‘Still, Dad came to save me. Let’s just focus on that for now.’

In the end, the feeling that Dad had come safely and was rescuing me started to surge through my heart like ripples, and I couldn’t bear it.

I, who had planned to keep my eyes closed quietly until Dad dealt with Axel, abruptly opened my eyes at an unusual sound.

“…Hik.”

Dad, is it okay for your character to be like this?

In front of Dad, Axel was almost on the verge of collapse.

The Pope had already lost consciousness in a corner.

Looking at the Pope, who seemed miserable, and Axel, who looked almost dead, I couldn’t help but feel uneasy.

‘Dad… Was he more of a villain than I expected?’

Thinking that way, a strange heaviness started to settle in a part of my heart.

The villainous Dad seemed to have an incredibly sharp sense.

He brought his fingers, raised as if to tear near Axel’s bloodstained mouth, down, but as soon as I opened my eyes, he abruptly stopped after almost a few seconds, awkwardly slapping him to the ground.

“I guess this is too cruel. Since he seems almost dead, I’ll leave him alone, Sienna.”

That’s more cruel, Dad!

But instead of asking Dad not to kill Axel, I calmly said.

“Dad, release the acid.”

“Oh, right. It must hurt our daughter’s heart. I’ll release the acid.”

Now, he looked a bit more like the usual laid-back Dad.

I watched as Dad, with a concerned expression as if he was still worried about something, looked at the bruises on my wrist.

“Dad, not me but the acid. I’m fine now. Deal with the acid first.”

Dad, despite looking unwilling, still nodded with a worried expression.

“Okay, Sienna.”

As Dad looked at Axel as if looking at some weapon, he eventually turned his gaze forward. I cautiously spoke.

“The Pope… said something weird about the acid, Dad.”

Dad, with narrowed eyes, looked at the incense candle hanging on the edge of the altar.

Since a while ago, as the ritual progressed, the acid seemed to be gradually losing consciousness.

Fortunately, he didn’t seem to be collapsing, but from a distance, his expression showed nothing anymore.

Dad, who climbed onto the altar, looked at the acid’s cheek with an expressionless face, tearing it apart. After a while, muttering a meaningless word, he stopped his actions.

“Dad is too scary…”

“Lies. Dad’s a villain.”

Dad dropped his mouth downwards, looking really pathetic. It was a thoroughly convincing acting, as befitting someone who had deceived me for over fifteen years.

If I hadn’t seen that scary appearance earlier, I would have thought, ‘Our dad is pitiful like that again!’

“Dad, stop pretending to be weak again!”

Dad’s lips drooped downwards. It was truly a ‘foolish fool’ look.

I opened my mouth wide. Then Dad raised his mouth like a villain again, pulled Acid to the floor of the altar, and muttered.

“It’s Dad’s habit. I’ve been pretending to be weak for over fifteen years, enough.”

“Yeah, got it. Dad doesn’t have to pretend anymore.”

Dad made a perplexed expression. Even after seeing my lips slightly twisted, he gathered his eyebrows in bewilderment.
The sight of Dad confidently threatening the Pope after crushing Axel earlier has disappeared, and his expression now resembles that of a tail-wagging puppy.

“Dad seems to be hurt too… Shouldn’t we take care of Acid first? Alright.”

While being an adult, Dad’s somewhat cute jealousy towards Acid, who might be half his age, was amusing.

‘But Dad needs to go home first and properly condemn!’

I clenched both fists and hesitated for a moment.

The lips of Acid, who had looked fine until a moment ago, were now twitching strangely, and an odd ancient language was spreading across his cheek.

I approached Acid, who was bound with empty eyes, with a gaze devoid of any emotions.

However, even as I got closer, Acid seemed to have lost both reason and consciousness.

‘He used to blink his eyes and call me “Sienna” with a sparkle whenever I approached.’

But now, he didn’t do that.

There was no sign of life in his eyes.

“Oh, Dad. Acid seems strange…”

I thought he would be okay once he was pulled down from the altar, but what on earth was this bizarre ancient language?

Behind me, the Pope, who seemed to be hiding his breath unlike the seemingly already dead Axel, chuckled.

Even though he couldn’t make any movements with the restraint halfway filled, his expression seemed immensely joyful.