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Translator: Vine
Chapter: 4
Chapter Title: The Duke's Power
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"Dad..."
As I hugged my trembling father, my mind raced.
I was the one person who understood him better than anyone, the one who wanted to give him everything he desired.
But.
'If Dad doesn't go back, this country is doomed.'
That was the truth.
Dad—Enoch Rubinstein—couldn't stay here.
Just like in the novel, he had to return to the knight order, his words like honey but a dagger hidden in his heart, to avenge his daughter. He had to take in the male lead, Chessier.
And then, he had to meticulously plan a rebellion from within the order and spark a revolution in this country.
Because.
About ten years from now.
'All the ordinary people will die.'
The Imperial Family would enact the 'Non-Ability User Extermination Policy.'
A massacre where they would capture and kill ordinary people without magic, no questions asked.
And the person who stops it is my dad.
'I thought it had nothing to do with me. After all, the protagonists would stop the massacre. I was planning to just enjoy the sweet life of an extra while they protected everyone.'
But...
'My dad was the protagonist!'
Originally, I probably would have been kidnapped just a little while ago.
My role was to plant the seed of revenge in Enoch Rubinstein after his daughter was taken from him.
But in a fleeting moment of not wanting to be separated from my dad, I changed the original story.
Unlike in the novel, I was safe.
What if Dad ran away with me like this?
He would never take in the male lead, Chessier, to train him, nor would he ever rise up against the Imperial Family.
'That would be a catastrophe. All the innocent extras would die, wouldn't they?'
I pictured the faces of Susan and Joe.
The moment I imagined the two of them screaming in agony as they died.
'No, no.'
I shook my head hard, trying to banish the terrible thought.
"Dad."
"...Yes."
"Do you want me to live my whole life on the run? You don't, right?"
"Of course not, but."
Dad released me from his tight hug and met my eyes.
"You said it yourself, Princess. That you wanted to live a normal life with just the two of us."
"..."
"If we go back to the capital? You'll have to live as an ability user. That's anything but a normal life."
Right, I did say that.
But.
'The moment I found out Dad was Enoch Rubinstein, my peaceful, comfortable life as an extra was already over!'
I swallowed the urge to scream that and decided to play the part of a greedy seven-year-old.
"To be honest, now that I know you're someone amazing and that I'm an ability user, I've kind of changed my mind."
"What do you mean?"
"Ability users are nobles, right? And if I'm your daughter, that means I'm the daughter of the most powerful noble of them all. Right?"
"..."
Dad stared blankly into my gleaming eyes, looking flustered.
"You wouldn't have to work so hard chopping wood to sell at the market every day, and I wouldn't have to wait for you. And... I wouldn't have to do laundry either!"
"Lilis, Princess, I told you not to do the laundry, but you kept...!"
"There's more! I could eat macarons every single day and wear dresses with ribbons!"
Stomp, stomp.
I stomped my feet as if I were angry.
Dad was startled.
'Ugh. Dad, I'm so sorry. I didn't want to act like such a terrible daughter...'
"Why didn't you tell me! Why!"
"Lilis!"
"You didn't want me to live as an ability user?"
I shouted, my eyes welling up with tears and my lip jutting out in a pout.
"You never even asked me if I wanted to live as an ability user, as a noble!"
"P-Princess..."
"I don't want to just be *your* princess! I want to be a *real* princess!"
Dad's eyes began to waver.
"I'm not your daughter!"
"W-What did you say?"
The final blow...
Dad staggered back, his face a mask of shock.
"I'm not James's daughter! I'm going to be Duke Enoch's daughter!"
I pointed a tiny, determined finger out the window and shouted.
"If you don't go, I'll ask those men to take me!"
"..."
My firm stance left my father speechless.
He fell silent for a long time, biting his lip with a conflicted expression.
'Ugh. Dad, I'm really so sorry.'
I felt terrible for my dad, but...
His deliberation wouldn't last long.
Because right now, his daughter was the most important thing in the world to him.
***
The cozy little cabin, full of my childhood memories.
Dad and I stood before it with our hastily packed belongings, facing the knights.
Held in my father's arms, I snuck a peek at the handsome face of the knight commander.
'Black hair and violet eyes. I thought that description sounded familiar.'
His name was...
Axion Libre.
1. Rank: Dos.
2. The Duke of Libre.
3. He joined the knight order at the same time as my dad and had been serving as the acting commander since Dad vanished seven years ago.
4. A close aide who would become a comrade in Dad's future revolutionary army.
He was, indeed, a major character from the novel.
'Of course, that's Axion. There's no way someone with a face that handsome could be an extra.'
After being so thoroughly blindsided by Mr. James Brown, I decided to etch a new rule into my very bones: 'There is no such thing as a handsome extra.'
"Well then, let's depart, Enoch."
"A carriage."
Dad muttered in an indifferent tone, and Axion tilted his head.
"What?"
"I'm not leaving until you provide a top-of-the-line carriage. My daughter's bottom will get sore, she can't travel long on horseback."
"What the hell!"
The knight standing next to Axion (the one whose hand I'd bitten) looked ready to lash out at my dad's abuse of power.
But Axion stopped him with a simple raise of his arm.
"Hoo..."
He sighed and stared intently at me.
Look at him. His gaze was like he was looking at a piece of luggage. It was obvious what he was thinking.
I went so far as to act like a terrible daughter to get my dad to move, and he doesn't even appreciate my efforts!
"Men."
Axion finally gave the order.
"Get a carriage... a top-of-the-line one..."
***
About an hour later.
We were on our way to a southern city called Elpasha.
The plan was to use a warp gate at a temple, which only existed in large cities, to travel to the capital.
"Wow. It's so soft and comfy."
I marveled at the comfortable ride of the carriage, a sensation I'd never felt before.
This was a carriage that Holy Knights, no less, had scrambled to find like servants.
"Daddy! This carriage is totally...!"
I started to call out to my dad in excitement, but then I hesitated.
His profile, as he rested his chin on his hand and gazed out the window, looked deep in thought.
Perhaps he was angry that the daughter he'd painstakingly raised for seven years had turned out to be such an unexpected terror.
'Ugh. I'm so, so sorry, Dad...'
I timidly scooted over and snuggled up right next to him.
"Daddyyy."
"Oh, Lilis."
"I'm sorry..."
His eyes widened. He looked at my sullen face for a moment.
"Princess."
Soon, Dad lifted me onto his lap to face him.
"Was it because my expression was scary? I'm sorry. I was just lost in thought."
"..."
"You know, I was wrong. To you, my princess. Just as you said, I never even asked what you thought."
Dad smiled reassuringly as he brushed my hair back and stroked my cheek.
"Do whatever you want. When we get home, let's really get you pretty clothes and lots of expensive macarons."
"..."
"I'm sorry I couldn't do that for you until now. I didn't know that's how you wanted to live."
"N-No..."
I had been happy living in that mountain cabin with Mr. James Brown.
Macarons were an expensive dessert, so I couldn't have them often, but having them once in a while was fine. And even if I wore pretty clothes, there was no one to show them off to in our little mountain village.
Above all, he fed me, clothed me, and put me to bed... He was a perfect father who never left me wanting for anything.
'Ugh. This terrible daughter even made her dad feel guilty.'
Feeling guilty, I said.
"I'm... I'm really sorry for saying I wasn't your daughter earlier. I didn't mean it. And I understand you. You didn't want to send me to a scary battlefield, right?"
"That's right. The battlefield is a scary place. So, my princess, let's not go."
"...Huh?"
I blinked at my father's firm tone.
"What do you mean? Don't I have to go to the battlefield to wear pretty clothes and eat macarons?"
"No, you don't. You can wear pretty clothes and eat macarons. But you don't have to go to the battlefield. I won't let you go to the battlefield."
I quickly glanced around, worried someone might be listening.
Was he openly planning to refuse military service?
Dad had the look of someone who had just made a terrifying decision.
"No, Dad. Wait. You're going to... Aah!"
Just then.
The carriage lurched to a sudden stop, and my bottom lifted into the air for a moment before landing back down.
"Lilis! Are you okay?"
"Y-Yeah."
What happened? I turned my head to look out the window.
"D-Dad? What is that?"
A massive cloud of dust was rising in the distance.
Whatever it was, it was charging toward the carriage at an incredible speed...
"Werewolves."
As soon as Dad opened the window to assess the situation, Axion, who was riding alongside the carriage, spoke.
"Are you kidding me?"
Clinging tightly to my startled father, I was able to see what they were.
'W-Wolves?'
They were wolves, baring their white fangs and drooling.
And they were walking upright on two legs, not four!
"I knew they had a habitat around here, but I didn't expect them to come this close to civilization. Wait here. I'll take care of them quickly."
"Damn it..."
Dad shot Axion a murderous glare.
He seemed furious that I had been put in danger so soon after we'd departed.
"Princess."
"Yes?"
"Stay right here and don't move. Do not come outside under any circumstances. Don't even stick your head out."
"Wait! Dad, where are you going?"
Before I could stop him, Dad opened the door and leaped out.
"You just put a shield on the carriage. If my daughter gets so much as a single scratch, you're dead."
"You're going yourself? There's no need for that."
"I don't have time to wait for you lot to take them down one by one at a snail's pace."
Gritting his teeth, Dad drew the sword from Axion's hip with a *shing*.
"D-Dad? Dad!"
Too scared to open the door, I pressed my cheek against the window like a squashed steamed bun and shouted.
"Daddyyyy!"
With just a single sword in hand, Dad strode toward the pack of monstrous wolves, which numbered about thirty.
The knights who had been escorting us just stood by and watched blankly.
"H-Hey! Mister! You have to help him, why are you just watching! H-How is my dad supposed to fight all of them by himself!"
I pounded on the window, pleading with Axion.
He glanced at me and muttered.
"...He'll get them all himself."
"W-What...?"
At that moment.
Dad swung his sword.
Just one swipe, cutting through the air in a horizontal arc.
'What was that?'
And at the same time—
The monstrous wolves that had been closing in at a terrifying speed all stopped at once.
I stared, bewildered, at the scene that looked like a paused video.
'Why did they suddenly stop? The sword didn't even touch them, did it?'
My question was answered almost immediately.
"Whoa."
The monstrous wolves, which had been frozen for exactly three seconds, suddenly split in two as if space itself had been sliced, collapsing in a simultaneous burst of blood.
"W-W-What in the world..."
In disbelief, I rubbed my eyes again.
