I’m The Male Lead’s Biological Daughter, But I Want To Live With The Second Male Lead! - Chapter 42

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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 42
Caesar had rescued Sophia from the brink of being sold off by her brothers.
He had declared her his fiancée before they could make their move.
No matter how much Caesar was despised as an illegitimate child, he was still a member of the House of Aschloinia.
Sophia’s brothers had no choice but to back away for now.
But that protection had an expiration date.
Until Aschloinia’s legitimate heir inherited the title.
As an illegitimate child, Caesar had to find some way forward before he became a commoner.
And it was Sophia who became his guide.
– Caesar, you could just become Family Head.
To Caesar, desperate to find any way to protect the woman he loved, her words rang out like a profound truth.
– Then this manor you’ve always wanted becomes yours, and I’ll be safe too, won’t I?
To Caesar, those words sounded almost like a revelation.
But the sweet intoxication of becoming Family Head didn’t last long before reality came crashing down.
– But how? I’m not even the legitimate heir, and I have no confidence I could ever beat them…
Not in studies, not in martial prowess, not even in eloquence or the ability to produce an heir!
Caesar, who had received no proper education in anything, was hopelessly inadequate compared to the legitimate heirs.
Was it because the dream he’d harbored and the hope for that ideal future were so terribly sweet?
The despair that crashed down on Caesar when he faced reality was twice as crushing as it would be for anyone else.
But this time too, Sophia saved him.
– What are you talking about? Caesar, you’re Caesar. I… like you.
Sophia, smiling shyly as she spoke, was more beautiful than anyone in the world.
And more remarkable.
With just a few words, Sophia transformed Caesar from “an illegitimate child hopelessly inferior to the legitimate heirs” into “the person I like.”
That was when inexplicable confidence and motivation began to surge within him.
Everything began to fall into place.
He started deliberately indulging the legitimate heirs to unearth their misconduct, and before long had them by the throat.
It was the same with the Duchess’s scandal.
The Duchess, who had been relentlessly hounding Caesar as though her face were forged from steel, crumbled easily at just a few pieces of information.
The Family Head’s poisoning, which still remained undiscovered by anyone, was no different.
And throughout all of it, Sophia was always there beside him.
– Sophia, you’re my goddess of fortune.
Caesar truly believed this and deepened his affection for Sophia all the more.
At that time, his feelings for her had become somewhat blind—verging on the fanatical.
It was around then that Zigmund, the next Grand Duke, began to seriously come between them.
– Caesar, is there anything you actually do of your own accord these days?
To Zigmund, Caesar seemed precarious and dangerous.
As though he had no will of his own.
– It’s fine to respect your fiancée Sophia’s opinions, but now that you’ve become Family Head, shouldn’t you assert your own will more…?
But Caesar, whose thirst for power hadn’t been quenched even after seizing the position of Duke, didn’t take Zigmund’s concern at face value.
– What do you know, you who’ve walked a smooth path your whole life!
The relationship between Zigmund and Caesar began to seriously deteriorate.
Or rather, Caesar had unilaterally severed ties with Zigmund.
Because otherwise, he would soon face a truth he desperately wanted never to acknowledge.
– You see, the truth is I actually… you, Zigmund…
The truth that Sophia didn’t love him.
The truth that she would have confessed her feelings to Zigmund, but had procured him as a substitute because of her brothers.
The truth that he was that substitute, and that everything she’d done—putting Caesar on the throne—had been for her own sake all along.
The truth that even the victories he’d grasped so far were nothing but paper trophies manufactured by Sophia!
Caesar lacked the courage to face that truth—that without Sophia, he was nothing.
‘Yes, for Caesar, Sophia was ultimately all that remained.’
Mabel, watching the fight between Zigmund and Caesar with quiet eyes, recalled the novel’s plot.
‘Beneath that fanatical love lay something threadbare and hollow. It said his feelings were a kind of revenge—that since Sophia had remolded him to suit her tastes, he would never let her go.’
And then Sophia had suddenly arrived carrying Zigmund’s child.
It was only natural that Caesar’s despair deepened without end.
“Shut your mouth… shut that mouth!”
Caesar, completely shaken, lunged at Zigmund again.
Even with composure and calm, victory might have been uncertain, but to lose his grip like this…
“Besides, I have nothing left to say.”
Crack!
Zigmund parried Caesar’s blade with a sword still stripped of its aura.
“Ugh!”
The force was strong enough to numb Caesar’s hands entirely, and though he gritted his teeth and held firm, his grip ultimately failed.
Caesar’s sword flew far across the Underground Prison floor and clattered away.
“Gasp… haah…”
With legs buckled beneath him, Caesar wheezed roughly and clenched his tingling hands into fists.
To Caesar, whose eyes blazed with fury and inferiority, Zigmund spoke in an even tone.
“If circumstances were different, you wouldn’t listen to what I have to say.”
Zigmund did not finish Caesar off, but stepped past him and kicked his sword even further away.
“Why? Why won’t you cut me down? Is this cheap pity? Or the hypocrisy of not wanting to spill blood in front of children?”
Caesar turned back to Zigmund with a bitter smile twisting his lips.
But Zigmund’s face remained unmoved.
“You ask because you don’t understand. I’m bringing you to trial.”
Then Zigmund clicked his tongue, muttering that Caesar certainly thought highly of himself.
“Your death won’t solve anything. You’re not worth that much.”
“You bastard…!”
Caesar burned with rage, but his body no longer had strength left to fight.
All he could manage was to glare at Zigmund with murderous intent while his breathing came ragged and labored.
Kelric, who had been watching the moment, grabbed Mabel’s hand and rushed toward Zigmund.
“Master!”
“Are you both alright?”
Zigmund sheathed his sword and quickly checked over Kelric and Mabel.
“Hehe, thanks to the Nullification Artifact you made for us, we’re fine! But…”
Kelric wiped his nose with a wry grin, then his face darkened with concern as he looked toward Mabel.
No matter how generously one looked at it, Mabel’s condition was far from fine.
“Alright, let’s head home.”
Without needing to say more, Zigmund nodded in understanding and hoisted both children up into his arms.
“Whoa!”
“Oh!”
The startled children each let out small cries and clung tightly to Zigmund.
Mabel was smaller than children her age, so that was one thing—but Kelric had a frame that would normally be too bulky to carry in one arm.
Yet Zigmund held both of them effortlessly.
Watching Zigmund’s breathing remain perfectly steady, Mabel asked carefully.
“Um, but… home, you said…?”
“Yes, home.”
Zigmund answered in a firm voice.
“To the Grand Ducal Palace.”
“…!”
Mabel’s eyes widened in shock.
A real home.
Not somewhere like the House of Aschloinia, but a real home where Mabel’s family was.
But her joy was short-lived, and Mabel urgently gripped Zigmund’s shoulder.
“W-wait, I can’t go there. Because—”
Unlike Kelric, Mabel understood the complicated affairs between families very well.
Even knowing Zigmund wouldn’t be ignorant of this, she was about to protest again at his suggestion to go to the Grand Ducal Palace.
“Mabel, I know what you’re worried about. But don’t be.”
Unable to pat Mabel’s head while holding both children, Zigmund instead pressed his forehead gently against hers.
Two pairs of identical crimson eyes gazed at each other from inches apart.
“Remember what I said? That I’d bring Caesar to trial.”
“Yes.”
“I’m going to take you home ‘this time, the proper way.'”
In that moment, Mabel’s heart swelled with an indescribable sense of relief and joy.
“And though Kelric is reckless, he’s not quite dim enough for all that.”
“Hey! Master, what did you just say!”
Kelric, delighted to be held by Zigmund after so long, began to squirm.
“Now, now—you’re going to slip.”
Though he had no intention of dropping him, Zigmund feigned concern.
Kelric knew as much and continued to thrash about anyway.
Only Mabel, facing him from the other side, felt a flutter of real fear and held Zigmund all the tighter.
“But…”
Mabel glanced back over her shoulder.
Caesar remained collapsed on the floor, his knees buckled beneath him.
‘Would Caesar really let me go?’
He’d certainly drag things out with talk of parental rights and all the rest—it was predictable.
Kelric, who had been huffing and making a fuss to reassure Mabel, spoke up with the confidence of someone who had nothing to worry about.
“It’s not just Aselt who has a Special Ability, Mabel! I have one too!”
“Really?”
A Special Ability? Did he mean the kind Aselt possessed—the power to turn people to stone?
As Mabel turned from Caesar’s silhouette to look at Kelric, he let out a smug laugh and tapped the corner of his eye twice with his fingertip.
“My eyes can broadcast everything I see. I don’t need a separate image stone!”

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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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