My Daddy Hides His Power - Chapter 86

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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 86
Lilis came running with tears brimming in her eyes.
Enoch, who had been standing dazed, caught her in his arms and smacked his lips softly.
“Our… our princess….”
“Dad!”
“Yes, our princess….”
That lovely face he hadn’t seen in so long.
He couldn’t tear his eyes away, wanting to drink in the sight of her, yet Lilis was too busy checking him over, her small body wriggling with urgency.
“Hold still for a moment. Let me look at your face.”
“Dad, are you hurt anywhere?!”
“Hurt? Where would I be hurt?”
“You’re sure?”
“I’m fine, so there.”
“Waaaaaah—!!!”
Enoch’s eyes went wide.
Once Lilis had confirmed her father was unharmed, the relief seemed to trigger something, and she began sobbing as though the world were ending.
“No, princess. What’s wrong?”
Enoch glanced around, startled.
The family members who had come to greet her in his stead were all watching the father and daughter with looks that said they couldn’t stop her.
Enoch spotted his brother-in-law, Alexei Antrace, among them.
The two exchanged words with their lips alone.
‘What happened? Did you tell her?’
‘Her father came late!’
That was fair. He should have been waiting since before dawn, yet he’d been absent—how terrified she must have been.
When the child asked where her father was, they’d said he’d gone to hunt monsters, so naturally she’d be frightened.
He’d kept the expedition secret on purpose, trying to spare her this worry….
“Waaaaah—!!!”
“No, princess. But… wait a moment.”
Watching his daughter cry and carry on over her concern for him left Enoch feeling awkward.
“Father is….”
“Waaahhh!”
“Sigh.”
Enoch Rubinstein. He—
became a Swordmaster at fourteen.
At sixteen, after receiving his formal commission, he’d become a knight commander.
When was the last time someone had worried about him getting hurt?
He couldn’t remember.
On battlefields where death could come at any second, the one thing you could be certain of was your own safety, wasn’t it?
It was something Enoch himself acknowledged, and so did everyone who knew him.
That’s why Enoch felt so awkward.
“Hic… hic.”
Holding this small creature who fretted over whether something might be wrong with him—it was a strange feeling.
“Princess? Dad’s really fine. I’m not hurt at all. Were you worried?”
“Hic… mm… Dad went to catch monsters, but you didn’t come back and….”
“I’m sorry. I’m sorry, princess. Your father didn’t get hurt catching monsters—I’m sorry I was late.”
Enoch rocked the exhausted Lilis gently in his arms.
“Then… why were you so late….”
“The Warp Gate broke down, so I was delayed. Our princess, I promised I’d come pick you up, and I’m sorry I couldn’t keep that promise.”
“Hic… no, it’s okay then. As long as Dad didn’t get hurt, that’s fine.”
“Oh dear.”
Enoch felt tears coming. Actually, a few did fall.
“Lilis, it’s been so long! Wow, you really graduated in just a month? Look how much you’ve grown since I last saw you!”
“Honestly, why are you making such a mess with tears and snot….”
“Wow! Uncle Philip! Uncle Axion!”
Lilis waved her hand at Philip and Axion, who had come over in turn.
Watching the child greet them cheerfully despite her sniffling, Enoch found himself struck by wonder.
“Hm.”
Small, fragile as glass, mute.
A creature that seemed better described as mere life rather than a person….
“Daddy, what’s wrong? Are you crying? Does something hurt?”
“No, sweetheart. Daddy’s not crying.”
“Liar!”
When did she grow so much?
Speaking now, crying and laughing, going to the Academy all on her own without him.
“Daddy! Hehe.”
“Mm.”
“I’m home!”
Lilis burrowed into Enoch’s arms, grinning widely and swallowing back tears.
And she spoke.
“…I missed you.”
Her father’s chest tightened as he pulled his small daughter close.
“Me too, sweetheart.”
* * *
Coming from the Central Region to Jedo, waiting at the Temple first to see Dad quickly, meeting him and coming home….
Throughout that hour and more.
‘Seriously, nobody’s asking?’
I was flabbergasted.
No one had asked me a thing.
Asked about what, you might wonder?
‘Why on earth is nobody curious about my Rank…?’
That’s right—my Rank.
I’d thought that after graduating from the Academy, my family would be most interested in that of all things.
I casually asked Uncle if he’d mentioned it beforehand—
“There wasn’t time to say anything.”
That’s what he told me.
Meanwhile, everyone was shocked when they heard Cheshire’s Rank.
“Dos?! Are you serious? That’s incredible!”
“Congratulations! I always thought Cheshire would be special. Uncle wouldn’t have taught him without reason, would he?”
“How remarkable. So that’s possible too. He’s going to attract a lot of attention from here on!”
“Well done. Keep working hard.”
In all of that, I’d lost my chance to reveal my own Rank.
That’s when I realized—my family wasn’t uninterested in my Rank.
‘They’re just assuming it’s Dos, so they don’t feel the need to ask….’
That was it.
And Dad was the same way.
“Oh, my dear princess. Who says you’re so pretty? Mm?”
Before bed, Dad—who had even washed my face himself—dabbed me dry with a towel and gave me a kiss on the cheek.
“Now that we’ve brushed our teeth and got our face all clean, it’s time for bed!”
I lay in bed next to Dad in my pajamas.
“Before sleep, shall Daddy hear about all the friends our princess has made?”
“Dad.”
“Yes?”
“Why aren’t you asking?”
“Hm? Asking what?”
“What Rank I got!”
……
Dad blinked slowly at me.
Then he laughed.
“Ha ha, do I really need to ask? My genius daughter must have gotten the very best, of course?”
“The best? Dos?”
“Of course, that’s right. Our daughter’s so smart.”
“So that’s the best, then.”
When I pretended to sulk, Dad seemed to sense something was off and sat up suddenly.
“Princess?”
“Yes?”
“Where’s your badge?”
“Want me to show you?”
“Yes.”
“Okay!”
I scrambled out of bed and opened the Bear Bag sitting in the corner of the room.
Then I fastened the green Rank Slit around my arm and handed the badge to my father.
“Ta-da!”
……
My father stared at it in silence for a long moment, blinking rapidly, then tilted his head in confusion.
“Whose is this?”
Just as I’d expected. The reaction I’d predicted.
“Mine!”
“…What?”
“Really. I guess I wasn’t a genius after all. Disappointed I’m not the same as you?”
“No, it’s not that.”
My father held the badge in his hand—my Fourth Rank Octava Badge—and kept staring at it.
For about five minutes.
And then his hands started to tremble.
His mouth slowly fell open, and after a long moment he finally met my eyes.
“Octava…? You?”
“Yeah, sorry. It’s not a great rank.”
“No! Oh, damn it!”
My father leaped to his feet.
Then he suddenly startled and clapped his hand over his mouth.
“I’m sorry, Princess. I was just so shocked I let a curse slip out.”
“It’s okay.”
“This doesn’t make sense. This doesn’t. How on earth….”
My father gripped his head tightly, his face bewildered.
Soon all the strength drained from his body and he collapsed onto the bed, releasing a breathless laugh.
“Wow. No. Wow.”
So this is what it looks like when someone is truly happy….
That was the expression on his face.
‘Sigh. If he found out I’m actually a Premiere and would be executed if discovered, my poor father would suffer even more.’
So all the worry and heartache fell on me alone.
“Princess.”
My father, voice trembling with emotion, pulled me into an embrace.
“You did wonderfully. You did so well. Our Princess, you worked so hard. Congratulations on graduating and receiving your rank.”
“Did I do well? I thought they said Fourth Rank was…”
“Of course you did! You did wonderfully! You’re the best in the whole world! Who cares if it’s Fourth Rank? To me, our Princess is Rank One!”
“Hehehehe.”
My father kept looking at my badge in disbelief, kissing me, overwhelmed with emotion for a very long time.
Then suddenly, I noticed his eyes sharpen.
‘Oh dear, he’s thinking about something dangerous.’
Now my father had no weaknesses.
I was Fourth Rank—I had no obligation to be conscripted into the Imperial Elite Forces.
Even an Emperor couldn’t force a lower-ranked ability user into service.
It was an unspoken pact between the Emperor and those with abilities.
‘If he starts making exceptions, the nobles will grow resentful.’
There were already many noble parents weeping bloody tears as they sent their children to war because of the Mandatory Conscription System.
I suddenly recalled Duke Schmidt, who had wept when Gerard was discharged.
Both his sons above him had fallen in battle….
‘That bastard Emperor. He’s cunning.’
What could a Premiere—a god-like being who could do anything—be against so many ability users?
When there were far more of them.
If they all came at him with one heart and one mind, even the Emperor would be powerless.
That’s why the rebellion succeeded in the original story.
‘Oh, that’s right!’
Speaking of rebellion brought back something I’d forgotten.
How could I have forgotten something so important? I grabbed my head in alarm.
“Father, Father, Father!”
“Hmm?”
“I saw Joseph!”
“Really?”
For some reason my father seemed calm about it, but I was too anxious to notice his reaction.
In the original work, Joseph was Father’s one and only strategist.
If he’d had other intentions, it would have been a disaster of the highest order!
“Yeah. Father, listen. You know? I had a friend I fought with at the Academy?”
“Huh? Why did you fight with a friend?”
“He was a really, really bad friend! He bullied the common-born kids and made them bring him bread and stuff?”
“Really? Then you fought well. What did your mother say about it?”
“Right, exactly! Anyway, he was such a terrible person, right? He must have learned it that way from his father?”
“True. Poor upbringing. What’s his name?”
“Bruce! Bruce Chamber!”
Father’s face went slightly rigid at the mention of the Chamber Family name.
I kept talking.
“But, but. It looks like Joseph might become friends with that boy’s father!”
…….
Father stared at me intently.
I’d explained as carefully as I could—surely Father was sharp enough to understand?
The scheming advisor seemed to be pulling the wrong man’s strings, so he should check it out quickly.
Please!
“Father! What if Joseph becomes friends with some other man instead of you?”
“Lilis.”
Father called to me.
For some reason, his gaze was peculiar as he looked directly into my eyes.
And that was when.
I saw the protagonist’s piercing gaze and felt that something had gone wrong.
“You don’t need to worry about Joseph. Actually, Joseph came to find me first.”
“Oh.”
“But there’s something I’m curious about—can I ask you one thing?”
No, please don’t ask.
My heart thundered in my chest.
“Did you happen to write me a letter, Lilis?”
“Huh? A letter? What letter…?”
Father laughed sharply and thrust his fist through the air as he spoke.
“Listen well, Enoch Rubinstein!”
Oh no.
“―That’s how the letter begins.”

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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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