My Daddy Hides His Power Chapter 276 - Side story Part 1 Chapter 16

“But, Anna. When will the tomatoes come out? Will we see them soon?” 

 

Erich asked, looking proudly at the tomato garden.

 

“Mhm?” 

 

I was at a loss for words for a moment.

 

It would take some time for the fruit to form, but I couldn’t tell them the truth.

 

Because Erich wouldn’t be able to see them while he was alive.  

 

“Oh, the tomatoes? The tomatoes…”

 

Erich stared at me, waiting for an answer.

 

‘What should I do….’

 

The child, who knows that there isn’t much time left for them due to his illness.   

 

So he planted tomatoes with his small hands and hoped to see the fruit with his friends.

 

I couldn’t… tell that child the truth.

 

“Soon! They’ll be ripe soon. Just wait a week or so.”

 

I ended up lying.

 

Erich and Oscar were happy at those words and smiled brightly as if they had everything in the world.

 

“….” 

 

“….” 

 

Cheshire and I just exchanged glances with heavy hearts.

 

* * *

 

On the way to the training rooms for the afternoon classes. 

 

“What are you thinking about?”

 

Cheshire’s voice was firm. It was a question he already knew the answer to.

 

“…I won’t do anything. For now.” 

 

“For now?” 

 

“Whoa, whoa. Calm down and listen to me, honey.” 

 

I took a deep breath and continued.

 

“Primera’s ability was given to save people, right? It’s most valuable when helping those who are sick.” 

 

The lifespan for treatment is usually only a few seconds and has never exceeded minutes.

 

Internal injuries that can’t be recovered with magic. 

 

But in a world where medicine has advanced, it would be a disease that could easily be cured. 

 

I could save those people with just a few seconds of lifespan . 

 

“But there are cases where even my abilities can’t do anything. When the lifespan required for the bracelet doesn’t show up. That’s when there’s no hope at all.” 

 

“So, what about Erich?”

 

Cheshire asked the key question. I shrugged my shoulders once and answered.

 

“It’s not a deadly illness.”

 

“Or?” 

 

The question was how much it would cost to save Erich.

 

“….” 

 

He was already a dead person, and if revived, the future, whether big or small, would change.  

 

That was the reason why, when using my ability in this time, the world demanded an unexpectedly high price in terms of lifespan.

 

“Erich is…”

 

I slowly opened my trembling lips.

 

* * *

 

After class, Cheshire grabbed some snacks from the dining hall and was heading to the dormitory.

 

‘My head hurts.’

 

Whether it was because of the conversation he had with Lilith during the day or the transformation magic that had been maintained for 24 hours, he couldn’t tell. 

 

He didn’t show it, but he was extremely exhausted. He had to remain in a constant state of focus, maintaining transformation magic for not just one but two people. 

 

‘It’s hard.’

 

His brain was being overworked.

 

“Hey, commoner!”

 

That’s when he encountered his roommates, the two Quarto, Benjamin and Robert.

 

“Why.”

 

Cheshire sighed. He didn’t have the energy to deal with this right now.

 

Benjamin and Robert quickly huddled together, whispering about something. It was probably nothing worth listening to anyway, but in his current state, he couldn’t hear them even if he tried.

 

‘Ah, Oscar…’

 

As he stood there blankly, trying to endure, Oscar came into view. It seemed like he had just finished class and was about to enter the dormitory. 

 

He met his gaze as he glanced over.

 

“….”

 

As expected, the Young Master left with a look of disinterest. 

 

“Ugh.”

 

At the same time, an unpleasant pain, as if something was digging through his brain, intensified. Cheshire clenched his head, furrowing his brows instinctively. 

 

“Hiik!” 

 

“What, wh, what… d, do you have a problem with me?” 

 

Suddenly, Benjamin and Robert turned pale and staggered backward.

 

“….?”

 

He had merely frowned from the pain. 

 

“Do you have anything else to say?”

 

“….”

 

“….”

 

The two were instinctively intimidated by Cheshire’s intimidating aura.

 

“J, just give us some bread and go!” 

 

“Y, yeah!” 

 

In the end, after handing over two pieces of bread to the two kids with their tails between their legs, Cheshire entered the dormitory.

 

Only Oscar was in the room.

 

“What about Erich?”

 

As he naturally handed him the bread and asked, Oscar, who had been lying down, glanced up at him. 

 

“He sees the tomatoes.”

 

“I see.”

 

“Hey.”

 

“Hmm?” 

 

Oscar called out to Cheshire, stopping him from returning to his bed. 

 

“You, I…” 

 

Oscar’s eyes suddenly widened as he spoke.

 

“You got hit?”

 

“What?” 

 

Cheshire, puzzled by the question, suddenly raised his hand to touch the unfamiliar sensation flowing over his lips.

 

Nosebleed…

 

‘It’s really something.’

 

This kind of burdensome magic.

 

“It’s not like that.”

 

“What do you mean it’s not like that? Are you stupid? You’re tall, so why would you get hit?”  

 

“I told you it wasn’t.”

 

“Ugh, idiot.”

 

“….” 

 

He didn’t seem like he was going to believe anything more he said. Cheshire wiped his nosebleed with his sleeve and headed towards his bed.

 

“…Are you mad because I didn’t help you?”

 

“What?”

 

“Are you sulking?” 

 

“What are you even saying… Huh?”

 

It seemed like he was referring to when their eyes met at the entrance of the dormitory.

 

“No, not at all.”

 

“You’re upset.”

 

“I told you, it’s not that.”

 

“The man is petty.”

 

“….” 

 

“You brought me bread, we planted tomatoes together, and Erich helped, but I didn’t help you. So you’re mad and sulking at me.”

 

“….” 

 

Cheshire, who had been quietly listening, bit his lip to hold back a laugh.

 

‘I thought we became close because you brought me snacks and planted tomatoes together, but you feel bad because I didn’t help you.’ 

 

7-year-old Oscar, whose true feelings were obvious, was really cute.

 

“No, really. I wasn’t angry or upset.”

 

Cheshire went back and sat next to Oscar.

 

“Erich was already a close friend to you. We only met for a short time.”

 

“….” 

 

“And you don’t have to help me in the future.”

 

“What?”

 

“To be honest, you’re the type of person who doesn’t care about people who aren’t close to you.”

 

“But what do you want me to do?”

 

“Keep living like that.”

 

Oscar was dumbfounded by Cheshire’s bright smile.

 

It sounded like he was being sarcastic, but his expression showed otherwise. He was sincere.

 

“You know this kind of thing happens often. There will be more in the future. Even after we leave the training center, we’ll keep seeing it.” 

 

“….” 

 

“No matter how amazing you are, you can’t help everyone. So just keep living the way you have been, like you always do.” 

 

“….”

 

“Just do your best for the people you care about and love, because that’s how I plan to live too.”

 

“What? You’re more of a selfish and mean guy than I thought?” 

 

“….?” 

 

Cheshire shrugged, momentarily dumbfounded.

 

“That’s true, but it’s surprising to hear it from you?” 

 

“…? What did you just say?” 

 

Cheshire laughed as he watched Oscar lose his temper.

 

Oscar Manuel…

 

Meeting him as a child, Cheshire was certain.

 

Although he was at the top of the class system from birth, Oscar is a ‘unique’ noble who has no interest in using his power to trample others. 

 

Like Enoch Rubinstein.

 

However, the reasons why the two of them were not interested in class play were different.

 

If Enoch is a righteous hero who can be enraged by the injustices of the class system, then Oscar simply… feels that the class system is meaningless, seeing no difference between this person or that person in his eyes. 

 

“You know, Oscar. Someone will want to help everyone.”

 

Cheshire thought about the tragedy of the ‘first round’ that will happen in the future.

 

“I wish I could save everyone, but if that’s not possible… I would choose the lives of a hundred over one.” 

 

He will be taken in by Enoch Rubinstein and grow up learning like that.

 

That’s why he will never be able to save that ‘one person.’

 

“Please, save me.”

 

“Don’t kill me….”

 

That voice that had been earnestly pleading.

 

Later, when he realized that it was because he had killed Lilith in the “lost time.” 

 

Cheshire was distressed. 

 

It was the same at this moment.

 

The ‘first round’ would repeat, and he would once again become the reaper of that tragedy. 

 

Cheshire made a heartfelt request to Oscar, the key that would end that tragedy and turn it into ‘Lost Time’. 

 

“There are many good people in the world. It doesn’t have to be you, but there is at least one hero who will help everyone.”

 

The hero, Enoch Rubinstein, saved everyone.

 

But he couldn’t save one person, his beloved daughter.

 

“That’s why you don’t have to be a hero who saves everyone. Just live as your heart desires.”

 

The one who saved Enoch’s daughter, Lilith, was a man who didn’t care about the justice that the hero cried out for.

 

It was Oscar.

 

He actually turned away from many lives.

 

Even when dozens and hundreds of people died at the touch of Primera.

 

Even when he sacrificed the father’s life to revive his daughter. 

 

Even when he finally destroyed his own existence.

 

But in the end, in the end.

 

He was the one who saved the ‘one’ person that no one could save.

 

“Someday, when you… have someone you love as much as your own life…”

 

“….” 

 

“Be that one hero.”

 

Cheshire earnestly requested.

 

Oscar blankly stared at Cheshire’s face and then said.

 

“…Why are you talking like an adult?”

 

“….” 

 

“….” 

 

“…At ten, I guess it’s the age to understand life.”

 

“Ridiculous. Acting cool while getting beaten up like an idiot.”

 

“Was it cool?”

 

“Mhm, no~”

 

“Anyway, Oscar.”

 

Cheshire smiled and got up.

 

“I’m going to live like that. I’m willing to make selfish choices for the sake of someone precious to me.”

 

“Precious person? What, your little sister?”

 

“Oh, mhm. That’s right.”

 

He couldn’t do that in ‘Lost Time.’

 

It will be erased from everyone’s memory, but rather, because of that, it is a tragedy that cannot be fixed or made to never happen.

 

“I don’t want to be a hero. When someone saves the world, I want to save one person.”

 

The world became peaceful.

 

Now, he was ready to let go of the burden of “the greater cause” that he had learned from his teacher and benefactor, Enoch.

 

“From now on, I will definitely live like that.”

 

For the person he loves.

 

“Become a hero for just one person.”

 

“….” 

 

After finishing his words, Cheshire left the room.  

 

Oscar stared at the door he had left through for a long time, lost in thought. 

 

“That b*stward.” 

 

At that moment, Cheshire Libre didn’t know.

 

“He’s rweally cwool…” 

 

He had unknowingly given a perfect answer to the meeting.