I Became the Male Lead’s Adopted Daughter

“What’s with all the formality between us!”
Carnis laughed, waving it off as something friends shouldn’t say to each other.
To Abipher, it looked like her husband had grown an invisible tail.

Of course, it wasn’t actually there—but the way it wagged so eagerly after Ferio’s single comment, she could practically see it.
“Not too long ago,”
Abipher, who had been quietly watching, finally spoke up.

“I overheard the Voreoti young lady mutter, ‘Is the Count Uncle trying to become Dad’s boytoy or something?’…”
At first, she’d obviously brushed it off as a joke.
Though a part of her genuinely wondered what kind of life experiences the child had lived to be able to imagine such things.

But seeing the two of them together now…
“…it’s honestly not that far-fetched.”
Abipher slowly moved her deep blue eyes in suspicion.

Even during her courtship days, she hadn’t been very fond of the two spending time together.
“Please.”
Ferio’s tone turned sharp.

“Whatever you do, don’t say stuff like that in front of my daughter. If that pervert hears it and starts getting ideas again, I’ll be the only one who suffers.”
He looked down at the little bundle in his arms with a face full of resentment, as if only the fact that she was his daughter kept him from tossing her to the ground.
“Did I say it? The young lady mumbled it to herself.”

Abipher laughed, clearly amused.
She had already heard from Leonia the full list of people she suspected might be Ferio’s romantic prospects.
Strangely enough, half of them were men—which nearly made Abipher double over.
Meanwhile, Ferio and Carnis, the two supposed targets of the joke, both looked increasingly nauseated.

No matter how close they were, that kind of misunderstanding wasn’t just annoying—it was revolting.
“In a way, she’s got guts…”
For a kid her age to imagine something like that—it was wild. Carnis, despite everything, couldn’t help but admire Leonia a little.

She had boldness unmatched by anyone her age.
Still, from a few steps behind them, Lupe, Connie, Mia, and the Gladiago knights merely took it in stride.
They didn’t even flinch—just chalked it up to Leonia being Leonia.

“Your Grace.”
Lupe stepped forward after confirming that everything was ready. It was finally time to board the carriage and leave.
Inside the carriage, Ferio gently laid Leonia across the seat.

“The kids will be disappointed when they wake up.”
Carnis thought of Ufikla and Pinu, still asleep in their rooms.
Because the Voreoti father and daughter were leaving early in the morning, they had said their goodbyes the night before.

Even then, Ufikla and Pinu had struggled to hide their sadness.
They had clearly grown much more attached since the Voreotis first arrived at the Rinne estate.
“They really are my kids. They’re helpless when it comes to Voreoti.”

Carnis beamed, declaring that the future of their families looked bright.
“We’ll head to the capital too once things settle here.”
“See you then. Travel safely.”

With the Rinne couple seeing them off, the Voreoti carriage began to move.
The snow-white Rinne estate grew smaller in the distance, and even the blue horizon faded from view as the carriage rolled on for some time. It wasn’t until then that Leonia finally woke up.
“Dad?”

She slowly pushed herself upright and blinked around the carriage with a dazed expression.
Then, inching her way over, she quietly sat next to Ferio.
“When did we leave?”

“It’s been a while.”
Ferio pulled out his pocket watch from inside his jacket. It had been about an hour since they left the Rinne estate.
“Hm?”

As he moved to put the watch back into his pocket, Leonia suddenly stuck her head under his arm.
Startled, Ferio nearly pushed her forehead away on reflex.
“Can I see it?”

Leonia blinked her round eyes, curiosity shining in them. She seemed fascinated by the pocket watch.
Without hesitation, Ferio unhooked the chain from the inner pocket and handed it to her.
“Never seen one of these before.”

Leonia turned the watch this way and that, murmuring in wonder.
“We have a clock at home.”
“The one in the drawing room?”

The old pendulum clock in the estate’s drawing room was a grand piece, decorated with shining mother-of-pearl inlay on an ivory frame.
Still, everyone—including Leonia—treated it like a decorative object.
It was beautiful, yes, but the real problem was…

“It doesn’t even work.”
“Apparently it used to.”
Ferio gently tapped at Leonia’s wild strands of hair with his finger.

“My grandfather—your great-grandfather—got it as a gift…”
The clock in the drawing room had been a gift to the former Duke of Voreoti, Leonia’s great-grandfather.
The clock had charmed him so much that it had been brought all the way to the northern estate, but the hourly chiming had been so loud and annoying that he ended up removing the winding key entirely.

“What a waste!”
Upon hearing the story, Leonia felt sorry for both the clock and the person who gave it.
“Poor person who gave it to him. It looked expensive.”

“Well, that’s what they get for being loud.”
Ferio replied smugly, placing blame on the gift-giver for not considering such things.
“You arrogant grown-ups…”

Leonia clicked her tongue.
This disregard for others’ intentions or feelings seemed to be a defining trait of anyone with the name Voreoti.
That arrogance—it felt like something passed down by blood, just like the Fangs of the Beast.

Their ancestors were probably no different.
Even just thinking back to the tutor situation gave Leonia a sense of what her Voreoti ancestors must’ve been like.
It would’ve been a parade of Ferio lookalikes with slightly different faces.

The thought sent a little shiver down her spine.
Then, suddenly, Regina came to mind.
That tragic young lady who had Voreoti blood in her veins but ran off, consumed by her ideals and romantic dreams.

“…She really was something else.”
“Who was?”
This translation is the intellectual property of .

“My birth mother.”
Ferio, who had been putting his pocket watch away, paused for a moment.
“But come to think of it, she was pretty Voreoti-like too.”

Just the way she stubbornly did as she pleased despite everyone’s opposition was a perfect example of that classic Voreoti self-centeredness.
Mhm. Arms crossed, Leonia nodded deeply, like she had just made a groundbreaking discovery.
“……”

Ferio was about to say something when—
“My lord.”
Knock knock. A voice came from outside the carriage. It was Manus.

“Who is it? Manus oppa?”
Leonia crawled across Ferio’s lap and opened the window.
“Young lady, you’re awake?”

Manus’s eyes widened in surprise.
He had been waiting to report to Ferio and hadn’t expected the little beast cub to suddenly pop out like peekaboo.
“Just a little while ago. Why?”

“We’re approaching the gate. I came to inform His Grace.”
Before passing through the gate, it was necessary to inspect the carriage procession.
Manus asked Ferio how he wanted to proceed.

“…We’ll stop and inspect here.”
With a sigh-like answer, Ferio gave the order.
***

While the carriages were halted, Leonia sat by the roadside, having a light meal of sandwiches served by Connie and Mia.
“It’s delicious.”
Leonia looked longingly at her half-eaten chicken sandwich.

The sweet and tangy honey mustard sauce soaked into the soft bread was the best part.
“I got the secret recipe for the sauce.”
Mia whispered as she brushed Leonia’s hair.

“Really?”
Leonia’s eyes lit up. Connie and Mia chuckled at her reaction.
“You’ll be able to eat it even in the capital, and when you return to the North too.”

“The Rinne estate’s chef even bottled some up as a gift just for you.”
He had said he was thankful for how much she enjoyed the food during her stay. Hearing that, Leonia bashfully covered her face with both hands.
Meanwhile, Mia finished brushing her hair.

With a handful of colorful ribbons, Connie rolled up her sleeves to the elbows and braced herself with determined energy.
“Shall we tie your hair now?!”
“You’re not gonna yank it out, right…?”

Why was she that fired up? Leonia flinched a little.
“We can’t lose to the capital maids.”
Mia explained on Connie’s behalf as she assisted her.

Connie was focused more than ever, splitting Leonia’s black hair evenly down both sides.
“There’s kind of a quiet rivalry between the Northern and Capital households. Of course, the Northern staff, mostly locals, are naturally superior.”
“Exactly! Those [N O V E L I G H T] sneaky little things…”

Connie echoed Mia’s sentiment with a fierce nod.
Leonia felt a creeping sense of dread.
They're competing over me again.

The last time, the maids from House Rinne had insisted on a full-on doll session because they didn’t want to lose to the Voreoti maids. It had been a terrifying experience.
Maybe that’s why today, her twin braids felt especially burdensome.
The big ribbons tied on either side of her head practically felt like weapons.

“Once we’re through the gate, the capital will be right there.”
Mia said while adjusting the ribbons.
Connie, having poured every ounce of strength into tying Leonia’s hair, now lay exhausted on a rock nearby.

“But why is the inspection taking so long? Couldn’t they just do it after we pass through?”
Leonia pointed at the still-stationary carriages.
They were checking everything—horse hooves, cargo wagon joints, even the wheels—meticulously.

“I’m not entirely sure, but I heard there’s this weird queasiness when passing through a gate.”
“Queasy…”
Leonia thought back to the first time she went through a gate last late autumn.

The unpleasant sensation hit her just at the memory, and her stomach churned. She had a vague idea what Mia was talking about.
Mia was referring to one of the gate’s known traits: distortion.
Gates weren’t some kind of invented device.

Long ago, strange phenomena had begun occurring throughout the empire—people being transported to different locations in the same moment in time.
To control and manage this, symbolic passageways were erected—those became the gates of today.
Even in a world where mana, ora, and the Fangs of the Beast existed, gates remained one of the most mysterious phenomena.

Because of that, various forces were at play inside a gate where space and time were distorted. One of those was distortion, which could affect objects and sometimes people.
“It usually doesn’t affect living beings like people or animals. But things like cargo can sometimes get damaged. That’s why they check everything beforehand.”
“Then what about my motion sickness?”

Mia gave a wry smile.
“You were just unlucky.”