I Became the Male Lead’s Adopted Daughter-Chapter 258

I Became the Male Lead’s Adopted Daughter-Chapter 258

“I’m Ferio Voreoti’s daughter.”
Leonia remembered her beginning clearly.
The snow-covered garden, and herself, calling Ferio “Dad” for the first time.
Ferio, who had held that ‘daughter’ in a tight embrace and waited patiently until her tears stopped.
Together, they had left their footprints in that white garden, walking hand in hand, matching each other’s pace.
That was the moment Leonia took her very first step into the world.
“Dad acknowledged me, and because of that, I was able to live as myself.”
“You don’t feel sorry at all?”
“I always do.”
How could she not?
Leonia gave a sorrowful smile.
The more her trust and love for Ferio grew, the more her feelings of guilt grew just as much.
“He went through so much trouble raising someone like me.”
“So you were aware of that.......”
“I know I’ve got a sharp personality and eccentric tastes.”
That had been true even when she lived in another world. She’d even earned a monstrous nickname for drawing grotesque illustrations back then.
But Leonia had no desire to hide or fake who she was.
“We’re family.”
Because they were family, she wanted to show her truest self even more. She hoped he would understand her, and Ferio truly cherished and loved his child.
“I want to be a daughter my dad can be proud of.”
That was the biggest reason Leonia wanted to become the Duke of Voreoti.
“Thanks to Dad, I came to love the North, and I needed the power to protect the people I hold dear. That’s why I wanted to become Duke.”
“Then what if Ferio decides not to pass it down to you?”
The god asked, testing her.
“What if the baby on this ship is born and Ferio names that child his heir instead?”
“Then I’d give up.”
Leonia answered without hesitation.
“If that’s Dad’s decision.”
“So if Ferio told you to die, you would?”
“No, I wouldn’t go that far.”
But she said she could disappear to somewhere out of sight.
“Dad would never change his heir without a reason.”
“So you think there would definitely be a reason?”
“He’s the smartest and wisest person I know.”
So she would fully understand and accept it—Leonia declared her boundless faith in Ferio with confidence.
“Even if I don’t become heir, I’ll just live it up as a rich bum.”
She had plenty of wealth saved up from the watch business, and her first dream had always been to become a wealthy freeloader, so it was a great opportunity—she grinned broadly.
“Of course, I love Mom too!”
“You don’t resent her because she’s pregnant with your sibling?”
“I’m too amazing for that.”
Leonia spoke arrogantly.
The little beast had no intention of giving up her place as the heir so easily.
“So you, spit out Remus and get lost.”
“But pain-wise, the Gate is the best, though......”
The god pouted, grumbling like a sulky child.
“You guys could never replicate that pain.”
“What a useless worry.”
Leonia dismissed it as nonsense.
“If you can’t replicate the pain, then work hard until you can.”
Besides, she couldn’t allow only Remus to suffer.
Leonia intended to use Remus to deliver the most horrific pain imaginable to the former Viscount Olor as well.
“Wow......”
The god looked at her with genuine horror.
“So.”
Leonia whispered into the god’s ear.
“Get lost.”
Each syllable was spat out, and in the little beast’s black eyes, all the rage she had accumulated rippled like a storm.
“Don’t ever show your face to our family again. If you dare to piss me off again with some stunt like this, I’ll rip you to pieces, no matter what it takes.”
The god stared blankly at Leonia.
“You’re kind of... scary?”
It seemed he meant it. He quietly leaned back.
“The next Voreoti really might be someone even gods can’t handle.”
“So arrogant and shameless.”
“Well, that’s because I’m my parents’ daughter.”
Leonia boasted.
“......Fine.”
At last, the god raised his hands in surrender.
“I’ll give you the Red Swans.”
“Don’t give them to me dead! I want them alive and kicking!”
“Such a stickler.”
The god agreed to return them when the side effect of ‘existential dissonance’ from the Gate had worn off.
“Maybe my biggest mistake was turning you into a Voreoti.”
“Well, who told you to mess with the Voreotis?”
“Why did Mom and Dad even assign me this job.......”
Muttering to himself, the god eventually gave a lopsided smile and waved his hand. He was leaving.
Leonia raised both her middle fingers to wave him off.
“When I disappear, take good care of your mom’s body. I’m going to sleep.”
“You’re a nuisance to the very end.”
“Well, see you when you die.”
“If we meet again in death, you better hope I don’t kill you.”
Even though she didn’t want to see the gods ever again, the kind-hearted little beast still left room for a next time.
“And take care of things with Dad.”
With those parting words, the god closed his eyes.
“Oh dear, oh dear.”
Once the god left, Varia collapsed where she was.
Leonia, who caught her safely, let out a soft sigh of relief and gently laid Varia on the bed.
‘She’s asleep.’
Leonia smoothed Varia’s hair.
‘Mom went through so much.’
To think she was used by the god three times just because she was destined to be the Voreoti’s mate—such a life was far too pitiful and unfair to call it a protagonist’s trial.
‘You endured well.’
With admiration, Leonia carefully adjusted Varia’s bedding.
“Mom really is an amazing person.”
She softly pressed her lips to Varia’s sleeping forehead.
It didn’t even make a sound—this quiet kiss was full of a child’s heartfelt respect for her mother.
“Our little sibling too.”
Leonia looked down at Varia’s still-flat stomach and spoke.
“Grow up healthy and strong.”
Her gaze was filled with warmth as she looked at the belly that would soon begin to swell.
Leonia was confident she could give her unborn sibling genuine love.
“How about ‘Muscle’ as the prenatal name?”
She whispered the nickname she had secretly picked out.
“When you’re born, I’ll teach you all kinds of fun things. There are lots of things in the world you need to enjoy in secret, and you’ve got to learn them from your elders.”
Like muscle, or same-sex coupling.
“I’ll talk to you every day from now on.”
She stamped a kiss on her palm, blew it softly, and carefully left the room. Of course, she didn’t forget to turn off the light.
“Mmmrrrgh...!”
Stretching wide, Leonia went straight to her own room next door.
‘First, I need to talk to Dad about Remus...’
The god would probably dump Remus through the northern Gate in the imperial palace. But there was a chance he’d use the northern Gate in their region.
‘It’d be better if he threw him this way.’
That way, she could torment him a little on the road to the North.
Leonia already had a mountain of torture methods piled as high as the Northern Mountains in her mind.
She was happily considering where to start when—
“Dad!”
Ferio was waiting by her door. He beckoned her slowly, calling her over.
“Did your talk with Her Majesty go well?”
Leonia ran up and grinned, bouncing with excitement.
“You got all the council agendas done, right? Nothing tricky left, right? Knew it—I’m the best, huh?”
“......If I compliment you now, you’ll throw a fit asking for a title, won’t you.”
Ferio stared silently at his chattering daughter.
Then he raised his hand and gently patted her head. Leonia puffed out her chest in pride, delighted by the praise.
Ferio couldn’t help but let out a soft chuckle at the sight.
“But Dad.”
Leonia looked at him with a curious gaze.
“Did something happen?”
“Why?”
“You just seem... a little different than usual.”
“I am.”
Ferio replied that today had been filled with calamities that a normal person wouldn’t experience even once in a lifetime.
“Well, I’m a little tired too.”
On top of that, she’d just learned something overwhelming from a god—no wonder she was exhausted.
Leonia entered the room, and Ferio followed.
The guest room the Empress had prepared was structured exactly like the one where Varia was sleeping. Only the decor was slightly fancier.
“You’re not going to see Mom?”
Leonia sat down on a sofa by the window. It was a bit surprising that that doting fool wasn’t rushing to see Varia.
“She just fell asleep. I don’t want to wake her.”
Ferio sat across from her. Knowing that someone who must have been more tired than anyone else had just fallen asleep, he had no intention of disturbing her even by accident.
“True. She was sleeping deeply.”
“You tucked the blanket in well?”
“Of course! Oh, and I greeted the baby too!”
“And what did you say the name was again?”
“Huh? What name?”
Ferio leaned back against the sofa. His dark eyes blinked slowly as he looked at the girl sitting across from him.
“What’s the prenatal name for your sibling?”
“It sounds strong and sturdy, isn’t that good?”
Leonia scratched her ear with her pinky as if to say “Don’t nag me.”
“Prenatal names are supposed to be a little weird......”
She was about to proudly explain the meaning behind the name, but her voice trailed off.
At the same time, she gasped and froze. Her gaze shot upward in a panic—and there he was, Ferio, staring at her just like always.
“......Huh?”
Her hand, which had been resting on the table, fell limp to her side.
“H-How did you......!”
A chill of dread swept over her, like her heart had dropped straight through her chest.
No one knew she’d named the baby “Muscle.” That was something Leonia had kept entirely to herself.
Ever since she learned of Varia’s pregnancy, she’d enjoyed thinking about that name every night before bed, along with all the games they would play.
So if Ferio knew...
It meant he had heard the conversation she had just had with the god through Varia.
“......”
Leonia felt as if the ground beneath her had collapsed. The solid world she’d built crumbled and rushed toward the little beast.
‘He heard.’
He found out.
‘He knows my secret......!’
The moment she realized that, Leonia couldn’t even look at Ferio anymore.
Her face turned pale as despair and fear cast shadows over it.
“......Just as you imagined.”
Ferio finally spoke, watching her.
Leonia, unable to meet his gaze, had no idea what kind of look he was giving her.
“I heard it.”
Ah... Leonia squeezed her eyes shut, her face etched with despair.
Her hands, now resting on her lap, began to tremble.
“I didn’t mean ✧ NоvеIight ✧ (Original source) to eavesdrop.”
Ferio’s voice was more careful and gentle than ever. But flustered as she was, Leonia didn’t notice the shift.
“I thought you and Varia were fighting.”
“......”
“Then I remembered—you’d never do that to her.”
“T-That’s because the god......”
“I know.”
Because he heard it.
Ferio reaffirmed what he had learned.
“No wonder something felt off.”
Tap, tap.
Ferio’s fingers slowly tapped the table. The sound cut through the heavy, suffocating silence and rang sharply in Leonia’s ears.
“So that’s why my daughter is more special and extraordinary than anyone else.”
“......What?”
Leonia reflexively raised her head at his unexpected words.
And there he was—Ferio, looking at her with the same eyes as always.
Gentle. Kind.
Eyes that said he believed in her more than anyone else.
The eyes of the “Dad” who had always been watching over her.

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Chapter 258