My Daddy Hides His Power - Chapter 154

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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 conceals his strength
154
* * *
Lilis appeared as if by magic.
“Cheshire!”
Cheshire stared at her in a daze.
He should have explained the situation, but truthfully, words weren’t necessary.
“Oh, brother?”
Startled, Lilis immediately spotted Theo unconscious with grave injuries, and rushed to his side.
She sat down with an anxious expression, quickly lifting his right wrist to examine it.
The bracelet she always wore.
Cheshire knew that Lilis always checked that bracelet whenever she used her power.
“Ah.”
In an instant, the blood-soaked wounds Theo had sustained from the demon beast’s claws sealed shut.
He didn’t regain consciousness, but his complexion visibly grew more peaceful.
……
Cheshire exhaled with relief.
And then, he couldn’t tear his eyes from Lilis. He’d seen it the moment she used her power.
It wasn’t a dramatic change, but her face had shifted in subtle ways.
And most noticeably—her hair had grown longer.
‘She’s grown.’
Cheshire’s hands trembled.
A heavy, tangled feeling that words couldn’t capture.
This was the first time he’d visibly felt Primera’s power burn through such vast Life Force.
Self-recrimination tightened his throat until it was almost unbearable.
* * *
Theo’s injuries were fatal.
I’d always invested my abilities in Healing Magic, so I could easily gauge the severity of Internal Injury patients.
An Internal Injury that modern medicine could treat required only a few seconds.
1 year
But those on the brink of death burned away nearly a year.
‘Thank goodness. Without me, that wound would’ve killed him for certain.’
Watching Theo’s complexion finally grow peaceful, I let out a shaky breath.
“…Cheshire?”
Then I felt a gaze, and when I turned around,
I saw Cheshire reaching toward me with vacant eyes.
He almost touched my hair, but then bit his lip hard and looked away.
‘What’s that about? Oh.’
My lengthened bangs had been slightly obstructing my vision.
If I’d burned a year, that meant six months of growth at once—the change must have looked strikingly vivid to his eyes.
I hesitated before speaking.
“Hey, thanks.”
“…I’m sorry.”
But at the same moment, words spilled from Cheshire’s mouth, our voices overlapping.
I tilted my head in confusion.
“Sorry for what?”
“Thanks for what?”
We spoke at the same time again.
Cheshire’s brow furrowed slightly.
“I’m grateful you called me. Honestly, I was worried. I was afraid you wouldn’t call me.”
What if, even when Theo’s life—when others’ lives—hung in the balance, Cheshire chose not to call me?
That fear had gripped me.
Because in the Original Story, Cheshire was the type who could turn cold, regardless of his true feelings.
“Don’t say things like that.”
“Huh?”
Cheshire spoke with his head turned away, his face contorted with pain.
“It’s my fault. I made a wrong judgment. My mistake caused him to end up like this.”
……
“I promised I wouldn’t let you fall into danger, and I even got angry saying there’d be no reason to call you. Then he was dying, and my mind went blank. Only you were there.”
“Cheshire….”
“You know coming here puts you in danger. You know you’re burning through your life force to use your abilities like this. You know all of it, and yet….”
“…….”
“I’m sorry. I’m stupid and pathetic. I’m a fool.”
“Cheshire, look at me.”
I reached out and caught his cheek, turning his face toward mine as he tried to look away.
Emotions flickering across his crimson eyes in an instant.
Shock, despair, relief, self-reproach.
I felt vividly how terrified and frantic he must have been, discovering Theo hurt like that and bringing him all the way here.
“You can make mistakes. I don’t know why Theo got injured so badly, but anything can happen on a battlefield.”
“…….”
“It’s not your fault. If you could protect everyone fighting alongside you, keep them all alive—would that make you a god?”
“…….”
“If that were possible, Father wouldn’t have had to suffer so much over the friends he lost.”
My voice caught unexpectedly.
Thinking of him, about to truly take up the sword—of all the countless separations he would endure like Father had.
How he would torment himself with guilt over them.
“Every time it happens, if you blame yourself, it’ll destroy you. So stop thinking like that. Besides, Theo is fine now, isn’t he?”
“…Yeah.”
Cheshire’s jaw trembled as he fought back tears.
I pulled him into a quiet embrace.
“I just wish you wouldn’t torment yourself over things like this.”
“…….”
His trembling arms came up to hold me in return, and we comforted each other that way for a moment.
“Wait, no—this isn’t the time for this!”
What was I thinking.
Every second counted in a crisis like this.
“Cheshire, does everyone know Theo was hurt this badly?”
“…Yeah, they all know.”
Cheshire sighed and continued.
“A Holy Mage who was going to cast Healing Magic on him found him first. She told everyone there was no hope….”
“Ugh, I see.”
This was a worst-case scenario.
Not only was Theo injured—he was in a state that existing Healing Magic couldn’t fix.
Yet here he was, completely recovered. Everyone would have questions.
‘What am I going to do about this.’
I started to consider it, then realized time was running out and shook my head.
“I’ll think about how to handle Theo later. I can’t stay here, so I’ll take Theo with me when I go back.”
“You?”
“Yeah. A man who was supposed to die can’t just walk back onto the battlefield perfectly healed.”
Cheshire looked worried, but then he nodded, apparently accepting my reasoning.
I approached Theo.
“Tell Father everything about the situation. He’ll find a way to manage it.”
“Okay.”
I straightened Theo’s clothes roughly as he lay unconscious, when something suddenly occurred to me.
“Oh! And Cheshire.”
I’d need to think more about how to explain Theo’s condition….
But I needed to coordinate our story now about how he managed to get Theo all the way to Jedo.
‘Let’s keep the Teleportation Magic Circle hidden. If it gets out that I’ve known about such a useful spell all by myself, the master will give me an earful.’
I made a request of Cheshire.
“Listen—before you go back, ask Father to purchase this Temple for us.”
“The Temple?”
“Yeah. The Temple has a Warp Gate, right? We can’t say you just whisked him away to Jedo out of nowhere. Since there’s a Warp Gate at the Magic Tower too, we can say you opened one there instead.”
“Got it.”
“I’m going to head back now then.”
With Theo’s head resting in my lap, I glanced at my bracelet as I thought about returning to Oscar’s House.
10 hours
‘…What? Why is Companion Teleportation taking so long?’
When I went alone it was only 2 hours.
Adding one more person should make it 4 hours at most, right?
“Tsk.”
I swallowed my frustration and looked at Cheshire.
“Cheshire.”
He had already risen, fastening his sword at his waist, preparing to return to the Battlefield.
“Come back without getting hurt.”
At my words, Cheshire answered quietly.
“…Yes, I will.”
* * *
“Oh….”
The moment I returned to Oscar’s House with Theo, I was startled by how much had changed.
A large sheet of paper spread across the center of the living room.
A Teleportation Magic Circle had been drawn on it.
And beside it, an Imperial Map marked haphazardly in red pen….
‘Was he trying to follow me?’
It was evidence that Oscar, knowing only that I was in the Southern Region without exact coordinates, had struggled to draw the magic circle.
‘This can’t happen! He hasn’t already gone, has he? Where is he?’
I looked around in panic.
The Master of the Magic Tower appearing in the middle of a war was just as absurd as Theo being perfectly healed.
For someone who never left the Magic Tower and had no interest in the affairs of others, his actions were far too suspicious….
This absolutely cannot happen.
I could sneak away and return because Cheshire and I had coordinated beforehand, but Oscar—this really cannot happen.
“M-Master!”
Had he already left?
I called out for Oscar desperately, and he emerged from the room in quick strides, pulling on an outer robe, then came to an abrupt halt.
“Th-thank goodness….”
I started to speak but stopped short.
Oscar stood frozen as if time itself had stopped, staring at me intently.
Then, slowly, he placed his open palm against his chest and began to release breath that had been caught.
“Ha…ah….”
As if pain were subsiding, his taut face gradually relaxed.
…….
Soon Oscar approached slowly and dropped to his knees before me.
“M-Master?”
And then he pulled me tightly into his embrace.
Thump, thump, thump, thump.
His heart still racing wildly, unsteady, hammered fiercely against his chest as if it might break through.
“You, this….”
…….
“Do you really want to be scolded…?”
Both his voice and the arms holding me
were trembling uncontrollably.
‘I frightened him.’
Very much so.
I felt so sorry that I burrowed deeper into Oscar’s embrace.
“I’m so sorry….”
…….
Not only did I worry him, but I also came back in a terrible state.
“I’m truly sorry, Master.”
It’s better to take punishment quickly.
I spoke hurriedly.
“But I also created quite an enormous problem….”
He released me from his embrace and regarded Theo, whom I had brought, carefully.
“Ha.”
Regardless of what the situation was, the mere fact that Theo was suddenly here was startling enough.
“……?”
Oscar abruptly grabbed and pinched my cheek hard.
“Ahhhhh!”
“I can’t go on! I can’t take this!”
“Ow! Ow! Ow!”
Fortunately, he let go quickly.
I gently rubbed my smarting cheek, and Oscar, now that the tension had broken, collapsed carelessly and brushed his hair back as he spoke.
“…That’s all that matters.”
“Pardon?”
“As long as you’re safe, that’s enough.”
“…….”
Beneath the grumbling tone lay a current of worry and affection, unmistakable and tender.
My throat tightened at that, and I wedged myself between Oscar’s legs, pressing close to him again.
“You’re impossible, you know that?”
He grumbled even as he gathered me in his arms once more.

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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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