I’Ll Protect My Tyrant Dad! [EN]: Chapter 24

Protecting My Tyrant Father! Episode 24. Little Breadwinner, Cien (24/140)

Episode 24. Little Breadwinner, Cien

2023.02.21.

Safety comes first, so I shouldn’t let my guard down and keep an eye on these seemingly innocent men. Maybe I’ll even have to protect these rough-looking guys. It was enough to make the heavens weep.

“Right… They all like cute things…”

And so, I became the little breadwinner of our Mirmord family, taking care of even my father’s friends who had become Count Rochellern…

But it’s okay.

‘I proved how strong I am through today’s hunt.’

I sighed deeply and opened my mouth.

“Joa. Bring something even cooler next time, Jo.”

“Would something like a wren be okay, Cien?”

“No. A lion or a dragon! Catch something bigger.”

It was nonsense.

Those pure-hearted men, who were only good at catching rabbits or running away from magical beasts, could never bring back a dragon or a lion.

‘But saying this might at least make them more alert.’

The rough-looking but soft-hearted man, who had been sniffling while looking at me earlier, said loudly.

“Lions or dragons? Oh, that’s my specialty-”

“Ah, shut up.”

Dad cut off the man, who was about to say something, and pinched my dumpling-like cheeks.

Then, he brought meat to my plate and said.

“Cien, eat a lot. You need to grow tall. Don’t even think about scary things like lions or dragons, okay?”

‘I think Dad underestimates me too much.’

A smaller height than my peers and a mumbling way of speaking. An impression that makes me look even younger than five years old.

In fact, my external appearance is far from that of a mastermind.

I objectively acknowledged my power.

And I said, holding a fork in my left hand and a knife in my right, ready for battle.

“Okay! I’ll eat first!”

As Dad said, I diligently tore apart the grilled rabbit leg.

The men kept exclaiming as they watched me eat so diligently.

I ate the meat roughly and fiercely, bones and all. Crunching and showing my front teeth, imitating the fierce expression of the man from earlier!

Of course, only to the extent that my baby teeth, which were only the size of corn kernels, wouldn’t wobble.

And I put the bone down on the plate and thought.

The atmosphere on the table was pleasant.

As if no one knew that a spy had infiltrated earlier.

‘Come to think of it, I should tell them what happened earlier. Dad seems to trust everyone too easily.’

“Ah, right. Earlier, when Dad wasn’t here, a spy came?”

The atmosphere, which had just started to heat up and become noisy, instantly calmed down.

“…Really? I thought I heard something.”

“Yeah, don’t be scawred [scared]. I chased him away.”

I was about to talk about the artifact but bit my lip. Dad doesn’t know that I received a magical tool from Grandma, and I was planning to keep it a secret for the time being. I smiled brightly and grabbed the sleeve of the maid behind me.

“Yeah, no. The maids chased him away, not Cien.”

Dad was expressionless and silent after hearing my words.

I raised my small, white cat-like paw and patted Dad. From the moment he heard the word ‘spy,’ Dad’s face turned pale. He must have been scared.

After all, a spy’s attack would be a terrifying thing for a fragile Dad who had just become a count.

I said solemnly.

“There are many bad people in the world. So don’t trust people too much.”

Still, the frozen atmosphere didn’t improve.

Instead, Dad said in a warm voice.

“That won’t happen again, Cien.”

Dad, who had stopped eating and stood up to come to my side, hugged my shoulder tightly and patted me, just like I had done earlier.

“Were you very scared?”

The eyes of the spies, who were leaving with a lot of blood and looking at me resentfully, came to mind.

I shouted with a smug look.

“No, not at all. Dad, listen up.”

“Huh?”

“We’re in a state of emergency right now. This is a very scary family.”

“Haha… How did my daughter know…?”

Seeing Dad’s brow furrow, I pressed down on the wrinkles with my small hands and said loudly.

“Cien, baby. Our baby just needs to think happy thoughts.”

“……”

“Dad will make everyone in the Mirmord family kind, so don’t worry.”

Unfortunately, Dad’s head was still full of flowers [naive and optimistic].

I sighed deeply and thought.

‘Let’s focus on becoming more viciously strong for now. Reforming Dad… I’ll have to give up on that for the time being.’

I glared fiercely and thought.

First, I need to find out who sent the spy.

It was time to find out who the ‘beautiful person’ who sent the spy was.

***

Meanwhile, Delphia was sitting idly in her tent.

The hunting competition was about to end, but the spy she had sent into the forest hadn’t arrived. Neither had Cien, Matthias’s daughter.

She yawned and reviewed the documents sent by her vassals.

In fact, everything was terribly boring.

‘I don’t know Matthias well, but he was quite unique.’

She, who was barely in her mid-twenties, had only seen a few of the evil deeds committed by Matthias.

Since the children of the family couldn’t be close to each other anyway, he and she weren’t well acquainted.

‘But in my hazy memories, I remember Matthias being quite an interesting person…’

Since she hadn’t received any news from the spy yet, she thought calmly.

“Oh, no news at all. I guess they’re all dead.”

She rolled her blood-red eyes here and there.

With Matthias’s return, something quite interesting seemed to be happening in her ordinary life. Of course, it was just her speculation so far.

“If things keep going like this, I’ll want to go myself.”

The documents also stated that the warmonger Axel was hastily wrapping up the war.

He was scheduled to return to the family within a month at the latest.

“I need to arrive faster than Axel.”

Delphia covered the documents and tied the shawl around her neck as if strangling herself.

“It’s going to be fun.”

‘What does a little kid even look like? Half my size?’

Delphia had never experienced a ‘real’ childhood. One day, she suddenly opened her eyes in hell and was undergoing her coming-of-age ceremony.

“Oh, should I go tomorrow or next week?”

Delphia smiled, brushing back her snow-white hair.

The day when the ‘Saintess’ would arrive on earth was not far off.

Of course, she had all the information. The current Saintess, Melodia, was generally considered to be kind, supporting orphans and such. But…

‘She’s excessively and fastidiously clean.’

She often heard stories about her being the Crown Prince’s political partner.

‘We can’t completely rule out the possibility of the temple intervening in the succession battle.’

It was clear that the temple and the Saintess would do everything in their power to prevent Matthias Mirmord, who had rumors related to demons, from succeeding to the position of head of the family. If so, she could benefit from it.

‘Things are going to get quite interesting.’

Seeing this, Matthias doesn’t hesitate to kill spies. He was busy spreading his influence everywhere.

Matthias or Matthias’s daughter.

Axel.

Even the Saintess.

A pretty fun chaos seemed to be unfolding.

“I want to watch.”

She swore, Delphia had no intention of participating in that chaos.

A playful observer, isn’t that perfect?

A thick smile spread across Delphia’s lips.

***

The hunting competition to boost the morale of Dad, who had become the successor of the Mirmord Duchy and Count Rochellern, and his close aides ended safely.

‘Dad disappeared somewhere in the middle, so I was bored.’

Dad held my shoulder tightly and said that he would get rid of anyone who bothered his daughter. It wasn’t really reassuring at all, but I nodded.

I left Dad, who muttered something between his teeth and disappeared somewhere. Immediately after, I arrived at the mansion room and looked at the darkened sky, recalling Dad’s close aides I had met today.

“Lady Cien, what are you thinking while looking at the night sky?”

I was about to say that I was thinking about Dad’s friends, but I turned away from the window and slumped helplessly on the sofa.

No matter how I thought about it, Dad’s aides had no power.

They were just like our Dad. Far from having villainous qualities, they were just weak, delicate, and people who liked cute things…

As if to solidify my thoughts, the maids had already taken out small stuffed animals to show me.

“Ah, Matthias’s aides have presented a rabbit doll!”

“Would you like to check it out?”

The maids smiled proudly, handing me a rabbit doll that seemed to fit perfectly in my arms.

‘What is this? A cursed doll?’

It was a rabbit doll, but it wasn’t a rabbit doll.

I don’t know what that means either, but the doll’s round black eyes were attached asymmetrically, and there were clumps of burst seams on top of the rabbit ears.

“They made it themselves!”

Ah…

I nodded.

‘Those men must have sewn the rabbit doll with hands as big as pot lids.’

Imagining them clumsily sewing with their clumsy hands made my worries and concerns grow even bigger.

‘Can I really support all those foolish men?’

I drooped my shoulders and sighed.

What is this feeling of prickliness, as if I were wearing hemp clothes even though I was sitting on fluffy bedding?

“Lady Cien, why are you sighing?”

Fortunately, I have reliable maids.

“No…”

“Ah! Is it because of those spies we found back then?”

I didn’t sigh exactly because of those spies, but I nodded.

“…Spy, there’s definitely something there.”

“That’s right. We dug into their background, and it seems they’re dead.”

Even after thinking about it carefully, their purpose was still a mystery.

‘What was the reason for trying to kidnap me at the hunting competition? Who on earth ordered them to do it?’

It was when a terrible suspicion was ignited. The maid said.

“We have secretly placed a request with the Press family.”

“The Press family?”

“Yes. It’s the family that this Bench used to belong to. They have quite a knack for extracting information.”

“According to them, they seem to have a guess as to who it might be.”

If we dig a little more, it will come out.

“I see, that’s a relief. But…”

I blinked, looking at the maids standing in a row in front of me.

Come to think of it, I was so busy trying to survive that I never asked for their names or families.

“So, the name of the sister on the left is, Bench?”

The maid on the left, who had a little more muscle and blue highlights in her hair, Bench, answered firmly.

“Yes. I came from the Press barony.”

As I nodded, the sister next to her with sharply raised bangs continued.

“Ah, I am Deadri from the Pt family. I am honored to tell you my name like this.”

I paused as I listened to them.

Wait a minute, I think I went over it too naturally.

‘Isn’t it too easy to reveal their names?’

A noble’s maid abandons her name when she becomes a maid and simply has a title such as ‘close aide maid’ or ‘grooming maid.’

So, for the maids to directly reveal their names to their lord was like a declaration that they would serve that lord for life.

To say such a thing so easily.

I was slightly moved and my eyes welled up with tears.

“Bench, Deadri. Please take care of me in the future!”

“Yes! If we catch the spy, we’ll snap their necks like a chicken!”

“Loyalty!”

Sometimes I’m scared of the sisters’ violent words, but I’m going to become a mastermind, so I have to get used to it.

And in fact, I felt more relieved by the maids’ rough evil deeds than by the rabbit doll given by Dad’s friend.

“Okay, let’s find out where the spy came from first!”

The sisters nodded.

“Come to think of it, Lady Cien, didn’t you say you had an appointment tomorrow?”

At their words, I clapped my knees. Come to think of it, I was still carrying out an important mission. Before finding the spy, it was a mission to make one more person on my side.

That was the quest, .