permission to enter.

‘There’s a slight risk, but they must have dragged me into the basement of the temple. Because they can kill me without any repercussions.’

It was clear that he didn’t even think about the risk.

That’s because if they killed me without leaving a body, that would be the end of it.

“No, what on earth are you doing?”

The one who answered my words was Axel.

I stared at him, who was biting his bloodless lips. He looked very uneasy. He kept glancing at the door.

‘He’s definitely hiding something from me.’

Then I have no choice but to play along appropriately.

I stared at them blankly and tilted my head slightly.

“Okay, then… you know. I’m actually curious about something.”

“Do you think I’ll tell you?”

I raised my eyebrows as I looked at Axel, whose eyes were flashing.

‘No, I don’t think you’ll tell me.’

Axel Mirmord was obviously out of his mind.

I thought about gently scratching him to get him to say it indirectly and then get the information I wanted, but it seemed like he wouldn’t understand even if I said it indirectly.

So, I decided to simply throw away the way of speaking of a socialite. Instead, I asked sharply.

“It’s nothing much. Why did you kidnap me?”

“To kill you.”

Axel chuckled again. I stared at him without giving in to his ridicule.

“Is it because you want to become the Duke of Mirmord? Why are you going this far?”

At my words, he, who had regained his reason, gritted his teeth. His face turned red, and the blood vessels in his temples stood out.

He was also seen loosening the shirt buttons that were strangling his neck roughly to relieve his anger.

I tilted my head and looked at him again with a questioning gaze.

“Cienne Mirmord. You really don’t know anything. You dare to act pure.”

I could see him slowly filling with anger.

And, in an instant, things happened.

Axel, who had been living in the Demon World for ten years and seemed to have gone crazy, glared at me, raised his hand, and strangled my neck.

In an instant, my trachea narrowed, and I couldn’t breathe. I tried to move my body without being able to breathe, but Axel strangled my neck as if crushing a trivial bug.

“Ugh, cough.”

I curled up my body and tried to scratch his arm, but failed.

Axel showed a completely different attitude from his sickly appearance. I gasped hard to open my mouth wide and breathe, but I couldn’t open my mouth any further.

He really seemed like he was going to kill me.

***

At the same time.

Matthias Mirmord stared at Cienne’s empty seat and gritted his teeth.

The moonlight from the window gently illuminated Cienne’s bed.

In the place where Cienne would normally be lying down and making cute sleeping noises, there was only a rustling white blanket.

As he walked outside following Cienne’s trail, Ted followed him.

“I will accept the punishment.”

“It doesn’t do me any good if you get punished.”

“…”

Matthias retorted sharply.

“You overestimate your value.”

Matthias’ expression turned cold.

As Ted distorted his face with a painful expression, Matthias said in a sharp tone.

“Even if you die and disappear, it won’t make Cienne’s disappearance not happen.”

“…I know that my life is worthless compared to Cienne’s safety.”

It was only a few hours.

However, during that time, Matthias Mirmord’s mind was shattered.

He could fully read the ominous atmosphere surrounding Cienne.

‘Dad! I’ll protect you!’

The kind voice he had made as a child seemed to be heard like a hallucination.

Matthias narrowed his brows and covered his ears before taking them off.

Cienne had disappeared, and he had no time to be sentimental. Now it was time to be cold-hearted.

“You go to the Imperial Palace.”

“…”

“Then, Matthias-nim will…”

He ran his fingertips over the place where Cienne had disappeared.

In his hand was a small thimble. It was a magic tool that allowed him to feel the remnants of power.

Through that place, the remnants of divine power flowed in.

“I’m going to the temple.”

Matthias threw the thimble on his hand upside down with an uncomfortable look.

Ted, who was staring at his stiff expression, suddenly opened his mouth.

“Which… temple are you talking about?”

“The Central Temple. You stay in the Imperial Palace.”

Ted, who met his gaze, bowed and replied.

“Yes, sir.”

Matthias, who was staring down at Ted’s trembling voice and bent shoulders, said quietly.

“I’m going to the Central Temple, so only a few should follow me.”

The expression on Ted’s face, who seemed to accept all words humbly, turned white.

Not only that.

Even the ferocious-looking aides and close associates standing behind Matthias were embarrassed and looked at each other.

Although the Mirmord family had committed all sorts of evil deeds, there were still some unwritten rules that they did not touch.

That was ‘Do not touch places formed by extraterritorial rights [areas exempt from local jurisdiction].’

Even if they stirred up the empire’s capital and committed all sorts of heinous acts, they did not touch the Imperial Palace, and even if they antagonized the temple, they did not seize the Central Temple by force.

This was the same context as the Imperial Palace and the temple antagonizing Mirmord but not directly attacking the mansion.

So, the implication of Matthias’s words, ‘I’m going to the Central Temple,’ was no different from saying that he would break the tacit agreement between the Imperial Palace, the temple, and the Mirmord family.

Everyone gathered in this place could not help but tremble at Matthias’s words.

“Matthias-nim. That, those words…”

Matthias frowned as if he didn’t have time and fiddled with the gloves on his hands several times. In his hand was a portable magic tool with severe side effects.

“Why, is there a problem?”

Instead of giving advice that there was a problem with the question that he was about to leave soon, Ted bowed his head even deeper.

Since fire was rising in Matthias’s eyes, no one could stop him.

“I understand.”

That was when Matthias was about to move.

Blue light began to flow out from afar. Everyone narrowed their eyes and looked at the sky.