I’m The Male Lead’s Biological Daughter, But I Want To Live With The Second Male Lead! - Chapter 63

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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 63
One second, two seconds, three seconds…….
An eternity seemed to pass.
Or perhaps time itself had frozen.
“Ah…….”
With Sophia’s faint whimper, the frozen moment began to flow once more.
“Mabel!”
Sophia cried out with tender urgency, her Light Blue Dress billowing as she rushed forward.
Mabel barely had time to falter before she was swept up.
“Oh, my darling!”
Sophia collapsed into sobs, clutching Mabel to her chest.
“Oh, oh…… my daughter, my precious child! I’ve missed you so much, so very much……!”
Hot tears streamed down Sophia’s cheeks.
The tenderness in her voice was enough to move anyone who witnessed it to tears as well.
And yet the girl in her arms had gone very cold indeed.
‘So this is the plan, then.’
There had been a time, Mabel recalled, when Caesar’s words—”my daughter”—had moved her heart.
But that had been the first and only time.
Once Mabel understood Caesar’s true nature, she had abandoned any hope she held for Asilonia.
And besides, that had been half a year ago now.
Over these past six months, living with Zigmund at the Grand Duke’s Residence, Mabel had only steeled her resolve further.
She would not let Caesar, Sophia, or Asilonia escape their reckoning.
So today, while part of her had worried that Sophia might indeed appear, another part of her had been grimly curious.
Would they truly attempt such a hackneyed gambit—”my daughter” again?—after it had already failed once?
Her anticipation crumbled. All the tension she’d carried dissolved in an instant.
“Sigh…….”
The disappointment was so complete that Mabel exhaled heavily.
Sophia’s body stiffened at the sound.
“My child……? My daughter?”
Had she sensed something amiss?
Sophia’s wet lashes fluttered as she drew back to look Mabel in the face.
She was lovely, as befitted the heroine of this tale—her freshly tearstained face achingly beautiful.
But Mabel’s gaze remained cold as stone.
“What are you talking about now?”
Mabel spoke in careful, measured syllables—louder than usual—and brushed away Sophia’s arms from around her.
“My child……?”
Sophia reached for her again, startled, but Mabel was faster.
“You’re the one who abandoned me.”
At those words, the spectators who had been moved to tears by what seemed a poignant reunion between mother and daughter fell silent.
Only then did Sophia notice that unlike her own face, Mabel’s eyes were completely dry.
Realizing his plan had gone awry, Caesar hastily broke the silence.
“Mabel, is that how you speak to your mother?”
He raised Sophia gently, as one might handle something precious, and rebuked Mabel.
“I admit I’ve done you an unforgivable wrong. I’ve apologized for it, haven’t I? But to speak this way to your mother—that’s too much.”
“No, no, that’s not it, my dear. It’s all my fault.”
Sophia quickly leaned against Caesar, trying to placate him.
Then, with a fragile and sorrowful expression, she reached out her hand toward Mabel.
“My child, it’s all a misunderstanding. But I was wrong. I’ll apologize like this, so please……forgive your mother.”
“Yes. Just as Sophia says, it was all a misunderstanding. It’s my fault. That’s why Sophia had no choice but to leave you.”
Caesar backed up Sophia’s words.
“I’ve quit drinking now. I’ll never drink again or mistreat your mother like that.”
Caesar went further, subtly attributing his violent tendencies to drink.
Among the nobility, those with poor habits while intoxicated were often shown leniency, so casting blame on drunkenness was often a mitigating factor.
“That’s right. Father and I made a promise. Never to drink again. So Mabel, don’t worry and just come to your mother—”
Sophia reached out her hand to Mabel once more.
But Mabel simply took another step back.
“I don’t care about Father. I’m speaking to Mother.”
“Mabel……?”
“Mother, you’ve always said it to me. That I was a child who should never have been born. That if this was how I’d turn out, why was I born at all. That other children are easily miscarried, so how did I manage to hold on so stubbornly.”
At Mabel’s words, Sophia’s face cracked.
The bombshell confession left everyone breathless.
Francesca and Ian, who had been watching events unfold in silence, shared that same shock.
Zigmund, whose eyes had been fixed on Caesar, turned his gaze to Mabel, his face gone rigid.
In everything Mabel had told him before, there had been no mention of abuse inflicted by Sophia.
Caught off guard by this unexpected counterattack, Sophia stammered, her voice urgent and unsteady.
“I—what are you…… what are you saying, Mabel? When did I ever……?”
The corners of her mouth, forced upward, trembled slightly.
It was unmistakably irritation.
Mabel had refused to bend to her will, and her patience was beginning to fray.
But Mabel caught even that small shift.
“There’s more. Shall I tell you? My earliest memory is of Mother pushing a pillow against my face—”
“Enough!!!”
Sophia cried out sharply, cutting Mabel off mid-sentence.
The shrill, jagged scream made everyone in the hall wince.
But Mabel didn’t flinch—not even a blink.
As if such scenes were nothing new to her.
And so the crowd understood at once.
Everything Mabel had just said was the truth.
As a chill silence descended over the Banquet Hall, the color drained from Sophia’s face.
“This is—so it’s—I mean…….”
Sophia scrambled for words of denial, but the people around her had already turned their backs.
“How much did she have to scream at that child every day……?”
“It’s abhorrent. To heap such cruelty on a child and abandon her, and now to play the victim and claim motherhood…….”
Whispers heavy with contempt and disgust began to spread through the crowd.
It seemed no one would listen to Sophia anymore.
With the situation deteriorating this badly, Francesca could no longer remain a bystander.
‘At this rate, the Duchess will lose parental rights!’
And if that happened, the entire plan to secure the Emperor’s favor by betrothing the Crown Prince to Mabel would crumble to dust.
Francesca rose from her seat and moved to regain control of the room.
“Everyone, enough! Does anyone recall where they are? This gathering exists to celebrate the birthday of my son, the Crown Prince!”
She drew herself up, drawing on the authority of her station as Empress.
Stung by the rebuke, guests cleared their throats awkwardly and began to disperse in small groups.
But Mabel had no intention of backing down now.
Since things had come to this, she needed to drive the nail home entirely.
‘I haven’t discussed this with the Grand Duke, but it should still be all right……?’
When Mabel squeezed Zigmund’s hand tightly, he squeezed back just as firmly.
As if to say that no matter what she did, he would stand by her side.
Emboldened by that support, Mabel called out to Caesar and Sophia, who were trying to slip away through the crowd toward the exit.
“So stop trying to play the parent now and make decisions about my betrothal and marriage as you please!”
……
Francesca’s eyes widened at this bold declaration.
Having never expected Mabel to go this far, Caesar and Sophia turned back in surprise.
Mabel stared straight through them both and raised her voice again.
“If you’ve ever thought of me as a daughter at all, don’t use me! If those tears today were real!”
Making every person present her witness to it all.

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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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