My Daddy Hides His Power - Chapter 89

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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 89
‘His son?’
Axion stood dumbfounded, watching the Marquis embrace Cheshire.
He’d known Cheshire was the illegitimate child of an ability user, but he’d never learned which house.
‘Ah. So he was Onyx bloodline after all.’
What Enoch had said when Axion asked why he’d suddenly taken on a ward.
“The kid would’ve died if I’d left him as is. What else could I do?”
He hadn’t said much, but his twisted, menacing expression had spoken the rest.
The child had been abused.
An illegitimate born between an ability user and a non-ability user.
They would have written him off as naturally low-class, a stain on the family name.
‘But wouldn’t you know it—he turned out to be a Dos.’
News of Cheshire spread across Jedo in just two days.
An unprecedented birth of a Dos.
A non-ability user hybrid receiving Rank One was truly a matter of astonishment.
‘Right. Now I see it.’
Axion nodded, watching the Marquis’s expression turn impossibly tender.
The boy’s father who’d abused him was now throwing himself at him—the man’s true motives were transparent.
Illegitimate or not, the moment the child’s rank became Dos, the father came crawling back, desperate to claim him for the family again.
“Tch.”
The instant Axion grasped their situation, he let out a disgusted mutter without thinking.
“No conscience whatsoever….”
And then—silence.
When that quiet voice rang out clearly, everyone turned to look at Axion.
The Marquis, Cheshire, and Lilis alike.
“Finish what you were saying.”
Axion shrugged.
The Marquis, who’d been clearing his throat a few times, looked back at Cheshire.
“Have you been well? I’ve missed you.”
…….
Cheshire’s expression was bewildered.
Axion, watching from the side, clicked his tongue.
“Why bother asking that? Of course he’s been well. No one here beats him.”
The Marquis turned around.
“…Libre Duke, Your Excellency?”
“Ah, just thinking aloud. Go on. A touching father-and-son reunion.”
“Hmm.”
The Marquis looked back at Cheshire and smiled—his expression was every inch the tender father.
“My heart ached thinking of all the things I couldn’t give you while you were away.”
“All the beatings and starvation I couldn’t stop myself from inflicting on you—isn’t that more like it?”
Again, everyone’s eyes snapped to Axion all at once.
“Thinking aloud, thinking aloud.”
Axion shrugged again, his composure intact.
“I’d take you with me right this instant, but I suppose I need a little time.”
“Sir!”
That was when Lilis, who’d been listening, pushed between Cheshire and the Marquis.
“Why are you taking Cheshire away! Who do you even think you are!”
“Princess?”
“You had Cheshire locked in a dark room that stinks and has mice in it! You wouldn’t even feed him! You beat him! You cursed at him!”
Lilis’s eyes had gone red as she shouted, tears streaming down her face.
Watching her, Axion felt his own anger beginning to rise.
“Anyone listening might think that was true, princess. You should choose your words more carefully.”
“So it’s a lie?!”
The Marquis’s gaze down at Lilis had turned cold.
No—colder than cold.
When Axion spotted the eyes of a man staring down a mere seven-year-old girl as though he meant to kill her, his brow furrowed.
“Ah!”
The next instant, the Marquis shoved Lilis roughly to the side.
“Lilis!”
Cheshire was taken aback.
‘Has this madman lost his mind?’
Axion quickly caught Lilis before she stumbled backward.
It was absurd. What audacity to treat the Marquis’s precious daughter this way.
‘Ah.’
But Axion soon grasped the reason and let out a bitter laugh.
He must have heard the rumors about Lilis, Rank 4, Octava.
No matter how terrifying Enoch was….
‘Already thinking about profiting from his child.’
Cheshire was the young generation’s Dos.
An unprecedented ability user expected to grow as powerful as Enoch Rubinstein.
Should Cheshire become head of the family, the Onyx Marquis’s position would become extraordinary.
The balance of power could shift in an instant.
“My son.”
The Marquis placed his hand on Cheshire’s head.
But then,
Clack—!
Cheshire’s hand swept it away with vicious precision.
“I’m not going.”
The Marquis’s eyes flickered with something unreadable.
“Don’t come looking for me again.”
…….
Even faced with such cold rejection, the Marquis showed no sign of alarm.
He only stared at Cheshire for a moment, then smiled once more.
“Your father came too late, and now your heart is deeply wounded, I see.”
Speaking as he pleased, the Marquis let out a sigh.
It was hardly a convincing performance.
“I’ll come again soon.”
The Marquis placed the hat he’d been holding on his head, grasped his cane firmly, and turned to leave.
“Next time, let’s part with a smile.”
Everyone fell silent, watching the Marquis’s retreating figure.
A loud sob.
…….
…….
The space where the Marquis had stood.
Axion held weeping Lilis and looked toward Cheshire.
Eleven years old.
Still just a child.
Confusion and anger.
The boy trembled for a long while, his face a tangle of emotions beyond words.
* * *
“Phew.”
I was sprawled across the Study Room chair like melting ice cream.
“What are you doing?”
“Oh! Master!”
Oscar’s face suddenly came into my field of view.
I bolted upright.
“I thought you’d forgotten about me!”
Oscar blinked blankly for a moment, then broke into a grin.
“Me?”
“Yes! Because you didn’t come!”
“Pointless worry. I was busy.”
“I’ll study really hard!”
“Oh, really? Then should we do functions today?”
Oscar chuckled and sat beside me.
I picked up my pen eagerly.
“Yes! We could even start with cubic functions!”
“Wow. Now you’re not even hiding it.”
“Hmm. Actually, let’s just start with linear functions….”
Oscar opened his book with a smile and gestured at the Scissors lying on the desk.
“What is it?”
“Oh. I wanted to cut my hair.”
I picked up the scissors and held them out to Oscar shyly.
“Would you do it for me?”
……
Oscar stared at me for a long moment, his eyes grown deeper, before accepting the scissors.
“Face me and sit.”
“Mm-hmm.”
Once we were sitting face-to-face, Oscar braced his hand beneath my bangs and began to cut.
“Close your eyes. Hair could get in them.”
“Okay.”
I obediently shut my eyes.
The soft snick-snick of scissors through hair.
“Octava?”
“Yes, that’s right.”
“Bold choice.”
“But you know…”
I cracked my eyes open slightly.
“I was really shocked by that thing—the magical artifact that measures mana. I almost got caught.”
“Why were you shocked?”
“Well, when you step into it and there’s no mana, it says you’re a non-ability user. I nearly got exposed.”
The Mana Portal—an artifact created by the Magic Tower to measure the mana of ability users.
Oscar must have known that if I went in there, Primelaim would be revealed.
And that would have been the end of me.
“How could you be so confident about taking me to the Magic Tower? If I’d been caught there, it would’ve been over, right?”
“I figured if you had any sense, you’d figure out how to manipulate the Mana Portal yourself.”
Oscar dropped the cut strands onto the desk as he continued.
“I was planning to slip you through as Dos first, then take you to the Tower.”
“Ah?”
“Octava’s no joke. Living at that rank in this godforsaken country isn’t easy.”
Oscar frowned.
“And how suspicious is it? Enoch Rubinstein’s daughter as Octava?”
“But I didn’t have a choice.”
“I know that. But your life’s going to be rough from here on.”
“I’m fine with it. Now I don’t have to worry about Father the Emperor’s moods anymore.”
……
Oscar stared at me intently, then spoke.
“Would you die if I told you to die in your father’s place?”
“Yes, of course.”
Without hesitation, my answer made Oscar’s jaw drop.
He suddenly pinched my nose.
“Ow! Ow! That hurts!”
“Good, it should! Now turn around and face forward. I need to cut the sides.”
“It hurts…”
I rubbed my nose and turned back around.
I picked up the hand mirror I’d brought along with the scissors and looked at my face—my bangs had been cut quite neatly.
“Wow. You’re skilled without even using magic. How did you cut it so well?”
It was practically professional.
“I’ve cut hair plenty of times.”
“Really?”
I turned to look, curious, but Oscar just laughed softly without answering.
“Don’t move your head. Look forward again.”
“Okay.”
“But what’s wrong? You looked like a dried squid earlier—all droopy.”
“Oh.”
“Now for the back.”
I wiggled my hips and turned to show Oscar my back as I spoke.
“It’s about Cheshire.”
“What about him?”
“Cheshire’s father came to pick him up. He said he’d take Cheshire away again.”
“Ah, that’s Dos.”
“Yes.”
“So? Does it hurt your heart to think of parting with him?”
“No. We don’t have to part. Father said he’d adopt Cheshire as his son.”
“Then what’s the problem?”
“Sigh.”
“There. All done. Look.”
This time Oscar took hold of my legs directly and spun me around to face him, beaming with satisfaction.
“Pretty.”
“Sigh.”
“Why the sighing?”
“A big problem’s come up.”
“What problem?”
“If Cheshire becomes Father’s son, then Cheshire and I would become siblings, wouldn’t we?”
“So what?”
I let out another sigh and reached for the pen on the desk.
“You asked me something before, didn’t you?”
“Me? What did I ask you?”
“This.”
On the blank paper, I drew the shape of a heart.
Blink-blink. Oscar stared at it, then looked at me with a bewildered expression and said, “Huh?”
“Hmm.”
Truth was, Oscar was the only person I could confess such worries to openly.
I slumped and finally admitted it.
“The thing is… I… I just… my heart won’t stop racing around him…”
“Wow.”

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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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