I’m The Male Lead’s Biological Daughter, But I Want To Live With The Second Male Lead! - Chapter 52

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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 52
The next morning, when Mabel opened her eyes, she was not alone.
“Mmm… so heavy… wait, Head of House?”
To her surprise, Zigmund lay beside her, holding her close as he slept.
‘Why on earth is this man here?’
Her bewilderment faded quickly as memories of last night’s conversation returned to her.
And the shock of losing consciousness when she learned she might be far more than a simple reincarnator.
“Ah…”
Had he stayed by her side the whole time since then?
Mabel’s gaze drifted toward Zigmund’s shoulder.
The memory of that grotesque thing nestled beneath his rumpled shirt twisted her face with pain.
‘And he endured that from Sophia, yet there’s no reason for him to resent me…’
There had to be limits to how kind a person could be!
Her frustration and remorse kindled an unexpected anger instead.
As Mabel, cradled in his arms, began to fidget and huff indignantly, Zigmund’s eyes slowly opened.
“You’re awake…”
Though his voice was heavy with exhaustion, it overflowed with concern for her.
The way he looked at her, the care in his expression, the warmth radiating from his embrace—
not one gesture failed to consider her wellbeing.
Which is why Mabel spoke rather impulsively.
“I’ll remove it for you.”
“Hmm?”
“That mark on you, sir.”
Mabel stretched her small arm and pointed vaguely at the area near Zigmund’s shoulder as he lay on his side.
Afraid it would hurt him if she touched it directly, her fingers hovered uncertainly in the air.
“You told me yesterday—that your mother imprinted it using a Seal modified through Alchemy, using an enormous amount of Mana Stones to succeed.”
“Yes… that’s right.”
“Then if Alchemy and Mana Stones were involved in creating it, couldn’t they also remove it?”
As Mabel spoke, the drowsiness gradually cleared from Zigmund’s eyes.
He sat up slowly before answering.
“That should be possible in theory. But as it stands, I don’t know how. I can’t even dispel the Binding Mark that was placed on me by a Beastman.”
Not that Zigmund hadn’t tried.
But the Binding Mark itself is fundamentally a residue of magic.
“I can modify or strengthen Artifacts that already exist, but I can’t create an Artifact capable of nullifying another Artifact’s power.”
“But sir, even after magic disappeared, people have been living well using Alchemy, haven’t they?”
Mabel sat up alongside him, offering her counterargument.
In the old days, a single Artifact could heat water effortlessly.
Yet those without Artifacts still burned vast quantities of wood to warm their water.
“In fact, as Alchemy spread widely and made life easier for so many, didn’t it flourish?”
When magic vanished, mages could no longer use Artifacts either.
Faced with inconvenience, people set themselves to invention, and eventually developed wood that burned for impossibly long hours.
They made it usable without expensive Mana Stones, without being a mage at all.
In a sense, magic’s disappearance had elevated people’s living standards even higher.
“So if research continues, won’t the day eventually come when Alchemy can neutralize an Artifact’s power too?”
“That’s… you’re right about that. But as I said before, even I can’t—”
“Why worry so much?”
Perhaps from enduring so much failure and despair,
Mabel cut off Zigmund’s words of doubt and slapped her own chest with a resounding thump.
“I’m here now!”
The moment those words left Mabel’s confident lips, Zigmund’s eyes flew wide open.
A flicker of hope brushed across his crimson irises, which had held only resignation until now.
Of course, Mabel herself has no idea whether she can truly remove the Binding Mark etched into Zigmund.
This isn’t something that appears in the novel, after all.
‘But even tattoos, once thought permanent, eventually had removal methods developed, didn’t they? I said there’s nothing in this world that’s truly flawless.’
She hasn’t the faintest idea what the solution might be, but there must be a way to break it.
‘Whether I’m a reincarnator or not doesn’t matter. What matters is that I have knowledge most people in this world don’t possess.’
What had begun as impulse transformed into unshakeable conviction as she spoke.
Grasping Zigmund’s hands firmly in both of hers, Mabel said:
“Let’s try together!”
At those words, something stirred violently in Zigmund’s chest.
She had already endured countless failures and disappointments.
The more Zigmund researched, the clearer it became that she could never escape the Subjugation Mark etched into her soul.
So she had sworn to herself that she would abandon all hope, all expectation.
‘And yet, with Mabel….’
It was strange, truly strange.
She understood that Mabel was gifted enough to earn the title of Saint of Alchemy, but the girl was still just a child.
So why did conducting research alongside her fill her with such steadiness and confidence?
‘Why….’
Why did she suddenly believe that this time, perhaps, she might actually break free from the mark?
Zigmund knew it was absurd, and yet she couldn’t bring herself to pull away from the child’s grip.
She didn’t want to.
So instead of telling Mabel it was alright, Zigmund squeezed the girl’s hand in return.
“Yes. Let’s work at this together.”
At her words, Mabel’s face bloomed.
More radiant than ever before.
* * *
Meanwhile, at that very hour, in the capital of Greenhurst.
“Just as I thought—it’s splashed across this morning’s paper!”
“When we heard the special edition yesterday, things were still murky, but now it’s certain.”
From dawn onward, people had been absorbed in their newspapers, buzzing with gossip.
And no wonder—the story on the front page of this morning’s edition was the outcome of the bitter legal battle between Eschlide and Asilonia that had set the city ablaze.
“Not even divorced, and his parental rights are stripped away? What on earth must he have done for it to come to this?”
People clucked their tongues and pointed their fingers at the portrait of Caesar printed in the paper.
A woman who had been listening to the crowd’s murmurs quietly folded her newspaper and slipped away.
She soon arrived at a carriage parked in a quiet alley.
With practiced ease, she accepted the escort’s hand and stepped into the carriage.
“We return to the palace at once.”
“Yes, Your Majesty.”
The coachman bowed with proper deference and took his place at the reins.
“Onward!”
The Empress’s private carriage began to move quietly through the streets.
“Sigh…”
The Empress, Francesca, pulled back the hood that had covered her head and exhaled slowly.
Her green eyes, set beneath slightly upturned lids, fell upon the newspaper resting on her lap.
“I never thought the trial of the Princess of Asilonia would end like this.”
She had not expected that Sophia, who had supposedly gone into hiding, would submit a petition.
“This has become somewhat troublesome…”
Yet she was not entirely without recourse.
Francesca’s lips curved into a slant smile.
Her gaze settled upon the staggering sum of compensation that Asilonia now owed.
* * *
Several days passed.
Summer had fully arrived in the Eschlide Grand Duchy.
When Mabel had first come to the Grand Duke’s Castle, it had been only early summer.
Now, walking through the gardens, she could feel sweat beginning to bead on her skin.
Even the castle’s high altitude granted it cooler air than most places in the region.
“Miss~ you mustn’t stand in the sun for too long~”
Mabel tilted the parasol she was holding at Ella’s voice.
“It’s fine! I’m holding the parasol properly!”
“Oh my~ if you catch heatstroke, whatever will we do~”
This was when Ella, who had been standing in the gazebo, began to fidget anxiously.
“It’s alright. I’ll go to her.”
Aselt appeared suddenly, smiling as he made his way toward the garden.
“Mabel, aren’t you hot?”
“Oh! Aselt!”
Perhaps because his clothes were lighter, the sunglasses suited him beautifully.
“Come here.”
When Aselt opened his arms, Mabel hurried over and nestled against him.
Since Aselt was a Beastman, his body temperature ran cool.
He was all the stronger against the heat for it, but correspondingly, he was hopelessly weak to cold.
“Ahh, that’s refreshing.”
Perhaps it was the contrast after standing in the sun, but Aselt felt as cool as marble left on ice.
Aselt chuckled softly and took the parasol from Mabel’s hands, holding it instead.
Mabel, who had been spinning slowly around Aselt as her central axis to cool her body, asked as if the thought had just struck her.
“By the way, where’s Kellic?”
“Him? As usual, he’s probably sprawled out somewhere.”
Aselt shrugged as he answered.
Unlike Aselt, Kellic was weak in summer and strong in winter.
So normally in the summer he wouldn’t stray far from Aselt’s side, but this summer was different.
“Then shouldn’t you go see Kellic? He’ll just be waiting for you to come back.”
This was why Aselt, who had recently taken a liking to going out, left the Grand Duke’s Castle empty almost every day.
Truth be told, even Aselt wasn’t free from sweating in the height of summer.
Moreover, when he left the Grand Duke’s Castle and ventured down to the streets below, the temperature only climbed higher.
When sweat touched the chafed skin beneath his eye covering, it stung unbearably, so Aselt had been extremely cautious about venturing out in summer.
But now things had changed.
Thanks to the sunglasses Mabel had given him as a gift.
“I owe it all to you that I can engage in social activities like this. A debt of gratitude must be repaid.”
Aselt pushed his sunglasses up with a flourish and proceeded to knead Mabel’s cheeks mercilessly.
As his cool hands touched her flushed cheeks, Mabel broke into delighted laughter.
“Oh, speaking of which—a friend I made recently asked if it were possible to purchase sunglasses.”
Aselt, who had wedged the parasol between his neck and shoulder and was still working at Mabel’s cheeks, broached the subject.
“Hm? Why purchase them? Just make them for her. She’s your friend, after all.”
“That’s the thing—it’s not just one or two people.”
Aselt’s recent social activities were, in fact, the Basilisk Meeting.
They were all worried about their abilities spiraling out of control, and just then Aselt appeared wearing sunglasses.
“Well, then…….”
Mabel was just thinking about how best to handle sales.
Aselt, gazing down at Mabel quietly, suddenly asked as if something had occurred to him.
“By the way, did you file a patent for this?”
“Hm?”
A patent?
“What’s that?”
As Mabel tilted her head in confusion, the color drained from Aselt’s face in an instant.
Wait—

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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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