My Daddy Hides His Power - Chapter 136

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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 136
What could be so sorrowful?
Lilis wept without restraint.
“What, what is it…? Stop crying now.”
Oscar, stiff with uncertainty, finally lifted a hand and stroked the child’s back slowly, as if to soothe her.
“You’re not hurt, so why is our princess crying like this? Did you have a bad dream?”
*Hiccup.*
At the tender concern in her father’s voice, she glanced back at him—only to cry harder.
“Waaaaaah!”
“Oh my, I’m sorry! Father’s sorry! Our princess is sorrowful, so very sorrowful. Yes?”
Judging by how powerfully she was crying, completely drenched in tears, she clearly wasn’t in any pain.
Enoch felt oddly relieved.
“Hmm….”
Still worried, Oscar tried to get a look at Lilis’s face, which clung so tightly to him.
“N-no! Don’t, d-don’t go. Don’t…! Waaaah!”
But the moment he put any force into prying her away, she startled and burrowed deeper into him, making it impossible.
‘What on earth is wrong with her?’
Bewildered, Enoch looked to Oscar, who merely shrugged as if he had no idea either.
With her biological father standing right there, it made for a strange sight indeed—but as Oscar was busy comforting the child, the door suddenly opened.
“Good gracious!”
“Young mistress!”
Two maids entered through the doorway.
Jetti and June, Lilis’s personal attendants.
Both their faces were swollen from crying, their eyes and noses red from the worry over Lilis’s Fever Curse.
‘Oh no.’
Enoch’s eyes widened.
Judging by the water basin and towels they’d brought along, they’d come to tend to Lilis while she slept….
‘This is rather awkward.’
Oscar and Enoch’s gazes met in the air, both suddenly tense.
They’d moved so quickly, caught up in the moment and with no time to think, that they’d naturally given no thought to what came after….
It was fortunate no one had been in the child’s room; if someone had seen this, it would be quite the predicament.
The Tower Master suddenly appearing in a noble girl’s bedchamber?
And worse—Lilis, afflicted with the Fever Curse, had woken in less than half a day?
‘The fact that she woke up on her own can’t reach the Emperor’s ears under any circumstances.’
“Quite a shock, wasn’t it?”
Jetti and June stood frozen in confusion, their faces bewildered as they tried to make sense of the situation.

“M-master. Is the young mistress all right?”
“But that person—I mean, Tower Master, why are you here…? When did you arrive…?”
“Shh.”
Enoch pressed a finger to his lips in a gesture for quiet.
“Shall we step outside and talk for a moment?”
Enoch’s smile was strained and awkward.
The two quick-witted maids nodded emphatically.
“Tower Master.”
Before leaving, Enoch turned back to Oscar.
“I’ll make sure no one enters the room. Watch over the princess for a bit.”
“Y-yes, of course….”
“And don’t leave—wait for me. I’ll handle a few things and be back as quickly as I can.”
With those words, Enoch left the room with Jetti and June.
* * *
How foolish of me.
The tears won’t stop….
*Sniff.*
I had so much I wanted to say.
But the moment our eyes meet, tears fall without resistance—so for the last twenty minutes, I’ve done nothing but cry.
Only after exhaustion finally sapped my strength did the tears finally cease.
“Your stamina is impressive.”
Oscar sat beside me on the bed, patiently wiping away every tear and drop of snot the entire time I wept.
“Hmph. Fine.”
Oscar pressed a handkerchief against the stream of snot running from his nose again.
“Ugh!”
“Ew, that’s disgusting.”
“Mm-hmm.”
For all his complaints, Oscar tucked the handkerchief back into his shirt without the slightest look of disgust.
“Are you done crying now?”
“Yes, I… I think so.”
I started to wonder what to say first, then something caught me off guard.
“Wait—why are you here, Master?”
“Wow, you ask fast.”
Oscar leaned back, supporting himself with his hands behind him.
“I’ll say this once. Listen carefully, because I’m not repeating myself.”
“Yes!”
“You were struck by the Fever Curse and just woke up. The Emperor’s doing, no doubt. You couldn’t wake on your own, so I went south, found a Holy Relic, and forced you awake. You’d left detailed instructions in a letter to your father.”
“……?”
What?
I never even
imagined—
My mouth fell open.
‘That’s why Father was acting so strange the moment I woke up.’
His eyes had been red, like he’d been crying, and he’d been too frantic checking on me to think straight.
I’d thought it odd that I couldn’t remember falling asleep, yet I’d had dreams.
‘That cursed Emperor….’
So it wasn’t sleep at all—I’d practically collapsed from the Fever Curse.
‘He just won’t stop trying to use me….’
Even after Oscar had helped me make my Octava Rank clear as day to the Emperor’s eyes.
He still seemed to think I was the best leash with which to control Father, and now he was tormenting me through some outlandish method.
I couldn’t breathe….
“Wait—if I woke up on my own like this, the Emperor can’t find out. What do I do…?”
I began gnawing at my nails, thinking, when Oscar tapped my head.
“Stop thinking so hard, will you?”
“Master?”
“Your father knows everything now. He knows you’re Primera. He even has that letter of yours that spells everything out without you lifting a finger.”
“…….”
“He’s crude and rash sometimes, but your father isn’t stupid. So don’t try to do anything—just trust him and wait.”
Oscar’s frown deepened as he continued.
“The man’s the type who’ll crawl through mud and filth if it’s for you. He’s prepared to fight tooth and nail, so why won’t you let him do the work?”
“But….”
“But what, what!”
Oscar snapped, then softened when he saw me flinch.
“Your father will handle it one way or another, so you just—”
“…….”
“Just take it easy, will you?”
Oscar’s voice trailed off.
His concern for me was written all over his face, and my nose began to sting again.
“All right. I will.”
“But why were you crying? Are you in pain?”
“Oh!”
Right. Where should I even start….
“Master.”
“Yeah?”
“I… I’m going to tell you a secret. Just you.”
“Is there really a secret of yours I don’t know?”
Oscar chuckled.
“You think I don’t know this one?”
“What is it, then?”
I took a long breath and began.
“Master, the truth is—I lived in an incredibly strange world before this place.”
“What?”
“Instead of carriages, there were automobiles, and instead of birds, there were airplanes too. That’s the kind of world it was.”
At my words, Oscar’s eyes widened in surprise.
I smiled faintly and looked away from him, speaking slowly again.
“I was truly, truly happy. I had many friends, and I studied hard. Just like you, I even taught other children their lessons.”
“…”
“Yes, when you teach people, you can earn quite a bit of money. So I got to eat many, many delicious things, and I traveled around to different places.”
“You did, huh?”
Oscar’s voice came in halting bursts, trembling with relief.
When I looked back, his eyes were glistening.
But there was a faint smile on his face.
He was thinking how fortunate it was.
That I had come to hold happy memories, just as he’d once wished for me.
“That must have been wonderful.”
“Yes. It was truly, truly wonderful. I was never sad, never ill. I met only good people, and they all loved me and cared for me. I lived so very happily.”
“…I’m glad. Was Father there with you?”
“No.”
I shook my head.
“There was no family. So even though I had many good friends and many teachers, because there was no family… I felt just a little, a very little bit lonely.”
“Father… wasn’t there?”
I turned to look at Oscar.
At my words about loneliness, his eyes had already begun to waver with sorrow.
Oscar had wanted me to be happy together with my father.
“No. He wasn’t.”
I nearly broke down, but I held it back and smiled brightly.
“But now that I think about it, I think I understand why Father wasn’t there.”
“…”
“If I had had a father and a family, living in that world would have been so, so incredibly happy that… that…”
“…”
“I would have wanted to stay there forever. But I had to come here, come back, to see Father again. And also…”
In the end, I couldn’t hold back, and tears streamed down my cheeks once more.
“I had to see you again.”
Oscar stared at me, dumbfounded.
“Master. I… I forgot everything, and I’m so sorry. Like a fool, I couldn’t remember anything, and I’m so sorry I forgot you…”
Oscar’s mouth slowly fell open in shock.
“But I… the thing is, I forgot you. But it was absolutely, absolutely not because the time I spent with you was painful or cruel that I forgot it.”
“You…”
“It really wasn’t. I wanted… I wanted to tell you this…”
Those were his final words to me.
Now I remember every single one of them.
“In this life, forget all the painful memories.”
But you were never a painful memory to me.
You were far too precious…
“When I was with you, I was truly happy. There was no father, and the Emperor was frightening. I was so… so lonely and struggling, but… but…”
“…”
“Because you were always beside me. You came to see me. You told me I was beautiful, that you loved me… That’s how, that’s how I was able to endure.”
Wiping away the endless tears, I smiled at Oscar.
Tears had already gathered in his reddened eyes.
“I would never have come back if you hadn’t been there. To remember you, to tell you how happy I was when you were beside me. That’s why…”
I swallowed my tears and stood, throwing my arms around Oscar’s neck.
“That’s why I came back.”
He seemed startled, his breathing growing ragged, his trembling hands frozen for a long moment—uncertain what to do.
“…”
Soon Oscar slowly pulled me close with arms still shaking, holding me tight.
“Ah…”
Whether a sigh or a sob.
His breath, heavy and choking, brushed against my ear.

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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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