My Daddy Hides His Power - Chapter 150

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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 Power
Episode 150
* * *
A tranquil afternoon.
Though my own mind was anything but tranquil.
“Dad, Dad!”
I followed at his heels, pestering him with my words.
“Aren’t you going to apologize to Uncle?”
“Princess?”
Father turned and laughed.
“Did I do something wrong?”
That smile frightened me, and I flinched.
“Oh, no. I misspoke. An apology might be too much, but you two should make up. The expedition leaves the day after tomorrow, after all—you can’t let this fester before then.”
“Then shouldn’t Uncle be the one to apologize, not you? What do you think you did wrong, anyway?”
“I didn’t do anything wrong exactly. I just understand why he’s acting like this….”
“Princess, that’s needless worry. Right now there’s no soldier as skilled as Cheshire. And he’s had four years to build up his experience. I didn’t make him commander on a whim.”
“I know, I do know. But a parent’s heart doesn’t work that way….”
“Still, you have to be ruthless about it. Go into battle with that kind of sentiment, and everyone dies.”
“W-wow.”
I gaped at Father’s cold words, sputtering.
“That’s really something you have no right to say—you deserted because of me….”
…….
Father went still.
Even he seemed to recognize the contradiction in his own words.
“This is exhausting.”
He swept his hair back wearily.
Seeing his gaze deepen, it seemed he was finally setting aside his anger and trying to understand Axion’s perspective.
But then.
“Fine, everything’s fine. I get it, but no matter how I think about it, I’m offended. Did you see how he kept bringing you up and grumbling at me? Does he think I don’t care about him just because I care about you? That’s not it.”
“Right, true….”
Cheshire’s expedition came from an order higher than Father himself.
Father had done all he could to consider Cheshire’s position within the limits of what was possible.
I understood all of it.
“If that were all, I wouldn’t even mention it, Princess. In the military, you have absolute obedience to your commanding officer’s orders. Uncle’s attitude was entirely out of line.”
Of course, I understood military protocol too.
But was Father really the type to pull rank and treat even an old friend with such coldness?
This was just his pride talking.
“Dad, you and Uncle aren’t superior and subordinate before you’re friends. Can’t you show a little understanding for his feelings, friend to friend?”
…….
Father stared at me.
He seemed to waver slightly, so I quickly grabbed his arm to press my case further.
“Dad, come on—”
“Hello, you’re here?”
Father waved toward the bottom of the stairs.
Oscar had arrived.
‘Right, lessons today.’
And here I was, busy trying to mend the fractured friendship of two grown men….
“Go study, Princess. I’ll sort things out with Uncle.”
“Wait, Dad! Nooo!”
In the end, I retreated to the study room in the wake of this runaway thirty-one-year-old treasure of mine.
“Sigh…”
I sat down with a heavy exhale, and Oscar asked:
“What’s wrong?”
“Dad and Uncle Axion had a fight.”
“Ah, is that so.”
…….
…That’s it?
Oscar simply opened his book with an unmoved expression, his leg bouncing idly.
“Why are you looking at me? Open your book.”
“Aren’t you going to ask? Why they fought, things like that?”
Oscar tilted his head.
“Why me? I’m not curious, and it’s none of my business.”
“Wow!”
“I don’t see why I should care about why two people I have no interest in whatsoever got into a fight.”
“Y-yes, that’s right. That’s what makes you a real master.”
“What are you talking about? Anyway, look at this.”
Oscar grinned and pulled something from his robes, handing it over.
‘What is this? A shell?’
Well, not a real one.
It was a pink shell-shaped ornament, about the size of an adult’s finger.
“What is this?”
“A Magical Device. That one’s yours.”
Oscar produced another identical shell from his robes.
“This one’s mine.”
“Oh! It’s a couple’s item!”
“Try breaking that one.”
“Pardon?”
“Go on. Break it.”
I held the shell in both hands and squeezed, doing as he asked.
Crack—the moment it shattered.
“Wow!”
The shell in Oscar’s hand split in the exact same way.
“Pretty remarkable, isn’t it?”
“Yes!”
“A Magical Device that resonates as a pair. If you break it when you’re in danger, the other person knows immediately. I can even pinpoint your exact location.”
I was thrilled.
“M-master! Do you have more of these?”
“Of course. I made plenty.”
Oscar handed me a new shell as he spoke.
This time, sky blue.
“Then I can help my friends right away if they’re ever in danger!”
“Exactly.”
Oscar touched my cheek lightly, a satisfied smile on his face.
“So if anything happens, break it. Your master will come running right away.”
“Master!”
I grabbed Oscar’s sky blue shell without hesitation.
“Can’t you just give me both halves of the pair?”
“What?”
Oscar blinked, then his expression darkened.
“Absolutely not!”
“Why? You said you made plenty….”
“I made them so I could use them when you’re in danger. But what would you need both halves of a pair for?”
……
“I can guess! I heard rumors all over town about some Subjugation happening soon or whatever! You’re worried something might happen to that bastard and want to help him, aren’t you?!”
That bastard was probably Cheshire….
Confronted with an answer that hit far too close to the mark, I slipped my gaze away from Oscar’s.
“Well, it’s true I want to give it to someone….”
“See! Are you insane? If that guy breaks it, you’ll go running to a battlefield?!”
“It’s not because I’m worried about Cheshire.”
I sighed before continuing.
“It’s because of Theo.”
“What?”
Oscar started to say “Who’s Theo…,” then caught himself. “Oh, the twin.”
“Actually, Theo died around this time of year originally.”
……
“His illness was cured long ago, so there’s no reason to worry. But still, I can’t help but be anxious….”
……
“If he were to fall ill again, I’m the only one who could heal him….”
Oscar watched me, silent and unmoving for a long moment.
Then, softly.
She had been clutching her Shell Talisman, determined never to hand it over, and now she flung it down before me.
“Wow!”
“This is so annoying, seriously….”
“Thank you, Master! You’re the best! You’re amazing!”
I hung from Oscar’s neck and cheered at the top of my lungs.
“Ugh, stop being cute! It’s not cute at all! No, wait—it’s not cute! Open the book!”
“Heehee! Yes, yes!”
* * *
“Dad and Uncle were friends before they were anything else—superior and subordinate, all that came later….”
Enoch rested his chin in his hand, lost in thought as he recalled Lilis’s words anew.
* * *
Enoch Rubinstein, age seven.
Like any other Ability User, he encountered his first small society at the Ability User Training Institute.
A society that bore an uncanny resemblance to the nation itself.
“Dig in!”
“Waaaaah!”
Could that really be a nine-year-old child?
With a cunning smile far too sharp for his age, the boy had tossed a dead rat onto his friend’s tray.
Lilis probably didn’t know it, but….
The Training Institute in Enoch’s time was no gentler than it was now—if anything, it had been worse.
‘Is this right?’
The Institute taught students never to question their environment.
He was too young to distinguish right from wrong, yet even so, Enoch sensed something amiss, however faintly.
If something more happened, he thought, he wouldn’t be able to stand it anymore.
―That was what he was thinking when it occurred.
“Aaaaaaagh!”
One corner of the cafeteria erupted into chaos.
Looking over, Enoch saw a boy with an expressionless face pouring an entire tray of food over a friend’s head.
The child, struck by the scalding soup, sputtered in surprise.
‘Who is this guy?’
He’d finally had enough.
Enoch shot to his feet and strode toward the boy who’d upended the tray.
Jet-black hair. Eyes of an unusually deep violet.
[Axion Schneider]
Of course—his Name Badge was gold.
The apex predator of this strange world where anything went.
“Who are you?”
Enoch grabbed Axion by the collar without preamble.
Axion glanced down at Enoch’s Name Badge, confirming its color, and sneered.
“You another trash friend of his?”
“What?”
Enoch looked down at the boy trembling from the scalding soup.
His Name Badge was gold too.
Enoch had assumed the victim must be wearing a white badge—that he was just an ordinary student—but this changed everything.
‘What’s going on?’
Before he could make sense of it, Axion shook off his grip and―
“If you keep getting people to do disgusting stuff like this and ruining dinner, next time I’ll shove a dead rat straight down your throat.”
―said it, and with a sharp clang―
hurled his tray to the floor as a threat, then turned and walked away.
At that moment.
The boy who’d been placing the dead rat on his friend’s tray watched the whole scene unfold, his face draining of color.
That was when Enoch understood.
The boy drenched in soup, now shaking before Axion―
was the mastermind who’d orchestrated the rat incidents in the cafeteria over the past several days, using other children as his puppets.
……
Enoch, catching himself too late, stared numbly at the cafeteria door through which Axion had vanished.
That was how they first met.
* * *
‘Why did I do that?’
The book lay open before her, but not a word sank in.
Axion’s mind was tangled.
‘He’s being ridiculous. Just ridiculous.’
Enoch’s strategy was flawless. Not a crack in it.
But knowing that and still refusing orders, talking back to a superior—it wasn’t soldierly at all.
He ought to go back, admit he’d been sulking, and make peace with him—
‘No! Am I really supposed to be the same as everyone else? Is it so hard to do a friend a favor? What’s a fifteen-year-old commander anyway? Enoch was already leading his first expedition at sixteen!’
—but wounded pride and petty self-respect kept his feet rooted.
“Sigh.”
Knock, knock.
A soft rap at the door.
“Come in.”
Axion, who’d assumed it was the butler, looked up startled at the grinning face that appeared in the doorway.
“Uncle!”
“You… what are you doing here?”
It was Lilis.
She came bounding in, claimed a chair for herself, and sat down.
“I wanted to play with you, Uncle!”
“What?”
She swung her bear-shaped bag to her front, opened it, and spilled out a heap of candies and chocolates across the table.
Then, at the very end, she pulled out a worn piece of parchment and unfurled it with a flourish.
“Hehe. I found this before when I was looking at pictures in Grandfather’s room. Look, look. That’s you, right, Uncle?”
“…….”
A portrait of seven boys, all wearing armor.
In the center of the group, grinning brightly despite scraped faces, were the young Enoch and Axion with their arms around each other’s shoulders.
“When was this taken?”
“This… when I was sixteen. Right before my first expedition as part of the Elite Force.”
“I see. Hehe. Father and Uncle haven’t changed a bit.”
Axion, who’d been staring blankly at the portrait, gradually turned his eyes toward Lilis.
The intent behind the child suddenly appearing and pulling this out was transparent.
‘I’m worse than a child.’
Seeing Lilis’s true heart—her attempt to reconcile two grown men squabbling like brothers—he felt a wave of shame wash over him.
“Lilis.”
“Yes?”
“I owe you an apology.”
“Me? Why?”
“Because I was angry before. When I compared you to Cheshire, I didn’t mean it like that.”
“Oh?”
Cheshire isn’t his blood child, it’s true. He could understand if it seemed excessive—
But still, he worried about Cheshire.
Couldn’t she understand that his concern was much like the way a father worries over his daughter?
That’s what he wanted to say.
“Would it have been any different if you’d been his daughter?”
But the words that actually came out were clumsy, no matter how he turned them over in his head.
And the fact that Lilis had happened to hear them kept nagging at him.
“I don’t mind at all, Uncle.”
Yet Lilis looked at him with wide, bright eyes and smiled.
“I wasn’t thinking anything about it until you just mentioned it.”
“Either way, I’m sorry. Don’t get me wrong. I’m someone who’s grateful you don’t have to carry a sword.”
“Hehe, I know.”
Lilis tilted her head with a laugh.
“Can I sit on your lap, Uncle?”
With a slight chuckle, Axion pushed his chair back, and Lilis quickly scrambled up onto his knee.
“…I’m putting a little one through unnecessary trouble. Don’t worry. I plan to settle things with him before the expedition.”
“…….”
“I know it’s my fault too. But right now… my head’s just too full.”
“Uncle, Uncle. Actually, I think…”
Lilis leaned in close to Axion’s ear and whispered.
“That Father was wrong.”
“What?”
“Hehehehe. I mean, I came to see you because I want you two to make up quickly, but…”
The child fidgeted with her fingers, embarrassed, and added softly.
“I wanted to set you free because I was worried you’d be upset with me. I don’t understand why you do what you do, but I know it.”
……
“I really think you’re amazing. Accepting Cheshire, raising him like your own son, loving and worrying over him even more than a real son—all of it.”
……
“But Father only speaks with disappointment, and Cheshire doesn’t understand your heart either, so… I thought you must be upset.”
Lilis turned her head, meeting his eyes, and spoke shyly.
“It’s not that no one understands. I know your heart so, so well—I don’t think you were wrong. That’s why I wanted you to feel better.”
……
Axion stared at Lilis in a daze, then after a moment, hesitated before drawing her into his arms with a long, weary sigh.
“I’m going crazy. Really.”
His eyes stung slightly.

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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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