My Daddy Hides His Power - Chapter 52

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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 hiding his strength
Chapter 52
* * *
Four days before my birthday.
I received a letter in the mail with my name written as the recipient.
[Pavilion Empire Ability Training Facility Admission Notification – Lilis Rubinstein
You have been selected as an admissions candidate for the Training Facility, being an exceptional ability user from the great Empire who has received the call of Primera.
Please complete the admission procedures by
the Imperial Calendar year 1779, 5th month, 21st day,
the date of your muster.
Should an admissions candidate who has received this notification fail to report by three days after the muster date without just cause, such failure shall constitute a violation of military law…….]
Was this how the young men of Korea felt when they received their enlistment notices for military service?
Father held me silently, reading the notification for a long moment, then heaved a deep sigh.
“What’s with the sigh? Go on and be back soon.”
“It should have come to Cheshire too. I asked to set the admission date the same when we registered him as my guardian.”
Oh, joint enlistment. Not a bad arrangement.
“Lilis.”
“Yes?”
“Should we delay this two years? Admission notifications do come starting from age seven, but mandatory admission isn’t until age nine.”
“No way! I’m going soon!”
Father’s shoulders slumped.
This was utterly unreasonable.
I was a body that had to use my Ability and consume Life Force as quickly as possible.
If I didn’t, I’d barely grow for two years and stay like this….
‘Disaster. Absolute disaster. My identity will be exposed all over town.’
My spine tingled and I trembled slightly.
“Well…. Our daughter’s so clever, a month should be enough.”
“Right. Just trust me. Don’t worry.”
“Sigh. Only a week left….”
Father looked devastated.
‘The problem isn’t my enlistment at all.’
It’s Father.
It had been several days since he received my letter, yet Father had shown no response.
‘Surely… he didn’t read and ignore it? He didn’t just read it and leave it? That Enoch Rubinstein?’
I’d been certain it was a letter that would stir the revolutionary spirit seething within the protagonist’s heart.
Could it be that he’d decided to depart from the original story — that his daughter would be safe, and reluctantly agreed to serve as the Emperor’s court attendant for her sake?
I grabbed my head in shock.
‘No, no. I trust Father.’
#A righteous protagonist equipped with keywords like #justice #righteousness #revolutionary — Enoch Rubinstein himself!
“More importantly, princess.”
“Yes?”
“Father needs to step out for a bit.”
“Huh? Where to?”
“To buy a birthday gift for our princess?”
“Eh? Where do you go to buy a birthday gift?”
“Well, it’s quite a distance. I’m thinking of taking a Warp Gate from the Temple to the Central Region.”
“Wow, I see!”
I exhaled with relief.
‘So he didn’t read and ignore it. If it’s the Central Region, he’s planning to meet Joseph Lütman as instructed.’
This delicious feeling of things unfolding just like the original story!
“It might be a bit much to do it all in one day. But I promise I’ll be back by your birthday.”
“What? You’re leaving now and coming back on my birthday? My birthday’s only three days away?”
“Yes.”
You’re going to acquire Joseph Lütman in three days?
I stared blankly, my eyes just blinking.
Joseph Lütman.
To explain who he is….
1. The strategist of protagonist Enoch Rubinstein.
2. Someone already in Enoch Rubinstein’s hands when the original story began.
3. A man who made a name for himself in Jedo through outstanding political acumen in his youth, then vanished due to some incident and lived a reclusive existence.
4. In a scene where Enoch converses with Joseph Lütman, there’s a line: “Do you remember how you struggled for three months to take me with you, sir?” But since the text doesn’t show where Father met Joseph or how he persuaded him….
I had to piece together their meeting from just a few lines of his backstory and their dialogue.
‘One thing’s certain—Joseph wouldn’t have agreed to help Father easily from the start.’
When Enoch laughed it off as “Ha, that’s right,” recalling those three months of hardship, I could picture it clearly.
‘Man, I’m good—befriend Joseph in three days, just like that.’
Besides, I knew something of Joseph’s story—how he’d abandoned everything and vanished after things went well….
‘I’m definitely going to be useful.’
I nodded and spoke up.
“I want to go too.”
“Huh?”
“I want to come. I’ll pick my own birthday gift.”
“Come on, that’s not—Father will be back soon. I actually have a friend over there. I’m going partly to see his face too….”
“Father has a friend?”
“Your father has friends, you know?”
“Waaah, no! Take me with you! I don’t want to be alone! I can’t stand being by myself without you!”
“No, sweetheart….”
“I’m going into the Training Facility soon and won’t see you for so long! I really, really hate that!”
“Sigh, your father hates it too. Father hates being apart from our princess. But….”
“Waaah!”
I hung from Father’s neck, threw my head back, and wailed dramatically—all performance, not a single tear falling.
“I can’t… really can’t.”
“Waaah!”
“Ah, my princess.”
Father held me while I thrashed about, soothing me with soft murmurs.
“You hate leaving Father so much—what am I to do? I suppose I’ll have to keep you by my side your whole life.”
“Take me! I’m coming!”
Father stared down at me with a helpless expression.
* * *
As always, I won.
Father announced to the household staff that he was going out to buy my birthday gift, then took me toward the Temple.
From the Temple to the Central Region via Warp Gate took exactly one hour.
‘Magic really is the best.’
I remembered arriving in Jedo in half a day and felt anew the grandeur of Magic.
“Not bad, right? Brings back old times, doesn’t it?”
“Sure does.”
Central Balterak was larger than my hometown of Jenon, yet there was something familiar about it.
Commoners moved lively between welcoming buildings. Easy laughter. A tranquil scene.
With no nobles save the lord, everyone was living at ease.
“It really is nice….”
“Sure is….”
No one recognized the disguised James or me in commoner’s clothes.
Freedom tasted sweet after so long.
Father asked around and made his way to the back alleys of the city.
The largest gambling house in Balterak stood there.
“Wow, this really isn’t a place to bring a child.”
It was a legally operated gambling establishment, but like all such places, the atmosphere around it was rough.
People chain-smoking, their eyes hollow and sunken.
People grabbing the guards by their pantlegs, wailing and shouting….
“I’ve lost my mind.”
Father stood at a distance, observing the scene, then glanced at me beside him and sighed.
“I really have. Completely.”
Still muttering, Father reached out and tapped my forehead lightly.
‘Hmm?’
It felt just like sucking on a peppermint—a sudden, cool sensation washed over me.
It seemed like Magic of some sort.
“What was that?”
“Your father’s protecting you from cigarette smoke—so you can’t smell or breathe it.”
“Oh, thanks.”
Father took my hand and led me toward the gambling house.

Two large guards stood watch at the entrance.
It was then that a question occurred to me.
‘Hmm, Father was supposed to be this brilliant, perceptive, charming protagonist who could do anything. So why did it take him three whole months to win over Joseph?’
Was Joseph truly such an impenetrable fortress?
……I would soon have my answer.
“Haven’t seen your face around here before. First time? Admission is one Gold Coin. Once you’re inside, they’ll give you a receipt.”
At the guard’s words, Father shook his head.
“I’m not here to gamble. I’m looking for someone. Could you check if there’s a guest here named Joseph Lütman?”
I stood there slack-jawed at Father’s bold question.
The two guards blinked at each other, then exchanged glances. Their expressions screamed ‘What is this guy talking about?’
* * *
Of course, we were thrown out.
Father sat down some distance away and scratched his head.
I crouched beside him, watching with pity.
‘Now I understand why it took so long to sway Joseph.’
Our good Father had never set foot in a place like this before.
Our Father, who wouldn’t even touch gambling games.
In the original story, he probably struggled just to catch a glimpse of Joseph’s face—a man who apparently lived in the gambling den twenty-four hours a day, three hundred sixty-five days a year.
“This won’t work. Let me just—”
“Wait, wait.”
I grabbed Father’s arm.
“Drop the disguise? I’m a Duke, so they’ll open the door, and then we can meet your friend?”
“That’s what we should do. They said there’s no way to get in otherwise.”
“Geez, there must’ve been a reason you wanted to disguise yourself as James in the first place, right?”
At my question, Father slumped back down.
“You’re right. Well, that friend… from my perspective… if he knew who I was, I don’t think he’d take a liking to me. It would be hard to have a comfortable conversation.”
“But didn’t you just say he was your friend?”
“That was a lie. He’s not actually my friend. He’s someone I want to become friends with.”
“I see.”
“Anyway, that’s why I wanted to approach him as naturally as possible…”
“…to get close?”
“Exactly.”
“Then you can’t reveal you’re a Duke. You fool.”
“But there’s no other way.”
“Father, you see… a gambling den is always open to someone who wants to gamble.”
Still crouching, I wiggled my index finger at him.
“How much money did you bring? Let me see.”
“Money?”
Father opened the purse he’d been wearing at his waist.
About twenty Gold Coins.
Since he had no intention of gambling, it wasn’t a large sum by any means.
“Father.”
I raised my eyebrows at the perplexed Father.
“Do you know how to play Poker?”

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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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