I Became the Male Lead's Adopted Daughter-Chapter 189
Ferio was no different.
“We need to move.”
He wasn’t surprised by his daughter’s transformation. On the contrary, he was proud and impressed.
His child was gradually becoming more like him—a fully grown beast. How could he not be delighted?
A large hand gently swept over the child’s head.
Leonia’s expression softened noticeably.
“Everyone’s here now.”
Ferio’s narrowed black eyes gleamed cold and blue.
This was a hunt five years in the making.
Ferio had feigned ignorance, acting like a fool for the sake of the hunt.
In the meantime, the prey had grown unruly, thinking they were free to do as they pleased. Foolishly, they had only been digging their own graves.
The Black Beast began to move.
Bit by bit.
The North, famed for its rugged terrain, was always blanketed in snow. The Black Beast moved without a trace, waiting until the snow was piled high enough to hide him completely.
The waiting had been tedious.
But now, it was finally time to end it.
“Leo.”
Ferio spoke.
“I’ll ask you one last time.”
Are you really okay with this?
His gaze toward the child had changed again. Now it was gentle and warm.
It was vastly different from the dark, fervent emotion he showed to Varia.
“Dad, I’m a little disappointed.”
Leonia twisted the corner of her mouth.
“I’m a Voreoti.”
The baby beast showed unwavering confidence.
“I never take back my words.”
“You should probably take back your sexual harassment remarks, though.”
“...I was setting the mood!”
Why’d you have to ruin it?
Leonia threw a soft punch at Ferio, who was picking a fight for no reason again.
“Ugh, we were so cool just now!”
Even she had to admit, they had looked incredibly impressive. She pouted, increasingly indignant the more she thought about it.
Ferio snorted.
“Our family’s always cool.”
“Obviously!”
Voreoti was the strongest in the world.
Leonia had engraved that fact deep in her heart.
“That’s why I was impressed by you, and why I’m asking one last time.”
Ferio was still pondering the particular “hunting method” Leonia had proposed.
Of course, he agreed that the method would deal a heavy blow to the Red Swans and the Imperial Family.
That’s why he had given ⊛ Nоvеlιght ⊛ (Read the full story) Marquis Ortio candy.
Still, Ferio couldn’t shake his discomfort with the plan.
It felt as if he were selling his own daughter.
“Dad, my dad.”
Leonia tapped the tip of Ferio’s nose with her finger. It was a small gesture of affection he often used on her.
“Do you know why I came up with that method?”
“No idea.”
“Because it won’t harm me in the slightest.”
Ferio’s eyes widened.
“I’m Ferio Voreoti’s daughter.”
That single truth was the cornerstone that made Leonia who she was today.
“Of course, I’m also Varia Voreoti’s daughter now.”
She didn’t forget to mention her mother.
“And also Regina’s daughter.”
“......”
“I haven’t forgotten my birth mother.”
Even if there was no affection, even if she didn’t remember her well.
Leonia clearly remembered the grace of Regina, who had given birth to this ‘body.’
Because of that, she sometimes made time to visit her grave with Count Urmariti.
“This is my way of being filial.”
“Filial...”
Ferio repeated the word under his breath. Strangely, the term didn’t seem to fit Leonia.
But he could more than understand what she meant by it.
“So there’s no ‘yes or no’ to this.”
“......”
“I have the best weapon in my hand right now, and you’re saying I shouldn’t use it?”
Leonia had no intention of doing something so foolish.
“My clever daughter.”
A clear smile spread across Ferio’s lips.
“Honestly, I don’t know who you take after to be so amazing.”
At that, Leonia grinned.
“Obviously, it’s you!”
It was an eternal, unchanging truth.
***
Baron Onokenta had come to the North with great determination.
He was certain that if he succeeded in this mission, he’d catch the emperor’s eye and rise to prominence just like the Olors.
He even had confidence. The task seemed simple enough: climb the Northern Mountains and find out what was there.
The baron rejoiced at finally having his own opportunity.
But in the end, he accomplished nothing.
Before he could learn anything meaningful, he had been startled by a monster’s roar and rolled down the mountain. The fall left his limbs broken, and he spent the entire trip bedridden.
His nerves grew raw. His relationship with his adulterous lover, the administrator, became awkward.
“Damn it!”
Baron Onokenta clenched his unbroken hand so tightly it made a sound.
A heaven-sent opportunity had slipped away so pathetically.
He wanted to beat the ground and scream. But the monster’s roar still echoed in his ears.
Even the slightest wicked thought made it growl at him.
“It’s all over now...”
He hadn’t even completed the emperor’s secret order properly, and now the North had demanded compensation from the Imperial Court.
The claim? That the baron had deceived his escort knight, snuck into the mountains, ignored warnings to descend, and provoked a monster into a rampage.
Baron Onokenta was on edge.
He wasn’t even sure if the Imperial Court would protect someone who had screwed up like this.
He had always coveted the power the Imperial family held.
But he never truly trusted them.
His so-called loyalty, masked by constant praise of the emperor, had always been hollow.
Yet, surprisingly—
The Imperial Court didn’t abandon him.
On the last day of the expedition, the Court sent a carriage for the three dispatched officials.
“It was nice and cool up here.”
“Capital’s going to be scorching, huh?”
“Definitely.”
While Onokenta lay immobile, Les and the other administrator who had explored the region grew closer.
They spent the entire return trip together, bumping shoulders, whispering jokes.
The baron cursed them inwardly.
“...Tch. Doesn’t matter.”
He no longer cared about that woman.
What mattered was that the Imperial Court had protected him, which meant he still had a chance.
Baron Onokenta rekindled his hopes.
Only to be left with ashes.
“......”
After a long journey, he was immediately summoned to the Imperial Palace.
As soon as he saw the face of the attendant sent to summon him, the baron’s heart sank.
As expected—
The emperor’s mood could not have looked worse.
“Nothing ever goes right.”
The handsome face was twisted with displeasure. The emperor, who looked younger than his age, suddenly seemed much older.
“Your Majesty, are you very upset?”
At his side was Consort Usia.
“Why are you so troubled?”
She looked at him with concern.
“There should at least be something to show for it.”
Then the young heir of Marquis Pardus, standing beside the emperor like a secretary, whispered quietly so only the baron could hear.
The baron looked at him, bewildered.
“Officials dispatched to each region are all stirring His Majesty’s heart in unpleasant ways.”
Baron Onokenta’s eyes widened in shock.
Bad news had come from every region.
The administrators sent to the West were attacked by bandits and suffered major losses.
If the Revoo Knights hadn’t arrived a little earlier, they would’ve been slaughtered.
“At least the West fared better than the East.”
At the heir’s words, a sigh escaped the emperor.
“They all died.”
“...Pardon?”
Baron Onokenta repeated dumbly.
The heir, kindly, explained again—this time with more detail.
“All the administrators sent to the East were killed.”
“H-How...!”
The baron shot up, only to collapse back into his seat. His leg bones still hadn’t fully mended.
Wincing in pain, he thought of one of the eastern administrators he’d once shared drinks with.
“That guy’s dead?”
He was in shock.
Not out of grief, but from a chilling fear at how misfortune kept creeping closer to him.
“...Could Marquis Ortio have done something?”
The baron quickly speculated.
But the heir of Pardus shook his head.
“There was a clear eyewitness.”
A merchant caravan traveling just behind the administrators’ carriage had witnessed the crash in vivid detail.
Even the South, which they thought would remain quiet, hadn’t gone smoothly.
“They say the South was haunted.”
The administrators, calmly surveying the area, claimed to have seen a ghost near a cliff and jumped into the sea.
The local villagers whispered that the lighthouse ghost had been enraged.
Instead of preventing accidents, the ghost had tempted people to their deaths, making the villagers suspicious of the officials.
As a result, the administrators failed in their tasks.
And that made Emperor Subiteo’s mood abysmal.
Baron Onokenta was in despair.
He was no different from the other failed officials.
“Baron, you.”
Then Emperor Subiteo asked,
“Did you uncover anything?”
The baron involuntarily gulped. The sound of his throat swallowing echoed loudly in the wide reception hall.
‘If I mess this up here...’
Baron Onokenta realized.
If he failed to give the emperor the answer he wanted now, any hope of promotion—or even survival—was gone.
“This... This humble servant...!”
So he rushed to embellish the insignificant experiences he had.
From the moment he arrived in the North to when he snuck into the mountains, he spun a long, exaggerated tale.
Watching him, the heir of Pardus felt like he was watching a cringey classical tragedy.
“......”
But the emperor’s expression didn’t change.
Subiteo realized Baron Onokenta was no different from the rest. His long story held no useful information.
The emperor’s golden eyes darkened.
The baron’s speech grew more frantic.
‘Tch.’
The young heir, who had been watching with faint amusement, quietly shook his head.
At this rate, it wouldn’t be surprising if someone disappeared tonight. That someone being Baron Onokenta, of course.
‘Not that I care.’
Still, thinking it was time to intervene, the heir opened his mouth—
“Oh my, how incredible!”
Consort Usia clapped her hands in admiration.
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