My Adorable Daughter Can't Be A Villainess

[A few minutes ago]

Eric was training in the back garden.

Wearing a thin shirt that clung to his sweat-soaked skin and outlined his well-defined frame, he sat cross-legged with his eyes closed, mind steady and focused.

For some reason, the desk drawer in his room held notes about basic Arcane awakening and how to control magic.

Thanks to those simply written pages, he was able to understand what this new phenomenon he had encountered really was.

Magic.

An energy the world was steeped in, as vital to a living being as blood.

Mana was produced by the brain, and for that energy to move smoothly from producer to consumer, from mind to body, there was one thing he had to remember.

Emotions.

Extreme emotions disrupted the flow of mana, making it difficult for many to gather enough energy to cast a spell or even use the most basic skills.

The more raw mana a spell demanded, the more control was required.

That explained why those with Beast Arcane did not need the same discipline. They usually applied mana to their own bodies rather than trying to influence the world around them.

But as an Arcanum user, Eric had to keep a firm grip on his emotions.

Right now, he was using one of the original Eric’s mastered skills, SONAR.

A skill that let him send magical waves outward, and if anything with a magical presence entered his radius…

“Hm?”

He sensed something.

His eyes widened as he felt a sudden disturbance in the flow.

Eric rose to his feet and moved silently toward the other side of the mansion.

He saw a man moving along the mansion’s ledge, creeping forward with practiced silence.

Eric narrowed his eyes and followed at a safe distance, careful not to alert him.

He wanted to know the intruder’s purpose before acting.

It did not take long.

“Are they here for Chloe and Charlotte?”

The man eased a window open and slipped inside.

Eric drew a slow breath, eyes on the window ahead. Then he took a few long strides, climbed onto the ledge, and reached for the same narrow foothold the intruder had used.

Being a gym trainer in his previous life and having Eric’s physique, lifting his own weight was nothing.

By the time Eric got a hand on the windowsill, the intruder was already looming over Chloe, a knife glinting in his grip.

“Chloe!”

Eric jumped inside in a rush…only to freeze when a pale hand shot out and seized the intruder’s wrist.

Eric smirked, settling onto the windowsill as he said, “Are you sure about that?”

Chloe’s lips curled as she muttered softly, “Quite the nasty thing you are holding near a child.”

The intruder jerked in panic.

Eric did not give him time to pull anything clever. He lunged in, moved behind him, and wrenched the man’s arm back, slamming him into the floor with an audible thud.

The sound startled Charlotte awake. She sat up fast and saw her mother standing there, arms crossed.

“Mom! Ah! Wh-What i-is this?” she asked, staring at Eric pinning a masked man down.

Chloe turned to her at once. “Charlotte, OUTSIDE, NOW!”

“Get off me!” the intruder snarled.

His chest brightened as his Arcane flared. With brute strength, he tore free and scrambled to his feet.

Eric staggered back a step, not expecting that sudden burst of force, but his body stayed tense, ready.

The intruder snatched up his knife and sprang toward Charlotte.

Eric did not hesitate and moved swiftly. He grabbed a vase and smashed it into the intruder’s head.

The intruder clenched his fist, breathing hard, then turned to face Eric.

They sized each other up for a heartbeat.

Then the intruder lunged, knife flashing.

Steel cut through the dim room. Eric twisted aside at the last second, the blade slicing air where his throat had been. He caught the man’s wrist, the weapon trembling between them as both strained. The intruder snarled and drove his forehead forward. Eric loosened his grip on purpose.

The knife flew.

For an instant it hung in the air. Eric stepped in, caught the intruder’s arm instead, and drove his shoulder into the man’s chest. They crashed into the table. The intruder rolled, snatched the knife mid-fall, and slashed again.

Eric jumped back, yanking the curtain from its rod and wrapping it around his forearm just as the blade came down.

SLASH. SLASH.

The fabric tore, but it held.

Eric pressed forward through the strikes, blocking with the wrapped arm, the knife scraping against thick cloth. He slammed his elbow into the man’s jaw, then seized the knife hand with both hands and twisted hard.

Bone popped.

The intruder screamed, his grip weakening.

Eric did not let go.

He turned with the motion, forced the arm inward, and shoved the man forward with all his weight. The intruder stumbled, momentum betraying him.

The blade sank into his own side and the man froze, eyes wide.

Eric stepped back as the intruder collapsed to the floor, gasping.

Breathing hard, Eric planted himself between the intruder and his family.

“You’ll have to kill me first if you want to hurt Charlotte or Chloe.”

Not long after, soldiers rushed into the room with Maylie. The intruder was secured and hauled up.

As they dragged him away, Eric told one of the knights, “Keep him alive. Lock him up.”

The soldier saluted nervously. They know their lapses in security.

Under Eric’s menacing gaze, they trembled, especially as they had allowed an intruder onto his property.