My Daddy Hides His Power - Chapter 103

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

Father’s Hidden Strength
Chapter 103
“No, no, no!”
I let out a shriek first and scrambled to the far edge of the bed to escape from Father.
“Now, now, where are you running off to? My little princess—come here, open wide. Let Father have just one look.”
“I won’t budge!”
“Really? If you’re lying, the tooth monster will come at dawn and pull out every one of your teeth, won’t it?”
…….
Father grinned wickedly and climbed onto the bed, scooping me up in one swift motion.
“Eek!”
“Come now, Your Highness—open wide. Just show Father once.”
Cradled in Father’s arms, I clasped both hands over my mouth.
“Just looking… you promised…?”
“Yes, yes.”
I lowered my hands and timidly opened my mouth.
“Oh my goodness.”
Father pulled back my lip to examine my lower teeth and said,
“…I’m going to have to pull this one.”
“No, please!”
“Princess, your strong new bottom tooth is so eager to come in—it’s pushing hard on the baby tooth that needs to come out.”
“Father, please.”
I pressed my hands together pleadingly.
“Can we just wait a little longer…?”
“Wait? What if your strong new tooth can’t come in properly and your smile turns ugly?”
“That won’t happen…it won’t…!”
“Hmm. It hurts when I pull, is that it?”
“Yes. Won’t you wait until the baby tooth falls out on its own?”
“But Father can’t wait.”
“Father, please.”
“Princess, have you seen Cheshire? He pulls his baby teeth out all by himself, very bravely.”
“Cheshire is Cheshire, but I’m me…!”
Father smiled after thinking for a moment.
“All right. I’ll wait until your baby tooth comes out on its own.”
“Yay! Thank you!”
“Then Father will take just one last look. Say ‘aah.'”
“Aah.”
I believed in that word with absolute certainty, like James Brown himself had given it.
Father was checking my lower teeth by pulling back my lip with his index finger when—
Click.
—in one second flat, my tooth was gone.
…?
It happened so fast that the pain arrived a beat too late.
“Waaaaahhhhh!!!”
It hurt, it hurt so much—my scream rang through the room.
“There, there! My beautiful child! Brave one! You’re fine! It doesn’t hurt at all!”
“Waahhh!”
Father sprang up and bounced me gently, fumbling for a tissue and stuffing it into my mouth.
“Now, stop the bleeding. Bite down, there we go.”
“Whimmmper!”
Even as I did what he said, I couldn’t contain my rage at Father for betraying my trust.
Eyes beginning to water, I glared at him fiercely.
“Hahahaha!”
That lying James Brown only laughed.
How could he do this to me?
I opened my mouth for him because I trusted him!
Once the throbbing in my mouth became slightly more bearable, I swung my fist with all my strength at Father’s chest.
“Stupid Father! Liar Father! Father’s the worst in the whole world! I’m never playing with you again!”
“Oh no, no, no! My princess must play with Father forever!”
Father chuckled, pulled the tissue from my mouth, and examined where the tooth had been for a long moment before diving onto the bed.
“Goodness me, my princess. When did you grow so big and brave, pulling out your own teeth like that?”
“Hmph.”
Her anger hadn’t subsided yet.
Lying there with her cheeks puffed out like rice cakes, she felt her father settle beside her after tucking the blanket around her, his chin propped on his hand as he gazed down at her with quiet pleasure.
“My little one.”
……
“You’re growing so fast.”
What was this? His murmur carried an unexpected weight of melancholy that didn’t suit him at all.
She’d meant to pout for another ten minutes or so, but his tone made her relent—she wriggled closer to his side.
“Growing fast is good, isn’t it? Why do you look like that?”
“Oh, you’re right! Of course! If my princess grows up big and strong, that’s wonderful!”
He smoothed his expression and added quickly:
“My princess, if you want to grow even taller than you are now, sleep well. Lots of sleep makes you grow big and strong, they say.”
“Mm-hmm.”
He kissed her cheek with a soft pop and lay down beside her.
She stared at his profile in the darkness.
‘Hmm.’
Why was it? She couldn’t quite say, but lately Father seemed to have something weighing on his mind.
Had it started after the incident with the Divine Revelation?
The Old Doctrine’s rapid ascendance should have been good news for him, surely.
Yet on the very day the Revelation was fulfilled, and even now a week later, his expression seemed shadowed by something she couldn’t name.
“Dad?”
“Hmm?”
“Is something wrong?”
“Huh?”
He turned to face her.
“Even today—your face looks dark lately. Even when everyone at the Temple got better, you didn’t seem very happy about it…”
“Oh.”
He let out a surprised laugh, his eyes wide, then gently tapped the tip of her nose.
“Our princess has quite the intuition, doesn’t she?”
“So something *is* wrong?”
“Yeah. You read me like a book, don’t you? Your father’s just been exhausted these days, that’s all.”
“Ah!”
Well, that made sense. He could certainly be tired.
She nodded to herself.
Father’s enterprise, which would normally have taken well over a decade to unfold at a glacial pace, was now advancing far more rapidly on the wave of the Old Doctrine’s momentum.
Of course he’d be busier, and there would be plenty of exhausting things to manage.
“My princess.”
“Yes?”
He pulled her close and patted her back gently.
“Listen.”
“Mm-hmm.”
“Father’s going to work hard on his business so that my princess can live happily without a care in the world. You trust me, don’t you?”
“Yes! I trust you!”
“I’m going to protect you, no matter what happens. So you don’t have to worry about anything at all.”
……
“Just eat lots of delicious food and play hard with your friends. Just wait a little while for me. Understood, princess?”
Had his preoccupation with business preparations clouded his heart?
His voice continued to sound so sorrowful that she found her own spirits sinking with his.
* * *
Soft, steady breathing.
Enoch smiled at the sight of his daughter sleeping soundly, oblivious to the world, then quietly slipped from the room.
He made his way to his study, and as he lit the lamp in the darkened space, his face was revealed—pallid and drawn.
……
His steps, as he walked, were unsteady and fragile.
‘Lilis…’
His daughter had grown so much.
Had it been since she returned from the Training Institute?
Her growth, which had lagged behind her peers and caused him such concern, was now racing ahead as if to make up for lost time.
“Hah.”
His hands trembled visibly, as if seized by dread. Enoch drew a deep breath and clenched and unclenched his fists.
Yet his heart remained unsettled.
‘Primera….’
Enoch did not truly understand what Primera was.
He knew only this: a being closest to God, possessed of omnipotence.
How they thought.
How much of this world’s providence they comprehended.
There was no way to measure such things.
But one thing, at least, was certain.
“Don’t run. Let’s go back to Jedo.”
“I’m coming with you, Papa. I’m going to enter the Training Institute and get an Ability Badge too.”
And so he returned to Jedo.
Enoch Rubinstein, Duke, listen.
This nation must change.
And he resolved to take up the sword willingly.
When he thought about it, a daughter stood at the beginning of everything that had set him in motion.
“Papa! Do you remember this child?! The marquis invited her too!”
“Hmm? This pendant? We went out that other time! I said it was pretty, and Theo bought it for me.”
Cheshire—a special child free from Primera’s dominion. It was she who had saved him.
Cousin Theo’s incurable illness, healed in an instant….
All of it was Lilis.
Had it all been coincidence?
No—he had simply wanted to believe it was.
Enoch, until the very end, had hoped his daughter was merely clever and perceptive, nothing more than ordinary.
He had brainwashed himself that way.
Foolishly.
“There’s this war, right? Where they invade other countries. They just seize the land of people living happily, kill them, that sort of thing.”
“…….”
“Papa doesn’t do things like that, does he?”
His daughter must have known.
Known the father who was willing to abandon his convictions to protect her.
“Octava…? You?”
“Yeah, sorry. It’s not a good rank.”
And.
She had known what she herself must do to preserve that father’s principles.
“Ah, hah….”
His breath caught in his throat.
Enoch, his collar gripped tight, staggered toward the desk.
The statue of Primera came into view.
“Why….”
He collapsed to his knees before it.
He had become certain during this Divine Revelation incident.
The priest Zadkiel’s eyes, who claimed to have received the revelation, had unmistakably betrayed falsehood.
What difficulty could there be in recognizing such a pure child’s fear as she spoke a lie?
“Because the priest is a good person, a true miracle from God must have been given to you. So don’t worry, get some sleep, and let’s go see the priest tomorrow.”
Yet that one thing his daughter had said—not to worry—had been truth.
That ‘miracle,’ no doubt, she had intended to create herself.
The day he had first visited the Seraph Temple.
He remembered clearly: her small figure, glancing nervously back at him, leading Zadkiel out of the barracks in secret.
Enoch had observed it all with perfect clarity.
“Lilis….”
He had no intention of questioning her.
That angelic child would ultimately tell lies rather than burden her father with worry—of that much he was certain.
But now he could no longer pretend not to see.
“Why….”
Broken, Enoch lifted his head and looked upon the statue of Primera.
He had been born in an empire that revered God—born a mighty Ability User blessed by the divine.
Yet never once had he prayed with genuine heart.
A god who had granted authority to the Imperial Household, rotten to its very roots.
He had deemed such a god as corrupt as the throne itself.
But now, in this moment.
Enoch prayed then with an urgency he had never known before.
“Please….”
Tears gathered in his bloodshot eyes.
He could understand why God, wishing to save the world, had turned away from the corrupt Imperial Household and sent down new blood.
But.
Why.
“Why….”
Why had it to be my child.
Enoch thought of the Emperor.
Those eyes bright with greed.
A man who would do anything to plant his own filthy justice deep into this realm.
Evil, and boundlessly strong.
If he were to discover the truth of his daughter—of Lilis—….
“Ah, ah.”
The terrible image seized Enoch with terror.
The man who had known no fear was feeling it now for the first time.
Terror without limit.
“God.”
His clasped hands trembled.
Enoch pressed his forehead to the ground, tears streaming down his face, and begged.
“Please….”
Please grant me.
The strength to protect my child, to see her through to safety, no matter what.

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