My Daddy Hides His Power - Chapter 43

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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 43
“…….”
Father, who had been silent, called to me.
“Listen, Lilith.”
“Tell His Majesty the Emperor exactly what I used to say—that you don’t want to fight wars like that. Wars like that are wrong….”
“…….”
“James, why won’t you answer me?”
I brushed the dirt from my palms and turned to face Father.
Father stared at me for a moment, then let out a soft laugh.
“All right. I will.”
“Father.”
“Yes, Princess.”
I got to my feet and embraced him.
“I’m all right.”
“All right with what?”
Father held me close and gently stroked my hair as he spoke.
“I just hope you won’t have to go fight bad wars because of me.”
“…….”
“Promise me. You understand?”
Father’s arms tightened around me, trembling slightly.
“I promise.”
“…Yes, I promise.”
His voice carried the bitter weight of a lie.
* * *
In the deep hours before dawn, when even the moon had fallen asleep.
The Stable at the Rubinstein Duke’s Residence.
Only Caeser’s black horse Walter and Lilith’s white horse Zephyr remained awake.
[Hey there, Prince.]
Walter called out to Zephyr.
Prince—that had been the nickname other horses had given Zephyr back at the Horse Estate where they used to live together, mocking his beautiful appearance and aloof manner.
As always, Zephyr did not answer.
[After all this time, why don’t you just let the Princess ride you once?]
[…….]
Princess was Lilith’s nickname.
It was because Lilith’s father, the human who owned this house, always called his daughter Princess.
[Are you listening?!]
[…Shut up. Be quiet.]
[You are listening. Come on, the Princess sits in the stable every day watching our owner ride me with envious eyes—don’t you feel sorry for her?]
[…….]
[My owner has been so worried about the Princess that he couldn’t even concentrate yesterday and today.]
Zephyr had eyes and ears; he knew everything.
He saw how Lilith watched Caeser ride Walter with longing in her gaze.
Then.
A small sound came from the darkness.
Both horses’ ears perked up.
“Oh? What is it? You two weren’t sleeping?”
[Oh! Princess? Why are you here at this hour?!]
It was Lilith, a lantern in one hand and a small basket tucked under her arm.
“Shh, shh. Walter, be quiet. You’ll wake all the others.”
[Give me a carrot!]
“I said be quiet.”
To Lilith it sounded only like Walter’s desperate whinnying, but he was demanding carrots over and over.
Lilith peered into the basket she had brought and hesitated.
“Are you asking for these? They were heavy—I could only bring four. These are all for Zephyr….”
[That’s not fair!]
“What do I do…. How about just one?”
Lilith set the lantern down in the corner of the stable and fed a carrot to Walter.
“There, there. You eat so well. You’re such a good boy.”
[The Princess is even more beautiful.]
Walter polished off a carrot in a single bite, then snorted and nuzzled affectionately against the back of Lilith’s hand.
After stroking Walter a few times, Lilith dumped all the remaining carrots from Zephyr’s feed trough into his stall.
[Lucky bastard….]
Walter muttered to himself.
“Zephyr, I thought you’d be asleep, but you’re awake. Father wasn’t here, so I could only sneak out at dawn…. Oh, Father went to the Imperial Palace. He said he’d be gone for two nights.”
As always, Lilith chattered away as if she were speaking directly to Zephyr, then carefully bent down.
Zephyr started in surprise.
Before he could process what was happening, the girl was squeezing her small body into his stall without a moment’s hesitation.
Fearless as anything.
“So this is—well, Zephyr, Riko sent me more of this really excellent medicine yesterday. I soaked a cloth in it with water, nice and warm. Oh, Riko’s my friend.”
Lilith pulled a damp cloth from her dress.
Only then did fear seem to catch up with her; she took a small step back and hesitated.
“I’m going to wrap it around your sore leg. I was going to do it while you were sleeping and sneak out, but…. Do you need to keep your leg still? If it hurts, tell me, okay?”
Zephyr’s gaze remained unmoved. Lilith carefully wound the cloth around his right front leg.
“You’re so good…. So I asked Flinn about this—oh, Flinn is our house physician. This is really excellent medicine, but it only works on people, not animals. So it probably won’t help, but just in case….”
Lilith sighed as she added this.
“Walter said maybe you’re not moving because your leg still hurts.”
[No, Princess. The Prince here—his leg healed ages ago.]
“Walter, I said quiet. Anyway, I saw a newspaper article last year when you won the Equestrian Competition, and it said you practiced for ten hours a day without even a ten-minute break, didn’t it?”
Lilith added in the softest murmur, “What a broken daemon Martini….”
“I hope you get better soon.”
Then she let out a small gasp.
“Don’t get the wrong idea. I’m not asking you to give me a ride. You don’t have to.”
[Forget that prince! I’ll give you a ride, Princess!]
“Walter, no. We’re all out of carrots for today. I’ll give you more tomorrow.”
Having placated Walter, Lilith gently stroked Zephyr’s leg.
“Like I said before, I don’t need to compete. Caeser’s going to win anyway, so it doesn’t matter.”
[That’s right—my master and I are going to win!]
With her clumsy treatment finished, Lilith, heedless of the dirt, plopped herself down in the corner and hugged her knees.
Zephyr gazed down at her quietly.
“So if you don’t feel like running, you don’t have to. Just run whenever you want to, that’s all.”
Lilith spoke with a smile.
For some reason, his former master’s face overlapped with hers in Zephyr’s mind, and he found he couldn’t look away.
“Stop resting! Don’t sleep, just run! The competition is right around the corner!”
“Why are you getting slower? Run faster! Faster! How am I supposed to work with this kind of speed!”
“Your leg might be hurt and you’re not as fast as before…. But speed isn’t everything. There are things you can only see when you slow down.”
“You were born to run. As a racing horse, there’s only one way to prove your worth: competitions! Victory! Excellence!”
“Isn’t the term ‘racing horse’ strange? A horse born just to run…. Well, there are lots of joyful things in this world, and lots of delicious things too.”
“This horse? I got a new one. Looking at your condition, you seem hopeless. If you want me to ride you and race again, find your old speed. I don’t need a slow horse.”
“Love isn’t something you earn by running fast, and affection isn’t something you get by winning competitions. So really, even if you can’t run as fast as you used to, that’s okay.”
[…….]
“I just wish you’d get better soon…. Your leg, and your heart….”
Lilith, still murmuring, let out a small yawn and, forgetting to leave, began nodding off right there in the stall.
Zephyr watched her for a long while, then carefully moved closer, bent his legs, and lay down.
Soon the child’s small body sank into the soft hollow of the white horse’s neck.
* * *
“What on earth are you doing here?”
Flicker, flicker.
A stern voice, caught somewhere between dream and waking, struck my ear.
I rubbed my eyes and sat up, and saw the sky hazy-bright with dawn.
I jolted in panic.
‘What, what?! I slept here?’
Beside me, Zephyr was lying down. It seemed I’d fallen asleep leaning against him without a care in the world.
And the one who’d woken me was….
“G-Grandfather?”
It was Grandfather, dressed in a black uniform and radiating an air of grave authority.
I scrambled to my feet.
‘Grandfather said yesterday he was going to the ceremony with Father….’
Why was he home? And in the stable, no less?
The room spun before my eyes, but I had to apologize first.
Sitting on the filthy stable floor and sleeping peacefully like that—it was behavior utterly devoid of any noble grace.
“Grandfather, you see… I came out yesterday to feed the horse and simply fell asleep by accident. I’m terribly sorry.”
“…….”
Grandfather said nothing. Panicked and unsure what to do, I had no choice but to crawl out on my hands and knees, just as I had come in.
That’s it. I’m finished. I’ve managed to do exactly what Grandfather despises most.
“I’m so, so sorry….”
Trying to hide my skirts and shoes, which were caked with dirt, I retreated backward inch by awkward inch.
“Is this the horse you brought to compete in the Equestrian Competition?”
“Ah, Zephyr? Yes, that’s right.”
“I heard he won’t even let you ride him.”
How did Grandfather know such a thing? It was strange, but I nodded in confirmation.
“Then you should change horses.”
“No!”
I waved my hands frantically in protest.
“Zephyr has an emotional wound. If I abandoned him to find another horse just because he won’t carry me, he might lose faith entirely and close his heart away for good… That’s why I want to wait for him….”
“…….”
“Grandfather, so I don’t think I’ll be able to compete in the Equestrian Competition. I know I should go and win medals and all that, but I’m sorry.”
“When did I ever tell you to compete and win medals?”
“Well, no… but….”
“Then you’ve never even ridden a horse before.”
“That’s right.”
I hesitated, then cautiously raised my eyes to study Grandfather’s expression.
As Grandfather gazed down at me, he suddenly bent his knees and dusted off my dirt-covered skirts and shoes with his own hands.
“Oh, Grandfather…?”
Then he stood and opened the stall across from Zephyr’s.
Leading out a muscular chestnut horse by the bridle, Grandfather suddenly lifted me up and set me firmly in the saddle.
“……?”
He then mounted smoothly behind me and began walking the horse forward at a gentle pace.

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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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