My Daddy Hides His Power - Chapter 24

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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
Chapter 24
A signal sent in a way only I could decipher.
The members of Lico’s Guild planted in our household were none other than my two personal handmaidens.
Breaking through a fifty-to-one competition rate to become my dedicated attendants—it must have been for intelligence gathering.
‘How troublesome.’
I lifted myself carefully from the bed.
“Um, you two, both of you….”
I whispered quietly to the pair with their artful expressions.
“I look forward to working with you going forward…?”
The two of them beamed.
“Of course, Miss!”
“Naturally!”
* * *
The next day.
Enoch received an anonymous tip sent to him and could not hide his surprise.
‘That child… was an illegitimate child of Marquis Onyx?’
A commoner boy he’d happened to encounter on the day he arrived in Jedo, being tormented by a nobleman.
At Lilis’s request, he’d set people to searching, but there had been no real progress yet.
Then an anonymous tip arrived with surprising information about the boy.
‘L,’ it was signed.
The only clue to identify the informant was the initial L.
Without wanting or demanding anything, they had simply conveyed the child’s situation as it stood.
That he was the illegitimate child of Marquis Onyx, currently confined and abused in the marquis’s estate.
‘L. I don’t know who you are, but your intention to save the child is clear.’
Among Jedo’s reputation-sensitive nobility, there were many who viewed illegitimate children as shameful and dealt with them in secret.
That boy too seemed to be barely clinging to life for now.
‘If this is true, we need to save him quickly.’
There was no telling how long a nobleman’s whim to keep an illegitimate child alive would last.
“Damn. But why Onyx of all people?”
Enoch rubbed his brow irritably.
He had no personal acquaintance with Marquis Onyx. Seven years ago when he was in Jedo, they’d never even met face to face.
Moreover, Onyx was a nobleman of considerable power and standing in Jedo….
Even for Enoch, there was no legitimate grounds to suddenly storm into the marquis’s house and demand whether he was hiding and abusing a child.
‘I can’t just show up unannounced.’
Enoch himself had to be mindful of the eyes around him.
Less than a week back, and he couldn’t afford to kick up a fuss openly.
Was there no way to visit the marquis’s estate quickly, yet naturally?
“How on earth….”
“Papa!”
“Ah, my princess!”
Just then, the study door burst open.
Enoch quickly hid the tip and greeted Lilis.
“Did my daughter finish her lesson?”
“Uh-huh!”
Enoch lifted Lilis, who came running with her Teddy Bear Bag slung over her shoulder, onto his lap and gently brushed her hair back.
“What did my princess learn today?”
“I had my first Art Lesson today and it was so much fun. The teacher showed me famous sculptors and artworks!”
“Is that so?”
“Yep, Papa, do you know this?”
Lilis’s eyes sparkled as she pulled a book from her bag and opened it.
“A sculptor named Lindel made this artwork and it’s really, really famous. It’s called The Gates of Heaven and it’s so beautiful.”
“Oh.”
It was an artwork made by fashioning a bronze door, with cherub figures carved upon its surface.
“I want to see this in person, but I probably can’t, right?”
“Why not? Where is it? If it’s a famous artwork, it should be in the Divine Temple Art Museum, shouldn’t it? Father will take you there.”
“No, it’s not there. I asked the teacher and she said that Marquis Onyx—that gentleman—bought it. So it’s at his house, she said.”
“What? Onyx?”
Enoch’s eyes widened.
“The angels are so pretty…. I really want to see them in person….”
“I can see it!”
“No way! Really?”
“Yes! I can see it, Princess!”
Enoch broke into a radiant smile and swept Lilis up into his arms, rising to his feet in one fluid motion.
He’d needed a legitimate reason to visit the Marquis’s estate anyway….
“I’ll reach out to that gentleman. Let’s go see it.”
“Wow, really? Dad’s the best!”
Nestled against Enoch, whose face glowed with relief at having solved the problem, Lilis allowed herself a secret, satisfied smile.
* * *
Marquis Onyx’s Estate.
The morning the Duke of House Rubinstein was expected to visit, the entire household bustled with preparation.
Of course, none of this concerned the basement level two stories below, where not a single ray of sunlight ever penetrated.
“Eat quickly! This room reeks, and I don’t want to be here any longer than I have to!”
A maidservant hurled a tray containing a chunk of stale bread and a cup of water, her voice sharp with contempt.
Then she fled toward the door as though unable to bear standing near him a moment longer.
‘Where did I put it?’
The lamp oil had long since burned dry, and for the past few days he’d been unable to see anything ahead of him.
Chesire groped across the floor in the darkness for some time before finally locating the bread.
“By the way, do you think we’ll get to see the Duke today too?”
“Probably? Ah, I’m so jealous of those girls working at House Rubinstein. If they catch the Duke’s eye, their whole life blooms, doesn’t it?”
“Come on. Would the Duke really get involved with a maid?”
“Well, our master’s mother was a kitchen girl herself, wasn’t she? It’s not entirely out of the question.”
The two maidservants stood at a distance, whispering to each other, then glanced toward Chesire buried in the darkness and giggled.
The light from the lamp they held was so feeble that the room remained almost pitch black.
“Could someone… could you refill the lamp oil? I can’t see anything at all.”
“What are you talking about? Do you have any idea how expensive lamp oil is?”
“Oh, if you offered to refill the oil in the young master Jonathan’s room, he’d be absolutely delighted. We’d get the beating of our lives, you fool.”
“Just finish eating. We need to go. The Duke will be arriving soon.”
That Duke, Duke, Duke again….
His half-brother Jonathan, who had beaten him yesterday, seemed in good spirits because of that Duke. That was the only reason.
“The Duke of House Rubinstein is coming tomorrow. You don’t even know what kind of house House Rubinstein is, do you, you filth?”
…….
“This time I’m going to make sure the Duke notices me. If I play my cards right, I might even marry their daughter someday.”
The second-most powerful man in the empire, or so he’d heard?
Either way, Chesire would never lay eyes on such a person in his lifetime.
“Once you get close to the Duke, Father won’t keep you alive anymore. Your existence would be an embarrassment if it became known.”
So, then I’ll finally die.
Now that his disposal was imminent, fear gripped him—yet this was also the moment he’d long awaited, the only alternative to a life worse than death.
‘Right, I’m going to die soon anyway. What use is light?’
Buried in darkness where he couldn’t see even an inch ahead, Chesire let his thoughts drift.
Then.
“Why are you two so slow? Don’t you know the Duke of House Rubinstein is visiting today?”
Another voice entered the room.
“Oh, Richel, sorry. We need to take the tray….”
“I’ll handle it. Go on ahead.”
“Thank you so much.”
“Thanks. Hurry up.”
Clop, clop, clop.
The face of another maidservant carrying a lamp came into view.
Richel….
One of only four maidservants in this household who knew of Chesire’s existence.
She was not kind, but she never threw food at him or cursed at him.
She simply stood beside him in silence until his meal was finished.
Though they had never spoken, Chesire knew she pitied him.
“Um.”
As Richel approached to collect the tray, Chesire spoke to her for the first time.
“Could you… refill the lamp oil?”
…….
He knew it was a meaningless request, yet in the face of death drawing near, he’d voiced it out of fear.
Before he died, he wanted… someone….
I wanted to remember that there had been even a scrap of warmth from someone….
“I don’t need your back.”
Yet Richel rose, collecting the tray, and spoke with detachment.
Then she turned and left.
“After all, today your young master’s world will grow bright.”
She left behind words he could not fathom.
Bang.
Click.
The door locked, as it always did.
Chesire’s world became darkness.
‘My world grows bright?’
It was absurd.
As always, he fumbled across the cold floor and crawled to a corner, drawing himself into a tight ball.
And as habit dictated, he drew out what he kept close to his chest and clutched it in his hand.
A week ago.
A pink handkerchief with a rabbit drawn on it—given by the little girl who had regarded him with such pity.
Now Chesire understood why he had held onto it then.
Warmth.
Even knowing it was mere pity from those lofty nobles, he was parched for that meager warmth.
Always speaking of wanting to die, yet this small child had fought to survive each time, yearning for someone to remain at his side.
That he had stayed beside his mother, who strangled him daily, saying they should die together….
That he endured like a beast in this house, abandoned by his own mother….
All of it, every last bit….
Was because of that damned, burning will to live.
“Father won’t let you live any longer either.”
Perhaps that was why.
In this very moment, as death drew near,
Chesire felt fear for the first time.
His eyes stung. He had never wept, no matter how much pain he endured—but today, tears came.
“I….”
One solitary warmth he was permitted.
Chesire clutched the handkerchief tightly and sobbed.
He had never truly wanted to die.
More than anyone,
“I want to live….”
He wanted to live.

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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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