I’m The Male Lead’s Biological Daughter, But I Want To Live With The Second Male Lead! - Chapter 73

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

Chapter 73
Moments later, the kidnapper who’d dragged Mabel by the scruff hurled the child to the ground.
“Oof!”
Fortunately, a pile of straw had broken her fall, so she escaped without serious injury.
“Hey, hey! Handle her carefully! What if she gets hurt?”
Another man, seemingly his partner, protested in an anxious voice.
But the man who’d brought Mabel merely snorted.
“What’s it matter? Long as the thing’s alive, that’s all we need.”
The “thing” he was referring to was Mabel.
“So where’d the white lion get to?”
“No idea. I could’ve sworn it was with the kid.”
The men scowled and peered back toward where they’d seized Mabel.
“Tsk, did we lose it?”
“Let’s search again. What else can we do?”
The man who’d muttered this was reaching for the lamp when—
“Wait a minute.”
The man who’d brought Mabel by her neck stopped him and turned to look at her again.
“Doesn’t this kid’s belly look a bit swollen compared to her limbs?”
His gaze fixed precisely on where Mabel had hidden the cat.
Mabel had to stiffen every muscle to keep from flinching.
“Huh? Well, don’t kids always have little bellies sticking out?”
“No. When I snatched her from the mansion, she wasn’t like this.”
“Really…?”
“Yeah. Something’s off about it.”
The man advanced toward Mabel with the certainty that she was hiding the cat.
“D-don’t come any closer!”
Mabel scrambled to her feet and backed away, but it was no use.
She didn’t get far before hitting the cave wall.
“I said don’t come near!”
Mabel frantically searched for an escape, but the men had already encircled her.
The man reached out a massive hand toward the frightened girl.
“Just stay still and I won’t do anything bad…”
His filthy gaze, gleaming with cruel amusement, made her skin crawl.
His hand was just reaching for the hem of her dress when—
“Hissss!”
The cat burst from inside Mabel’s tunic and bit the man’s hand hard.
“Ahhh!”
The man shrieked and thrashed his arm as the cat’s unusually sharp fangs sank deep into his flesh.
The cat released him quickly and landed on the ground, but its injured leg gave way and it collapsed.
“You cursed beast!”
The wounded man rushed forward and kicked the cat.
Thud!
“Mew!”
The cat flew backward from the solid blow and crashed against the stone wall.
Beneath its grey fur, dark blood began to pool.
“Damn it!”
The man clenched his bleeding hand, cursing bitterly as pain burned through him.
“Hey, hey! Get a bandage, quick!”
“The skin’s completely torn off!”
The men surrounding Mabel panicked and fumbled about helplessly.
Mabel seized the moment, slipped past them, and rushed to the cat.
“Kitty!”
At the sound of Mabel’s voice, the cat’s eyes flickered open with difficulty.
Its mouth moved, but no sound came out.
If this continued, something terrible would happen.
Mabel scooped the cat into her arms at once.
“Wait, what—you’re supposed to grab the kid!”
The men, belatedly noticing the deeper wound than expected, cried out in alarm.
‘Damn!’
Mabel bolted deeper into the cave, away from the men.
“Blast it, they’re going that way again!”
“If we take the narrow passage, we’re done for. Grab her, quick!”
The men seized their ropes and lamps, pursuing Mabel with relentless speed.
What should I do?
How on earth am I supposed to—
Her ragged breathing climbed into her throat, and her ribs screamed with each stride.
Hunched low through the cramped passage, her legs grew heavier with every step.
Then it happened.
Whip-crack!
“Ugh!”
The rope snapped around her ankles, and Mabel crashed hard to the ground.
“Got her! Pull!”
Mabel clawed desperately at the rope coiled around her ankle, but her fingers kept slipping.
Worse still, the force dragging her was tremendous—her whole body scraped raw against stone.
‘If this keeps up, we’re both dead.’
Even as she was hauled backward, Mabel reached out and shoved Cat deeper into the cave.
“Go deeper… I’ll—hah!—come back for you soon, I promise…!”
Cat fell to all fours and wheezed, breath coming in ragged gasps.
“Go on…!”
Mabel gripped the jagged floor with both hands, holding firm.
She was buying Cat seconds—crucial seconds to flee further into the darkness.
Watching her, Cat drew one labored breath after another, then struggled to rise.
“Right, go!”
Good—at least she could still stand.
A faint smile crossed Mabel’s face in that instant when her fingernail snapped.
“Ah!”
The pain—sharper than anything she’d ever felt—flooded her eyes with tears, and her strength drained away.
That was when Mabel was yanked downward in a single swift motion.
… Lick.
Cat had caught up and was licking Mabel’s bleeding finger.
The moment stretched.
Flash—!
The dim cave, barely distinguishable even moments before, blazed with searing light.
“Ah!”
The brilliance was so intense that Mabel forgot her grip on the stone floor, threw her hands up to shield her eyes.
Was it the light?
The rope around her ankle seemed to go slack.
“Oof!”
But she was wrong—she was pulled backward again, swift and sure.
Yet this time her body wasn’t scraped raw.
A soft, yielding barrier enveloped her, and though the floor rushed past, it didn’t hurt.
Before long, Mabel found herself cradled in someone’s arms.
Her eyes were still dazzled, and all she could manage was to flutter her lids, but she knew who held her.
Between the screams of subdued captors, a familiar voice cut through—weary, faintly reproachful.
“You’ve gotten quite fond of running away, haven’t you?”
Zigmund. Finally.
* * *
The moment Mabel emerged from the cave in Zigmund’s arms, Kellic came sprinting toward them.
“Mabel!!! Mabel, are you hurt?!”
“Brother…!”
As Mabel reached out, Kellic seized her hand and burst into tears.
“Waaaaah, I should’ve been the one kidnapped! I’m so sorry!”
“What are you talking about?!”
Mabel stared at him in confusion, but Kellic was too distraught to answer.
Zigmund stepped in and spoke instead.
“Like he said, Kellic was supposed to be the one taken today.”
“I’m sorry… what?”
Taken? What did he mean, ‘taken’?
Bewildered, Mabel looked up at Zigmund.
As he walked toward the carriage, he answered her unspoken question.
“Remember? Back in the Capital, when we dealt with those Beast Poachers.”
“Ah, yes.”
Of course she remembered.
That’s why she’d gone to the Capital ahead of Zigmund and overheard the ugly rumors at the Cafeteria.
“I’d just captured the leader of the largest Poaching Gang, and intelligence came back that the remnants were planning to take a hostage and demand his release.”
If all went well, it would be a chance for Complete Elimination.
That’s when Kellic volunteered to be the bait.
As a red fox Beastman, Kellic was quick on his feet and sharp-eyed in darkness—he could escape from the Cave without trouble.
Of course, they’d also packed plenty of Artifacts for safety.
So they’d deliberately left a gap in the Grand Duke’s Castle’s defenses.
That’s why Ella had been continuously warning Mabel about the Knight Order’s rotation schedule.
It wasn’t Sophia’s visit that was causing the Guard to be repositioned.
“But I never thought those bastards would attempt the abduction today.”
“I’m sorry, ugh! I’m sorry, Mabel, oh no—!”
“I didn’t expect them to snatch you instead of Kellic. Damn, I apologize.”
Zigmund, who had settled Mabel into the Carriage, pressed his palm to his forehead in contrition.
“My oversight. If I’d known it would come to this, I should have shared the information with you beforehand.”
He hadn’t wanted to burden the girl with worries on top of everything else—especially with the confusion of having met Sophia—but that very restraint had led to this.
“Let me examine you more closely.”
Zigmund climbed into the Carriage and immediately looked her over.
“I don’t see any serious wounds on the surface, but…….”
For someone who’d been kidnapped and locked away deep in a Cave, Mabel seemed remarkably unharmed.
At first she’d been alarmed when she noticed blood smeared on her dress hem where her hands had been bound.
But when she unwrapped the fabric, her hands were spotless.
Mabel had been startled then too.
The scratches from Cat were gone, and even the marks where her nails had broken had vanished.
And what was even stranger…….
“But you really didn’t see it? That—it suddenly became incredibly bright!”
“Hmm, I’m not sure. The Cave stayed dim the whole time.”
No one else had witnessed that searing light—so intense they couldn’t even open their eyes—from the moment Cat licked Mabel’s wound.
“Maybe a Lamp broke inside the Cave?”
Zigmund offered a plausible explanation, but Mabel pressed her lips together and said nothing.
That light hadn’t been anything like lamp-fire.
‘It was incredibly beautiful, a soft, pale blue glow…….’
Yes—the exact color of Cat’s eyes.
Now that she thought about it, where was Cat?

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