I’m The Male Lead’s Biological Daughter, But I Want To Live With The Second Male Lead! - Chapter 70

—————
This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
—————

Episode 70
Several days had passed since then.
Chaos descended upon the capital Mabel had left behind.
The family of the Empress Palace’s chief steward and the household of a lady-in-waiting had collapsed overnight.
Of course, this had nothing to do with Mabel.
At least, that’s what Mabel herself believed.
But a different problem had surfaced for her.
It was while she and Zigmund sat facing each other, debating the oxidation-reduction reaction of copper oxide and carbon.
“Sophia asked to meet with me?”
Just as Mabel had told Zigmund after leaving the banquet hall, she no longer called Caesar her father.
Everyone in the Grand Duke’s Castle, not just Zigmund, had been delighted by this change.
There was no need to dutifully call people “father” and “mother” when they didn’t act like parents at all.
Be that as it may, Dain broke into a sweat at Mabel’s question.
Lately, it seemed he was always the one delivering such news to her, and he found the role deeply uncomfortable.
“Yes. The Duchess has formally requested an official meeting. This is her request.”
The envelope Dain handed over bore the Seal of the Asilonia Family.
Zigmund, taking it, let out a hollow laugh.
“I expected an all-out conflict, but this soon?”
It had been only a week since Mabel dropped her bombshell at the banquet hall.
‘I thought they’d at least keep quiet for a month.’
But these trash wearing iron masks proved once again why they deserved that fate.
Caesar and Sophia were moving in ways that defied any normal person’s expectations.
“There’s no avoiding this, is there?”
Mabel glanced at the letter in Zigmund’s hand and asked.
Her expression was like someone viewing something so filthy and repulsive she wouldn’t touch it with a stick.
Remembering how roughly she’d handled Kellic’s treasure collection, one could gauge just how much Mabel despised Sophia.
“If you want to avoid it, then we will.”
Zigmund answered readily.
He no longer wished to force Mabel into doing things against her will.
And their petty, underhanded tactics of constantly needling and badgering the girl bothered him greatly, however much she might be the one directly involved.
Truth be told, if it were up to him, he’d march in and settle the whole matter without regard for family honor or appearances.
But the only reason he didn’t was because of Mabel.
‘To erase Asilonia from behind Mabel’s name, we have to win through law.’
Even if he were to eliminate Caesar and Sophia as they stood now, Mabel would still remain a duchess of Asilonia.
With no direct heirs, she might even have to become Acting Family Head and return to the estate.
‘There’s the option of renouncing her title and nobility as Acting Family Head, but……’
The fact that Mabel was still a minor troubled him.
Who knew if some worthless cur who’d crawled up from nowhere might volunteer to be her guardian.
Moreover, even if that happened, he couldn’t be certain Mabel would choose him again.
Having his protection temporarily was one thing; him becoming her father was another entirely.
‘To be honest, I already think of Mabel as… ahem.’
Zigmund hurriedly gathered his trailing thoughts as if a screw had come loose.
Anyone listening would surely scold him for thinking such things so carelessly.
In any case, to reiterate: all of this was ultimately the business of adults.
Things that a child not yet ten years old need not concern herself with.
So Zigmund wanted to prioritize Mabel’s wishes as much as possible in this matter.
Yet at the same time, Zigmund also knew the truth.
“No. We can’t keep avoiding it forever either.”
Mabel was not a child who would run away for the sake of present comfort.
There was something about her directness in facing conflict head-on that made one wonder if she’d never learned how to flee at all.
‘Perhaps it’s more accurate to say she doesn’t know how to lean on anyone…’
It was precisely this aspect of Mabel that sometimes made Zigmund’s heart ache.
Unaware of Zigmund’s feelings, Mabel simply heaved a deep sigh.
‘This is going to be such a nuisance…’
With that thought.
* * *
And so time passed until the day Sophia came to the Grand Duke’s Castle.
Even in the Grand Duke’s Castle, where spring arrived later than elsewhere, the season’s warmth was now unmistakable.
‘The sky is clear, the wind carries fragrance…’
To have to meet Sophia on such a beautiful day.
No matter how I thought about it, it felt like such a waste.
In fact, Aselt and Kellic had strongly opposed Mabel meeting Sophia.
— Why meet that woman at all? Don’t meet her!
— That’s right, Mabel. Kellic’s got a point. I think it’s better you don’t see her either.
— Ah! I wish that woman would just become unable to move!
— That’s a good idea, Kellic. I’ll turn Sophia Asilonia to stone.
— No, no, no, don’t do it, Aselt! Father, Father!!
I have no idea how much cold sweat I broke trying to stop Aselt from running out again.
To that extent, both Aselt and Kellic hated the very fact of Sophia entering the Grand Duke’s Castle.
They worried about what else she might do, given that she’d already ransacked the laboratory once before.
Mabel harbored the same fears in her heart, so she’d considered changing the meeting location.
‘But if I did that, who knows what she might do to me…….’
Zigmund insisted to the end that they had to meet at the Grand Duke’s Castle for Mabel’s safety.
Once Mabel’s safety came into the conversation, even Aselt and Kellic’s objections faded away.
‘Tch, and he said he’d secretly take me away.’
Just a few days ago, Kellic had whispered that he’d sneak her out.
But when the day actually came, there wasn’t even a glimpse of him.
Perhaps his plan to sneak away with Mabel had been discovered, or something.
The last she’d seen of him was his retreating figure as he was summoned by Zigmund early that morning.
As she walked while turning these thoughts over in her mind, she found herself at the far end of the garden.
“Young lady~”
In the distance, from the gazebo toward the manor, Ella waved her hand.
“You mustn’t wander too far~”
She’d been told that the knights’ patrol positions would change in preparation for Sophia’s visit today.
Because of that, there could be gaps each time the shifts changed, and Ella had warned her several times.
“Yes yes~ I’ll stay right here~!”
Mabel cupped her small hands around her mouth and called out.
After hearing her reply, Ella began arranging food on the gazebo’s table again.
She was planning to have lunch there before going to meet Sophia.
It was a lunchbox that Zack had carefully prepared, but she found she had little appetite.
“Sigh, I wish someone would kidnap me.”
Not me—Sophia instead.
“Better yet, I wish they’d take her far, far away to some foreign land…….”
Not me—Sophia and Caesar together.
What about spirits? Why won’t they abduct those people?
“Honestly, I don’t care who it is—I just wish someone would kidnap them…….”
Mabel, huddled near the flower hedge, murmured as if sighing.
Meanwhile, Ella, who was arranging the food at the gazebo, suddenly lifted her head.
“Hm~?”
Rustle!
The sound of grass leaves brushing past came unusually harsh.
A cool spring breeze swept across the sprawling garden.
The breeze, carrying the scent of flowers, gently swept back Ella’s slightly slipped hair with a soft whisper.
The moment her obscured vision cleared…… Clang!
The sandwich plate Ella had been holding tumbled to the ground.
And at that very instant, a scream pierced the peaceful garden.
“Young lady!!!”
The garden where Mabel had been wandering just moments before was now completely empty.
* * *
Tap…… tap…… tap…….
What on earth was that sound?
Beyond her hazy consciousness, an irritating noise kept bothering her.
It was like the sound of water dripping from a barely-closed faucet.
‘Why is there a faucet in my room…….’
It was strange, but sleep kept pulling at her, so she couldn’t think about it deeply.
‘Ugh, I don’t know…… let me sleep a bit more…….’
What did I do yesterday?
What on earth did I do to ache all over like this?
Whatever it was, she didn’t want to get up right now.
Just as she did every morning, Mabel rubbed her face against the blanket out of habit.
But in that instant, something rough scraped across her face like a knife.
“Ow!”
The sting was sharp enough to chase sleep clean away, and Mabel’s eyes flew open.
She tried to grab her cheek in a panic, but her limbs barely obeyed.
It felt nothing like those mornings when she woke tangled head to toe in her blankets.
“What—what is this?!”
Now she could see: both her hands and feet were bound tight with rope.
And the place where she’d opened her eyes was not her bedroom.
Damp, musty, pitch-dark—it felt exactly like the heart of a deep cavern.
‘Where am I? How did I get here?’
Mabel looked around at the surroundings, barely lit by a cheap candle, and tried to piece together her memories.
‘Just before this, I was definitely in the Garden.’
I’d walked to the far end, feeling restless and out of sorts, and crouched down near a flower hedge.
Then…… I heard a voice.
– Yes. That wish of yours—I’ll make it come true.
Before I could even turn around, a thick hand clamped over my mouth, choking off any sound.
That was the last thing I remembered.
‘Was I…… kidnapped?!’
Mabel’s jaw dropped in horror.
And in broad daylight, at the Grand Duke’s Castle no less?!
Unbelievable!
But the part that truly horrified her wasn’t the kidnapping itself.
The person who wished to be kidnapped wasn’t me—it was someone else!
These incompetent fools!

—————
This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
—————