My Daddy Hides His Power - Chapter 11

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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 Hides His Strength
11
Aunt and Theo cried out in alarm.
At the commotion, Leon flinched and pulled his hand away.
“Oh dear.”
It seemed he hadn’t meant any harm—just lost control of his strength.
‘Ugh, but the timing couldn’t have been worse!’
I’d been turning over that tragic part of the original story in my mind—the part where Leon dies.
My nose was already stinging from it.
When he pinched my cheek so hard, tears came reflexively streaming down in fat droplets.
“Oh goodness. Dear, Lilis. Are you all right?”
“I, well. Sniff….”
“Leon! You troublemaker! Who pinches a lady’s cheek like that?”
Aunt soothed me with tears glistening at the corners of her eyes while scolding Leon.
“I, I was just….”
“What am I to do. It must hurt terribly. Don’t cry, Lilis.”
Theo wiped away my tears with his sleeve, his expression full of concern.
It did hurt, but I hadn’t meant to cry like some helpless child.
The timing had just been awful.
“I only did it because she’s adorable….”
Leon’s whispered words, his lower lip pouting slightly, were meant for my ears alone.
“Won’t you apologize at once?”
“A-Aunt. Really, it’s fine. Sniff.”
As Aunt continued to be upset, Leon, embarrassed, only shuffled his feet while murmuring something faint.
“…Sorry.”
My heart ached for him.
I sniffled once more, then scurried over to Leon and wrapped my arms around his waist.
“No, no! Big brother, I’m really okay. It doesn’t hurt at all. I’m sorry for crying so suddenly.”
“…….”
“But… sniff, from now on, could you, could you just pinch a little more gently?”
Leon stiffened, blinking down at me for a long moment.
Then his mouth twitched, his face flushed crimson, and he turned sharply away to answer.
“Y-yeah, I will!”
* * *
Soft touching.
Gentle caressing.
“Lilis, stop tormenting him.”
Theo watched with disapproval as Leon reached out every three seconds to touch my cheek.
“I’m not tormenting him.”
“You keep pestering him with touches.”
“But he said gentle touching is fine.”
“Keep it reasonable.”
“Big brothers.”
I spoke from where I sat between them.
“I don’t mind!”
Having my cheek pinched is the destiny of a cute baby—there’s no helping it.
Right now, though, was a time that demanded my focus.
“But brothers, it’s mealtime now. Feel free to touch it all you like after we finish eating.”
“Right, then.”
Leon reluctantly withdrew his hand from kneading my cheek.
We were now in the Dining Room.
We’d come straight here for dinner, and I was tense.
It was because of the luxurious sight spread before me.
‘Wow, it’s really extravagant!’
A massive table too broad for even my eyes to take in all at once.
Crossing its length: expensive candelabras, elaborate flowers, baskets of fruit, ornaments of gold and jewels.
Atop this impossibly lavish table lay rare delicacies I’d never heard of or seen in my life.
‘Is that all of it?’
But as soon as I thought that, the kitchen staff and servants seemed to laugh at my assumption, ceaselessly bringing out more food.
‘No, how am I supposed to eat all this? I’m sure I’m not meant to finish it all, but….’
I swallowed hard, studying my aunt and the twins.
They regarded this meal—far too luxurious for a single sitting—as though it were an ordinary day.
“Please, enjoy your dinner. Young lady, young gentlemen.”
A chef dressed as immaculately as one from a five-star hotel placed individual plates and utensils before me and the twins with his own hands.
The first course to arrive was soup and bread.
“Eat plenty, Lilis.”
“Yes!”
My aunt across from me lifted her spoon first, smiling warmly.
I hesitated, swallowing tears inwardly.
‘Why are there so many utensils…?’
Multiple knives, forks, and spoons.
I glanced sideways and saw Leon picking up the largest spoon, so I discreetly followed suit.
“Oh my, Father. You’ve arrived.”
Just then.
Grandfather swept into the dining room radiating an unmistakable presence.
“Yes.”
His gaze flicked briefly over me before he took his seat at the head of the table with commanding dignity.
“Where is Enoch?”
“He’s unpacking his things. Let us begin without him.”
With Grandfather’s arrival, beads of sweat began to form on my skin.
The formality of this dining room was unlike anything I’d ever experienced.
How could I possibly adapt to this?
‘H-help me. I’m trapped in a dining room….’
My lips trembled as I surveyed the room, now hushed since Grandfather’s entrance.
Maids standing in a line, postured formally to serve the meal.
The chef methodically delivering each individual plate.
My aunt and grandfather dining with elegant, graceful bearing….
‘So this is how the nobility dines.’
The soup was undoubtedly made with the finest, most expensive ingredients—premium quality without question—but—
‘I can’t taste a thing.’
Too tense, I couldn’t taste anything at all and left half the bowl untouched.
“Leon.”
“Yes, Grandfather.”
Grandfather called Leon in a stern voice, pausing mid-meal.
Even this troublemaker seemed to straighten up before him—Leon tensed and sat rigidly upright.
“I hear you caused a commotion.”
“Father, Leon has already apologized to the young lady in the ballet. I’m so sorry as well—before we leave, I’m planning to take tea with the Countess of the ballet.”
My aunt answered awkwardly in Leon’s stead, forcing a smile.
So that business about a tarantula or whatever had been a bigger incident than I’d thought.
“I’ve heard much about how you torment your mother’s nerves, but causing trouble here as well—I suppose I must have a word with you.”
Grandfather set down his utensil, folded his hands, and fixed Leon with a piercing stare.
“You are a member of the Rubinstein household. At twelve years old, you ought to understand the weight of that name.”
“Yes.”
“You must constantly scrutinize your every action and conduct, lest you invite reproach. Remain faithful to etiquette, abandon recklessness, and maintain the bearing of a model for all people at every moment.”
“Yes, Grandfather.”
“I hope never to hear again that you have brought shame upon our family name.”
“I’m truly sorry….”
Watching Leon respond with his spirit thoroughly dampened, I felt oddly guilty.
It sounded almost as though Grandfather were speaking to me—preparing me for life as nobility.
‘Grandfather really is identical to the original character.’
A perfect specimen of nobility to the bone.
Borrowing Cheshire’s phrasing from the original work, Grandfather seemed to maintain the same expression and posture around the clock, every single day of the year.
He was a man who observed formality and etiquette as though his life depended on it, and who harbored an extreme aversion to anything lacking in dignity.
And so—
‘The timing is terrible.’
I wanted to cry.
Right now, as the steak course arrived after the soup, the situation felt utterly hopeless to me.
I had never learned the etiquette of the nobility.
‘W-which one do I use?’
Three knives. Three forks.
The odds of me picking a matching pair of utensils correctly were one in nine. Dismal.
But if I cheated just a little, maybe there’d be some hope—
“Why aren’t you eating?”
“Lilis, are you full already?”
—I thought, the moment I tried to sneak a sideways glance.
The unhelpful twins had already drawn everyone’s attention to me.
“Oh, no. It’s not that….”
“What’s wrong, Lilis?”
My Aunt tilted her head and asked.
Grandfather was watching me intently as well.
Even the servants seemed to be observing me, trying to figure out what was bothering me.
‘What is this, a spotlight?’
For my Aunt, for Grandfather, for the servants attending them, mealtime was probably just an ordinary part of the day.
So they didn’t seem to notice my discomfort right away.
‘What should I say? Should I just be honest and admit I don’t know proper dining etiquette? Grandfather and my Aunt already know I’ve never used utensils like these anyway….’
Still, it felt a little embarrassing to confess the truth.
Hadn’t everyone already been troubled enough by Father and me?
I didn’t want to show how ignorant I was and make them relive those seven years all over again.
‘Oh no. Where is Father, and what is he doing?’
In the end, just as I steadied my blurring vision and reached for a knife at random.
“My apologies for the delay.”
The dining room door opened, and Father appeared in elegant clothes.
‘Oh, he’s here! My savior!’
My rescuer!
“Ah, Lilis. Come eat with Father—”
Quick-witted as always, Father spotted me and started to approach.
That’s when.
“Good, good heavens, Leon!”
My Aunt gasped.
‘What?’
I glanced over to see Leon holding a Fork, stabbing straight into an uncut steak and eating it in one bite.
“How can you be so rude! Your sister is sitting right next to you!”
I stood there with my mouth hanging open in shock when I heard the sharp clatter of utensils on the other side.
When I turned, Theo was hacking away at his steak with abandon.
“Theo, you too? Who taught you to cut like that! Stop it this instant!”
My Aunt went pale, and Grandfather beside her sat in stunned silence, staring at the twins.
“Here, eat. Lilis.”
In a single minute, Theo had carved his meat into bite-sized pieces, and immediately swapped my plate with his own.
Then he picked up the Fork from in front of me and handed it to me instead.
“Ah.”
That’s when I understood.
The twins had been looking out for me.

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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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