READ NOVEL ONLINE My Daddy Hides His Power
Chapter 228
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The long-awaited salon tour day. South, Argonia. The smell of cow dung wafted through the air from the vast fields of rice paddies that stretched out as far as you can see. This was the countryside itself, but… ‘It feels like home!’ Having lived in the countryside of Xenon for seven years during my childhood, I felt a sense of nostalgia as if I had returned home and enjoyed it in my own way. At 9 AM, I took the warp gate from the Pavil Temple on the Capital and was about to return after finishing the tour. At 3 PM, the Argonia Temple. It was a day that my friends who had never been outside the Capital were all amazed and satisfied with. However, “Lilith, isn’t Sir Chesire coming?” “I wasn’t planning to come today because I wasn’t feeling well, but I dragged myself here because you said you’d introduce me to Sir Cheshire!” “Why did I dress up so early in the morning…?” “Is he really training here?” I had become a great sinner. ‘Who would have thought it would turn out this way?’ Contrary to my plans, I didn’t even get to see a single strand of Cheshire’s hair, let alone meet him. And it was understandable, as the Lord of Argonia had taken me on a tour of the territory, completely leaving out the military training grounds. “I’m sorry, guys…” I muttered timidly. All my friends from the salon, who had eagerly anticipated seeing the most popular man in the empire up close, were all disappointed. ‘Oh my, I shouldn’t have been bragging.’ I wanted to hit my past self, who had boasted about showing Cheshire’s face a hundred times and strutted with shoulders high and chest puffed out, telling everyone to look forward to it. “Hey, you guys. Don’t be so hard on Lilith. Sir Cheshire is a busy man, isn’t he? It’s not easy to see him. There will be another chance next time…” My salon bestie, Clara Julet, calmed down the grumbling kids in an adult manner. I, however, was too embarrassed to face my friends, so I just kept saying “Sorry.” timidly― “…Huh?!” ―Clara, her eyes wide with surprise, gasped while looking behind me. The gazes of all my gathered friends also shifted behind me. At the same time, they all jumped in surprise, stomping their feet. No way? I looked back, anticipating for a moment. As expected! “Cheshire!” Cheshire, in his training uniform, was entering the temple, wiping the sweat from his chin. He must have been running because he was afraid he would be late, because he kept catching his breath even after he got to me. “M, Mom. What should I do?” “Whoa! I don’t know!” My friends were at a loss at Cheshire’s appearance and screamed. Of course, I was screaming internally too, but I pretended to be calm as I tucked my hair behind my ear and said, “You’re here?” “…Sorry, Lilith. I thought the inspection route would overlap with our training grounds, but it didn’t.” “I must be crazy! Did you hear that? He said he’s sorry!” “Oh my goodness! The two are really close!” My friends whispered behind me so that everyone could hear. I, who almost became a traitor, pointed at my friends with my shoulders raised. “Hello, Cheshire. These are the friends I go to the salon with.” “Hello.” “Kyaa!” “M, Mom. What should I do?” I happily watched Cheshire greeting each of my friends. Phew, I almost ended up becoming a lying demon. “Lilith.” After greeting all my friends, Cheshire walked back to me, who had been waiting a bit farther away, and asked, “But why are you leaving so early? Doesn’t the salon always end at 7?” “Mhm, it does end at seven, but we won’t be staying here the whole time. We’ll go back to the capital, have dinner, and finish up by seven.” “…I see.” Cheshire sighed. I sighed too. After going through so much trouble to arrange a meeting, we end up in a situation where we have to part ways after just 10 minutes of seeing each other. “Haa.” I felt down as I watched the noblewomen checking the attendees at the distant warp gate. Then, in a flash, “Hey, Cheshire! Wait, listen.” “Mhm?” A good idea came to me. I whispered to Cheshire about the plan and then went to the ladies. The mothers who were in charge of guiding the salon tour as we went back. Today’s guide was Clara’s mother, Viscountess Juliet. “Uh, Madam!” “Huh? Yes, Lilith.” “Would you mind if I just looked around the estate a little more and went back separately? I’ll make sure to go back when the salon ends so I’m not late.” “Oh my, that’s difficult. We all need to leave together. There’s no guardian or escort if you wander around alone…” I quickly grabbed Cheshire’s arm as he approached me at the right time. “I have a friend here. We were going to see him today anyway. He’s a friend who grew up like siblings… I think he’ll be able to be my guardian and escort.” The eyes of the ladies, including Madam Juliet, were all wide. Successor of the Duke of Libre. Commander of the Imperial Elite Magic Swordsmanship. Cheshire, whose identity is unmistakable no matter where he goes. Crucially, he was currently the ideal prospective son-in-law for noblewomen who had daughters of my age. “Oh my, oh my. Our child was already excited all morning that he would be able to see Sir Cheshire today, and really…” “Oh my. What brought you to this rural estate?” “Look at how tall you are. I can see the face of Prince Libre!” “Do you happen to have any young ladies you’re seeing?” As expected, the ladies fell for Cheshire and began to chatter. ‘As planned….’ I laughed quietly. * * * The plan was perfect. After waiting for Cheshire, who finished his training at five, we had dinner in the bustling district. Before parting ways, I also received a rose from a florist. Current time 6:45 PM. Argonian Temple, where I returned with Cheshire. Now, if we take the warp gate from here and return to the capital by 7 o’clock, everything will be perfect. Yes, perfect… It was definitely perfect… “Ugh, my back….” “Aren’t you hungry, priest?” A quiet temple. Two old priests were crouching in front of the warp gate. “Are we still far?” As Cheshire anxiously asked, the priest shot him a sharp glance. “Ugh, young people these days… So useless! Why are you rushing an old man?” “That’s not it…” Cheshire glanced at me standing behind him and added, “It’s because my friend is a girl. If she gets home late, her family will worry.” “If that’s what you were worried about, you should have boarded the warp gate with your friends when it opened earlier!” “…I’m sorry.” I secretly glared at the priest grandpa who was scolding Cheshire. The faces of the two priest grandpas looked familiar. Why? ‘They’re the grandpas who lent their identities to Dad and Oscar!’ Three years ago, when I went on a pilgrimage to the Holy Land. Dad and Oscar, who had followed me secretly while disguised as old men. They probably had a connection with the priest grandpas here and borrowed their faces and identities. “What to do now? Our priest… When he was young, he was so energetic that he could charge the warp gate in just one second…” “Haha! That’s right, that’s right…” Yes, the warp gate is rechargeable. The priests have to charge their energy in advance to operate it. But it just ran out of energy right when I was about to turn back? “Sorry. There must have been a lot of people using the gate today, so it’s out of charge. Normally, there aren’t many people coming here…” Cheshire apologized to me. “No. What are you sorry about?” As he said, there were a lot of visitors today in this unvisited countryside. Cheshire and a large group of private soldiers, and even the salon family. ‘No, but still!’ This is the first time I’ve seen a warp gate discharge because a lot of people came and went. ‘Recharge it, seriously!’ And even if it is depleted, I saw priests struggling to recharge for over 30 minutes for the first time. ‘This is driving me crazy!’ I can’t use teleportation magic. Since everyone knows I stayed in Argonia, I had to return to the capital through the gate. “How much longer do I have to wait?” I asked anxiously. “Hmm, let’s see… If we charge it continuously… Tomorrow morning? No, maybe around lunchtime?” “…?” I doubted my ears at the deputy priest’s words. Cheshire, just as shocked as I was, quickly interjected. “That won’t work. Can’t it be a little faster?” “No, then what should we do… Even if we hurry, it won’t charge any faster… And on top of that, I’m old and it’s frustrating… Ah, right!” The main priest, who had been grumbling, let out an exclamation. Is there some way? “Deputy priest, just have a meal and come back to charge it again…” “Haha, shall we do that then…” The two old priests stood up, their skinny legs shaking, as if they were really going to eat. “W, wait a minute!” I held onto them, sobbing. Anyone with sufficient magical energy should be able to handle the charging. ‘Let’s see, Cheshire doesn’t have the power, so it won’t work….’ I can use my power. 5sec Good cost-effectiveness. “Sorry. I have to go to that house quickly. If I can recharge it…” “Bam!” “You startled me!” He looked weak, but the priest shouted at me with a force that I don’t know where he came from. “What are you saying! You’ll bring misfortune!” “…Huh?” “Managing this warp gate in the temple is… our last remaining duty! Outsiders, huh? You shouldn’t touch it carelessly!” “Of course, that’s right. Young folks, please understand… It’s an old tradition of our temple…” “What are you talking about?” That’s ridiculous. ‘What kind of tradition is that, coming from old men illegally transferring their identities?’ I was dumbfounded, but since I was taught to respect the elderly, I hid my desire to fight and put my hands together with a pitiful expression before saying. “I have to go home. Dad will be worried because he couldn’t contact me.” “That’s why I asked you why you didn’t go with your friends earlier!” “Oh, head priest… It seems you wanted to play more, but please don’t get too upset with the young ones…” The deputy priest, who was the only one who could understand, added with a big smile. “Don’t worry, there’s plenty of room here!” “Yes?” “This is the countryside… The young folks all leave for the capital or larger territories… It’s been years since any new priests have applied. So, the accommodations are all empty. There are many rooms!” That’s not the problem right now…? As I stammered in disbelief, the head priest clicked his tongue and took out a cross-shaped key, locking the magical energy charging chamber. He probably suspected that I might secretly touch the warp gate. “Let’s go eat!” “Hey, what do you want to eat?” Cheshire let out a bewildered sigh as he watched the two leisurely leave. ‘What on earth is this?’ My mind went blank. ‘Is this really a situation where I have to stay overnight because I missed the last train?’ I put my hand on my heart and swear that I didn’t intend to stay here like this at all. But the situation… The situation was really strange. “The priests here, do they know the Duke?” Cheshire asked. “When we went on a pilgrimage to the Holy Land before, the Duke and the Lord of the Wizard Tower borrowed their identity.” Somehow, I jumped because Cheshire’s voice seemed suspicious. “I, I, I don’t know anything about that?” “…” “They must be people that Dad knows! I really don’t know! This is really a coincidence! I didn’t do it on purpose?” Cheshire stared blankly at me as I made excuses. “…That’s not what I meant.” “Ha! No, really!” Seriously, what is this? ‘Then what should I do? Do I have to stay here until those old men charge the warp gate? Do I have to sleep here today? By myself? Cheshire is going back to the military quarters?’ As I was stamping my feet, Cheshire said. “I can’t help it. I’ll sleep here. Since there’s no escort, I’ll stay.” “….” I swallowed hard. Suddenly, I felt embarrassed to look at Cheshire’s face, so I turned my head away. “Ha, s, seriously!” I fanned myself hard, but for some reason, my face didn’t cool down. “What just happened! Ha, really! Ha!” I really want to go home~? This is really ridiculous~? Why is it like this~?
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