I’m The Male Lead’s Biological Daughter, But I Want To Live With The Second Male Lead! - Chapter 39

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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 39
Around that time, Mabel stepped forward in front of Kellik upon seeing someone appear in the Underground Prison.
“M-Mabel?”
Kellik reached out to grab her in alarm, but Mabel moved closer toward the stranger instead.
“Lander!”
The figure who had appeared before them was Lander, Caesar’s aide.
And seeing him, Mabel’s face lit up with genuine delight.
“Oh? Ah, you know him?”
“Yes, it’s Lander! He’s—”
Mabel was turning to explain to Kellik who Lander was when—
Slash!
“Watch out!”
“Eep!”
Kellik quickly wrapped his arms around Mabel and rolled them both to the side.
In the dim light of the Underground Prison, the Dagger in Lander’s hand gleamed with sinister intent.
“Mabel, are you hurt?”
Kellik checked on her urgently, still holding her close.
Fortunately, thanks to Kellik’s quick reflexes, she hadn’t been injured, but Mabel couldn’t gather her thoughts.
“Why… why would he…?”
Kellik sprang to his feet, positioning himself between Mabel and Lander, who now faced him with drawn blade.
Still seated on the floor, Mabel stared at both of them—at Kellik before her and at Lander, who held his sword pointed at them both.
“Why… why would you…?”
Disbelief colored her voice as it trembled uncontrollably—as if she couldn’t accept that Lander had attacked her.
“But you’re a good person!”
“A good person? When have I ever done anything to warrant such praise from you, miss?”
Yet Lander responded as if hearing it for the first time.
“I don’t recall ever helping you once.”
With a cold edge to his voice, he added, “That’s quite an assumption.”
“That’s… not true…”
When Mabel had been a Ghost Princess, ignored by everyone, Lander too had pretended not to see her.
But Mabel knew the truth.
She knew that the edible scraps found atop the Garbage Dump, the Tin Bowl that appeared beneath the rainwater drain, and the Thick Cloth—shabby though it was—left near the Cellar Room each winter, all came from the same source.
They came from Lander.
She had discovered this when she saw him scolded harshly in the Kitchen, where she had been lingering, hungry.
Lander, who was merely a servant then, shouldn’t have entered the Kitchen, but it seemed he had sneaked in without the head cook’s knowledge and been caught.
In Lander’s hands was a container filled with Food Scraps.
—I was just about to dispose of it…
—Who asked you to do that? Wretched rat, never set foot in my kitchen again!
Though the head cook’s stern rebuke drove Lander out at once, he had managed to protect the container of Food Scraps he’d been carrying.
He made straight for the Garbage Dump, discarded the scraps, then glanced nervously around.
—What are you doing…?
As she watched quietly, after watching the area carefully for some time, Lander withdrew something from his pocket.
A Broken Biscuit.
Mabel’s eyes widened at the sight.
She recognized it immediately—it was the food she had found first and gratefully eaten over these past few days while searching through the Garbage Dump.
After that, Lander’s kindness continued, sporadic though it was.
—He really is a good person…
Mabel had wanted to thank him properly, but she couldn’t.
For apart from helping her in secret, Lander had thoroughly pretended not to know her.
The hope that he might one day acknowledge her had crumbled, but that was all right.
She had decided to hold Lander’s warmth deep in her heart forever.
And yet now, that same Lander looked at her with murderous intent.
“I don’t know what you’re thinking, but in any case, this is the end.”
This was their first real conversation—and it was about killing her.
Mabel found her wounded heart nearly impossible to compose.
In that moment, Lander lunged forward again.
“Hgh, ngh!”
Against such a fierce, committed assault, Kellik could only dodge.
The Hairpin Mabel had brought was no match for a sharp blade.
‘If only I had a proper sword…!’
Kellik’s eyes darted rapidly across his surroundings, but nothing useful presented itself.
“Damn rat,” he spat.
Lander’s frustration mounted with each acrobatic twist and dodge—the man moved like a creature possessed, slipping free of every strike.
He was indeed swift as any beast, and clearly had received proper training from the Esclade Grand Duchy.
The proof lay in how he evaded Lander’s blade while simultaneously adjusting his own trajectory to keep Mabel out of harm’s way.
As the fight dragged on longer than expected, Lander’s anxiety sharpened.
‘I have to finish this before Caesar notices I’ve gone.’
He shot a withering glare at Mabel, cowering behind Kellik.
‘So she really did know I was helping her.’
According to Mabel’s own memories, Lander had once aided her.
Though “help” was a generous term for what had been mere pity.
His own bleak childhood had surfaced then, and he couldn’t bring himself to ignore her suffering completely.
But if it became known that he’d been protecting her, he’d vanish without a trace—just like all the others who’d secretly helped her before.
So Lander had resolved to assist her only within the scope of what he could safely manage.
‘Back then, I thought it was the right thing to do.’
But now everything had changed.
A mere servant once, Lander had refused to accept his station.
His ambition had driven him to curry Caesar’s favor relentlessly, until at last he’d risen to the position of Aide.
And if Caesar ever discovered that Lander had once sheltered Mabel…?
‘My advancement would be finished.’
He might well meet the same fate as those who had disappeared without trace.
After all he’d endured to claw his way up, after all the hard-won ground he’d finally secured!
He couldn’t throw away his life for the sake of petty compassion for a stranger.
That was why the moment he’d realized Mabel was gone from her room, he’d rushed to the Underground Prison.
By now, Kellik had grasped the truth: Lander’s real target wasn’t him at all—it was Mabel.
“But how did you even know she was here?” Kellik demanded, baring his teeth in wariness.
Now that he thought about it, something was wrong.
‘I’m supposed to be asleep from the Sleeping Medicine.’
Kellik pressed the question hard.
Lander scoffed and redirected his blade toward Mabel, speaking plainly.
“Do you know, miss, that your assigned chamber overlooks the master’s Study directly? He can watch it anytime he wishes. Your absence would be child’s play to detect.”
“But then why come here? How could you possibly know I’d go this way…?”
“Ah, that’s simple. The Secret Passage here is the only one I never reported to the master.”
At his answer, Mabel swallowed a small, sharp breath.
In truth, Lander had known about the Secret Passage running through the Mansion’s walls for some time.
He’d heard her piercing scream the very first time she’d discovered it—heard her shriek as she fell.
Later, to prepare for whenever she might need it again, he’d arranged for a Straw Pile to be placed beneath it.
‘I didn’t report it because I thought she should have at least one or two ways to escape, if needed.’
As a result, he could now pinpoint her location the moment she went missing.
Mabel’s confusion only deepened at his explanation.
“You really are helping me, aren’t you? But then why…?”
She rose unsteadily from where she’d been sitting, pointing at his blade.
Lander clicked his tongue and twisted the wrist that gripped his sword.
“There’s no need to understand. Simply think of it this way: I’m collecting payment for the kindness I’ve shown you.”
“Payment…?”
“Yes. You’ve been alive all this time because of me. Now it’s time for you to die for me.”
Lander fully intended to kill Mabel here and now.
Of course, he’d already prepared an excuse for Caesar.
Caesar hadn’t heeded the physician’s diagnosis of Mabel.
Lander would exploit that cleverly, claiming that he’d mistakenly given her too much Sleeping Medicine, which had caused her death.
But that wasn’t all.
What if he instead accused the Esclade Grand Duchy of being responsible for her death?
Having already kidnapped the heir to a ducal house, they would now stand accused of murder—a crime that would bring heavy punishment upon them.
Caesar might even favor him for it.
‘I can blame the fox for these wounds.’
The fox would die here today anyway—he’d have no chance to defend himself.
“That’s completely insane!” Kellik roared.
It was then that Lander reset his stance and kicked a stone from the ground with all his force.
“Whoosh!”

The moment Kellik twisted his body to dodge a stone flying toward his head, Lander rushed at Mabel with the speed of an arrow.
“Mabel!”
Oh no!
Kellik, who had opened a gap in his defense, spun back around in alarm, but it was already too late.
“Ungh…!”
Mabel covered her head and squeezed her eyes shut.
Clang!
And Lander’s blade bounced away.

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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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