I Became the Male Lead's Adopted Daughter-Chapter 184

Knock, knock.

“...Who is it?”

Leonia asked at the sound of someone knocking on the office door.

Her eyes were still locked on a stack of documents, and the pen in her hand was spinning distractedly.

“It’s Les.”

“Les?”

At the name, Leonia lifted her head.

Just as the door opened, a familiar head of carrot-colored hair came into view.

“Les unni!”

Leonia stood up from her seat with a bright smile.

“How’ve you been? I didn’t get to see you last time I stayed in the capital!”

“Have you been well too, Young Lady?”

As Les greeted her, she caught sight of someone else in the room.

“Marquess!”

Lupe, who had been on parental leave, gave a slight wave.

He had supposedly become more relaxed after getting married, and now his face practically glowed.

“Marquess, you look fantastic!”

He used to look like death warmed over, and Les stared curiously at how full of life Lupe now looked.

“I’m glad to see you’re healthy as well, Miss Les.”

“Well, without my health I’d be a corpse. But Marquess, weren’t you on parental leave...”

“It’s a temporary return.”

Lupe’s expression wasn’t very bright as he answered.

Les again felt something odd.

“Anyway, unni, you came to the North because...”

Leonia leaned her chin on one arm resting over her desk and asked lazily.

She looked completely relaxed, like she was slouching over the desk idly, but her blinking black eyes sparkled with intelligence.

“So the Imperial Court finally sent someone.”

Rising slowly from her seat, Leonia glanced sidelong at Les.

“Didn’t they?”

Faced with that steady gaze, Les gulped dryly. She couldn’t help but tremble slightly.

“...Yes, that’s correct.”

It had been a long time since Les felt this nervous.

There was something chilling about the twelve-year-old girl.

Only now did she truly feel that she had stepped into the Voreoti mansion.

She had stayed in the capital for too long and had forgotten the oppressive presence of the black beast.

“The Imperial Court has dispatched experts to each region.”

“Do you have the list of those dispatched?”

“I’ve already contacted the Eastern and Western Regions.”

“Any changes to the list?”

“None.”

Les, now standing rigid with tension, replied meticulously.

“Then...”

Leonia extended her hand. Lupe placed an opened letter onto it.

It was the letter Les had sent immediately after obtaining the expert lists for each region.

“All regions are receiving officials from the Ministry of Land.”

Les explained.

“There was a major reshuffling of the administrative body a few years ago.”

Lupe added.

“So they replaced them all with Imperial faction lackeys.”

Leonia read aloud the names of the two officials dispatched to the North.

“What kind of scumbags are these?”

“They’re having an affair.”

Les reported without a moment’s hesitation. The sound of their lustful whispers still rang in her ears.

Lupe’s face contorted in disgust, and Leonia grinned, urging her to tell more.

“It was awful...”

Les grumbled, saying she never wanted to remember it again.

Leonia comforted her, promising she’d have her dad reward her handsomely later.

“Then the knights must be tailing those two by now, right?”

“They’ll probably head up into the mountains while I’m gone.”

“Why are they begging for death...”

Leonia tilted her head, genuinely baffled.

“The monsters are pretty agitated right now, aren’t they?”

“Monsters are always agitated.”

Lupe replied.

During the cool summer season, monsters entered their breeding period.

As Lupe said, monsters were always dangerous—but even more so during breeding. It was absolutely forbidden to go near them.

“It’d be nice if they became monster food...”

Leonia said as she twirled her pen.

“It’s better not to give anyone an excuse.”

Lupe advised.

“Then I’ll just scare the crap out of them.”

Leonia scribbled something on a piece of paper and handed it to Lupe, calling it a Voreoti specialty.

Lupe took it and promptly left the office.

“Oooh.”

Les, who had been watching everything, let out a small sound of awe.

“Young Lady, you’re so cool.”

“When have I not been?”

Leonia lifted her chin smugly.

At twelve, she was already perfect enough to inherit the title at any moment.

“I was really surprised earlier! I didn’t even do anything wrong, but I was intimidated!”

“You say that, but there’s nothing more coming.”

Still, despite her words, Leonia was clearly pleased by the praise.

“By the way, where’s the Duke?”

Les asked casually, not thinking much of it.

“....”

And just like that, the warm atmosphere in the office turned cold. Les was once again pulled into a strange sense of dissonance.

“My dad...”

A sharp crack sounded as something snapped in Leonia’s hand. The pen she’d been holding had broken.

Les hurriedly took out a handkerchief and wiped the ink from her hand.

“Are you alright, Young Lady?”

“I’m fine, but...”

Huuu...

A long sigh—nearly ten seconds—poured out from the girl’s mouth.

Her rising chest made her look like an angry kitten with its fur bristling.

“Why are you even looking for that bastard?”

“Bastard...”

Les absentmindedly echoed Leonia’s word.

“I just asked since he wasn’t around.”

She quickly added.

After all, she had already reported everything necessary to the acting Duke, Leonia. There was no real reason to look for Ferio.

But Leonia seemed to think otherwise.

“Unni, you said the right thing.”

Then she suddenly sprang from her seat, rolled her shoulders like a back-alley thug, and tilted her neck side to side.

She clenched her hands into fists and stretched them in the air, and on her wrist hung a brand-new wristwatch from this fall’s luxury line.

“Today...”

It was a flashy model, designed to appeal to the wealthy children of noble families.

And it looked very good on Leonia.

“I will drag him out.”

“...Today?”

“I’m just stepping out for a bit.”

She told Les to sit and rest, then strode out of the office.

But Les couldn’t contain her curiosity and followed behind.

‘What’s going on?’

From the knights she saw at the inn, to Mia at the entrance, and now the young lady.

‘Something’s off.’

She followed Leonia to a door.

The moment she saw it, a chill ran down Les’s spine.

At the same time, Mia’s earlier words echoed in her mind.

‘Do you know where you are? Don’t just call the madam’s name!’

Mia had called Varia madam.

‘You’ll get killed if you call her name carelessly!’

Les stopped walking.

A siren rang in her head.

Every instinct screamed that going any further would mentally destroy her.

But Leonia showed no such hesitation.

“Wait a sec.”

She stopped a passing maid.

The maid held a tray with empty dishes—it looked like it had contained ✪ Nоvеlіgһt ✪ (Official version) food.

“When did you bring that in?”

“T-Today at noon...”

She was just now picking it up, having left it outside the door.

“Young Lady.”

The maid spoke hesitantly.

“Today makes the fourth day...”

“You’re wrong.”

Leonia scoffed.

“It just ticked over into the fifth.”

Then she slammed her fist on the door the maid had just retrieved the dishes from.

“You stupid lovebirds!”

Leonia shrieked.

“It’s been five days already! Stop rubbing up against each other and get out here!”

***

After Ferio and Varia entered the room—

“Ha, it’s the nuptial night!”

Leonia ran through the mansion, gleefully spreading the joyous news.

There had never been a celebration like this one.

At long last, the Duke of Voreoti had taken in his lady.

The North now had a mistress, and House Voreoti had grown even stronger.

Kara sobbed loudly and openly, and Felica celebrated together with the maids.

“Tonight, we drink till we drop!”

As her first act of authority as acting Duke, Leonia ordered the mansion to be flooded with food and alcohol.

That night, the Voreoti mansion held a grand feast until dawn, and everyone drank until they were staggering.

Leonia cheered at the wave of muscle displayed by the Gladiago Knights for the first time in a while and even composed a new song about muscles.

Thus passed the first day.

On the second day—

Ferio and Varia showed no signs of emerging from their room.

Still, they couldn’t be left to starve, so Leonia instructed the staff to bring light meals to her parents’ door.

The servants who returned all had flushed faces.

“Ugh, those vigorous beasts!”

Leonia finally understood why Kara hadn’t wanted to send her to that room.

“Youth really is powerful.”

She then handed the servants a note to be delivered with the food, asking them to tone it down around mealtimes because they were making everyone passing by uncomfortable.

“No daughter is as filial as me.”

Wiping under her nose with one finger, Leonia proudly admired herself.

With generous tolerance, the child supported her parents’ vigorous bedroom activity.

She was certain now—this was the moment she had been waiting for.

However—

“...Did they die from overexertion?”

The issue arose on the third day.

While eating breakfast, Leonia muttered to herself. The servants attending her meal jumped in shock.

But secretly, they all agreed—it was possible.

So for the first time, Leonia went to Ferio’s bedroom.

“Are you alive?”

You didn’t die, right?

Thankfully, they were alive. Something slipped out from under the door.

“Wow! The newest muscle sketchbook collection!”

The girl, who had been ready to scold them for not coming out, ran off with the unexpected gift in her arms.

Still, by the fourth day, even the fiercest baby beast was exhausted.

“Come out, already!”

That day, Leonia finally banged on the door and shouted.

“Tone it down, will you! Your bones are going to rot at this rate!”

She was getting scared.

She had underestimated fictional main characters’ bedroom stamina. That was clearly a mistake.

She figured they’d come out after a day or two, and if it lasted three, she would’ve applauded them as protagonists.

But four days? That was too much.

“There is no way my parents are going to die in bed from overexertion in my life!”

So she pounded on the door again, demanding they come out.

“...Leo.”

Finally.

On the fourth day, Leonia heard Ferio’s voice.

“...Ugh, so annoying!”

The moment she heard her father, she screamed.

“Don’t come out of that room!”

“You were the one who told me to—”

“It’s gross, so stay inside!”

Leonia frantically waved her hand at the door.

Ferio’s voice was so low and rough that anyone could tell it came from someone deeply immersed in some vigorous bed exercise.

“I-Is unni still alive?”

Leonia hurriedly asked about Varia.

“Is unni alive? No—wait, is mom alive? She’s not dead, right?”

Thankfully, she must’ve still been breathing, because a hoarse voice mumbled an apology.

......

Leonia had nothing left to say. She turned her back, defeated.

She raised both hands toward the sky, as if to say there was nothing else she could do.

Muttering all the while about how this household’s family structure is totally screwed, and that it’s only because it’s me that I’m letting this slide.

And just a little while ago—

Right after Les had arrived at the mansion—

Her parents’ bedroom marathon had officially passed into day five.

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