My Daddy Hides His Power - Chapter 215

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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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Dad Hides His Strength
Chapter 215
“Gasp. Is that really true?”
Enoch’s eyes widened.
“Why didn’t you tell me?”
“I wasn’t going to tell you either. But I kept probing, and eventually she slipped up and confessed. You should play dumb until she brings it up first.”
“No, I…”
Enoch, flustered, fell silent for a moment before murmuring.
“…Cheshire?”
“What? You already knew?”
“Wow!”
Enoch grabbed his head.
“I didn’t know for certain. The others, I’ve got locked down tight. If anyone’s a possibility, it would only be Cheshire.”
“She said it’s been a month.”
“Really?!”
It was one shock after another.
“Lilis has seemed a bit dreamy lately, so I half-suspected something.”
Not that I didn’t have my suspicions. I’d even thought, ‘Could it be… Cheshire?’ at one point.
But.
“When I met Cheshire, I tested him in all sorts of ways and watched his face carefully. But there wasn’t a single sign—not one! So I ended up dropping my suspicions entirely.”
If this were true…
Enoch found himself genuinely frightened of Cheshire all over again. A man who could evade even the scrutiny of someone as keen-eyed as himself—that was terrifying.
“I told you. From the moment he smiled pleasantly at his own father and played the part of a trusted friend, I said that bastard was scary.”
“Geez…”
“Which is why he also duped the Emperor so easily. Look at how that paranoid Emperor is eating out of that kid’s hand after just a few years—doesn’t that tell you everything? Hmm?”
……
Enoch swallowed hard.
“Listen carefully.”
Oscar spoke with grave resolve.
“She works at the Magic Tower from eight in the morning until six-thirty in the evening. Only one day off a week. Outside those hours, I won’t keep her.”
……
“Unless something exceptional happens, I’ll stick to that schedule like clockwork, and I’ll never have her sleep at the Magic Tower or my house. If I ever have to, I’ll contact you directly myself, without fail.”
Oscar leaned his face close to Enoch’s as he added:
“If she ever tries to use me as an excuse to stay out overnight, it’s a lie. Understand?”
“Stay out overnight?”
For a moment, Enoch turned pale, then forced a laugh.
“Come on. Surely not. Cheshire isn’t… he’s not that kind of kid.”
“Have you never been in love?”
“……?”
Enoch scratched his head.
“No, I haven’t. Somehow I have a daughter but never got around to that myself.”
“Sigh.”
“What’s with that pitying look? I’ve been too busy. And speaking of which—have you ever been in love, Master of the Magic Tower?”
Enoch, feeling oddly embarrassed, pressed back.
“No. I haven’t either.”
“See?”
“But I know well enough what a man in love is capable of. From now on, think of Cheshire not as a person, but as a beast.”
Enoch felt worry at Oscar’s grave expression, but he quickly brushed it aside.
‘Surely not.’
Enoch had known Cheshire for a very long time. He could confidently say he understood him.
Of course, there was a father’s natural concern for his daughter beginning her first romance…
But if her partner was Cheshire!
He was actually more trustworthy than the others.
‘My princess is still so young—overnight stays don’t make sense. Cheshire would think about all that. So there’s nothing to worry about…’
* * *
“Dad, I’m going to stay out overnight soon.”
Dad’s mouth fell open.
He looked shocked before I’d even explained the reason, which struck me as odd.
“W-what? An overnight stay, just like that?”
I’m going along on the upcoming Subjugation Battle.
The battle was scheduled to last at least a week, and since I couldn’t predict when Leon might run into trouble, standing watch around the clock was essential.
‘If I told Father the truth—that I needed to go save Leon—he’d understand, but….’
Father didn’t know about my expedition.
I deliberately kept it from him because if he decided to follow, it would be a disaster.
In the original story, Father wasn’t present at this battle.
Which meant his very existence would become a variable.
‘I’m sorry, Father. I can’t trust you with this.’
How could I trust James Brown, who’d once disguised himself as some old grandfather and shadowed me? I simply couldn’t!
“What’s the reason? Why? When? Where? With whom?”
“Mm, well… the exact date hasn’t been decided yet.”
If I’d told him the expedition date outright, there was no deceiving someone as sharp as Father.
So I gave him a vague answer and added quickly:
“I’m researching a Magic Formula with some friends from the Magic Tower these days. I’m going to work on it all night that day. Master will be at the Tower, so don’t worry.”
Mentioning Oscar, who trusted me completely without question or complaint, should do the trick!
“Ha-ha-ha. As if not a single prediction of mine could go wrong….”
But for some reason, Father let out a hollow laugh and muttered under his breath.
“Huh? What did you say? What prediction?”
“You can’t.”
“What?”
“You can’t!”
Father’s voice turned sharp and decisive. I was taken aback.
“Why not…?”
“You can’t! In any case, you can’t!”
“No, tell me why you’re saying no!”
Father’s lips trembled, but he still refused to give a reason—instead, he suddenly scooped me into his arms.
“Ugh!”
“Absolutely not!!!”
* * *
One week before the large-scale Demon Beast Subjugation.
Imperial Palace, Holy Mage Order Training Ground.
Two weeks ago, twelve-year-old Kyle Luden Dorf, who had become a child soldier of the Holy Mage Order, sat in a corner of the training ground during a brief rest, catching his breath.
“Hah… hah….”
He felt the weight of distant glances cast in his direction—unkind, scrutinizing.
“Does he even have a conscience? Being that strong and yet so far….”
“He’s a coward.”
Though his fellow child soldiers had begun to shun him the moment he enrolled, Kyle understood their feelings.
Children fighting for their country with honor and nobility would naturally hold him in contempt.
‘It’s fine. Don’t dwell on it. I just have to work hard. It’s what I was meant to do anyway.’
Kyle’s father, Marquis Luden Dorf, was an Ability User of Quarto Rank, though not a soldier by profession.
The Luden Dorf house had received Merit Medals from the Imperial Household when all direct-line heirs fell in battle.
His father, descended from a collateral branch, had been exempted from military service by the noble blood his ancestors had shed, continuing the family line.
Though he didn’t know all the details, he’d heard that being from a decorated family was tremendously honorable.
His mother, who had once been a soldier, didn’t have to go to war because of it, and Kyle himself was in the same position….
Yes.
That’s what he thought.
Until now.
His parents, the household servants, the teachers and friends at the Training Institute—
None of them had ever told Kyle the truth.
“Have you ever met your sister?”
“…Sister?”
“What? He really didn’t know, did he?”
“Hey, didn’t the captain say not to bring up useless stuff! Let’s go!”
“Wait, just a moment!”
Having suddenly become a child soldier and coming to train here daily at the Imperial Palace.
It was here that Kyle finally caught a vague glimpse of something he’d never known.
Everyone would glance at him and whisper. Though none of them would answer him directly, he’d picked up scattered fragments of words over time.
‘What kind of person is my sister?’
Wiping sweat from above his eyes, Kyle tried to picture his sister’s face as best he could.
Because of the way people avoided him and steered clear of the topic, he still didn’t know the full truth….
‘Will my sister agree to meet me?’
He had come to suspect that the reason he had shirked his duties as an Ability User until now was thanks to his sister.
‘She must hate me terribly.’
Kyle wanted to meet his sister.
And he truly wanted to apologize, to beg her forgiveness.
‘But why would Mother….’
His mother, who loved him so dearly.
Was that why?
Was that why she had sent her daughter to the battlefield instead of her son?
“Please, Mother, tell me the truth. Was my sister fighting in my place?”
Every night since Kyle became a child soldier, his mother wept herself to sleep, and when he begged her to tell him the truth, she could only cry.
He found himself unwilling to comfort her.
Honestly, he hated her too much.
“Why? You know I’m strong! I could do it! So why… why did you do this?”
Perhaps his mother’s evasion was itself an answer—confirmation that every suspicion he harbored was true.
It was devastating.
Because of his mother, he had been earning his sister’s hatred all this while, knowing nothing.
If his sister, whose face he barely knew, had been fighting on the edge of life and death in his stead all this time….
‘It’s all right. It’s all right.’
Kyle brushed away his tears roughly, swallowing another surge of remorse.
It might not be too late.
He would work hard and show everyone how strong he truly was, even now.
On this expedition, he would earn great merit.
And then….
He would find someone—whether his father or the commander—who could grant his request.
‘From now on, I’ll do it instead of my sister. I can take her place, so please… please don’t send her to the battlefield anymore.’ That’s what I’ll ask.
Then perhaps his sister, who had been suffering all this time in place of a brother whose face she barely knew….
His sister, who surely left for the battlefield with nothing but resentment for him….
Might she, perhaps, forgive me?
‘Don’t hope for it. Even if my sister keeps hating me forever, there’s nothing I can do about it. That’s just… something I can’t change.’
Whether he intended it or not, he owed his sister a debt. He was young, but Kyle understood that ignorance was a cowardly excuse.
Because of that, he dared not hope that his sister would welcome him or love him.
All he could do now was take back the burden she had been carrying.
And, just once.
He wanted to see her face and apologize.
“Hey! What are you doing?! How much longer are you going to slack off?”
One of his fellow child soldiers glared at him.
Though he’d barely rested ten minutes, Kyle wiped his tears and scrambled to his feet.
A fool. An idiot, knowing nothing.
“Sorry! I’m coming right now!”
For someone like him, even a moment to catch his breath was a luxury.

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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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