I’m The Male Lead’s Biological Daughter, But I Want To Live With The Second Male Lead! - Chapter 105

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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Episode 105
“Hmm. Still haven’t given up? Admirable, in a way.”
Zigmund’s eyes narrowed as he listened to Lundwell’s report.
Dain’s mouth twisted downward in obvious irritation, his expression souring.
Zigmund asked with an air of annoyance, as though sighing.
“So, what’s the accusation this time?”
“Miss Mabel is claiming that the Duke is robbing her of all her patents.”
“On what grounds?”
“She argues that the recently filed patents are all fundamentally different from those the Duke previously submitted.”
It was a flimsy excuse at best.
“The trouble is, the Alchemists are accepting this as gospel.”
Even Lundwell’s tone betrayed how absurd he found it.
Dain, who had been listening quietly, let out a derisive snort.
“If we’re using that standard, shouldn’t we be suspicious of the Empress Consort as well?”
Francesca delivered shocking new designs with each season, consistently fresh and revolutionary.
At times, the stylistic shifts were so dramatic it seemed impossible they came from a single mind.
Yet everyone unanimously praised Francesca as a genius for it.
And now they dared claim Mabel was being exploited simply because the trajectory of her inventions had changed?
“First she imports white lions, then suddenly she’s obsessed with cat merchandise.”
“Surely this isn’t merely Caesar Asilonia’s personal claim. The Empress Consort must have her hand in this.”
As Dain griped in disbelief, Lundwell answered with a hollow laugh.
The whole affair was predictable and transparent.
“We should handle this simply, Duke,” Dain said, turning to Zigmund.
“Why go to the trouble? Raise the patent fees. All of them.”
“Precisely. Those ignorant alchemists need a reminder of where the foundation of their technology truly originated.”
Lundwell nodded in agreement with Dain’s words.
This was why Lundwell had not reported the matter in Mabel’s presence.
It wasn’t something worth burdening her with.
“We’ve endured endless complaints about the Duke’s family abusing its power. Perhaps it’s time we showed them what real tyranny looks like.”
Lundwell’s voice turned sharp and cold as he casually revealed his true sentiments.
“You seem to be enjoying this, Lundwell,” Zigmund said with a light laugh.
Lundwell merely shrugged.
Until now, Zigmund had graciously allowed the Alchemists to use his patents at modest rates for the sake of advancing alchemy.
Lundwell had always found this arrangement wasteful.
The family could have flourished far more, but Zigmund prioritized scholarly duty.
Yet now, with no way to distinguish friend from foe, there was no reason to continue such generosity.
That kindness had been repaid with a knife in the back, and Zigmund felt it just as keenly as his men.
“Yes, if there’s a simpler way to resolve this, we should take it.”
Zigmund immediately dispatched a formal letter raising the patent fees.
By tomorrow, Caesar would find himself caught in his own trap.
Keke keke.
Dain and Lundwell exchanged dark laughter, regarding each other with malicious satisfaction.
Zigmund shook his head lightly at the two of them, then seemed to recall something.
“Regardless, have we still not determined where Sophia is?”
“Pardon? Ah, yes. According to the agent who infiltrated the Asilonia Duchy, Sophia Asilonia cannot be found anywhere in the estate.”
“That doesn’t make sense.”
Zigmund pulled his chin back and raised one eyebrow sharply.
Caesar and Sophia had definitely undergone Reconciliation.
Yet since the Crown Prince’s birthday banquet, not a single soul had reported seeing Sophia.
‘I assumed she’d be running around constantly to retrieve Mabel again.’
What was she plotting?
More troubling still was that Zigmund had never quite managed to determine when the Empress Consort and Sophia had joined forces.
Not when Sophia deliberately vanished before, and not now.
Tracking Sophia’s movements had always been difficult—impossibly so.
‘It can’t be because of the Subordination Mark.’
Zigmund’s thoughts darkened as he became aware of the Subordination Mark lingering on his shoulder.
His face, arms crossed, was suddenly swept by a sharp, piercing light.
Then it occurred to him—there was precisely one location that Lundwell’s report had never mentioned.
‘Could it be…?’

It seemed impossible at first, yet the possibility wasn’t entirely without merit.
Zigmund opened his mouth with lingering doubt.
“Have you searched the Underground Dungeon?”
“I beg your pardon? The Underground Dungeon?”
Dain countered, bewildered by this sudden line of inquiry.
“No, sir—all the entrances there are sealed, so from the start…….”
Lundwell faltered mid-report.
“Now that I think of it, we did receive reports that Caesar often disappeared from sight when dining outside.”
“What did you say?”
Dain exclaimed in surprise.
Lundwell blinked rapidly, pressing forward with his account.
“At the time, I simply assumed we’d lost track of him because there were limits to surveillance in that state, but if that wasn’t the case—”
“Then Sophia would be there with high probability.”
Zigmund’s lips twisted into a crooked smile as he finished Lundwell’s thought.
“Good Lord.”
Dain muttered, clutching his head.
“Surely he hasn’t imprisoned his reconciled wife in the Underground Dungeon……?”
By any rational measure, it was conduct beyond comprehension.
Yet perhaps it was naive to expect proper judgment from a man who’d attempted to brand his own daughter with the Subordination Mark.
“I’ll have a search conducted at once.”
Lundwell’s face had already hardened as he spoke, his head bowed.
But Zigmund’s chilling deduction didn’t end there.
“However, how did Her Majesty the Empress obtain Sophia’s signature?”
“……!”
“Ah……!”
Lundwell’s and Dain’s eyes widened simultaneously.
Was it possible that Francesca knew everything Caesar was doing to Sophia?
And if she remained allied with him despite that…….
“Perhaps I could offer Her Majesty the Empress Consort a measure of comfort as she languishes in despair.”
A cold smile played at Zigmund’s lips.
It was on an entirely different plane from the malice that had flickered across Lundwell’s and Dain’s faces moments before.
* * *
Meanwhile, Francesca was in private audience with someone.
Scratch, scratch, scratch.
Her long fingernails dragged across the armrest of the chair she gripped.
“A sovereign’s every word—each and every one—weighs as heavily as ten thousand gold coins.”
The one she was addressing was none other than Edward, Emperor of Greenhurst.
“Without foundation, you malign me—your Empress—as a criminal guilty of atrocities, and now you strip away my internal authority? And here, of all places, in the Eternal Chamber, where every word spoken never rots away and cannot be undone.”
Francesca, her eyes burning bloodshot, spoke through gritted teeth as she glared at Edward.
“Can you take responsibility for what you’ve just said?”
Edward didn’t so much as blink at Francesca’s threat.
“Do you know why I’ve overlooked your cruelty all this time?”
“Cruelty, you say……?”
Yet Edward, meeting her gaze, remained unmoved.
“Because I understood, as you yourself said, that a sovereign’s word carries the weight of ten thousand gold coins.”
“Then you’re saying you now possess the strength to bear that burden?”
Francesca’s voice dripped with mockery as she posed the question.
Edward was a cowardly man with limited capacity.
He already knew that Francesca had attempted to brand Lillian with the Subordination Mark, and that she had poisoned him in the process.
Yet even now, with nearly a decade and more having passed, he had never denounced her.
And all the while, his beloved had become a woman who could never bear children again.
‘What does he think he’s doing now?’
Francesca was well aware that Edward posed no threat to her whatsoever.
Yet Edward’s gaze remained steadfast and still.
When Francesca felt a sudden, inexplicable unease creeping over her, he finally answered.
“Yes.”

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