I’Ll Protect My Tyrant Dad! [EN]: Chapter 118

I Will Protect My Tyrant Father! 118. I Want to Do as I Please This Time (118/140)

118. I Want to Do as I Please This Time

2024.01.16.

To get straight to the point, Ashid and I almost got killed by Dad when we tried to do a ‘fake lovers project’.

Leanhardt was actually on the verge of death before coming back.

But as always, no parent can resist their child’s stubbornness.

In the end, Dad allowed Ashid and me to do the ‘fake lovers project’.

Instead…….

“Holding hands is punishable by death, and getting closer than 1 meter will result in immediate burning at the stake. Maintain a 2-meter distance.”

“Dad!”

“……Yes. I’ll try my best.”

……It was hard to tell if he was serious about the lover concept, telling us to walk more than 2 meters apart.

But Dad seemed very serious when he said that, so I had nothing to say.

Moreover, as soon as he finished speaking, he cleared everyone out of the drawing room and quickly began to persuade me while sitting face to face.

“Sienne, my daughter. Whether it’s a fake lovers project or whatever, it’s dangerous for Sienne to go to that village. You know that.”

“Yeah, it’s dangerous.”

I nodded listlessly, watching Dad’s anxious expression.

Dad looked like he was about to stop breathing, placing his hand on his heart and whispering pathetically.

“Dad, just thinking about our daughter being kidnapped 5 years ago…… I might die from the trauma…….”

He was acting as if he had a terminal illness.

I frowned slightly and thought.

‘He’s so disgustingly fake!’

Recalling all the pretenses Dad had shown over the past few years, I couldn’t bring myself to say nice things.

Dad quickly noticed that I was thinking that way and returned to his expressionless face.

I said coldly.

“Dad. People don’t die easily.”

“No. This is real, Dad dies easily.”

……He’s been caught being a villain, but pretending to be weak by saying he ‘dies easily’ is a bit foolish, but why does it make me laugh because it feels like my real dad?

‘I guess I really love Dad.’

After gaining some insight in that way, I looked at Dad again.

Dad was still staring at me with a worried gaze.

“But I feel like I have to step up now. To catch Melodia. Dad, Melodia clearly called out to Ashid and me.”

Dad stared at me silently.

His eyes trembled slightly, then fixed firmly in place.

“……You know, Sienne.”

“Yeah?”

“Even if Uella is alive, don’t worry about it.”

“……What does that mean?”

“Just come back safely. You don’t have to sacrifice yourself to save Uella, and you don’t have to give her too much heart. Got it?”

It seemed Dad also thought the sighting of Uella was a trap. Dad coaxed and soothed me as if I were a three-year-old child.

But there was something Dad was overlooking.

I was twenty years old now, and my head had grown quite a bit.

I could easily read the uncomfortable emotions on Dad’s face.

“Yeah, I understand. Dad misses Uella too, right?”

“……What?”

“If the real Uella is there, I’ll be sure to tell her. That Dad loved Mom!”

Dad looked at the air, averting his gaze from me.

I left Dad to be caught up in his past regrets for a moment, then spoke confidently.

“I’m a really great daughter, right? A filial daughter, right?”

Even though I answered confidently, Dad still thought I was a child, pinching my cheeks like mochi [Japanese rice cake] and chuckling.

“Yeah, Dad is…… just proud of our daughter. When did you grow up so much? You were a baby who fit in my arms.”

“It’s been more than enough time for the landscape to change.”

“Yeah……. Our baby. Dad will be a strong support behind you.”

I smiled and poked Dad’s cheek.

If someone saw this situation, they would say it was outrageous, but our dad just laughed it off.

“Yeah, support me hard. I’ll really come back safely!”

For Dad’s happiness and my happiness, now I had to catch Saintess Melodia and change the prophecy.

I had a feeling that this would be the final battle.

Thinking that way made me feel a bit complicated, so I hugged Dad tightly for no reason.

When my heart kept pounding strangely, I needed Dad’s warmth to calm me down.

***

After soothing my heart with Dad’s warmth.

Ashid and I didn’t delay. They said the festival had already started in the village, and Dad had publicly announced that he would support me.

Now all that was left was to measure Ashid’s combat power and install all sorts of magical tools on my body.

Five years ago, Dad, who had been traumatized by my kidnapping, put all sorts of protective gear on my body. It was a defense system that couldn’t be dismantled unless I tried to commit suicide.

‘Unless I try to die, the defense system will work perfectly.’

Wrapping my body in protective gear was something that would be over quickly.

That’s how Ashid and I arrived at the decisive battle in Mer Village.

“Is this it?”

“Yes, I think this is it.”

I reached the entrance of Mer Village, where Saintess Melodia was hiding, and looked around.

The village was in the midst of a heated atmosphere, imitating a masquerade ball of high society, a mask festival for the common people.

“Let’s go inside.”

I gave Ashid a short wink and firmly put on the butterfly-shaped mask that Leanhardt, the mask expert, had chosen for me.

I had a pure white butterfly mask, and Ashid had a black butterfly mask.

‘Dad told me to stop the couple-like atmosphere, but I like this.’

Acting as a couple with Ashid seemed like it would be surprisingly fun.

But it was important not to let my guard down.

We weren’t here to act like a couple, but to catch Melodia.

As I entered the inner part of Mer Village, I fixed the mask in my hand even more firmly.

“Ashid, there are so many people here, right?”

“There are.”

It was definitely a quiet village on the outskirts, but it was overflowing with all sorts of people because it was the festival season.

“Should we hold hands?”

Ashid and I didn’t do as Dad said. It didn’t mean we were 2 meters apart.

But still, we were a little far apart.

‘According to Leanhardt, it would be difficult if we looked too awkward!’

Justifying my feelings, I looked around, trying to look as natural as possible.

Already, stalls were set up everywhere, all sorts of games for couples were going on, and various foods that were usually sold at festivals, such as cup fruits and skewers, were being sold.

From afar, I could even hear the sound of a horn along with an elephant’s acrobatic show.

‘I don’t know if this is a real festival or bait to lure us in, but the atmosphere is lively.’

But being at the festival with Ashid felt more enjoyable than I thought.

So I looked at Ashid without deliberately suppressing my enjoyment.

“Ashid.”

“Yes?”

“Shall we play the balloon popping game?”

It also meant that we should check the atmosphere while going around the village, starting with the balloon popping game.

Ashid, who immediately understood my intention, nodded and replied seriously.

“And, just in case.”

“Yes?”

“Let’s never eat the food here. I packed it separately!”

There might be poison on it.

‘Melodia is petty!’

When I said that, the muscular maid sisters packed a lunch for me in my bag. I smiled, showing off the lunch box I had tucked into my backpack.

‘I feel like I’m here to enjoy the festival, and this is subtly fun.’

I was clearly here to catch Melodia, but the atmosphere was strangely peaceful.

I didn’t know exactly what kind of beings the masked people passing through Mer Village were, but the time I spent with them wasn’t bad.

‘Everyone doesn’t seem to have a gloomy air, and they seem to be laughing and having fun. Is the joy contagious?’

Maybe that’s because Ashid is by my side.

I glanced at Ashid, who was standing next to me, and quietly opened my mouth.

“You know, Ashid.”

“Yes.”

“I think this is the first time I’ve been to a festival with Ashid……. This is a really good thing.”

At those words, Ashid’s ears turned red.

I stared at his flushed cheeks and thought to myself.

‘He’s so cute.’

Ashid looked at my eyes and muttered quietly.

“……You’re even cuter.”

“Huh?”

As if he wasn’t embarrassed, he said it in a nonchalant and natural tone.

“Sienne is cuter.”

……For a moment, I was stunned.

“Did I really say out loud that Ashid is cute?”

He boldly looked at my gaze and said.

“That’s what your eyes say. But……. I’m not just a cute child. Sienne is the cute one.”

I looked at Ashid’s body, which had become endlessly sturdy.

‘The Ashid I used to call a baby has grown up like this?’

His appearance was unfamiliar, but I had to admit what I had to admit. Since I had become an adult, he was already well over twenty.

Now he was an adult who could stand on his own, and he was also a hero who had made a bet with Moira, the God of Time.

I looked at him and nodded dazedly.

“Yeah…….”

Ashid gently rubbed my nose and whispered softly.

“Then, shall we go now?”

As if it were natural, my small hand was tightly held in his large hand. The scarred and rough hand rubbed against my soft skin, and my heart fluttered for a moment.

I was so nervous that even the palm of my hand that wasn’t holding his hand became damp.

I looked at Ashid and lifted my trembling eyelids.

“Ashid, you. You seem to be holding my hand too tightly…….”

I thought if I said something about his hand, he would say sorry and let go.

But this time it was different.

Ashid whispered in a calm tone.

“……I did it on purpose.”

“Huh?”

“I want to do as I please this time. At least, until tonight, I want to hold Sienne like this, tightly.”

That also meant that he had no intention of properly tracking Saintess Melodia until night.

I quietly nodded as if I had no objection to his opinion, but I was carefully observing his troubled expression.

‘Why? It’s as if he thinks today is the last day with me.’

We clearly came to win the bet, to catch Melodia in order to change our fate and be happy…….

Why is he making such an uncomfortable expression?

‘……Ashid, is he hiding something?’

As I tried to figure out his intentions, sweat spread wetly on my palm.

Nevertheless, Ashid did not let go of my tightly held hand.

Instead, he led me to the center of the festival and showed me all sorts of rare sights. He helped me watch the elephant blowing the horn, and he also made me eat lunch together near the path that was slightly off the festival grounds.

“The maid sisters are good at cooking.”

“Yeah! Is Ashid good at cooking too?”

“Well…… in my own way.”

“Then, when we go back, let’s cook and eat together later!”

He smiled softly without answering. At the same time, he didn’t let go of his gaze towards me.

Like someone who would capture my appearance until the very end.

‘It’s strange.’

I felt a subtle uneasiness, but the thought of being in contact with him and going on a date that wasn’t a date made me feel even hotter [more excited].

‘It’s strange, it’s like a date…… I don’t want to break the atmosphere.’

I enjoyed the festival with Ashid, excited by an unknown feeling.

Whenever I held hands with him, that subtle unpleasantness disappeared and I felt strangely excited, so I had to deliberately lower the corners of my mouth [suppress my smile].

While deliberately focusing on checking the surroundings to see if Melodia or her henchmen were there, I kept worrying about Ashid.

In the end, I enjoyed a pretty fun date during the day without any intrusion or interference from anyone.

Because Saintess Melodia, her aides, and the fanatics fascinated by her did not appear until the festival was over and night came.

Like that, it was already midnight.

As the light disappeared, the heat of the festival disappeared in an instant, and the atmosphere darkened.