I’m The Male Lead’s Biological Daughter, But I Want To Live With The Second Male Lead! - Chapter 15

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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 15
Aselth Elapid.
He was the antagonist who appeared in the side story.
According to Mayble’s memory, the side story took place not long after the secondary male lead made his exit, leaving an unsatisfying aftertaste behind.
Readers who had anticipated the protagonists’ cozy, happy daily life must have been deeply disappointed.
Moreover, Aselth was only thirteen years old—far too young for a villain in a melodramatic romance novel about regret.
‘There wasn’t even a clear motive given.’
What was this antagonist doing in the secondary male lead’s house?
Mayble, caught in confusion, couldn’t bring herself to shake his hand and merely held her breath.
Observing her reaction, Aselth withdrew his extended hand and reached a certainty.
“You know who I am.”
“…… Pardon?”
“You’re frightened because you know exactly who I am.”
Oh no.
Mayble immediately scrambled to claim she’d heard it from the servants.
“But I gave orders that none of the other servants or maids would speak of me.”
Gasp.
Then I’m sorry, but did Siegmund—
“I also specifically asked Master Siegmund not to mention anything about me.”
This won’t do.
True to form for a future antagonist, Aselth systematically eliminated every excuse Mayble could offer.
“How?”
Aselth made no effort to conceal his sharp hostility.
The kindness he’d displayed moments before vanished without a trace.
The air grew thick and terrifying—one wrong word and disaster would follow.
“Ah, well… um….”
Mayble trembled and swallowed hard.
Even at his age, an antagonist was still an antagonist, and the pressure Aselth emanated was formidable.
Though his eyes were hidden behind cloth, she could feel the weight of a piercing stare.
‘But what’s with that eye bandage?’
Had the side story contained a description of Aselth wearing an eye bandage?
No—when the protagonists first met him, Aselth was described as having white eyes.
Which meant he hadn’t been wearing a bandage back then.
So why was he wearing one now?
That wasn’t the only thing troubling Mayble.
‘There’s a wound.’
The edges of the bandage were raw and inflamed red—evidence of prolonged wear.
“Aren’t you going to answer?”
As Aselth bared his teeth in a snarl, blood seeped from the cheek abraded by the bandage.
Without thinking, Mayble reached toward his cheek.
Somewhere along the way, her trembling had stopped.
“Doesn’t that hurt?”
“…… What?”
“It’s like this—all chafed and raw….”
Before Mayble’s hand could touch his cheek, Aselth stumbled backward.
The cold glare he’d fixed on Mayble wavered.
Had she just tried to touch him?
It was unbelievable, yet Mayble still held her arm extended.
“You, what are you trying to—”
“Please forgive Miss Mayble~!”
Then Ella came rushing over and threw her arms around Mayble, crying out.
‘Ella?’
The startled Mayble looked up at her.
Ella’s eyes were squeezed shut, and her body trembled as much as Mayble’s.
“Miss Mayble didn’t know any better, so please forgive her just this once~”
“Y-yes, that’s right! Please forgive her just this once.”
“If you must punish someone, let us take the punishment instead. So please, spare Miss Mayble.”
Behind Ella, other servants emerged and knelt down, pleading.
They all had their eyes squeezed tightly shut.
“She didn’t know…..?”
“Yes, yes! The young lady doesn’t know yet what kind of person the young master is! That’s why such a rudeness occurred!”
Ella spoke desperately on Mayble’s behalf.
At her words, Aselth’s expression twisted in an instant.
“I didn’t tell her who I am?”
“Of course! I followed the young master’s orders and said nothing to the young lady!”
“The same goes for us.”
The servants kneeling alongside them spoke in unison.
“Then what exactly—”
Aselth, muttering with a bewildered expression, caught sight of Mayble nestled in Ella’s arms.
As if suddenly at a loss, Mayble simply blinked her round eyes.
“That girl did nothing wrong. So there’s nothing for me to forgive.”
Aselth spoke those words and promptly disappeared into the depths of the Greenhouse.
The sound of small footsteps faded quickly away.
Only after Aselth’s shadow had vanished completely did the servants release relieved sighs.
“Whew… I really thought something terrible was about to happen.”
“Who wouldn’t—I genuinely thought something had happened to the young lady.”
“Young lady, you were frightened, weren’t you? But it’s all right now!”
Ella, still holding Mayble, spoke while settling onto the floor, her legs giving way beneath her.
Beads of cold sweat glistened on Ella’s forehead.
‘They were all terrified. And yet they did it for me…’
Whatever had happened, it was clear that these people had shown tremendous courage on Mayble’s behalf.
Mayble lowered her head, fidgeting with her fingers.
“I… I think I must have done something wrong. I’m sorry…”
“No, no! There’s nothing for the young lady to apologize for!”
“That’s right. It’s our fault for not warning you in advance, knowing the young master is ‘that kind’ of person.”
“None of us expected him to venture here.”
The servants waved their hands, comforting the dejected Mayble.
“I’ll be more careful from now on…”
“Oh, don’t worry! From now on, I’ll stay right by the young lady’s side, always!”
“That’s right. We won’t leave the young lady alone again like this!”
This incident was something the servants hadn’t anticipated.
Who would have expected Aselth to approach Mayble?
And of all times, when the servants had stepped away from her side.
So if fault lay anywhere, it was with them—not with a small child who should never feel shame for it.
With Mayble in their midst, unable to raise her head, the servants exchanged knowing glances.
After confirming they all shared the same understanding, Ella cradled Mayble’s soft, warm cheeks in her hands.
“Young lady, you were curious about something earlier, weren’t you? Why the others hadn’t come?”
“Yes? Oh, yes…”
She had been worried because even Ella, who went to find out, hadn’t returned.
And then Aselth appeared…
“Well, why don’t we go find out the reason together, right now?”
Mayble took Ella’s hand and headed out of the Greenhouse.
* * *
Back in his chamber, Aselth was lost in thought.
‘That girl… what on earth is she?’
Of course, it concerned Mayble, whom he’d just met.
When Aselth heard that Siegmund had brought Mayble to the Grand Duke’s Estate, he issued a Gag Order to the servants, forbidding them to speak of him.
When Siegmund asked why, he’d answered thus:
– I want us to become close, but I was worried about preconceptions forming.
Of course, it was a bald-faced lie.
Aselth simply disliked the idea of more people learning about him.
Especially if that person was the daughter of Sophia Ashilonia—someone he wouldn’t mind seeing devoured.
Standing at the door to his chamber, Aselth unwound the Eye Bandage and moved toward the full-length mirror.
His refined features, hidden until now, reflected in the glass.
Blood that had seeped out earlier had dried and crusted over his skin.
– Does it not hurt?
Does it not hurt?
Of course it hurt.
The wounds near his eyebrows and on his cheeks, worn raw by the Eye Bandage after so long, showed no sign of healing.
Yet no matter how much it hurt, he could not remove the bandage and move about freely.
At least when he was in front of others.
In the mirror, white irises wrapped around pupils as long and narrow as a serpent’s stared back at him.
People feared his eyes.
No—they found them revolting.
‘Eyes that turn people to stone……’
In truth, Aselth was not an ordinary human.
In ages past, when magic still lived, many races had flourished together.
Among them, the Demi-humans occupied a station equal to mankind, wielding magic and possessing extraordinary powers.
And Aselth was a Basilisk Demi-human, classified as a Legendary Species.
One cursed with the ability to turn anyone who met his gaze to stone.
Of course, Aselth wielded his power with masterful control, and he could govern it well.
Yet the moment he removed his Eye Bandage, people would not come within sight of him.
‘My master told me to keep the bandage off until the wound heals.’
He hated that.
When he went without it, everyone trembled.
Pain was preferable.
Better than watching people recoil from him in terror.
Better than being treated as a monster they must guard against, never knowing when he might petrify them.
Bound by such thoughts, Aselth never removed his bandage—though this reasoning harbored a misunderstanding.
Certainly, some feared his power.
But not everyone did.
Most of the servants, Ella foremost among them, were concerned rather than afraid.
There was a reason: once before, when someone had forcibly tried to remove his bandage, Aselth had lost control.
Unable to contain his ability, he had turned many to stone, and the shock had been so great he collapsed into unconsciousness.
Whether from the aftermath of that rampage or not, Aselth seemed to remember nothing of it.
So the servants waited, hoping one day he would remove the bandage of his own volition.
Waiting for the day the misunderstanding would finally dissolve.
Unaware of all this, Aselth’s mind remained fixed on Mayble.
At first, he’d thought she’d been frightened upon learning his true nature.
He’d assumed she was one of the servants who defied his will.
– This is all crushed here…….
But Mayble had tried to touch his Eye Bandage.
That was something she could never have done had she truly feared him upon learning his identity.
When other servants appeared later, they too claimed to have kept the Gag Order.
‘Then why on earth was she so frightened?’
Those wide eyes that had snapped open so suddenly at the sight of him, the rigid tautness of her expression, her body going stiff.
Later, barely able to breathe, trembling violently…….
The shock that had settled over Mayble’s face was far too profound to be mere surprise.
Why?
Aselth, staring intently into the mirror, finally murmured softly.
“Am I……really so hideous……?”

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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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