My Daddy Hides His Power - Chapter 13

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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
13
‘Do play along with me, James Brown.’
I said it with my eyes.
But heartless Father suddenly pretended to cry.
“Oh no. Father doesn’t like vegetables.”
“Huh?”
This traitor!
I’d even pulled out the strength I had when drinking baby formula to prove Father wasn’t neglecting his parenting duties!
“Every day Father gets the short end of the stick from the Broccoli Count, so our princess saved the day by eating it instead, right?”
Outright lies!
Watching Father raise his eyebrows with that irritating smirk, I could only lower my trembling hands.
“Hey, you little thing. You really can’t eat broccoli, can you?”
“It’s fine, Lirith. Broccoli really doesn’t taste good anyway.”
“No, no! I eat broccoli just fine! It’s delicious!”
I protested to my twin older brothers.
Spilled milk.
In the end, I squeezed my eyes shut and put the broccoli in my mouth.
Crunch—as I chewed, its distinctive flavor came through with a fresh, crisp texture.
‘Ugh, it tastes horrible!’
But I couldn’t let on that I was forcing it down. I chewed away without pause.
“Heh.”
“…you brat.”
For some reason, Aunt and Grandfather were laughing.
It seemed they were proud of me, and my heart eased.
‘That’s right. Just broccoli….’
From my well-mannered, brave lips that didn’t pick at food, the Broccoli Count was thoroughly slaughtered.
“Whew.”
It was my perfect victory.
* * *
After eating, my head began working clearly again.
The butler, Uncle Lem, introduced me to two maidservants.
“These are the maids who will look after you, Miss. The young master will be confined—no, rather, unable to leave the study starting today. Are you alright with that?”
“Yes!”
I answered cheerfully.
If Father was returning to household duties he’d neglected for seven years, of course he’d be busy.
I understood, of course.
“Zetti and June are veteran maids who won through a 50-to-1 competitive selection to become your dedicated attendants.”
“That’s right!”
The older sister with the short brown hair chimed in excitedly.
“I’m Zetti, Miss. I won first place in the bathing water temperature tournament, drawing competition, and snack-making tournament, and proudly claimed the position of your dedicated maid. This is June over here—we’re sisters. I’m the older one.”
What kind of tournament was that…?
As I blinked in confusion, June with the ponytail also jumped in to introduce herself, waving her arms.
“I’m June! I’m the record holder with the top overall score: 47 push-ups, 55 sit-ups, and 3 meters on the standing long jump. I’ll serve Miss with all my heart and soul, so please trust me!”
Why in the world would you need that to look after a seven-year-old…?
I couldn’t understand it, but I decided to go along with it and gave the sisters a polite bow.
“Nice to meet you both, Sister Zetti and Sister June.”
“My goodness.”
“Oh my. Miss.”
June scooped me up gently and lifted me clean off the ground, then set me in her arms.
‘Wow! Truly the fitness champion!’
She was slender, but somehow possessed incredible strength.
“Miss, why are you so small and cute? Don’t you think?”
“Look at those full cheeks…. Like a ball of dough. They look like they might spill right out.”
June and Zetti wrapped their arms around me and fussed over me endlessly.
“Now, now! That’s enough, you two. Let’s end the greeting there. I’ll explain Miss’s schedule for today.”
Lem spoke with a pleased smile.
“The elder master has ordered that Miss begin her education starting today. Teachers will arrive at ten in the morning….”
Lem’s voice trailed off as he smiled apologetically.
On my first day at the Estate, he seemed sorry to be telling me to study.
But it was exactly what I wanted!
I answered brightly.
“Yes! I can study, Rem. I’m good at it. I’ll work hard!”
“Oh my. How wonderful. You remind me so much of the young master when he was your age….”
Lost in reminiscence once more, Rem withdrew a handkerchief from his jacket pocket and dabbed at his eyes before continuing.
“Since today is your first day, we’ll likely keep things light and avoid anything too difficult. Please don’t worry. And I heard you have an appointment with Ordia this afternoon?”
“Yes! Aunt promised to show me around the Estate with my older brothers!”
“I see! Well then, we’ll have lessons through second period, you’ll take lunch, and after the remaining classes are finished—”
Rem began jotting down my rather unremarkable schedule into his notebook with impressive speed.
“The two of you can help the young miss prepare for her outing!”
“Yes, butler!”
“Leave it to us!”
My older sisters answered with solemn expressions.
* * *
Grandfather’s tutors descended upon me all at once.
It seemed Grandfather was intent on rapidly assimilating my ignorant self into Aristocratic Society.
‘Well, I suppose he noticed I don’t know Dining Etiquette either.’
In any case, it worked in my favor.
I’d read novels about Aristocratic Society’s Etiquette, but I’d never learned the details.
However, an unexpected problem arose.
“Now, look here. There are two apples, yes? But then two more apples appear—poof!—like magic.”
First period, social studies, was manageable enough….
Second period: mathematics.
Yes, mathematics was where the trouble began.
“So you have four apples?”
The instructor was Rena.
Despite her stern expression and red hair, Rena proved to be an exceptionally kind woman.
“2 times 2 is 4!”
“Wow.”
I let out a flat exclamation.
“Now, what if two more apples appear again—so three times total—what would happen?”
Rena pulled two more apples from the basket and placed them on the table.
“2 times 3! That’s 6!”
Leon, sitting beside me, answered instead.
Rena sighed.
“Young master, you should let the young miss answer. You already know all of this, after all.”
“That’s right, Leon. Don’t interrupt Lirith’s studies. You promised to stay quiet and just watch the lesson.”
Theo, reading a book nearby, chided Leon with mature authority.
‘I wish he would interrupt me instead.’
I swallowed a sigh and gripped my pen.
The truth was, what I actually needed was refinement in Etiquette and similar subjects; listening to other courses felt rather tedious.
Twenty-five years in my past life, seven years in this one. At the combined age of thirty-two, here I was solving Multiplication problems with elementary school children….
“This isn’t too difficult for you, is it?”
“No, not at all.”
But a normal seven-year-old should find Multiplication challenging.
Rena had been shocked when I mentioned I’d already mastered addition and subtraction, her eyes widening with surprise….
“Then what about 2 times 4 and 2 times 5? Would you like to try solving them? It’s all right even if you get them wrong.”
“All right….”
“Kid, want me to teach you?”
“Young master, that’s not allowed!”
“Leon, didn’t I tell you not to interrupt?”
Amid the lively commotion, I felt a sudden surge of anxiety.
‘This isn’t the time for me to be doing this.’
I was someone with far too much to do.
First of all.
‘I need to rescue Chesher quickly!’
Chesher became our family’s adopted son in autumn when he was thirteen.
Given the age difference with Father, that meant Chesher was now eleven, which meant he still had two more years of abuse ahead of him at the Onyx Marquis House.
‘That can’t happen. I have to save our Chesher!’
I had to help him.
So Father could find Chesher a little sooner.
To do that.
‘There’s someone I need to find.’
The head of the Information Guild—the one who would become Father’s aide a few years from now.
If I could find him in advance and bring him to my side, not only would I save Chesher, but everything ahead would become so much easier.
‘But to meet that person, I’d have to sneak out first, wouldn’t I?’
Yet under the watchful eye of my guardians, trapped in a body barely seven years old, the constraints were suffocating.
All I was doing was solving math problems in the study room!
‘Argh! This is infuriating! I’ve already memorized Multiplication up to the nineteenth table—it’s all locked in my head!’
Just as frustration boiled over at the gap between expectation and reality, and I started scribbling furiously with my pen.
“M-Miss?”
“Yes?”
The startled voice snapped me back to attention.
I looked up sharply to find Rena staring at me in shock.
“H-how did you do this?”
For some reason, she was trembling, her expression one of disbelief as she pushed her spectacles up on her nose.
“Yes?”
What was she talking about?
“Wow, you really are smart, aren’t you, little one?”
“And without even calculating?”
Only when Leon and Theo gestured at the desk and each spoke did I freeze in horror.
‘Oh no—I was in the middle of Multiplication, wasn’t I?’
I glanced down and saw the answer sheet I’d written absent-mindedly while lost in thought.
This couldn’t be.
What on earth had I done?
Rena had clearly explained the principle of Multiplication, then asked me to solve only up to two times five.
‘But I wrote all the way through the nineteenth table?’
It was a catastrophe born of contradiction—outward appearance clashing with inner truth.
I swallowed hard and tentatively raised my eyes.
Rena’s gaze was full of suspicion.
‘This is bad. How do I get out of this situation?’
Day two of arriving at the Estate.
The child harboring a secret had stumbled into an enormous crisis.

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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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