I Became the Male Lead’s Adopted Daughter-Chapter 249

I Became the Male Lead’s Adopted Daughter-Chapter 249

“Please take care of Ferio.”
Carnis made his request to Leonia.
“All of your family must return safely.”
At his sincere request, Leonia gave a small smile and nodded.
“I will.”
With that, she excused herself and was the first to leave Kasus Palace.
From behind, the Empress cracked a joke: “If you don’t come back safely, Olor ends here and now!”
‘I’d better hurry.’
Leonia quickened her pace.
The life of Emperor Subiteo had already been taken—she couldn’t let Olor slip away too.
As she stepped outside Kasus Palace, the Revoo Knights in white uniforms gave her a brief bow.
With her escort knights by her side, Leonia passed them and headed toward the location of the northern Gate.
“This way.”
Probo, who had memorized the path, took ⊛ Nоvеlιght ⊛ (Read the full story) the lead.
“Duke Voreoti.”
At that moment, someone called out to her.
A young man with silver hair in a pristine white uniform approached, slightly out of breath.
“You’re heading to the Gate, aren’t you?”
“That’s why I’m in a bit of a rush right now...”
“I know a shortcut.”
Saying the path he knew was quicker than the one they were taking, the silver-haired knight gestured for her to follow him.
“Can I trust you?”
Leonia asked sharply.
“You know I wouldn’t lie to you.”
The silver-haired knight spoke gently as he wrapped his hand protectively around the watch on his wrist.
“...Sir Levipes!”
Leonia gave a command to Meleis.
“I’ll go with this knight. You gather the Gladiago Knights remaining at the palace and wait for me at the northern Gate.”
“I’ll also call for the physician.”
Meleis, concerned about Varia’s condition upon her return, responded with tact.
“Thank you, unni.”
Leonia added with her usual friendly tone.
“This way.”
The silver-haired knight led the way. Leonia turned back from the direction they’d been walking and headed into a wooded shortcut.
“Was the path Probo guided us on wrong?”
Leonia looked around as the forest thickened.
“No, that path is correct as well.”
The knight explained that from the palace, that route was the most ‘proper’ one.
“But this one leads directly to the back of the Gate. It’s rough since it cuts through the forest, but it’s faster.”
“You know quite a bit, huh?”
“I didn’t live here for nothing.”
The silver-haired knight—Princess Scandia—replied, brushing aside branches in their path.
Sharp twigs fell to the ground where she stepped, making it easier for Leonia to follow behind.
“Have you been well?”
Leonia asked casually.
Princess Scandia seemed to ponder the question deeply before answering at last.
“I think I’ve been well.”
“If you’ve been well, then you’ve been well. What’s with the ‘I think’?”
Unimpressed by the vague answer, Leonia muttered gruffly.
The princess could practically see Leonia’s expression in her mind—pouting lips, narrowed eyes glaring at her back. She realized she had missed that sight.
But now wasn’t the time to stop walking.
“To be honest, yes. I’ve been well. My father and grandfather took good care of me.”
“Well, I’m glad to hear that.”
Leonia replied sincerely.
This time, the princess asked how Leonia had been.
“And the Duke—has he been well?”
“He’s been fine.”
Today aside, that answer somehow sounded like a curse.
Princess Scandia could clearly sense just how furious Leonia was.
“By the way... is it okay for you to be with me right now?”
Leonia suddenly grew concerned about Prince Chrisetos.
“Meridio will try to kill the Prince, you know?”
“My brother will be fine.”
In the prince’s palace were the finest Revoo Knights personally chosen by Empress Tigria.
“Besides, my grandfather and father are there too.”
“Ah, that explains why the Marquis of Hesperi was missing from the council room.”
Leonia feigned mild surprise. The Empress had seemed unusually calm during the entire meeting—now she suspected she had sent a few powerful knights to the prince’s quarters.
But she hadn’t expected Ibecks to be among them.
“My brother and father get along well.”
“Oh, really?”
That part was the most surprising to Leonia. According to the princess, the two now called each other ‘father’ and ‘son.’
‘Sir Ibecks must have a stomach of steel.’
Leonia scoffed inwardly.
But at the thought of Varia, who cherished her despite not being her biological child—and worse, being a child of Olor’s blood—Leonia immediately regretted her snide thoughts.
“...Family isn’t defined by blood alone.”
There were plenty of happy families not tied by blood.
‘Like mine.’
She and Ferio had originally been uncle and niece. Varia was a complete stranger by blood.
And yet the three of them cherished one another.
Leonia had never once doubted the love and care the two gave her. Nor did she doubt her own feelings for them.
On the other hand, there were many who were hurt or made miserable by so-called ‘family’ simply because of shared blood.
“That’s a wonderful family.”
Leonia said honestly.
But there was no response.
Just as she was about to feel a little sulky, she caught sight of the princess’s ears turning red beyond the curtain of her silver hair.
‘Ugh, if only this weren’t the situation.’
It was such a perfect moment to tease her—it made Leonia all the more disappointed.
“Here it is.”
The princess pointed to a spot beside the forest.
Because the royal family feared the Voreotis, they had kept this Gate completely hidden within the palace grounds. As a result, the northerners had never used it since the founding of the empire.
“They really went out of their way to hide it.”
Leonia examined the area around the Gate.
The Imperial Knights’ building was close by—clearly a strategic location for immediate response if anything went wrong.
‘If they were that scared of Voreoti, they should’ve just built the palace far away from the northern Gate.’
What were they, masochists?
Leonia grimaced at what might be a royal tradition of twisted tastes.
“May I come with you?”
Princess Scandia asked.
“No.”
Leonia answered instantly. The princess’s shoulders drooped at the blunt reply.
“Don’t misunderstand.”
Leonia tapped the princess on the arm and scolded her for sulking so cutely.
“Of course it’s better to go together than alone. I haven’t seen our knight’s skills myself, but I know you’re incredibly strong.”
“Then why...”
“I’m not refusing to take you.”
Leonia corrected her wording.
“I can’t take you.”
Chances were high her parents and Remus Olor were in the Northern Mountains.
And to reach that location, she needed to use this Gate to jump to the fifth Gate located within the mountain range.
“You know what?”
Leonia whispered playfully, as if revealing a secret.
“Actually...”
“There is no fifth Gate.”
The princess’s eyes widened. Even her eyelids blinked slowly in disbelief.
“...There’s no Gate?”
“Look over there.”
Leonia pointed at the Gate in front of them, and the princess followed her gaze.
“Usually, we go through two curved pillars like those, right?”
“All Gates in every region are shaped like that.”
“But the fifth Gate in the Northern Mountains has no shape at all.”
No pillars. No sign that pillars had ever been there.
All that existed was brutal cold, merciless winds, and monsters that devoured people.
“Ordinary people can’t even reach that place—and if they do, they freeze to death immediately.”
The fifth Gate was located near the summit of the Northern Mountains.
Even for the Gladiago Knights, the midpoint was their limit despite all preparations, proving that the area was simply uninhabitable.
“Of course, I’m an exception.”
To prove it, Leonia drew out a sliver of the Beast’s Fangs.
The air changed instantly as golden mist rose above her jet-black eyes.
Princess Scandia, encountering the power of the Fangs for the first time, was left speechless.
Even with just a tiny bit of that power—smaller than a baby’s incisor—she felt an overwhelming pressure as if her very life were being seized and crushed.
“...Understood.”
The princess fully realized she’d only be a hindrance if she followed.
Acknowledging it stung more than she expected.
“I always feel like I’m the one being helped.”
She had thought she might finally repay the kindness that had long weighed on her like a burden. That made it all the more disappointing.
‘...What did I even do for her?’
Leonia, on the other hand, could only recall teasing and poking fun at the princess.
The most she’d done was show slight friendliness knowing the silver-haired beauty would grow up into a muscular dreamboat someday.
Her conscience twinged for the first time in a while.
“Well, anyway!”
Leonia pushed that conscience aside and lifted the princess’s drooping lips with her fingers.
“I’ll be back soon, so be there to greet me, okay?”
She flashed a bright smile, adding, “You should make good use of that pretty face.”
“I’m not very pretty.”
“You are.”
If not for the current situation, Leonia would’ve loved to take Princess Scandia around and have fun with her.
She would’ve also enjoyed watching her steadily growing muscles.
Not that the princess seemed to think the same.
“You’re more beautiful, Duke.”
The princess said this earnestly, staring into Leonia’s eyes.
“...”
Leonia couldn’t say a word in return. Nor could she joke her way out of it.
“...I’ll be going now.”
Leaving only a curt goodbye, Leonia stepped through the Gate.
But Princess Scandia wasn’t sad at all.
With her hair tied high, the red nape of her neck and her ears were fully exposed—and utterly adorable.
***
“Damn you, Olor.”
The moment she stepped through the Gate, Leonia started cursing.
“The mood was so good!”
Charging up the steep Northern Mountains with fury, Leonia looked no different from a monster herself.
Even a vicious beast would probably roll over, exposing its belly and wagging its tail if it met her now.
“When I catch you, I’ll rip out every last hair on your body and shove it back in!”
Still ranting at the interruption of her almost-sweet moment, Leonia suddenly looked up.
She sensed a familiar aura near the summit.
‘Dad and Mom.’
The fierce look on her face softened at the thought of her parents.
‘And...’
Another presence—foreign, unsettling—brushed against her senses.
‘...Who is that?’
The baby beast within her raised its downy fur on end.
There was another Beast’s Fang.

.
!
Chapter 249