I Became the Male Lead’s Adopted Daughter

Leonia hated educational books.

Even the assignments given by Countess Bosgruni during etiquette class were read only after great resistance and grumbling.
That was when Leonia first realized that she wasn’t cut out to be a refined young lady.
Not that she’d ever had any interest in being one.

Still, there was a certain standard she had to meet simply because she was a noble.
What’s more, as the future successor of House Voreoti—the pinnacle of nobility—she couldn’t afford to seem lacking, so she endured and read them.
“I don’t like this kind of thing.”

“We’re in the middle of class, aren’t we?”
“I don’t like it, Teacher……”
Leonia stuck out her lips in the shape of a number three. That meant she really hated it.

But Varia did not back down.
“I need to take responsibility for your education, young lady.”
“If you date and marry my dad, you won’t have to take responsibility anymore.”

“All the more reason to take responsibility.”
Marriage was still a long way off, but if Varia really did marry Ferio and became the Duchess—
Then Varia would become Leonia’s stepmother.

“Ahhh…”
Leonia realized that her logic was flawed.
‘Being a mother outranks being a tutor!’

Ugh.
She banged her head against the table with a loud thud.
“Now you understand, right?”
Varia gently caught Leonia’s forehead with her hand as she tried to lower it onto the table again.

“From now on, let’s read these books for just thirty minutes a day to cultivate a wholesome mindset.”
She gave a sweet smile while tapping the tall stack of books beside her.
But in Leonia’s eyes, she looked like a ferocious beast that would not back down.

Goosebumps ran down her whole body.
Varia soon kindly explained why she had prepared this study plan.
“You’re truly amazing, young lady.”

From what Varia had seen so far, Leonia was an exceptional child.
She was good at studying, drawing, and even had extraordinary swordsmanship. She was decent at cooking too, occasionally baking cookies for the estate staff.
Brave, funny, and even kind.

Varia already treasured Leonia deeply.
That’s why she had concerns.
“But you need to use nicer language.”

Leonia’s blunt way of speaking bothered her a bit.
More accurately, it was the lewd and inappropriate jokes Leonia occasionally made that worried her.
Whenever something too vulgar came out of the twelve-year-old’s mouth, Varia’s heart would skip a beat.

Of course, she had grown somewhat used to it by now—but she felt that was precisely the problem. It wasn’t something one should get used to.
So she gave it serious thought, got Ferio’s permission, and prepared for today.
“This unni is cute.”

But Varia hit a wall from the very start.
“No one can tame me.”
Leonia raised her chin and made a dismissive gesture as if to say, ‘So what?’

The epaulets on her shoulder twitched with her shrug.
“I don’t look back.”
Meaning she had no regrets about the perverse things she’d done.

“You’re the cute one, young lady.”
But Varia seemed all the more fired up.
She even looked like she welcomed the challenge in front of her.

“I don’t give up easily.”
Leonia clicked her tongue in mock pity and smirked.
“Even my dad gave up on me early on, and you think you won’t?”

Ferio once said this:
Resurrecting Leonia’s innocent childhood was harder than launching a ➤ NоvеⅠight ➤ (Read more on our source) full-blown rebellion.
“The more difficult it is, the more fired up I get.”

For someone like Varia—who had died and come back in her previous life—a perverted twelve-year-old was nothing.
“Let’s see if you can.”
The girl scoffed at Varia’s fiery resolve.

“You’re already in the palm of my hand. I’m the one who opened your eyes to the world of muscles.”
“That’s different.”
“No, it’s the same.”

“If you must know, I only opened my eyes to the Duke’s muscles.”
Varia answered proudly.
“I’m infatuated with one specific person’s muscles. I don’t harass all muscles indiscriminately like you.”

“……Isn’t that more dangerous?”
Leonia suddenly felt a bit sorry for Ferio.
It looked like even he wasn’t safe from Varia’s muscle obsession.

And Varia didn’t seem to realize what kind of future that implied for him.
“Young lady, Miss Varia.”
At that moment, Tra entered and informed them that Ferio had just arrived at the estate.

“Dad!”
Leonia rushed down to the entrance hall. Thanks to Ferio’s timely return, she was able to escape the terrifying etiquette lesson.
Truthfully, she had been a bit spooked by Varia’s determination earlier.

When he arrived, Ferio lifted Leonia up into his arms.
“Mmm, kiss.”
“What’s gotten into you?”

Though he looked at her like she was weird for puckering her lips out of nowhere, Ferio willingly offered his cheek.
After the kiss, the father and daughter waved at Varia, who was coming down the stairs.
“O-oh, you’re back?”

Varia approached hesitantly.
“I’m home.”
Ferio replied as he set Leonia down.

He quickly removed his coat and handed it to Tra, who wisely stepped away.
“What have you two been doing?”
As they moved to the living room, Ferio asked what they’d been up to in his absence.

“I was trying to hold a lesson with the young lady.”
“She wants to do an etiquette lesson.”
“I will absolutely succeed.”

“I’ll bet the entire Voreoti fortune that this unni fails.”
“It’s not yours yet.”
Ferio gently stroked the child’s head, as if telling her to at least give Varia a chance.

But Leonia, fond of her hair today, quickly ducked away from his hand.
“More importantly, the meeting!”
Leonia grabbed Ferio’s hand and asked.

“How did it go?”
“It didn’t pass, right?”
Varia also asked in a rushed voice.

The noble council meeting had been about the imperial road development project.
Varia remembered how Count Erbanu and Olor’s faction had pushed hard for its passage before her regression.
She didn’t know if it had succeeded back then—

Because she’d been killed by Remus Olor before she could find out.
And this was something that absolutely could not be allowed to pass. If it did, the imperial family would obviously target the Northern Mountains. That had to be stopped.
But Varia’s prediction was off.

“It passed.”
Despair settled into Varia’s green eyes.
“I knew it!”

Leonia pumped her fist in celebration, as if thrilled that her prediction had come true.
Varia, stung by the reaction, asked with slight indignation.
“The imperial family will now send people to the North. They’ve been preparing everything even before the council meeting! The ones they dispatch will tear the North apart!”

“There’s no need to be so upset.”
“Ugh, but still…!”
Ferio lightly tapped Varia’s nose with his finger.

Startled, Varia swallowed her outburst.
She quickly covered her nose with both hands, but she couldn’t bring herself to look away from Ferio’s gentle black eyes.
“Ugh, Dad…!”

Leonia frowned like she was disgusted.
“I’m right here, you know!”
Please keep your flirting private, she begged them sincerely.

“Watching parents get lovey-dovey up close really isn’t pleasant.”
“P-parents…!”
Varia let out a flustered sound.

She was embarrassed yet just a little happy that Leonia had naturally included her in the term ‘parents.’
At the same time, she felt sorry for showing something a child shouldn’t see.
“…You don’t like this kind of thing?”

Ferio raised an eyebrow in genuine surprise at Leonia’s reaction.
The daughter he knew loved watching other people’s romances and indulging in wild fantasies.
“I do like it.”

Leonia answered proudly.
“But apparently not when it’s my own parents. I realized that just recently.”
She’d once thought it would be great to witness Ferio and Varia’s romance up close.

But now that it was actually happening, it only irritated her.
“Poor thing.”
Despite the words, a clear smile bloomed across Ferio’s face.

“You’ll be seeing it every day from now on.”
“So annoying, seriously…!”
Leonia grumbled irritably.

“…A-anyway, it really passed, right?”
While the father and daughter bickered, Varia, still dazed, finally managed to speak.
It felt like all her past efforts to prevent this had popped like bubbles and vanished.

“There was no helping it because of the numbers.”
The majority of nobles at the meeting were from the South and the Capital—and all of them supported the Emperor.
“It’s probably why Olor and Erbanu were recently added to the roster.”

Emperor Subiteo had knowingly broken neutrality to make that happen.
He was obsessed with taking hold of “that” in the Northern Mountains.
“Yeah, no other reason to add them.”

Leonia agreed.
“Do you think Olor’s also after ‘that’?”
She asked Ferio, having fallen briefly into thought.

“That depends on how much he knows.”
Ferio answered cautiously.
“Those bastards… their brains must be bird-sized…”

“Don’t insult birds. Real birds didn’t do anything wrong.”
“True.”
“Um…”

The beastly father and daughter, who had strayed off-topic again to rant, turned their heads.
“May I ask what exactly is in the Northern Mountains?”
Varia, who had been listening quietly, carefully voiced the question that had long troubled her.

No matter how she looked at it, it didn’t seem like the imperial family was after the gems buried in the mountains.
It was strange that both the imperial family and Olor had pursued Ardea’s research—and had even attacked his lab to obtain it.
On top of that, their obsession with the Gates was suspiciously intense.

But it was clear they were targeting the Northern Mountains. Varia was uneasy because she didn’t understand why.
“……”
“……”

Ferio and Leonia looked at each other in silence instead of answering.
They said nothing, but something clearly passed between them.
“There’s a legend that continues in the North.”

“A legend?”
Varia blinked blankly. The sudden appearance of such a word took her by surprise.
“More like a folktale passed down orally.”

Ferio gave Leonia a glance, as if to say, ‘Right?’ The girl calmly nodded.
They both acted like it was nothing special.
“There’s a tale that a ‘god’ lives beyond the mountains.”

“A g-god?”
Varia became increasingly confused as she listened.
If the imperial family was doing all this because they believed in some ridiculous myth, then the Empire’s future was beyond bleak.

Wasting taxpayer money and wielding power based on some half-baked rumor?
Varia was truly relieved that the Bellius Empire had a federal structure.
The only reason the country still functioned was because the regional leaders had sense.

“…Does it actually exist?”
But she quickly revised her thoughts.