My Daddy Hides His Power - Chapter 211

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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
Episode 211
“Are you all right? Come to your senses!”
Enoch rushed to Selena’s side and checked her condition.
“That is, no….”
Even as her mind grew hazy, Selena clutched her belly and looked toward Lilis.
…….
Lilis stood motionless, staring blankly into nothing.
She heard nothing at all.
Not Enoch’s urgent voice, not the commotion of the knights who’d come running.
* * *
The Imperial Palace, Side Palace.
It was late afternoon when Gerard came to the administrative office within the palace quarters that the Emperor himself had granted to Cheshire.
“Is it true that Marquis Luden Dorf’s son is departing on this expedition?”
At Gerard’s astonished question, Cheshire faltered.
He’d received no word yet, but he knew it would happen soon enough.
“…Yes.”
“Ah, so it is. The Marquise came looking for you today, you see.”
“What? Why?”
“Because of her son, I’d imagine.”
“That’s what I’m asking—why seek you out if her son is departing?”
At Cheshire’s surprisingly sharp reply, Gerard blinked.
“Well, naturally… you’d be able to do something about it, wouldn’t you? Surely she came to ask a favor?”
…….
“…She’s Lilis’s mother, after all.”
At the added remark, Cheshire’s brow furrowed.
Gerard apparently didn’t know that Lilis and her birth mother were worse than strangers.
“We’re not on those kinds of terms.”
“Are we not?”
Gerard considered this, then nodded slowly.
“The atmosphere was tense, certainly. The Marquise was crying and shouting—it was quite the scene. What parent wouldn’t lose their composure in such a situation….”
“She lost her composure, so why come to me? Maybe she needed someone to vent her anger on rather than actually asking for a favor.”
Gerard found Cheshire’s low, measured tone puzzling. Something about his feelings toward Selena didn’t seem favorable.
“Hmm. Are you two not on good terms? I’d assumed you kept up at least light contact, given that Lilis connects you….”
“That woman has never once come to see Lilis.”
“…What? What do you mean?”
Gerard was startled.
He knew, of course, that Selena had built a new household while Enoch was absent through desertion.
But setting that aside—wasn’t Lilis still her daughter?
“Why would that be?”
“Don’t try to make sense of it. I can’t either.”
“Good heavens. Then….”
Gerard’s expression darkened.
“That would explain why Lilis looked so shaken today. Her mother, who’s never once come to see her, suddenly appears and starts screaming for her father….”
“What?”
In that instant, Cheshire—who’d been standing before the desk absently shuffling through papers—turned sharply around.
“Lilis was there?”
Gerard flinched at the expression that twisted Cheshire’s face into something menacing.
“Ah, yes. She seemed to have come looking for you, I think… it was by chance….”
“Damn.”
Cheshire ground his teeth and irritably scraped his palm across his jaw. Truly….
“I need to go.”
Cheshire grabbed his outer coat.
Knock, knock.
“Er, Sir Cheshire?”
Just then, the flustered voice of the Advisor came from beyond the door.
“A visitor has arrived. What shall we do? It’s the Marquise Luden Dorf.”
Cheshire and Gerard’s eyes met.
“She very much wishes to see you at once, it seems….”
Cheshire’s eyes narrowed to slits.
Why Selena had suddenly sought him out was obvious.
If she’d meant to ask Enoch for something on behalf of her son, she should have approached him instead—the Supreme Commander of this Subjugation Campaign.
“Wow, no.”
Gerard, startled, covered his mouth and glanced out the window. The sun was setting.
“She collapsed less than half a day ago, and the moment she came to, she sought you out. She must be terribly worried about her son….”
At Gerard’s murmur, Cheshire’s eyebrows shot up.
“…Collapsed?”
“Yeah. You didn’t know the Marchioness was pregnant?”
“No.”
She got overexcited and collapsed right there. She was clutching her belly and in obvious pain—looked serious. The Captain had her rushed to the Infirmary, though.”
“Is that so?”
Something shifted in Cheshire’s expression.
“If she was that badly off, the child’s fine? She came here half a day later without any trouble?”
“Right? I’m amazed too. The child’s supposedly unhurt. I was so anxious something might go wrong….”
Gerard trailed off, noticing Cheshire smiling faintly.
“Hey, you….”
Cheshire continued laughing mockingly, then suddenly hardened his expression into something terrible.
“…What is it?”
Sensing the shift in the air, Gerard tensed.
Cheshire tossed aside his outer robe carelessly, dropped into a chair, and spoke to the Advisor.
“Bring her in.”
* * *
The Magic Tower, Oscar’s office.
Beyond the window, the sun was setting.
I’d returned after turning in my half-day leave and told Oscar everything that happened today.
And now….
Postponing my departure, I was hastily revising the report.
“So, you really didn’t feel sorry for that woman?”
At Oscar’s question, I stopped scribbling with my pen.
“Why do you keep asking the same thing? I told you it wasn’t like that?”
“Come on, she even collapsed. You didn’t get soft-hearted again, did you?”
“It’s the opposite. I think Mother was….”
“The Marchioness Luden Dorf.”
“Yes. I thought she was too harsh. My father’s the one I feel sorry for.”
“Is that right?”
“Yes.”
Talking about it made my throat tighten, so I gripped the pen harder.
“You see, Master, Mother taking me to the Emperor—that never happened, right?”
…….
“So even if I wanted to ask her why she did that to me, yell at her, demand answers—I couldn’t.”
In this life, Mother doesn’t know I’m Primera.
Of course, if she did, I’d have been handed over to the Emperor just like in the Original Story, but thankfully that’s no longer happening.
So what Mother did was….
Report a deserter.
That was all, and it was only frustrating for Father and me—technically lawful, nothing anyone could justly blame her for.
We’d have had to return to Jedo anyway, with or without her.
“But… hearing directly what Mother was thinking when she reported Father—I’m so angry now. I can finally go confront her about it without hesitation.”
The moment I spotted Mother from a distance, I’d immediately used my Ability, so I’d heard nearly their entire conversation from the beginning.
“Mother anticipated far more than I’d thought and struck a deal with the Emperor.”
…….
“She probably expected that I’d naturally become a Dosz. That Father would take up a sword in my place.”
…….
“That the Emperor would command Father to go to war… she already knew. She knew Father hated that sort of war….”
I felt so wronged, so sorry for Father, that tears spilled over.
“She just hoped Father would grit his teeth and make the sacrifice alone.”
“Hey, don’t cry.”
Oscar, leaning against the desk and quietly listening to me, pulled a handkerchief from his robe and tossed it over.
I caught the handkerchief as it landed on the table and blew my nose.
“Didn’t Mother feel anything for Father? Is it okay for Father to kill innocent people and suffer in sorrow and agony?”
…….
“Father didn’t choose to be born strong, yet everyone torments him and tries to use him. I was already sick of the Emperor, but to find out that Mother—that she thinks of Father that way too… it’s just so unfair.”
“…….”
“I can’t very well reproach someone who’s collapsed from illness, so I came back today without saying anything. But if I just let what she said to Father slide, it’ll eat at me, so once he wakes, I’m going to find him, look him in the eye, and demand answers.”
“That’s rather frightening.”
Oscar chuckled as he added this.
“So if we’re to dislike the woman, what about her son? You sold yourself to live comfortably, and now he’s become a soldier. Doesn’t that set your mind at ease?”
“That’s not how it is at all. Master, you sound just like Mother. Why would you think Father and I would feel relieved by that? He doesn’t even know what’s happening.”
“Then? Your heart is troubled?”
“Of course it’s troubled. An inexperienced child is being sent to war. Anyone would be unsettled about that—not just me.”
I picked up my pen again at the mention of Kyle, my half-brother who had just come into my life.
After all, learning that Kyle would be departing on this expedition meant I was already revising the .
“So what will you do? Ask your boyfriend to help? He’s the only one who can convince the Emperor right now.”
Cheshire?
I shook my head slowly as I examined the plan I was revising.
“No. I have my own ideas about this. It wouldn’t make sense for Cheshire to suddenly try convincing the Emperor to remove some child from the expedition that he barely even knows….”
I stopped mid-sentence.
‘Wait.’
What did Oscar just say?
“……Ask your boyfriend to help?”
“M-m-m-master….”
I’d been caught.
In the midst of the serious mood and my whining, he’d slipped it in so naturally that I never would have guessed he was setting a trap.
“H-how despicably sneaky….”
“Hahahahaha!”
Oscar grabbed his belly and laughed so hard—before his face suddenly went rigid.
“My instinct was right, as always.”
“Please, have mercy…. I’m begging you….”
“What are you talking about? Did I kill the man or something? Why are you hiding it?”
“…….”
I watched Oscar’s expression carefully.
I’d expected the interrogation to begin at once….
For some reason, he just grumbled for a moment before turning back to his desk, opening a drawer, and retrieving something.
Scissors……?
“Is the child safe?”
“Pardon?”
“You said the woman collapsed. Is the child all right?”
“Ah….”
“Why did you only mention that the woman fell ill and conveniently leave out that she’s pregnant? I saw it before. The woman is carrying a child.”
…He was asking about the baby inside Mother’s womb.
“Y-yes!”
I was startled for a moment before immediately nodding.
“Father took her to the Infirmary right away to have her checked. The baby seems to be unharmed. That… well, that’s fortunate, isn’t it?”
“…….”
Oscar, holding the scissors, stared at me intently.
“…What is it? Is something wrong? I mean, Mother may be detestable, but… the baby did nothing wrong…. It is fortunate, isn’t it, I…?”
“Yes. That’s true.”
Oscar pulled over a chair and sat down in front of me.
“The child is blameless, that’s right.”
“…….”
He brought the scissors to my bangs. I froze.
Snip, snip.
As I heard the sound of my hair being cut, I swallowed hard.
“Don’t be nervous. It won’t show much. Though your bangs could use some work.”
Oscar finished cutting and held up a handful of severed hair, examining it thoughtfully.
“This much? Have you been using this for about three months now? To save the baby inside?”
“…….”
I couldn’t speak, only my lips moved silently.
Oscar laughed softly, gave my cheek a light tap, and tossed the scissors onto the table.
“Ha.”
He then turned his chair around and leaned his head back, looking weary.
“Truly…”
Oscar dragged a hand across his gaunt face, his expression twisting with anguish.
“…she’s never been of use to the child, not once in all her life.”

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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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