My Daddy Hides His Power - Chapter 235

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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 hides his strength.
Chapter 235
* * *
“I’ve raised you all this time—that should be enough! You need to become independent! Marry Cheshire, have children! When that happens, I’ll overlook you staying out!”
“Don’t follow me? Don’t look for me?!”
I’d suspected Oscar was thinking about leaving.
But hearing it directly from his lips hit harder than I expected.
“You said you’d die the moment I follow you? How could I forget that? Stop spouting nonsense—don’t you dare commit such wickedness! I really don’t want to die!”
Oscar clearly didn’t believe me for a second when I swore I’d never forget him, but….
‘I mean it.’
I gazed quietly at the bracelet.
‘No matter what happens, please let me never forget my master, forever.’
When I wished that,
nothing appeared on the bracelet.
The premise was already wrong.
More precisely, I’d already made the same wish, so there was no need to use the ability again.
After learning exactly what the Price of Regression was from Oscar’s grandfather, I immediately made a wish.
‘Let me never forget Oscar.’
The Life Force it cost me to use my ability on myself was exactly one month.
‘It didn’t cost much of my lifespan. Back then, I really thought I’d found the answer….’
Three years from now.
When the Geis activates, everyone will forget Oscar. It was like divine punishment that no human power could undo.
So lifting the Geis itself was beyond my ability.
But surprisingly, the wish ‘let me never forget Oscar’ was possible.
If I kept remembering him and stayed aware of him, there’d be no room for the Geis to activate in the first place.
But.
‘Sigh, like that would be easy?’
I’d tried to escape this world’s laws with such a simple loophole.
‘Please let everyone Oscar knows never forget him, ever.’
‘Let Father never forget Oscar….’
‘Let Cheshire never forget Oscar….’
‘Let Robel never forget Oscar….’
When I thought of everyone else and made my wishes, the bracelet coldly lit up nothing for all of them.
Only I could avoid forgetting him.
The reason only I could manage it was probably
‘because of the Apostle’s Heart.’
The Sacred Object embedded in my chest.
Thanks to the Apostle’s Heart, which could rewrite fate itself, I could defy the established laws.
‘It’s fine. As long as I don’t forget.’
I’d save myself, Father, everyone.
But Oscar would have to live a life of being forgotten by all, like a kind of death.
‘That’s insane.’
Staying beside Oscar, abandoning everything—that was the least I could do.
‘If I miss my family, I can always come back to Jedo alone anytime.’
It wasn’t difficult.
‘Should I go back to Jenon where Father and I lived? I could build a house there with a yard and a swing….’
As I thought this, I suddenly let out a sigh.
I didn’t mind giving up everything, but I knew Oscar wouldn’t want that.
‘No. Either way, my master is in the palm of my hand.’
Even if he ran, I could find him.
There were only two people I couldn’t find.
Cheshire, who had no Holy Power, so my ability didn’t work on him. And.
‘Father.’
James Brown, that monster who required me to burn almost all my Life Force—I couldn’t use my ability on him even if I wanted to.
“Haah. But why am I so uneasy?”
Oscar was the smartest person I knew.
Terrifyingly so.
Hadn’t he always found a way out, even in unexpected situations?
‘No, it’s fine. Don’t chicken out, Lilis.’
I tried to calm my anxious heart.
I’m hardly confident about a battle of wits against a genius, but still….
‘I’m Primera, after all!’
* * *
Magic Tower Top Floor, Oscar’s residence.
Enoch burst into laughter at the sight of Oscar approaching him.
“What’s wrong? Have you lost your mind?”
“No, it’s just ridiculous.”
“What is?”
A stretched-out shirt and shorts.
For the owner of such an elegantly appointed, sprawling duplex residence, he looked far too disheveled.
“Nothing. But why did you call me? Is it really okay to hand over your house coordinates like this?”
“I’ve got double, triple layers of security on my home. Using Teleportation Magic burns a ton of Mana. Did I drain you that much?”
“Huh?”
Enoch blinked dumbly, then tilted his head with playful curiosity.
“Drain Mana? What do you mean by that?”
Oscar ground his teeth and slowly closed his eyes.
“I want to hit you.”
“Ha ha! Why’d you really call me here?”
“Sit down.”
Oscar gestured at the living room table and sat across from Enoch, placing a single sheet of paper before him.
A soft laugh escaped.
In that moment, Enoch’s gaze landed on Oscar’s right wrist.
A bracelet adorned with a large pearl and a crimson heart-shaped ornament—identical to the one Lilis wore.
“A couple’s bracelet? That’s enough to make anyone jealous…. Make me one too.”
“Don’t talk nonsense. How long do you think it’ll take to memorize this?”
“Mm.”
Only then did Enoch shift his attention to the paper Oscar had produced, his eyes widening.
It appeared to be a Magic Formula.
A Magic Formula, but….
“What the hell is this?”
It was incomprehensibly complex.
Though he’d seen countless Magic Formulas, he could say with absolute certainty that he’d never encountered one this intricate in his entire life.
“I’m not asking you to memorize it completely. You’ll only cast it once. When you’ve memorized enough to visualize it mentally, that’s when you cast it. How long do you think that’ll take?”
“Two days? No, four? Three?”
“What are you talking about? Are you an idiot? Finish it by dawn today.”
“Look, even if you say that….”
“It’s for your daughter. Exactly—I started creating it fourteen years ago and finished it about seven years back.”
Fourteen years meant Oscar started making this Magic the moment he returned through Regression.
He must have recognized its necessity.
“You’ll do it, right?”
Besides, if it was for Lilis….
“Yeah. Of course I have to.”
Enoch nodded immediately.
“I’ll definitely do it.”
“Good.”
“What kind of magic is it?”
“I’ll tell you once you’ve memorized it. Let’s begin.”
Enoch began slowly absorbing the intricate Magic Formula into his eyes.
“Looking at how complicated this mess is, you’ve probably already guessed—nobody can use it. It requires an absurd amount of Mana. That’s why I’ve been constantly revising it to consume less Mana… but time’s running out, isn’t it? Less than a month left.”
“You’re saying I might not be able to use it even if I burn through all my Mana?”
“Probably?”
Enoch swallowed hard.
If Magic consumed that much Mana, it certainly wasn’t an ordinary variety.
“You already suspected it, I’m sure—this makes you immune to Primera’s Ability.”
“……?”
Enoch’s eyes grew wide.
“Is… is that even possible?”
“Of course it’s impossible. It requires nearly ten million Mana. When standard Ability Users average around five hundred thousand, this is just nonsensical scrawling. That’s all.”
Oscar gestured at the Magic Formula and let out a soft chuckle.
“But if it’s Enoch Rubinstein, couldn’t you pull it off? It’s a complete gamble, but you don’t even know your own limits anyway, do you?”
“Well, I suppose….”
“Let’s give it a try. Once you’ve memorized it all, we’ll test the casting here.”
Oscar held up the bracelet on his own wrist.
“You know what this is, right? The one the girl wears. It’s a Magical Device that synchronizes with the Core when she has it on.”
“Yeah, I know.”
“To be precise, it overlays your ability stats as the caster onto the target. It works by casting a one-time shield using your own power.”
“…….”
Enoch’s eyes narrowed—the concept was unfamiliar to him.
“You know how much Life Force it costs Primera when she uses her ability on a human? When I heard from her before, she said it takes 282 years to place Binding Magic on you, right?”
Enoch’s lips trembled faintly as understanding began to dawn.
“Wait, wait. So if I place this on the princess’s bracelet….”
“Exactly. If the Emperor ever tries to take the girl hostage with Binding Magic or something like that, he’d need the same amount of Life Force it costs you. Since it demands 282 years, he wouldn’t dare lay a finger on her—just like he hasn’t been able to control you freely until now.”
“Wow, Magic Tower Master. What exactly did you create?”
Enoch’s jaw dropped.
“Why didn’t you tell me this right when you made it seven years ago? We could have given it to the princess long before now.”
“That wouldn’t have worked. It would actually have been dangerous. If I’d activated this magic beforehand, the Emperor would definitely have noticed the moment he tried to use his ability on the child.”
One way or another, there was surely a method to gauge how much Life Force was needed before actually using an ability.
“When using an ability, you vaguely sense how much Life Force it costs before you activate it, don’t you? If the Emperor knows she’s Octava but suddenly needs excessive Life Force to use his ability on her, he would’ve started suspecting something immediately.”
“I see. In that case….”
“Unless we’re charging right at the Emperor’s throat tomorrow, there were too many risk factors to place this magic on her beforehand. At worst, her identity would’ve been exposed.”
Enoch nodded.
“Right. So you made this to be deployed on the final day—when it doesn’t matter whether the Emperor suspects the princess’s identity—just to prepare for any contingency.”
“That’s exactly it. Now that you understand, let’s finish memorizing.”
“Fine. I’ll have it down before dawn, I promise.”
Oscar chuckled watching Enoch’s fervent determination.
It seemed that a single certainty—that the child would be safe—made all the difference.
* * *
“Magic Tower Master! I think I’ve got it all memorized!”
Four in the morning.
Enoch spun around to face Oscar, his eyes bloodshot and glassy.
“Already?”
Oscar, who had been lounging lazily on the sofa, sprang up and thrust his wrist—bearing a bracelet identical to Lilis’s—toward Enoch.
“Go ahead, give it a shot!”
Enoch seized Oscar’s arm, focused, and poured Mana into the bracelet.
The moment he completed the intricate Magic Formula in his mind—
“Ugh.”
—a strange sensation of Mana being sucked away in an instant sent Enoch crumpling, his face contorted.
His head throbbed as though it might split, and in that moment, every trace of strength drained from his body.
An ability user beyond standard classification, Enoch Rubinstein—experiencing a state he had never known in his entire life.
‘So… this is what it feels like.’
His Mana was completely depleted.
“Perfect! It actually worked!”
Oscar jumped to his feet and clapped his hands.
“Magnificent, Enoch Rubinstein!”
“…Did… did I succeed?”
“Can’t you see the state you’re in? There he is—Enoch Rubinstein! Greatest warrior! Greatest ability user!”
Oscar’s grin stretched from ear to ear as he watched Enoch collapsed on the sofa, unable to even hold himself upright.
“Hah… So I finally get praised by the Magic Tower Master….”
“How does it feel, using up all your Mana? Pretty hellish, isn’t it?”
“Yeah… I can’t… move a single finger….”
“Well, I’ve given you an experience you never could have had until you died, so you should thank me.”
“Yeah… thanks….”
Oscar grinned and rolled up the living room carpet. A Teleportation Magic Circle was drawn underneath—clearly prepared well in advance.
“I’ll do you a favor. Since you’re out of Mana, I’ll send you home.”
“Quite the service….”
Oscar guided the unsteady Enoch onto the Magic Circle and handed him a sheet of Magic Formula.
“It’s complicated, so take it with you and keep studying it. And once your Mana recovers, activate it on the girl’s bracelet the same way you just did.”
“Got it.”
“Place it on her while she’s asleep, and don’t mention the magic exists or that you’ve activated it. If you say you’re setting it up as a precaution in case the Emperor becomes a threat, she’ll just get frightened. You have enough sense not to do that, yes?”
Enoch nodded with a slight smile.
“I will.”
“Good work.”
Enoch spoke as he watched Oscar channel mana into the Teleportation Magic circle.
“Thank you, Master.”
Enoch raised his palm.
Oscar laughed and, uncharacteristically, clapped their hands together.
“Then let’s make sure this succeeds.”
“Of course.”
In the same moment, Enoch’s form vanished.
……
Left alone, Oscar stood there for a long while, then turned slowly and lay back down on the sofa.
He lifted his right wrist.
The bracelet—the one Enoch had cast magic upon.
Hm.
The moment he regressed, it was the very first magic Oscar had begun to study, quite naturally.
To prevent any chance that in the final moment, the Emperor would come to control Lilis, as in the tragedy of the previous life.
‘I never thought I’d have to use this magic in such a way.’
He’d lied to Enoch, but in truth, this magic could be cast by anyone who merely memorized the formula.
The cost of casting was all the mana of the one who cast it.
As long as he wore this bracelet, which held a perfect copy of Enoch’s ability parameters.
‘You won’t even think of searching for this teacher.’
For Lilis to use her ability on Oscar, she would need enough Life Force to control Enoch.
Which meant it was impossible.
“Now I can rest easy.”
Oscar lay with both arms crossed beneath his head, eyes closed.
‘Don’t be greedy.’
The child would be happy only if she lived surrounded by so many who loved her.
‘I’ll come to see you later.’
All this effort until now—it was for the sake of witnessing that sight.
‘You’re just….’
The winner of the game of hide-and-seek.
That had been Oscar from the beginning.
‘Live happily with your father.’
Don’t come looking for me.

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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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