I Became the Male Lead’s Adopted Daughter

"You're not going far."
Satisfied, Leonia gave them her final farewell.
"Meeting you again was revolting."

"Don’t ever crawl back to the surface."
"Go to hell."
Instead of waving, she raised her middle finger high.

The orphanage staff, dragged toward the underground prison, wore expressions of utter despair.
Before they could even think of biting their tongues, the knights had gagged them.
Leonia happily nestled into Ferio’s arms, clutching her music box.

"Ahhh, that was satisfying."
Her grin was as pure and bright as a summer sky.
"You’re only seven."

Ferio pointed out, raising an eyebrow.
"…It’s a figure of speech."
She huffed, as if annoyed that he didn’t understand.

With zero hesitation, Ferio placed a strawberry milk candy in her hand.
She blinked at it, then looked up at him in confusion.
"I didn’t do anything cute today, though?"

"You did."
"What, that?"
She gestured toward the orphanage staff, now disappearing down the prison hallways.
"Messing with those bastards?"

"You acted like a true member of House Voreoti."
Her eyes widened.
Then—

She covered her face with both hands, hiding her embarrassment.
Between her fingers, her small round ears peeked out, tinged red.
Over the past week, Ferio had come to understand something very important.

One: Leonia was bold and sharp-tongued, but surprisingly shy.
Two: Whenever she got embarrassed, she always hid her face.
It was a habit.

And Ferio found it endlessly amusing.
A young father and his little daughter, chatting happily over a handful of candy.
To an outsider, it was a heartwarming sight.

But—
Lupe was on the verge of collapsing.
"Are you going to torture them yourself?"

Leonia rolled the candy around in her mouth, peering up at him.
The one she hadn’t eaten was tucked safely in her pocket, destined for her glass jar.
"Of course. They were your guests."

"Mister, you’re so cool!"
This was not a °• N 𝑜 v 𝑒 l i g h t •° normal father-daughter conversation.
"You’ve got a talent for this, too, you know."

"For what? Torture?"
"Yeah. Want to learn one day?"
"Stabbing people with swords?"

She made a stabbing motion.
Lupe, watching, clutched his stomach as if he had been the one stabbed.
"Come to think of it, you should learn swordsmanship, too."

"Mmm, but I don’t really like hurting people with weapons."
Her nose scrunched slightly.
"The screaming is annoying, and blood gets everywhere. It’s messy."

"No! No, stop!"
Inside his mind, Lupe was screaming.
"Please, just have a normal conversation!"

"Who teaches a child things like this?!"
"I mean, Your Grace, fine, you’re already beyond saving, but—"
"The child should at least be normal!"

"Truly, are you sure she isn’t your biological daughter?"
At this point—
Lupe was convinced.

They had to be related.
Then—
"Young Lady!"

The maids rushed in with beaming faces.
"You were absolutely magnificent!"
A roar of applause filled the hall.

"……Am I the weird one?"
Why is everyone else celebrating?
Lupe turned to look at the cheering servants, dumbfounded.

Even the head butler, Kara, removed his glasses to wipe his tears.
What part of that was emotional?
I would like to be told. I want to cry with you.

Lupe's eyes met Meleis'.
Out of everyone in the Voreoti estate, she was one of the few who had common sense.
Yet—

Even Meleis was moved to tears, her hands covering her mouth, unable to hide her overwhelming pride.
"We can't just kill them right away, okay?"
"Of course not. That would be wasteful."

"Exactly! Gotta make them pay first."
"…Where did you even learn to say that?"
"…The orphanage?"

Leonia's earlier remark had just escalated the intensity of the torture awaiting the guests from the orphanage.
"Oh, I have a great idea!"
Her eyes lit up.

"We tie a rope to their bodies and push them off a cliff!"
She raised her hand, then lowered it, demonstrating.
"That way, they'll fall, then bounce back up from the tension—"

Her hand went up.
"—then fall again, then bounce back up—"
It went down again.

"—and again, and again…."
She grinned, mimicking the motion of a ball bouncing off the ground.
"And when they finally stop, we leave them hanging there until the rope snaps."

Ferio nodded approvingly.
"That does sound worthwhile."
He stroked his chin thoughtfully.

"There's a perfect cliff behind the mansion for that kind of experiment."
"But don’t overdo it."
Leonia added, her expression serious.

Of course—
She wasn’t talking about the victims.
She was talking about Ferio and the knights.

"You have to keep them healthy—"
Her little finger extended forward, demanding a promise.
"—so they can be tortured for a long, long time."

Their large pinkies intertwined.
"If you break your promise, I get to flick your forehead!"
The father and daughter duo chattered cheerfully, their bonding moment warm and affectionate.

Lupe wanted nothing more than to wake up from this nightmare.
This translation is the intellectual property of .
***

Ferio headed for the underground prison.
Meanwhile, Leonia returned to her room with Meleis.
And there, Lupe finally heard the truth from Kara.

"…She’s not actually his biological child?"
His brain short-circuited.
Kara adjusted his round glasses and nodded, lowering his voice.

Luckily, it was just the two of them in the conference room next to Ferio’s office.
Following Ferio’s orders, Kara proceeded to explain everything about Leonia in detail.
"…Dear gods."

Lupe rubbed his forehead, utterly wrecked.
All his guesses were completely wrong.
Sure, there were plenty of people who resembled each other without being related.

But in this case…
Even without the black hair, there were too many things that didn’t add up.
Especially—

That temperament of hers.
"That black color and that personality…"
He muttered.

Black hair was a symbol of the Voreoti bloodline, something only they could possess.
And after just one week, Leonia had grown eerily similar to Ferio.
Her face, now a little healthier, bore clear traces of him.

And earlier—
When she had been gleefully tormenting the orphanage staff—
She had fully embodied the sinister nature of the Voreoti lineage.

"No way…"
A few faces flashed through Lupe’s mind.
But he shoved them away immediately.

"I saw it with my own eyes."
He had seen the wrecked carriage himself—
Torn apart and washed away by the raging river.

Kara, watching Lupe’s turmoil, spoke quietly.
"…Doesn’t she remind you of Lady Regina?"
Lupe froze.

He turned—
And met Kara’s wistful gaze.
The old butler’s expression was heavy with sentiment.

And Lupe understood exactly what he meant.
His sharp eyes narrowed.
"…Honestly, the idea that she’s Ferio’s illegitimate child makes more sense."

He stated, firmly.
Because—
When he had first seen Leonia, dirty and starving, he had never once thought of Regina.

The child had looked like a beggar.
How could he have ever associated her with Lady Regina?
Of course—

Today’s Leonia was different.
Dressed in fine clothes, well-fed, and radiating the air of a noble lady—
She was a true Voreoti.

"Exactly like that person was…"
A voice echoed in his memory—
"Lupe!"

That warm, cheerful voice—
That person who would call everyone’s name so brightly—
Had once filled this cold mansion with warmth.

But…
Leonia didn’t resemble her.
And that was the problem.

If Leonia had even the slightest resemblance to Regina—
Then her name would have immediately surfaced in his mind.
Not just as a passing thought.

But it hadn’t.
Lupe exhaled slowly.
"Lady Regina is dead."

It had been a stormy night.
A rare, torrential downpour had drenched the Voreoti lands.
And in the chaos—

Regina had fled.
With the man she loved.
Ferio and the knights had searched.

But they returned soaked, empty-handed.
Lupe could still picture it clearly.
The raindrops glistening on their cloaks.

The storm clouds looming outside the doorway.
And Ferio, removing his soaked mantle, stating—
"Regina is no longer a Voreoti."

With that, the search was called off.
And from that day forward—
Her name was erased from the mansion.

"Afterward, I personally oversaw the recovery of the carriage."
Lupe continued, voice firm.
The carriage, having raced through the rain-slicked roads, had plunged into the river.

By the time they retrieved it, it was completely shattered.
Barely even a carriage anymore—
Just a pile of broken wood, tangled with river debris.

The floodwaters had carried them far away.
As if answering their desperate desire to escape.
"However…"

Kara hesitated, lowering his gaze.
"…Their bodies were never found."
Lupe snapped his head up.

His entire body tensed.
"If they somehow survived that accident—"
Kara’s voice was calm.

Measured.
But his eyes held a quiet conviction.
"And if they truly escaped from Voreoti estate…"

***
"Achoo!"
With a loud sneeze, Leonia staggered. It was so forceful that she could barely keep her balance. The maids nearby giggled, finding it utterly adorable. Embarrassed, Leonia covered her face with both hands.

After a week of proper meals, she had gained a little weight, though her body was still quite thin. However, it was no longer to the point where she looked pitiful.
"Why are you embarrassed?"
"You were so cool just a moment ago."

"…Really?"
Through the gaps between her small fingers, a pair of black eyes peeked out. The maids exchanged glances in the air. For a brief moment, they seemed hesitant to speak.
"Well, to be honest, you were a little scary."

"But we really meant it when we said you were cool."
Leonia had been eerily cheerful, humming a tune as she skipped between the restrained guests. And behind her, Ferio had watched with satisfaction, his gaze exuding a quiet yet overwhelming intimidation toward the guests. It had been terrifying—but not in an unpleasant way.
The maids had worked in the Voreoti manor for years, and they had their own share of resilience. They, too, were far from ordinary by normal standards. After all, most people in the Voreoti household were like that.

They were Voreoti people.
"Look at this."
Leonia picked up a glass jar from the nightstand. Inside were strawberry milk-flavored candies that Ferio had given her. She opened the lid and dropped in the candy she had just received. The soft clink as it landed made the corners of her mouth twitch.

"One, two, three…"
Before she knew it, the candies in the jar had surpassed twenty.
Ferio had given her sweets even when she wasn’t being particularly charming.

"You've collected quite a lot."
Hugging the jar, Leonia nodded.