I’m The Male Lead’s Biological Daughter, But I Want To Live With The Second Male Lead! - Chapter 44

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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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Chapter 44
Meanwhile, Ella and Lundwell stood before Togae Bridge, their hearts trembling with anxiety.
Ever since the messenger they’d sent to Siegmund returned, the two had headed straight for the bridge.
Over the past several days, the moment they heard word that Togae Bridge would open, they’d rush out to wait for Siegmund—it had become their daily ritual.
Their regular duties at the Grand Duchy had fallen into shambles as a result, but neither of them minded.
There was no point in staying at the Grand Duchy anyway; they couldn’t focus on work regardless.
The same was true for everyone else.
Though they couldn’t venture as far as Togae Bridge as Lundwell and Ella had, every person in the Grand Duchy spent their days pressed against the windows.
Since the children vanished, time itself seemed to have stopped within those walls.
“I hear Aselt met with His Grace today—perhaps the young master will return this very day.”
Lundwell murmured this half to himself.
Aselt, who had arrived shortly before, had taken a hired carriage on his own.
It seemed he’d received some money when he met with Siegmund.
Still, though one of the children had returned, there were far too many who had not.
“Nothing should have happened to any of them…….”
Ella rubbed her cold fingertips together.
Siegmund, who hadn’t returned to the Grand Duchy but had pressed on wearily to Asilonia instead.
Kellik, who had vanished bare-handed the day he learned Maybell was gone.
And Maybell herself, who had set out on her arduous journey that very dawn…….
‘If they can return—if only they all come back safe and sound…….’
It was as Ella screwed her eyes shut in prayer, her gaze narrowing to a thread, that the sound reached her.
Clop-clop, clop-clop.
Though she was no Beast-kin, her hearing was sharper than most—and the hoofbeats registered clearly.
Ella’s head snapped up just as a guard on the castle wall cried out, his gaze fixed across the span.
“The carriage of His Grace is in sight!”
“The flag—there’s the flag! His Grace returns!”
Color flooded back into Lundwell’s and Ella’s faces.
Who would be inside the carriage?
Their hearts tightened with tension once more.
The carriage slowed its pace to cross Togae Bridge.
The coachman recognized the steward and the maid, started, and hastily removed his hat in salute.
Lundwell rushed headlong to the coachman’s side.
“Steward, what brings you here—”
“Inside! Who is inside?”
Lundwell cut off the coachman’s words, his question urgent.
Ella, too tense to move, remained frozen in place.
The coachman looked bewildered for a moment before understanding what the two were worried about, what they were hoping for.
His soot-darkened face broke into a grin, and instead of speaking, he gestured toward the carriage window.
“Why won’t you speak—”
Lundwell was about to press further, practically hopping with impatience, when—
“Oh! Steward!”
The window opened, and a familiar voice rang out as a longed-for face popped into view.
The lustrous violet hair that Ella had so carefully brushed and styled each time hung limp and dull.
Scratches marred her face in several places, and her neck was wrapped in a bandage.
Her once plump, radiant cheeks had hollowed again, and yet—
“Why are you out here, steward?”
The child with eyes identical to her master’s, wide and round, was unmistakably Maybell.
“Oh, young miss……!”
Lundwell rushed forward, overcome with emotion, to greet Maybell—when—
“Leaning out the window is dangerous.”
“Ah.”
At that low voice, the child was pulled swiftly back inside the carriage.
The figure who then appeared in the window was not Maybell, but Siegmund.
“Lundwell, what are you doing out here?”
…….
For all his worry about the master during these days, right now Lundwell found himself resenting that face intensely.
‘No, that’s not right. His Grace has suffered too.’
He’d nearly let his disloyalty show plainly.
Lundwell managed to compose his expression and stepped back, bowing respectfully.
“Welcome home, Your Grace.”
“Hmm? You came all the way to Togae Bridge just to say hello?”
Just as suspicion flickered across Siegmund’s face, Kellik’s head popped up.
“What about Aselt? Has he come back?”
Kellik’s face wasn’t in much better condition.
He bore scrapes here and there, as if someone had dragged him across the ground.
Lundwell had only prayed that the children would return safely.
But now that they had, his mind flooded with images of what they must have endured, and heat began to rise behind his eyes.
Still, Lundwell was a seasoned butler.
Like a true professional, he buried the anger that churned inside him like molten lava and answered with impeccable courtesy.
“He returned this morning. By now, he’s likely washed and resting.”
“Phew, thank goodness. I was worried when I didn’t see him on the way here—I was ready to drag him back if I did.”
“Aselt would be fine, so the moment you told him to sleep, he dropped like a stone?”
It was Siegmund who caught Kellik’s words.
“That’s not the point!”
Kellik bounced in his seat, making the carriage sway slightly.
“Calm down.”
Siegmund pressed his hand firmly on Kellik’s head and spoke to Lundwell.
“Maybell is hurt. Have Ella prepare to treat her wounds right away—”
That was when it happened.
“Miss~!”
A thin voice rang out from the direction of Togae Bridge.
Before Siegmund could even turn his head, Maybell, gripping Kellik’s arm, leaned her face out of the carriage window.
“Ella!”
Maybell answered the cheerful call.
“Miss, Miss~!”
Ella came running toward the carriage at full speed.
She was moving so fast that only after she arrived did the air whistle in her wake.
Maybell was stunned at how quickly Ella had appeared before her.
But the moment Ella seized her hand, tears streaming down her face, Maybell forgot all about being astonished by her remarkable sprinting ability.
“I’m so glad—so glad you’ve come back! Thank you for coming home!”
Thank you for coming home.
Maybell reached up with her small hands to wipe away the tears streaming down Ella’s face, even as she didn’t seem to notice she was crying herself.
“Thank you for welcoming me like this!”
Maybell laughed bashfully, and Ella, resting her cheek against those small hands, shook her head.
“Don’t thank me—it’s only natural! You’re the young lady of the Grand Duchy, after all~”
In that moment, something stirred deep in Maybell’s chest.
The young lady of the Grand Duchy.
Ella had spoken it as though it were the most obvious truth in the world.
“Ah……”
Did Siegmund notice Maybell’s body stiffen slightly?
He chuckled and began running his hand through Maybell’s hair, speaking warmly.
“Welcome home.”
It was only then, as the carriage carried them forward, that Maybell could fully accept the reality she hadn’t grasped until now.
The strange, indescribable ache that had been stirring in her chest grew larger and larger, transforming into a powerful heartbeat.
Thump, thump, thump, thump!
Feeling her heart pound fiercely, Maybell broke into a clear, radiant smile.
“Yes!”
I’ve finally come back.
Home.
* * *
After an emotional reunion with the people of the Grand Duchy, Maybell was taken for treatment right away.
Contrary to Siegmund’s expectations, the wound on her palm wasn’t as deep as it appeared on the surface, and they said it would heal quickly.
Afterward, Maybell carefully wrapped her wound with waterproof cloth to prevent infection, then took a refreshing bath.
Having crawled through the Secret Passage—a tunnel of dust and debris—and been buried under a pile of rotting straw, she felt thoroughly grimy.
‘I didn’t even know what discomfort felt like back then……’
She’d learned so much during her time at the Grand Duchy, and realized how much she’d changed from who she once was.
Meanwhile, the maidservants tended to Maybell with great care, while inwardly cursing Asilonia with all their might.
In just a few days, Maybell’s face had swollen on one side, and now she bore wounds on top of it all.
Seeing the maids tremble with fury as they looked in the mirror, Maybell ventured to speak carefully.
“But the butler seemed awfully angry too.”
Lundwell thought he had kept his expression well in check, but he hadn’t.
The veins at his temples bulged, and his lips trembled faintly.
“Oh my~ Of course~ The young lady came to us injured like this~ We were so worried about her while we waited together~”
Ella sighed as she dried Maybell’s hair.
“But~ if the young lady keeps eating her delicious meals and staying well, everything will be just fine~”
At Ella’s words, Maybell felt a little embarrassed.
‘I thought he was angry because I’d dragged him into an all-out war with Asilonia, but he wasn’t…….’
Lundwell was also kind to Maybell, but perhaps it was because of his position as butler?
He seemed more rational than most others.
So she had thought he wouldn’t be glad to see her return.
‘……Thank goodness.’
Coming back to the Grand Duchy wasn’t a burden to him.
Now that her heart was completely at ease, Maybell began to doze off under Ella’s gentle touch.
* * *
The next day.
Summoned to Siegmund’s study, Maybell found herself tense and on edge.
“Maybell.”
Siegmund’s voice, seated at his desk, was unusually low and grave.
Whatever it was, he clearly meant to scold her severely!

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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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