I Became the Male Lead’s Adopted Daughter - Chapter 9

“Why are you getting dressed?”

 

Leonier’s question clearly showed disappointment.

 

“Who do you think it’s because of?”

 

“Then hurry up and put it on!”

 

“I’m also done. My daughter just sexually harassed me.”

 

“Uh-huh, I’m sorry.”

 

Leonier, who immediately reflected on herself, stuck out her little finger, saying she would now secretly watch it.

 

Rather than sticking out his fingers, Felio murmured that he needed to find an etiquette teacher as soon as possible.

 

Leonier puffed her cheeks out.

 

“But why did you come?”

 

“Ah, right.”

 

Only then, remembering why she had come here,  Leonier pulls something from her pocket.

 

“I’d like to give you this.”

 

There were cookies in a small bag tied with ribbons.

 

“Uncle, you worked hard to torture them earlier in the dungeon. I baked cookies with the chef because I thought you were tired. Eat this, and you’ll feel better.”

 

Leonier stated that she used less sugar because Felio dislikes sweet foods.

 

“You always give me candy when we meet, so I’m going to give it to you this time.”

 

Felio alternated between looking at the cookies he had received and at Leonier.

 

“All right, let’s see, so all of the ingredients in this came from my money?”

 

The Duke of Felio Voreoti owned everything in this mansion, from huge mansions to toilet paper.

 

“…Every time you do that, uncle, I hate you.”

 

Leonier though he is sure such a heartless man. Leonier was very annoyed when he was proud of his money with such a mindless and unattractive face.

 

“If you’re not going to eat it, give it to me!”

 

She stretched out her hand to take the cookie, but it was in vain. Felio put the cookie snugly in the pocket of his pants.

 

“Who’s not going to eat it?”

 

“I don’t want to give it to you because I feel bad. Well, I feel sad if I don’t have money?”

 

“But now my money is your money?”

 

“I was joking earlier, Uncle.”

 

You know how I feel, don’t you? Leonier, who immediately changed her posture, stuck her tongue out and punched the air with a small fist punch like a child.

 

One eyelid trembled as it was forced to close because it didn’t close properly.

 

‘…the two of them.’

 

Loupe, who had naturally become a loner, turned to look at the father and daughter.

 

‘Have you forgotten my existence?’

 

The two father and daughter had long fallen into their own world, forgetting the existence of Loupe.

 

*****

 

Loupe could only open his mouth after Leonier, who had given him cookies, had left the room.

 

“So you’re still here.”

 

He forgot about him, as expected, and Loupe drooped his shoulders as if he knew he would.

 

Despite the fact that he had done nothing, he felt more tired for some reason. He really wanted to do nothing and rest for about four days.

 

“What did you say you came for?”

 

“I haven’t even brought it up yet.”

 

“All right, tell me right now.”

 

When he met Leonier, his dry tone of voice was completely different.

 

Felio tore open the cookie package Leonier had left behind. He then took a cookie and looked around.

 

Even though it had a sloppy shape, it was well grilled to a golden brown. The aroma was mildly savoury.

 

It had the flavour of ginger with a hint of water. It seemed like a good idea to eat when he was tired.

 

Such a Felio astounded Loupe.

 

‘I can’t believe he’s a real person.’

 

A brutal human being who is usually indifferent and uninterested in everyone takes the small child in his arms, makes eye contact with her, and talks to her.

 

Even if he used a mocking tone toward Leonier, he did so with a sense of affection and responsibility.

 

Duke Voreoti with his child was not as frightening as usual.

 

“…It has something to do with Lady Leonier.”

 

Felio moved his eyes as he savoured the taste of cookies.

 

Right, that’s the expression. Loupe recoiled at Felio’s hideous atmosphere, which had been restored to its original state.

 

“I believe it would be better to conduct some research.”

 

“What is the reason?”

 

“First of all, I hope you don’t get angry after listening.”

 

“What a load of nonsense.”

 

Loupe flinched at his toneless words. He looked determined.

 

“Please. I’m risking my life.”

 

“Did you also bet your finger?”

 

Felio popped a cookie into his mouth, claiming that his fingers were too expensive. The cookies were exactly to his liking.

 

“I believe the young lady was related to Lady Regina.”

 

The atmosphere in the room vanished in an instant, like a lie. Loupe, who had touched the mines on his own, shut his eyes tightly.

 

He couldn’t look Felio in the eyes.

 

Winter arrives earlier in Voreoti territory than anywhere else, and the atmosphere in the room is cold, and strangely, sweat dripped behind Loupe’s back.

 

Finally, there was silence so deafening that he couldn’t swallow a drop of saliva.

 

“… Regina is no longer alive.”

 

Felio opened his mouth after a while.

 

Loupe couldn’t see Felio’s face, but his voice, which referred to his deceased cousin, indicated that he wasn’t in a good mood.

 

“We haven’t discovered a single body yet.”

 

As Kara previously stated. Despite the discovery of the carriage, the search team was unable to locate the bodies of Regina and her lover at the time.

 

The river downstream, where the carriage was pushed, was so swift that everyone assumed two people were killed.

 

Felio did not object either.

 

“If Miss Regina and her lover had escaped alive at the time, and if the child born was Lady Leonier, the rumour that she was an illegitimate child would have to be corrected.”

 

“So, why don’t you double-check the parents!”

 

“Finding the deceased parents and informing the child?”

 

Only then did Loupe know what was going on.

 

Leonier’s entering the orphanage meant that even if Regina and her lover ran away safely and gave birth to Leonier, it meant they could be still alive now.

 

Loupe bit her tongue shallowly in response to his impatience.

 

“And the background of Regina’s daughter, it’s not good for Leonier.”

 

The young lady’s daughter from the collateral line who ran away with the man who opposed her family.

 

And the illegitimate child of the Duke of Voreoti, the strongest man in the Empire and the northern ruler.

 

Both are there, but if he had to choose one and tag it with Leonier, the last one was much more legitimate. At least behind the last one was the setting that Felio was her biological parent.

 

“…I made a mistake.”

 

Loupe apologized obediently.

 

He couldn’t think back now because he was stuck in the past for a while. It was an obvious mistake.

 

“But you’re better than me.”

 

“Pardon?”

 

He thought he would give the look to set him down, but Loupe asked back in a silly voice in an unexpected compliment.

 

Only then Loupe look at Felio’s face.

 

“Regina’s daughter—”

 

His expression was so calm.

 

“I didn’t even consider it.”

 

Furthermore, it was even calmer.

 

‘How come I didn’t see the possibility?’

 

Because the child looks too skinny? Or because she looks like a beggar?

 

The fact that Loupe was enough to say that, and Kara, the butler, was also likely to think of Regina.

 

Since Felio became Duke, all of the servants in the mansion were new recruits.

 

So, even though they hear stories about Regina, they have no idea who she is and her appearance. It’s no surprise that they couldn’t dream of Regina even though they saw Leonier.

 

And one was not Felio.

 

He has known Regina since he was a child. He is the only one who is familiar with Regina.

 

And yet, in Felio’s opinion, Leonier and Regina had nothing in common.

 

Far from overlapping, he had never considered it until Loupe mentioned Regina’s name.

 

He said he would forget her, who wanted to run away from Voreoti, but he seems to have really forgotten it.

 

Felio’s mouth was twisted.

 

“Does Leonier remind you of Regina?”

 

“To be honest, my answer is no.”

 

Leonier resembles Felio more.

 

Felio clarified once more that his eyes were not wrong.

 

“…it’s easy to check.”

 

Felio couldn’t bring himself to ask Leonie to look for Regina’s traces.

 

He saw a child’s black eyes glistening like gold in an orphanage. At the moment, he believed Leonie had mana. Children who use mana can instinctively use defensive magic in times of crisis.

 

But if it wasn’t for mana.

 

Whether she has the fangs of a beast like him or Regina.

 

That is if the Voreoti blood really flows through the child.

 

******

 

Heavy snow poured down.

 

The heavy snow that fell beyond sight signalled that winter had finally arrived in the north.

,

When Leonier first arrived at the Voreoti estate, where winter arrives earlier than anywhere else, it was cold, but nothing compared to the cold weather caused by heavy snow.

 

“Leonier.”

 

Leonier looked at the big poached egg for breakfast with ecstatic eyes and raised her head.

 

“I’ll do the ‘dingle dangle’ next time.” (T/n: dingle dangle is like a manner of something or someone hanging slightly and repeatedly.)

 

Since morning, Felio, who has been chopping steak, said, cutting it into bite-sized pieces and putting it in Leonier’s mouth.

 

‘Dingle dangle’ was the name of the new torture designed by Leonier yesterday. The name of the artist was Felio.

 

Leonier, who opened his mouth like a baby bird, looked at the rattling window in the strong snow wind.

 

“Because of the weather?”

 

Leonier chose a thick-lined and fluffy white shirt today.

 

She also has short black hair that is tied back with a yellow hairband.

 

Her cheeks were plumper than the day before.

 

“Only the Amon knights freeze to death while serving ‘guests’.”

 

Felio murmured quietly, suggesting it would have been better if he had hung it the day before.

 

When she got up from her seat after the meal, the maids waiting behind her wrapped Leonier with a small red indoor robe.

 

Felio’s command was to keep an eye out for a child who was already weak, no matter how warm the inside of the mansion was.

 

“This is like ‘Superman’.”

 

“Who?”

 

“The man who wears underwear over his clothes.”

 

Felio, who imagined Leonier’s description as it was, frowned displeasedly.

 

“…is there such a pervert?”

 

“Not a pervert, uh, just a pair of panties out there. It’s personal taste.”

 

“That’s what a pervert is.”

 

Felio, who usually hears the pervert words from Leonier, was very upset.

 

He hated his daughter, who sided with that ‘man’ even though she had more perverts than him.

 

Leonier, who doesn’t know her father’s pace, praised him because his body was very strong.

 

‘Is it natural to light up your body?’

 

What a hellish orphanage life must have been.

 

Today, the dungeon’s intensity in serving ‘guests’ has increased.

 

Felio watched Leonier sprint ahead as he clicked his tongue.

 

The child, who was walking vigorously with a red cape flying, turned around and waved at Felio with a grin.

 

“You’re going to break your nose.”

 

The drowsy steps gained speed.