My Daddy Hides His Power - Chapter 83

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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
83
Nicholas gazed impassively at the Advisor’s trembling back before looking down at the registry in his hand.
Gerard Schmidt.
Surely he would have been a Dos.
Cheshire.
He already knew much about this boy.
The illegitimate son of Marquis Onyx.
And the young man whom Enoch brought and took under his wing.
Enoch must have recognized that the boy possessed talent worth cultivating, which is why he’d brought him in.
So it was hardly a shock that he was no ordinary specimen. Though admittedly, even a Dos would have surprised him less.
But what mattered now was not them.
“Must I wait this long for an answer?”
“Your Majesty….”
At Nicholas’s prompting, the Advisor rose carefully and withdrew a sheet from his folder, extending it with trembling hands.
His fingers shook visibly.
‘Even if she’s not a Dos, it would be acceptable.’
Children sometimes manifest lower capacities than their parents. It happened—a rare anomaly, but it happened.
‘Even Quarto or Septima would suffice.’
By military law, only up to Rank Three were compelled to serve in the Imperial Army.
As long as she fell within a rank he could freely deploy at imperial will—that was all he needed.
So Nicholas tried to steady his anxious mind.
Lilis Rubinstein
Rank: Fourth Class, Octava
But his hopes were shattered utterly.
“…What… is this.”
“…….”
“What?!”
Nicholas roared.
Crash, crash, crash—!
The windows throughout the Imperial Office exploded outward from the force of his bloodshot fury.
“Gasp! Hack—!”
The Advisor, crouched and gasping, hastily wrapped his own mana around himself for protection.
When the Emperor raged like this, those who stood nearby had more than once been killed by the raw force that poured out of him unbidden.
“Your… Your Majesty, please compose yourself. The Princess’s rank has been confirmed as Fourth Class, Octava.”
“Did it sound like I was asking for that answer?”
“Y-yes, sire. My apologies…. Every researcher at the Academy observed the measurement, and the Princess’s rank was tested repeatedly with three Mana Measures. I received the report afterward and was so shocked that I went myself to verify it. I am deeply sorry, Your Majesty, but the Princess is….”
“…….”
The Advisor, eyes squeezed shut, pressed on. “Fourth Class, Octava. That is correct.”
Nicholas’s hand fell limp to his side.
This was a variable he had never once imagined.
That Enoch Rubinstein’s daughter could be merely Fourth Class.
“This… this can’t….”
Nicholas staggered to his feet, pressing a hand to his throbbing temples.
It made no sense.
The leash he had spent years fashioning for Enoch Rubinstein had been precisely this.
‘How in the world am I to handle this.’
Nicholas’s eyes turned once more to the map hanging on the wall.
Enoch, who had promised to become a dog to exempt his daughter from military service, would now have a change of heart.
Just as he had in those foolish, reckless days of his youth….
He would speak righteously as always, throwing obstacle after obstacle into the path of his ascent to conqueror king.
Damn useless woman….
“Argh—aaaaaa!!!”
As Nicholas muttered while picturing Lilis’s face, rage consumed him and he cried out.
* * *
“Huh?”
A sudden chill ran through her. Her body trembled involuntarily.
‘By now… has my rank reached the Emperor’s ears?’

She’s probably cursing me up and down as we speak.
How pretty must I have been to the Emperor? After all, I was Father’s only leash.
No wonder he was so busy flattering me—visiting the Academy in person, putting on performances, doting on me constantly….
‘What a flirt!’
I covered my mouth and giggled.
“Oh nooo, don’t goooo….”
“Lilis, you’re really leaving?”
“Can’t I just skip class and stay here and play for another month? Please?”
Alisha, Diane, and Michelle wrapped their arms around me as I packed, tears and snot streaming down their faces.
“I’m going to miss you all so much.”
When the Academy children saw me wearing the Green Badge of the fourth rank, Octava, their reactions varied wildly.
Some who used to cling to me familiarly did an abrupt about-face….
Others hesitated to approach, wanting to speak but holding back, reading the room now that my rank was lower than they’d expected….
‘Probably going to be the same out there too.’
It was almost a relief—I could filter people just by watching how they treated me.
The girls in my dormitory were shocked when they first saw my rank, but they quickly forgot that and were simply sad about saying goodbye.
They were good friends.
“I hope you all graduate soon. When you do, I’m inviting you to my place. Will you come?”
“Of course!”
Alisha sniffled and pulled me into a hug.
“I’ll buy lots and lots of pretty gifts to bring. You have to invite us.”
“Me too, me too!”
“Me too~!”
“Hehe, all right!”
Alisha glanced at Jem, who was packing, and asked a question.
“You’ll come too, right?”
“Huh?”
“Lilis, you’re inviting Jem too, right?”
I laughed and nodded at Alisha’s adorable concern about Jem’s departure as well.
“Of course! We’ll all get together, eat something delicious, then go out and look at pretty things and do fun stuff. How’s that sound?”
“Sounds great!”
“I like it too!”
“Yay, I’m so excited!”
Watching my friends chatter away like baby birds, Jem smiled and rubbed the tip of her nose.
“Then you’d all better graduate quickly!”
“Hmph, I just need two hundred more points and I’m done!”
The banter between Jem and Alisha had a gentle warmth to it.
It was a lovely final day at the Academy.
* * *
I patted my round belly after eating two bowls of dinner and took a stroll with Cheshire.
The last meal….
It was good….
The Academy food, which I’d thought would be horrible, didn’t seem so bad in retrospect.
“Take the badge off. Why do you keep wearing it?”
Cheshire spoke while looking at my Green Badge, which I’d been showing off all day.
“Why? It’s pretty.”
“Everyone’s staring at you.”
True enough.
I could see children passing by glancing at me sideways.
I was today’s hot topic at the Academy.
Naturally, everyone expected me to hold a Dos rank, so the fact that I was flaunting an Octava badge was causing a stir.
“Cheshire.”
“Yeah?”
“Are you maybe disappointed that I’m a little lower rank?”
“What?”
Cheshire’s face actually showed an expression—rare for him.
That was unusual. To see Cheshire scowling like that.
“Do I look like that?”
“No, I was just asking…. Why are you making such a scary face?”
At my comment that he looked scary, Cheshire quickly relaxed his expression.
And then he spoke.
“Honestly, I was relieved.”
“Hm?”
“Your father worried about you constantly. Every time your name came up, he’d sigh.”
“Oh, Father did?”
“He said it was all his fault. He felt terrible that you didn’t get to choose your parents, and now that you’re born as a Dos, you have to live as a soldier. He was so sorry.”
“That’s not Father’s fault…”
“I told him the same thing, but his mind wouldn’t change.”
He would think that way.
I nodded in agreement, and Cheshire added something more.
“Your father is going to love this most of all. You won’t have to go to war, so you won’t get hurt, and you won’t have to risk dying. You’re safe.”
“Hehe, that’s true. But what about you? You have to go out hunting monsters now—are you okay with that?”
“I’m okay. Well, more than okay—I’m really happy about it. Because I’m a Dos.”
“Happy about it?”
…An unexpected hunger for power?
As I found that interesting, Cheshire looked directly at me.
“Now it won’t be strange for me to be at your side. At least people won’t insult you for being seen with someone like me.”
……
I lost my words and went blank.
Why does Cheshire always hit me like this out of nowhere lately?
‘Isn’t this basically a confession?’
The reason he was happy about receiving the Dos badge was so he could be at my side.
“Let’s stay together. Keep staying together.”
“Hm?”
“I’ll always be at your side. I’ll protect you so no one can ever bother you.”
At Cheshire’s serious words, I swallowed hard.
‘Snap out of it!’
Cheshire wasn’t saying this with any particular intent—he was just speaking purely from the heart about me…
But I felt ashamed of myself for adding a romantic filter to it all.
‘Good grief, what am I doing?’
Stop it.
I caught a sidelong glance at Cheshire’s face and forcefully pressed down on my racing heart.
‘This is quite a problem…’
Cheshire would soon be formally adopted into our family as Father’s son.
He’d received his rank, but he was still only eleven years old.
It would be a long time before he could earn a title through achievements, and he needed solid protection until then.
‘Cheshire is going to become my brother soon. How can I harbor such shameful thoughts? Stop it!’
I quickly changed the subject.
“Oh! But when I go home, will everyone think of me like you do? Remember what Bruce said earlier, about how my family would treat me like vermin when I return?”
“Why are you paying attention to that nonsense? Don’t you still know your own family?”
Of course I’m not paying attention. I just brought it up to change the subject.
“Yeah, Bruce was saying something stupid…”
It was then.
Someone spotted me from a distance and approached with surprised eyes, taking large strides.
It was my uncle.
“Wow! Hello, Uncle!”
I greeted him warmly, but the uncle who rushed toward me in a flash of speed didn’t respond.
He let out a hollow laugh, staring fixedly at the Green Badge on my chest.
“U-Uncle…?”
His expression didn’t seem pleased, so I felt a chill of fear.
My uncle pointed at my badge and spoke coldly.
“…What is this?”

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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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