My Daddy Hides His Power - Chapter 239

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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 Hiding His Strength
Chapter 239
* * *
The final day. Ten days until the end.
I sliced a carrot on the cutting board with the precision of a ruler measuring perfection.
Snap!
“Oh my! Miss, do watch your fingers!”
“No, wait—did our young lady really just cut that carrot herself?”
“Miss! Surely the head chef would be happy to handle the blade work?”
I glared at the three of them making such a fuss over my cutting a single slice of carrot.
Jetti, Joon, and Kunac, the Rubinstein household’s first-rate head chef.
The moment I’d stepped into the kitchen, all three had kept their eyes on me like hawks watching a fledgling at the water’s edge.
“I can manage a carrot, thank you very much. And I need to do this from start to finish myself—that’s what makes it mean something.”
Ten days before the Rebellion.
I was preparing Lilis’s signature stew, brimming with love, so that Enoch could eat and regain his strength.
I tossed the carrot slices into the pot bubbling away, and reached for salt next.
‘This one!’
The moment I grabbed the container of white powder, Kunac swiftly caught my hand.
“Miss.”
“What is it?”
“That’s sugar. This is the salt.”
“Oh no! That was close!”
I opened the lid of the salt container Kunac had retrieved, speaking as I did so.
“Just tell me whenever I mix things up like that, all right?”
“Of course, Miss…”
Just a moderate amount of salt…
“Whoops!”
…but it poured out all at once!
A small avalanche of it.
‘No, this isn’t my fault!’
The design of the salt shaker was terribly inefficient.
“I—I can just add more water, can’t I?”
Watching me scramble for a solution, Kunac and the two servants nodded with uncertain expressions.
* * *
A tomato base studded with every conceivable cut of meat and vegetable—the Rubinstein princess’s signature stew.
The brilliant scarlet broth bubbled and frothed, looking rather like the boiling blood of the underworld.
“Well?”
Kunac, the head chef, tasted the finished stew and held his breath.
“Is it delicious?”
I could see the hope blooming across Lilis’s face as she waited for his answer.
The taste was… beyond imagination.
Though I’d witnessed the entire cooking process and expected a flavor unlike anything I’d encountered before…
Still, it was shocking.
This infernal stew had stolen every sensation from my tongue in one fell swoop.
“D-does it taste all right…?”
Receiving no response, Lilis grew anxious and began tapping her fingernails nervously.
Kunac’s gaze fell on the young lady’s small, pale hands—covered in tiny cuts and burn marks.
‘Good heavens. Our young lady, for His Grace’s sake, spent four hours in this kitchen damaging those delicate hands to make this…’
Kunac’s chest tightened. He too was a father with a daughter.
“Not at all, Miss. It’s simply—cough!—so delicious that I was momentarily at a loss for words…”
“Really?”
Lilis’s face lit up at once.
“I should try some too!”
“Miss, just a moment!”
Kunac gestured urgently to the two servants beside him.
‘Get that away now! This taste is absolutely too dangerous—it must never pass the young lady’s lips!’
‘Understood!’
‘Roger that!’
Their eyes conveyed all the conversation needed. The two servants quickly spirited the pot away.
“Miss, in my homeland of Bendon, we have a saying: a chef never tastes from the pot before the meal is served, for if you do, the malevolent spirits steal away the blessing you poured into the dish while cooking.”
“Gasp! There’s really such a rumor?”
There isn’t. I just made it up.
The young lady’s hand may be cursed, but her tongue works fine — the moment she tastes this stew, she’ll be disappointed.
Kunac simply wanted to protect Lilis’s thoughtful heart.
‘What time is it?’
Kunac’s eyes darted quickly to the clock hanging on the kitchen wall. Seven thirty.
‘Listen! Do I have enough time to resurrect this infernal stew?’
Jetti and June shook their heads with gloomy faces at his silent question.
‘Too late. The Duke is already waiting outside.’
‘No, no.’
This was impossible.
Kunac was disappointed, but true to his veteran cook’s instincts, he made a quick decision and portioned the stew onto plates.
Filled generously, it came to four plates.
“Miss, might you grant me and these two the honor of sampling this delicious stew for dinner tonight, a plate for each of us?”
Jetti and June gasped. But only for a moment.
“Yes, yes! Miss! I really, really want to eat it too!”
“I-I, c-cough, I do too! Please!”
Lilis was flustered.
“Eh? Really…? But then I won’t have any…?”
“Your portion, miss — I, Kunac, shall be grateful for the chance to taste this splendid creation and will promptly prepare a fresh batch to bring you.”
“…….”
“Please. Would that not work…?”
Is it really that good?
Lilis tried to hide her rising smile, squirming shyly.
“Oh, of course it’ll work. Naturally.”
* * *
“A tomato-based stew featuring freshly slaughtered veal tenderloin, pork loin, chicken breast, and duck wing, all spared no expense, prepared as miss’s special creation.”
Jetti and June had arranged the dining table with tasteful elegance.
“Observe the vegetables within as well. They are not uniform in shape but possess quite a charming appearance, do they not? Miss’s ingenious cutting technique displays a remarkably diverse presentation.”
The plated stew that Kunac had helped arrange was set before Father.
‘Hm, in the pot it looked like hellfire bubbling away, but plated like this, it actually looks rather presentable.’
I smiled with satisfaction.
“Duke, I nearly lost consciousness after tasting this stew. It was truly the first time in my life I’d ever experienced such a flavor.”
“…Really?”
Is it truly that exceptional?
I felt inwardly buoyed watching Kunac promote me like this.
“This stew contains four hours of the young lady’s dedication and her love for the Duke, all concentrated within. The flavor is truly sublime. Therefore, I humbly beseech you — do not leave a single spoonful. Finish every last bit.”
“…….”
Father and Kunac exchanged a long moment of silence, their eyes meeting.
“…Very well. I understand.”
Father raised his spoon with solemn resolve.
“May you… have an enjoyable meal.”
After Kunac left, I rested my chin on my hands and watched Father with anticipation.
“Come on, try it.”
“My princess.”
“Hmm?”
Father paused mid-scoop and suddenly pouted his lips at me.
“What? Why are you like that?”
“I’m so deeply moved. When did our princess grow up like this, cooking for Father and everything?”
“Heh, I’ve been grown for a while now. I made it praying that you’d stay safe and succeed in your business.”
“Oh, the business will succeed naturally, of course. Don’t worry about anything, princess. The Emperor is no match for your father.”
“Well, not just His Majesty….”
The truth is, the Emperor isn’t the scariest person.
“…It’s Cheshire.”
Cheshire — the real problem!
The one who has to beat Father senseless, Father who will be brainwashed on purpose to shorten the Emperor’s life — Cheshire!
Even though they’re both on our side, I couldn’t bring myself to cheer for Father.
Because this fight only ends when Cheshire wins.
‘Father shouldn’t take too much damage….’
In the Original Story, Cheshire ultimately succeeds in subduing Father, dominated by the Emperor’s Ability.
Of course! Absolutely!
‘…though it wasn’t a clean victory.’
Father was battered beyond recognition, barely clinging to life.
While he lay there unable to move a finger, I—whom everyone thought dead—suddenly burst onto the scene. First shock.
My daughter, an idiot who couldn’t be reasoned with, was burning through all of Jedo with her Ability, and he’s realizing, ‘Wait, my daughter was Primera?’ Second shock.
Cheshire draws his sword because everyone’s about to die, but Father’s lost all his strength to stop him, so he can only watch as his own neck is severed. Third shock.
‘As expected, no matter how I think about it, the Original Story was tragic! A sad ending through and through!’
Of course, that won’t happen this time, but the fact remains that I have to fight Cheshire in a battle where life and death hang in the balance.
“Princess, you don’t trust your boyfriend?”
“I trust Cheshire. It’s Father I don’t trust.”
“Huh?”
“Father’s too strong. He’s a monster. I’d really prefer it if he’d go easy on me, but he won’t.”
…
Father had nothing to say, so he scratched his cheek.
Since the timing of the Rebellion had changed and Cheshire’s growth rate had shifted from the Original Story, the one thing I couldn’t be certain about was Father’s survival.
‘But that’s alright. If Cheshire somehow can’t overcome Father…’
I’ll step in!
“Father!”
“Mm?”
“Listen, um.”
I watched the worry cross Father’s face and decided to make a confession I’d always been too embarrassed to voice before.
There wouldn’t be another moment like this.
“…Thank you for raising me all this time. Because of you, I’ve been loved so deeply, worn beautiful clothes, eaten delicious food… I’m truly blessed. Because I was born as your daughter.”
Speaking from the heart was joyful but also a little shameful. So I couldn’t meet Father’s eyes.
“Um, and… I’m sorry for being born like this. If I hadn’t existed, you could have focused on business without worry… You suffered so much hiding me from His Majesty, did things you never should have had to do.”
Unlike in the Original Story, my existence had been a burden to Father.
He’d spent each day trembling with anxiety, and there were certain bold opportunities he’d turned down, choosing instead paths of retreat.
Yet the protagonist promised victory—Enoch Rubinstein—finally reached it.
A Happy Ending, rewritten at last.
“Father, I’m really grateful…”
This time, I can live too.
With the people I love, all together.
“Father, you’re my hero.”
Tears came.
I wiped my swollen eyes and looked up to see Father smiling through his own glistening tears.
“Come here, Princess.”
I sniffled hard and threw myself into Father’s arms. He lifted me onto his lap and wiped my tears away.
“I’m grateful too. For growing up so beautifully. And Father is so happy to be able to be our Princess’s hero.”
“Dad…”
“To Father, our Princess is the protagonist. The moment I first saw our Princess after she was born, I made a silent vow. No matter what happens, I will always protect you.”
Father gently cupped my cheeks and pressed his forehead against mine.
“Father will always protect you. So our Princess must be happy for the rest of her life.”
“Uuu… mm…”
“Hey, don’t cry.”
Father wiped away my tears. I smiled and pointed at the stew bowl.
“It’s getting cold! Try it quick!”
“Ah!”
Father immediately took a spoonful of stew, and his eyes went wide.
“How is it? Delicious?”
…
He held the stew in his mouth for a long moment, savoring the taste.
After a few seconds, he swallowed with a soft gulp, and his throat bobbed.
“Ah… good heavens…”
“Father?!”
Father’s widened eyes showed no sign of returning to normal. Tears even began to form.
“You’re… crying because it’s that delicious?”
“…Yes. Tears, they just came on their own from the taste.”
To that degree?
I grew curious about the taste of my magnificent stew and reached for Father’s spoon to snatch it—
“No! Stop!”
I startled at the sudden grasp, caught mid-thought.
“Not even one bite! Father’s going to eat it all!”
“No, come on—just one mouthful….”
“No way! I made this for you! Don’t you dare steal it!”
Enoch seemed to have lost himself entirely to the stew’s extraordinary flavor.
He flatly refused my request for just a taste, shoving spoonful after spoonful into his mouth with the fervor of a man who’d gone hungry for days.
“Good heavens. Damn it….”
Good enough to curse over?
“This is—ah—this is so delicious…. We, mmph, our princess made this… with such passionate, powerful love….”
I watched in surprise as tears pooled in his eyes and began to streak down his cheeks, yet relief flooded through me.
My first dish—a complete triumph!
“Thank you. Thank you, my little princess. A taste I’ll never forget…. I feel so strong…. I… I could take on thirty emperors, nngh, it seems….”
“Well, I’m glad, then!”
“And… I really, truly love you.”
Father beamed at me through his tears.
Whether he was moved by the flavor, by my devotion, or by both, I couldn’t say.
“Really, truly…. I love you so much, our princess. My daughter…. My treasure….”
As Enoch whispered his love through tears again and again, I hugged him close, my heart overflowing with joy.
“I love you too, Father! More than anything in the world!”

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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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