My Daddy Hides His Power - Chapter 229

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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 229
“You must be tired. Want to head back up?”
“…….”
I hesitated at Cheshire’s suggestion.
I was exhausted from wandering all day, certainly, but something made me reluctant to nod too quickly.
“W-well, since we’ve come this far….”
I scratched my cheek and gazed out through the temple windows.
The sun was setting.
“…Should we see a bit more of the outside before we go back?”
* * *
At that very moment.
At the Gallery House in Jedo.
Enoch, unaware that a catastrophe was unfolding, waited with Axion in the salon, expecting Lilis to arrive.
Once the salon ended, he’d planned to take Lilis out for a nice dinner somewhere.
“What should we eat?”
“Let’s go to the usual place. You know, the one Lilis likes.”
“Ah, yes, that’s the ticket.”
The two men made idle conversation while watching young ladies emerge from the gallery and depart in their carriages.
“…….”
“…….”
A considerable number of attendees filed out after the event, each returning to their respective carriages.
“…What is it?”
Enoch tilted his head in puzzlement.
Everyone who was meant to leave had already left, yet Lilis was nowhere to be seen.
“Why hasn’t the princess come out?”
“I don’t know.”
Enoch and Axion exchanged bewildered glances.
* * *
We wandered through Argonia as the sun dipped toward the horizon.
Of course, there wasn’t much to see in the countryside.
Sprawling fields and dense mountain ranges—nothing particularly remarkable.
The smell of cattle dung and rural roads.
Yet there was something beautiful about walking hand in hand, conversing softly with one another.
‘I didn’t intend for this, but it’s not so bad.’
Once this business was settled, I could savor this peace for the rest of my life.
I squeezed Cheshire’s hand tightly, suddenly overcome with happiness.
“Your father must be worried.”
Unlike me, Cheshire had kept his concern all along, and now he sighed.
Father….
That’s right, father.
By now, he would have learned that I was stranded in Argonia.
He’d want to rush over at once, but the Warp Gate wouldn’t be charged until later, so he couldn’t cross from Jedo into this place.
‘Even if he came by Teleportation Magic, it would be a problem….’
If Father did arrive, I couldn’t leave by gate—I’d have to find another way out.
At the very least, I was stuck here until morning.
‘What will Father do.’
I could picture him now, shifting from foot to foot in anxiety.
“It’s all right, though. Don’t worry, Cheshire. Once Father—I mean, once he finds out we’re together, he’ll be relieved.”
“…….”
Cheshire blinked oddly, then sighed again.
“I think he might actually worry more about that particular fact….”
“Huh?”
“Never mind. If we head this way, there’s a water source. Want to go see it?”
After cutting across the fields for a while, we rounded a mountain and found ourselves on a narrow, uneven path.
“Oh, how lovely! But let’s rest a moment first. My feet are starting to ache.”
“I see.”
When I settled onto a flat rock nearby, Cheshire came to stand before me and knelt down.
“I’m sorry. I didn’t think about your feet hurting.”
“It’s fine. They’re not hurting terribly much—I’m not wearing high heels. It’s just from walking so far…. Mm?”
Cheshire removed my shoes with his own hands, then turned and offered his back.
“Carry me.”
“…….”
Hmm. I hadn’t actually complained about sore feet hoping for this, but still.
I suppressed my twitching smile and quickly wrapped my arms around his neck, climbing onto his back.
Cheshire carried me and continued walking.
A peaceful, leisurely landscape stretched around us.
The familiar scent of Cheshire’s skin.
“This is nice….”
I pressed my cheek against his neck and spoke. A small laugh answered: “Me too.”
I suddenly felt like teasing him, so I asked.
“Nice how? What’s so nice about it?”
“…….”
“The country road? The evening sky? Or maybe just that training’s finally over today?”
Cheshire laughed again and answered.
“No. You.”
* * *
At that same moment.
At the Gallery House, Enoch’s face was ashen as he sprinted at full speed—without even taking a carriage—to reach Pavil Temple.
Axion, who had come with him, gasped for breath beside him.
“Your Grace?”
Before the Warp Gate at the temple stood Julette, who had been the escort representative for today’s salon.
“It’s been a while, madam. I didn’t find my daughter, so I came here to check….”
“Ah, yes. Lilis wanted to see more of the exhibit, you see. So I brought the other children back to Jedo first.”
“…Excuse me?”
What? An escort left a single child behind and returned with only the rest?
Enoch was flabbergasted.
“She was supposed to return before the salon ended, but she was running so late that when I arrived here….”
As Julette spoke, a temple priest approached them from the Warp Gate.
“I’m afraid it will take quite some time. The priests in Argonia are quite elderly, you see, and recharging the gate after it depletes takes a bit longer.”
Enoch’s eyes widened.
At his expression, Julette added hesitantly.
“It seems the Warp Gate at the Argonian temple has depleted and they can’t activate it.”
“But that’s….”
One High Priest and one Vice Priest.
Enoch shuddered as he recalled the Argonian temple, which had only two elderly priests in total.
‘Surely those old men haven’t done it again!’
Seven years ago. The day Lilis withdrew from the Ability User Training Institute.
Enoch had intended to pick up his daughter that day, but it happened that he had gone on a subjugation mission to Argonia and suffered for it.
Because the gate had depleted, he couldn’t make it back to Jedo on schedule.
Surely any priest could recharge a depleted gate with Holy Power?
Yet the old priests insisted that outsiders mustn’t touch the Warp Gate, citing precedent and being annoyingly obstinate about it.
Lilis was probably stuck there for the same reason.
“Hey, hey….”
At that moment, Axion—whose face had gone pale—poked Enoch’s arm.
“What?”
“The… the child went sightseeing in Argonia?”
“Yes. Why?”
Axion didn’t answer, just swallowed hard.
What was that about? My daughter was stranded in a rural territory—I had no time to worry about my friend’s strange reaction.
Enoch glared at Julette.
‘Even if no one could have predicted the gate depleting, isn’t the escort being irresponsible?’
He simply couldn’t understand it.
Just abandon someone else’s child in an unfamiliar territory and leave? Don’t parents who raise children together understand a parent’s heart?
Should he say something?
As Enoch wrestled with the thought, he clicked his tongue and turned away.
What’s done is done. He couldn’t leave the child alone there—he had to go be with her.
“Wait, wait just a moment!”
“What? Why?”
Enoch, who had taken about five steps to cast Teleportation Magic, was grabbed by Axion.
“What are you planning to do? You’re not thinking of going to Argonia right now, are you?”
Axion whispered.
Enoch lowered his voice in reply.
“I have to go.”
“You’re bringing the girl?”
“I can’t bring her. You know her feet are tied there.”
“Then what?”
“Even so, I can’t leave her alone. I’ll go and be with her.”
“Have you lost your mind? Argonia has eyes watching it. You can’t just appear there without taking a gate—are you trying to spread rumors about Teleportation Magic?”
For some reason, Axion was desperate to stop Enoch.
“If she stays alone, she can lodge at the temple, but what about you? If you go too, what then? You want to wander the roads with your daughter, homeless and invisible?”
“Yes, yes. You’re right about that, but….”
“Get your head straight. This is the time to move most carefully. Don’t do anything reckless and give yourself away.”
Enoch frowned.
“What is there to give away? There’s nothing there but two old priests. I’m not a fool, and I won’t cause any trouble, so don’t worry.”
…….
“Something’s off about you.”
Just as Enoch turned to leave the temple, Axion grabbed him again.
“No, absolutely not.”
“Why!”
“There’s another reason.”
“What is it!”
“…There are quite a few people there. Actually, it’s the last place you should go right now. If you get caught, it’ll be a disaster. The thing is… the Emperor sent his Elite Guard private soldiers there for training….”
……?
For a moment, Enoch went blank.
Elite Guard private soldiers training?
He knew about it.
The Emperor, planning war without delay, had immediately conscripted private soldiers from the noble houses and ordered Cheshire to train them.
But he didn’t yet know where the training was taking place. Cheshire must have decided on the location….
“Don’t tell me it’s Argonia?”
In Enoch’s bewildered eyes, he saw Madame Julette approaching.
“Your Grace, are you all right? Your expression looks rather strange. Since Lord Cheshire is with her, there shouldn’t be anything to worry about. From what I’ve heard, it seems there was an arrangement with Lilis. You did… know about it, didn’t you?”
…….
Good heavens.
So that was it.
That was why.
He’d thought it odd that the salon guide would simply abandon a noble girl in a rural estate like that.
‘So all of this… was planned?’
Enoch’s mouth slowly fell open.
Lilis’s salon excursion destination had been decided as Argonia long ago.
Cheshire had chosen Argonia as the training location after that.
“Enoch, I didn’t know at all that Lilis was going to Argonia for her excursion.”
Axion hastily backpedaled.
“If I’d known, I would’ve said something when Cheshire decided on Argonia as the training site… I would have found it suspicious. Truly….”
…….
The world before Enoch’s eyes turned white.
Lilis had disobeyed his order not to stay out, going all the way to a backwater rural estate to see her boyfriend.
Cheshire had carefully arranged the training site just to see his girlfriend’s face once.
“Ah… ah.”
Axion caught Enoch in alarm as he staggered, gripping his head.
“Hey! Are you all right?”
“No… no… ah….”
And as if to truly melt the heart of a father with a daughter,
the Warp Gate had been timed perfectly to isolate the young couple….
“……How cunning a man in love can become….”
Oscar’s warning echoed in his head like a phantom voice.
“……From now on, think of that Cheshire not as a man, but as a beast.”
“Oh, God….”
Enoch, his soul hollowed out, clutched his head in his hands.

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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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