My Daddy Hides His Power - Chapter 223

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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
223
* * *
A gathering of the Rebel Forces’ leadership.
Enoch sat with the exhausted face of a man haunted by worry, Axion chuckling beside him, and Joseph, watching them both with a wry smile playing at his lips.
“Ugh. I’m going to lose my mind.”
Enoch dragged a hand across his face, dark shadows carved beneath his eyes.
“What are you so worried about?”
Axion posed the question knowing perfectly well what troubled Enoch, his tone deliberately needling.
Enoch shot him a sharp look.
“Don’t pretend ignorance.”
“No, it’s an unnecessary worry. My son isn’t the thoughtless sort.”
Ever since discovering Lilis’s secret romance, Enoch had been consumed by anxiety.
He wasn’t easily swayed by gossip, but this involved his daughter—somehow that changed everything.
Oscar’s words—’all men are beasts’—had taken root in his mind and refused to leave. Cheshire had done nothing wrong, yet Enoch had already half-surrendered his trust.
“Is that why you’re so anxious today, with Lord Cheshire returning?” Joseph asked with an amused smile, and Axion nodded in agreement.
Today was the day the Magical Beast Suppression Force, which had marched south, would return to the capital.
The three of them were, in fact, waiting for Cheshire.
How eagerly must Lilis be counting the days until her lover returned from the battlefield?
“Don’t you dare grant her permission for an overnight visit.”
Enoch’s voice carried the weight of a grave pronouncement, his leg bouncing with tension beneath the table.
“Is my son a beast? Couldn’t Lilis be the one seducing him into asking for such a thing?”
“What are you saying, you fool? Have you lost your mind? Our princess would never do such a thing. Would she?”
Enoch seized Axion by the collar in alarm. Amused by the reaction, Axion burst into cackling laughter.
Joseph watched the two of them, smiling on the surface, but―
‘Oh, the worries,’ he thought, swallowing sighs one after another.
Axion, still gripped by Enoch’s collar, turned to Joseph. “Joseph, is something the matter? Your expression seems off.”
The sharp question caught Joseph by surprise.
‘Have I lost control of my face that badly?’
Joseph hesitated before heaving a long sigh and speaking. “It’s just… the work I’ve been doing on the Imperial Elite Force has proven far more difficult than anticipated.”
The Rebel Forces had made all their preparations.
The day the Emperor ordered the invasion campaign would be that day.
That day would be the moment of the Great Undertaking.
Led by Enoch, the Rebel Forces would rise up and face the Emperor’s Elite Force.
Simultaneously, Cheshire’s army, which had marched on the Isole Kingdom, would return and seize the Imperial Palace.
“…It’s the non-ability users, isn’t it?” Axion asked, his face darkening, and Joseph nodded.
There were far more non-ability users than ability users. Throughout Jedo and its neighboring fiefdoms as well.
When the rebellion erupted, the Emperor would seek to fragment Enoch’s forces.
There was only one method he would employ.
It was obvious.
‘He’ll massacre the non-ability users.’
If that happened, Enoch’s military strength, already divided between stopping the massacre and facing the Emperor’s army, would scatter like autumn leaves.
‘He could turn a blind eye to the slaughter of commoners and strike swiftly at the Emperor’s throat, but the Duke would never make such a choice.’
That was why Joseph had been attempting to sway the noble commanders of the Elite Force—those who would carry out the Emperor’s massacres.
Only then would all preparations be truly complete.
But… it would be anything but simple.
From the start, these men were entirely steeped in the Class System, unwilling to slip from the Emperor’s grasp.
‘All our preparation is finished save for one concern. And here I am, utterly failing at my role as strategist. How pathetic.’
Joseph looked troubled, his expression grave, when―
“That’s right!”
―Enoch suddenly exclaimed.
“I meant to tell you but forgot. My apologies. With everything about our princess on my mind, I’ve been scatterbrained.”
Enoch smiled and produced a sheet of parchment from his pocket.
‘What is that? A Magic Formula?’
Joseph stared at it, perplexed.

“What is this?”
“Ha ha ha!”
Enoch laughed heartily, tapping the Magic Formula with his finger.
“Don’t worry. This is precisely the key that will solve the problem you’re concerned about right now.”
“I beg your pardon?”
“Once that problem is resolved, we’ll be fully prepared, won’t we?”
Joseph brightened at Enoch’s confident tone, which inspired trust.
“Yes, that’s correct. But what exactly is this?”
Enoch smiled knowingly.
“The ultimate secret technique, graciously provided by our gifted Magic Tower Master himself.”
* * *
“The greatest future Magic Tower Master!”
I waved my hands excitedly beside an embarrassed Hans.
“Hans, wasn’t the word ‘genius’ practically invented for you?”
“P-please stop….”
Oh, he likes it really.
Hans’s ears had turned crimson.
‘Who knew such wonderful news was waiting for me!’
After saving Leon, I’d returned to Jedo ahead of time, mixed in with the advance recovery unit of the wounded.
And waiting for me was news that brought genuine joy.
Our Magic Tower Gifted Class ace, Hans, had finally completed the Magic Formula he’d been painstakingly researching for three years!
‘Since it’s a Magic Formula only someone who understands the concept of having little or no Mana could create, the only clever Non-ability User who could research it was Hans.’
A groundbreaking Magic Formula that casts the same spell using far less Mana.
Simply put, it would allow Ability Users of the Diez Class to face Ability Users of the Septima Class without difficulty.
On the day of rebellion.
If the Emperor’s army tried to slaughter commoners?
With this Magic Formula, our Diez-class mercenaries could overcome the power gap and stop them easily.
‘Then we won’t have to worry about our Rebel Forces’ elite strength being unnecessarily scattered to protect the commoners.’
I giggled to myself.
“You’ve worked hard, Hans.”
Oscar, watching us, praised him warmly.
‘Ah, the greatest Magic Tower Master! Honestly, I’d say it’s no exaggeration to call Master the true architect of the revolution’s success!’
My eyes stung unexpectedly.
It was Oscar who’d been gathering talented commoners from long ago and had them research this magic.
“Is there anything you want?”
“Pardon?”
“Say anything. You’ve suffered through three years of assignments I gave you, so I should reward you properly.”
Oscar spoke arrogantly, crossing his legs with a flourish.
Wow!
This moment when a tycoon tells you to name anything you want!
I hurried over to advise Hans.
“Hans! Ask for a house! The Magic Tower Master only has money!”
“That’s right. I only have money, so don’t hesitate out of politeness—say whatever you like.”
“W-well, then….”
Hans pondered for a long moment with an embarrassed face before speaking in a small voice.
“I’d like to take just one day off…. I want to play.”
Oscar’s expression hardened at once.
“That’s all? Rest as much as you want. That’s not a real reward—name something else.”
“W-with the Magic Tower Master….”
“What?”
At Hans’s addition, Oscar’s eyes widened slightly.
‘Ah.’
I covered my mouth and laughed silently.
As expected, this Oscar fan….
“N-no! If it’s too much trouble, that’s fine! You must be busy….”
“Not at all! Your teacher has plenty of free time!”
I linked my arm through Hans’s.
“My grandfather gave me this incredibly beautiful piece of land as a birthday present ages ago, right? We could go ride horses there. Wait—you want to play with just the Magic Tower Master alone, don’t you?”
At my suggestion of riding horses, Hans’s face lit up with excitement, and he shook his head vigorously.
“No, it’s fine if you’re there too….”
Then she glanced cautiously at Oscar. It seemed she preferred having him around.
“Right, me.”
Oscar chuckled and stood up.
“Good, let’s go. Since we’re talking about it, let’s head out right now.”
“Yay!”
I threw my hands up in celebration.
“Hans, before we go ride, let’s stop by the wardrobe room! We’re getting you new clothes!”
“…New clothes?”
Those thick-framed glasses.
The checkered dress shirt that was practically Hans’s signature.
‘Since I’m on leave anyway, let’s give this engineering nerd look a makeover!’
I bounced on my toes with excitement.
“And meat! Let’s get meat too! Please buy us meat, Master!”
“That girl and her meat….”
Oscar laughed heartily and draped his outer coat across his shoulders with a suave flourish, then flicked his hand forward.
“Come on, you two.”
* * *
“…I apologize.”
Cheshire bowed his head.
Master Enoch. Father Axion. Strategist Joseph.
He had no face to show any of them—all who had staked everything on the rebellion.
“Once this battle report reaches the Emperor, he’ll order an immediate military campaign. I’m planning to use the pretext of regrouping the army, but I estimate I can buy us no more than a month at best.”
Throughout the Subjugation, Cheshire had been tormented by this dilemma.
The Rebel Forces remained unprepared.
Yet by revealing the hidden strength he possessed, war would break out before they were ready.
“I will take full responsibility.”
He wanted to complete a rebellion that would stand on principle, and live alongside them.
He wanted to live….
But now that was impossible.
To Cheshire, Lilis’s single life weighed heavier than the lives of ten thousand….
But his own did not.
There was no need to weigh it.
The price of his choice was his to pay.
That was the conclusion Cheshire had reached after days of anguish.
…….
A shadow fell across Cheshire as he stood with bowed head, unable to face them.
It was Enoch.
“Cheshire Libre.”
His expression was furious. He whispered in a coldness Cheshire had never seen before.
“Do you understand what you’ve done? I warned you to conceal your power.”
“I apologize.”
Cheshire closed his eyes and bowed again.
“I will take responsibility for everything. When the order comes for me to march, I will…the Emperor….”
“Pfft.”
Suddenly a laugh burst forth, and Cheshire’s head snapped up.
“Ahahaha!”
Enoch was laughing, holding his sides.
“You’re quite the troublemaker.”
Joseph stood, shaking his head with a wry smile.
“Well, this works out. We can set the Great Undertaking for a month from now.”
“Phew, truly. That was a long wait.”
Axion stretched and got to his feet as well.
Cheshire was bewildered by their response.
“Cheshire.”
After laughing for a while, Enoch’s expression grew serious again. He placed a firm hand on Cheshire’s shoulder.
Then he spoke.
“Don’t stay out late.”
“…Pardon?”
“Ahahaha!”
“Stop, stop laughing already.”
Axion approached and shoved Enoch’s shoulder with a disapproving click of his tongue.
Enoch, tears already clinging to the corners of his eyes, stumbled backward and looked at Cheshire with a pained expression.
“You must have been eating yourself alive alone these past few days.”
…….
“You’ve done enough, Cheshire. This is for the best, really. We have no reason to wait any longer anyway.”
Cheshire stared blankly at Enoch.
His blue eyes shone with their usual clarity.
“It’s time to end this—all of it.”

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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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