My Daddy Hides His Power - Chapter 241

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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 241
* * *
“Ha, geez… you’ve made quite a lot, haven’t you? When are we supposed to finish all this…?”
“……?”
Oscar sighed as he spooned my signature stew into a dish.
“Master, don’t you trust me? I’m telling you it’s really delicious! We can eat the leftovers tomorrow morning. Between you and me, we’ll polish it off in just two meals!”
“Mm, sure.”
Was it because the color looked like hellbroth?
Oscar clearly didn’t believe a word of it.
‘But the moment he tastes it, he’ll cry tears of joy just like James Brown would!’
We settled at the table to wait, and soon a bowl of stew was placed in front of each of us.
Along with two sandwich quarters that Oscar had prepared separately for me.
“Huh.”
Oscar set down an enormous pitcher of water beside himself and drew a solemn breath, as if preparing for battle as a commanding general.
“Hehe, don’t you dare ask me to make this every single day just because it’s good!”
“That’s unlikely to happen, but….”
“But if you ever want it, Master, I’d be delighted to become your personal cook, responsible for all three of your daily meals. For life!”
“…….”
Oscar stared at me intently as I rested my chin in my palm, my eyes gleaming.
“You’re good at cooking too, Master, but I’m amazing at it as well. When we live together later, we should divide the work—cooking will be my job.”
“…….”
“What will you do, Master? Cleaning? Laundry? You don’t even have to earn money. I’ll handle all the living expenses. I can just travel back and forth between Jedo.”
“Hey.”
“By the way, have you ever been to a place called Jenon down in the southern reaches? No, you’re a Jedo native—you probably wouldn’t know?”
“…….”
“I lived there with Father before coming to Jedo. It’s a small mountain village with hardly anyone around, which is perfect. Everyone there is so kind and honest. You’d love it, Master! I miss Susan and Joe.”
“Hey.”
Oscar finally cut off my endless chattering, afraid another melancholy topic might surface.
“Are you serious? You’d abandon everything and come live with me?”
“Yes, of course.”
“We can’t live loudly if we’re to avoid drawing attention. You’ll have to drop all those noble habits and do everything with your own two hands. No servants at all?”
“But Master, aren’t you already living that way?”
“Ah, that’s because I hate dealing with other people!”
“I don’t mind either. Besides, I spent half my life living exactly like that in a mountain village, doing laundry and cooking meals myself!”
“What if you miss your father?”
“I can visit Jedo occasionally. Surely you’d be willing to wait that long?”
“Your father would feel disappointed.”
“Father will understand.”
“Sigh.”
Oscar exhaled a long breath as I countered each objection without hesitation.
“…Fine.”
“Wait, did you just say fine? You’re saying yes to living with me?”
“Let me suffer the consequences of my own choice. What’s the point of trying to dissuade you further?”
“Yes! Then promise me you won’t run away, Master! In three years, we’ll find a house together in the countryside with fresh air and beautiful scenery, and we’ll start our life there!”
“…….”
Oscar chuckled softly, pouring water into his cup and picking up his spoon.
“First, let’s deal with this hellish stew.”
“Hellish stew? That’s harsh! And don’t come asking me to make more after you taste it!”
“All right.”
Oscar squeezed his eyes shut and took his first spoonful of the stew.
And then, as expected.
“…….”
His eyes went wide as saucers, and the hand holding his spoon began to tremble.
“Surprised, aren’t you? That it tastes nothing like it looks?”
Oscar held the stew in his mouth for a long moment, savoring it, then swallowed hard and grabbed his water glass, gulping it down.
“Wow, ha. Hoo. Ha… ha!”
“Hahahaha!”
Such a dramatic reaction! I felt my face burn and squirmed with embarrassment.
Clack!
Oscar set down his water glass with an audible clink, his expression darkening. “You made this to kill me, didn’t you?”
“You made this to kill me, didn’t you?”
“Well, it’s the sort of dish where two people could eat it and one of them might die, and nobody would think twice about it.”
“That explains why I never saw you taste anything while you were cooking. You already knew what this tasted like. And you fed it to me anyway, you incorrigible creature!”
“No, that’s not it! The head chef told me that cooks aren’t supposed to taste their own dishes while they’re cooking.”
I explained the rumor our chef, Cognac, had shared about the customs of his homeland.
“If you do, a demon will steal away the sincere wish you poured into the cooking. When I made this, I prayed that you and Master would live together happily forever—so I couldn’t let the demon take that away.”
“Good God. The absurdity never ends, does it?”
Oscar was grinding his teeth, but tears had already begun to pool in his eyes.
“Oh! Master, you have tears in your eyes! See, I told you? Father cried while eating it too!”
“Ah, yes! Now I understand why that man was weeping!”
Oscar ground his teeth and took another spoonful of the stew. Then—
Bang!
“Sweet mercy!”
He slammed his fist down on the table.
“Aaahhh!”
“What—what exactly is so delicious about it? Stop with the exclamations and tell me in actual words!”
“Taste it yourself!”
Oscar let out a sharp cry and refilled his water glass, gesturing at the stew bowl in front of me with his chin.
Well, at last I’d get to taste it.
I scooped up a generous spoonful, piled high with meat and vegetables, and—
“Ahhh—”
—brought it to my mouth,
“Bleeechhh!”
only to spit it right back out.
?
??
???
“Bwahahaha!”
Oscar cackled and pushed the water glass toward me. I gulped it down in panic.
“…Good… heavens.”
The taste was… shocking.
In an entirely different way.
Even after I’d rinsed my mouth out with water, my tongue had gone numb—I couldn’t feel anything anymore.
‘What… what is… what is this?’
I hadn’t made a mistake. I’d followed Father’s recipe exactly, just as I’d given it to him the other day.
Which meant—
The stew that had gone into Father’s mouth tasted exactly like this incomprehensible nightmare?
“What have I… done…?”
“Yes. Now you understand reality.”
Oscar nodded and took another bite, then writhed in agony.
“No! Master?!”
My vision went white. I hurried around the table to stop him.
“Why—why do you keep eating it? Stop! Don’t eat anymore! Give me the spoon!”
“Forget it!”
Oscar dodged my outstretched hand, picked up his plate, and stood.
“Don’t eat it! Master, you’ll die like this!”
“Ahahahaha!”
Tears came to my eyes too. Whether it was shame toward everyone who’d choked down my cursed cooking, or a reflexive response from my body recoiling in shock at the taste, I couldn’t say.
“What? You’re dividing up the chores? You’ll handle the cooking?”
“I’m so sorry. I’m truly sorry…”
The reactions of Cognac, the maidservants, and Father flashed through my mind like a panorama.
As if having no talent for cooking wasn’t bad enough—did I have to lack sensitivity too?
Now I understood the meaning of the sandwich Oscar had made for me in advance, anticipating this taste.
“Ugh… Master… please… please don’t eat anymore… I’m begging you…”
I kept trying to snatch the plate away out of guilt, but Oscar dodged me, finishing off the stew.
“Damn. It’s the kind of taste that makes you lose your mind.”
“Waaahhh…!”
Understanding why Oscar was so determined to finish it all, I felt apologetic and embarrassed and utterly pathetic, and all of it at once.
“I’m sorry, Master… I’ll just… I’ll do the laundry instead of cooking… I’m good at laundry… *sniffles*”
What was I thinking, trying to cook?
I should just wash the dishes instead….
* * *
Deep night.
The South, Argonia.
Cheshire, the Supreme Commander of the Invasion Force and Master of the Imperial Magic Sword Order, prepared for his return with an expressionless face.
Countless medals honoring his Military Merits gleamed across the chest of his Black Uniform.
The Advisor draped the Red Cloak around his shoulders and caught a glimpse of Cheshire’s impassive features.
What could he be thinking?
“Take this.”
The moment Cheshire accepted the sword the Advisor offered.
He recalled many things.
Enoch, Axion, countless comrades….
And Lilis.
Finally, the Emperor.
He conjured the Emperor’s face in his mind.
The end of a long vigil stood one day away.
As he imagined beheading the Emperor, an unfamiliar tremor seized his entire body.
…….
Cheshire, now armed with his sword, advanced with eyes ablaze and sharp.
“Let us go.”
At last, to offer the devil’s head as an offering to my angel.
* * *
At the same moment, Jedo.
Luden Dorf Marquis Manor.
In a chamber devoid of light, the Marquis Luden Dorf—Felix—discreetly prepared his son to depart.
“Father…. Where are we going?”
Kyle asked in a trembling voice.
In the deep of night, his father had arrived in a heavy robe, as if desperate to conceal himself.
In his arms lay a newborn, Kyle’s own brother, asleep and oblivious to the world.
Kyle stood in similar garb to his father.
Everything about the situation terrified him.
“…Kyle.”
Felix watched his frightened son and, after a moment of deliberation, spoke.
“Do you want to go with your mother?”
…….
Kyle understood what his father meant.
Tomorrow.
He had learned from his mother what he was meant to do in Jedo—he who had been exempted from the Invasion Force’s service.
“No.”
Tears welled up.
Then Kyle began to tremble violently.
“F-Father, I—I don’t want to…. I c-can’t do it…. I don’t want to…. I don’t want to k-kill people….”
“Yes, Kyle. Yes. Don’t cry. Don’t cry, it’s alright.”
Felix too, holding his son, wept with an anguished, twisted expression.
“Let’s go. If you don’t want to, you don’t have to. Let’s leave together, you and me. It’s alright. You’re right. You are….”
“F-Father…. Hnghhh….”
Soon the man, cradling the child, grasped his son’s hand and fled the manor in silence.
As he glanced back at the estate one last time, a flicker of regret crossed his eyes—but only for a moment.
War, and Rebellion.
One day before the Imperial Transformation.
A darkness so complete it swallowed the fleeing shadows of the two.

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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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