I’m The Male Lead’s Biological Daughter, But I Want To Live With The Second Male Lead! - Chapter 32

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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 32
At that same moment, Mabel sat alone in a rattling carriage.
She’d woken suddenly at dawn, and though sleep should have claimed her, her mind remained sharp and alert.
As morning broke, the carriage interior gradually brightened from its previous gloom.
Mabel’s vacant gaze fixed upon the large trunk.
“My luggage…… has grown…….”
When she’d first met Siegmund and come to the Grand Duke’s Castle, all her possessions amounted to a single small crossbag.
Even that had been salvaged from a garbage heap, and inside was nothing but a single piece of bread, rock-hard and moldy.
But things were different now.
Ready-made clothes the servants had hastily purchased and mended, spare garments Siegmund had fitted for her.
Simple ornaments the knights had brought back, thinking of Mabel during their patrols.
Toys crafted by the artisans of the workshops, shoes made to fit her feet perfectly…….
Not a single item lacked genuine affection.
She’d spent barely a month at the Grand Duke’s Castle.
In that time, Mabel had acquired far more possessions than she’d owned in her entire life.
Every last one of them was an invaluable treasure.
Mabel slid down onto the carriage floor and hugged the trunk close to her chest.
From the trunk drifted what seemed like the scent of flowers Kellic had picked this afternoon.
‘Now that I think about it, I didn’t even say goodbye…….’
Aselt had offered to wake her to see Mabel off, but Mabel had refused.
He must be exhausted from making up those lessons he’d missed during their last outing.
Aselt had said Kellic would be disappointed, but Mabel had shaken her head regardless.
‘It’s just returning to everyday life.’
When she’d first seen the carriage from House of Ashilonya, she’d truly believed that.
Mabel would live her days in Ashilonya, and Aselt and Kellic would live theirs as usual in the Grand Duke’s Castle.
But the moment Aselt gripped her hand and told her to endure just a little longer, everything crumbled.
When she heard the words that family is where home truly lies, Mabel wanted nothing more than to flee from the carriage driver.
She wanted to cry out that her home was here, in the Grand Duke’s Castle, that she would live here.
But she held it in.
If she didn’t return to Ashilonya now, it would put Siegmund in an impossible position.
The people of the beloved ducal house would suffer great harm.
If the stigma of an Heir Abduction fell upon them, it would be truly catastrophic.
‘And yet…….’
Mabel tightened her grip on the trunk in her arms.
‘Even so…… I want to go back…….’
Afraid her voice would escape her lips, she bit her lower lip until it turned white.
She knew it would be difficult, knew it would burden everyone, and yet.
‘Home…… I want to go home…….’
Tears threatened to spill over, so Mabel squeezed her eyes shut.
In the full morning sunlight that had risen without her noticing, her damp eyelashes glimmered.
Droplets of tears fell one by one onto the trunk held in her embrace.
* * *
Ashilonya Duke’s Residence.
Well past midday, Caesar stood outside the residence without having finished his meal, checking his wristwatch.
“It’s late.”
By his calculations, the carriage should have arrived long ago.
He drew back his dark hair with one hand, his displeasure evident.
To his murmuring, his adjutant Rander spoke reassuringly.
“A delay of an hour or two is not uncommon, my lord. Might you not wait while taking your meal?”
Caesar furrowed his brow.
At this moment, food was the last thing that mattered to him.
Soon after, Caesar’s eyes widened as he spotted a carriage approaching from afar.
Presently it entered the residence grounds and came to a halt.
Caesar opened the carriage door himself, leaving the driver and adjutant behind.
A startled gasp escaped Mabel as she caught sight of Caesar inside the carriage.
Her shoulders jerked in surprise, and her eyes, still rigid with tension, filled with bewilderment.
Caesar understood the child’s reaction.
“I’ve been waiting for you. Come now.”
He softened his rigid expression and extended his hand.

And he waited with stubborn persistence until Mabel, reading his intent, reached out and took his hand.
‘What is this……?’
Mabel struggled to keep pace with the sudden turn of events.
Caesar had been waiting for her?
Offering his hand to help her down?
She wondered if the doze she’d caught on the journey had left her still half-asleep.
But no matter how many times she blinked, Caesar remained exactly where he stood.
Mabel carefully extended her arm, grasped Caesar’s hand, and descended from the carriage.
None of it felt real.
Rather than thinking of the Caesar before her as her father, her mind first conjured the image of a living, breathing male protagonist stepping out of a novel.
“I was afraid you’d be delayed.”
“……?”
For a moment, she thought she’d misheard.
This wasn’t what Mabel had expected to hear.
She’d braced herself for reproach about leaving the Residence without permission.
To Caesar, Mabel was evidence of his wife’s infidelity—a permanent stain on his life.
She’d thought he would threaten her with confinement, that she’d never again be allowed to step beyond her chamber door……
But there was no anger in the face of Caesar as she looked up at him.
‘What……is this?’
Caesar knelt on one knee before the bewildered Mabel.
His hand still held hers.
“I’ve dismissed all the servants.”
“Yes……?”
“For daring to disrespect you.”
“Yes……what?”
The more Caesar spoke, the deeper into confusion Mabel sank.
Before she could even flinch away, Caesar’s cool palm cradled the child’s cheek.
“It’s all my fault. I was away from the Residence, and I found out far too late that you had disappeared.”
Caesar had left the Residence?
Had he?
She’d seen him so rarely she couldn’t be sure.
“I’m sorry.”
He stroked her cheek gently with his thumb as he spoke.
“My daughter, Mabel.”
Daughter.
That word struck her heart like a bell.
Memories of when she had been Treated as Non-existent flickered rapidly through her mind.
“Never again will such a thing happen.”
Caesar held Mabel’s confused gaze steady and true.
“Never again will you suffer or grieve.”
His eyes burned with conviction and resolve.
As though he were swearing that from now on, he would cherish and love Mabel as a treasured daughter.
“So……can you not forgive this useless father?”
“I…….”
Mabel’s vision blurred as she gazed at Caesar, her eyes filling with a haze.
Feeling something fall down her cheek, she touched her face.
Tears.
Even as her reeling mind failed to catch up with what was happening, her tear ducts functioned perfectly.
“Don’t cry, my daughter.”
Caesar soothed her with a gentle voice.
She couldn’t believe it.
Throughout the carriage ride, she’d braced herself—what harsh words would Caesar hurl at her? What violence would she endure?
Yet here was this tenderness, this gentleness of expression and tone……
She wanted to ask if he was truly Caesar of House Ashilonya.
But Mabel could say nothing.
“Mabel? Mabel! Fetch the Doctor, fetch the Doctor at once!”
She had lost consciousness and collapsed.
* * *
Mabel had left the Grand Duke’s Castle in the early dawn, and during the carriage ride she had wept and drifted in and out of fitful sleep.
During the hours she remained awake, anxiety and tension mounted; exhaustion accumulated quickly and steadily.
It was Caesar’s completely unexpected reaction that dealt the decisive blow.
“It appears to be a mild case of body aches. With proper rest, she should recover quickly.”
This was the Doctor’s diagnosis after examining Mabel, whose fever had risen considerably.
“But truly, do I not need to report this separately to the Duke?”
The Doctor tilted his head, turning to the explanation he had just given to Rander.
“No, I shall take responsibility for conveying the information. It is sufficient that you tell me alone.”
Rander smiled faintly.
“I see… is that so…?”
The Doctor found it odd that Caesar had not come to see the girl in her room, but he chose to harbor no further questions.
Recently, he had heard rumors that numerous servants at the Duke’s Residence had been suddenly dismissed.
The exact reason remained unexplained, but whispers circulated that Mabel was somehow responsible.
If he hoped to preserve his own position, it was best to hold his tongue from this point forward.
After receiving various instructions from the Doctor, Rander made his way to Caesar’s office.
Caesar sat before his desk, absorbed in reviewing documents.
“Tsk. I’ve wasted far more time on this than I anticipated.”
Caesar clicked his tongue irritably, his brow furrowed.
“Collapsing uselessly, and no matter how I try to see the good in it, it simply displeases me.”
In Caesar’s words, there was not a trace of a father’s tender concern for his daughter.
“Truly remarkable, sir.”
Rander applauded at the sudden transformation before him.
He spoke with admiration, as if in wonder.
“I nearly fell for it myself—so seamlessly done.”

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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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