I’Ll Protect My Tyrant Dad! [EN]: Chapter 74

When I revealed my honest feelings, he seemed at a loss for words and rubbed his face wearily.

“……”

‘He’s not saying it’s completely impossible. The atmosphere seems okay?’

I decided to push forward playfully and asked,

“About the mine… it doesn’t necessarily have to be a contract with the Imperial Palace, right?”

Ambassador Heinrich muttered with a disappointed expression.

“They say the Crown Prince’s aides stole our principality’s technology, and contracting with the Imperial Palace… it’s a matter of pride.”

The contract with the Imperial Palace was effectively off the table. However, a conflicted attitude was evident on his face.

That’s because, from the principality’s perspective, the Imperial Palace of the Empire would be the best client. Moreover, the Prince likely knew he was contracting with the Empire’s Crown Prince.

‘But he must be conflicted. That’s the moment I’m aiming for! We desperately need that magic stone!’

If our family was to become more prosperous and increase the number of mages among Dad’s aides, the Mikael Mine was essential. I held his arm tightly and asked, coaxing him gently.

“Then, how about contracting with the Mirmode family’s Sienne Merchant Group for that magic stone?”

Ambassador Heinrich’s eyes showed confusion for a moment. With a half-dazed look, he asked back.

“……Excuse me? Sienne Merchant Group, you say?”

“The Mirmode family may not be the Imperial family, but we have that much power in the Empire. The Sienne Merchant Group is as substantial as the Yoter Merchant Group!”

‘Judging by his expression, it seems like he might agree if I say a little more!’

It was what I was going to say before being dragged to the courtroom, but I should finish saying it.

“Um, uhm! Can I appeal a bit more?”

“Yes, yes……”

I smiled playfully and slipped the contract out of my pocket.

“I also helped the older siblings from the Sheraf Merchant Group! I felt sorry after seeing their protest. I helped them prove the technology theft in the courtroom.”

Then, I subtly handed him the contract and winked slightly.

Looking at the contract, he moved his lips as if he was dumbfounded.

“B-but, excuse me, your age……”

I smiled brightly and spread both palms wide, revealing all ten fingers.

“Ten years old!”

It was when Ambassador Heinrich was blinking with a speechless expression that the door to the reception room opened.

“……Sienne, let’s go now.”

Wait a minute.

Could it be that Dad heard everything I said?

I blinked. And then, Ambassador Heinrich said,

“……I will organize the Mikael Mine matter soon and contact you. I also need to discuss it with His Highness the Prince.”

Then Dad grabbed my hand and said to Ambassador Heinrich,

“Collaborate with Mirmode.”

“Pardon?”

“His Majesty the Emperor has permitted it.”

I widened my eyes.

‘What, Dad made a deal with the Emperor?’

Of course, the Crown Prince had committed a tremendous discourtesy to Mirmode, but I didn’t expect Dad to get the Mikael Mine in return.

Our Dad’s negotiation skills were improving day by day.

***

While Sienne was admiring Matthias’s negotiation skills, Matthias was also contemplating his clever daughter’s future.

After returning from the Imperial Palace to the Mirmode mansion, Matthias summoned his aides and declared.

It was after a verbal battle with the Crown Prince, so everyone was tense and waiting for Matthias’s orders.

He said with a calm expression.

“Our daughter seems to have the ability to read the future. How should we provide early education for geniuses? Should we send her abroad?”

Looking at Matthias, who was full of doting fatherly affection, the aides couldn’t quite adapt.

However, there were always those who coveted power.

One of the aides with a vicious scar on his face quickly spoke up.

“How about the academy, rather than studying abroad?”

“……Academy?”

“Yes. Noble children usually build friendships at the academy, I’ve heard!”

Matthias’s eyes narrowed.

Just as the aide, receiving his murderous gaze, was hunching his shoulders and trying to read his mood, Matthias cautiously opened his mouth.

“Are there many good children at the academy?”

“……Yes?”

He was momentarily stunned by the words ‘good children’ coming from the vicious Matthias. But, filled with the desire to impress him, the aide quickly nodded and replied.

“Yes! There will be many good children! She will definitely make many ordinary friends and form good relationships with good children! It’s better than staying at Mirmode!”

“I see.”

Matthias Mirmode knew well about the Crown Prince’s pettiness.

Although he had given him a grand public humiliation, he might not give up on attacking Mirmode, given his strong desire for power and sense of inferiority.

He might even try to win over the elders of the family to his side, comprehensively pressure Mirmode, and target Sienne again.

If so, it was time to prune both inside and outside the mansion.

“There’s something I realized from this trial [legal proceeding].”

“W-what is it?”

“One is how smart our daughter is.”

The aide, struggling to manage his deflated expression, calmly admired. His acting skills were improving day by day due to his boss’s love for his daughter.

“……Ah, indeed, you are amazing! Haha! W-what’s the other one?”

“It’s that we must crush those who dare to harass our daughter from the root.”

Matthias’s gaze turned chilling.

In his hand was a document explaining the collusive relationship between the elders and the Crown Prince.

The document clearly proved that the elders had been selling Sienne’s movements to the Crown Prince and receiving kickbacks.

“We shouldn’t show them how we dispose of trash. Incidentally, it would be good to send our daughter to the academy for a while.”

Through this incident, Matthias had made a firm decision.

To send Sienne to the academy for a while to show her the ordinary world, and in the meantime, completely seize power within the family.

***

Some time later, inside the Mirmode mansion.

“Come here, Sienne.”

I was inadvertently placed on Dad’s lap. Rolling my eyes, I sat on Dad’s lap, and he quietly murmured.

“You must be curious about what you talked about with the Emperor.”

“……”

He read my mind like that. Just as I was clenching my small hands tightly and feeling nervous, Dad whispered in a subdued voice.

“I can’t hide everything, so I’ll tell you about the whole story, Sienne.”

“……Dad?”

Dad’s attitude was a bit strange. I clutched my pink hair tightly and pondered. It felt like he was protecting me, telling me to stay out of it, but…….

‘It feels like he’s thinking of me as a partner. Is it because I brought up the partner thing first?’

As if my feeling wasn’t wrong, Dad hugged my shoulder tightly and continued to speak softly.

“Listen carefully, Sienne. After this trial, I told the Emperor about the Crown Prince’s misdeeds. The Crown Prince has greatly lost the Emperor’s trust.”

“……I see.”

Making my eyes look like a dead fish as if I wasn’t interested at all, I grabbed Dad’s arm tightly and asked again.

“So, what happened?”

“The Emperor didn’t trust the Crown Prince much to begin with…… Grand Duke Sebastian, the Emperor’s illegitimate child, is coming from the frontier.”

I opened my eyes wide.

‘Ah, Grand Duke Sebastian is the Crown Prince’s nemesis and destined rival!’

The Grand Duke was an illegitimate child born from the Emperor and another woman, and he was in the Crown Prince’s opposing faction.

He appears as a villain in the story, but if the Crown Prince, the male lead in the novel, is such a petty and despicable person, his disposition might be different.

The Mirmode family was also depicted as a terrible demon family, but in reality, it’s full of warm people, including Grandma.

Dad hesitated and opened his mouth.

“Grand Duke Sebastian is also Dad’s friend.”

“Wow. Dad’s friend! Introduce me later!”

I blinked and leaned my body against Dad’s shoulder. However, instead of saying he would introduce me, Dad quietly opened his mouth.

“Sienne, Dad’s not finished yet?”

“Huh? Is there something fun again?”

I was getting sleepy and even tired.

“Fun thing…… Actually, Dad is really curious.”

It was a strange tone. I rolled my eyes and asked Dad.

“……Uung?”

“How did our baby know about the swan sculpture that was stuck in the family’s warehouse?”

I flinched. Yes, I was a bit hasty and revealed a lot of information from the original work that I knew.

‘……It couldn’t be helped, but it’s natural for Dad to be suspicious.’

I quietly lowered my head and remained silent, but Dad’s words continued.

“What do you want, what kind of thoughts do you have, and……”

Dad whispered softly in my ear.

“What secrets are you hiding from me?”

Instantly, I flinched again.

I was worried that he would find out about the secret that I was reincarnated, that I was actually a very vicious person. I was worried that Dad would avoid me because of that.

So, I quietly closed my eyes tightly and opened them again.

Yes, in times like these…….

“Ah, Dad also has things he’s hiding from Sienne!”

It’s best to act spoiled and whine for no reason!

But at that moment, Dad’s body stiffened.

‘Huh, that’s strange? It seems like Dad is also hiding something from me?’

I cast a suspicious gaze at Dad.

But right then, a burly man, presumably one of Dad’s aides, opened our door and came in.

“D-did you hear the news?”

The arm that was holding me tightly stiffened.

“……What, what news are you talking about?”

It’s really strange.

Right now, Dad’s voice sounded like a villain who was extremely displeased at having his only favorite tea time taken away. I smiled with satisfaction at Dad’s villainous appearance and then stopped.

No matter how I thought about it, it seemed like the villain mode was too ingrained in Dad.

“……Ahem.”

Dad cleared his throat briefly and spoke in a somewhat flustered tone of voice.

“Umm, so what’s the matter?”

He finally seemed like the Dad I knew…….

I tilted my head and leaned my small body against Dad’s shoulder again.

“Did you hear that the Emperor has called the Grand Duke back?”

“Yes.”

A listless voice as if to say, ‘Is that all you came here to say?’ I felt proud of Dad’s villainous transformation and chuckled, then stopped.

No matter how I thought about it, it seemed like the villain mode was too ingrained in Dad.

“……Ahem.”

Dad cleared his throat briefly and spoke in a somewhat flustered tone of voice.

“Umm, so what’s the matter?”

He finally seemed like the Dad I knew…….

I tilted my head and leaned my small body against Dad’s shoulder again.

“The Pope and Saint Melodia are said to be leaving for the Path of Light. The temple side is suspiciously quiet, could there be something going on?”

‘Path of Light’ training?

I widened my eyes and stiffened my body.

‘This is something that only comes out near the end of the original !’

I wondered why they were suddenly leaving for the Path of Light like this.

At the end of the original , the Pope and Saint Melodia leave for the Path of Light for training. After completing the training, Melodia returns to the Empire and marries the Crown Prince, and that was their happy ending.

‘The Path of Light is just a device to highlight the poignant romance between the two, and I don’t know exactly what happens there…….’

First of all, the temple is Mirmode’s enemy, and the Crown Prince, who will be Melodia’s future husband, has become my and Dad’s enemy, so it seemed important to find out what they would gain from the ‘Path of Light.’

‘Yes, the Imperial Palace will have fewer reasons to directly fight Mirmode for the time being due to the power struggle between the Grand Duke and the Crown Prince.’

The Crown Prince will become even quieter after being hit hard by the fake daughter incident this time.

I was seriously drawing the current situation in my head when Dad continued to speak.

“Let’s put the temple aside.”

“Yes.”

I perked up my ears. It was because I wanted to hear more of the valuable information brought by the kind but mean-looking villainous uncle. Then Dad said.

“The uneasy atmosphere within the family…… No, wait a minute.”

Dad suddenly lifted me up.

“Sienne.”

“U-ung?”

I tore the corners of my mouth into a smile, pretending to be as kind and ignorant a child as possible. But Dad smiled and opened the door, holding me up.

“Sienne, let’s go to bed quickly.”

‘That won’t do? I need to know about how the family is doing too!’

I widened my eyes and clutched Dad’s sleeve tightly, whining.

“……Sienne wants to listen too!”

“Sienne has to sleep. After you sleep, Dad will tell you a fun story.”

That’s how I ended up eating delicious milk with a warm fireplace in my room.

But I didn’t know it at the time.

What kind of future awaited me the next day…….

***

“T-this isn’t fair!”

I brought my hand to my face and half-screamed.

“Sienne has to go to the academy now too.”

“The Imperial Children’s Academy, this doesn’t make sense! I still have a lot to do!”

I also had to find out why Melodia and the Pope left for the Path of Light so quickly, I had to look into the family’s situation, and I was going to instill more villainous thoughts into my pushover Dad. But why……!

“You have a lot to do. You have to go to and from school.”

“Dad, Sienne Merchant Group operation……”

“The family’s accountant will take care of it for the time being.”

“Hoo…….”

……This is a big problem. There was no room to back down.

I shook my head with wide eyes.

But Dad…….

“Sienne also has to make a lot of friends and do good things.”

……and sent me away!

***

At the same time, inside the Imperial Palace.

Saint Melodia, who was said to be leaving for the ‘Path of Light,’ and Crown Prince, and Princess Anessa were sitting face to face.