I'm Only a Stepmother, but My Daughter is Just so Cute!

Ch 16

She hadn’t had a single sip of alcohol. None of the food she had consumed contained alcohol, either. So how…? Even now, Abigail’s voice was only getting louder by the second. “If I were you, Your Majesty, I’d have Blanche on my lap and I’d pet her every single day! Princess Blanche! Come over here!”

“Ah, yes!” Blanche shuffled over to her nervously. Abigail put the girl on her lap and hugged her tightly. Still holding her, she started lightly rocking the girl to and fro in excitement, “Ahh, Blanche, just how are you so lovely…?”

“…Abigail?” Abigail completely ignored Sabelian calling out to her.

“Blanche… You’re the prettiest in the whole wide world…I wish you’d like me, but I don’t know what I’d have to do for that…”, Blanche looked up in surprise when Abigail said that, her voice suddenly sad, but then… “Blanche is cute. Cute means bunnies. Bunnies are cute, cute means Blanche…”

“M-Miss Abigail? Are you all right?”

“Oh dear! How’d a fairy end up in my arms?”

Sabelian stood up and took Blanche out of Abigail’s arms. When he did, Abigail looked like she had lost her entire world in that one second. “Ahh, my fairy!”

“Take Blanche back to her room. Bring a doctor on the way back.” The maid exited the room with Blanche in tow. In the meantime, Sabelian took his time observing Abigail. “Are you all right?”

“Of course I’m all right. Abigail’s all right. Abigail’s pretty. Pretty means Blanche…” She didn’t look fine at all, if he had anything to say about it. Abigail stopped speaking all of a sudden and stared at Sabelian; the intensity of her scrutiny was very unsettling. Her purple, almost gem-like eyes had a strange charm to them. Sabelian stared at his reflection in her eyes.

At that moment…

…Abigail grabbed Sabelian by the cheeks.

Sabelian froze in utter surprise. The woman closed in, looking almost as if she was about to kiss him. Sabelian was in shock. He was stunned in place. He couldn’t even think about getting away if his life depended on it. All he could do…was shut his eyes for the inevitable. But then, instead of closing in any more, Abigail’s lips parted.

“You…. You shouldn’t live like this!” Sabelian’s eyes flew open. He was greeted with a very angry Abigail.

“You think you have it all because you’re handsome? You think you can break someone else’s doll if you’re handsome? Do you know how much time and hard work I put into making that thing? You think you’re hot stuff because you’re a king?” Abigail yanked at Sabelian’s cheeks. Whereas Sabelian…was just staring at Abigail, still in a state of utter shock at the completely unforeseen turn things had taken. “Abigail?”

“You really shouldn’t have…and threatening to lower my budget?! Dude! You were the one at fault! And you don’t even eat with your daughter! Are you in the wrong or not, you tell me?!” Abigail started indiscriminately squishing Sabelian’s cheeks like they were made of play-doh. Sabelian’s brows creased in annoyance at her cheek but before he could express it, her next words brought him pause. “You two are still family…why can’t you have a decent relationship with each other…?”

Sabelian swallowed back the words he’d been about to say. He couldn’t bring himself to say anything mean to her, especially not when she sounded so sad. Right then, Millard entered the room with the doctor following behind. Sabelian put up a hand to stop Millard when he made to step forward to tear Abigail away from him, “I’m fine. Let the doctor come first.”