My Daddy Hides His Power - Chapter 10

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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Father conceals his strength
10
“…Your Highness? Lirith? What on earth is my princess apologizing for?”
Father’s bewildered voice reached my ears.
I couldn’t bring myself to lift my head, fearful of seeing Grandfather’s terrifying gaze, and simply gripped Father’s pant leg with all my might.
“Father, please relax your expression. The child is frightened.”
“Be quiet.”
Grandfather’s only response was a cold one.
Soon a shadow fell across me where I stood with my head bowed.
I cautiously raised my eyes and saw Grandfather’s face, kneeling before me, come into sudden focus.
He reached out toward me with an expressionless face.
‘Surely… he’s not going to hit me?’
The hand approached slowly enough that I could have dodged it, but I simply squeezed my eyes shut.
‘…Huh?’
Then I felt a gentle warmth brush against my cheek and opened my eyes again.
‘What… what is this?’
A pinch.
With a vacant expression, I blinked as Grandfather’s hand gave my cheek a soft, painless pinch.
Grandfather held my soft cheek in that gentle pinch, perfectly still.
He was trembling for some reason.
It was the faintest of movements.
“Ah….”
As I gazed quietly into Grandfather’s blue eyes—so like Father’s—I understood.
Those eyes, that trembling….
I knew it!
It was that exact response I’d felt when I saw the precious kittens after the tricolor cat at Jimmy’s house had given birth—my whole body quivering with tender affection!
“Heh.”
A small chuckle sounded from above my head—Father’s laugh.
‘Is… is Grandfather actually finding me adorable?’
I finally reclaimed the composure I’d lost to my nerves.
“G-Grampa!”
My tongue had grown old enough to pronounce “Grandfather” clearly….
But I deliberately made it cute and lisping.
“I’m Lirith! I’m seven years old!”
I greeted him shyly.
Grandfather swallowed hard—I could see his Adam’s apple move prominently.
I smiled bashfully and shuffled closer to Grandfather, nestling into his embrace.
“G-Grampa…, I’m so happy to meet you.”
…….
Grandfather, stiff as a board, eventually pulled me close and slowly rose to his feet.
As tall as Father, Grandfather held me while meeting my eyes at close range and spoke.
“…Yes. I am your grandfather.”
I suppressed my laughter and wrapped my arms around Grandfather’s neck.
He smelled exactly like Father.
* * *
The three of us, meeting again after seven years, talked for a very long time, sharing all that had passed.
As if that weren’t enough, Father and Grandfather found they had things to discuss privately, so I left with Aunt Ordia.
Now we were on our way to her room.
“Huff…”
I held Aunt Ordia’s hand and hurried along on my short legs, but stopped when she suddenly came to a halt.
“Oh my, oh my. I’m sorry.”
“Pardon?”
“I was walking too fast. My heart is just so very excited right now.”
“Not at all!”
I marveled as I looked at my aunt, whose smile was so warm and kind.
‘Wow, she’s really beautiful…. Not the main character, but is this that supporting-character beauty buff?’
Aunt Ordia, who had married into House of Antrace, was a graceful noblewoman of extraordinary elegance.
My aunt gazed at me intently, then suddenly choked up and covered her mouth.
“Oh, Lirith. How can there be such an angelic child?”
“That’s not true. You’re far more angelic and beautiful, Aunt….”
“What did you say?”
Ordia laughed as she watched me rub my cheek against our clasped hands.
Then she murmured something bitter.
“You know, I worried about you far more than I ever worried about Enoch. Such a small, sweet, fragile child….”
……
“…I can hardly believe you spent your whole life struggling like that. From now on, you’ll wear only fine clothes, eat only fine things, and live in beautiful places. You must—without exception. You’re of House of Rubinstein, after all.”
But that wasn’t….
Life in that little mountain cottage with Father had been rather pleasant, actually.
It’s Father’s fault for mentioning that I’d done laundry.
Ordia seemed to think I’d spent my days in some backward village chewing roots and doing manual labor.
“Oh, forgive me—my mind’s wandering. Come along now, Lirith. I’ll introduce you to your cousins.”
“My cousins?”
“That’s right. My two sons. They’re twins, you know. Terribly mischievous, which does worry me, but they’re good-hearted boys. They’ve been singing for a little sister all this time. They’ll adore you, I’m sure.”
The moment I heard the word twins, I stopped in my tracks, startled.
‘Wait…that’s right. If they’re Ordia’s sons, they’d be princes of House of Antrace.’
Twins of House of Antrace.
Enoch Rubinstein’s nephews—one destined to become a Holy Knight, the other a Demon Swordsman.
‘And….’
I swallowed hard, stealing a glance at Ordia’s radiant face.
‘…in this novel where people die at the drop of a hat, they’re both scheduled to die.’
The twins had been among the precious few people whose hearts Cesaire—Father’s adopted son—had truly opened to.
So when they died, brothers in all but blood, Cesaire nearly lost his mind entirely.
“Our Theo does have rather delicate health, I’m afraid.”
“Ah, I…I see.”
At Ordia’s worried addendum, my mind went blank.
Theo. Theo Antrace….
He was the one who died first.
“Children, come and see who’s arrived!”
Ordia threw open the door to the room.
At once, two boys who had been lying slouched over the table perked up their heads.
‘Good heavens, they look like they were copied and pasted.’
The descriptions I’d read often noted they were absolutely impossible to tell apart by sight alone, and I’d expected as much, but—
—these two were identical.
“Wow! You really came?”
“What? She’s so tiny?”
Both boys scrambled down from their chairs and came to stand before me, their eyes wide with curiosity as they tilted their heads.
One tilted left, one tilted right.
‘Their movements are even alike….’
Honey-gold hair and blue eyes that mirrored my own.
Dressed in fine clothes, the twins carried themselves with the grace of young nobles.
Though their faces were full of mischief.
“They look so alike, don’t they? Shameful to admit, but even I can’t tell them apart when they scheme together.”
Ordia shook her head with a rueful smile and introduced me to the twins.
“Leon, Theo—your uncle came home just a moment ago. This little dear is your cousin, then. Her name is Lirith.”
“Wow, Lirith? Nice to meet you! I’m Theo Antrace. I’m twelve.”
Theo, wearing a blue earring on his left ear, leaned in close with barely contained excitement.
‘So it’s you….’
Theo, destined to become a Holy Knight, seemed just as warm-hearted as the source material had described.
That Theo who’d raged on Cesaire’s behalf whenever anyone questioned his unclear parentage….
That Theo who’d sensed Cesaire’s sadness uncannily and soothed him with such tenderness….
‘Even I would have followed him like an older brother.’
But that same Theo would die less than a year after receiving his knighthood, felled by a rare congenital illness.
By my count, he had perhaps less than four years left.
“Nice to meet you too, big brother! I’m seven, and I’m Lirith!”
Moved by pity, I took Theo’s finger gently in my small hand and greeted him warmly.
“Ah…. Hmm.”
Theo’s lips twitched with a shy smile, and he glanced uncertainly toward Ordia, who stood beside him.
When she nodded with a gentle laugh, Theo clumsily patted my head.
“How cute….”
“Mmhh.”
“Hehe… Leon, you should introduce yourself to Lirith too, shouldn’t you?”
Ordia, who had been watching Theo and me with contentment, spoke up.
Leon, who wore a red earring on his right ear, was half-hidden behind Ordia, peering at me with curious eyes.
“…She’s seven years old but really tiny. Stupid. I was actually huge when I was seven.”
“What? Calling your sister stupid?”
Embarrassed, Leon tugged at Ordia’s skirt hem and pretended not to hear.
“Lirith, your brothers may look identical, but their personalities are completely different. Theo is warm and kind. Leon, though—he’s such a troublemaker, he worries me.”
“What about me? Hmph!”
Ordia flicked a chestnut at the mischief-maker spinning circles around her, then pressed her forehead wearily.
“Leon, behave yourself. Speak more politely too. How many times has your mother told you that young ladies won’t like you this way? It’s only been a few days since you caught that tarantula and pranked Miss Erica—do you want to get scolded again?”
“But Miss Erica said she liked insects, so I was just trying to be friendly.”
“You said that because you like insects, trying to get closer to her—but where’s the young lady who actually enjoys hairy tarantulas!”
Raising a boy must be exhausting.
I laughed awkwardly, watching Ordia sigh heavily.
Leon, the future Demon Swordsman, was a talkative troublemaker who bickered constantly with Cesaire.
Of course, it wasn’t genuine. Leon loved Cesaire more than anyone.
Even while being scolded by Ordia, Leon kept glancing sideways at me. Our eyes kept meeting.
‘Ugh, half the characters in this crazy novel die, and now it’s real….’
Watching the twelve-year-old troublemaker Leon, I couldn’t help but recall a passage from the original work.
「Blood poured endlessly from the wound. Cesaire embraced the gasping Leon with trembling arms.
“L-Leon. Brother…. Y-you can’t die like this. Please, stay with me.”
“Cough. Damn it, idiot. Are you crying? Don’t… don’t cry like a coward.”
“Haah, ha. J-just hang on a little longer. Brother, please….”
“This bastard calls me brother only when he’s dying. You saved me… don’t, cough, don’t die like an idiot.”
“B-brother…. Brother!!”
“…Please, just make it back alive.”
With that final plea, the light of life faded from Leon Antrace’s eyes.」
‘God, I’m about to cry again.’
The large-scale Demon Beast extermination appeared around volume two of the original.
Leon dies there.
Shielding Cesaire from an attack, taking the blow meant for him.
That scene was written so poignantly—I remembered using two entire boxes of tissues reading through it.
‘This insane novel really has no mercy on supporting characters!’
Without thinking, I had already reached Leon and grabbed his pant leg.
He seemed both cool and pitiful.
“Big brother…, I’m so so happy to meet you. Let’s be close friends. We can catch tarantulas together.”
“…….”
“Hehe, I like tarantulas….”
I spoke shyly, holding his sleeve.
I wanted us to be close.
For some reason, Leon just stared blankly at me, who had approached him first.
“Um, big brother?”
Then.
Leon, who had been watching me with a dangerous expression and flinching slightly, suddenly reached out his hand.
And then he grabbed my chubby cheek and―
“……?”
―pinched it!
“Ow, waaaahhh!”
Hard enough to bring actual tears!
“G-good grief! Leon!”
“Huh! Hey, Leon! If you pinch that hard, what are you doing!”

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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