I Became the Male Lead's Adopted Daughter-Chapter 71

Ardea Bosgruni had once been an admired scholar.

Of course, the fact that he had abandoned his wife and child for the sake of academic ambition and moved to the capital had become a permanent stain on his name. Still, his contributions to scholarship and the sheer volume of his research were considered great achievements by the Academic Society.

At the Academy, he was known as an eccentric professor—picky and irritable, but undeniably brilliant.

“Were there any other places damaged besides ❖ Nоvеl𝚒ght ❖ (Exclusive on Nоvеl𝚒ght) this one?”

“The lab to the left and the archive on this floor were also hit, but...”

The only place that had been completely wrecked was Ardea’s research lab.

“How is Professor Bosgruni doing?”

Strige inquired about Ardea’s wellbeing.

Ferio replied that Ardea was currently living at the Voreoti mansion and working as Leonia’s private tutor.

“He can’t return to his family home?”

“I did summon Count Bosgruni to the estate just in case, but...”

Ferio shook his head.

It was the expected answer.

As soon as he laid eyes on Ardea, Count Hero Bosgruni had flown into a rage.

What had started as a lesson where Leonia was learning various ways to hold a teacup had instantly turned into a deadly session on how to knock a person out with one.

Thanks to that, part of the household budget had gone up in smoke.

Though, to be fair, Count Bosgruni had compensated for the damages later on.

And anyway, all the teacups were originally specialty items from the Bosgruni family.

“My, my.”

Strige murmured to herself, hand resting on her chin.

“It’s a miracle Count Bosgruni didn’t kill him.”

In a calm voice, she muttered that man probably wouldn’t come to his senses even with a hole in his skull from a teacup.

Then, she recalled a story from Count Bosgruni’s youth.

“Back in his younger days, Count Bosgruni was a legendary figure in high society. Just the sight of him holding a teacup would cause young men to faint left and right.”

She reminisced that he was truly a beautiful man and the idol of all.

“He still is.”

And now, that very technique was being passed down to Leonia.

Ferio, just thinking about it, sometimes sat bolt upright in bed at night.

It wasn’t that he meant to disparage the Count’s legendary grace in society—but the thought of his own daughter following in those footsteps was enough to give him endless worry.

Pushing that concern aside for now, Ferio carefully examined the toppled bookshelf he had stepped on.

He tapped at it with the sole of his shoe, and soon noticed a hollow sound from somewhere. It came from the very bottom of the shelf.

“Master, forgive me, but...”

“Please step outside for a moment.”

Once Strige left the room, Ferio silently counted to sixty.

Crackle. Crackle.

A red mist spread through Ferio’s vision. The nails holding the base of the bookshelf together were covered in a layer of transparent ice.

Following the soft breath of the black beast, the ice gradually grew larger.

Cracks began forming beneath the bookshelf.

Unable to withstand the expanding frost, the wooden boards snapped apart.

“Is that the Fangs of the Beast?”

Strige had quietly returned after walking all the way to the end of the hall, and now appeared beside him once more.

“Incredible. Even from the end of the hall, I could feel something.”

“Are you all right?”

“Of course.”

Strige didn’t look unwell, either.

Satisfied, Ferio pried off the cracked planks. A hidden space lay within.

Something was inside.

“Will you be staying in the capital for a while, Your Grace?”

As he looked through the secret compartment, Ferio turned back.

“It’s already been three years since the late emperor passed away, hasn’t it?”

“Ah.”

Ferio recalled a royal event he had momentarily forgotten.

A banquet.

“So it’s going to be held.”

He muttered with a tone of reluctant annoyance.

“Now that three years have passed, it’ll be held. Likely around summer, at the latest.”

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“I don’t plan on attending.”

Even when he met Emperor Subiteo previously, there had been no mention of it.

Besides, a crowded banquet was nothing but a nuisance to him.

Ferio saw no reason to go.

“Besides, my child is still young.”

“You could leave her with a nanny.”

“I haven’t hired a nanny.”

Ferio had considered it, but Leonia insisted that if it was just because of her, there was no need to go to such trouble. She firmly rejected the idea of a nanny.

“Fortunately, the staff are doing well.”

“Your daughter is quite mature.”

“She’s not mature.”

She might act grown-up, but when it came to driving her father crazy, she was a born old soul.

Bending down, Ferio pulled something out of the drawer inside the shelf.

A bundle of folded and wrinkled papers, along with an old notebook.

***

“It was nice meeting you.”

Strige handed Leonia a variety of gifts as she left the Academic Institute.

“These are souvenirs made by the institute.”

“Souvenirs...”

Leonia glanced down at the armful of owl-themed items—an owl plush, an owl notebook, owl pencils, and an owl pencil case.

Strige explained that the owl was a species called the Eurasian eagle-owl and that it was the institute’s official symbol.

Leonia took another quick peek at the owl plush.

Its sharply lifted yellow eyes were impressively crafted.

It would be a perfect match placed beside her black lion plush at home.

“If you’re curious about the eagle-owl, read this book.”

Strige handed her more gifts—a bird field guide as thick as the girl’s forearm, and a historical chronicle of the institute’s founding.

“Thank you.”

Leonia politely expressed her gratitude. The escort knights loaded the gifts onto the carriage separately.

“Your Grace, please stay safe.”

“You too, Master.”

“Goodbye, Grandma!”

Strige waved until her student and his young daughter were out of sight.

Watching the scene from beyond the window, Leonia called to Ferio.

“Dad, do you respect that grandma?”

“Yes.”

“That’s a very good thing.”

Leonia smiled softly as she fiddled with the owl plush.

The carriage was soon headed for a famous restaurant in the capital.

It was to fulfill Leonia’s request—she wanted something fresh, like a salad.

Ferio carried Leonia in his arms as he strode confidently into the restaurant.

Guests, recognizing the famously talked-about Voreoti father and daughter, stared in a daze, forgetting their meals.

“I didn’t make a reservation, though.”

When Ferio asked if there were any available seats, the manager bowed repeatedly and asked him to wait a moment before rushing inside.

“...Is this really okay?”

This translation is the intellectual property of Novelight.

Leonia played with Ferio’s hair as she asked him a question.

The short, braided strands quickly came undone.

“You’re the one who said you wanted to eat here.”

“Look at this dad, abusing his power and blaming it on his daughter.”

“You said you wanted to eat it. That’s why we came.”

Ferio added that if there hadn’t been any seats, he was ready to leave without fuss.

Well, Leonia wasn’t so sure there wouldn’t be a seat.

Sure enough—

“F-Fortunately, there’s one table available,” the manager stammered.

As if by some miraculous coincidence, a table had opened up. The poor manager looked so anxious, Leonia pitied him inwardly.

The table they were guided to was tucked in a corner, enclosed by long, heavy curtains.

Ferio quietly pointed out that places like this were always the most expensive.

Leonia realized the truth of those words the moment she sat down.

The curtains shielding the area were clearly made of high-quality material.

Crystals carved into the fabric caught even the smallest glimmers of light, reflecting off each other and illuminating what might otherwise have been a dim, closed space.

The food they ordered arrived quickly.

The taste of power.

In other words, it was absolutely delicious.

Leonia cut into her steak with practiced precision, pairing it with the salad.

The tangy-sweet dressing was exactly to her taste.

As he watched her, Ferio muttered absentmindedly, “Your belly’s gotten bigger.”

“My belly... what...?”

Leonia, having cleaned her plate, bit down on her upper lip and glared at her father with eyes full of betrayal.

“You’re not supposed to say stuff like that to a girl.”

“You’re my daughter, so it’s fine.”

“I’m still a girl, gender-wise!”

Ferio’s eyes dropped to Leonia’s slightly protruding stomach.

“Don’t you have any shame?”

That wasn’t a big belly?

It looked exactly like the round, swollen tummy of a puppy lazing around after drinking its fill of its mother’s milk.

“You’re so annoying, Dad...!”

Even as she huffed, Leonia subtly ran her hand over her stomach.

Compared to her orphanage days, it definitely stuck out more now.

But she thought that was a good thing.

There was no way a little belly could take away from her cuteness.

“Don’t you think I’m kind of cute?”

“Did you seriously just call yourself cute out loud...?”

Ferio, completely speechless, grabbed a napkin and wiped the sauce off the corners of her mouth.

He applied a bit too much pressure, making her chubby cheeks squish inward.

“A real child should have a round belly. That’s what makes them cute!”

Leonia squirmed away from the napkin and stretched out her arms wide in defiance.

Which only made her stomach stick out more. The buttons on her white shirt strained tightly.

“...Sometimes,” Ferio said as he sat her back down in her seat.

He also scolded her not to climb onto chairs with her shoes on.

“You really seem more grown-up than I am.”

“Really? I seem mature?”

“I meant you look old.”

Especially the way she talked.

“At this rate, you’ll be all wrinkled before your time.”

Papa Beast spoke with genuine concern for his Baby Beast.

He even guided her by brushing his palm up and down his own face, showing her exactly where the early aging would strike.

“Kyaaaa!”

Before he even finished speaking, Leonia pounced on him like a wild monster.

A short while later, the Voreoti father and daughter stepped out from behind the curtains.

Leonia was slung over Ferio’s shoulder like a sack of potatoes.

Ferio’s hair and collar were a total mess, as if someone had ripped at them with both hands.

The restaurant guests and staff all stared in disbelief, unsure whether to believe what they had just seen and heard.

The lively back-and-forth bickering between the two, which had echoed from their table moments earlier, now seemed unreal.

The knights who had finished eating nearby and waited for them were no different.

“My lord...”

Meleis looked between the disheveled Ferio and the wriggling, sack-like Leonia.

Clearly flustered, the knight seemed completely unsure of what to do.

An elite knight, short-circuited.

“Say I look old one more time and see what happens! Life won’t be fun for you anymore!”

“She’s fiercer than any monster I’ve seen.”

“Wanna find out what happens when a monster-like daughter rips your legs off?”

“This is what happens when you have a kid. Even when the dad worries, the child loses her mind.”

Ferio clicked his tongue in exasperation.

“Ugh! You’re so annoying, seriously!”

Even after climbing into the carriage, Leonia continued yelling at full volume.

“...Watching those two,”

Paavo, who had been standing with his mouth agape, finally managed to move his jaw.

“...makes me feel brave enough to go see my little brother.”

No matter how awkward it might be, it surely wouldn’t be as terrifying as that.

Through his lord’s chaotic family life, Paavo found both courage and comfort.

“Yeah. Make sure you go,” said Meleis.

“At least it won’t be like that,” Probo agreed.