My Daddy Hides His Power - Chapter 169

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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
Episode 169
* * *
The next day.
The moment I finished preparing to depart and stepped out, I ran into Oscar coming from the room across the way.
For some reason, he was dressed as an old man.
‘Ah, this must be… his permission for me to keep going, right?’
I was about to speak, delighted—
“Master…!”
“…….”
Oscar swept me with a cold gaze and swept past without a word.
I stood there dumbfounded, but Father, apparently missing the chilly tension between Oscar and me, approached with a smile.
“Did you sleep well, Princess?”
“…….”
“Princess… Are you really not going to talk to Father all evening?”
“…No, I will talk to you….”
I sighed, watching the staircase where Oscar had vanished.
It seemed… he was thoroughly angry.
* * *
The pilgrimage resumed.
We walked diligently, slept under the stars, found lodging when villages appeared, and walked again.
“Ho ho ho… Our Lilis looks tired—shall Father carry you for ten minutes?”
“…….”
“Five minutes?”
“…Just five minutes.”
“Ah, good then.”
The two suspicious priests continued their journey, bolstered by the guard captain’s excessive favoritism.
Oscar used his Transformation Magic without hesitation, despite its poor efficiency.
Rest, sleeping under stars, sleep….
Cheshire looked after him, making sure he could restore his mana to his true form whenever there was a chance.
But.
“Grandfather Oscar, your blood sugar’s dropping—please have this.”
“I don’t want it. Put it away.”
When I unwrapped the chocolate and offered it, Oscar refused without even looking.
Four days now.
He hasn’t spared me a glance.
Ever since my shocking declaration that I would follow Master into death, he’d remained furious.
By now, Father and Cheshire both knew we were caught in this one-sided cold war.
“People can be so prickly. Lilis, give it to Grandfather. His blood sugar’s dropped, so he’ll eat it. Ah.”
In the end, I fed the chocolate into Father’s mouth as he carried me.
Oscar never tried to stop me from going all the way to Molek Lake.
Yet concern seemed to trouble him—he endured the bothersome cycle of spending and recovering mana while keeping pace with us….
‘So he still can’t forgive me for those words?’
It seemed he meant to stay angry with me a while longer.
It was the first time in so long we’d gone without speaking….
“Wow, you’ve all done well! This is the entrance to Molek village!”
Just then, a familiar voice called out.
* * *
Around fifty people lived in Molek.
The villagers all seemed humble and kindhearted.
The pilgrimage party, with only one task remaining, soon took their rest.
‘None of the pilgrims are sick. So then… was it mere chance that everyone in Molek village died from the plague…?’
I walked thoughtfully.
I’d come out to explore the surroundings with Cheshire.
With a few pilgrims who preferred sightseeing to resting.
“Go deeper that way and you’ll find Molek Lake. That’s where the Sacred Ground is, they say.”
Cheshire cleared the overgrown grass from the narrowing path ahead as he spoke.
“Ah yes… Wooooow!”
I gasped at once.
“Oh, my…!”
“It’s truly beautiful!”
I wasn’t alone—everyone was moved by the sight.
Towering cliffs carved sheer from stone.
A lake hidden between them like a fortress.
A landscape that washed away a week’s exhaustion in an instant.
But the remarkable thing was this:
“Wait… how is it glowing like that? So blue?”
The entire lake shimmered with an otherworldly azure radiance.
The kind of blue light that emanates when those with Divine Power Ability channel their power—or the luminescence of a sword strike.
“No wonder it’s considered sacred ground. I’ve never seen anything like this in my life.”
I gazed on, enchanted by the impossible beauty.
“Without magic, and yet… this is…”
Possible? I kept murmuring as if in a trance—
“Mmph.”
Suddenly Cheshire’s hand clamped over my mouth from beside me.
What? Why?
“Lilis.”
Cheshire glanced around at the others, all entranced by the view, then whispered so only I could hear.
“What do you mean?”
“By what?”
“By glowing blue.”
Startled by the sudden question, I whispered back hesitantly.
“…? It’s literally glowing. That blue light you see when people use Divine Power—the lake is filled with it.”
“No, it’s not.”
“Huh?”
Cheshire lowered his voice further.
“It’s just water. Clear water, nothing more. There’s no blue light like you’re describing. It doesn’t look like magic at all.”
“What?”
“To me, it just looks like water. And the others seem to see it the same way.”
I gaped at Cheshire’s words.
I had been admiring what was undeniably a surreal sight…
“Cheshire.”
“Yeah.”
We both suddenly understood, and our eyes met with grave intensity.
And we spoke quietly.
“There’s something in this lake.”
“It seems so.”
Cheshire immediately pulled me away, hurrying toward somewhere.
“There’s something you need to see.”
* * *
We spoke as we ran.
“Why do only my eyes see it that way?”
“Probably because of that Sacred Object you swallowed.”
“That’s what I thought too!”
The Apostle’s Heart—said to control fate itself.
And a lake that glows with strange blue light only in my vision, as if the heart were trying to tell me something after being consumed.
The lake is an indispensable water source for the villagers. It serves as their drinking water.
‘Drinking water… plague… something’s coming to me, a hunch…’
It felt like I was solving a riddle, following clues someone had left behind.
Soon we arrived at the village entrance.
Cheshire knelt before a stone monument.
“Remember when the priests explained things earlier? This—the villagers here hold it sacred, just like that lake.”
“No, I didn’t catch that. What is this… oh!”
The stone bore inscriptions like a marker stele.
But… it was in the Ancient Language!
“You can read it.”
“Y-yes, I can.”
A language from ages long past.
As far as I knew, no one alive could read it.
Save one.
I learned from that one person.
It was because the Magic Formulas Oscar taught me contained Ancient Language.
So, actually….
‘I only know a few words needed for drawing Magic Formulas.’
I glanced sideways at Cheshire.
The memory of my boasting made me cringe.
“Ahem! I learned Ancient Language from my teacher today! It’s really hard, but I can read it all!”
“That’s impressive.”
“Me?”
“Um! Let me see….”
I studied the complex, headache-inducing Ancient Language slowly.
At once, a single word caught my eye.
“Oh, this is ‘beginning’! And then…. Hmm, and also….”
Now I was lost.
When I rolled my eyes sideways, Cheshire was staring at me intently.
I confessed at once.
“Sorry. I don’t actually read it all—I only know a few words.”
“…I see.”
An awkward silence settled over us.
Then Cheshire spoke.
“When we get back to Jedo, do you have books or something? We could go and have you translate it properly? Should I copy it down to take with us?”
“But it might be necessary to solve what’s happening in this village right now.”
“…….”
“…….”
We looked at each other.
From Cheshire’s expression, it seemed he already knew the answer.
I clutched my head.
“Yeah, that’s right. Right now, here… there’s exactly one person who can read this….”
* * *
I’d thought he wouldn’t even speak to me.
Fortunately, Oscar followed willingly when I said there was something I needed to tell him alone.
“Speak. Quickly.”
“Geez, you really are impatient….”
Just say it!
I didn’t have the courage to go straight to him and say, Could you please read some Ancient Language for me, Master! Not when we were still in this cold silence.
For me to be so shameless….
“Wow!”
I pointed at the beautiful scenery surrounding Molek.
The quiet fortress, empty of any soul.
Between towering, jagged cliffs that displayed majestic dignity, a crystalline blue lake sparkled brilliantly.
“It’s really pretty, isn’t it? Don’t you think?”
“No, it’s not pretty.”
“…Master.”
“If you have nothing more to say, I’m leaving.”
“Wait!”
I grabbed Oscar’s hand, seeing he was truly about to walk away without hesitation.
“Let go.”
But he shook it off at once.
“Oh….”
I stared blankly at my rejected hand and swallowed hard.
He was truly angry.
I’d never seen him this cold before.
“…….”
“…….”
I looked up at Oscar timidly, and he too stood frozen, watching me.
He seemed troubled by how coldly and thoughtlessly he’d brushed my hand away.
“Master…. Are you that angry? Do you not even want to look at my face anymore…?”
“…….”
“Can’t I… hold your hand?”
At my pitiful words, Oscar closed his eyes slowly and released only a sigh.
Is that permission?
I reached for his hand again, but Oscar pulled away.
Then he looked at me with sharp, piercing eyes.
“Listen.”
“Y-yes….”
“You think I’m pathetic.”
“What?”
“You say anything and I give in. The moment your life is in danger, I panic. I let you push me around every single day.”
“…….”
“I’m a fool.”
“No! No, you’re not! I….”
“Don’t deny it. If you didn’t think I was worthless, you’d never say something like that, not even as a joke.”
“…….”
“Do you know what? I don’t actually fail to sleep. I choose not to. Because every time I close my eyes, I have nightmares.”
Oscar spoke through trembling lips.
“Dreams of you vanishing. Dreams of you in the Emperor’s hands. Dreams of watching you wither, your life drained away, dying of old age in front of me…!”
“…….”
“I think I’d truly lose my mind.”
I swallowed hard.
With wet eyes fixed on me, Oscar gripped his own hair with one hand, pulling at it desperately.
“I’m amazed I haven’t gone mad already.”
“…….”
“So after enduring this for years, you don’t worry anymore? You can’t feel the terror of the Emperor now?”
“That’s not… that’s not what I meant….”
“He’s no different from a god. No matter how hard your father and I fight, we cannot protect you. With a single gesture, he could bring you before him right now.”
“…….”
“That’s why I hoped—I prayed—that you would do nothing. Stay hidden. Live quietly.”
Kneeling before me, Oscar seized my frozen shoulders and shouted.
“Not because of you—because of me, trembling for your life!”
“Master….”
“I live each day praying for your safety, and then what? You’ll follow me into death? We’ll meet in hell? This….”
I couldn’t speak.
I’d never seen Oscar lose himself like this.
“What am I to you? Why do I have to go this far?”
Then he buried his face in my shoulder, muttering helplessly.
“Why did you have to remember? I wish you’d just forgotten forever….”
“…….”
I stood frozen, unsure what to say, before pulling him close with trembling arms.
“I’m sorry… I’m so sorry. I shouldn’t have spoken of death so carelessly….”
My hands wouldn’t stop shaking with panic.
I’d truly made a mistake.
“But that’s exactly what I meant—you matter so much to me….”
“…….”
“You… you created a world for me, Master….”
Oscar paused, then slowly lifted his head.
“You told me to be happy. I was born into the world you made… and I knew happiness….”
My vision blurred with fear and shock.
When I squeezed my eyes shut, tears spilled down.
“And I came back because that world was still happy—I came back because of you, Master. To remember you. To meet you….”
“…….”
“You’ve become so precious to me… so very precious. If you disappear, how will I… how will I go on? I came back for you, and if you leave me, if you abandon me….”
“Listen….”
I kept wiping away the tears and speaking.
“I’ll do anything. I’ll find a way. Even if you don’t speak to me, even if you’re angry, even if you never want to see my face again… I’ll still find a way….”
“God!”
Oscar cried out, pulling me tightly against him.
“You… truly….”
“…….”
“What am I supposed to do with you….”

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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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