I Became the Male Lead's Adopted Daughter-Chapter 194

“You take after me, so there shouldn’t be any lower-body issues...”

Viscount Olor knew well how vigorous his son was.

“You can even have kids outside, so there’s really nothing to worry about.”

“Lota will be hurt.”

Remus spoke with concern.

“It’s her fault for not having what she should.”

Viscount Olor replied flatly.

“Still, restrain yourself a bit for now.”

Then he gave a warning.

“Keep the outside fun moderate, too.”

“I’ll be careful.”

“Of all people, the eldest daughter of that house had to marry into Voreoti...”

A sharp clucking of his tongue echoed.

In any case, the Erbanu family had tied themselves to the largest household in the Empire.

There was no way Voreoti would go out of their way to look after or help Erbanu.

However, it was well-known that the Duke loved the eldest daughter of that family deeply.

So it was still too soon to give up on Erbanu. One never knew how things might turn out in life.

“Now that I think of it...”

Viscount Olor recalled someone.

“You had someone, didn’t you?”

“If you mean a person...”

“That assassin who fell for you.”

“Ah, you mean Saura.”

Remus nodded as if he had just remembered.

Then he spoke in a regretful tone.

“I’ve lost contact with Saura for a few years now.”

“How did that happen?”

“Her identity was probably exposed.”

“...Was it that?”

Illegal monster trafficking?

At the viscount’s question, Remus silently nodded.

“It coincided with the time Saura’s reports stopped coming. The lord of the estate she stayed in also lost his title.”

Viscount Olor’s face twisted sharply at that.

“Any trace of Saura?”

“I burned it all.”

At those words, Viscount Olor let out a sigh of relief and smiled.

“You really take after me.”

He was proud of his eldest son, who was just as meticulous and decisive as himself.

***

“......”

Prince Alis watched the carriage slowly roll away.

Soon, someone appeared behind him.

It was the prince’s escort knight, who had quietly followed the carriage earlier.

“Young master.”

But the knight used an irreverent term, referring to Prince Alis not as ‘Your Highness’ but simply as ‘young master.’

“Yes.”

However, Prince Alis didn’t even show a hint of displeasure.

On the contrary, he seemed completely calm. A stark contrast to the irritable and sensitive figure he had been inside the carriage.

“The young lady is waiting.”

“Right, we’re a bit late.”

Saying they were delayed due to an unexpected disturbance, Prince Alis quickened his steps.

“What shall we do about the rest of the day’s schedule?”

“I’ll act like the rumors.”

Raise hell, act violently.

Just like the rumors that said he was a tyrant who took after the emperor—Prince Alis spoke with a hollow smile.

The knight silently nodded.

Soon after, the two rented a carriage.

It was older and less comfortable than the one Viscount Olor had boasted about, and they arrived at a seaside cliff.

At its edge stood a weathered lighthouse.

“Whatever your business is, you should be careful.”

The coachman, who had just been paid handsomely, offered unsolicited advice.

“There’ve been a lot of stories lately about the ghost of the lighthouse keeper.”

“Is that so?”

The knight answered in his place.

“Recently, the imperial palace sent someone, but he supposedly fell into the sea after being possessed by the ghost.”

The coachman looked around warily as he spoke.

“They say the ghost of the lighthouse keeper, who once protected people, is now that furious.”

“What a good ghost that must be.”

Prince Alis smiled faintly.

And with that, the coachman finally left after fussing on his own.

“A lighthouse keeper’s ghost harming people...”

“Young master.”

“That’s the nicest rumor I’ve heard in a while.”

Hope it harms a lot more people.

Muttering to himself, the prince looked up # Nоvеlight # at the lighthouse.

“Ali!”

Just then, a familiar voice called from above. Someone with aquamarine hair loose in the wind waved both arms wildly.

“Wait there! I’ll come down!”

“Come slowly.”

He was about to say “you’ll get hurt if you rush,” when someone opened the lighthouse door and appeared.

Then, they ran straight into Prince Alis’s arms.

“Ali!”

“Lus.”

Prince Alis hugged the girl who had thrown herself at him.

“Haah.”

Only then did a sigh of relief escape from the prince’s lips.

The two looked each other over and exchanged greetings.

“Ali, have you been well? It must be hard there, right?”

“How about you?”

“I’m doing well with Grandma.”

“As long as you’re okay, that’s all that matters.”

“Hey, you should be doing well too!”

The girl scolded him, shaking his aquamarine head.

“Still, it’s so good to see you like this!”

A fresh smile spread across the girl’s lips.

Her vibrant laughter was like verdant foliage, vivid and lush.

***

Ferio summoned the two guests around afternoon.

“What is your real reason for coming to the North?”

The whiskey glass in his hand traced a smooth curve.

The amber liquid beneath the large ice swirled gently.

“Our Duke even drinks so stylishly.”

Prince Crisetos smiled faintly.

“But before that...”

The prince brought up their own curiosity first.

“Why did you ask about the Empress Consort?”

He’d been bothered ever since Leonia asked that question.

“Leonia said you didn’t seem to know anything?”

Ferio had gained nothing in particular, so his reaction was quite lukewarm.

“That’s right, we don’t really know much.”

The prince turned to the princess beside him to confirm. Princess Scandia nodded in agreement.

“What’s with Consort Usia?”

“She’s just someone without a single thought.”

The two siblings couldn’t quite relate to Ferio’s suspicions.

To them, who had interacted with her at the palace, Consort Usia was like a child.

In a good sense, she was innocent. In a bad sense, she was clueless. She couldn’t read the room and acted like a child whenever she wanted something.

Even so, the emperor doted on her and protected her.

“If anything, it’s Viscount Olor behind her that’s more suspicious.”

Consort Usia had been offered up to the emperor almost like a tribute by Viscount Olor, and she had caught the eye of Emperor Subiteo and risen to her current position.

“No rumors or anything?”

“Nothing beyond what the Duke would already know.”

Prince Crisetos murmured while stroking his chin.

“That she’s Viscount Olor’s illegitimate daughter is already common knowledge. That she lived alone in the South for a long time, seduced many men, and lived a promiscuous life...”

The rumors about Consort Usia were obscene and unpleasant.

It was largely because she had been the emperor’s concubine since the days he was crown prince.

‘Illegitimate daughter...’

Ferio latched onto that jarring word.

“So the Consort was a bastard too.”

“Well, Olor is pretty...”

The prince gestured downward with his fingers.

“Debauched, let’s say.”

“There are quite a few people in the South claiming to be Olor’s children.”

Princess Scandia added.

“For that, there aren’t many scandals.”

Ferio found that strange.

“There’s no evidence.”

“He just spreads his seed and takes no responsibility.”

Prince Crisetos crossed his thumbs and flapped them like wings, mimicking a bird.

“So the abandoned women have to raise the kids alone.”

“Besides, red hair is very common.”

The princess played with her own hair.

“Bloodlines with distinct colors like Voreoti’s are extremely rare.”

“Even we look different.”

Though they had different fathers, they shared the same mother. The difference was evident.

“Then what about the Empress Consort?”

Ferio asked.

Consort Usia’s hair was green—a stark complementary color to Olor’s signature red.

There was no way Olor would’ve accepted her as his daughter so easily.

“They say there was some kind of proof...”

Prince Crisetos shared one of the rumors he’d picked up.

“Olor’s family was originally a merchant house, right? So apparently, each child carried a token, and Consort Usia’s birth mother...”

“...Had that token?”

Ferio gave a dry laugh.

The story was getting more interesting.

“By any chance, was that token related to a swan shape?”

“I wouldn’t know that much.”

But the prince nodded easily, as if agreeing.

“Olor is a newly risen noble, so he’s obsessed with family symbols.”

Their carriages, their mansion in the capital—there was no place without a swan engraved.

“I see.”

Letting out a short sigh, Ferio leaned against the desk.

“...Then let’s move on to your matter.”

Ferio shifted the topic back to the siblings.

“What brought you here?”

“We came to ask a favor of the Duke.”

“A favor?”

Ferio’s gaze moved to Princess Scandia.

‘...I thought this earlier too.’

As a child, she’d looked exactly like Empress Tigria, but now the traits of Ibecks were strikingly clear.

“Ah.”

Ferio recalled something.

“You’re planning to leave the palace.”

Princess Scandia nodded.

“I intend to go to the West.”

“Lately, the emperor’s been scheming to marry her off.”

Prince Crisetos spoke, unable to hide his disgust.

“And the matches he’s considering are all absolutely vile.”

“I’ve heard whispers too.”

Ferio muttered through the list of Princess Scandia’s rumored suitors.

“A third empress of an allied nation, the legal wife of a lecherous sycophant...”

They were all matches no decent father would ever choose for his child.

Every single one was revolting and transparently political.

Emperor Subiteo treated his daughter like a tool.

‘Well, not actually his daughter anyway.’

She wasn’t even his real child to begin with.

Still, the situation was absurd.

“What kind of father does this?”

Ferio let out a hollow laugh at his own words.

“He really must not care about you at all.”

“Well, it’s not just us.”

Prince Crisetos said flatly.

“The emperor’s top priority is himself. Not his wife, not his children, not even that precious Consort he cherishes.”

“To him, we’re nothing more than tools bound to him by blood.”

Princess Scandia added.

Ferio silently watched the two siblings.

“...It’s terrifying.”

Then he spoke his thoughts aloud.

“For a parent to give up on their child.”

And something even more terrifying than that—Ferio realized it just moments ago from the siblings’ words.

“But the reverse is just as terrifying.”

Ferio’s long fingers rested on the rim of his whiskey glass.

“For a child to give up on their parent.”

For children to turn their backs, giving up the slightest hope in their parents—

“...That’s truly cruel.”

His fingers slowly circled the edge of the glass. A bit of liquor clung to his fingertips.

If...

Ferio imagined.

If Leonia were to...

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