I Became the Male Lead's Adopted Daughter-Chapter 252

The two quickly abandoned the Fangs of the Beast.

Leonia handed the sword in her hand to her father. Ferio took it, and Leonia drew the scabbard from her waist and held it.

Both of them returned to a ready stance.

But then a lioness stepped between them. She stood with her back to Remus, baring her fangs at the beastly father and daughter.

“...Step aside, Regina.”

Ferio’s face darkened with hostility.

He still couldn’t see the lioness, but the force blocking him bore Regina’s unmistakable presence.

As Ferio squared off with the lioness, Leonia tried to slip in from the side—but the lioness noticed and blocked her as well.

In that moment, Remus dragged Varia toward the edge of the cliff.

“Is Regina here?”

Unable to see the black lioness, Remus glanced around. A displeased smile curled on his lips.

“Everyone called me a liar, but even in death, Regina protects me. She alone understood my sincere love.”

“That’s not love!”

Leonia shouted through gritted teeth.

“Please shut up with the crazy talk!”

Furious, Leonia was on the verge of tears.

“Don’t decorate your horrific crimes as love and push them onto Regina! If you really loved her, you’d bite your tongue and die already!”

Even if the imperial family had coveted the North for a long time—

Even if the empire had eyed it since its foundation—

The one Leonia despised most was Remus.

Her glare at him burned with contempt and killing intent.

“...You insolent little—”

Remus flinched at the intensity and snapped in shame. He brought the ice spike in his hand even closer to Varia’s neck.

A drop of blood welled up on her pale throat.

“Mom!”

Leonia clenched her fists.

“You cowardly bastard!”

“This isn’t cowardice. It’s wisdom.”

Remus praised himself for using someone weaker as a hostage to find an escape route.

He even spoke as if teaching Leonia a lesson.

“Don’t push me.”

He warned that things would get boring if they kept on, and inched closer to the cliff.

Then, he shoved Varia toward the edge as if to throw her off.

“...Wow.”

Remus chuckled.

“You’d kill a man with just a stare.”

He whistled toward Ferio, who was glaring at him like he wanted to kill.

‘That bastard has a death wish!’

Don’t provoke Dad!

Leonia panicked at Remus’s provocation. He absolutely should not have provoked Ferio.

‘Holy crap...’

She couldn’t even look to the side.

She had fought with Ferio and gotten scolded plenty, but she had never seen him trembling with such fury before.

It was a completely different level of emotion from the time she was scolded for riding a horse alone to meet a stalker as a child.

Even without summoning the Fangs of the Beast, Ferio radiated uncontrollable killing intent.

His gaze at Remus was, quite literally, a weapon.

The sword in his hand trembled in his grip. Cracks formed in the snow beneath the blade.

‘My skin is stinging.’

Standing next to him, Leonia found it hard to breathe.

“...Impressive.”

Remus genuinely sounded amazed.

He had always looked down on Ferio, but now he realized just how formidable the man was. He was powerful even without those so-called Fangs.

Ferio’s arrogance didn’t come from his lineage or from the Fangs of the Beast.

It came from the fact that he, Ferio, was an utterly perfect and formidable human being.

If Varia weren’t in his grasp, Remus was sure he would’ve fainted on the spot.

That’s why he couldn’t let her go.

“Well then, let’s see what to do next.”

Remus looked down at Varia, who was still held quietly in his grasp.

“Voreoti bloodlines are truly fascinating.”

His voice was full of puzzlement. Then he murmured something strange.

“Just by marriage, the eye color changes.”

Varia’s eyes were as black as a Voreoti’s.

And—she was smiling.

***

When the dying Remus rose—

Varia felt fatigue wash over her again.

It was the same bone-deep exhaustion she’d felt sneaking through the palace’s crawlspace. She glared at Remus with wary eyes and tried to shake off the feeling.

Then her eyelids reflexively shut.

It was nothing—just a simple blink. But when she opened them again, the weariness was gone.

‘...Huh?’

That was what she thought. But when she looked around, her husband and child were now far away.

Their faces were full of shock. Leonia’s mouth hung open.

Even Ferio, rarely expressive, had his lips slightly parted.

Varia blinked in confusion, looking around innocently.

Then she saw a head of frost-covered red hair.

As she lowered her gaze, Remus’s pale face loomed right in front of her. His expression was just as baffled and surprised.

“...”

Varia’s eyes widened.

“...KYAAAA!”

Only then did she process what was happening—and screamed.

Then she drove her fist straight into Remus’s face.

The sudden blow sent him reeling and made him drop the ice spike in his hand.

“What the hell is this guy again?!”

Not stopping there, Varia kicked him in the crotch.

Using the self-defense moves she had once learned, she followed up with another punch.

Remus's eyes rolled back and he collapsed to his knees. He couldn’t even scream—just clutched himself in agony with both hands.

“...”

“A-Ah! Mom!”

The stunned beastly father and daughter finally snapped into action and rushed over.

“Dad, Mom’s eyes...!”

“Yeah...”

The deep green of her eyes, once like a lush forest, was now clouded with a thick black mist.

“Wait—did you teach her that?”

“You mean Mom’s move just now? The ‘Nutcracker’?”

“What kind of name is that?”

“‘Got Hit in the Least Noble Place!’ It’s a real technique!”

Leonia proudly revealed the name of the move.

“My brilliant girl.”

Even in this chilling moment, Ferio praised the daughter who [N O V E L I G H T] had taught something useful.

But their chatter didn’t last long. Once again, they were blocked by a powerful force.

Leonia glared at the lioness. Ferio still couldn’t see her, but sensed something from his daughter’s behavior.

“Dad... Is that really Regina?”

Leonia voiced her doubt.

“Was she always this strong?”

“She’s being helped by something.”

“...A god?”

Ferio furrowed his brow instead of answering.

‘It’s the future they wanted to change.’

Leonia recalled part of the prophecy Duke Aust had spoken.

It had come from the gods beyond the mountain range.

They wanted something to change—and to do that, they needed Leonia.

‘What changed was the original story.’

In the original, Emperor Subiteo was the main villain and was punished, but Remus’s crimes against the Voreoti were never revealed.

That changed entirely with Leonia’s arrival.

Emperor Subiteo was dead. Remus’s sins were exposed. The truth behind Consort Usia, the hidden mastermind, had come to light.

‘But why did they want to change it?’

Leonia asked herself the core question.

The original ending she remembered wasn’t bad. It was a classic tale of good triumphing over evil. Ferio and Varia had been satisfied, and it ended peacefully.

But now it had turned into a muddy, brutal battle with no peace in sight.

‘What do they want?!’

The frustration made her want to beat her chest.

“You damned bitch!”

Then it happened.

Remus, still groaning as if on the verge of death, reached out with his blackened hand and gripped Varia’s throat.

Startled, Ferio and Leonia rushed forward—but the unseen force blocking them still held.

Ferio slammed his fist into the air in frustration, but the barrier didn’t budge.

“Regina! Please!”

Leonia cried out to the lioness.

But the lioness didn’t move.

“Let go of me!”

Fortunately, Remus’s hand, now completely necrotic, couldn’t muster much strength.

‘Compared to before...’

Varia suddenly recalled the end of her first life.

Back then, Remus had choked her while looking down at her. His hands had been merciless. She hadn’t even been able to fight back.

But this time, it was different.

His blackened hand couldn’t even hurt her. If she wanted, she could push him off right now.

But the cliff behind her made it hard to struggle.

Just a glance showed a black plain yawning below, ready to swallow her whole.

‘I can’t fall down there.’

Her instincts screamed it.

That black plain was not a place for her.

‘Pulling is also very important.’

Varia flinched.

‘Pull what’s in your hand.’

A voice echoed in her mind. Surprised, she looked down to see what she was holding.

It was Remus’s sleeve.

“...Damn it.”

Varia forced her lips into a smile.

“You bastard...”

Then she yanked his sleeve with all her strength.

“Damn gods!”

Calling on every ounce of muscle she’d built, Varia’s body jerked backward.

Remus, still in her grip, fell with her off the cliff.

At that moment, the force blocking Ferio and Leonia vanished.

“Varia!”

“Mom!”

They rushed forward and grabbed her just in time.

Leonia wrapped her arms around Varia’s waist. Ferio pulled them both toward him—and threw his sword at Remus’s hand as he reached for Varia again.

The blade pierced Remus’s arm.

But his other hand reached for Varia. Just as Leonia was about to hurl the scabbard in her hand—

“What the—?!”

Something darted past her side, and she instinctively followed it with her eyes.

The lioness had leapt off the cliff—and clamped down on Remus’s neck.

“AAAAARGH!”

Remus, screaming in agony with the lioness latched onto his neck, plummeted down.

Thanks to that, Varia remained safely on the mountain’s summit.

She looked back in shock at Ferio and Leonia.

They too leaned over to peer down the cliff.

Then the three of them flinched.

Gulp.

A black shape rose from the ground—swallowing the lioness and Remus.

“That’s...!”

Leonia gasped at the dark form drawing closer.

A massive, bizarre creature that had once roamed the black plains now appeared before them.

Its size was immeasurable—its head rose higher than the northern mountains themselves.

“A l-lion...?”

The dazed child murmured, and the god with a lion’s head tilted its head.

‘That’s not a lion...’

Leonia examined the god more closely.

It had the head of a lion, the neck of a reindeer, the body of a yak, the legs of a polar bear, the tail of a wolf—

And at its feet, the spotted pattern of a leopard.

The god that appeared before them radiated an unspeakable pressure.