I’Ll Protect My Tyrant Dad! [EN]: Chapter 99

99. Sienna, Kidnapped

Melodia, the Crown Prince, and the Pope were seated.

The Pope seemed more distracted than usual. The Crown Prince was the same. The only one who could at least feign composure in this setting was Melodia.

She sipped her tea with her usual serene expression.

Unlike the Pope, who looked slightly daunted by Melodia’s calmness amidst all this, the Crown Prince simply wore a pleased expression. He gently murmured, holding Melodia’s hand.

“…Melodia.”

“Yes, Your Highness.”

“What brings you to call me here? Though, of course, we don’t need a reason between us…”

The Crown Prince smiled contentedly as he gazed at Melodia’s dreamy expression.

With Melodia by his side, it felt as though everything would be perfect. The more he looked at her, the more he felt a subtle, euphoric sensation.

The Pope, who had been quietly watching the Crown Prince create an atmosphere as if they were the only two present, cleared his throat a couple of times.

“Your Highness, Crown Prince, I apologize, but it was I who called this meeting, not Melodia.”

Hearing the Pope’s voice asserting his authority, the Crown Prince frowned as if displeased.

“So, what is it, Pope?”

“Well…”

The Pope clenched his teeth with an uneasy expression. He held out his hand in front of his chest and muttered.

“How on earth did this happen? My power…”

The Crown Prince, alternating his gaze between the Pope’s bony hand and his face, retorted with a hint of annoyance.

“What in the world are you talking about?”

In truth, he found it rather unpleasant. He barely had enough time to enjoy being alone with Melodia.

“My divine power…”

The Crown Prince stared intently at the Pope.

A sphere of faint light flickered in the Pope’s hand.

“…It has diminished this much, Your Highness.”

The pale light dimly illuminated the surroundings.

However, the Pope did not look happy at all.

His divine power originally emitted a light so intense that it could illuminate the entire room. It was based on the faith and hope of all the empire’s citizens.

However…

“It has weakened.”

The Crown Prince scoffed; his divine power was far too weak. The Pope glared at the Crown Prince, clenching his teeth. The Crown Prince raised an eyebrow and said.

“I know the reason.”

Melodia chimed in sweetly.

“Yes… It must be because faith has disappeared. But why did people stop believing in God? We’ve been doing volunteer work and using the media as usual.”

Unlike Melodia and her group, who had just returned from the Path of Light [a pilgrimage or holy journey], the Crown Prince, who had been staying in the capital and keenly listening to the rumors, scoffed arrogantly.

“It’s all because of that Sienna Mirmord, that little girl.”

“Sienna Mirmord, you say…?”

The Pope frowned. He felt sick at the mention of the name of the person who kept hindering his compassionate plans.

“That small, audacious child, is it?”

Melodia replied cheerfully.

“If that child is trying to oppose God, we can just throw her in for heresy. No matter how much of a Mirmord she is, she can’t act against the state religion, can she?”

“That’s the thing, it’s ambiguous. She hasn’t founded a religion.”

The Crown Prince gestured to the newspapers on the table, telling her to read the details. The various newspapers he had brought described Sienna’s actions in detail.

Having seen all of that, Melodia exclaimed softly.

“Did she intentionally use philanthropy to eliminate faith in God? She’s quite clever!”

“Clever, you say. She probably just stumbled upon it by accident.”

“No, Your Highness. I think this child knows that divine power grows by feeding on people’s faith!”

At Melodia’s words, the Pope and the Crown Prince fell silent simultaneously.

There were very few people alive who knew that the divine power of priests grew by feeding on people’s faith in God.

The previous Pope was pathologically afraid of the weakening of the church’s power and tried to eliminate any factors that could threaten the divine authority.

Therefore, during the previous Pope’s reign, the reason why the Pope’s divine power weakened was left unaddressed, and the fact that the temple’s volunteer activities were carried out under thoroughly planned actions was also completely concealed.

“Who could have told her?”

“Delphia Mirmord, perhaps.”

Delphia Mirmord was well aware of the temple’s weaknesses.

However, even though she held that weakness in her hands, she did not use it properly and simply left it alone because she was reluctant to touch it.

Which means…

“…Sienna Mirmord is the problem, both a few years ago and now.”

Melodia smiled brightly.

The Pope and Melodia had planned to deceive and use the Mirmord family before eliminating them, but Sienna Mirmord had consistently blocked their path.

If so, it was now time to truly confront Sienna Mirmord properly.

Melodia and the Pope exchanged glances. And the Pope averted his gaze first. He bit his lip, rose, and then opened his mouth.

“I will go and find Axel Mirmord. He may know about Sienna Mirmord’s weaknesses.”

There was a subtle madness in the Pope’s eyes, but no one there noticed his crazed gaze.

***

Axel Mirmord, who had lived in the Demon Realm for over a decade, was already half-dead. However, his eyes were still ferocious.

As if to prove the bizarre rumors that he ate corpses, his body reeked of death.

Nevertheless, the Pope stared at Axel without batting an eye.

Axel, who was sitting haphazardly on the floor like a stranger, opened his foul-smelling mouth and asked.

“Did you bring me out of the Demon Realm?”

“Yes.”

“That saintly woman and… Ah, the Pope. A nobody.”

The Pope’s face instantly turned cold as he looked at Axel. It was the expression of someone who had touched his reverse scale [angered someone deeply].

“What did you say?”

No matter what the Pope said, Axel didn’t seem to be affected much. He rolled his eyes and continued.

“To be precise, Pope, you are nothing without the saintess.”

“How dare you…”

“Why? Aren’t you the saintess’s puppet?”

The Pope’s expression contorted as he watched Axel laugh hysterically.

Although he was fully accepting the opinions of the saintess, Melodia, he was very displeased to be called a puppet to his face.

Especially at this moment, having realized that some of his divine power had disappeared, he became even more uneasy.

Seeing him inwardly feeling uncomfortable about his position, Axel wagged his wicked tongue.

“What’s the reason for coming to me, Pope? Is it to find your proper position and hand over the Mirmords to me?”

Only then did the Pope erase the discomfort from his face and whisper.

“Yes, I plan to give you the Mirmord family. Of course, there are conditions, but if you want to get the Mirmords, you’ll have to cooperate.”

“You only know half of me?”

With all his energy drained, Axel twisted the corners of his mouth into a smile.

“To be precise, I only love evil and chaos itself. If I get the Mirmords, the greatest chaos will come to the world. That’s the part I like the most.”

“…”

Axel, staring into the Pope’s murky eyes, raised one corner of his lips even more intensely.

“So, what are the conditions?”

“Sienna Mirmord’s weakness.”

At the words ‘Sienna Mirmord’s weakness,’ Axel subtly examined the Pope’s expression. Then, as if coaxing the Pope, he whispered with his silver tongue.

“Of course, I know it.”

“Then tell me.”

“But you know, that saintess Melodia seems smarter than you. Can I trust you?”

At those words, the Pope instantly erased his expression.

“I am the Pope, you foolish Mirmord man.”

“So.”

“…It means that I am the core of power, rather than the saintess.”

Axel nodded with a strained smile.

“Okay, Pope. Then that means you will be the central axis in this operation?”

“Operation…?”

At that moment, a coldness spread from Axel’s eyes. It was a cold face that even the Pope was taken aback by.

“Listen to me carefully. You have to kidnap Sienna Mirmord. And as soon as possible.”

“What is this…”

“There’s no time to report to anyone else. That clever child will prepare all the traps as soon as you arrive. Run immediately instead of consulting with the saintess. And…”

He shook his parched hand in the air a few times, then clenched his fist as if grabbing a noose.

“Kidnap her and kill her.”

***

Inside a dark room.

In the pitch-black atmosphere, I blinked. My eyes were covered with an eye patch, and I couldn’t hear anything.

The atmosphere had been suspicious lately…

‘I thought I was being dragged to a tea party, but I fell asleep in the carriage and woke up here.’

Since there are no noble young ladies who manage a trading company under their name from a young age, and there are no young girls with the Mirmord name, I was quite welcomed in high society.

I thought there would be a grand festival since the Pope and the Saintess had even returned from the Path of Light.

But instead of a festival, they were only plotting to kidnap me in a shady way. Looking at this situation, it seemed like they were even thinking of killing me.

‘Seriously, I can guess who’s behind this… Seriously, are these grown adults bullying a fifteen-year-old teenager? They’re trash.’

I tried to squint and look around while tied up. But not a single ray of light came in through the eye patch, so it was all in vain.

Making it so I can’t even open my eyes, I couldn’t help but think that this was just a trick by evil bastards.

But I’m not one to be discouraged by a single kidnapping. If I were, I would have died as soon as I entered the villainous family.

‘Keep your wits about you, Sienna Mirmord. They say you can survive even if you enter a tiger’s den if you keep your wits about you!’

It was difficult to come to my senses because my head was ringing. I opened my mouth and sighed.

But a strange scent flowed into my nose, and my mind gradually became hazy. It was as if they had sprayed sleeping pills, so I tried to shake myself awake by wiggling my tightly bound hands and feet.

What woke up my slowly fading mind was a husky, deep voice.

“…Sienna.”

I struggled to open my eyes, which had already closed.

The eye patch was gone, and a dim light greeted me.

And in front of my eyes…

“Axel Mirmord?”

There was Axel Mirmord, with nothing but bones left on his body.

It was definitely a face I was seeing for the first time, but perhaps because I had seen it for so long in the original story, I could instinctively tell that he was Axel.