I’m The Male Lead’s Biological Daughter, But I Want To Live With The Second Male Lead! - Chapter 104

—————
This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
—————

Chapter 104
Of course, I knew it wasn’t something that would happen right away.
It might be something that happened in the distant future.
Still, Mabel found it difficult to suppress the excitement bubbling up inside her.
[Dad?]
“Yes. I told you before, didn’t I? The Gaju won the trial, so my biological father lost custody.”
[Caesar Asilonia.]
[Scum not worth associating with. Irredeemable waste. Disposal required.]
New words tumbled across Winter’s soft head like a waterfall.
When a startled Mabel’s mouth fell open, Winter quickly protested.
[Before. Speech. Gaju.]
Now that she thought about it, those were exactly the same words Zigmund had used when he crossed blades with Caesar.
The fact that it seemed a little more evolved than that was probably just her imagination.
Mabel cleared her throat and continued.
“Anyway, right now it seems my aunt—my biological mother, that is—has reconciled with him.”
[Sophia Asilonia.]
[A devil wearing the iron mask of the Subjugation Mark she carved upon the Gaju.]
“Huh? Um, well…….”
Did Zigmund say that too?
As Mabel hesitated, Winter pressed his head against her chin.
[Admirable.]
[Between. Trash. Born. Angel.]
[My angel.]
With his rough tongue, Winter gently licked her jaw.
Mabel giggled at the familiar, tingling sensation.
[Rather. Fortunate.]
[Grow. Alone.]
[Do not resemble. Trash.]
[Admirable.]
[Mabel.]
“That’s right, I really did grow up well on my own, didn’t I?”
Mabel stroked Winter’s head and continued.
“But I thought Caesar would file for custody reinstatement.”
Zigmund too had worried about this, and in the past had frantically tracked down all the servants discharged from the Duke’s Manor.
He wanted to use them as witnesses to how Caesar and Sophia had mistreated Mabel.
But surprisingly, Caesar had not filed for custody reinstatement even now.
“And in the meantime, the Empress Consort and the Gaju became my guardians.”
Now Caesar couldn’t even file for custody reinstatement without the consent of those two.
‘I have no idea what he’s plotting…….’
As Mabel murmured this to herself, Winter’s eyes gleamed.
[Empress Consort.]
[Good person.]
[Peaceful beastman.]
[White lion.]
Winter’s tail stiffened as he recalled his meeting with Lillian.
Even then, when he couldn’t yet fully contain his aura, Lillian had been unbothered.
Perhaps that was why.
For Winter, that meeting with Lillian remained a very cherished memory.
[And.]
[Cry. Sadly.]
“That’s right, you cried too, didn’t you?”
[Cry. Mabel too!]
As Mabel teased him gently, Winter bristled.
“But you cried more than I did back then, didn’t you?”
She remembered how his fur had been completely soaked.
Winter, who seemed at a loss for words, fixed her with a sharp look and summoned letters.
[I do not know.]
[No. Tears. I am male.]
[But. Sad. Empress Consort. If sad.]
Winter whimpered and burrowed into Mabel’s arms.
Mabel considered telling Winter about the urgent report she’d heard earlier, but decided against it.
There was no need to speak of such cruel and sorrowful things.
“Oh, and the Empress Consort asked me to tell you to be careful.”
[Out of nowhere?]
“Yes, she said she’d be sad if something happened to you.”
Well, that wasn’t exactly a lie……
She’d sent an urgent report despite being so busy, after all.
Mabel’s conscience pricked sharply — she’d lied to Winter, and it gnawed at her.
[Sudden.]
[But I understand.]
[Be careful. Me.]
Fortunately, Winter seemed not to have noticed the falsehood.
Mabel let out a quiet sigh of relief and continued.
“Anyway, so once I figure out what to do about Sophia, I’ll have nothing to do with Asilonia anymore.”
[Mabel.]
[Just become. Mabel?]
“Yes. I’ll just become Mabel.”
Yet despite waiting so long for this ending, she felt a strange melancholy.
I’m really becoming an orphan now, she thought.
Even though she’d resolved to accept this from the moment she first ran away, even though Aselt and Kellic had become her family, the feeling remained.
“But remember what the Gaju said earlier? That he’s my father?”
When she’d asked him to be her Guardian, Mabel had thought to herself:
If she could choose her parents, she would choose Zigmund.
No — if it couldn’t be Zigmund, then she didn’t want anyone.
Honestly, she was prepared to push the matter even if Zigmund showed reluctance.
It’s not as if I’m asking him to be my real parent — surely this much is reasonable, she would have argued.
And truly, Mabel had been content to accept a sponsorship relationship.
Becoming family with Zigmund seemed like a dream too grand for her to deserve.
But then Zigmund had brought it up first.
Which meant that just as she held him dear, he held her dear in return!
“So what I’m saying is… maybe… maybe the Gaju and I will really become family.”
One could say it was the result of running her happiness circuits so hard they were practically burning out.
She’d learned that Zigmund cherished her as much as that.
For that alone, Mabel felt as though her body might float away from sheer joy.
Mabel grinned foolishly, as if she’d just eaten a mouthful of sweet chiffon cake.
But Winter’s expression turned cryptic.
[Not allowed.]
“Huh? What isn’t?”
[Gaju. Become.]
[Mabel’s father.]
[Not allowed.]
“What? Why not?”
Instead of answering, Winter suddenly leaped from the embrace.
Then he planted one front paw firmly on top of the book Mabel had brought.
[Object.]
[Our marriage.]
“W-what?”
What on earth was this absurd nonsense?
[Seize. My scruff.]
[Shake. My scruff.]
[Object.]
[Our marriage.]
[So it’s not allowed.]
[Gaju. Become. Mabel’s father.]
Winter continued to project words above her head, his manner growing increasingly solemn.
“Right, the book.”
But Mabel wasn’t really paying attention.
[Mabel. Hear?]
[My words?]
[See?]
[My words?]
As Mabel picked up the book and stood from her seat, Winter padded after her with quick, eager steps.
But Mabel still pretended not to hear.
Not that she could blame herself.
“You’re going to marry a Fantasy Beast anyway, aren’t you?”
Mabel was not an Oracle.
So she could not be bound to Winter, a Fantasy Beast.
Of course, setting that aside, she had no desire to marry Winter in the first place.
‘He’s just my adorable baby white lion, after all.’
No, truth be told, Mabel had no thoughts of marriage—nor even romance.
She was barely nine years old, and she’d only ever met exactly two boys.
The Crown Prince. And a boy she’d met in a dream.
‘Though if it came down to it, that handsome boy… well….’
The memory of his clean, gentle smile—the way his eyes crinkled as he looked at her—rose unbidden.
Regrettably, she’d forgotten everything the boy had said to her in that dream.
But that smile, that warmth in his gaze—it was etched into her heart with such clarity that she could still see it plainly.
It was precisely as Mabel was recalling the boy from her dream, her cheeks flushing pink, that—
Tap. Tap.
Winter swatted the bed with his tail in clear displeasure, thwack-thwack.
[Thinking. Of whom?]
[Here. In front. Me.]
“You’re right here in front of me—what’s wrong?”
Mabel, lying belly-down on the bed with her chin propped in her hands, shot back a question.
[Cheating. On me.]
[Mabel?]
[Who. Is.]
[Thinking. Of whom?]
Winter narrowed his eyes and pressed harder.
Mabel ignored him and was about to open Ozborn’s Book when—thump.
Winter pressed down hard with his thick front paw, blocking the cover.
[Who. Is.]
[Thinking. Of whom?]
[Until. You tell.]
[Blocking. This.]
[Reading. Book.]
Grrrrr.
Winter let out a low, rumbling growl—a genuine threat.
Exasperated, Mabel answered rather curtly.
“Fine. I was thinking about a boy I saw in a dream. Why?”
What are you going to do about it anyway?
That was the tone of her answer—but Winter’s reaction was unexpected.
[Relieved.]
She’d thought he’d roll around the bed in a sulk, complaining about her thinking of another male when she had him. But instead—
[Think. As much as.]
[You wish!]
He was actually encouraging her…?
“What’s gotten into you? Did you eat something strange?”
Worried by this unfamiliar behavior, Mabel grabbed Winter’s muzzle and pried it open to check.
Nothing odd seemed to be in there, but what was going on?
[What. Doing?]
“Mmm, nothing.”
As Mabel released his muzzle, Winter smacked his lips.
[Read. The book.]
Then, with the satisfied expression of a well-fed lion, he nudged the book with his chin.
Mabel eyed him with suspicion for a moment before turning her attention to the book.
Scanning the table of contents, she quickly found what she was looking for.
“Here it is. On the Bond of Servitude.”
Mabel rapidly flipped to the relevant chapter.
* * *
Meanwhile, at that very moment.
Once Lundwell confirmed that Mabel had left, he sought out Zigmund in his office again.
“Caesar Asilonia is scheming once more.”

—————
This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
—————