I’Ll Protect My Tyrant Dad! [EN]: Chapter 123

123. Dad’s Jealousy

2024.02.02.

I burst out of my room and started running like a maniac.

The muscular maids, who were drowsily patrolling the hallway, and Dad’s villainous sidekick uncles, who were shamelessly flirting with them, shouted in bewilderment.

“Lady Sienna?”

“Oh my, our little lady! You’ll hurt yourself running like that!”

Ignoring their calls and the protests of my aching muscles, I ran as fast as I could.

‘Wait, this isn’t just about running! I’m slower than Acid!’

My heart hammered against my ribs, and my lungs burned. I clutched my chest, gasping for air.

I needed to think, not just run.

Thankfully, my reckless sprint had gotten me to the second-floor hallway.

I scanned my surroundings and rushed to the window.

‘Maybe he hasn’t left the mansion grounds yet. Maybe he’s waiting for me to catch up.’

With fervent hope that Acid was somewhere beyond the glass, I peered out.

Channeling the sharp eyes of an eagle, I scrutinized Mirmod’s central square, the clock tower, the gloomy spire, and even the gardens.

‘Please, please…’

The mansion was vast, and many people milled about, but I was confident I could spot Acid.

I stood on tiptoe, craning my neck, searching.

And…

I saw the back of his head, the same clothes he wore when we went to Mer Village.

He was leaving, seemingly unconcerned with the dirt staining his clothes. It was definitely Acid.

I clasped my hands together and whispered.

“Acid, you’re still there, right?”

This time, fate answered my desperate plea.

It hadn’t been long since I checked the gift package, and Acid was now walking through the garden.

Luckily, he was moving slower than usual, as if admiring the flowers.

I shouted towards his retreating figure.

“Acid! Wait a minute!”

Running through the hallway and down the stairs had completely drained my stamina.

But when I shouted with all my might, my voice carried far enough to reach him.

Of course, there were consequences.

The maids in the hallway flinched at the booming sound, loud enough to alert everyone in the mansion.

But Acid only paused briefly, never turning back.

He seemed to have heard me but was trying to ignore me.

‘Could it be because he feels guilty about stabbing me?’

If it was guilt, he didn’t need to act like this.

After all, I was the one who instigated the stabbing, and it was ultimately to save me.

If the result was good, the process didn’t matter.

I was a consequentialist [someone who believes the morality of an action is determined by its outcome] who didn’t dwell on the details.

But Acid seemed determined to leave the garden, as if guilt was blinding him. His figure was disappearing.

I had to catch him now.

I raised my voice again, shouting.

“Acid, please look at me! Don’t go! I have something to say!”

And…

Finally, Acid turned around.

I shouted as I faced him.

“Wait for me!”

Without waiting for his reply, I sprinted out of the mansion again.

Hope surged through me.

‘If I meet Acid, if I face him…’

I flew past the first-floor stairwell, across the hall, and through the main gate, reaching a small garden.

Just as I was about to enter the garden, I saw Dad in conversation with the gardener.

“Plant these seedlings here with flowers my daughter likes. She seems upset.”

“Hmm, how about this? It’s a seedling from the Demon Realm, a real cutie. It’s called the Devil’s Seed…”

I overheard their conversation as I ran.

The gardener held out a gloomy purple flower to Dad. A slimy tongue flicked out from the stamen, dripping saliva.

My appetite vanished.

“Do you think my daughter would like something so gloomy?”

I brushed past Dad and the gardener, interjecting.

“That’s right, I don’t like that!”

I ran on, and Dad tilted his head, puzzled.

“Sienna, weren’t you resting? Where are you going? You’ll fall!”

“Where am I going?”

Feeling the wind on my face, I grinned at Dad.

“I’m going to confess!”

Dad’s face turned into a picture of stunned disbelief.

Thud.

The flowerpot Dad had been examining fell and shattered on the floor.

But I had already turned my back on him.

“Con…fess?”

“Yes! Confess!”

I was more concerned with Acid’s disappearing figure than Dad’s shock or his sudden aging.

I ran like a madwoman to catch Acid before comforting Dad. Fortunately, Acid had heard me and stopped in the garden.

He stood near tall trees, pruned hedges, sunflowers, hydrangeas, and a jumble of other plants…

‘I can only see Acid.’

I finally stopped running and brushed the sweat-soaked hair from my face.

Then, I took a deep breath, watching Acid standing alone.

This was the crucial moment.

I called his name again, taking one step at a time.

“Acid!”

His gaze, tinged with faint hope, met mine.

“…Lady Sienna? Did I leave something behind…?”

“Nothing like that.”

He hesitated.

“Then…”

No more words were needed.

Like someone lost for a long time, I ran to Acid and embraced him.

Hugging his solid waist, I gasped for breath.

“Don’t go.”

After burying my face in his arms, Acid asked in a trembling voice.

“…Lady Sienna?”

He was stiff, unsure even how to place his hands on my shoulders.

He looked down at me, clinging to him, as if unsure if this was a dream, and murmured blankly.

“What…”

He must have been flustered.

It was the opposite of his confident demeanor with Melodia.

‘He might think I’m fickle, right?’

I worried, but it couldn’t be helped.

I raised my head and said what I needed to say.

“Don’t go.”

“…”

On his face, where embarrassment, anxiety, and subtle expectation mingled, a radiant smile bloomed.

But it wasn’t over.

I looked into his deep eyes and said.

“You like me too, don’t you?”

As soon as I spoke, my sense of smell, dulled by nerves, returned.

A sweet floral scent filled the air.

Acid stared at me, speechless.

A few seconds of eye contact stretched out. I looked up at him and said boldly.

“Isn’t it true?”

Acid slowly raised his hand to my shoulder.

His fingers twitched.

I stood still as he gripped my shoulder tightly.

I wouldn’t pressure him. It was his turn to speak.

“…Yes, I like you.”

I laughed at the clumsy confession.

I expected him to hold me tighter and continue confessing his feelings.

That was the gentle Acid I knew.

But…

He kissed me passionately.

As our lips met, I felt a level of excitement far beyond my earlier sprint.

Even as the excitement subsided, Acid showed lovely affection, nuzzling his nose against mine and playfully biting my lips.

“I sincerely like you, Sienna.”

I stood on tiptoe and kissed him again, giving a silent answer.

Lovers newly united were the happiest in the world, oblivious to everything but each other.

We gazed into each other’s eyes, forgetting we were outdoors, on the Duke’s estate.

So…

“Tear that arrogant thief limb from limb and throw him out!”

…I hadn’t considered Dad would be watching our kiss.

“No. I should just kill him.”

Because of Dad, who had brought a man-eating plant from afar, the romantic mood was ruined!

Acid wasn’t worried about Dad’s interference, nodding as if it were obvious.

“You can enjoy it for a day. Without holding hands, of course. But marriage is out of the question. Different bloodlines. It’s not legal.”

Dad was still a villain.

“Dad, you don’t usually care about that. Commoners and nobles are all just stupid idiots to you.”

Dad flinched.

“Th, that’s…!”

“Gasp, Dad, were you a noble supremacist?”

When he was a commoner, Dad preached love for everyone.

I pointed this out, glaring at him.

“That’s not it, but…”

Dad, trying to find a legal reason to separate me and Acid, was caught in a contradiction and stammered.

I thought Dad was cute, so I looped my arms through his and Acid’s.

“Okay. Let’s get along now.”

Dad glared at Acid.

Before long, the day would come when Dad’s flimsy excuse that ‘I can’t marry Acid without a title’ would crumble.

A new story related to Acid’s bloodline would emerge.

The beginning was the clue left by the Pope: ‘noble blood.’