I Became the Male Lead's Adopted Daughter-Chapter 110
Ardea’s thesis didn’t seem like the kind that would shake the world.
Leonia hadn’t finished reading it yet, but theories about the origins of humanity and reports on ancient ruins didn’t exactly strike her as something «N.o.v.e.l.i.g.h.t» that would stir up a storm.
“Are you... an atheist by any chance?”
Leonia asked cautiously, almost in disbelief.
The Bellius Empire didn’t have a particularly strong religious influence, but still, not believing in a god was considered a fairly serious matter.
House Voreoti wasn’t exactly a model of piety either—they didn’t attend temple prayers—but they donated a sizable sum of money every year.
Voreoti was one of the temple’s favorite noble houses.
“I’m not an atheist.”
After downing the last sip of cold coffee left in his cup, Ferio finally responded.
“The content’s just a bit... radical.”
“Don’t tell me the thesis insults Countess Bosgruni?”
Was that why the Countess, upon reading it, had hurled a teacup at the professor?
Leonia recalled the chaos she had witnessed when the two had reunited.
That was the first time she’d seen the true side of the Countess Bosgruni, who was said to have once taken down several young nobles with a teacup.
“You really do love watching other people’s family messes, don’t you?”
Ferio clicked his tongue.
“...You’re one to talk, considering you’re the one who showed me that mess.”
Speak for yourself. Leonia rolled her eyes, though not with any real malice.
Not a single tutor Ferio had brought in front of his young daughter so far had been mentally sound.
One of them had even gotten so full of himself that he ended up unfit to function as a human being.
“Besides, our family’s mess is even worse.”
Leonia giggled, as if to say ‘isn’t that right?’
The truth was, Ferio and Leonia were technically fifth cousins. Her birth mother had run off in a scandalous romance with some wandering knight of unknown origin.
“If someone wrote a novel about our family, it’d sell like crazy.”
“Such nonsense.”
Ferio’s lips curled wryly.
Even to his own ears, he had to admit the Voreoti household was quite the circus.
Still, compared to other noble families, things were relatively quiet and peaceful.
Once Ferio confirmed that Leonia had finished writing her letter, he stood up.
He scooped her up in one arm and held the lunch basket in the other.
“Aren’t you tired, Dad?”
Leonia offered to walk if he was feeling worn out.
“This is more comfortable.”
But Ferio didn’t put her down until they reached the next shop.
It was better than setting her down and losing her in the crowd—or worse, letting her wander off to explore things and disappearing on her own.
Besides, small towns like this often had surprisingly poor security.
The last stop for the father and daughter was a bakery.
Leonia bought a tree-shaped cookie tin and a local specialty: wildflower petals crystallized in sugar.
She sent the gifts along with her letter to the capital.
“What about the rest?”
Ferio pointed at the remaining cookie tins and sugar flower jars that hadn’t been sent off.
“They’re for the folks back North, and for the orphanage kids and teachers.”
Leonia explained neatly, hugging one of the jars to her chest.
Among the sugar flowers, it had the prettiest shape and most vibrant color.
“This one’s for Teacher Connie.”
She caressed the jar like it was a treasure.
“I realized I’ve never really done anything for her.”
To Leonia, Connie was more than a savior—she was everything.
Though she wasn’t strong-willed enough to fight openly in the orphanage, the only reason the children had survived that miserable place was because of Connie.
She’d smuggled decent food to them behind the director and other teachers’ backs.
She’d bought medicine with her own money to treat sick children.
She taught them to read and prepare for the future.
To Leonia, who had woken up one day to find herself in hell, Connie had been her only salvation.
“...Now that you mention it.”
Ferio murmured while asking the shop clerk to wrap up the remaining gifts.
“She was the only one who glared at me when I came to take you.”
“Well, that’s because you suddenly took a kid without any explanation.”
“You like Teacher Connie, huh.”
“I do!”
Leonia grinned brightly.
Ferio’s expression wavered slightly.
“...More than me?”
His brows twitched as he mumbled the question in a small voice.
The little beast cub blinked round eyes.
“...I like Daddy more!”
She answered loudly and proudly, with the happiest smile in the world.
“But Teacher Connie’s a bit like... a comrade? Someone who held on with me through that awful place. That makes it a little more emotional.”
Leonia remembered something Connie had said once—that she hadn’t been able to return to her hometown in a long time.
Especially that moment when she mentioned someone special was waiting for her back home, speaking so wistfully—it had left a deep impression.
Leonia was sure that, if not for the orphanage kids, Connie would’ve run straight back to that person.
“I just hope she’s happy.”
Leonia said honestly.
“......”
Ferio silently patted his daughter’s back.
***
On the way to the Gate leading back to the North, Leonia gathered many happy memories.
She enjoyed forest walks, played in the sand at the beach, and went on a proper noble’s shopping spree in a massive store that reminded her of a department store.
Thanks to all that, their originally planned one-week return trip had stretched into ten days.
And now, the Voreoti carriage was headed for the Northern Gate.
“...It still feels like I’m dreaming.”
Leonia wore a dazed, almost dreamy smile.
“Can’t believe I actually said something like that.”
At a jeweler’s they had visited just earlier, Leonia had, for the first time in her life, said the words, “From here to there.”
She had known, in theory, that House Voreoti was the wealthiest in the Empire, but this was the first time she’d experienced it firsthand—and the little beast cub was still in shock.
“It still feels weird.”
This translation is the intellectual property of Novelight.
“Then do it more often.”
You’ll get used to it.
Ferio chuckled lightly.
“I noticed your hands were small earlier.”
“Well, of course! I haven’t had my birthday yet—I’m still seven.”
“Not those hands.”
He meant her spending habits.
In fact, the big beast dad scolded his little beast daughter for spending too little.
“If that was enough to shock you, what’ll you do later?”
Ferio seemed unimpressed that all she’d said was “from here to there.”
“Wow, Dad, seriously...”
So annoying—but also too cool.
Leonia was genuinely amazed.
Maybe Ferio’s overwhelming aura wasn’t just because of his looks, but because of the obscene amount of wealth House Voreoti possessed.
And Ferio’s nagging didn’t end there.
“For things like that, you should call a proper artisan and get it custom-made.”
The material hadn’t seemed all that good either.
Ferio was clearly displeased at the idea of his daughter wearing accessories made with such quality.
“Didn’t Connie say it cost as much as two houses?”
Connie had brought the receipt, shuddering as she showed the astronomical amount.
Ferio had scoffed.
It was like he was mocking the price—“Only that much?”
“The ornament in your hair right now is probably worth a whole mansion.”
“...Huh?”
Leonia panicked, trembling fingers reaching for her hair.
The two hairpins she loved most were each shaped like a bouquet of three roses—six in total.
“Oh, you mean the ones you gave me?”
“For the record, each flower’s worth a house.”
“Dear heavens...”
The little beast groaned.
Just imagining six mansions sitting on her head made her neck hurt.
“They carved each ruby into delicate rose petals, then assembled them by hand. There’s also a technique used to lighten the gemstone weight.”
Ferio’s detailed explanation meant that her hair ornaments—on top of the gem value—also carried the cost of the artisan’s craftsmanship and high-end technology. Probably worth at least seven mansions.
“Gracious!”
Leonia quickly pulled her hands away from her hair.
“Why does everything in our house start at mansion-level prices?!”
The Empire had a proper currency—‘Penna.’
But Leonia was hearing ‘the cost of a house’ far more often than actual currency units.
A dress was the price of a mansion. A ribbon the price of a house.
‘...Wait, don’t tell me!’
Suddenly, she remembered a conversation she’d once had with Ferio back at the Northern estate.
He’d promised to teach her chess and had given her a special chess set with its own table and two chairs.
‘These pieces are so pretty. They look like jewels.’
‘They are. Made in Voreoti.’
‘Really? Wow!’
‘Each piece is worth a house.’
He’d said they were made with Voreoti-exclusive gems and that the price was whatever someone was willing to pay. Leonia had laughed it off as exaggerated nonsense.
‘Each chess piece is a house...’
Leonia did some quick math and dropped her jaw.
Including the table and two chairs, that set alone came out to at least thirty-six mansions’ worth.
“...Is the Voreoti family’s currency literally measured in houses?”
Leonia asked in a dazed voice. Her usually sharp face had gone a little blank.
Her brain had just short-circuited.
“That one made me laugh a little.”
Ferio’s lips curled faintly at one corner.
It meant he found his daughter’s words so foolish—and so adorable.
“I told you before.”
Ferio gazed out the window.
Familiar scenery was flashing by.
They were passing the road they had taken last autumn, when he’d brought Leonia up from the orphanage.
The Gate to the North was now just ahead.
“Even as we breathe this very moment, Voreoti is making money.”
“How much are we talking?”
Leonia, only half-conscious from shock, finally managed to ask.
She genuinely wanted to know what kind of profit could make everything she touched be priced in terms of mansions.
“More than I can count.”
Ferio replied.
“It’s been listed as ‘immeasurable’ for quite a while now.”
Leonia wanted to ask if such a thing was even possible.
And Ferio, as if it were the most natural thing in the world, tapped her nose with his finger.
“...My lord.”
Leonia knelt on one knee on the carriage floor and brought Ferio’s hand to her forehead.
“This humble girl pledges eternal filial piety to my noble father.”
Then she reverently pressed her lips to the back of his large, calloused hand.
