I Became the Male Lead's Adopted Daughter-Chapter 106

Ferio gave Leonia—who had just asked him to pat her butt—a gentle smile.

“Leonia.”

And then he said,

“This is exactly why I have to be careful with you.”

Just hearing her say that made Ferio feel like he was being harassed.

It would be him doing the patting, and his hand hadn’t even touched her yet, but already, he felt a chill go down his spine.

“So annoying, seriously...”

Leonia wiggled her butt once before straightening her posture.

“I finished my homework.”

Only then did she bring up the reason she’d come here in the first place.

“I wrote everything about how I ran the tea party and what I learned from it.”

“And what did you learn?”

Ferio asked as he flicked one of the braids tied at the side of her head.

“Money.”

Leonia replied curtly.

“Could you be a little more specific?”

“It was really inconvenient having to get your permission for every expense.”

When she was preparing the tea party—

Ferio had made her submit a written explanation and itemized list of everything she needed before he approved a budget.

And the budget itself was capped.

Granted, the amount he gave her was more than enough to host the tea party and have some left over.

But getting that money was the hard part.

“It was exhausting.”

Leonia still got a headache just thinking about it.

“I’m only seven years old.”

She grumbled about how ridiculous it was for someone her age to be doing this kind of mental labor.

“If you actually behaved like a real kid, I wouldn’t have asked you to do it.”

That one line made Leonia flinch.

Ferio himself had said it without much thought.

In truth, he had no intention of pushing Leonia into heir training anytime soon.

But she was so smart and mature, he’d started assigning her small responsibilities to test her out.

And she had exceeded expectations—by a lot.

Which made Ferio curious to see just how much more she could do.

“...I shouldn’t’ve tried so hard.”

Leonia grumbled, slumping back against the couch with a scowl on her face.

“Ever since we came to the Capital, all I do is study!”

“Is that so?”

“‘Is that so?’—that’s all you’ve got?!”

Eek! The Baby Beast waved her little fists in the air, throwing a tantrum.

“I want to play! My dream is to be unemployed!”

“That dream ended the day you became my daughter.”

“Well, you could fix that by getting married and having another kid!”

If that was too much, she was even willing to let him just bring home a baby without the marriage part. frёewebnoѵel.ƈo๓

“Didn’t you tell me that once?”

That he wouldn’t allow her to marry, but he would let her have a baby.

“...Wow. I really was garbage.”

“It’s okay. I already knew.”

Leonia was fully aware that, in the original story, Ferio was insanely popular.

It was common knowledge that he didn’t stop women from leaving or cling to the ones who stayed.

Ferio’s face darkened.

“Still, you weren’t total trash.”

Ferio only associated with women who were on the same page as him.

He had never done anything illegal or immoral.

Strictly speaking, he wasn’t trash at all.

‘Now those guys were the real scum.’

Leonia recalled the two characters in the original story who constantly competed for the “most disgusting” title.

Emperor Subiteo and the heir of Viscount Olor.

Those two had committed unthinkable crimes like it was some kind of hobby—things so vile they had to be implied rather than described outright, even in a novel claiming to be fit for all ages.

By comparison, Ferio was completely innocent.

In fact, ever since he started raising Leonia, it was as if he had entered a monk-like state—he hadn’t had a single relationship that could even be misunderstood.

“It’s okay, Daddy!”

Leonia cheered him on with gusto.

“You’re actually pretty wholesome!”

She even gave him a big thumbs-up.

“......”

The recipient of that encouragement, however, was left feeling completely devastated.

He had thought he’d lived a pretty clean life... but hearing it framed as a “you’re not total garbage” by his daughter made him feel utterly filthy.

The hand that had been stroking her head quietly retreated.

“Go to your room.”

“Huh? Aren’t we having dinner?”

Leonia asked, blinking her big black eyes in confusion—so pure, so innocent—that Ferio’s conscience practically screamed.

He had no right to mock Leonia’s obsession with muscles as some kind of perversion.

If anything, he was the one who felt like a total disgrace who didn’t deserve to be a role model for a child.

Do I even have the right to be this kid’s father...?

Ferio was seriously questioning himself now. He worried that what he considered a “clean” dating history might have had a negative influence on his daughter.

“Daaaddy.”

Completely unaware of her father’s inner spiral—

“Let’s go eat together.”

Leonia grabbed his hand with a big, bright smile.

“I asked Connie earlier for sausages ‘cause I was craving them, and—oh! I was gonna share some with you...”

But before she could finish the sentence, her head suddenly dropped all the way toward the floor.

“H-Huh?! Daddy?”

Leonia stumbled in confusion.

Ferio had hoisted her up and carried her right out of the room. Then closed the door.

“...What?”

Now kicked out, Leonia stood there blinking in complete bewilderment.

She couldn’t process what had just happened.

Only the vivid feeling of her forehead being pressed to Ferio’s back remained.

“Leonia.”

Ferio’s voice came through the door.

And for some reason... it sounded quieter than usual. More cautious.

“Daddy? Why aren’t you coming out?”

“I don’t have an appetite right now...”

“Why? Is your stomach upset?”

Bathroom?

Leonia knocked on the door and asked.

But no reply came.

“Daaaaaaddy!”

Leonia kept knocking and calling for a while before finally peeking into the keyhole.

But all she saw was darkness.

“Daddy!”

Knock knock knock!

Then she started singing.

“Do you wanna build a snowmaaan?”

A line from a cartoon she remembered from another world.

“C’mon, come out already!”

“It’s summer right now.”

“Can’t you at least throw shade to my face?”

Leonia rapped her knuckles on the door again as she shot back.

“We can build snowmen later in the North! It’s not like you’re gonna live in the Capital forever, right? You’ve gotta go monster hunting again this winter anyway!”

Monster hunting was the duty of House Voreoti, the rulers of the North.

And Leonia could tell it was nearly time for them to return to their domain.

She’d only just gotten used to life in the Capital... The thought of leaving behind Tra and the other staff made her a little sad.

“But when are we going to the North?”

She asked, leaning against the door.

“In two days.”

Ferio replied.

Leonia was so shocked she slid straight down and landed on her butt.

“...You should say something that important to my face!”

Furious, she began kicking the door with all her might.

“Get out here right now, you jerk of a dad!”

Leaving such an important announcement for just two days before was unacceptable, and Baby Beast howled in front of the study door for quite a while, growling and pounding like a tiny storm.

This translation is the intellectual property of Novelight.

***

Four months.

That was how long Leonia had been away from the North, staying in the West and the Capital.

‘I thought we’d just stay for a bit and then go right back to the North.’

She adjusted her clothes lightly as she stood in front of the mirror, lost in thought.

When she’d left the North, she was in her pajamas, and back then, it had been spring—just before the flower buds began to bloom.

Now, it was the sweltering height of summer.

The lightweight shirt and shorts she wore proved it.

‘We really stayed in the Capital a long time.’

It had been over four months since they left the North, and more than three of those had been spent entirely in the Capital.

That meant she had spent a full quarter of a year here.

“Young Lady, would you like to wear a hat? The sun is quite strong today.”

“We’re getting into a carriage anyway.”

“Still.”

“Tch...”

Leonia grumbled but obediently put the ✧ NоvеIight ✧ (Original source) hat on. It was the round, thin kind that street newspaper boys would wear.

“So cool!”

The moment she put it on, she shivered. A refreshing breeze ran across the top of her head.

“The Duke picked it out himself.”

“Daddy did?”

“It’s a magically enchanted hat.”

Apparently, noble children wore hats like this during the hot summer months—ones enchanted with ventilation magic.

Of course, even that was something only upper-class noble children could afford.

“Woooow...”

Leonia fiddled with the hat, thoroughly impressed.

Connie watched with a warm smile. It seemed the Young Lady was truly touched by her father's thoughtfulness.

Even a humble maid like her felt warmth in her heart from the Duke’s affection toward his daughter.

“...Is Daddy collecting magic items or something?”

Why does he buy so many of these?

Leonia grumbled under her breath.

But Connie only smiled. She now understood exactly what Leonia meant, even when she complained like that.

She’d cared for her closely for so long—she could read the girl like a book.

‘The Young Lady is happy.’

Her slightly curled lips and the way her hands wouldn’t leave the hat were all the proof she needed.

“Still, if we were going to leave, he should’ve told me earlier.”

Leonia huffed and turned to Connie with a little indignant sniff.

“You’ve grown really fond of the Capital, haven’t you?”

Connie replied knowingly, her voice gentle.

“...Well, a little?”

In truth, it was much more than a little.

Leonia leaned against Connie’s leg and tapped the floor absentmindedly with her shoe.

“I think I’ll miss Tra. And the other maids too.”

“So will I.”

“And the chefs. And the gardeners.”

Everyone had been so kind to Leonia. Even though this wasn’t goodbye forever, she already felt lonely.

“They’d be really happy if you wrote them letters.”

Connie suggested kindly.

“To everyone?”

“What if you wrote just one to Butler Tra, and asked him to send your regards to the others?”

“Won’t they feel left out?”

“Not at all!”

There’s not a single person in this household who’d feel that way, Connie said confidently.

At that, Leonia finally smiled with relief.

“Shall we head down?”

“Okay.”

Before stepping out, the two of them took one last look around the room.

“This is my room, too.”

Leonia gently ran her hand over the table and chair where she’d often sat and read books.

“I’ll come back again.”

Then she hugged it tight, like she was embracing a dear friend.

Connie gazed at her with warm, affectionate eyes.

As they left the room and headed down to the front hall, all the staff of the mansion were already lined up waiting.

Leonia blinked in surprise and hurried down the stairs, step by step.

Behind her, Connie reached out with a worried hand, ready to catch her in case she tripped.

“Young Lady.”

At the bottom of the staircase, Tra held out his hand.

“You’re just as strong and bright on the day you leave.”

“I’m just surprised everyone’s out here.”

“Well, it is the day our master and young lady leave the Capital mansion.”

Tra replied with a soft, bittersweet smile.

“Everyone is especially sad to see the young lady go.”

“What about Daddy? Isn’t he sad?”

“That’s a secret.”

Tra whispered, covering his mouth with his hand like it was top secret.

Leonia burst into laughter.

And just then—something happened.