I’Ll Protect My Tyrant Dad! [EN]: Chapter 112

“……Yes, Lady Sienna.”

“Okay……”

When I couldn’t continue, Ted carefully lowered his head and spoke, as if trying to help me.

“You don’t have to verbalize your feelings. Someday, they will sort themselves out.”

Could he read my confused feelings about Acid?

Whether I like him romantically, as a friend, or as someone who saved me, my heart is still a mess.

No, in fact, my heart seemed to be stuck at the moment I kissed Acid on the cheek.

And Ted, who wouldn’t know that I kissed Acid’s cheek, was staring at me and smiling as if he could see through my heart.

“So, you don’t have to try so hard right now.”

I quietly spoke.

“……Really?”

“Yes. Then, I’ll be on my way. I’m supposed to see Acid at this time, but since he’s not here, I’ll just tend to the garden trees. Call me anytime you need me. I am Lady Sienna’s knight, after all.”

I waved my hand, trying to stop Ted.

“No, it’s your day off, why are you doing that……? Get some rest, Ted.”

“Tending to the garden trees is rest for me. Then, I’ll be going. I sincerely hope you can sort out your feelings… that Lady Sienna will realize her feelings.”

‘Realize her feelings,’ what does that mean?

I stared blankly at the back of Ted’s head as he walked away, chewing on my strawberry.

Even Ted seemed to be adapting to the reality that Acid was gone. Feeling a slight sense of nausea, I finished the strawberries and quietly thought while looking down at my strawberry-stained fingers.

I liked the Captain and Leon, too.

But why is it so embarrassing to say that I like Acid?

As I pondered, I heard the maids whispering in the distance.

“The two of them are in love.”

My heart skipped a beat.

Unconsciously pretending not to listen, pretending to poke at the strawberries with my fork, I perked up my ears to listen to the maids’ words.

“Oh my, Lady Sienna and Acid?”

“I already knew it. From the moment they first met. There’s a barrier of status, but, well, he’s a healer……”

My face turned red in an instant from their conversation.

I threw the fork down on the floor and shouted loudly.

“……Unnies [older sisters/female friends], Acid and I are not like that! What are you talking about!”

The maids’ faces turned red as if they were embarrassed.

“Oh, uh. Did you hear us? We’re sorry.”

“We’re, we’re sorry!”

“……Be careful next time! Don’t talk about me behind my back!”

‘Actually, it wasn’t behind my back, but in front…….’

Looking at the maids who were fidgeting as if they were sorry, I sighed deeply.

‘Okay, there’s no time to indulge in this kind of sentimentality.’

Acid has embarked on a thorny journey, and with Melodia, who holds the prophecy, still not found, thinking about my feelings is a luxury.

I sighed, drinking tea made with strongly brewed strawberries.

A carrier pigeon was flying towards the Mirmord mansion from afar. I suddenly thought, I wish there was a letter from Acid in one of those carrier pigeons.

But even though carrier pigeons came and went every day, there was never a letter from Acid among them.

That’s how a year passed sluggishly.

Contrary to everyone’s expectations that she would be easily found, Melodia was not caught by Mirmord.

Acid had also been missing for a long time.

Not a single letter ever arrived.

***

Acid walked diligently, fueled by the kiss with Sienna.

After dedicating a year to walking, he was able to reach the ‘Fjord Ice Cliff,’ the first obstacle arranged by Moira, the God of Time.

The moment he resolved to cross this ice cliff, something truly strange happened.

The soles of his first iron shoes were so worn out that they were no longer usable.

He stared intently at the ice cliff and tossed off his shoes. While taking off his shoes and taking out the second pair of iron shoes from his backpack, an ice pick stuck in the ice cliff was threateningly slamming into the ground.

Acid dodged the ice pick here and there, thinking.

‘Dangerous……. I should have asked for a keepsake and brought it with me.’

But exchanging keepsakes is something that lovers do, isn’t it? Acid smiled as he roughly wiped the dust off the back of his hand on the river.

According to oral legends, being hit by an ice pick from the Fjord Ice Cliff could be fatal.

It was said to be highly acidic and pierce human skin. Avoiding such ice picks and climbing the arduous cliff while wearing shoes seemed more difficult than he thought.

But he was going to try.

Because dying from an ice pick might be better than giving up here.

It was when he kicked off the ground and looked at the cliff.

“Young man over there.”

“……Yes? What’s the matter?”

Acid tilted his head, looking at an old man with a hunched back who had suddenly appeared.

“Can you help me?”

The old man, who looked suspicious to anyone, asked for help.

Acid quietly stared at him, assessing the situation.

Even in the midst of all this, the ice picks were constantly falling to the ground.

“What do you want me to help you with?”

“Carry me on your back.”

“…….”

“If you carry me on your back to the cave in the middle of that cliff, I will help you cross the cliff.”

Listening to the old man’s suspicious offer, Acid slowly nodded.

He immediately realized that the old man in front of him was a test administrator arranged by Moira.

“You must keep your promise, old man.”

Thus, Acid’s test to save Sienna began in earnest.

***

I, who had become sixteen years old, barely calmed my pounding heart and looked at the carrier pigeon that had arrived for me.

This cute little bird with white fur on its belly and a blue back, like a mackerel, was, well, the first carrier pigeon that Acid had sent me since he left.

“Acid’s letter, this is it.”

Because everyone was staring at me with wide eyes, watching how I would react, I was trying to act calm, trying not to tremble, and trying to be dignified, raising my chin.

But the hand that was tearing open the first letter I had received in a year was trembling.

[I met Moira, the God of Time’s, test administrator. I cleared the quest to take him to the cave on the ice cliff.

I feel like I’m on an adventure.

It’s fun, so don’t worry about me.

He said he would give me a reward for safely taking him to the central cave of the ice cliff, so I received a carrier pigeon.

He says he will give me a chance to see Lady Sienna once a year.

Lady Sienna, this is my first time experiencing such an adventure, and it’s really fun.

Don’t worry too much.

Just being able to write a letter like this and send a carrier pigeon is a good thing for me.

And…….]

At this point, I could glimpse Acid’s slightly trembling handwriting. Thinking that he must be very nervous, as soon as I saw the next sentence, I knew why Acid had struggled to write this sentence.

[Please give my regards to my brother.]

……Brother, it was because he wrote about Ted.

I smiled self-deprecatingly, thinking about the brothers who had finally gotten to know each other as they parted, and muttered to myself.

“The letter is too short. I waited a year…….”

I wished it was a long letter that I could read and reread for a year. Thinking that, I kept reading, reading, and rereading the letter, thinking of Acid.

I read and reread Acid’s letter for so long…….

“Lady Sienna, are you reading the letter again?”

Every evening, reading the letter after dinner had become a routine.

I smiled awkwardly and turned my back.

Even Leonhardt, who had suddenly come into the bedroom, perhaps intending to gossip by my side, stared intently at me and asked.

“Hmm, Acorn.”

“Yeah.”

“You really read that letter often.”

“Well, yeah.”

After hearing such things from people, I thought I should read the letter in secret.

It was strange that I didn’t even think about not reading Acid’s letter in the midst of all this. As if he had seen through my heart, Leonhardt dragged the chair in the bedroom and got up.

“Acid must be special to you…….”

It was just a simple word, a word that was thrown out without much meaning.

So, I could have just brushed it off as if it were nothing.

But his words caused a great wave, like throwing a pebble into the calm lake of my heart.

I quietly froze, clutching the letter Acid had sent. Even in the midst of all this, I was afraid that the letter would be crumpled, so I couldn’t put strength into my hand, which made me laugh a little, and I paused for a beat before speaking.

“……Yeah, he’s special.”

“Acorn, then what about me?”

I stared intently at Leonhardt.

Leonhardt was also a very special person to me.

Because he was my longtime friend, my cousin, and a kind mentor.

Listening to his grumbling voice, I smiled softly.

“Leonhardt is my special friend.”

Leonhardt smiled broadly and waved his hands from side to side. It seemed to be a dance he was dancing because he was excited. Seeing that, I could be sure.

Both the feelings for Leonhardt and the feelings for Acid were affection.

But for Leonhardt, it was close friendship, and for Acid…….

‘I remembered the kiss again.’

My interest in him seemed to be a little more erotic.

I chuckled softly, watching Leonhardt’s dance.

Even at this moment, with Acid not by my side, it was really dumbfounding…….

“I like you.”

“Huh? Do you like this dance? Then shall I dance more for you?”

Watching Leonhardt wiggling, making his hands into the shape of pincers, I laughed endlessly.

It was so funny that I was realizing my feelings in the midst of this ridiculous situation.

“Dance more, Leonhardt.”

“Shall I sing a song too?”