I Became the Male Lead’s Adopted Daughter

After the tea party ended—
As promised, Ferio once again rode the carriage himself to pick up Leonia and Varia.

This time as well, the three of them put on their usual show of affectionate harmony, each hiding their own tangled feelings behind it.
The carriage carrying all three left the Imperial Palace at once.
And just like before, the three of them huddled closely together inside the spacious carriage.

‘It’s suffocating…!’
Leonia, squeezed between them, silently grumbled in frustration.
“Is Her Majesty the Empress doing well?”

Ferio asked.
“She told me to let you know the noble council will be starting soon.”
Leonia flapped her shoulders in annoyance as she passed on the message she had received from Empress Tigria.

Only then did Ferio and Varia subtly shift away from her.
But before long, they were once again glued to her sides.
“Can I sit up front?”

“What if the carriage overturns?”
“You can’t be alone.”
Once again, both Ferio and Varia stopped her in unison.

“Let me be alone…!”
Leonia desperately wished for a rebellious teenage phase.
“But then, does that mean...”

Varia cautiously brought up the earlier conversation.
“They’re really holding a noble council?”
“They probably are.”
“So they’re finally making their move.”

Varia’s gaze, calm and composed, wavered slightly.
Now the Imperial family was making its move toward the North—and it would begin with this upcoming noble council.
Varia, who had reviewed the newly revised list of council members, couldn’t help but worry.

The seats that had remained vacant for years were now filled by Olor and Erbanu.
Both had been recommended by the Imperial family, and they would certainly act in accordance with the Emperor’s wishes.
Even the Voreoti name might not be enough to stop them.

“...Miss Varia.”
Tap.
“What has you thinking so deeply?”

Ferio gently smoothed out the furrow between Varia’s brows with his finger. Her mood, which had sunk into gloom, suddenly felt lighter—like clouds floating up into the sky.
“We’ll win anyway.”
Varia slowly nodded. The worry she had just felt disappeared without a trace, buried beneath an inky black certainty.

“So just think of peaceful things.”
“Peaceful things…?”
“Like what to eat for dinner tonight.”

Like preparing winter clothes for the trip to the North.
Like the birds that came to visit the windowsill in the morning.
Like the snacks she would share with Leonia.

The ridiculous list flowed from Ferio’s mouth without a hint of shame. Varia couldn’t help but let a quiet smile lift the corners of her lips.
“…I’m still sitting right here, you know.”
These crazy adults, seriously.

Leonia glared sharply at Ferio and Varia, who had completely forgotten her existence and were now radiating an ambiguous atmosphere.
Only then did the two adults avert their eyes and awkwardly shift away.
‘Ugh, so annoying.’

The poor little beast cub, caught between a couple, suddenly remembered the bitter expression Varia had worn earlier that had flipped her lungs inside out.
“By the way, Dad.”
As a form of petty revenge, she blurted out a revelation.

“Earlier, Varia unni acted like she was going to reject your confession.”
“Young lady!”
“What?”

Varia flailed in panic, while Ferio stared at her in disbelief.
“She thought you were in love with my biological mother.”
Leonia, who couldn’t stand dragging things out, exposed everything in one breath.

“You think I loved Regina?”
At the mention of that woman’s name, Varia’s expression darkened again.
They weren’t even actually dating, and yet just hearing Regina’s name come out of his mouth made her mood sink again.

“Why would I like her?”
Especially someone he grew up with like a sibling under the same roof.
Ferio looked genuinely disgusted.

He furrowed his brow as if the mere thought was revolting.
“S-Sibling?”
Varia’s eyes grew wide with disbelief.

“But she was a commoner woman you were in love with!”
“Who said that?”
Ferio shot back, asking where she’d heard such nonsense.

“You’re the one who spread that rumor.”
Leonia gave him a deadpan look, disappointed he didn’t even remember.
Ferio coughed awkwardly and quietly looked away.

“Varia unni.”
In the end, Leonia stepped in.
“I’m not my dad’s biological daughter.”

The little beast cub revealed her own secret for the sake of her dad’s love life.
‘There’s no daughter in the world as filial as me.’
As she gently pushed Varia’s slack jaw shut, Leonia admired her own noble sacrifice and devotion.

Surely, there was no child like her anywhere in the world.
Smiling brightly at that thought, Leonia turned to Ferio.
“…There really is no kid like you.”

Ferio echoed her sentiment, though with a very different meaning, and sighed deeply.
***
That night—

Ferio and Leonia told Varia their secret.
Varia’s expression changed rapidly as she listened to the hidden truth.
When she heard that Regina had eloped with a mysterious wandering knight, her face filled with concern. But when she learned that Ferio and Leonia had met at the orphanage, she wept with joy.

Then, her eyes blazed in fury at the cruelty of the orphanage staff.
When she learned that “Teacher Connie” was actually Saura in disguise, her face turned pale with fear.
But what shocked Varia the most—

Was the true identity of the wandering knight who had supposedly fled with Regina.
“R-Remus Olor…?”
Varia was so stunned that she could barely speak.

“For now, let’s call him the sperm donor.”
Even Leonia didn’t feel good about saying it.
Especially since she kept remembering Remus’s fake kindness at the banquet. Her gut boiled with irritation.

If she ever caught him, she wanted to snap his neck.
“Sperm donor, my ass.”
He’s just a damn criminal.

Ferio corrected the term bluntly.
“The best thing that bastard ever did was not knowing you exist.”
“I want to rip out a faucet and shove it down his throat.”

“Don’t even think about touching something that filthy.”
Ferio frowned deeply.
Suppressing the urge to take out his handkerchief and wipe the child’s hands, he calmly taught her some great torture methods.

“Ooooh!”
Leonia’s eyes sparkled.
“Dad, you’re so smart!”

“Why are you surprised by something so obvious?”
“Alright! I’ll start learning how to fillet someone with a sword!”
Just as Leonia was vowing to master a new deadly skill—

“Why are you two so calm?!”
Varia stared at the father and daughter with disbelief.
The two people most involved in this weren’t just calm—they were practically serene.

Meanwhile, Varia looked as if she herself had lived through the trauma.
Her voice, thick with unshed tears, came out like it had been squeezed from her throat.
“Doesn’t this make you angry?”

Varia was furious as if it were her own story.
Her brows were furrowed, tears welling in her eyes, her lips trembling with rage.
Her fists clenched on the table until they turned white.

‘I want to kill him…!’
A murderous urge welled up in Varia.
Even when she had died and returned to the past, even when she met the family that had betrayed her and the very man who stabbed her—Remus—she hadn’t felt it quite like this.

She had wanted him dead, sure.
But not like this. Not by her own hand.
But now… the rage was real.

If Remus were in front of her now, she would’ve grabbed that damned Red Swan by the throat and ended him.
She was confident she could watch with joy as his red eyes rolled back.
And then, she wanted to chop up the corpse and scatter it into the southern sea so no ❖ Nоvеl𝚒ght ❖ (Exclusive on Nоvеl𝚒ght) one could ever find it.

“H-How… how can a person…!”
Varia screamed.
Remus Olor had committed an unforgivable crime.

He deceived people’s hearts. He abandoned the woman he claimed to love. And the child born from that was thrown into a living hell.
“How can a person do such a thing!”
“Because he isn’t a person.”

Ferio answered cleanly.
His large hand wrapped around Varia’s trembling fist.
“Thank you for getting angry on my daughter’s behalf.”

Only then did Varia’s grip loosen.
Leonia also rose and scurried over to Varia, wrapping her arms around her tightly.
“Thank you for getting mad, unni.”

Leonia meant it from the bottom of her heart. It had been a long time since she felt such a deep, warm emotion.
Just as she had once worried for Varia, Varia had gotten angry and worried for her in return.
“I’m okay now.”

Of course, she wasn’t completely okay. She’d still lost control of her emotions and snapped when she saw Remus Olor at the banquet.
But it was better now—far better than before.
‘I’m sorry, Dad!’

When she had first learned the truth about her origins, young Leonia had cried like her world was ending.
‘The Voreoti name is tainted!’
It had taken so much time and effort just to reach the point where she could recall that moment without breaking down.

Ferio had suffered just as much watching her from the side.
But father and daughter had lifted each other up.
“I’m Dad’s daughter, so that stuff doesn’t matter.”

There were many kinds of families in this world.
And among them, the beastly father and daughter were perhaps the most unique, the most strange—but also the strongest, most trusting kind of “real” family.
Leonia was happy.

The three of them held each other’s hands and embraced for a long time.
It was Ferio who moved first.
He checked Leonia’s face. There wasn’t a single mark of pain. Relieved, he then turned to Varia.

She, too, looked calmer than before.
“Miss Varia.”
Ferio spoke.

“May I make that confession again, the one from before?”
Varia blinked rapidly at the sudden words. But then she quickly nodded.
“I was a bit hasty back then.”

Looking back now, that confession had been far too emotional. Ferio realized how flawed it had been.
“My feelings for you contain not a single lie.”
Though their time together had been short, it had been more than enough for their hearts to be etched with each other.

Ferio was certain that his affection would never waver.
“But I have Leonia.”
If both Leonia and Varia were in danger at the same time, Ferio would save Leonia first—without hesitation.

“My love for her is greater than my love for you.”
“Dad…!”
Leonia shook her head.

“Don’t say that! Don’t use me as an excuse! Don’t say that because of me…”
“No.”
Ferio cut her off.

There was only one reason he mentioned Leonia before confessing again.
“I’m this wild child’s father.”