I'll Protect the Tyrant Daddy! (Completed Main Story) - Chapter 12
The reason I, who had stumbled and collapsed, could regain my senses and stand up again.
It was because, just as I was about to shut my eyes tightly and give up, a voice reached my ears.
‘Calm down, Cien. Those words are fake.’
At that moment, the tiny necklace Leonhardt had given me shimmered with light.
The bluish glow flickered faintly, as if trying—and failing—to protect me.
But the feeble fairy energy couldn’t erase the powerful illusion entirely. Of course not—I wasn’t of fairy blood.
‘Still, thanks to this light, I feel a little stronger.’
The voice in my ear grew louder, and something began to blur before my eyes.
The bluish light that had enveloped me lost its vitality and faded out. I thought I heard the words “Hang in there” in my ear.
I slowly opened my eyes.
This was a place where an ordinary five-year-old child would mentally collapse—or perhaps even die—but it was alright.
‘Because I have my Father.’
I would protect my foolish Father, whose hands and feet were all blistered from farming, with these tiny hands of mine.
I clenched my snow-white hand tightly and barely managed to lift my trembling legs.
Then I murmured under my breath.
“No.”
I remembered my rabbit-shaped bag.
I remembered Father, who, back when we lived together in the countryside, prepared my lunchbox carefully every single day.
‘Our Cien, that rabbit-shaped bag is so pretty.’
‘But I’m not a rabbit!’
‘Of course you are—our daughter is the prettiest baby rabbit in the whole world.’
That Father, who spoke to me like that, was my real Father…
“Those people aren’t my family.”
I knew.
There was only one way to pass through the : to confront your most horrifying trauma and escape from within that memory.
Those who didn’t know this wandered the maze, fleeing hallucinations and phantom voices, until they died alone—or, even if they escaped, lived on with deep psychological scars.
But I knew both the trick of the and how to escape it.
So I gambled, throwing myself straight into the trap.
Because if you can’t avoid it, you must face it and overcome it.
I spoke softly, as if kindling a tiny spark.
“I have… a precious Father.”
The children ensnared by the Academy Director’s illusions had no hope.
But I now had great hope—and a Father I had to protect.
If I fell apart, there would be no one left in House Mirmod to stand by Father’s side.
I clenched my fist tightly and spoke a little louder.
Just as light defeats darkness, positive hope overcomes negative despair.
“Our Father said he loves me.”
I squeezed my eyes shut and endlessly repeated, one by one, all the words Father had ever spoken to me.
Warmth flooded my heart, like light bulbs flickering on one by one.
‘Father said he loves me. That I’m pretty even when I do nothing, and lovable no matter what I do.’
My legs went weak, and I leaned my back against the maze wall.
‘My dream is to live happily with Father forever.’
I began softly whispering my wish under my breath,
as if lighting a single candle in pitch-black darkness.
The murmuring noise in my ears gradually quieted.
And in place of that noise, Father’s illusion began to appear before my eyes.
Father, who baked delicious bread for me every day in our village.
Father, who brought mountains of healthy food whenever I coughed or sneezed.
Father, who taught me letters one by one and how to pronounce them.
Father, who always said I wasn’t slow—just learning carefully—whenever others called me a late bloomer…
Father, who packed my rabbit-shaped lunchbox.
Even the way he always stroked my head and held me tightly as we slept.
‘Daughter, our daughter is the prettiest in the whole world.’
Whenever nightmares from fragments of my past haunted me, Father would sing lullabies all night long.
His voice would grow hoarse from singing lullabies through the night,
yet he’d still whisper gently in my ear,
‘You know Father loves our Cien, right?’
Our Father, who constantly whispered kind words into my ear.
‘Father will take care of everything. All our daughter needs is to be happy.’
A gentle, warm voice that wrapped around me like a cozy embrace.
The first unconditional affection I’d ever received—after being abandoned by my parents in my past life.
I absolutely had to protect it.
‘I’ll save our Father. I’ll survive and live happily, no matter what.’
I was reborn with only one wish: to build a “happy family.”
Everything was thanks to the gods answering my wish.
If even the gods protected my dream, how could I possibly lose to someone as insignificant as the Academy Director?
‘I won’t lose to illusions—never.’
Only the strongest hope can shatter wicked illusions.
The stronger your hope for the future, the less you’re swayed by past trauma.
I was the one who summoned a god through sheer faith in happiness and was granted a new life.
That’s why I could walk in here with confidence.
Because I will survive.
‘Because I’ll live happily with Father.’
I opened my tightly shut eyes.
At once, the illusion began shattering like broken glass.
As the Illusion Maze crumbled, the Academy Director appeared before me, his face twisted in shock.
“You…”
“Now it’s your turn, Grandfather.”
An illusionist’s illusions have a fatal limitation.
It was a weakness called Reflection.
Reflection.
When an illusion breaks, the illusionist inevitably receives all its remnants back in full.
Unlike me, who—thanks to the illusionist’s ‘privilege’—had my body fully drawn into the maze, his physical and spiritual forms would be only half-separated.
In other words, part of his spirit would remain trapped inside the maze, forced to endure torturous illusions.
I shook the now-shattered mana stone in my hand.
“The mana stone is turning red.”
“You… you… do you really think you’ll get away with this?”
“Yep. Grandfather’s gonna hurt a lot now!”
Perhaps my words were the signal.
The moment the mana stone vibrated fiercely in my palm, the Academy Director clutched his chest in panic.
“Grraaah…!”
At last, a new nightmare of illusions had begun for him as well.
‘How does it feel to be attacked by your own illusions?’
I walked steadily toward him, who was surely suffering through horrifying illusions.
Then I leaned close to his ear and whispered softly.
“If you’re strong, come out.”
“…Shut… your… mouth.”
Would he even hear my voice?
I didn’t know.
But I intended to return every word I’d heard, exactly as I’d received them.
“If you’re weak…”
I’m just a little kid who doesn’t know much about Mirmod family customs, but from today on, I’ve clearly learned one thing.
“You’ll get eaten, right? Because the weak are food.”
The Academy Director, who had sent countless children into horrifying trauma,
was surely now trapped in the dreadful nightmare of his own making.
Just like the children he tormented, he might be doomed to suffer that nightmare for the rest of his life.
It all depended on the state of his own heart.
I gave a cold smile and turned to Rilmi, the Academy Director’s lackey.
He stood frozen, legs gone weak from the bizarre situation, unable to utter a word.
“Teacher Rilmi, hello?”
“…Do you even realize what you’ve done to the Academy Director? You, a mere daughter of an exile!”
“What did I do?”
“You threatened the Director’s life! You didn’t even properly take the test! Do you really think you’ll walk away unscathed?”
Yet, despite his bluster, fear kept him from stepping closer to me.
‘Does he still not understand the situation?’
I let out a heavy sigh and pulled a small mirror from my rabbit-shaped bag.
“Aren’t you stupid?”
“…What nonsense are you spouting! You need to fix the Director right now—”
“You’ll have to go with him too, you know.”
At my words, his face twisted in confusion, as if marked with a question mark.
I turned the mirror’s front side toward him.
This mirror was a low-grade artifact, commonly available for rent even in the library—but in this situation…
“Reflection.”
This mirror could reflect the magic I’d just experienced and send it right back.
It could only be used once, and its effect was limited—
“You… you…!”
“Say you’re sorry to me.”
He was a bat-like creature.
His snake-like gaze flickered toward the kneeling Academy Director, then he turned to me and stammered urgently,
“S-sorry!”
“Oh, really?”
“Yes! Please spare me! I—I’m sorry!”
I tapped the front of the mirror artifact and grinned.
“Hmm… I don’t want to.”
It was a clear refusal.
Realizing the situation, he widened his eyes in shock and raised his hand high.
Was he going to hit me? If so, I was willing to take one strike…
But the mirror artifact’s effect came faster.
“Khhk!”
Letting out a strange cry, he slowly crumpled to the floor like the Academy Director.
“Bye-bye.”
I clicked my tongue inwardly and shook my head.
Nightmares were always more horrifying for those whose nature was truly evil.
They wouldn’t be able to leave this room for a while.
Even if they did, they’d never have their minds intact.
‘Your lives are guided only by corruption and self-interest.’
I turned away, casting a cold glance at them.
‘I considered making you my allies, but people like you would only stab me in the back!’
Besides, you clearly hate me—what can I do about that?
I gripped the bag strap tightly in my hand.
A faint blue light flickered around me, then vanished.
‘Thank you so much for watching over me, Fairy!’
I remembered the bluish glow that occasionally circled near me inside the Illusion Maze.
Though I’m just an ordinary person, I turned away, entertaining the silly thought that maybe, with enough study, I could someday summon the Fairy myself.
Just then—
KWAANG!
The door burst open as if it would shatter.
And outside stood Father, his expression terrifyingly fierce.
“Cien!”
“Fatherrr!”
I quickly ran to him and hugged him tightly.
I didn’t notice, rubbing my face against his clothes like a cat,
that he was glaring coldly at two men who stood staring blankly into space.
Nor that, with just one glance from Matthias, they collapsed in overwhelming terror, their hearts seized with dread.
They would never rise again.
[This is the timeline separator]Holding Father’s hand tightly, I entered the northern spire and began to be interrogated.
“Cien, didn’t Father tell you never to do dangerous things?”
“But they said it was a test! So I… went…”
“Didn’t I tell you not to follow bad people? What would Father do if something happened to you?”
I pouted my lips forward.
“But thinking of Father gave me strength! So I was okay, right?”
“What exactly happened, Cien? Tell me. How could someone as small and weak as you…?”
“Um… um… Nothing much! I just thought of Father, and the illusion shattered, that’s all!”
I deliberately omitted the part about my revenge. Our kind Father might get upset and cry if he heard those nasty words.
I resolved to keep the full truth locked away forever.
“You… Huh. Alright. Let’s eat cake first.”
I said “Ah,” and Father placed a bite of fresh cream cake into my mouth.
As I chewed the cake, I suddenly recalled fragments of the nightmare I’d seen in the Illusion Maze.
Fragments of my past, met after so long, weighed heavily on my heart.
I shivered slightly and called out to Father.
“…But, Father?”
“Hmm?”
“You said it every day, right?”
“What?”
My heart pounded strangely with nervous tension.
“That it’s okay even if I’m useless…”
“Yeah. It’s fine even if you do nothing.”
“Even if I’m not good? Like if I break a whole bunch of cups?”
Anxiously, I wiggled my fingers—just a tiny bit, enough that Father wouldn’t notice.
“If you break cups?”
His voice sounded a little puzzled.
“Uh-huh…”
As I rolled my eyes nervously, Father’s warm voice echoed in my ear.
“If you break a hundred cups, I’ll buy you a thousand.”
Father wasn’t like this before. He used to insult me for being useless and scold me for not being able to do anything.
But our Father now—the foolish country farmer, Matthias—
“That’s nothing to regret. Because you’re our daughter.”
…He calls me “our daughter.”
In a warm, gentle voice, he says even that is nothing to regret.
My eyes trembled faintly, so I brought my small, bun-like hand to them. It felt as if blackout curtains had been drawn before my eyes. Peeking at Father through the gaps in my fingers now took courage.
Did he interpret my covering my eyes as some kind of signal? Father’s voice grew more urgent, more anxious.
I pressed my fingertips hard against my brow bone, trying desperately not to cry.
But…
“It’s okay if you’re not good. Even if you’re very bad. But Father just wants our daughter to think only happy thoughts. It’d be even better if you only had good experiences.”
Male lead fell into her trap — and shattered when she walked away
This is also on my reread list!
This one is a slow burn, but when it burns, it burns hard.
Definitely worth a read, y’all!
The story follows a thousand-year-old seductive spirit who, on a bet, sets out to charm the male lead—a once-promising but unfortunate cultivator.
But just when she succeeds in making him fall for her, she heartlessly leaves, driving him to madness.
Determined to find her at all costs, he captures her, keeping her by his side no matter what, even if she hates him.
I love this kind of trope—I enjoy watching the male lead suffer in agony.
The ending drags a bit with unnecessary filler, but that’s fine.
As long as I enjoy the beginning, I’m good.
Intro
As an enchantress, Su Heng possesses captivating eyes and charming beauty, easily manipulating the joys and sorrows of living beings at her fingertips.
But to enchant a god, making him taste the bitterness of love’s separation, long-lasting resentment, unattainable desires, and inability to let go…
Do you dare?
Su Heng assists a divine lord in his cultivation, aiming to make him experience all the sufferings of love, so that he can attain the Great Dao.
Only after being chased down from the heavens by the divine lord, confined and completely possessed by him, does she realize how successful she has been.
The once gentle and polite youth has transformed into someone she no longer recognizes.
[Touch the gear icon in the bottom right corner of the screen to move to the next chapter if you want.]
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