My Daddy Hides His Power - Chapter 33

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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’s Hidden Strength
Chapter 33
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“Your birthday’s coming up soon, isn’t it?”
“Huh? That’s still ages away…”
“Come on, there’s less than a month left.”
As Lirith emerged from lessons, Enoch walked her back to her room, asking the question with barely contained excitement.
“What does the princess want?”
“I don’t know…”
“Come on, tell me everything. I couldn’t afford anything fancy last year, but this time your father will get you whatever you want!”
“Not really…”
Lirith’s response was lukewarm as she walked, adjusting the Teddy Bear Bag slung across her back.
“There’s nothing you want? You said last year you wanted those—what were they—Princess Shoes…”
…I couldn’t afford them. The price was steep.
During spring, when Lirith’s birthday fell, James Brown hadn’t many customers looking for firewood, making it his slowest season.
“No, I have plenty of shoes. I don’t need them. Auntie bought me lots.”
“Then what?”
“There’s nothing in particular I want…”
Lirith hesitated, then glanced up at Enoch shyly.
“They’re having a festival in Jedo soon. Could we go see it together?”
“Ah.”
Now that he thought of it, early next month would mark the beginning of the two-week Children’s Day festival.
During the festival period, noble children typically enjoyed refined events like poetry recitations, musical performances, and horseback riding.
But what Lirith was talking about was surely the common folk’s festival.
The City Streets glittering with lights, lined with toy stalls, where you could watch clowns perform and puppet shows…
It was truly a paradise for children.
“No, no… just forget I said anything. It won’t work. Grandfather wouldn’t like it…”
“Why won’t it work?”
Enoch scooped up the dejected Lirith into his arms.
“Let’s go, let’s go!”
“Dad, aren’t you being silly? You shine like that, and if we go out, everyone will recognize us and bow and all that, won’t they?”
“Oh, don’t worry about that. On the day, I’ll just use Disguise and become James Brown for a bit. We’ll slip out without Grandfather knowing, eat delicious food, buy you Princess Shoes, and have fun.”
“Really?”
“Mm-hmm, really.”
Lirith’s face brightened at once.
“Yay! Dad’s the best!”
“Dad is the best, right? Then give me a kiss.”
“Okay!”
Lirith grinned and kissed Enoch’s cheek.
The two of them were laughing face-to-face when they heard it—a scream that froze them in place.
“Ahhhhh! Huh, aaaaah!”
A cry of anguish suddenly echoed from the Mansion, stopping Enoch mid-stride through the hallway.
The source of the pained moans lay beyond a firmly shut door.
‘Oh. It must be Theo.’
Enoch’s expression hardened.
His nephew, Theo Antrace, suffered from a Rare Disease.
Even before Enoch had left Jedo, Theo had suffered frequent Seizures.
Unfortunately, there was nothing anyone else could do now but watch him suffer.
“Listen, princess. Your father will just slip out for a moment and—”
“Put me down!”
“What?”
Enoch, holding the shocked Lirith, hesitated.
“Put me down, hurry!”
“No, wait.”
Enoch set Lirith down without thinking, as she pounded her small fists against his chest.
The moment her feet touched the ground, Lirith turned her Teddy Bear Bag around and opened it, pulling something out.
A small Pendant…
No—the small sphere inside it, glowing deep violet, was unmistakably…
‘A core? Could that be a Demon Beast Core?’
Why on earth did the child have something like that?
Before I could even process my confusion, Lirith rushed toward the door and threw it open.
* * *
“Young Master, please hold on just a little longer!”
“Ugh, uuaahhh! Aaaahhh!”
The moment the door swung wide, I froze at the sight before me.
“Oh….”
Theo thrashed in agony, his eyes bloodshot and bulging from their sockets.
Sweat-soaked hair clung to his face, and his neck was twisted back at its limit.
The servants gripping his arms and legs one on each side couldn’t bear to look—their eyes squeezed shut.
「As Theo Antrace grew, the intervals between his seizures had shortened. When unbearable pain struck, he would claw at his own neck and chest until blood ran, leaving wounds in their wake.
Each time, the servants would forcibly restrain his limbs and wait for the seizure to subside.」
It was always this way….
The gap between reading about a situation in text and witnessing it firsthand was staggering.
“Ah, Theo…. Please, please just hold on a little longer. It’ll be all right soon. I’m sorry, Mother is so sorry….”
His mother knelt there helpless, weeping.
Leon stood beside her, jaw clenched, fists balled tight.
‘This isn’t the time for that.’
I couldn’t afford to be paralyzed by shock.
“Brother!!”
I screamed and bolted toward Theo.
“Lirith!”
“No, Miss! If you get too close—!”
I ignored their protests and flung myself onto the bed, wrapping my arms around Theo’s neck.
The Pendant hanging from my neck pressed firmly against his chest.
“Hggh! Ah….”
“Brother, don’t hurt. Don’t hurt, please….”
“Aaahhh!”
I shook my head, quickly brushing away tears already blurring my vision, and prayed silently.
‘Please, please. Please let this work.’
I knew the Demon Beast Core was supposed to ease Theo’s pain, but since it had never actually been used in the original story, I was secretly afraid it wouldn’t help.
‘Please don’t let it be useless. It can’t be. Please….’
Then.
“Hah… hah….”
Miraculously, Theo’s ragged breathing began to slow. His violent thrashing gradually subsided.
‘It’s working. It’s actually working!’
I quickly slipped the Pendant from around my neck and clasped Theo’s hand as if in prayer.
“What’s wrong, brother? Does it hurt? Hmm?”
“Hah… hah…. Li… Lirith…?”
“Y-Young Master, are you all right?”
“Are you coming to?”
Watching the seizure fade so suddenly, the servants exchanged bewildered looks.
“Theo! My boy!”
His mother rushed over. I pressed the Pendant into Theo’s hand and stepped down from the bed.
“You… you’re all right?”
“…Yes. Yes, Mother.”
“How can this be… My God. Thank the heavens. I’m so grateful. So very grateful.”
“What? You’re not hurting anymore? Already?”
Leon’s eyes went wide as he asked, and Theo—his lips parched—nodded awkwardly.
“It’s truly a blessing, Ordia. Today the seizure subsided much faster than usual.”
“That’s what I mean. This has never happened before. Thank God, truly….”
Watching my aunt and the servants relax in relief, I felt a sinking dread.
‘Oh no. This isn’t how it was supposed to go.’
Everything was unfolding differently than I’d envisioned.
I’d expected everyone to question why the seizure had suddenly stopped and search for the cause—naturally drawing their attention to the Pendant….
‘But they’re all just relieved the seizure ended! This is wrong!’
Theo’s condition wasn’t something that could be cured outright; it required continuously suppressing periodic clashes of power.
In other words, he would need to carry the Demon Beast Core with him for the rest of his life.
But at this rate, they’d never realize the ultimate cure was right in front of them.
And if I suddenly chimed in with “Doesn’t it seem like this Pendant healed my brother?” it would raise all sorts of suspicions.
‘Is there no one here with any sense of observation?!’
It was the moment when I was crying out internally.
“Are you alright, Theo?”
Father approached from behind and stood beside the bed, asking the question.
“Yes, yes, Uncle. I’m fine…. It doesn’t hurt anymore.”
“Good, that’s a relief. Sister, how long ago did the seizure start?”
“About ten minutes or so.”
“That’s strange. I remember he usually suffered for three or four hours at a time.”
…He really is the protagonist.
Watching Father regard the situation with suspicion, his eyes gleaming with sharp perception, I felt relief wash over me.
“Thank goodness, Brother. I asked him not to hurt, so he got better quickly, didn’t he? Hehe.”
I squeezed Theo’s hand as he clutched the Pendant, and spoke with just the right amount of innocence.
“So that’s how it is…. Thank you, Lirith. You must have been quite frightened.”
“I was, but as long as Brother isn’t in pain anymore, that’s what matters.”
As I nestled against him with a bright smile, Theo gently stroked my hair.
I glanced sideways at Father and saw, as expected, that his gaze was fixed sharply on the Pendant in Theo’s hand.
“Lirith.”
“Yes, Father?”
“Where did you get that?”
“This?”
Everyone’s gaze turned toward the Pendant.

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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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