My Daddy Hides His Power Chapter 319 - Side story Part 2 Chapter 15

* * * 

 

A handsome man is making baby food. 

 

His expression is more careful than ever. 

 

Cheshire, with sweat beading on his forehead from the tension, mixed the precisely measured powdered milk into the warmed water.

 

He gently shakes the bottle.

 

As the formula dissolved, he began adding cooled water in precise proportions without a single mark of error.

 

And then he gently shakes it again.

 

“Whoo.” 

 

At last, only after checking the temperature by dropping a single drop onto the back of his hand to make sure it wasn’t too hot…

 

“It’s ready.”

 

He said solemnly.

 

“Good!”

 

I took the bottle Cheshire handed me and fed Jamie, who was in my arms.

 

Jjuk.

 

“….!”

 

Did he like it? Jamie’s eyes sparkled.

 

Jjuk, jjuk, jjuk.

 

Soon, he started sucking frantically.

 

“He must like it! Did you see the look in his eyes?” 

 

“He’s eating well.” 

 

Cheshire looked proud as Jamie seemed to like the formula.

 

“Hhic, he’s just too cute. How can a baby be this well-behaved?”

 

“Yes. He doesn’t whine or cry.”

 

“Jamie! Mom, try. Mo—m.”

 

As I tried to talk to him, Cheshire cut in with a firm voice.

 

“Lilith, he can’t yet understand and differentiate his mother’s intentions and express them. The book said that’s something he’ll be able to do around 10 months old.”  

 

“….”

 

“And you’re not Jamie’s mother.”

 

“Honey.”

 

The only flaw my husband has is that he’s a bit lacking in emotional sensitivity. 

 

“Do you have to be so boring and nitpick like that? While I’m taking care of him, I’m going to be his mom.”

 

“….”

 

Cheshire blinked a few times and spoke to Jamie, who was sucking on the bottle.

 

“Daddy, try it.”

 

…How ridiculous.

 

As he looked bewildered, Jamie, momentarily taking his mouth off the bottle, babbled.

 

“Bwaaah!”

 

“…!”

 

Cheshire looked at me in surprise.

 

“Did you hear? He said daddy.”

 

“What? He said mommy!”

 

Jjuk, jjuk, jjuk.

 

It would’ve been nice to know whether he said “dada” or “mama,” but Jamie simply went back to sucking on the bottle.

 

But he was still so cute.

 

“My heart hurts….”

 

How can such a tiny creature laugh, move, babble, and eat?

 

“Would I have been like that too?”

 

Since I started recalling my past life around the age of three, I don’t have any memories from this time.

 

The fact that I was once a real newborn who cried and fussed every three hours out of hunger, bothering my dad. 

 

“Wow. This is new to me, but Dad is really amazing.”

 

“What? He raised you since you were this little?”

 

Cheshire laughed.

 

“Mhm, that’s true too….”

 

Time travel to break Oscar’s seal—I recall the stoic young version of Dad I met there.

 

Though he was familiar with the battlefield, at home he had been a young noble master, accustomed to the service and attentions of his household staff.

 

Naturally, he had probably never done any cleaning or laundry himself, so after deserting, everything from start to finish must have been a first for him.

 

“I didn’t know who my dad really was when I was little, so I just figured he must’ve been used to managing a household on his own from the start.” 

 

I thought that a newborn baby was just added to the ordinary life of a commoner, Mr. James, who was used to cleaning and doing laundry.

 

But that wasn’t the case.

 

My Mr. James was a man who was new to everything, not just raising children.

 

“He ran away without a plan, so I bet even taking care of himself was hard. Cleaning, laundry, cooking—it must’ve all been his first time, right?”

 

“That’s right.” 

 

Even Cheshire, who had been listening, seemed surprised.

 

“And he still managed to raise a baby during all that? How many months old were you when the Duke deserted?”

 

“He said it was two months after I was born. So when Dad settled down in Xenon, I must’ve been just about Jamie’s age.”

 

The noble-born young master, who must have been clumsy with everything, ended up caring for a newborn baby in a desperate situation, without any prior knowledge.

 

He didn’t ask for help from our neighbors, Aunt Susan and Uncle Joe, until I started eating baby food—so before that…

 

“How on earth did Mr. James do it all by himself?!”

 

I have money, a husband to raise the baby with, and people I can ask for advice.

 

And yet, despite having all that, I still feel overwhelmed and lost with so many things I don’t know—but Dad…

 

“Dad didn’t even produce milk. And yet, he still woke up every three hours to make formula and feed me.” 

 

Suddenly, her nose tingled with emotion.

 

He gave up a good home and a noble status—all because of me. I wonder… did he ever regret it, even for a moment?

 

In a shabby house, on a hard bed, just as he finally closed his eyes after a long, exhausting day… his newborn—clueless to how tired he was—must’ve woken him up again, crying.

 

“It must have been annoying.”

 

And yet, Mr. James… still did it.

 

“Lilith.” 

 

Cheshire poked and wiped my eyes, which had somehow become wet, with his sleeve.

 

“Is it annoying?”

 

“Mhm?”

 

Cheshire tilted his head toward Jamie in his arms.

 

Ah…

 

“No? Not at all.”

 

It’s not annoying. Waking up at dawn wasn’t hard. I love this small, fragile life that can’t even eat on its own if I don’t take care of it. 

 

He’s not a child I gave birth to, but from the very first moment I saw Jamie, I felt an indescribable sense of connection.

 

Just like he was my closest blood relative.

 

Instinctive affection.

 

It wasn’t the kind of feeling one would normally have for a baby they were meeting for the first time. But somehow, it felt like that emotion had been granted to me because of my wish.

 

Regardless of the time spent together, the house owner who granted the wish made me feel an unusually strong closeness to this child.

 

So that I could realize what the ‘heart of a parent’ I was curious about truly meant.

 

“I bet the Duke didn’t find it bothersome at all.”

 

Cheshire stared blankly at Jamie.

 

“Maybe it was because you were there that he was able to endure it. A sense of responsibility? Something like that.”

 

“….”

 

“Because he brought you into this world. The desire to protect you and help you grow up safely. And as a parent, he probably wanted to become a better person.”

 

Cheshire, speaking as he did, looked at me with a look of disbelief and laughed.

 

“…I thought about it today.”

 

“Really?”

 

“Yeah. I’m not really Jamie’s father, and I just saw him today, so it’s a little weird and funny.”

 

“No, it’s not weird. I thought about something similar. I think it might be Primera’s ability.”

 

“Is that so?” 

 

Cheshire, who had been smiling, nodded at Jamie, who was now looking at us with bright eyes.

 

“I guess you ate everything.”

 

“Oh, then!”

 

“Time to burp him.”

 

We had properly learned from Oscar—how to make formula, how to feed with a bottle, and even how to burp a baby after feeding.

 

“Here, you try it. But seriously, how does Master know all this without even reading any books? It’s honestly amazing.”

 

I was puzzled as I handed Jamie to Cheshire.

 

“Geniuses just know everything from the moment they’re born.”

 

He recalled how Oscar used to hold Jamie upright and pat his back, and did the same.

 

I quietly watched the two of them.

 

Dad smiling and rubbing his back.

 

The baby quietly closing his eyes in his arms.

 

This peaceful scene somehow feels familiar, because it’s like Dad and I from a long time ago.

 

“Keugh.” 

 

“…did it.”

 

“Ahahaha!”

 

It was amazing. Very.

 

* * *

 

“…But how does Master know all this without even reading any books? It’s really amazing, honestly.”

 

“Geniuses just know everything from the moment they’re born.”

 

Five hours ago.

 

Oscar’s house.

 

The couple, who had even been taught how to burp a baby by Oscar, left Jamie for a while, saying they had to buy some baby supplies.

 

As soon as Lilith and Cheshire left, baby Enoch said.

 

“Lord of the Wizard Tower, I have to poop now.”

 

“What?!”

 

“Diapers. Go.”

 

It was a dirty diaper that his daughter would eventually see, but Enoch held on until the very end.

 

“Ugh!”

 

Oscar was shocked when he saw the baby finally look peaceful—only after having a massive poop.

 

“I dun’ even ask you to wash him. Lookit, there’s diapers in the bottle bag. Take ’em out. I’ll tell you how to change it.”

 

“….”

 

“Hurry! Befowe da kids come…!”

 

?

 

Enoch was taken aback. He had expected Oscar to flatly refuse, but instead, Oscar swiftly scooped Enoch up and headed to the bathroom.

 

He filled the sink with water and adjusted the temperature with magic in a second, then took off the diaper and washed the baby cleanly.

 

The stable position that held the baby’s body, the perfect water temperature, and the movements of his hands that showed no hesitation.

 

“….?”

 

It took less than ten minutes to dry him off, lay him down on a new diaper, and fasten it in place. He thought he was a father who had raised three newborns.

 

“L, Lord of da Wizard Tower, d-did you secwetly hab a baby? Are you… secwetly waising one somewhere wight now?” 

 

“Stop talking nonsense.” 

 

Oscar said with his usual unlucky expression, twitching his ear.

 

“A genius knows everything even if he doesn’t try.”

 

…Well.

 

Is that really so?

 

4 AM.

 

Oscar, who had finished organizing his thesis, headed to his study room.

 

He may be a genius who learns quickly, but he obviously doesn’t know what he hasn’t tried.

 

Oscar Manuel also has to learn.

 

He stared blankly at the titles of several books that were lined up in the corner of the study.

 

<Miracle Parenting Encyclopedia>

 

<Nice to Meet You, Mom! ~Perfect Parenting Up to 24 Months~>

 

<Everything About Baby Development>

 

The parenting books that he would buy one every time he saw them in a bookstore.

 

When was the first time he bought one?

 

When Enoch was trying to persuade him to let his daughter get married, he kept spouting nonsense—like telling him to imagine a baby that looked like Lilith.

 

It must have been around then.

 

“Me too….”

 

Oscar felt embarrassed for no reason and took out all his books.

 

It was funny how he had mortgaged his life by raising someone else’s daughter. He even had crazy worries that he might have to take care of the baby she would give birth to someday…

 

No one should ever know!

 

“Tsk.” 

 

Oscar hid the book deep in the study and vowed to take this secret to the grave.