I Became the Male Lead’s Adopted Daughter-Chapter 247
The first thing Varia saw was the whitened fingers.
‘They’re frozen.’
She could tell at a glance.
Remus, who had endured the merciless cold of the Northern Mountains, was already like a block of ice.
His red hair was dusted with frost, as if he were prematurely gray, and the fingers pressed against the ground had lost all color, turned pale.
The exposed skin was cracked, even bleeding.
Around his nose, which barely exhaled air, and his trembling lips, ice crystals had formed.
“......”
Varia was so dumbfounded she couldn't even speak.
How could a human still be moving in such a state?
‘Ordinary people can’t even make it up the Northern Mountains.’
That was exactly what Ferio had said.
Even during monster hunts in winter, the knights of Voreoti only climbed halfway up before descending.
Only a Voreoti ~Nоvеl𝕚ght~ with the Fangs of the Beast could go higher than that.
“......”
Remus had finally reached the summit, but unlike when he’d first arrived at the Northern Mountains, he didn’t rejoice.
No—he physically couldn’t.
He was barely breathing, his entire body convulsing from the effort.
While he struggled, Varia quietly stepped aside. The lioness moved with her.
It stayed on guard, never relaxing its gaze on Remus. Varia gently stroked the lioness’s head in praise.
‘Is this his punishment?’
Varia tried to guess the will of the god who had brought Remus here.
Judging by what was happening now, Remus was bound to die even without anyone laying a hand on him.
Varia noticed the darkening of his pale fingertips.
A clear sign his nerves were beginning to die. No doubt his toes inside his shoes were in the same state.
And yet, Remus didn’t seem to feel the cold.
The frostbite had advanced so far that he couldn’t feel anything anymore.
That was serious—but what truly tormented him now was the thin air.
Cold could be ignored. But not air.
The rarefied oxygen at the mountaintop clawed at his life like the Fangs of the Beast, threatening to kill him with every breath.
‘So this is how he’s meant to die?’
Was this... divine will?
A punishment from a god?
“...This is it?”
Varia looked at the suffering Remus with hollow eyes.
“This can’t be it!”
She shouted.
“How is this punishment?!”
If there truly were a god, they should never have allowed Remus to go like this.
This wasn’t punishment—it was mercy.
Compared to the sins he’d committed and the pain he’d caused, Remus was closing his eyes far too peacefully.
“This bastard deserves to suffer more! And he just gets to die like this? Quietly, alone in the middle of nowhere?!”
Tears welled in Varia’s eyes. Her throat tightened with rage, and her vision grew hot. She pressed her palms against her eyes.
‘Don’t cry!’
What would crying do now?
She forced herself to calm down, breathing slowly.
‘...This can’t be the end.’
Once she regained her composure, Varia considered it again.
‘There must be a reason they brought him here.’
Otherwise, the lioness—who had been openly hostile toward Remus—would’ve already ripped his throat out.
According to Northern legends, the gods favored the Voreoti to such a degree that they granted them special powers.
Varia recalled something Leonia had once told her.
To the gods, the Voreoti were like “favorites”—the ones they loved the most.
‘...’
Still, Varia was a little skeptical of that idea.
Everything that had happened to the Voreoti—including what happened to Regina and Leonia—didn’t exactly scream divine blessing.
But the truth remained: the Voreoti stayed at the peak. And Remus, by serving the Imperial family, had committed the crime of targeting and disturbing the North protected by Voreoti.
So the idea that the gods would pity Remus or go easy on him was impossible.
‘Then what is it?’
She stared at the unconscious Remus and fell deep into thought again.
‘Why was he brought here?’
Her thoughts circled back to the beginning.
‘Could it be...’
Varia’s eyes narrowed as she looked beyond the summit toward the black plains.
‘They told us to bring him.’
The voice that had touched her ears had clearly said to bring Remus.
Judging by the Northern legends and everything she had experienced so far, the god had to be somewhere beyond that endless, pitch-black plain.
“Should I roll him down there?”
She asked the lioness. She thought she could manage that much.
But the lioness only twitched its ears and didn’t respond.
Varia felt deflated at the lack of reaction.
“...!”
Suddenly, she turned her head sharply.
Something was approaching—coming up the path she and the lioness had climbed.
It was a sensation unlike anything she had ever experienced.
But the strange thing was, the closer it came, the more familiar and comforting it felt.
The lioness began wagging its tail and looked in the same direction.
“Varia.”
Her name was called—and that broke the dam.
“Ferio!”
Her beloved husband—she had missed him so much.
“Let’s go home now.”
Varia threw her arms around him and clung tightly to his back. His familiar scent and warmth nearly made her burst into tears again.
“When we get home, you’re in so much trouble.”
“I will be! I’ll get scolded so bad!”
“You better be ready for Leo’s scolding too.”
“Sniff... yes!”
Even the threat of being scolded by their daughter made Varia nod fervently, sniffling.
“You sure are loud for someone who made everyone worry.”
Ferio responded bluntly.
But his eyes and hands, as they checked her, were infinitely gentle and careful.
He looked over her thoroughly—checking for injuries, pain, signs of fear or distress. He didn’t rest for a second.
“I’m so glad you’re safe.”
Only once he confirmed her safety did Ferio finally allow himself to breathe.
“I’m really sorry...”
Varia avoided his gaze for a moment, then looked back at him and apologized.
“I was too careless. Is everyone else okay?”
“The guards? They’ll be dead when I’m done with them. The children who were taken hostage are all safe.”
“What about Leo?”
“Our unfilial daughter stole my title and banished her father to the North.”
“...What?”
Varia’s eyes widened at Ferio’s abrupt summary.
“...Oh.”
But when she noticed the insignia missing from Ferio’s coat—he’d worn it when he left—and remembered that the noble council was meeting today, she pieced things together.
“So you’re the former Duke now?”
“Retired, so I plan to enjoy myself.”
Ferio gave a carefree smile, proud of the daughter who’d given him this break.
“But that one...”
The moment he saw Remus collapsed in the snow, his expression twisted into a scowl.
“He’s still alive?”
Ferio nudged Remus with his boot. He’d have to throw these boots out later.
He inspected the barely breathing man.
Remus was stiff like a frozen fish. His fingers, now snow-white, were turning noticeably darker.
His lips were frozen and vividly blue.
‘He’ll die on his own.’
Ferio gave a quick once-over and concluded Remus was on the brink.
But something nagged at him.
“How the hell did this guy even crawl up here?”
He asked Varia.
“I want to know that too. I was told to bring him up here, so I did, but...”
Varia explained what she’d experienced.
A voice telling her not to kill Remus.
The lioness that had led her here.
And how Remus had somehow made it on his own.
“He doesn’t seem to be able to see this child.”
“......”
“He’s truly kind and reliable. Honestly, if it weren’t for this child, I...”
“Varia.”
Ferio cut her off, his expression dark.
“Where exactly is this lioness?”
“She’s right here...”
Varia pointed to the space just below her legs. But her voice trailed off.
She looked at Ferio with disbelief. He gave a small nod.
“I don’t see anything.”
From the moment he’d arrived, there had been nothing beside Varia.
“But she’s really right here!”
Varia knelt and hugged the lioness. It rubbed its face affectionately against hers.
“I believe you.”
Ferio had clearly seen Varia’s cheek being pressed.
“It doesn’t seem dangerous.”
“I don’t think so either. She’s so sweet...”
“That lioness probably came from back there.”
“Back...”
Varia’s eyes shifted to the black plain.
“...You mean, the god?”
She looked again at the lioness. Its sleek, shiny black fur was just as dark and beautiful as Ferio’s hair.
Maybe it was sent by the god from that place.
Or maybe... it was the god.
“That child is not a god.”
Ferio was the first to reject the idea. His gaze was fixed on the empty space where Varia claimed the lioness sat.
Still, he felt nothing.
“Anyway, this is the real issue right now.”
He turned back to Remus and gave him another nudge with his boot.
“Still not dead.”
“......”
“At this point, maybe the god’s keeping him alive on purpose.”
“You think so too?”
Varia frowned.
“Maybe they want to kill him themselves.”
If that was true, then the god beyond the mountains was a cruel one, Ferio muttered.
“They’ve watched everything this whole time—and now they decide to hand down punishment?”
It should be Voreoti delivering that punishment.
“Ferio...”
“No need to care what some damn god thinks. If they wanted justice, they should’ve sent down lightning ages ago.”
Ferio roughly grabbed the collar of Remus’s coat.
Remus’s upper body was lifted without resistance. He couldn’t even groan.
“Let’s just go b—”
Ferio froze.
Then he spun around.
“What’s with this all of a sudden? Huh? Are you saying we can’t leave?”
Varia asked, still hugging the lioness’s neck. The lioness tugged harder on Ferio’s coat as if to say yes.
“Ferio, I don’t think we can take him.”
“......”
“But if we stay here too long, Leo will worry.”
“...Huh?”
Just as Varia was trying to figure out what to do, Ferio muttered something while looking at the lioness.
“You... you see it?”
But instead of answering, he said something completely unexpected.
“...Regina?”
Chapter 247
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