I Became the Male Lead’s Adopted Daughter

The fire crackled softly in the fireplace.

“Maybe it’s better if I don’t tell you.”
Ferio, sitting in front of the hearth, spoke while poking at the flames with the fire iron.
Most parents would probably try to hide cruel truths from their children.

Ferio had recognized that fact early on.
But Leonia wasn’t just any child—she was directly involved.
No matter how young she was, Ferio decided it wasn’t right to hide the truth from her.

“Dad, before that…”
Leonia called out weakly.
“…It’s hot!”

Bundled up in three layers of blankets on top of her indoor cloak, Leonia’s cheeks were bright red.
“I’m gonna roast to death!”
“Better than freezing,” Ferio replied flatly.

“You really need to learn moderation!”
They finally compromised—just one blanket.
“…Where should I start.”

At last, Ferio opened his mouth.
The beginning was with Connie’s true identity.
“You already know now, but that name was fake.”

Leonia knew that much from what had happened the day before. If she could, she would’ve ripped her brain out and scrubbed it clean to erase that disgusting name.
“Her real name is Saura Perdicus.”
But her identity had been officially listed as dead a long time ago.
“D-Declared dead?”

Leonia was stunned, and Ferio explained a bit more.
“She was probably in that kind of business.”
“What kind of business…?”

“Bodyguard, infiltrator, something like that.”
Ferio gave a somewhat tame example, but it was bullshit.
'That bitch lasted so long on that confession drug...'

The confession drug gifted by Marquis Ortio was basically poison.
The instructions that came with it even recommended diluting it in distilled water before use.
Ferio didn’t dilute shit. He fed it to Saura straight from the bottle. Whether she died mid-confession or not, he didn’t care.

But Saura had stayed lucid for almost half a day.
“…An assassin or a spy.”
Leonia murmured, echoing Ferio’s thoughts.

“That woman, that Saura, she must’ve done work like that.”
That crazed look she’d had yesterday wasn’t something you’d see in a normal person.
There was something chilling and reeking of blood in her, something that only someone who lived risking their life—an assassin, a spy—could have.

Maybe that’s why her identity had been wiped.
“Then what about the other teachers?”
Leonia thought of the director and the other staff who’d been dragged to the estate.

“Not them,” Ferio said.
The other adults at the orphanage were trash who’d been trafficking children even before Leonia got there.
But Saura was in a different league entirely.

“She was the one really running things.”
It was because of her that the human trafficking group had even bothered disguising themselves as an orphanage. She was the first to suggest selling the kids to pimps.
“…”

Leonia hugged her doll tightly, her arms trembling.
She tried to stay calm, but she couldn’t stop the storm inside her.
The betrayal burned, and the emptiness it left wasn’t going away.

It hurt more because she’d trusted her.
“And the orphanage you stayed at.”
Ferio waited until he saw she was a little calmer before continuing.

“It was on the outskirts of the Western Region.”
“The West?”
“One of the Western nobles involved in that monster trafficking scandal ruled that area.”

Leonia’s eyes widened.
Her head felt like it was splitting.
“Dad, hold on a sec.”

She needed time to process.
'So the orphanage I was in… it was in the West…'
The orphanage was in the Western Region.

And the noble ruling that area had been involved in the attempted monster trafficking incident.
That scandal was something the Olor family had carried out in secret, with the Emperor’s silent approval and backing.
A noble tied to the Olor family.

'The Beautiful Swan.'
The identity of that wandering knight Saura had confessed about, half out of her mind.
“So it really is…”

Leonia clenched her fists.
The little beast, thick-skinned and proud of her twisted tastes, was trembling with fury.
It was time to face the truth she’d tried to ignore.

“That wandering knight bastard is…!”
“Remus.”
Ferio grasped her hand firmly.

“Remus Olor.”
Even Ferio, the great Ferio, could barely force that name out without gagging.
And when Leonia heard it, she looked like someone who’d been forced to swallow poison. She felt like she was falling straight into hell.

'That vile piece of shit.'
The moment she heard his name, she remembered everything the original story said about him.
Remus Olor.

The eldest son of the Olor family, brother to Consort Usia.
And a piece of garbage just as despicable as Emperor Subiteo himself.
Remus did things that had no place in an all-ages novel, treating them like hobbies.

Just thinking about them made your mouth rot.
He was engaged to Lota, the second daughter of the Erbanu family.
'…He killed Varia.'

He murdered the heroine.
In fact, Remus Olor was the real starting point of the original Black Beast’s Varia. The story began with him killing Varia.
Leonia’s expression darkened like rotting flesh.

“If you need to puke, go ahead.”
Ferio’s hand gently stroked Leonia’s back, his face uncharacteristically showing emotion.
It was painful to watch her force herself to swallow such a brutal truth.

“…I’m not going to.”
Luckily, Leonia managed to hold it down.
In fact, she felt a lot calmer than she had yesterday when she’d learned what Saura really was.

“I already knew my real dad was trash.”
Leonia had cursed her birth father from the start.
She’d already figured out that bastard probably knocked up Regina and bailed.

“I thought he was just trash, but he’s top-tier fucking trash. That’s what got me.”
That was the real problem.
“…This is seriously pissing me off!”

Leonia kicked into the air, full of genuine rage. She almost toppled backward, but Ferio caught her with his arm.
“What the hell did I ever do to deserve this?!”
Once she started venting, she couldn’t stop.

“Ugh! Ughhh!”
She ended up rolling on the floor, totally done.
“Aaaagh!”

This translation is the intellectual property of .
Then she let out a scream that meant nothing at all.
But no matter how much she thrashed, the horrific truth in front of her didn’t run away or disappear.

“What the hell is this?! What is this?!”
The injustice she couldn’t shake off finally turned into tears.
Leonia sobbed loudly.

“Waaah!”
The tears welled up and rolled down her round cheeks, dropping in fat, heavy beads.
“I’m sorry, Dad!”

And she apologized.
“I’ve dirtied the Voreoti name!”
She collapsed to the floor, face down. Her ragged, sobbing breaths and shaking shoulders showed no sign of stopping.

It was a cry like she’d lost the whole world.
Leonia had never cared much about the circumstances of her birth.
But when she learned that she, too, carried Voreoti blood, she had secretly felt proud.

‘I’m a Voreoti.’
Later on, she grew to love the house enough to call herself a Voreoti.
But the moment she learned that disgusting blood flowed in her veins, fear crashed over her.

She couldn’t bear to look at Ferio anymore.
“I’m sorry! I’m so sorry!”
Leonia wailed, her voice breaking.

“Stupid girl.”
Ferio, who had been watching silently, let out a crushed voice.
It sounded like the cry of a wounded beast.

“I told you before, didn’t I?”
Ferio lifted the tightly curled-up child into his arms.
Placing her on his knee, he forced her to raise her face.

Her flushed face was a total mess. It was like she’d emptied every fluid her body could produce.
Even her snot had puffed up like a soap bubble.
Ferio stared at her for a long moment, then finally couldn’t hold back and muttered,

“…You look really ugly.”
“Waaah!”
Already devastated, Leonia screamed even louder.

Ferio, a beat too late, tried to comfort her. Luckily, she seemed to be getting tired, her sobs gradually fading.
Though her voice was hoarse and scratchy from crying.
“Leo.”

After making sure she’d calmed down, Ferio pulled her closer and spoke.
“You don’t ever need to worry about who you are.”
She had been deeply hurt before by a tutor’s sneering remark.

And even back then, Ferio had told her the exact same thing.
“Leo, you’re just my daughter.”
“Hic… hngh…”

“There’s only that one fact between us.”
“But… but my real father…”
“Are you seriously going to keep calling that bastard your ‘real father’?”

Ferio’s face turned stern.
His furrowed brow made it clear just how much he hated hearing that word.
“I’m your father.”

He said it firmly.
Like he was daring her to never forget it.
“You, of all people, are never allowed to deny that.”

“D-Dad…”
Leonia called him without thinking. It came out as naturally as breathing, but even so, Ferio looked visibly relieved.
“Don’t let other people shake you.”

Illegitimate. Orphanage kid.
And now, the horrifying fact that her biological father was the Olor heir.
None of that was something Leonia had chosen.

They were just things forced on her at birth, or thrown at her by vile adults.
“We’re family.”
But “family” was something Leonia had chosen for herself, something she had built.

It was something precious she and Ferio had made together.
No matter what anyone said, it was an unshakable truth.
Because of her dad, Leonia had taken her first real step into the world, and because of his daughter, Ferio had grown into a better man.

“If you forget again, you’ll be in trouble.”
Ferio clicked his tongue ❀ Nоvеlігht ❀ (Don’t copy, read here) and wiped her tear-streaked face with his sleeve.
The dirtier his sleeve got, the cleaner Leonia’s face became.

But then, more tears welled up again, fat and heavy.
“Daaaad…”
Leonia gripped Ferio’s clothes tightly.

Her soft, sorrowful sobs started again and didn’t stop until she was completely worn out and fell asleep. Ferio kept silently stroking her back the whole time.
Even after she’d dozed off, Ferio sat there for a long while, holding her.
‘Olor…’

His fingers, still resting on her back, began tapping rapidly.
In his half-lidded black eyes, the firelight flickered.
The blood-red gleam in his gaze looked like it was ready to crush the necks of the Red Swans.

‘They dared touch Voreoti.’
It wasn’t enough that they’d snuck into the North, killed Regina, and left Leonia with such a terrible wound.
Compared to that, stealing and selling monsters was child’s play.

This wasn’t something that could be settled by just sweeping up dust or hunting some arrogant beast.
After a moment, Ferio sighed and closed his eyes, bored.
The red in his black eyes faded, and he lay down on the sofa with Leonia still in his arms.

“Nngh…”
Leonia let out a small whimper.
Even with her face buried in her favorite spot—her dad’s chest—she didn’t look happy at all.

She was tired, and so was her dad.
And like that, the father and daughter fell into an early afternoon nap.