I Became the Male Lead’s Adopted Daughter

Leonia was absolutely certain—swearing on her own perverted tastes.
Those two no longer just liked each other as people. They were starting to see each other as a man and a woman.

‘So why the hell don’t they realize it?!’
The only ones oblivious to this crucial development were the two directly involved.
‘Stop acting like you're the protagonists of a damn novel!’

The original plot had already gone completely off the rails, so why did those typical romantic tropes have to rear their heads at the most important moment?
‘Damn that Northern Duke…!’
Ferio was obviously aware of Varia. But he didn’t realize it himself.

Being emotionally clueless toward someone he liked was the classic Northern Duke stereotype.
And Varia was no different.
Needlessly self-deprecating and trying way too hard to ignore her feelings—she was a textbook female lead.

Granted, it looked like Varia really hadn’t realized her feelings yet.
Maybe she still only saw Ferio not as a man, but as a pile of muscles.
‘I shouldn't have taught her about muscles!’

Leonia genuinely regretted it.
“Miss, are you alright?”
Varia asked, concerned. Leonia looked angry, like something had gone wrong and she was anxious about it.

Either way, she seemed… off.
“…I’m going to my room.”
After raising a ruckus on her own, Leonia suddenly announced.

“I’m tired. I need to go sleep.”
She really was exhausted.
“Oh, then I’ll walk you—”
“No. Just stay here.”

Leonia interrupted and hugged Varia tightly.
“See you later.”
“Please rest well.”

“It’s not like I’m going far.”
They were in the same house anyway. Leonia chuckled and left the room.
A quiet stillness settled over the room that had just moments ago been a whirlwind.

Left alone, Varia stared at the closed door for a few seconds, then returned to her seat.
On the table were the tea she had shared with Leonia and the sketchbook of Ferio’s muscles. It was still open, with a drawing of him on display.
The joyful moment was frozen in time.

And somehow, that made Varia a little sad.
‘She left this behind.’
She gazed down at the sketchbook.

Her dull pink hair tilted faintly to the left.
“…Was that a warning?”
She was still trying to make sense of Leonia’s emotional rollercoaster from earlier.

But she could guess the general message.
‘It probably meant I shouldn’t be getting too close to the Duke.’
Sighing so deeply it felt like the floor would crack, Varia slumped in her seat. There was a lot she felt guilty about—especially how she’d behaved at the banquet.

She had been completely enchanted by Ferio that night.
To someone like Varia, who was hopelessly weak to men, that level of attraction was practically a direct hit.
The usually cool-headed watchdog of the treasury had turned into a drooling puppy in front of a juicy steak.

‘Can’t blame her for being disappointed.’
Varia figured Leonia must have felt let down.
Sure, she often jokingly called Varia “Mom,” but that was just a child’s way of expressing longing for a mother figure.

She probably never really meant it as a serious request to become her stepmother.
‘Still, she’s a good kid.’
Varia was touched that Leonia still treated her like usual.

And just like that, Varia fell headfirst into one of the female lead’s biggest traps: completely misunderstanding everything.
Knock knock
Just then, someone knocked on the door.

“Miss?”
Snapping out of her self-loathing, Varia lifted her head. It was probably Leonia, coming back to get the sketchbook she’d left behind.
“You can just come in.”

Varia gave a bitter smile.
Leonia had a way of being both casual and polite all at once—like now, knocking even when she was welcome to enter freely.
“Did you leave your sketchboo—”

The rest of the sentence faded into a mumble as Varia’s eyes widened with each passing second.
A tall shadow loomed over her pale green gaze.
Ferio squinted one eye.

“Should you really be opening the door so carelessly?”
Reckless. Careless.
Ferio scolded her immediately.

***
“Bye-bye!”
Leonia threw out the familiar goodbye from her childhood as she turned away.

“……”
Ferio’s closed eyes twitched subtly from the sofa where he lay.
Something felt off.

Eventually, Ferio sat up.
He still hadn’t figured out the name of the strange emotion fluttering in his chest.
But deep down, he already knew.

‘…I’m not a kid.’
It was just hard to admit.
Ferio knew he was feeling something for Varia—a feeling that went beyond ordinary affection.

He wasn’t so naive or stupid as to deny it.
But the feelings themselves were unfamiliar.
Just hearing Varia’s name from Leonia’s mouth made his heart pound. A strange heat surged in his gut.

It was something only a love-struck boy should be dealing with.
Ferio found himself pathetic.
He was well into his thirties. He even had a twelve-year-old daughter.

Anyone would agree he was supposed to be a mature, respectable adult. And yet, the emotions inside him were absurd—unbearably absurd.
“Haaah…”
He dropped his head into his hand, wiping his mouth with his palm.

It all came rushing back to him.
The moment he stepped into the banquet hall, his eyes had sought out Varia.
Her dull pink hair, always so easy to spot, had drawn his gaze across the crowd.

And seeing her up close… had stolen every one of his senses.
He was stunned by her elegance—so much that it felt like he’d been struck in the head.
‘I thought warm, bright colors would suit her…’

Propping his chin up with one hand, Ferio found himself remembering Varia in her black dress over and over again.
He had never found black to be so alluring before.
“……”

After a long bout of hesitation, Ferio stood up.
And headed to Varia’s room.
‘Maybe I’m just imagining things.’

Ferio decided to be cautious with his feelings. It was possible he’d just been momentarily captivated by a different side of Varia.
‘I have Leonia.’
His daughter, his one and only, was the reason he lived.

He didn’t need anyone else shaking up his world like she did.
But still—he was walking faster than usual.
Before he could even finish that thought, he was already in front of her door.

Knock knock
With a more composed demeanor than earlier, Ferio knocked.
‘Maybe it’s nothing.’

The moment of calm made him backpedal again.
It might’ve just been a brief flutter. Seeing her usual plain self again would settle his nerves.
He was sure of it.

“Miss?”
Varia’s voice came through the door.
‘…Ah.’

A bad feeling crept up on him.
Ferio instinctively took a step back as he saw the doorknob start to turn.
If that door opened now, he had a gut feeling everything would change—again.

“You can just come in.”
Is this woman insane? Who tells people to come in without asking who it is?
Ferio frowned.

Apparently, she had no idea who had come to visit. Her complete lack of caution annoyed him.
For a moment, he forgot this was his own house.
“Did you leave your sketchboo—”

The moment the door opened, a soft voice brushed past his ear like a feather.
That dull pink hair appeared in front of him, flowing loosely around her shoulders.
Ferio narrowed one eye.

“Should you really be opening the door so carelessly?”
The second he saw her, the scolding just came out.
“So careless.”

“...Huh?”
Caught off guard by Ferio’s sudden appearance, Varia tilted her head in confusion.
“But… this is your house, isn’t it?”

“……”
“Then what should I be careful about…?”
“Be careful about everything.”

The world is a dangerous place.
Ferio clamped his mouth shut, surprised at himself for snapping like that.
‘I’ve completely lost it.’

He admitted it—his gut feeling was right.
And he couldn’t avoid the truth any longer: this fluttering in his chest, this heat in his belly.
He had fallen for Varia.

The scolding just now was all the proof he needed. For Ferio, nagging was his way of expressing affection.
He’d always done it to Leonia.
And now, he’d start doing it to Varia too.

Once again, Ferio’s world had shifted—deeply and irreversibly.
***
Lately, Leonia had been thinking the mansion’s atmosphere felt off.

“Connie, don’t you think so too?”
It was late spring, and the summer heat had already crept close.
Leonia stood in front of the mirror, checking out her outfit.

She wore a light blue dress with thin fabric and pinned a brooch under her collar—the one bearing the Voreoti emblem, a black beast.
“How do I look?”
She asked Connie, who was staring at her from the side.

“Your face does all the work.”
Connie answered seriously.
“So the dress sucks.”

Leonia took it off and changed into a white short-sleeved shirt and dark red shorts that were prepared on the side.
Only then did Connie’s expression finally brighten.
“Pants suit you best, young miss.”

“Yeah, but skirts are the best when it’s hot.”
Nothing beat fanning air up a skirt—Leonia already looked fed up with the coming heat.
“So, what did you mean earlier by the ‘atmosphere’?”

Connie asked as she brushed Leonia’s hair.
“I dunno, I just feel like the mansion’s been weird lately.”
“I haven’t noticed anything…”

“Really? Aren’t the servants gossiping about something?”
Leonia asked as Connie gathered her soft hair into a side ponytail.
“Not at all.”

“Huh…”
Once her hair was tied, Leonia clipped the same brooch from earlier to her shirt in place of a tie.
She threw on her usual short cape and a round hat.

The hat was one of Ferio’s old ones, enchanted with air-flow magic.
“Is there something bothering you?”
Connie asked gently.

“Mm, not really.”
As long as there wasn’t, that was fine—Leonia put on her socks and changed into red shoes without too much shine.
Just as she finished, Mia arrived.

“My, our young lady looks fabulous today!”
Mia had come to tell her the carriage was ready. Leonia shrugged her shoulders proudly at the compliment.
“Then I’m off!”

“Have a safe trip!”
“We’ll get the bath ready for you!”
The maids sent her off cheerfully, and Leonia headed straight down to the front hall.

She greeted every servant she passed with a smile, and even stopped by the ❖ Nоvеl𝚒ght ❖ (Exclusive on Nоvеl𝚒ght) kitchen to ask for something spicy for dinner.
Truthfully, her life was just that ordinary.
Calm and peaceful, just like always.

“You look lovely in that dress.”
“Th-Thank you. The young lady picked it for me.”
“But… isn’t it showing too much shoulder?”

“This much is totally normal!”
“…In House Voreoti, that’s forbidden.”
“Huh? Really? I didn’t know!”

“It will be. From now on.”
Except for those two idiots over there having a brainless conversation—Ferio and Varia.