My Daddy Hides His Power - Chapter 19

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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 19
“That can’t happen!!!”
“Ahahaha. Look at that expression. Don’t worry. It’s just a fairy tale. Besides, your father wouldn’t lose you in the first place, would he?”
But he did lose me….
If things had gone according to the original story….
“And even if he had lost you, he’d be too clever to stumble into serving some evil king like a fool. He’d just march right in, brush aside the evil king, and rescue our princess straightaway.”
That’s not how it would go. It wouldn’t be so simple….
I hid my complicated feelings and spoke.
“Father, I want to ask you something.”
“What is it?”
“Doesn’t every Ability User have to go to war when the Emperor commands them?”
“Hm? Ah, yes. That’s right.”
“But didn’t you say before that I don’t have to go?”
“That’s right. Our princess doesn’t have to go.”
“Why not? I’m your daughter, aren’t I? That makes me a pretty strong Ability User. So I should go.”
“No, you don’t have to. Your father has a way to handle it.”
“What way?”
“I have one, anyway. Ugh, I’m so tired.”
Father dodged the question and pulled my head into his embrace.
I swallowed a bitter smile silently.
I didn’t need to hear the answer—I could guess his plan well enough.
Father would be visiting the Emperor soon. And with ninety-nine point nine percent certainty, he’d be asking for an exemption from military service for me.
The card he’d lay on the table for negotiation was obvious.
From now on, he’d become an obedient dog who bows to imperial commands without question.
When war comes, he’ll go. He’ll do whatever they ask….
‘A good king has no choice but to become a pawn of the bad king.’
Because the protagonist has a weakness.
His daughter, precisely.
‘The Emperor must have sought Father out again because of war, I suppose?’
To recover his kidnapped daughter, Enoch Rubinstein took to the battlefield countless times.
And when he learned that his daughter was dead, his blade would turn toward the Emperor.
‘But even if I hadn’t been kidnapped by the Emperor, Father still wouldn’t be free. He’ll negotiate with the Emperor to keep me off the battlefield.’
The good king would become a chess piece of the bad king, waging meaningless wars of slaughter.
Father—the protagonist—was a righteous person who despised the Empire’s tyranny and wars of conquest….
“You know, for our princess’s sake, Father can do anything.”
Yes, he was someone who would readily draw his blade for me.
“If the protagonist isn’t happy, it isn’t a happy ending, Lilith.”
“The princess is the only thing Father can’t live without.”
My thought that the ‘daughter’ was merely a plot device for the original story was wrong.
Living as the Emperor’s puppet.
Resolving to take revenge.
Eventually succeeding in revolution.
Every action Father took had a ‘purpose,’ and that purpose was entirely me.
The original story, which I’d naturally assumed had a happy ending, became a certain tragedy for the protagonist only after he lost his purpose.
‘Maybe… after the original story ended, Father died following me too.’
Then what I had to do was….
It wasn’t enough to just help Father reach a peaceful ending as the original story would have it.
‘I have to survive. I myself, safely beside Father. No matter what happens.’
After the original story ends.
For the protagonist, Enoch Rubinstein’s happy ending.
By any means necessary.
“Father, I’m the same way.”
With firm resolve, I burrowed deeper into Father’s arms.
“I can do anything if it’s for Father….”
* * *
The highest rank, Dos.
And,
Quarto.
Septima.
Octava.
Noveno.
And finally, at the bottom rung, Dies.
Encompassing all six ranks of ability users, there exists a being beyond classification.
That being is:
Primera.
The existence of a Primera is the very source of magic itself.
A being as close to divinity as one can be—almighty, transcendent.
For this reason, only one is born in each generation.
Since the founding of the Empire.
A rank produced solely by the Imperial House of Pavilion:
the rank of the Emperor.
* * *
“The 12th Prince’s rank has been determined to be Quarto, Your Majesty.”
Crash!
At the report from his advisor, the Emperor shattered the glass he’d been holding.
Crimson blood smeared across his hand, only to seal itself without a trace moments later.
“Why hasn’t a Primera appeared?”
The Emperor had fathered fourteen children so far, yet not one had been a Primera.
The absence of a successor Primera had the people anxious and restless.
“Surely one will still be born…”
“Do not worry yourself, Your Majesty. You are still young and vital—surely you shall yet see a successor Primera born to you.”
The advisor sought to calm the Emperor’s displeasure.
Nicholas von Pavilion—the Emperor possessed delicate features, pale golden hair, and eyes of emerald green.
Though he was forty-eight years old, he appeared no older than a man in his twenties.
This was because a Primera’s lifespan was twice that of an ordinary person.
“So our Enoch has returned, I hear.”
“Yes, Your Majesty.”
“How surprising that he came back of his own accord.”
“According to the Knights Order’s report, his daughter wished to remain on the Island, Your Majesty.”
The Emperor burst into laughter.
Ha, ha, ha!
“How amusing. As if he understands what drove him to spirit her away seven years ago…”
The Emperor pictured Enoch, yielding at last to his foolish daughter’s pleas and returning to the Island.
“Well, it suits me. It is precisely what I desired.”
Seven years ago, when Enoch had deserted.
The Emperor had raged.
His absence was a catastrophic loss of military power.
Yet there had been no way to force his return. Enoch was simply too formidable an ability user.
“Patience rewards those who wait. Had I forced his compliance then, I would likely be in the grave by now, my lifeforce exhausted.”
The Emperor laughed softly to himself.
Unlike other ability users, a Primera consumed lifeforce rather than Mana.
Though a Primera possessed the omnipotent power to brainwash and subjugate other ability users, such an act demanded considerable lifeforce.
Even more so when the target was someone as formidable as Enoch Rubinstein.
But.
“Does he even comprehend what I endured during these seven years of waiting?”
There were means to hold Enoch’s leash without brainwashing.
Seven years ago, the Enoch who had vanished had been protecting but one thing: his daughter.
The Emperor had recognized that she would become his weakness, and he had waited patiently.
Until Enoch’s world contained nothing but her.
Until she became a whip with which he could bend Enoch to his will.
“Enoch shall bring me a splendid gift of his homecoming.”
Maps covered every wall of the chamber.
The Empire had consumed nearly the entire Continent.
Yet those few nations still unconquered remained thorns in the side of Nicholas, an Emperor who bore the title of Conqueror.
But soon, only the Empire’s name would remain upon the Continent.
For Enoch Rubinstein had returned.
* * *
The next morning.
“Oh my, oh my, oh my. How absolutely lovely you are, miss.”
“Which bag would you like to wear? The Teddy Bear Bag on your back, or the Rabbit Bag across your shoulder?”
I began a busy day alongside my attendants.
“Today’s the Rabbit!”
“Hee-hee-hee! Miss looks just like a rabbit!”
“Perfect, let’s go with the Rabbit!”
“What would you like to do today?”
“I have lessons this morning… but once they’re done, can I have a snack?”
“Of course, Miss. I’ll have milk and chocolate macarons ready for you.”
“Then you’ll be heading to the study now? Let me gather your materials.”
While Jeti and Jun prepared my lesson materials, I sat on the bed and swung my short legs back and forth.
‘So short…’
Short. Dreadfully short.
I wasn’t growing.
If I continued to grow this slowly, my identity would be exposed all across the kingdom.
‘I need to move fast.’
According to plan, I would rescue Cheshire first, then enter the Ability User Academy as soon as possible.
All ability users must go to the Academy and receive the Emperor’s power to use their abilities.
Because only the Emperor can open the ‘Core’ within an ability user’s heart.
And I had to open my Core and use some ability, as quickly as I could.
Only by using my ability and consuming my Lifeforce could I grow at a normal rate like everyone else.
‘Only then can I hide who I am…’
“Speaking of which, did you hear about this, sister?”
“About what?”
My ears perked up at the attendants’ voices as they bustled about gathering my things.
“It’s another dud, they say. The 12th Prince’s rank came out as Quarto.”
“Good heavens. Really? I thought this time it would be Primera?”
At Jun’s words, Jeti’s eyes widened in shock.
“People are saying God has abandoned the Imperial House. Another generation without Primera.”
“Ah, surely not. It’ll come soon.”
They were discussing the Imperial House.
I pretended not to care, swinging my legs and humming a little tune.
“It’s strange, though—really strange. The firstborn and secondborn have always had Primera until now.”
“True. With so many princes and princesses, there still isn’t a Crown Prince. I’m told this has never happened before.”
Primera—the absolute power ability born only once per generation.
Until now, it had come from the Imperial House without exception, ever and always.
Only a Primera among the Emperor’s children could become Crown Prince.
But.
‘Let that Emperor fool father children for a hundred years. Fat chance a Primera appears.’
The Imperial House would not produce a Primera in this generation.
The Primera born once per generation had already…
“Surely it didn’t come from another house?”
…bullseye.
“Pfft. Ridiculous.”
“Hehe…”
Cold sweat trickled down my forehead.

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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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