I Became the Male Lead’s Adopted Daughter

‘If I could help it…’

She didn’t want to face him.
She wished she could go her whole life never knowing him.
But things were never that easy. Right now, the pull of the original story was at its strongest—there were massive tides of fate even Leonia couldn’t block.

That was true for Varia.
And for Remus.
“Um, Acting Duke?”

Remus forced an awkward smile. Leonia’s blatant stare made him uncomfortable, and he struggled to meet her gaze.
But Leonia didn’t respond. She just kept staring.
The thief who had snuck into the North and lured away a minor.

The absolute scumbag who had whispered false love, laid hands on a minor, and then bolted like it was nothing.
And then, as if nothing had happened, got engaged to another minor and lived his life without a trace of shame.
‘Sperm donor.’

The girl didn’t even want to call him her biological father.
Leonia glared for a long moment at the red-haired donor who had contributed just enough to assist in the cellular division of her body.
Strangely, her heart felt calm. She thought she’d rip his face off the moment she saw him—but instead, she felt… indifferent.

‘Whatever. He’s going to die anyway.’
Ferio had once said he’d chop Remus up and feed him to the monsters, and he hadn’t been joking.
‘Rest in pieces.’

Leonia offered an early prayer for his soul. Even a requiem would’ve been wasted on that bastard.
“Miss Varia.”
Still, not wanting to look at him any longer, Leonia abruptly turned her gaze and called out to Varia.
“What will you do?”

Leonia decided to leave the choice entirely to Varia. As far as she was concerned, the two sisters talking things out wasn’t necessarily a bad idea.
She herself had a bone to pick with Lota, but for Varia’s sake, she could set it aside for now.
“…Then just a moment.”

Varia asked Leonia for permission, to which Leonia casually gestured toward the Viscount Olor couple and stepped back.
“U-Unnie…”
Lota finally managed to stammer out her words, casting a hesitant glance at Varia.

“Um, I… I just wanted to…”
“Just say what you came to say.”
Varia cut Lota off in one cold blow, reading the attempt to manipulate sympathy from the start.

“Keep it short and get to the point.”
“……”
“Or I’m leaving.”

“…Aren’t you being too harsh?”
Tears started streaming down Lota’s face as she reeled from her sister’s coldness.
“I just wanted to apologize…!”

She covered her face with both hands and sobbed, her shoulders trembling. Naturally, the surrounding nobles turned to stare.
‘Look at this bitch.’
Leonia instantly realized what Lota was aiming for.

She was pulling the exact same move Leonia had used earlier to pressure Count Erbanu.
‘She didn’t say a word when her father was getting destroyed.’
Not even a dry laugh escaped Leonia.

“We’re family!”
“Lota, stop crying…”
“Remus…”

“Varia will understand everything eventually.”
Remus wrapped an arm around Lota’s shoulder and comforted her. The sight of a husband consoling his crying wife made for the perfect sympathetic tableau.
“What’s going on?”

“Looks like a family squabble.”
“That’s Count Erbanu’s daughter, right?”
“Man, that sister’s heartless…”

Her little sister’s crying like that, and she can’t even forgive her?
Someone murmured critically.
“Right? No wonder she ran off to that duke and abandoned her family.”

“They said she joined the finance division too…”
“Ruthless, isn’t she?”
“She even spoke harshly to her father earlier…”

Naturally, the criticism soon shifted toward Varia.
Behind her hands, Lota’s lips curled into a grin.
‘Unbelievable. This psycho.’

Leonia shivered. It had been a while since she’d gotten goosebumps like that.
They said the world was wide and full of crazies—but this one was right in front of her.

This was almost Saura-level madness—like she was wearing Connie’s face.

“Lota.”
In the midst of the murmuring—
“Why do I need to apologize?”

Varia asked.
“But… you were too harsh, unnie!”
“You didn’t come here to guilt-trip me. You said you wanted to apologize, right?”

“Y-Yeah, but still…”
Lota faltered.
“Then why am I the one being ‘too harsh’?”

Honestly, Varia had done nothing wrong.
She just didn’t want to drag things out, so she told her to get to the point.
Sure, she had no warm feelings toward Lota, so maybe she came off a little cold—but that wasn’t a sin.

If anything, Varia was the one who deserved an apology.
‘…What a liar.’
Calling herself “family” while using cheap emotional manipulation to paint Varia as the villain?

‘You’re not even family…!’
That word—that claim—infuriated Varia even more.
They had no right to use that word.

“…Then what about me?”
That’s when Leonia stepped in.
She hadn’t planned to, but Varia seemed more shaken than expected. Picking up on it fast, Leonia turned to Lota and asked:

“Aren’t you going to apologize to me?”
“A-Acting Duke…”
Caught off guard by the unexpected intrusion, Lota took a step back. All Leonia did was ask a question, yet Lota recoiled in terror.

“Acting Duke.”
Remus jumped in. The way he pulled his trembling wife into his arms was annoyingly natural.
Thanks to that, the atmosphere shifted just as they’d hoped. The crowd now lumped Leonia together with Varia.

They didn’t blame her as much—after all, she was still “just a kid…”
‘Ugh, age again.’
Leonia was annoyed.

If you added up the years she’d lived, she was older than Ferio. But because of this tiny body, even the title “Acting Duke” was treated like a joke.
“I’m sorry, but this is a family matter.”
Remus spoke firmly, but with a tone that pretended to be apologetic. Leonia let out a dry laugh.

He had just told her, “Mind your own business and get lost.”
“…Wow, seriously.”
She exhaled long and slow as fury burned in her gut.

“Is there a teacup nearby?”
If there was, she would’ve served it the way Countess Bosgruni taught her—right to their heads.
“Varia.”

As Leonia scanned the room for a teacup in earnest, Remus turned his gaze back to Varia.
The gentle look in his eyes and voice made Varia’s skin crawl.
“No matter what, this isn’t right.”

“……”
“No matter how much you hate us, we’re still family.”
Remus’ moist red eyes curved gently.

Varia clenched her fist without realizing it. She wanted to slam her fist into that disgusting mouth spewing nonsense.
No. Even that would be a waste.
She wanted to gouge out those eyes staring at her.

“If something’s bothering you, you should say it.”
Varia was speechless.
“If you open your heart and talk, we’ll all understand and forgive.”

When she had opened her heart, her father had slapped her. Instead of forgiveness, she was ~Nоvеl𝕚ght~ nearly killed.
“We’re family.”
And that was what got her killed—those exact words from Remus.

“Unnie…”
At that moment, Lota called Varia in a trembling voice.
The situation was spiraling against Varia.

The watching nobles dismissed it as a trivial family issue—one where the younger sister was crying and the older sister was just being rebellious.
This whole mess had become entertainment for the banquet.
“What happened to you?”

Lota grasped Varia’s hand tightly. Varia flinched. It felt like a hundred-legged bug was crawling on her skin.
She violently shook Lota’s hand off.
The disgust in the onlookers’ eyes deepened.

“Just come home.”

Having gotten exactly what she wanted, Lota added the final flourish by dropping another tear.
“I’ll apologize!”

“…!”
Just as Varia’s anger peaked and her fist started to rise—
“…You insane bastard.”

Leonia’s voice cut through the air, and the noisy banquet hall instantly froze.
“Lota Olor.”
The little beast had tried her best to follow the etiquette she learned from Countess Bosgruni—but no longer.

Now she unleashed the fury she’d been holding back.
Leonia gently lowered Varia’s fist and glared at Lota.
“I told you, didn’t I?”

They had made a promise.
‘Just wait.’
‘Watch what this bastard child does next.’

The frozen tension in the hall didn’t break.
Only then did Lota realize something was wrong. The sympathy she and Remus had stirred wasn’t returning—even with her acting.
“I’ll show you now.”

A vicious, suffocating pressure crept forward.
“You people think I’m easy, so I’m holding back.”
The horror Leonia exuded wasn’t the same kind of discomfort as before. It was a primal, gut-wrenching fear that dug into the bones.

“Next time, I’ll personally tear off your scalp.”
With a smiling face full of twisted anticipation, Leonia’s words made Lota’s pupils tremble.
And not just because of Leonia.

“…Oh boy.”
A low, tired—but affectionate—voice echoed across the hall.
At the same time, a heavy arm wrapped around Varia’s waist.

Pulled tight by that strong arm, Varia was suddenly embraced.
The pounding heartbeat in her ear and the sharp masculine scent that hit her nose made her dizzy.
“Why is it that whenever I’m not around, my women raise hell?”

Ferio clicked his tongue lightly.
***
“Daddyyyyy!”

Leonia clung to Ferio’s remaining arm and cooed adorably.
‘You’re all dead now.’
Heh heh heh.

The manners of an acting duke were gone. Leonia grinned wickedly.
The savage little beast had just passed the baton to the strongest, most brutal predator in the empire—her father.
And she made a promise.

One day, she would become a proper beast herself—and repay all the subtle scorn thrown her way.
“D-Duke…”
Meanwhile, Varia blinked in disbelief at Ferio’s sudden appearance.

“How did you get here?”
“I ran like hell.”
Ferio looked her over as he answered, saying his appearance was a mess because of it.

Yet, he shone more brightly than anyone at the banquet.
His formal attire was unlike what he usually wore at the mansion.
And judging by his loosened tie and disheveled hair, it was true—he’d really run all the way here.

His composed face betrayed the fact that his breathing was rough.
The fast heartbeat Varia heard through his chest proved it.
“Standing next to you makes me feel guilty.”

“Pardon?”
“I mean, you’re so beautiful.”
Too beautiful to show off to others.

With a gentle gaze, Ferio stared at Varia—but the moment he blinked, his expression changed into that of a deadly beast.
Bombarded by unexpected praise and gentle words, Varia finally snapped back to her senses.
‘T-This is all an act!’

This was a hunt—a coordinated attack on their shared enemy.
As expected, Lota and Remus froze the moment Ferio appeared.
Crushed under the unfiltered pressure of Ferio’s presence, they couldn’t even open their mouths.

“I don’t know what this is all about,”
Ferio said, glancing at the stiffened banquet hall.
“But to ruin the First Prince’s birthday banquet like this…”

He placed all the blame squarely on Remus and Lota. Their faces twisted with belated shame.
“If it’s a family issue, deal with it in the family.”
He asked why they had to cause this mess on such a nice day.

“…That’s true.”
Count Urmariti, watching from the crowd, added his voice.
“Why bring up family drama at the prince’s birthday banquet?”

With that quiet scolding, Viscount Kerata gently chimed in from nearby:
“Let’s not be too harsh. They must’ve thought it was something important enough to forget where they were.”