My Daddy Hides His Power - Chapter 185

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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 Power
185
“Ah, yes, of course….”
“Would you all like to try solving some problems too? You’re learning this material anyway.”
“Yes! I want to!”
“Me too, me too!”
The moment Oscar spoke, all the children erupted in excited chirps.
What’s with all this scholarly enthusiasm?
“You can get the last three problems wrong. I put them in as trick questions.”
Oscar handed out identical test papers to each child, then turned to me.
“But you—you can’t miss any. You get a perfect score or you don’t pass.”
……
I skimmed through the problems quickly.
Aside from the final three, it was all Trigonometry.
Based on my memories from my past life, this would be roughly a second-year high school curriculum.
‘These kids are solving Trigonometry right now?’
I studied the children around me—they looked like elementary school students, my apparent age-mates.
‘Surely this is a joke?’
Seeing me frozen in shock, unable to pick up a pen, Hans let out a smirk of knowing amusement.
“Alright, everyone—begin!”
The children shielded their test papers with their arms as though I might cheat, and began working through the problems.
“What are you doing? Sit down and start solving yours too.”
Oscar gestured to a chair, but I shook my head.
“No, I’m fine.”
I pushed the dazzling Emperor’s Gift far to the side and picked up a random pen from the table.
“I’ll sit once I’ve finished solving them….”
……?
Ten problems in all.
Problems one through seven were Trigonometry, and the remaining three covered Calculus and Derivatives.
I filled the answer sheet as deliberately and meticulously as I could, writing out each step of the solution without flaw.
“…I’m done.”
At my words, Hans’s head snapped up in surprise.
I sighed and handed my test paper to Oscar.
“Hmm.”
Oscar crossed his legs, scanned through my paper thoroughly, then let out a soft chuckle and covered it over.
“Are you all still working?”
“I’m done too!”
“So am I!”
“Check them.”
At Oscar’s instruction, Robel graded the children’s papers.
All of them scored seventy points.
I was stunned silent.
Excluding the three problems they apparently hadn’t learned yet, it was practically a perfect score.
‘Elementary school children solving Trigonometry?’
These children were the real deal!
True prodigies!
“What score did that one get? Did she at least solve one problem?”
As Hans asked warily, Oscar slid my test paper to the center of the table.
“Perfect score.”
The children’s eyes went wide.
Hans quickly snatched up my test paper. As he checked it line by line, his mouth gradually fell open.
“This… this is….”
“As I always say, this place demands that you prove your merit before you enter. You’ve proven yours, and that’s why you belong under me now. In this country, there’s wealth and power that even the most talented Commoner could never grasp, no matter how many times they died and came back. Those rewards are yours.”
Oscar folded his arms and leaned back arrogantly as he spoke.
“Never cower when you meet some stupid noble. Outargue them, and if they won’t listen, beat them bloody. I’ll handle whatever comes after.”
What in the world is he teaching them?
“But if you’ve proven your merit, you should also have the virtue to recognize it, even in a noble. That’s what the Meritocracy I’ve been teaching you really means.”
Oscar rose to his feet, still unable to tear his eyes from my test paper, watching Hans’s stunned expression.
“Her name is Lilis Rubinstein. She’s one year older than you, Hans, and the same age as the rest of you.”
He placed a hand on my shoulder and added:
“From now on, we’re supposed to be friends?”
* * *
The daily routine of the gifted students was straightforward enough.
Mornings were spent solving math problems without respite, and afternoons devoted to learning the principles behind constructing magical formulas.
I’d heard that Hans had already progressed to the point of creating several simple magical formulas on his own.
“Lilis!”
“Hmm?”
That was when Elly approached me with a book in hand. She’d been the only girl in this gifted class before I arrived.
“So, I worked out the value when sin(x) equals root three over two, right? But do I also need to find the value when it equals one half?”
…….
Wait, is she serious?
I sighed at the disconnect between Elly’s innocent face and the trigonometry problem she’d presented.
Still, she’d asked, and I couldn’t very well refuse to help.
“You don’t need to. See, when it’s root three over two and when it’s one half, you get the same answer either way. So there’s no real need to solve for every possible x value—”
Her face lit up the moment I finished explaining.
“Wow, that’s amazing! I understand it so much better than when Hans or Robel explains it! You really are a genius, aren’t you?”
“I, I wouldn’t say that…”
These children, thoroughly indoctrinated with meritocratic values, gazed at me with genuine admiration every time I solved a difficult math problem without hesitation.
Each time I heard the word “genius,” my conscience throbbed painfully.
‘The real geniuses are you lot, solving trigonometry at this age. I’m just a graduate student who tutored math to pay tuition—I’m no genius!’
Of course, I couldn’t tell them the truth.
As I scratched my cheek in embarrassment, my eyes met Hans’s—he was glaring at me.
‘Hans…’
I’d grown closer to all the children, but Hans still seemed to resent me. He clearly felt competitive.
* * *
‘Am I losing my mind?’
I patted my noticeably fuller stomach as I left the dining hall.
‘This food is incredibly delicious!’
The Magic Tower provided researchers with three meals a day, each one top-tier.
And that wasn’t all.
Solid benefits, a comfortable working environment—truly the finest workplace there was!
No wonder everyone, young and old alike, was so eager to get in here.
“Are you heading home now, Lilis?”
Elly asked.
She was clutching a paper covered in mathematical formulas, and she hadn’t let go of it even in the dining hall.
None of the other children had either.
“Yeah. I’m heading home now. You all finished with classes, so you can rest now, right?”
“Yeah! Time to play!”
Children really are children.
Seeing them so happy that the day was over, I felt pleased.
“I’m going for a walk first, then I’ll work through more problems on applications of trigonometry!”
“I need to review arithmetic and geometric progressions from today.”
“Right, we have to move past that section so Robel will teach us Calculus. Let’s do it together.”
…Wait, what?
“Hey, you guys—how is that playing? That’s just continuing to study!”
“…? What’s the difference?”
No, there is a difference!
There definitely is!
I stood there flustered, unsure where to even begin my protest, when Elly laughed shyly.
“I’m glad we met today. I’m sorry for being snippy with you at first when I misunderstood. I apologize.”
“Me too, I’m sorry. Let’s be closer from now on. I thought all nobles had bad personalities, but you’re kind and smart, so I really like you.”
“Hmm, really?”
When Jasper said that, I felt genuinely pleased.
“But Lilis—since you’re a noble, you don’t walk more than three steps at a time, right? Do you still get bows from commoners when you’re out on the street? It’s been a while since I entered the Magic Tower, so I’m not sure anymore.”
Rocky, who seemed the most curious, asked.
“What are you talking about? That’s not how it is.”
I waved my hand frantically.
“Everyone walks normally. I do too. And, well, as for receiving bows…”
“Receiving them?”
“It still happens, but not from me! Really, not me! It’s the Dos who get treated that way. I’m… you might not know this, but I’m an Octava.”
The children nodded, murmuring their agreement.
“That’s why I don’t know most of the Dos very well, and I don’t have many close friends among them either. Actually, I have more friends from the salon, and they’re all from lower ranks. They’re kind people, and we get along really well.”
“Is that so?”
“Yeah! And I have tons of commoner friends too? I met them when I went to the Training Institute….”
“That’s funny.”
Just then, Hans, who had been absorbed in memorizing math formulas at the back, cut in and interrupted me.
“That’s all lies. Your father is a Dos—how could you not know the Dos? And aren’t all Octava the same Octava?”
Hans crossed his arms with a snap, adding his point.
“Your father’s presence is so commanding that even most nobles can’t treat him casually. You’re just born at the very top of this ecosystem’s food chain.”
“No, no, that’s not it.”
“What do you mean ‘that’s not it’? It’s fine that you want to be friendly, but I wish you’d stop lying about it. Just because your rank is higher than ours, does that mean you’re afraid of the Dos? You’re not, are you?”
Hans adjusted his glasses with a flick, his expression perfectly logical.
“You’re the young lady of the most prominent noble house in Jedo right now, and you’re saying you get along with people of lower ranks and commoners? Really? Wouldn’t it make much more sense if you used Dos like servants?”
“Hans! The Magic Tower Master said we should all be friendly with each other. Why are you picking a fight?”
“He’s right. Lilis hasn’t done anything wrong either. Back off a little.”
Elly and Jasper took my side, but Hans remained stubbornly unmoved.
“My point is, don’t put on an act. You’re a lion. It’s ridiculous pretending to be friends with rabbits when you know perfectly well you can’t be.”
…….
“The Magic Tower Master hates judging people by rank and status and believes strictly in meritocracy, so you’re saying this to look good in his eyes. But I see right through you.”
What kind of ten-year-old argues this well?
I was about to fire back, but the thought of continuing to bicker with a child struck me as absurd, so I just let out a sigh and left it at that.
“Alright, Hans. I can see how you might misunderstand. I’ll show you my true heart in time. But I really wasn’t lying. I have many friends, and I didn’t pick and choose when making them, and I never will. So please don’t think too badly of me.”
That should settle it cleanly enough.
I felt satisfied, but for some reason all four children’s eyes were fixed on something behind me.
‘What?’
With an ominous feeling, I spun around.
“……?”
A carriage stood behind me—I had no idea when it had arrived.
‘Wait.’
And from it, Cheshire stepped down.
‘Is this timing real?’
Cheshire wore an Inspector Corps uniform.
A crimson cloak with the emblem clearly marking him as Rank Dos.
On the carriage hung a Golden Seal—permitted only for the Ducal House.
A man who, by rank and status alike, had no need to bow his head to anyone but the Emperor—
“I came to pick you up.”
—had come to greet me with those words.
‘Is there really an Octava who uses a Dos as a personal escort home?’
I stood frozen.
A thousand thoughts swirled through my head.
‘Why? There’s no campaign today, so why the full uniform? And precisely at this moment? This has to be intentional—he’s deliberately trying to make me look bad….’
I swallowed hard, then turned back to look at the children.
“Hey, you guys….”
But the children had already backed away about five paces.
“Hey, you all?!”
“L-Lilis! Get home safely! See you tomorrow!”
“T-take care!”
“Goodbye!”
The children, startled by the arrival of the young master from the Ducal House, bolted before I could catch them.
“You guys!”
My outstretched hand flailed uselessly through the air as I tried to grab them, then fell limp.
Hans was the last to remain.
“……Wouldn’t it make much more sense if you used Dos like servants?”
He shot me a knowing smirk, as if to say ‘I knew it,’ and left.
“Wow. Just. Wow.”
I was done for. I turned to face the situation, pulling my cheeks down in dismay.
“You. Seriously. Wow.”
“…I’m sorry.”
Sensing the awkward atmosphere, Cheshire apologized first.
“I mean… I did mess up, didn’t I?”

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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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