I Became the Male Lead’s Adopted Daughter

The carriage came to a stop, and Ferio pointed out the window.
“They’re the Revoo Knights.”

Standing there were knights dressed in pristine white uniforms, lined up in perfect formation.
They stood in stark contrast to the Gladiago Knights, who wore black.
“…It’s not because of them.”

Leonia refuted calmly.
She didn’t intend to belittle the Revoo Order, but her Fangs wouldn’t have reacted that sensitively to knights alone.
The Fangs of the Beast didn’t stir for something so trivial.

“Of course not.”
Ferio pointed beyond the knights.
“What you reacted to was…”

A towering man standing behind the Revoo Knights.
“…that man right there.”
Even at a glance, the aura around him was anything but ordinary.

Leonia pressed a hand to her chest, quietly clutching her clothes.
The moment her restless Fangs recognized the presence, they abruptly went silent.
The Master of the West. Another beast.

The Marquis of Hesperi.
***
“Welcome to the West.”

The Marquis of Hesperi exuded an overwhelming physique and pressure, like a tiger standing upright on two legs.
His rough voice sounded like a blade scraping across stone.
“Such a grand welcome.”
Ferio gave a brief nod toward the Revoo Knights.

“We’re welcoming the infamous Black Beast himself. Revoo couldn’t just stand by and do nothing.”
The Marquis’s white-streaked hair was slicked straight back, making his forehead shine.
'Whoa…'

Clinging to Ferio’s leg, Leonia looked up at the Marquis of Hesperi with curious eyes.
He was so enormous that her neck hurt just from tilting her head back.
'Dad looks really small…'

Even Ferio, with his novel-worthy superior physique, looked small and compact in comparison.
The same large hand of Ferio’s that could cover Leonia’s whole face vanished in an instant when shaking the Marquis’s hand.
And his rugged, fierce features even rivaled Ferio’s in sharpness.

Honestly, based on appearance alone, the Marquis of Hesperi had the edge.
“Was the trip exhausting?”
As she was busy marveling, a large shadow fell over Leonia’s head.

“Lady Voreoti.”
The Marquis of Hesperi softened his stern expression into a smile as he looked at her.
Even as he bent down to knee level to lower his massive frame, the height difference was still vast.

“…Not at all.”
Leonia shook her head slightly.
Then she stepped forward and gave a polite bow.

Instead of a dress, she wore shorts today. She placed her left hand behind her back and her right over her chest.
She looked just like a little boy trying to act like a grown-up.
“I am Leonia Voreoti. It’s truly an honor to meet the Master of the West.”

“Well, well…”
The Marquis couldn’t hide his surprise.
Seeing the young lady of House Voreoti—whom he’d only heard of through rumors—brought to mind the young Ferio.

The father and daughter looked eerily alike.
From the sharp lift of her eyes to the straight, tight lips when not speaking.
Even those black eyes that looked as though they could pierce into a person’s soul.

But her confident, chatty tone was completely different from Ferio’s.
Looking closer, her features were a bit softer and rounder.
Her pretty little smile was something no one had ever seen on Ferio’s face.

The Marquis’s lips curled upward in amusement.
'She’s been deeply loved.'
There had been nasty rumors suggesting the young Lady Voreoti was not well cared for in her household, that she was lacking, behind in development, even unwanted.

While the Marquis hadn’t believed all of them, it was reasonable to assume—given Ferio’s nature—that he wouldn’t be the most attentive guardian.
After all, Ferio had a notoriously poor relationship with his own parents.
But what the Marquis saw before him was something else entirely.

The child was bright and spirited.
She wasn’t intimidated by the presence of large and unfamiliar adults and spoke without a single slip of the tongue.
Her well-fed figure and properly dressed appearance screamed of a child who had grown up surrounded by affection.

And Ferio, standing behind his daughter with a gentle expression as she offered her greeting, wore the unmistakable face of a proud father.
The Marquis briefly questioned whether this truly was the same man he used to know.
The Revoo Knights standing nearby shared that same disbelief.

Though none said it aloud, the glances they threw at the beastly duo made their confusion plain.
'…They’re in a sweet season.'
The Marquis hid a wistful smile beneath his beard.

'Look, Father!'
He, too, once had a daughter—small and bold, just like Leonia.
A treasure he wouldn’t have traded for anything in the world.

“Let’s go inside.”
The Marquis turned, memories of an irretrievable past weighing on his back.
The western estate of the Marquis of Hesperi displayed a refined minimalism, containing only what was necessary.

Although decorative artwork and sculptures were present, it was still by far the simplest noble residence Leonia had visited.
Still, in terms of size alone, it could rival the Voreoti estate.
They entered the Marquis’s office together.

“Would the young lady like to accompany me instead?”
A man who had been walking beside the Marquis turned and addressed Leonia.
“It’ll probably be a boring adult discussion.”

The Marquis offered a polite smile, agreeing that she might be better off elsewhere.
He assumed Leonia would grow bored here.
“Dad.”

Leonia tilted her head slightly and looked at Ferio.
“Will it take long?”
“Probably.”

“Hmm. Then come get me later, okay?”
Leonia obediently walked over and took the man’s hand.
Despite his kind appearance, his hand was rough and calloused.

“If you fall asleep, we’ll leave you behind.”
“Carry me!”
Leonia gave Ferio a playful side-eye. Ferio chuckled and nodded for her to go.

As she left the office, Leonia felt slightly pouty.
'If they were going to do this, they should’ve just had me go separately from the start.'
This translation is the intellectual property of .

It was rather bothersome to bring her all the way to the office, only to escort her back out again.
“If walking is uncomfortable, would you like me to carry you?”
“I’ll walk on my own two feet.”

Still uncomfortable being treated like a child, Leonia held the man’s hand and walked boldly beside him.
“But who are you, Mister?”
“I am the Marquis’s secretary.”

The man, who introduced himself as Ibex, gave a kind smile and told her she could call him comfortably.
“…But you used to be a knight, didn’t you?”
At Leonia’s question, Ibex stopped in his tracks.

“Your hand gave it away.”
Leonia swung the hand she was holding. The hands of the knight uncles and aunts were just as rough and firm. So was Ferio’s.
Ibex’s hand bore the clear marks of a man who once held a sword.

“…You’re very observant.”
Ibex looked genuinely surprised.
He wasn’t wearing a knight’s uniform like the other Revoo knights, nor did he look like one in the slightest.

“You can tell just from a hand?”
“And your muscles too!”
As if waiting for that moment, Leonia’s black eyes sparkled brightly.

“You’ve got the same kind of muscles as knights! Broad shoulders, and your thigh muscles are really firm!”
“Truly impressive…”
“You shouldn’t take me for just some regular kid.”

Ibex chuckled, covering his mouth with the back of his hand at the child’s boastful tone.
“This is the room.”
He said she could wait here.

“Whose room is it?”
“No one uses it now.”
“But…”

Leonia glanced around the room, tilting her head.
The furniture and items showed obvious signs of frequent use.
Everything was also impeccably clean—not a speck of dust.

Her question was soon answered.
“It used to be the young lady’s room.”
While browsing the bookshelf, Leonia suddenly felt a sharp pang in her chest.

When she looked up, Ibex was standing quietly beside her.
“Until she left for the Imperial Palace.”
Ibex gently traced the books on the shelf with his fingertips.

His gaze, as it swept across the belongings filled with traces of someone who was no longer there, looked not just nostalgic—but pained.
“This is the room the Empress Tigria Hesperi Belius stayed in before her marriage.”
***

The conversation between Ferio and the Marquis of Hesperi continued for quite some time.
After all, the illegal trafficking of magical beasts wasn’t a light issue, and even those who didn’t directly capture the beasts but provided indirect support behind the scenes needed to be identified and punished.
That alone would’ve been enough—but what made things worse was the overwhelming evidence suggesting the Imperial Family’s involvement behind the incident. This made any hasty action dangerous.

“…In the North, we plan to expel these three families and confiscate their assets. As for the others, we’ll impose fines depending on the extent of their involvement.”
The North, under Ferio, showed no leniency.
“Also, we’ll head to the capital next to catch the one remaining rat.”

Ferio intended to punish everyone involved under the name of Voreoti—and use the opportunity to put massive pressure on the Imperial Family, who had dared to dirty their hands.
He had been waiting for a reason to strike, and now it had come.
“What do you plan to do, Marquis?”

Ferio asked after laying out his own course of action.
“We’ll likely do the same.”
The Marquis’s face was lined with exhaustion.

In his hands was a list of western nobles connected to the incident.
The names were all too familiar «N.o.v.e.l.i.g.h.t» to him.
Especially at the top—Baron Hirqus, someone he had trusted deeply.

“Life really is…”
The Marquis let out a hollow sigh.
“…impossible to predict.”

Being betrayed by those you trusted was more painful than expected.
Even as he tried to keep a calm face, the seething anger and crushing sense of emptiness were indescribable.
“I did everything I could to protect the West. I believed it was the right thing to do. But now, looking back, I wonder if I had been wrong all along.”

Otherwise, how could things have turned out like this?
To the Marquis, everything felt like a bitter disappointment. The past he had lived with such conviction now crashed down on him in waves of regret.
'…Most likely,'

Ferio thought, glancing sideways at the Marquis.
'…he really wasn’t involved.'
While investigating the case, Ferio had actually suspected the Marquis of Hesperi more than the Emperor.

He’d wondered if the Marquis had turned a blind eye to it all, fully aware of what was happening.
It had been a reasonable suspicion.
Many of the nobles involved were from the West, and the location of the planned auction for the trafficked beast offspring had been in the western region.

But thankfully, that didn’t seem to be the case.
There wasn’t a trace of deceit in the Marquis.
Only guilt and regret filled him.

“‘I don’t dwell on the past.’”
Ferio, watching the Marquis in silence, suddenly quoted someone.
“‘I only look forward.’”

The unexpected remark made the Marquis blink in confusion.
It was the first time Ferio had brought up a personal comment in the middle of work—he even smiled, noticeably.
It was almost eerie.

“That was something Leo said.”
Ferio revealed the source of the quote.