I’m The Male Lead’s Biological Daughter, But I Want To Live With The Second Male Lead! - Chapter 81

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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 81
“I just want to clarify something, Winter. Mabel isn’t a white lion, so you two can’t be bonded.”
Winter had already heard this once from Ella, so he didn’t even snort in response.
The fact that Mabel wasn’t a Beastman had been somewhat shocking.
Since her fur was purple, he’d assumed that even if she wasn’t a white lion, she’d at least be the same species as him.
But it didn’t matter much if Mabel was human.
After all, they already had a child together.
The Poachers had said that once a child was born, there was no turning back.
Besides, Winter had already been bonded with Mabel.
Even if it was one-sided.
So, offering no retort, he was contentedly gnawing through prime beef when Zigmund spoke up.
“So Mabel, you should make it clear now too. Tell him you have no intention of doing any such thing.”
This time Winter planned not to snort either.
Because Winter knew the truth.
Mabel liked him too, and she cared for him deeply.
So Winter had actually expected Mabel to land a blow against Zigmund.
“Hmm, yes, I think that would be for the best.”
Wait.
“Winter, I’ll say this while we’re all here. I can’t marry you. There’s no child between us.”
“What? What do you mean, no child?”
He barely registered Zigmund’s bewildered voice from beside him.
Mabel had betrayed him!
The shock was so great that Winter didn’t even finish his beef that day.
He refused the Dried Meat Jerky snacks that Ella and Sheila brought him.
How could this be? How could this possibly be?
He couldn’t believe it.
After that, Winter refused to eat anything at all.
Of course, the next morning he ate quite happily.
Winter’s food strike had consisted of nothing but one missed nighttime meal.
Still, the fact that he’d skipped even a single meal was a monumental crisis.
Mabel was well aware of it.
Yet Mabel never apologized to Winter nor retracted what she’d said.
Mabel truly had no intention of marrying Winter.
What a cruel woman!
If she wasn’t going to take responsibility, she shouldn’t have been so kind to him.
She shouldn’t have stroked his head so gently.
She shouldn’t have smiled at him with that pretty, adorable face!
Thus, Winter had been sulking at Mabel for the past week.
Though separately from that, he genuinely had no interest in the Scratcher.
Now, back to the present.
“Sigh… I really don’t know how to explain this to him.”
Because Winter remained in a foul mood, Mabel let out a dispirited sigh.
Ella, who’d been quietly observing, quietly approached and made a suggestion.
“Well, this naughty white lion is giving our lady such a headache. How about I give him a stern talking-to?”
But Mabel quickly shook her head.
She knew all too well that Ella’s stern talking-to never ended with words alone.
And if Winter took a blow from Ella’s fists, he would no longer be Winter.
‘He’d become what used to be Winter.’
To save Winter, Mabel resolved to handle this matter on her own.
“Anyway, it’s finished now… so it should be fine to file a Patent Application for this, right?”
“Of course, of course! Since our lady invented it~”
“Then I should go see the lord.”
“I’ll come with you~”
Mabel picked up the Scratcher and made her way to Zigmund’s Office.
Just as Ella was about to announce Mabel’s arrival—
“In any case, finding one little thing to complain about and acting so pleased with himself.”
“Who isn’t? Things were quiet until now, but what is all this anyway…?”
The voices of Zigmund and Dain drifted from the other side of the hallway.
Now that she thought about it, she’d heard this morning that Zigmund had an errand and would be going out.
The formal attire he was still wearing suggested he’d only just returned home.
“Zigmund! Dain!”
The moment Mabel greeted him warmly, Dain’s glasses flashed as he turned toward her.
In the blink of an eye, he rushed over like an arrow and bombarded her with questions.
“Miss! Is that perhaps the Scratcher you’ve just invented?”
In fact, since the Sunglasses, Mabel had only discovered concepts.
There were no physical finished products she could hold in her hands.
Though they were remarkable discoveries, she still found herself eager for her next invention.
When word of this new creation reached him, Dain had been counting the days until Mabel’s invention was complete.
Winter, the actual subject of her work, showed not the slightest interest.
“Hehe, that’s right! It’s called a Scratcher—it’s a toy that cats play with while scratching their claws.”
“Ah, a toy for cats, you say?”
Dain’s glasses glinted and sparkled as he listened to her explanation.
One might wonder if those glasses were truly his actual form.
In fact, Dain often expressed his emotions through them.
Whenever Mabel seemed cute, impressive, or commendable—or for any number of other reasons—they’d go “Ching!” and crack.
They were always swiftly replaced with a fresh pair.
“Normally, cats play with mice or small birds, but this is quite novel indeed. It might even become a new paradigm in feline entertainment…….”
What did he even mean by “feline entertainment”?
Mabel tilted her head curiously, watching Dain’s glasses continue their glimmering display.
In the meantime, Zigmund had approached without her noticing.
“A toy for cats that can play on their own. This truly is a novel concept.”
He, too, had no prior understanding of what a Scratcher was and found himself deeply intrigued.
“So I’m not sure if it’ll sell well, but I’d like to try filing a Patent Application for it. Do you think it’s possible?”
“Of course! It’s a creation of our young miss—there’s nothing we can overlook!”
“Filing itself shouldn’t be a problem. Whether approval comes through is another matter.”
Zigmund answered more rationally than Dain, though his lips were already twitching slightly.
He was clearly delighted by how Mabel had designed and invented everything on her own.
And Dain knew this well.
If approval were denied, that man would march straight to the relevant department and make such a fuss they’d have no choice but to reverse the decision.
Meanwhile, a small desk had recently appeared in the Office for Mabel.
Once Mabel took her seat, Dain promptly brought the Application documents.
“Here they are.”
“Thank you so much.”
Mabel had now grown capable of drafting documents on her own.
Her once crooked handwriting had stabilized considerably, and her spelling errors had decreased markedly.
Dain marveled anew—a nine-year-old drafting official documents; it never ceased to amaze him.
Mabel took the Application she had initially prepared and approached Zigmund.
“Zigmund, I’ve finished it all!”
Zigmund, who had been frowning as if troubled while reviewing the documents, immediately softened his expression.
“Let me take a look.”
Observing Mabel’s growth was always a pleasure.
As Zigmund carefully reviewed the Application, Mabel glanced surreptitiously at his desk.
She could see the documents Zigmund had been reading with a furrowed brow just moments before.
Standing in front of the desk, the letters appeared upside down, but she had no difficulty reading them.
‘Request for Return of Person—Mabel Asilonia…… Wait? Return of Person?!’
Mabel’s eyes widened as she read what she wasn’t meant to see.
“Zigmund! What is this, what is this?!”
Mabel pointed at the desk and cried out.
Ah!
Zigmund’s expression faltered slightly.
He had been so absorbed in Mabel’s Application that he’d forgotten to flip the other documents over.
Besides, he hadn’t intended to keep it hidden forever, nor would it have been possible to conceal it.
“It’s exactly as you read. Sophia has filed a Request for Return of Person regarding you.”
“What?”
Mabel repeated his words in bewilderment.
Then, suddenly, she recalled the conversation Zigmund and Dain had been having as they approached earlier.
—Anyway, she’s making a fuss over finding some tiny pretext to complain about.
—Who wouldn’t? Things had been quiet for so long. But what’s this really about…….
Mabel’s kidnapping had happened more than two weeks ago.
And it had occurred on the very day she was supposed to meet Sophia.
Because of this, Mabel had anticipated that Asilonia would kick up a fuss.
Yet Asilonia confounded her expectations, remaining conspicuously silent all this while.
The Grand Duke’s Residence, finding no movement from their side, had even taken the initiative to propose scheduling another meeting.
But no reply to that proposal had come either.
And then, suddenly, a Request for Return of Person?
“So you were kidnapped, and the Grand Duke’s Residence is no longer safe for you, or so they claim.”
“No, that’s not——”
“Yes, it’s a fair point. But it’s absurd all the same, don’t you think?”
Zigmund turned the document toward Mabel.
“And the place offering to reclaim you and protect you is not even the Asilonian Duke’s estate—it’s the Imperial Palace itself.”
The official seal attached to the request was not Asilonia’s.
It was the Imperial Family’s—more precisely, the Empress’s seal.
“Ah……”
The transparent farce left Mabel utterly fed up.
Yet it did make one thing crystal clear: where the information about Mabel’s kidnapping had leaked.
The Poachers whom Zigmund had arrested at the time were a crew operating with the Empress’s tacit approval.
All of them had been sentenced to death or severe punishment, though enforcement of the sentences took some time.
During that interval, they had surely passed word to the Empress, begging her to spare them.
Though the Empress had not championed their cause, either.

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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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