I’m The Male Lead’s Biological Daughter, But I Want To Live With The Second Male Lead! - Chapter 88

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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 88
Eight days had passed.
Ever since the Emperor had departed on an overseas tour with the Empress a few days prior, the Empress Palace—which had been treading on thin ice the entire while—finally echoed with laughter once more.
“So. She refused to enter the palace after all?”
Francesca’s smile deepened as she received the maid’s report.
“Summon the Elite Guard. I shall make a personal journey to the Grand Duchy.”
Today marked exactly eight days since Sophia and Francesca had conspired together and sent the Personal Return Request Form bearing the Empress’s Seal.
The seven-day grace period had completely elapsed.
“Yes, I shall see to it. But what of the Duchess of Asilonia, my lady?”
The maid who received Francesca’s order posed a question.
Whether to bring Sophia to the Imperial Capital along with Mabel.
That had been the agreement when Francesca and Sophia had struck their bargain.
But.
“One cannot simply spirit away a family member without the family head’s consent, can one? I’ve no wish to squander imperial authority on such a trifle.”
Francesca changed her tune.
Yet the maid showed no surprise whatsoever, merely bowing her head quietly.
She had already anticipated as much.
There had been a reason Francesca had seduced Sophia at the time.
The Personal Return Request Form required the seal of Sophia, her birth mother.
But that was no longer necessary.
Mabel would enter the Imperial Capital, and Francesca would protect her there at her mother’s behest.
The betrothal to the Crown Prince could be enforced by the family head’s command.
No matter how much Sophia objected, she was already a prisoner.
How could she possibly escape Caesar’s grasp and raise an objection?
Besides, even if she brought Sophia along, all she would do was cause trouble with talk of revenge and recriminations.
“And mobilize as many Elite Guard as can be spared.”
That way, it would become widely known that Zigmund had refused to send Mabel all this time.
Then the Elite Guard would have just cause to seize the Grand Duchy Castle, and the Duke’s house would find it difficult to make any move thereafter.
It was perfect retaliation for that humiliation at the Crown Prince’s birthday banquet.
And so Francesca continued her preparations in fine spirits—
“Y-Your Majesty the Empress! There is something that requires your immediate attention!”
The chamberlain of the Empress Palace came rushing up to the outside of the door in a flustered state, causing a commotion.
A frown creased Francesca’s brow, her good mood suddenly clouded.
The maid, noticing this, quickly bowed her head and spoke.
“Allow me to step out and inquire what has happened.”
But Francesca stopped the maid and rose from her seat.
An subtle unease and impatience flickered across Francesca’s face.
An ill premonition had seized her.
An irksome premonition she could not dismiss as mere fancy.
And such premonitions rarely proved wrong.
Into the Empress Palace, which had only just begun to breathe freely, a biting wind was about to blow—far harsher than anything that had come before.
* * *
Meanwhile, a similar biting wind was sweeping through the Eschlide Grand Duchy Castle.
“W-What?! What did you just say?! Is that… is that really true?!”
Mabel, who had been in the activity room with Winter, felt as though she had been struck by a bolt from the blue.
Ella, who had delivered this thunderbolt to Mabel, drooped her eyebrows apologetically.
“Yep~ They said to choose between themselves and Winter, to decide once and for all~”
Ella rested her cheek in her palm and let out a weary sigh.
A cutting wind had blown through the Grand Duchy Castle, where there was never a peaceful day.
It was none other than Aselt and Kellic—the two of them truly despised Winter.
Both had expected Zigmund to drive Winter away.
It was well known that Zigmund suffered from severe cat allergies.
But when word spread that he had agreed to take medicine daily because Mabel adored the cat so much, the two men took profound offense.
During the time since Winter had come to stay, neither had set foot outside their rooms.
Mabel had sought out the two of them every single day during this period.
Yet they had ultimately refused to even show her their faces.
Still refusing to give up, she had asked them once more today to come to the activity room.
And this was the answer she received…
“So… they really said something like that…?”
Choose between her brothers and Winter.
At this point, she didn’t even want to say she disliked it anymore—it felt like she was just being told to give up.
Mabel’s shoulders sagged, her chin dropping to her chest.
She was trying to hide the tremor in her eyes.
But Winter, sprawled across the activity room’s rug, caught it immediately.
“Young miss~?”
[Why. Crying?]
[Making cry. Mabel. Who?]
Despite the endearing voice, the words that materialized above her head burned with anger.
“No, I wasn’t crying.”
Mabel shook her head and wiped her eyes with her sleeve.
But the tears kept spilling, welling up from some deep well of sorrow.
“Miss…?”
Ella flinched—she’d never expected Mabel to actually cry.
“Miss, goodness, Miss what’s wrong~ Why are you crying~”
Aselt and Kellic had been refusing to see Winter for days now, not just today or yesterday.
So Ella, like yesterday, had assumed Mabel would be disappointed for a moment and then recover quickly.
Though she’d spoken rather firmly today, asking her to choose between them.
She hadn’t truly thought they meant for her to pick one side and abandon the other.
They weren’t the sort of children to be that cruel.
But it seemed to have struck her harder than expected.
“Why, why? What happened?”
“What’s wrong with the young miss?”
Hearing Ella’s distressed voice, passing servants gathered around.
“Well, it seems the young masters are being rather stubborn, so the young miss~”
Ella explained what had just transpired, her voice troubled.
“Ah……”
The servants’ faces fell as they listened.
They soon clustered around Mabel in a tight circle.
“Oh dear, whatever shall we do.”
“Indeed. If only we could understand why the young masters dislike Winter so much.”
The servants took Mabel’s side, sympathizing with her plight.
“No matter how many times we ask, they just say ‘it’s nothing,’ so there’s nothing we can do……”
“And after all our young miss has done to bring the three of you together, they won’t even listen.”
“It’s really too much. Don’t you think so, miss?”
Even as the servants offered their comfort, Mabel only bit down harder on her lower lip.
The fault was hers from the beginning—she’d adopted Winter without asking the family’s permission.
But still, couldn’t they at least listen to what she had to say?
When Mabel went to their door alone, Aselt and Kellic wouldn’t open it.
They said they hated the smell of Winter on her.
Even after she bathed thoroughly and came back, it made no difference.
They told her not to bother coming if she was going to take Winter’s side.
They’d never been this cold since their first meeting.
She found herself wondering if she’d really done something so wrong—and at the same time, felt a lonely ache at not knowing what they could possibly dislike so much.
But when they finally demanded she choose between them, all the resentment she’d been holding back came flooding out.
“Hic………”
Mabel bit her lower lip hard, trying to swallow her sobs.
She knew crying wouldn’t solve anything and wanted to hold it in, but the tears kept coming, and she found herself angry at her own weakness.
So she grew more frustrated, which made her hurt more, and the tears flowed faster.
Watching this vicious cycle, Ella gently offered a suggestion.
“Um, young miss~, what if you~ waited a little~?”
Sometimes time has a way of mending things.
Rather than pushing forward blindly, waiting with patience could be its own solution.
Ella wrapped her hand around Mabel’s fist, which had gone white from tension.
“Maybe someday the young masters will tell you why they dislike Winter—”
That was when it happened.
“No. That day will never come.”
A cold voice cut through the activity room from the doorway.
It was Aselt, his expression locked in a rigid mask.
“Aselt’s right. It will absolutely never happen!”
And from beside him, Kellic chimed in, his nose pinched shut.
At the sound of their voices, Mabel’s head snapped up.
In that instant, the brothers’ eyes wavered at the sight of her tears.
Yet neither of them moved toward her.
“So, Mabel—you choose.”
“Us, or him.”
The brothers, their clasped hands white-knuckled with tension, seemed immovable in their resolve.

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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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