My Daddy Hides His Power - Chapter 126

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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
Chapter 126
Father smiled weakly as he watched my shocked expression.
“What? Who did this to me? Tell me quickly! Who hit your father?”
“No, it’s not… it’s nothing.”
Father pulled at my arm.
Then he gathered me into his embrace and stood there in silence for a long while.
What on earth was going on?
No matter how I looked at it, he seemed to have been crying, but I couldn’t understand why.
“…My dear.”
“Yes?”
Father’s breathing grew ragged.
“Ah, Father? What’s wrong…?”
Wasn’t it enough that he’d wept in secret until his eyes were swollen like a frog’s?
“My dear, Father….”
……
Father buried his face in my neck and sobbed pitifully.
“Father is sorry.”
“Sorry for what? Hmm?”
“I’m so, so sorry. Father… Father didn’t keep his promise. Father couldn’t protect you….”
……
“You suffered alone, and Father didn’t know. You waited for Father, and he couldn’t come get you….”
My heart sank.
I began to dimly understand what Father was saying.
A tragedy no one knows. No one should know.
A tragedy that didn’t happen this time.
Yet a tragedy that might still come to pass.
An apology to the me of the original story.
‘What is this? How did he find out?’
I froze in panic.
“Father will, this time, you see.”
“Ah, Father….”
Father lifted his face from my neck and met my eyes.
Even through his tears, he forced the corners of his mouth upward—but that expression made me sadder still.
“No matter what happens, Father will protect his daughter.”
……
“Never lonely, never in pain. Father won’t let his dear child suffer alone.”
Father pulled me close again, holding me tight.
All the emotion Father felt in that moment passed into me through his trembling arms.
Father held me like that for a long time, repeating the same words over and over.
“Father is truly sorry… so, so sorry….”
* * *
I’d expected it, but still.
The moment Father left to bathe, I opened the bundle of belongings in the wardrobe and despaired.
The letter was gone.
“Is this really happening?”
My secret, which I’d planned to reveal at an appropriate time so as not to break the mental state of the protagonist who had great deeds ahead—
Had the letter only contained my identity?
With a hollow feeling, I tried to recall vaguely what I’d written in that letter.
…I’m going to be hidden away in the tower. The Silver Spire of the Imperial Palace…
For ten years continuously…
Every ability the Crown Prince uses is all from my Life Force…
The Non-ability user Extermination Policy. Even capturing the Emperor won’t end it… because the one killing people is me.
“Wow, wait a moment.”
I seized my head in alarm.
Beyond that, I’d listed future events in extraordinarily meticulous detail so Father could respond swiftly.
What must Father have thought when he saw that?
‘Probably he guessed something similar, knowing that Oscar experienced a Return…’
He would have surmised in roughly that direction.
That I, too, am on my second life, and moreover have directly experienced that tragedy.
‘That’s not it.’
How awkward.
Father would be so heartbroken—should I just tell him the truth later?
That I actually lived on Earth in the twenty-first century, and reincarnated into a book I read there?
So I haven’t really lived through all this tragedy, and he shouldn’t worry?
‘Right, he’d believe that.’
He’d think I was making up some ridiculous lie because I didn’t want him to worry.
“No! But why is Father suddenly organizing the wardrobe…!”
A flash of realization struck through my indignation.
Cheshire.
‘Could it be? Did Cheshire tell him?’
Even with all the protagonist’s luck in the world, that made no sense.
Father hadn’t suddenly been possessed by divine revelation, thinking ‘Oh, I wonder what’s in this wardrobe?’ and discovered my letter by chance.
‘I smell a rat!’
The stench of betrayal, specifically.
Cheshire, you idiot, you dumb, worthless fool!
I stormed out of my room.
I’d wash up, eat, get dressed, and march straight to Cheshire’s house to confront him.
“Huh?!”
But I didn’t need to go far—Cheshire was already emerging from the room next door.
“What are you doing? Why are you here?”
And before he could answer, I understood.
He’d told Father yesterday.
Come all the way to our house and told him directly.
“You, you—”
“I’m sorry.”
I pointed an accusing finger at him while hot with anger, and he apologized simply.
“What?”
“I’m sorry.”
My rage cooled as if someone had dumped cold water over it.
Cheshire stood there serene, as if ready to take any insult or blow without resistance.
Even my will to fight drained away.
“Why did you do that…?”
I asked, my voice hollow.
“I thought he needed to know. And I had nothing else I could do for you alone.”
“I never asked you to do anything! I just—I just—!”
“Lilis.”
Cheshire called my name softly.
Something felt different in his gaze, though it was no different from usual.
“There was a request in the letter you wrote to me.”
……
“I’m sorry, but I can’t do it.”
A request. A request.
What was that request again?
When I start killing people, don’t hesitate. By then it’ll already be too late.
Please, save the people as quickly as you can.
They’re all someone’s treasured family, someone’s friend. It would be so cruel if they died for no reason at all.
As I recalled those words, Cheshire stepped closer and spoke.
“I won’t let that happen. I won’t fail.”
……
“But even if I do fail, I won’t grant your request. I won’t.”
“Cheshire… what are you saying? You’re just going to watch innocent people die without pity?”
“Then what about me?”
Cheshire’s voice dropped, cold and quiet.
“Aren’t I pitiful too?”
“What?”
“You said they’re all someone’s treasured family, someone’s friend. So what about me? Don’t I have family? Don’t I have friends?”
Cheshire’s lips trembled as he stared at my blank face, his own quivering.
“You said we’d be friends. That you’d be my family.”
“Ah, Cheshire…”
“I said I didn’t need it. I told you not to do well by me.”
“…….”
“But you went ahead and did it all anyway.”
His eyes glistened as he looked at me with something like reproach.
“And now… how can you ask me to….”
“…….”
“Ask me something like that?”
“C-Cheshire. That’s not what I meant, I—”
“Well, you two.”
Just then, Father came up the stairs without warning.
“Don’t fight.”
He was dressed for going out.
The puffiness that had marked his eyes had vanished, leaving them clear.
And….
“Why did you call me down so early in the morning anyway?”
Axion followed him up the stairs.
He stopped short at the sight of Cheshire.
“What are you doing here?”
“Axion.”
Father gripped Axion’s arm firmly, cutting off his question.
“I need to go to the Imperial Palace right now.”
“What? Why? Did His Majesty summon you again?”
Father nodded.
‘He summoned Father? Ah, now that they’ve fabricated that false Divine Revelation, they must be calling him to order him to war.’
I swallowed a sigh.
“I’ll be back soon, so watch the child while I’m gone.”
“……?”
Axion blinked.
“Sorry—did I hear that right?”
“No, you heard correctly.”
“…Is there no one else in the house?”
Axion looked bewildered.
But I understood why Father had summoned him so early in the morning.
‘Ugh, Father’s really lost it mentally.’
He was afraid.
Afraid of leaving me alone.
‘I wish I hadn’t realized this.’
Even though I’d stay safely inside the house, quiet and obedient, his mind would torment him with endless terrible imaginings.
From now on, Father would feel compelled to protect me far more than necessary.
“There’s the Grandfather here, and there are servants—there’s plenty of people around….”
“That’s not the point!”
Father smiled and patted Axion’s shoulder.
“I want to teach you the joys of child-rearing.”
“Ah.”
Axion’s mouth opened slowly.
“…You’re insane.”
* * *
The Office of the Emperor, Nicholas.
Two men sat within: the Emperor and the High Priest.
The High Priest, Timothy Hartmann.
He was seventy-eight years old.
The abundance of Divine Power that once overflowed in him, the vigor of his youth, even the piety that once marked his soul—all had faded to near invisibility, leaving only one thing.
One thing that remained undiminished.
His greed.
“I am grateful for such consideration toward an insignificant old man, Your Majesty.”
Timothy bowed before Nicholas, who scratched away busily with his pen.
The Divine Revelation that urged Continental Unification.
It was a fabrication crafted according to the Emperor’s will.
Yet who could prove this Revelation to be false?
“No need for thanks.”
“Not at all. If anything, I’m in your debt.”
Timothy, the High Priest who couldn’t hear the voice of God that even young acolytes could perceive, had seen his reputation plummet—until now.
But by announcing to the Emperor the false Divine Revelation he’d been ordered to deliver, his standing had soared in an instant.
“Don’t thank me so much—it embarrasses me. I gained something from this scheme myself. We help each other, don’t we?”
“I do hope it works out well, Your Majesty.”
Timothy asked with evident worry.
“Surely, no matter how formidable Enoch is, he won’t simply ignore a Divine Revelation in the current atmosphere of Jedo?”
“It won’t be easy, that’s certain.”
Nicholas clicked his tongue.
“The man doesn’t fear an Emperor who is nearly divine himself. Why would he fear the revelation of a formless god?”
“Pardon? Then you’re saying Enoch won’t obediently prepare for war, Your Majesty?”
“Precisely. But my purpose in orchestrating this was to break Enoch’s momentum.”
Nicholas added with a sigh.
“If all the people of the Empire turn their backs on him for clinging to his meager convictions, perhaps he’ll slowly reconsider his position.”
“I see.”
As Timothy observed Nicholas’s uncharacteristic caution, his mind turned to Enoch.
Enoch Rubinstein.
A man even the omnipotent Primera could not wield as she pleased.
The Emperor had always wanted Enoch—and always feared him.
Even so…
Was there truly no other way?
“Your Majesty, doesn’t Enoch have a daughter?”
Timothy ventured carefully.
“Why not try to use her?”
……
Nicholas, who had been scribbling absently with his pen across the papers before him, paused and let out a bitter laugh.
“How, exactly?”
……
“Do you mean kidnap her? In front of all the nobles, openly?”
“No, no, of course not, Your Majesty. That’s not what I mean. Since Your Majesty is all-powerful, couldn’t you use your ability to…”
Nicholas’s head snapped up irritably.
“Hide the girl without a trace? Make her obey my commands? Is there anyone but me, who wields Primera’s power, capable of manipulating an ability user like that?”
Nicholas was exasperated.
“An imperial leader who’d use his own daughter as a hostage to wage war and bend her father to my will—that would be rich gossip for the court.”
“No, Your Majesty, I…”
Timothy broke into a cold sweat.
But Nicholas did not stop.
Whenever he thought of Lilis, anger flared white-hot in his chest.
“Cooped up in the Temple, you’ve grown dull, High Priest. If I could manipulate Enoch’s daughter without him knowing I’d used my power, wouldn’t I have tried it long ago? Hmm?”
……
“Enoch would jump at any chance to kill me. And you want me to hand him the blade myself—a just cause to strike?”
If it were that simple, there would have been no need for the Holy Water Incident.
Everything had been designed to endanger Lilis within the legal bounds that imperial authority allowed.
“Your Majesty, please hear me out. I didn’t speak thoughtlessly.”
Timothy wiped the sweat from his brow and tried to calm the agitated Nicholas before continuing.
“There is a way to orchestrate this so he won’t realize it’s Your Majesty’s doing. A way to make Enoch come to you of his own volition, begging you to save his daughter.”
“What?”
“The child is a Divine Ability user, is she not?”
At Timothy’s question, Nicholas’s eyes widened.
He immediately grasped what method the High Priest was proposing.

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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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