I Became the Male Lead’s Adopted Daughter

Ferio had returned after a month, yet his daughter could not muster a response.
Leonia could only let out slow, labored breaths.
She was exhausted.

She had lost control of the power that had surged forth, unable to restrain it.
Her unfocused black pupils were streaked chaotically with gold.
“You really do require a lot of care.”

Scarlet fangs emerged.
Ferio gazed into Leonia’s eyes.
His large, mature fangs slowly enveloped and pressed down on the rampaging young ones, gradually dimming the golden hue that had been disturbing the black.

At the same time, the chilling air that had frozen the surroundings began to warm.
“...Puh!”
“Haa, hah!”

Paavo and Connie, who had been frozen stiff, finally sucked in deep breaths, thawing out their choked lungs.
“Sir Gaber, what happened?”
Once he confirmed they had steadied themselves, Ferio asked.

“...I failed to protect the young lady. I cannot presume to fully understand her intent, but I am certain that Countess Tedros has provoked her.”
His crimson gaze landed on Kerena, who was collapsed on the floor.
Trapped within the ice spikes, Kerena was no longer in her right mind.

She let out an eerie, broken whimper, her wretched state turning her once-glorious past in high society into a mere mockery.
Crusted scabs of dried blood marred the wounds on her body.
“It appears the countess has overstepped her bounds in what she said to the young lady.”
Paavo recounted the conversation he had overheard between Leonia and Kerena to the best of his memory.

But upon hearing the details, Ferio showed no reaction.
‘He should just draw his sword instead…’
Paavo, with years of experience, knew just how terrifying Ferio’s silence could be.

Unlike Leonia’s fangs, which had erupted wildly and uncontrollably, Ferio’s were sharp and chilling precisely because they were restrained.
The predator had already taken hold of the hall, slowly and unshakably.
Yet, all he did was look down at the little cub in his arms.

Leonia, having finally settled, began to feel the fever rising from the aftermath of her rampage.
Cold sweat beaded on her round forehead, and her ragged breaths sounded painful to hear.
“…How curious.”

Adjusting his grip to hold his ailing daughter more carefully, Ferio handed Paavo the cream puff box.
Despite everything, the box was entirely intact, without so much as a dent.
“In the time I was away from the North.”

That was all he said before passing by Kerena without a glance.
The only sound in the silent hall was the steady steps of the black beast ascending the stairs.
Then, he stopped.

And bared his fangs.
“Has everyone suddenly developed a death wish?”
Kerena, skewered by those fangs, collapsed.

Ferio merely cast an indifferent glance at her before continuing up the stairs, utterly unconcerned.
“Well, I suppose I should grant them their wish.”
He muttered to himself, as if he truly couldn’t understand the desperation in her plea.

Then, the beast moved again.
“……”
Paavo, still holding the cream puff box, stared blankly at the stairs Ferio had ascended.

The sound of his footsteps, growing more distant, lingered in the air.
It was like the unvoiced, feeble death wail that Kerena never had the chance to utter.
The once-frozen entrance hall had returned to its original warmth.

Yet, even with the black beast gone, no one dared to move.
As a result, Kerena remained collapsed at the center of the hall for a long time before anyone thought to take her away.
***

The dim night, soaked in moonlight, greeted Leonia.
“……”
Still unable to fully grasp what had happened, she wobbled as she tried to lift her upper body.

But then, dizziness struck.
Her vision spun wildly, and she fell back.
However, what caught her head was not a soft pillow.

“Tch.”
A large, firm hand supported her.
“You still have a fever. Lie down.”

A voice, indifferent yet gentle, murmured beside her ear.
The head that had briefly lifted was slowly lowered onto the pillow again.
Enduring the throbbing pain in her head, Leonia turned her face ever so slightly to the left.

There, sitting by the bed with a chair pulled close, was Ferio.
“…Mister.”
Her hand reached out unconsciously, and Ferio took hold of it.

Her voice, now low and subdued, was entirely unlike the usual spirited tone she carried.
Leonia had no idea how long he had been here.
But judging from his loosely unbuttoned sleeves and the way his hair had settled calmly, he had likely been by her side for quite a while.

“When did you come?”
“Two days ago.”
“Two days….”

“And you’ve been sleeping the whole time.”
“…Because of my fangs?”
As scattered memories surfaced, Leonia’s expression crumbled.

She pulled the blanket up to her nose and, in a voice barely above a whisper, apologized.
“I’m sorry….”
“What’s with the formal speech all of a sudden?”

“But… I did something wrong….”
“What did you do wrong?”
Ferio tugged the blanket back down to her chin and asked.

His black eyes peered down at her, as if he genuinely didn’t understand what she meant.
“I caused trouble….”
Leonia tugged at the blanket again. But Ferio didn’t let go.

“What kind of trouble?”
“……”
“Using your fangs?”

“…Yeah.”
A deep shadow fell over her face.
She looked even more dejected than when she had suffered motion sickness after traveling through the Gate for the first time.

At least back then, she hadn’t been watching Ferio’s every move so anxiously.
“Did you use them on purpose?”
Ferio stroked Leonia’s forehead, which was still warm with fever.

“No. I didn’t mean to….”
Leonia shivered faintly at the coolness of his hand against her heated skin.
It was so comforting ★ 𝐍𝐨𝐯𝐞𝐥𝐢𝐠𝐡𝐭 ★ that her eyes welled with tears.

Then, a sniffle echoed softly in the quiet room.
“…I was angry.”
Not wanting him to see her like this, Leonia buried her face into the pillow.

“They said I need to understand my position.”
But even as she hid her face, frustration and indignation welled up, overflowing without restraint.
Like a flood breaking through a dam, her emotions shook her small shoulders and dampened her lashes with unshed tears.

“…What even is my position?”
That question had weighed in her heart from the very moment she arrived. And she had never once been able to cast it aside.
This translation is the intellectual property of .

"I don’t even know…."
Everything was so confusing.
One day, she woke up and found herself in someone else’s body.

Not just anyone’s—but a very young and fragile child’s.
The family she had known, the places she had grown sick of visiting, the belongings she had always carried with her—everything was gone.
At first, she was afraid of the sudden change.

But that fear was fleeting.
Because soon, she was overwhelmed by unprovoked violence and unjust treatment.
At some point, her vague goal of returning to where she had once lived began to wither away, replaced by a singular determination to survive in this place.

Every night, she clenched her teeth, trembling as she swore revenge against those who wronged her.
“…Mister.”

“Who am I?”
By some miracle, she encountered the protagonist of this novel and was given the name ‘Leonia.’
For a while, she was treated with unimaginable care, surrounded by kind people, and for a fleeting moment—she forgot.

She forgot the most important fact.
That none of this truly belonged to ‘her.’
“A nameless orphan? A lucky adoptee? The bastard daughter of some foolish woman who ran away for love?”

No.
That wasn’t who she was.
There was a name she could never say in this place.

There were people she still missed so vividly.
There were places she had known so well they had become tiresome.
Everything she had left behind was precious and dear to her.

The ‘position’ that Kerena had mockingly questioned was the very wound Leonia had deliberately ignored and avoided confronting.
No matter how hard she tried, she could never truly be the Duke’s daughter.
She could never be Leonia Voreoti.

This was not where she belonged.
“Hic… hngh….”
The soft, broken sobs, too quiet to be a true wail, filled the vibrantly decorated room of the young lady.

Curled up alone on the vast bed, the crying child looked unbearably small.
Like a lost, weary little beast that had wandered aimlessly before collapsing in tears.
Ferio, as if observing a complete stranger, silently watched her, detached.

But then, a feeling surged up from deep within his chest, forcing him to still.
“…Leonia.”
The large hand that had been lingering idly in the air finally lowered, resting quietly beside her.

“Leonia.”
His fingers brushed against the small hand gripping the blanket tightly.
“…Leo.”

The gentle caress turned into a firm embrace, as his hand completely wrapped around hers.
The child, who had been crying with her face buried in her arms, finally peeked out.
Ferio let out a short laugh.

“……Waaah!”
Leonia burst into loud sobs.
She thought he was laughing at her.

“Why—why are you laughing?! Why?!”
“I wasn’t laughing.”
“You were! You were making fun of me because I’m stupid!”

“Do you know how stupid you’re being right now?”
Dodging Leonia’s weakly thrown fists, Ferio easily gathered her up—blanket and all—and placed her on his lap.
Startled, Leonia hiccupped, her crying momentarily interrupted.

“This is a foolish worry.”
Ferio wiped her tear-streaked face and runny nose with his sleeve.
“A truly foolish one.”

“……”
“My foolish daughter.”
And with that, he said no more.

Leonia, who had been sniffling, also fell silent, simply staring at him in a daze.
Then, she felt it.
A steady, reassuring pat.

She turned her gaze and saw Ferio lightly patting her back, pulling her closer against his chest.
It felt the same as before.
Just like when she had suffered from motion sickness after traveling through the Gate for the first time.

The chest of the unfamiliar man—
It was warm, solid, and unlike anything else in this world.
“…Muscles.”

“…You’re unbelievable. Even in this situation, that’s what you focus on?”
“I can’t help it…! It’s nice…!”
“Guess you weren’t sick enough.”

A sigh, mixed with a bit of amused exasperation, came from above her.
And just like that, the two of them passed the night together.
At some point, faint light seeped in beneath the curtains.

The child fell asleep in her father’s arms.
And the father, still holding his sleeping daughter, continued to gently pat her back.