My Daddy Hides His Power - Chapter 226

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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’s Hidden Strength
Chapter 226
* * *
The Emperor Nicholas’s office.
Nicholas had just finished receiving reports on the entire state of the war.
“Truly….”
Standing with his back to Cheshire, facing the vast map hanging on the wall, Nicholas was trembling with excitement.
“Truly, your labors have… been considerable.”
His voice quavered.
Cheshire observed the trembling that ran through Nicholas’s back, then bowed his head with apparent composure.
“Regarding Leon’s Battlefield Withdrawal and refusal to obey orders as reported—I humbly request your clemency.”
“Mm?”
Nicholas turned, tilting his head in confusion.
“Though he acted independently, it was for the sake of preserving Child Soldiers with no prior experience. In the end, he has ensured that we do not carelessly lose the elite forces that will contribute to Your Majesty’s long-cherished endeavor—I therefore beseech your mercy.”
“Not at all.”
Nicholas waved his hand dismissively.
“I never intended to discipline Leon. Rather, his merits deserve commendation. Just as you said—in a time when we are desperate for every soldier, he has saved Dos.”
“Thank you.”
“And.”
Nicholas stepped closer.
As Cheshire met the expression on Nicholas’s face drawing near, gooseflesh erupted across his entire body.
Lips curling upward uncontrollably.
Eyes half-inverted like those of a madman.
It was exultation.
“Are you not a most cherished benefactor who has finally awakened my blade within you? Hmm?”
…….
“Had the situation not been so desperate, could you have reached that pinnacle of swordsmanship?”
High Elevado.
The pinnacle of the blade that Cheshire had so long yearned to attain.
The ultimate Hidden Power that only Enoch Rubinstein had ever perfected.
And….
The ability to pierce the Isolem Kingdom’s defenses—the key that would guarantee the success of invasion.
“Yes.”
Cheshire spoke as he bowed his head.
“Though I strove day and night to fulfill Your Majesty’s profound will, it remained a realm I could not reach. Therefore, this battle has proven a valuable lesson for me as well.”
“Haha….”
Nicholas, overcome with emotion, seized Cheshire by the shoulders.
“Cheshire.”
“Yes, Your Majesty.”
“The realm I have held firm upon this land is on the brink of collapse. You understand this, do you not?”
“Yes.”
“The only way to rebuild my empire as Vermin gnaw upon it, the only way to restore the Imperial Household’s tarnished standing…”
…….
“I cannot wait any longer.”
Cheshire nodded.
“I shall reorganize the army. In one month’s time, grant me the order for Expedition.”
“Ah.”
The answer came as if he’d been waiting for it.
Nicholas trembled, and with a quivering hand raised it to his lips.
“At… at last. At last I, I the Imperial Household of this Empire, shall achieve this… long-standing task….”
“My shortcomings alone have prevented Your Majesty from reaching the pinnacle you desired sooner, and I am deeply sorry for it.”
Cheshire added, his eyes alight.
“I shall ensure that we meet with absolute victory, without a single failure.”
…….
Now Nicholas’s entire body began to shake uncontrollably.
Tears gathered faintly in his wide-open eyes.
“I… have believed in you.”
Nicholas, struggling to master his breath in his excitement, pulled Cheshire into an embrace.
“Haha, ah….”
Soon, unable even to contain his emotions, he turned away, clutching at his own head as though wringing it.
“Aha-ha-ha-ha! Ha-ha-ha-ha!!!”
Exultant laughter rang through the air.
As though he were a conqueror who had already claimed victory.
* * *
Magic Tower, Oscar’s office.
Cheshire had come to the Magic Tower straightaway.
Now that the date of the final confrontation was set, the Emperor’s command was for him to visit the Magic Tower, the hub of power in Jedo, to gauge their position and request whatever support was needed.
Of course….
It was all rehearsed.
There was naturally nothing particular for Cheshire and Oscar to discuss.
They only needed to make it appear to outsiders that the visit had taken place.
‘It feels like twenty hours have passed.’
Yet only two had elapsed.
Cheshire sat trapped in Oscar’s office, wasting away the hours.
‘Just thirty more minutes, then I can leave.’
Between them lay no conversation.
The office was quiet as a tomb.
Only the sound of Oscar shuffling papers at his desk broke the silence.
“Hey.”
“Yes.”
After two hours of sitting in silence, Oscar finally spoke to Cheshire.
“Don’t just waste time. Tell me what happened after that day.”
“After what day?”
“February seventh.”
Oscar folded his hands, rested his chin on them, and smiled knowingly.
February seventh….
The day he and Lilis had started seeing each other.
“I don’t know if you or she confessed, but either way, someone asked the other to start dating that day.”
He’d learned Oscar knew about it from Lilis herself.
But….
“On the carriage ride home that night—you made a bold move, didn’t you? Put your hand on the backrest, trapped her in—and after that, I never heard the rest of the story.”
He hadn’t realized Oscar knew the details so precisely!
Cheshire’s eyes wavered.
“She told me to ask you exactly twenty-four times what happened next. But you never told me. Something pretty momentous must have occurred.”
“Nothing happened.”
“Lie to me, and I’ll have your arms flying off.”
“…….”
“Are you really saying nothing happened?”
Cheshire’s eyes continued to falter.
“Speak.”
Oscar Manuel.
The man who had given everything to save Lilis and open a new world for everyone.
He knew perfectly well that groveling before such a man was only right. He’d meant to show him respect, had no wish to create conflict.
‘But should I tell him what happened afterward? Would that even be respecting him? It would only turn his world upside down. No, that’s not even the point anymore….’
Will I even survive?
After a brief hesitation, Cheshire spoke.
“Yes, I will tell you. But I ask that I may do so a month from now. There is something I must accomplish first….”
I might not live to see it.
At minimum, he had to take the Emperor’s head first.
“Ah, I see. So there’s something so dangerous that if you spoke of it now, I couldn’t guarantee you’d survive?”
Oscar was perceptive!
“Tell me now, and I’ll keep you alive. But tell me later, and I’ll kill you.”
“…….”
“I’m making you a promise. I always keep my word.”
What should I do?
At last, Cheshire deliberated and slowly parted his trembling lips.
* * *
“…So it’s me? You like me?”
Close enough that their breaths mingled.
“I… I….”
At Cheshire’s serious question, Lilis hesitated before answering.
“Give me… an answer.”
“I… well, that is to say…”
Lilis squeezed her eyes shut and drew a shaky breath.
“…Yes.”
Then, a flutter.
Her trembling eyelashes parted, and her eyes appeared again.
“I like you too…”
Though tense, her sapphire pupils gleamed as beautifully as ever.
For a moment, Cheshire felt as though his breath had stopped.
Gazing at Lilis’s face, he murmured as if enchanted.
“The truth is… when I see other people confessing they like you, it puts me in a foul mood.”
“……….”
“I thought you liked the Master of the Magic Tower, so I figured you’d never accept me anyway. But even so, I couldn’t help worrying about it, and I couldn’t sleep at night.”
“……….”
“I even thought it would be better if you already had a lover… so I wouldn’t have to worry like that. But.”
Thump-thump-thump-thump-thump.
“Not some other guy. Me.”
His heart thundered so wildly he was certain she could hear it too.
“I want… me to be the one.”
“……….”
“…Let me be.”
His voice trembled.
Lilis, who had kept silent with her hand resting gently on her chest, finally answered with a shy—
“Okay.”
—reply.
‘Ah.’
In that moment, Cheshire froze.
How could he describe what he felt then?
His chest simply… overflowed.
And he found it difficult to look away from Lilis’s face so close to his own.
Beautiful.
Truly.
Though nothing had changed outwardly, the instant their relationship was named by a single word—’lovers’—
everything felt new.
“……?”
Did she misread his dazed expression, lost in that strange emotion?
Lilis’s arms rose and gently wrapped around Cheshire’s neck. Their eyes remained locked.
Bashful, yet her eyes sparkled with secret delight.
Her blue pupils slowly disappeared.
Eyes gently closed.
Trembling lips pressed together softly.
‘Suddenly…?’
Cheshire understood nothing.
But he possessed enough instinct to know what to do at such a moment.
Though unplanned, he couldn’t ignore Lilis’s evident expectation…
Cheshire closed his eyes, tense.
And, very slowly.
He brought his lips down to meet hers.
A simple seal—firm,
their lips merely touched.
Yet his heart raced wildly and his entire body burned hot.
A memory of the first sharp note, no.
Of their first kiss…
* * *
A start.
Cheshire was shocked. Oscar had closed in without warning, and now gripped him menacingly by the collar.
“You scheming bastard.”
His clenched teeth gleamed with a dangerous edge.
“‘I didn’t know anything,’ ‘it wasn’t intentional,’ ‘I just placed my lips like stamping a seal’……”
“…….”
“All three parts. They’re all lies, aren’t they?”
“They are the truth.”
“No. I don’t believe you.”
“…….”
“On the first day of dating? A kiss?”
“…I apologize.”
“What did you do the next day?”
“I did nothing.”
“Nothing? What do you mean nothing?”
Oscar’s eyes blazed with fury as he seized Cheshire by the collar and wrenched him close.
“You want to die that badly? Fresh-faced youth already so thoroughly corrupted?”
It was growing harder to breathe. Cheshire spoke with difficulty.
“You promised you would spare my life….”
“I promised to spare your life, not to send you back in one piece. There was no such promise, was there?”
“Ah.”
“Did I even promise not to cripple you? I have no recollection of such a thing.”
…He was right.
Cheshire, the victim of fraud who had stamped his seal on a deceptive word-game contract, had nothing to say.
“You’ve laid hands on a girl who isn’t yet an adult. You’ll pay the price for that. Pick one. In my boundless mercy, I’ll let you choose.”
Oscar released his grip on Cheshire’s collar and jerked his chin like a gatekeeper of hell, speaking with deliberate cruelty.
“Left arm, left leg, right arm, right leg.”
“……?”
“You’ll lose one of the four. I’m being remarkably generous.”
Cheshire’s mouth fell slowly open.
Was he serious?
For it to be mere intimidation, the emotion burning so fiercely in Oscar’s eyes was far too vivid….
Murderous intent!
Cheshire ran his dry lips together and quickly began calculating in his mind.
‘The legs… I can’t lose those.’
So it had to be one of the two arms.
‘The right arm….’
He needed it to hold a sword.
Cheshire made his choice and spoke.
“…I’ll take the left arm.”
“Fine.”
Oscar seized Cheshire’s left arm and placed his hand at the shoulder joint. Mana gathered at once.
‘Wait… was he serious?’
Cheshire’s eyes went wide as the realization struck him — even at this final moment, he’d somehow believed Oscar wouldn’t actually go through with it.
Then, suddenly.
A door swung open with perfect timing, and someone burst through with considerable noise.
“Master’s little darling! Welcome ba—”
It was Lilis. She took in the situation at a glance.
“…W-WHAT ARE YOU DOING!!!”

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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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