My Daddy Hides His Power - Chapter 27

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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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Dad conceals his strength.
Chapter 27
Enock stood frozen for a moment, trying to make sense of this absurd situation.
Lirith had been touring the Exhibition Hall, but then she’d suddenly stumbled upon the Marquis’s illegitimate child—the very reason they’d come here today.
‘He said he was keeping her hidden thoroughly… and a seven-year-old found her?’
There was no longer any need for him to step in.
It was startling, but not unwelcome. In fact, things had gotten easier.
“Hehe, Daaaad!”
Shock had settled over the Reception Room in heavy silence.
Lirith, the architect of this disaster, came bounding toward Enock with an innocent expression.
“The Marquis’s house is huge! There are so many rooms. I was walking around and I found her!”
“That so?”
Enock studied Cesare slowly.
The child couldn’t even open her badly swollen right eye properly—she was tense, on guard.
She seemed to have lost weight since he last saw her, and her split lip suggested she’d been beaten recently.
‘Damn it…’
Enock clenched his teeth, barely containing his rage.
“Where did you find her?”
“In a room in the Basement! But I think the Marquis doesn’t clean the Basement. Her room is dark and smells bad and there are rats and… ugh. It was gross.”
“I see.”
The Marquis and his wife trembled silently, unable to even open their mouths.
The innocent words tumbling from Lirith sounded like a death sentence.
The Marquis eventually recovered enough to part his lips, but—
“That is, well… I mean to say, that child is…”
“She looks like you.”
At the sharp edge in Enock’s voice, he fell silent at once.
Then Enock laughed softly and knelt to meet Cesare at eye level.
And then, very slowly…
he examined the child’s face carefully, and murmured in a meaningful voice.
“You look a lot like the Marquis.”
A child kept like a beast in the Basement.
A face that bore an undeniable resemblance to the Marquis.
In a society where illegitimate children were shameful, anyone could see that the girl was the Marquis’s own blood that he’d been hiding.
There was no room for excuses.
Of course, that didn’t mean…
…he could actually press charges for the child abuse.
What the Marquis feared was damage to his own image if the child’s existence became known to the world. Nothing more.
And Enock understood that fact very well.
“Marquis.”
Soon Enock rose to his feet.
“Let’s have a word in private.”
* * *
Dad had wanted the children to be alone together, so he’d tactfully separated Cesare from this house’s demons before going off to talk with the Marquis.
‘Dad will handle the cleanup well enough, won’t he?’
While waiting for Dad, I unscrewed the cap on the Tube-type Ointment I’d been holding.
‘I wondered why Rachel gave me ointment.’
The ointment had been inside a rolled-up Note that Rachel had given me.
I squeezed some ointment onto my index finger and looked up, noticing Cesare staring at me intently.
“Lower your head. Your lip is split.”
“…It’s fine. Doesn’t hurt much.”
“I already squeezed some out.”
“……”
Cesare fell silent.
That’s a yes, then? When I carefully reached out my hand, Cesare didn’t refuse. As I gently applied the ointment to her lip, she seemed almost grateful.
“Thanks for not abandoning me back there… and bringing me along.”
“……”
“But if you could dodge, why did you keep taking the hits all this time?”
“……”
“Don’t you want to talk to me?”
“If I dodge.”
“Huh?”
“What difference does it make to run? That just makes them angrier. And where would I even go if I tried to escape? Better to stay put and take the blows than starve outside.”
Cesare scoffed at my question as though it were absurd, muttering the words aloud.
“Ah….”
That was a fair point.
No matter how strong her Ability, Cesare was only eleven years old—and without any official status to speak of.
Surviving in this rotten empire without a guardian would be nothing short of impossible.
“You’re right. I’m sorry. That was a stupid thing to ask.”
I apologized for the privileged question and continued applying the ointment to her lips.
“Your father was Rubinstein, the Marquis?”
“Yeah, that’s right. How did you know?”
“Jonathan mentioned it. He said your father would soon become close friends with mine.”
“That’s crazy. Is he out of his mind? My dad become friends with someone he calls insane?”
I closed the ointment tube and spoke.
“My father wanted to see the artworks here today, so he brought me along. But I didn’t come here today because of the art—”
…….
“I came because of you.”
…….
“I came to rescue you. A friend told me you were here. Rachel—do you know her?”
At my words, Cesare looked startled for a moment, then nodded.
Then she asked.
“But why did you want to find me? Do you even know who I am?”
“Of course I do. We met before, remember? Don’t pretend you don’t when you remember everything.”
…….
“Listen, Cesare… I haven’t stopped thinking about you since then. I wanted to see you again.”
“…Why?”
“Well, just because? People can like someone without a reason. I like you.”
Cesare stared at me hard, then spoke.
“I understand.”
“Understand what?”
“So I become your toy, right? And in exchange, you feed me and let me sleep at your house?”
“…What?”
I stared at her in bewilderment, and Cesare tilted her head slightly, as if asking whether her words were wrong.
“No, no, I—how can a person be a toy? I want to be friends with you!”
…And later, Father would register you in the family register, and we’d become siblings, wouldn’t we?
I swallowed the rest. Cesare looked confused.
“But you’re a Marquis’s daughter. How could we possibly be friends?”
“We can.”
…….
“Don’t you want to?”
“No.”
Cesare didn’t seem to believe me.
She seemed to think it was just a fleeting interest a young noblewoman showed her peers, nothing more.
‘Sigh, her heart really is locked tight. Like a wild street cat….’
Just from her expression, Cesare was a fortress. Her prejudice against Father and me, being nobles, still lingered.
‘Well, there’s nothing to be done. Time will solve this.’
If I treated her well, Cesare would eventually understand.
That the world wasn’t filled only with bad people like her father and brother.
“Lirith.”
“Yes, Father!”
Father entered the room, apparently finished with his conversation with the Marquis.
He came close and silently examined Cesare’s condition, then spoke with a sigh and a smile.
“Let’s go home now.”
* * *
“So she’s an illegitimate child. Well, now that I’ve noticed her, the girl’s fate is clear enough.”
The existence of the hidden illegitimate child had been exposed to the outside world.
They would certainly try to suppress any rumors, and the child would inevitably be disposed of within a short time.
“But as you saw, my daughter seems quite fond of the girl, so I thought I might take her with me instead.”
“Y-yes? No, your Gr—”
“Well, it’s unfortunate that she caught my attention, but at least it’s fortunate for you, Marquis. I have no particular desire to rake up others’ scandals—nor any interest in them, for that matter.”
“…….”
“If you want to handle this as quietly as possible, my proposal isn’t a bad one.”
The Marquis had no choice but to accept Enock’s suggestion to use Cesare as a playmate for his daughter.
He didn’t want to needlessly provoke someone like Enock, nor risk making an enemy of him….
Besides, now that he knew of the illegitimate child’s existence, the man had more than enough leverage to blackmail him.
“Well, then….”
The Marquis deliberated for a long moment before speaking.
“Should the young lady tire of the child, or if she proves useless… I beg you, see that the girl is disposed of quietly, without loose talk.”
“…….”
“You understand as well as anyone how vital reputation is to nobility like us…. I would be most grateful.”
Sickening.
Enock nearly spoke the word aloud.
He couldn’t fathom it.
How could a man ask so casually for his own blood to be killed?
“…Very well.”
Recalling his conversation with the Marquis, Enock had been seething with rage — but the moment he looked at the two children sitting across from him, his expression softened.
“Have some of this too.”
“…….”
“And this!”
Plates were piled high as mountains, and Cesare ate with the frenzied focus of a beast starved for days.
Beside her, Lirith busily transferred food from her own plate to Cesare’s.
‘How long did they keep this child without food?’
When Enock asked Cesare what she wanted to do after leaving the Marquis’s house, she’d answered immediately.
“I’m hungry.”
That was all.
Without going far, they’d found a restaurant and stepped inside.
“Eat slowly. You’ll make yourself sick.”
“…….”
Cesare stared warily at the cup of water Lirith offered, then finally took it and drank.
The child was guarded, but she seemed to be gradually growing accustomed to the careful attention being lavished on her.
Enock chuckled softly.
“You should eat too, princess.”
“I am eating. Here, try this. Go on, have some.”
Lirith speared a small sausage on her fork and held it out; this time Cesare simply opened her mouth and accepted it.
“Hehe.”
“…….”
Lirith seemed quite fond of Cesare and beamed with delight.
‘That’s fortunate.’
Enock felt relieved.
Lirith would soon have to enter the Ability User Training Institute, and it wouldn’t be a bad thing to send her there with Cesare.
‘Her mother is a Non-Ability User, as I understand.’
If Cesare was a mixed-blood of an Ability User and a Non-Ability User, her rank would likely be the lowest — 6th Grade Diez….
Or at best, the rank above that: 5th Grade Nubeno.
‘Even if it’s low, having a rank at least means she’ll be treated more like a human being.’
Whatever Cesare might want to do later, wherever she might wish to go.
In this country where rank was everything, an Ability User Badge was essential just to be treated as a person at all.
“Your name is Cesare, isn’t it?”
When Enock asked, Cesare looked up slowly.
Her eyes were sharp, wary.
“After you finish eating, what would you like to do?”
“…….”
“My house is quite large and pleasant…. There are many rooms.”
“…….”
“Don’t you want to say?”
“…No, I do.”
Knowing he couldn’t simply ask the wary child to come with him, Enock had chosen his words carefully — yet the girl still seemed hesitant, lost in thought.
‘Is there somewhere she wants to go? Her mother, perhaps? Though I heard her mother abandoned her too….’
Enock rubbed his brow thoughtfully before asking.
“Do you know where your mother is?”
“…….”
Hmm, so that’s not it.
Cesare’s expression hardened—not what her mother wanted to hear, then.
“Sir.”
“Mm?”
Cesare set down the utensil she’d been holding and opened her mouth.
“I don’t have a mother. I don’t know where she is, and I don’t want to know.”
“Ah, I see.”
“Um….”
Cesare bit her lip, hesitating for a long moment before her resolve seemed to settle. She opened her eyes wide and spoke.
“If you let me be your daughter’s maid, I’ll do well at it. You brought me out because of your daughter, didn’t you? I’ll do whatever she tells me to do. If she wants to play, I’ll play with her. If she wants errands run, I’ll run them. I’ll do all of that. So….”
What is she saying right now?
Enock stood there with his mouth hanging open, and Cesare met his gaze directly before she continued.
“…just give me meals and a place to sleep.”

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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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