I Became the Male Lead's Adopted Daughter-Chapter 177

No sooner had they finished dinner than someone came to the villa.

“I greet the head of the North.”

A young knight with short-cropped scarlet hair offered a polite bow.

Behind him stood a girl with long aquamarine hair flowing freely. She looked about four or five years older than Leonia.

“It’s a pleasure to meet you, Duke.”

As the knight stepped aside, the girl stepped forward.

“I, Salus Aust, granddaughter of Duke Aust, have come in person to escort the Duke of Voreoti.”

“You’ve gone through trouble on this late night.”

Ferio slightly turned his body and led the two of them inside.

While Salus and the knight waited in the parlor, Ferio threw a light jacket over the clothes he was already wearing.

“Dad.”

Just then, Leonia approached.

“You’re here?”

“It’s going to be late, so go to bed first.”

“Don’t get intimidated when you go, okay?”

“I’m not going off to a fight right now...”

Ferio gently patted his daughter’s head as she muttered nonsense.

“...What about Varia?”

He then lowered his gaze for no reason and looked around for Varia. Leonia grinned slyly.

“She’s sleeping.”

Having spent the whole day running around and playing hard, the would-be mother was already off in dreamland.

“Isn’t she just like a puppy?”

“Leo, you should take after her.”

“I’m cuter than a puppy, though?”

“You should’ve raised a conscience instead of childishness...”

Ferio let out a sigh deep enough to sink into the earth. That earned him a flurry of soft punches from Leonia’s cottony fists to his side.

“Duke.”

At that moment, the beastly father and daughter turned around at the same time.

There stood Salus.

Her aquamarine hair shimmered as she curved her dark green eyes.

“I forgot to deliver the Duke Aust’s message.”

“Message...?”

Leonia visibly tensed up.

But Salus simply beamed, as if she found Leonia’s reaction irresistibly cute.

Leonia felt that smile seemed strangely familiar.

“The Duke has requested that all members of the Duke’s family be brought.”

Ferio furrowed his brow at those words.

“The Duke and the Young Lady.”

Salus pointed upward with her finger. Her hand, tilted at a slight diagonal, pointed toward the room where Varia was.

“The future duchess’s presence would be appreciated as well.”

Leonia gasped sharply.

“How did you know?”

Varia had gone to bed early after dinner.

She had quietly said her goodbyes to Ferio and gone to her room, so there was no way Salus could’ve known where she was.

“The same goes for me.”

Though her demeanor was lacking in decorum, Salus didn’t find it all that strange.

“Just as the future heir of Voreoti has inherited power.”

Salus took a step closer, her face still lit up with a childlike smile.

“So too have I, the heir to the Aust family, inherited power.”

Of course, she added jokingly, not a power as impressive as Voreoti’s.

But Leonia didn’t take the Aust family’s power lightly.

At some point, she had hidden herself behind Ferio and was gripping the hem of his coat tightly.

The little beast did not drop her guard.

“Come to think of it, I brought a gift.”

At Salus’s words, the knight behind her held out a box. Inside was a round case adorned with pearls and coral.

Salus gently opened the lid, which had a pink pearl serving as a handle.

Inside were colorful hard candies.

“A gift for the Young Lady.”

“Can I call you Salus unni?”

Leonia flashed a pure and innocent smile.

Ferio stared for a long while, not knowing what to do with this materialistic little brat of his.

***

Summer nights were unlike those of other seasons—they weren’t completely dark.

It was like someone had painted indigo from top to bottom over a sheet of pure white paper.

The higher up, the darker it was. The lower down, the paler it became, like it had been diluted with water.

On top of that, a round full moon floated in the sky, making it seem as if a path of pale light had formed over the sea.

Amidst that exotic scenery, the carriage sped along.

The horses pulling the carriage must have been used to the dark—they didn’t hesitate even once.

“Dad, where are we going?”

Leonia asked as she looked out the dusky window.

The three members of Voreoti had boarded the same carriage that Salus had arrived in.

“We’re headed to the Aust territory now.”

Salus answered on behalf of Ferio.

“To be more precise, it’s a secret place outside the Aust territory. It’s connected to our family’s secrets, so I can’t reveal the route easily.”

That’s why Salus had brought them in her own carriage.

“The Duke of Aust has been waiting eagerly to see all of you.”

Salus, who had answered clearly and briskly, now turned her gaze to Varia.

“I’m terribly sorry to disturb you in your sleep, Duchess.”

“Um, that title is a bit...”

Varia, freshly awakened, was now completely alert.

Being woken up in the middle of a deep sleep was disorienting enough, but being suddenly called ‘Duchess’ over and over by the granddaughter of Duke Aust left her flustered.

“Bright is the future of Voreoti and Aust!”

“Of course, he’s not a Duke for nothing.”

In contrast, the beastly father and daughter nodded with obvious satisfaction.

They were quite pleased that Salus already treated Varia as a full member of House Voreoti.

“Ugh, Dad’s mouth corners.”

Leonia teased him as if she'd witnessed something unspeakable. She pulled her neck back, making a double chin as she grimaced.

“He’s that happy just imagining Varia unni becoming part of the Voreoti family.”

Calling her dad a pervert, Leonia teased him endlessly.

Varia, blushing deeply, ended up covering her face with both hands.

She didn’t have the shamelessness to keep her face out in such an embarrassing situation.

“What’s the big deal? It’s only a matter of time.”

Ferio, on the other hand, was full of confidence and composure.

“Hahaha!”

Salus burst into laughter at the noisy display from the Voreoti family.

Her laughter, despite her delicate appearance, was bold enough to leave one’s ears ringing.

“Voreoti is truly a fun family!”

“Our Voreoti is a warm and charming household full of humanity!”

Leonia boasted proudly.

“By ❀ Nоvеlігht ❀ (Don’t copy, read here) the way, Salus unni, do you like muscles?”

“Don’t ask things like that when you’ve just met someone.”

Ferio quickly covered Leonia’s mouth with his hand. Mmmmph—her muffled whining tickled his palm.

Salus gave a troubled smile, cupping her chin with one hand.

“So the Young Lady of Voreoti likes muscles, I see.”

“My mom likes them too.”

Leonia slapped Ferio’s hand away and pointed at Varia.

Varia no longer tried to correct the title. Denying it alone was exhausting.

“So you do like them.”

Ferio gently patted the back of Varia’s hand.

“I can show you anytime.”

He then subtly flexed his arm, making his biceps more pronounced.

“Duke, that’s sexual harassment...”

“Varia, you asking me what rectus abdominis is—that was also sexual harassment.”

“I asked purely out of curiosity!”

While the two adult beasts bickered, Salus burst into even louder laughter.

Meanwhile, the red-haired knight didn’t twitch even the corner of his mouth.

“Ah, seriously, this is so funny!”

Salus was holding her belly and wiping away tears from laughing so hard when—

“Lady Salus.”

The knight finally spoke. It was the first time they’d heard his voice since he greeted them at the mansion.

“We’re here.”

Salus took a breath and answered.

“That over there is the Aust estate.”

There, under the dim night and bright moonlight that stretched across the sky and sea, stood a massive mansion alone.

Just then, a huge wave crashed fiercely against the cliff behind it.

“Oh my god...”

Leonia was stunned.

The Aust mansion stood on the edge of a cliff.

***

Just before entering the mansion, Leonia darted off to a side path not far from where the carriage had stopped.

She leaned her head forward and peered down.

“Wow... What in the world is all this...”

“You sometimes talk just like an old grandma, Young Lady.”

Varia squatted down beside her and looked down as well.

There was nothing to see but a dizzying drop into the abyss.

Only the vivid sound of waves crashing against the cliffside could be heard from below.

“Don’t you think the mansion might collapse?”

“Places like this usually have a lighthouse keeper’s hut, you know.”

“A lighthouse keeper?”

“Not a real one. The ghost of a lighthouse keeper who died after falling off a cliff by accident.”

Being from the South, Varia had heard stories like this often.

They said the spirit of the lighthouse keeper, who died that way, would scare off anyone who came near the cliff on stormy days.

“A kind ghost, huh.”

Leonia leaned her upper body even further out.

But before she even realized it, her body suddenly lifted off the ground.

“What if you fall.”

Ferio, alarmed by the danger, wrapped an arm around Leonia’s waist. His other arm had already secured Varia.

“......”

Leonia was at a loss for words as she watched Ferio subtly pull Varia closer to press against his chest.

Even worse, Varia, pretending to be bashful, was eyeing the pecs beneath the fabric with a spark in her eyes—pretending not to look but clearly staring.

Ferio was taking full advantage of the fact that Varia liked muscles.

“These idiots...”

Leonia shook her head as if she had no choice but to put up with them.

“It’s a beautiful place, isn’t it?”

Salus, who had already sent the carriage ahead into the mansion, asked. Leonia nodded.

“Perfect spot to die with one wrong step.”

“The sea is generous enough to even embrace corpses.”

Salus laughed softly.

“This unni isn’t normal either.”

Of course, she was the next Duke—Leonia smiled proudly.

“Near our Voreoti estate is the Northern Mountain Range. It’s crawling with monsters.”

Neither this house nor theirs had what you’d call a good environment.

Salus soon led her guests into the mansion.

Even as she stepped inside, Leonia kept scanning her surroundings. She wasn’t looking for a way out.

She just wanted to understand how such a massive mansion could be perched right on the edge of a cliff.

It was the estate of a duke, yet there wasn’t a single house or light visible near the cliff.

‘Even Voreoti isn’t this remote...’

The Northern mansion was also fairly far from any settlements, but at least at night, she could see the lights of a distant village from her bedroom window.

But here, aside from the Aust mansion, there was no sign of any life.

Leonia subtly dropped back from the group and pulled out the Fangs of the Beast to scan the surroundings.

But all she sensed were the presences of people inside the mansion.

“......”

Staring into the dimness behind her for a long moment, Leonia suddenly quickened her pace.

“Dad.”

She caught up quickly to the others ahead and slipped between Ferio and Varia.

Ferio looked at his daughter without a word and gently ruffled her hair.

“Are you alright?”

Varia asked in a worried voice.

“I’m alright now.”

Thanks to the two of them being concerned for her, Leonia’s mood brightened quickly.

Salus just smiled as she watched.

“This way, please.”

At last, the tightly closed doors of the Aust mansion opened.

Visit freewe𝑏nov(e)l.𝗰𝐨𝐦 for the 𝑏est n𝘰vel reading experience