My Daddy Hides His Power – Chapter 296 – Side story Part 1 Chapter 36

Author: rolypoly

“Aaaargh! No! I don’t want it!”

Oscar, in shock, threw the pajamas aside and then said,

“I’m going back to my place to sleep. I have no intention of taking a carriage to the temple and switching to a warp gate. I’m drawing a teleportation circle here and leaving right now. Get out of the way.”

“What?! That’s not what you said earlier!”

“Master! You can’t just do this out of nowhere!”

The father and daughter were shouting at each other loudly.

Enoch could have simply ignored it.

“I was so excited to finally hang out with Dad and you, Master!”

Lilith, pouting and making a sad face, was impossible to ignore.

Oscar, unable to avoid it, spoke while doing his best not to look at the grotesque sight of Enoch.

“Fine, I promised. But there’s no way I’m wearing that ridiculous, insane pajama set.”

“Really?”

Enoch stuck out his lips and made a sad face.

Is he crazy?

Does he seriously think acting cute at his age, looking like that, is actually going to work?

“Yes, really! Seriously! There’s a limit to everything, you know…”

At that moment.

Enoch grabbed Lilith’s shoulder and pulled her to stand in front of Oscar.

And then he asked again.

“Are you really not wearing it?”

“….”

At times like this, Lilith, who was quick to catch on, pouted her lips just like her dad, tilted her head, and made her eyes sparkle brightly.

“Master, can’t you pleaaase?”

“Can’t you, Lord of the Wizard Tower?”

“….”

Wow. Really…

I’m going to lose my mind…

* * *

30 minutes later.

Oscar, now fully dressed in the heart-patterned pajamas, sat in the armchair with a blank expression, as if his soul had left his body.

Absolutely nothing about this pleased him.

The so-called ‘family room’ having nothing but one big bed? That, too, annoyed him.

The father and daughter, who didn’t seem to understand the seriousness at all, even after he scolded them for thoughtlessly booking only one room.

Everything!

“Are you saying the staff were that rude? This is a tourist spot, so they’re bound to encounter all kinds of guests. If they’ve got their own reasons, it’s not a big deal. Why act like that?”

“Hm, honestly, I didn’t even get a good look at the staff’s faces, so I don’t know what their attitude was like. But Master said their gazes were weird. Master’s just really sensitive~”

“Well, if the Lord of the Wizard Tower says so, then it must be true. Let’s make sure to show everyone our faces when we leave in the morning. That way, everyone will realize it was just a misunderstanding.”

“Yeah, yeah!”

The father and daughter lying side by side on the bed, chattering.

The casual tone of the conversation was one thing, but the sight of them in identical pajamas was truly something else.

The design, with red hearts plastered all over it, was truly…

Every time the father and daughter laid down in the same pose, alternating their legs, the bright red hearts wiggling around their bottoms were absolutely… something else.

‘I can’t watch this.’

The fact that he’s wearing the exact same pajamas right now is just as shocking.

“Hey, Mr. James Brown.”

“Mhm?”

“….?”

The moment the father and daughter turned around together.

Oscar paused.

They looked so alike.

Anyone could tell that they were blood-related family.

Oscar suddenly felt a wave of bitterness at the thought. He was the one who ended up causing unnecessary misunderstandings just by bringing the kid along…

“Just in case this kind of thing happens again, let me make it clear now. I’m not part of your family, and other people will never understand our relationship.”

The father and daughter just blinked in response.

“So it won’t just be today—misunderstandings like this will keep happening. I’d appreciate it if you could keep that in mind and always act with a bit more awareness.”

“….”

“There are way more nosy people in the world than you’d think, and if you act carelessly, you’ll get caught up in rumors without fail. You understand what I’m saying, right? That goes for you too.”

But the father and daughter just kept blinking their wide, round eyes at each other, saying nothing.

“Haaa.”

Soon enough, Enoch let out a sigh and sat up from where he had been lying down.

“Then what do you want me to do?”

“Yes?”

“Yeah, I figured we’d have to have this conversation at some point. Let’s do it now.”

Enoch said with a serious expression.

“I understand what the Lord of the Wizard Tower is worried about. But convincing everyone who doesn’t understand our relationship is impossible. Like you said, we’re not related by blood.”

“….”

“But that doesn’t mean I want to live constantly worrying about what others think. When I want to go somewhere fun with our princess, I’ll think of the Lord of the Wizard Tower. When I want to eat something delicious, I’ll think of the Lord of the Wizard Tower. And even when I buy the same pajamas, I’ll think of the Lord of the Wizard Tower.”

As if in agreement, Lilith nodded her head up and down vigorously from beside him.

“Because the princess values the Lord of the Wizard Tower as much as she does me, her father, and I trust you and am always grateful to you.”

“….”

“Do you really not know why Cheshire arranged a situation like this today? She always calls you a master, but to the princess, you’re not just a simple teacher. You hold a father-like position. I think Cheshire wanted to make that clear to you as well.”

“Right… What kind of teacher meets the father of the person their student is marrying?”

Lilith added in a sulky tone.

“Lord of the Wizard Tower. I… we…”

Enoch’s words, which had been continuing, momentarily stopped.

He paused to consider how his words might sound to Oscar, then added.

“…I’ve thought of us as a different kind of family. I’ve felt that way for a long time.”

Oscar’s eyes widened.

“If being with us makes you uncomfortable, and you dislike being misunderstood, then I suppose there’s nothing we can do. But from what you’ve said, it sounds more like you’re worried about me and Lilith rather than yourself.”

That’s right. He’d grown attached, and they’d spent so much time together that he kept finding himself interfering in Lilith’s life…

Oscar constantly worried about how his simple acts of affection might appear in the eyes of others.

He felt like a foreign substance, someone who might end up casting unnecessary suspicion on an otherwise perfectly normal father-daughter relationship.

“I’m really okay with it. And of course, so is our princess. Right?”

“Mh-hm.”

Enoch spoke as if he had read Oscar’s innermost thoughts.

“If I had to draw a line between us, as family, just because of how others might see us… that would be even sadder and more painful for me.”

“….”

Enoch’s words ended there, and Oscar didn’t know how to respond.

He just sat silently for a while before getting up and heading to the bathroom.

He splashed cold water on his face.

With so many thoughts running through his head, his mind only became blank.

Just as he unconsciously reached for the toothbrush and brought it to his mouth.

“What is it?”

Lilith, who had quickly followed him, appeared behind the mirror.

Enoch, behind Lilith, also appeared.

“What is it?”

“I should brush my teeth and go to bed too.”

Right, that’s fine for you.

“What about you! What have you been doing all this time without getting ready?”

“Oh my. You’re really complaining a lot. It’s nice and cozy brushing our teeth together.”

Enoch said playfully and put the toothbrush in his mouth.

Lilith giggled and copied him.

The father and daughter teased him with their toothbrushing, grinning at Oscar through the mirror.

“Lord of the Wizward Tower, honestly, you’re ywoung and hwandsome, so I think it’s inwevitable. When the prwincess and I go somewhere unfamiliar, peopwle mistake us for siblings too.”

“Thwat’s right. I don’t knwow if it’s thwat I’m old or if Dad’s just young. Anyway, it’s not like we can go arwound explaining our relationshwip to everywone. Even if we did, they probably wouldn’t believe us.”

The slurred pronunciation sounds so silly…

“If we’re gwoing to live as a famwily, I think it’s somethwing we just hwave to deal with.”

He paused.

Family…

Even through her slurred speech, that one sentence from Lilith came through all too clearly—leaving Oscar frozen in place.

He quietly stared at the three people in the mirror.

He saw his own reflection, wearing the ridiculous heart-patterned pajamas.

Although his face didn’t resemble the father and daughter next to him at all…

The only thing that was exactly the same was the ridiculous outfit.

“I think we are a slightly different form of family.”

They had always considered each other more intimately than anyone else, but it was a relationship that had never really been defined in words until now.

Oscar left the room without even knowing what he was thinking after finishing his face wash.

“I’m~ here!”

Enoch followed him out and dove onto the far left side of the bed, giggling.

“I’m~ here!”

Lilith, who quickly lay down next to Enoch, patted the empty space on her right side.

“Come!”

“….”

He didn’t have the strength to refuse.

Oscar walked over and lay down.

“Lord of the Wizard Tower, Lord of the Wizard Tower, Lord of the Wizard Tower.”

“Wow, that loud and annoying voice. I can understand you with just one call.”

“They say the restaurant in front here is really good at seafood dishes.”

“What do you want me to do?”

When Oscar turned around gruffly, Enoch was casually resting his chin on one hand.

“But that restaurant opens at 10 AM.”

Lilith, lying in the same position, added her comment.

“What do you want me to do?”

The woman stuck out her lips in a sullen manner.

“Princess, what time are you going to work tomorrow?”

“Eight o’clock.”

“That’s a shame. Does that mean we can’t go to that restaurant?”

“Maybe we can just get permission from the boss?”

“Ah! Is that a way? But where’s the boss?”

The father and daughter’s gaze turned to Oscar as if they had made a promise.

“Haha…”

A hollow laugh escaped in disbelief.

Oscar turned his gaze away from the father and daughter, looked at the ceiling, and lay down flat.

And then he said.

“Maybe I should take the first half of the day off…”

“Wow! Master, you’re the best!”

“Yahoo!!!”

Chatter chatter.

Listening to the voices of the two passionately discussing how delicious the seafood dishes might be, Oscar closed his eyes.

“Hehe.”

Soon, Lilith, who had wriggled closer, whispered in his ear.

“Master, you know I love you, right?”

“…Yeah, I know.”

“Actually, Master, you have your own life too. But Dad and I were worried that you might feel burdened, thinking you had to keep looking after me… so we never brought it up until now.”

“….”

“But since Dad had the courage to say it, I’ll say it too. Master, you’ve been family to Dad and me for a very long time.”

Ah…

At those words, Oscar furrowed his brows, trying not to show how overwhelmed he felt.

What was this feeling?

“I love you. Really. So much.”

It felt like something that had been tightly blocking one side of his chest had finally been lifted.

“Dad’s not asleep.”

“Heuk!”

When Enoch muttered in a playfully lowered voice, Lilith quickly turned around with a flutter.

“Love you too, Dad~!”

Oscar let out a small chuckle at the sound of the father and daughter chattering away again.