I Became the Male Lead’s Adopted Daughter

"Leo, ramen…"
It took the Marquis of Hesperi a moment to realize that the nickname ‘Leo’ was derived from the name ‘Leonia’, and that the one being addressed was the Voreoti young lady.

‘That man is saying a nickname out loud?’
Just moments ago, the marquis had been immersed in gloom, but now he revived in a different way.
He had known the beast and his daughter were close from the moment he greeted them, but he hadn’t expected it to be to this extent.

The idea that the infamous Ferio would call someone by a nickname was shocking in itself.
Today was, in many ways, an astonishing day.
“What good is it to dwell on the past?”

Ferio’s remark pulled the Marquis of Hesperi back from his lapse into reflection.
It was a truly cold piece of advice.
While criticizing the marquis’s past, he also pointed out—sharply—that there was no use in regretting it now.

“You certainly made your share of mistakes, Marquis.”
Being too focused on the honor of knighthood and failing to see reality clearly was a grave error.
And above all, sending his only daughter off to marry that idiot crown prince had been the greatest mistake of his life.

Even back then, Ferio had shaken his head in disbelief upon hearing about it.
“Don’t expect sympathy.”
Ferio was no saint—not even someone who would offer a simple ‘it’s okay.’

However, the marquis at least had the character to recognize his mistakes and regret them.
At the very least, it meant he wasn’t trash.
“That doesn’t mean you should forget the past.”

Leonia, who said not to dwell on the past, and the Marquis of Hesperi, who regretted it deeply—they were in different situations.
Leonia had endured unjust abuse and hunger for no reason.
The Marquis of Hesperi had, out of misplaced love and judgment, sent his precious daughter into the imperial family and ended up full of regret.
But Ferio believed the path they had to take moving forward was the same.

“Look ahead.”
Neither of them had the luxury to cling to a past that would never return.
Precocious little Leonia had already realized the answer and was living by it.

If a child so young could look ahead, there was no reason a grown adult couldn’t do the same.
‘No, it’s because they’re adults that they can’t.’
The regrets that grow with age were nothing but shackles dragging down a person as they aged.

Ferio looked at the marquis.
As if something had dawned on him, the Marquis of Hesperi now appeared far more at ease than he had just moments ago.
He seemed to be deeply pondering Ferio’s words.

Ferio patiently waited.
To be honest, Ferio had always considered the Marquis of Hesperi to be a fool.
To send his beloved daughter off to the imperial family with his own hands?

And even when the marquis was later overwhelmed with regret at the atrocities committed by the former crown prince—now the emperor—Ferio still hadn’t felt a shred of sympathy.
He had simply thought, That’s just the consequence of your own foolish choices.
But today was different.

A feeling he’d never experienced before began to rise.
Pity.
‘Is it because I’m a father too?’

What if Leonia and I were in the marquis’s shoes? That single, fleeting what if was enough for Ferio to, for the first time, feel sympathy and pity for the Marquis of Hesperi.
Raising Leonia had changed Ferio in many ways.
‘Come to think of it… that man earlier…’

Ferio recalled the marquis’s aide who had taken Leonia to another room earlier.
Ibex. The name came to mind, and Ferio bit his lower lip lightly.
What must that feel like?

‘A punishment the marquis gave himself?’
To keep near him the one and only beloved of the daughter he had forcibly torn away just to marry her into the imperial family… it couldn’t have been a pleasant situation.
Ibex must have felt the same.

Either way, Ferio had gained one important lesson.
Don’t end up like that.
Don’t ruin the future of a precious child with your own selfishness and greed.

Don’t end up full of regret.
Ferio promised himself that again and again.
***

By the time Ferio finished speaking with the Marquis of Hesperi, Leonia had ended up falling asleep in the room once used by Empress Tigria.
“Uuugh…”
True to her word, she had fallen asleep. Carrying her out on his back, Ferio gently patted the back of his daughter, who was mumbling some strange nonsense in her sleep.

“Huh? Dad?”
“Did you sleep well?”
“Ahh, the bed was amazing.”

“‘Ahh’?”
Where on earth had she learned that? Clicking his tongue, Ferio wiped the sweat off Leonia’s forehead with his sleeve.
“Haaahhh…”

Her sleepy eyes blinking slowly, Leonia let out a huge yawn.
As her mouth stretched wide in a jaw-breaking yawn, her eyes met those of the Marquis of Hesperi, Ibex, and the other people of the marquisate, all looking at her in wonder from behind Ferio.
Leonia immediately buried her face into Ferio’s shoulder.

“…Dad! You should’ve told me people were there!”
Embarrassed by how disheveled she looked, Leonia growled and clenched her lips tightly.
Ferio, of course, ignored her completely.

Sulking, Leonia bit Ferio’s shoulder with a loud chomp.
His solid, well-built trapezius gave a satisfying bite.
‘…Not bad.’

This translation is the intellectual property of .
Leonia, having completely forgotten her anger, gave her all in fulfilling her muscular craving.
The burning frustration inside her settled as if it had been a lie.

“Well then, we’ll be on our way now.”
Before boarding the carriage, Ferio bid farewell to the Marquis of Hesperi.
“Next time, bring along Yuben and Kaladran. Is that rascal Mono doing well?”

“It’s an honor that you remember one of Gladiago’s senior knights.”
“Once everything’s wrapped up properly, we should hold a joint training between Revoo and Gladiago.”
“I’ll look forward to it.”

The Marquis of Hesperi also addressed Leonia.
“Please have a safe journey, young lady.”
Still nestled in Ferio’s arms, Leonia bowed politely.

“Goodbye, Marquis. Thank you very much for hosting us today.”
Then, rummaging through her pocket, she pulled something out and abruptly held it out to the marquis.
Caught off guard, the marquis instinctively reached out and received it—it was a strawberry milk candy.

“I’ll give one to the knight uncle too.”
Leonia offered a candy to Ibex as well, who had stayed by her side all day.
“Thank you for everything today.”

“Huh? Ah, y-yes…”
It was an unexpected gift for Ibex, who didn’t think he had done much of anything.
“Don’t be so hard on yourself.”

Ibex, who had been quietly staring at the candy, looked up in surprise.
When he glanced at Leonia, she was giving him a warm gaze as if she knew everything.
“The marquis, at least, is someone who knows how to reflect on his actions.”

Having said everything she wanted, Leonia turned to Ferio.
“Let’s go.”
The beast and his daughter boarded the carriage.

By then, the sun had sunk noticeably westward.
Summer was near, so the sky remained a clear, bright blue for now.
But soon, a crimson sunset would drape the land in a dim dusk.

As the carriage began to roll—
“What was that all about earlier?”
Resting his chin on his hand, elbow propped against the window frame, Ferio asked about the scene from moments before.

He’d found it quite curious that Leonia had given candy to the marquis and the knight.
She wasn’t the type to hand out candy unless someone had truly won her favor.
And what she’d said a moment ago lingered in his mind as well.

“That uncle Ibex.”
Leonia spoke while sucking on her candy.
“He used to be Her Majesty the Empress’s lover, right?”

“…How do you know that?”
“I was in Her Majesty’s room earlier, remember? He looked around it with this really wistful expression.”
Even a kid figured it out, Ferio clicked his tongue shortly.

From the looks of it, the man still hadn’t let go and remained in the marquis’s household because of lingering feelings.
Which was probably why the marquis let him stay by his side without a word.
Ferio couldn’t understand it.

“It would’ve been better if Her Majesty had run away with him like some forbidden love story.”
“Don’t you dare.”
Ferio cut in immediately.

“If it’s not some random stray mutt off the street, then… fine, I might allow you to have a kid someday—even if you don’t marry.”
“Woooow…”
Leonia let out a genuinely awed sound.

To think she’d hear such outrageous nonsense coming out of her father’s mouth.
Normally, when a child even suggested that kind of thing, the parent would clutch their neck and faint.
“Just keep the bloodline going. Think long and hard before you marry.”

“This dad… is kind of the worst…”
Leonia, about to say something else, just gave up and shook her head.
There was no point in arguing this; it would only give her a headache.

As expected, a popular romance novel male lead who writes contract agreements the night before was truly in a class of his own.
“But still, if it had been Her Majesty and Ibex running away, I think they would’ve been happy.”
“Yeah… probably.”

As she spoke, Ferio found himself agreeing.
“So that’s why you said that while giving him the candy?”
“They’re all kind of pitiful.”

“All of them?”
“The three of them.”
The Marquis of Hesperi, Ibex, and Empress Tigria.

‘Though the most pitiful one is the Empress.’
She had married someone she didn’t love, and even after she steeled her heart for the sake of the country and looked to her husband with sincerity, all she received in return was unfaithful neglect.
‘It really hits different seeing it in person…’

Leonia rolled the candy around in her mouth, deep in thought.
In the novel, the romance between Ferio and Varia had taken up most of the spotlight, so it was easy to overlook, but there had been another romantic route that readers had supported just as passionately.
The tragic love story between Empress Tigria and Ibex.

There were even readers who had desperately wished for a side story featuring the two of them.
Leonia had been one of them.
“What even is life…”

Her short legs dangled listlessly off the carriage seat.
Today, for some reason, her own legs felt especially unfamiliar to her.
“Nothing ever goes the way you want it to.”

One day she’d been living her life as usual—and the next, she was suddenly five years old and an orphan named ‘Nia.’
Then that same ‘Nia’, frail and scarred, had become Leonia—the beloved daughter of a ~Nоvеl𝕚ght~ duke.
Life was completely unpredictable.

“…Ain’t that the truth.”
Ferio, who had been silently listening, finally spoke.
In truth, rather than listening, he had been completely absorbed in the deep wisdom of this little old soul and her profound life lesson.

Sometimes, the way a child saw the world was sharp enough to astonish even adults.
“Who would’ve thought I’d become the dad of a muscle freak?”