I Became the Male Lead's Adopted Daughter-Chapter 68

Meleis, gripping her sword, recalled something Ferio had said to her before.

‘If such a person ever catches your eye...’

It had been not long after Leonia arrived in the North.

Meleis, concerned after hearing unsavory rumors about the child, had voiced her worries—and in response, Ferio made her a rare promise.

‘I will grant you the honor of staining your blade with their blood.’

Count Mereoqa and Baron Glis both fell to Meleis’s sword.

Ferio was a man who kept his promises.

Thanks to that, Meleis’s sharpened blade moved without hesitation.

***

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“Meleis, onnie!”

Leonia beamed brightly at the guest who had come to visit her room early in the morning.

“My lady.”

Meleis, seeing her little mistress for the first time in a while, bowed with respect.

“Meleis Levipes, I have returned safely from my mission.”

“Onnie, I missed you so much!”

Leonia ran over and hugged Meleis’s legs tightly.

Meleis, also overjoyed, patted Leonia’s back affectionately.

Leonia suddenly tilted her head up and grinned.

“When did you arrive? At night?”

“I arrived at dawn.”

“Then you must be tired!”

“I feel completely refreshed now that I’ve seen you, my lady.”

Her gentle voice, reassuring Leonia not to worry, made the girl gasp and cover her mouth with both hands as if overwhelmed.

The maids who had followed behind clutched their chests and squealed quietly.

Meleis personally escorted Leonia to the dining hall.

There, Paavo and Probo were also waiting.

Leonia ran over, waving her hands enthusiastically. She was so thrilled, it felt like reuniting after years apart.

“My lady, you’ve grown so much!”

Paavo nodded exaggeratedly in approval. Leonia’s eyes sparkled at the mention of her growth.

Looking over at Probo, she saw that he, too, was smiling as if agreeing.

“You’ve grown quite a lot in such a short time.”

“How much? How much exactly?”

“You now look like you’re six years old.”

“Oooh...”

Leonia, about to rejoice, suddenly let her shoulders droop.

“I’ll be eight after this fall...”

When she was seven, they said she looked five. Now that she was almost eight, they said she looked six.

“So basically, there’s no difference...”

“That’s not true.”

Meleis firmly refuted it.

“My lady’s slow growth is unavoidable.”

When Leonia first came to the North, people thought she looked like a severely underfed five-year-old.

But now, they saw her as a healthy and lovely six-year-old.

“Your body has undergone many changes, my lady. Just look.”

The tangled hair that had gone unwashed for days now shimmered with smooth luster.

Her once-rough skin had become ~Nоvеl𝕚ght~ soft.

Her bony frame had filled out with plumpness.

“You’ve become very healthy.”

It was no small feat.

“...You’re right.”

Realizing the difference, Leonia smiled bashfully and squirmed with shy pride.

“Actually, when I first saw you, my lady, I thought you were three.”

Meleis whispered the secret like it was a confidential confession.

“That much?”

Leonia gasped, cupping her face with both hands.

But deep down, she flinched, wondering if she’d really looked that bad.

Meanwhile, Ferio had just finished his meal and was leaving the dining hall.

“Eat with us!”

Leonia clung to his leg, sounding disappointed.

Ferio stopped in his tracks and lifted his whining daughter onto a chair himself.

“Well, who told you to oversleep?”

“You told them not to wake me, remember?”

“I did.”

Worried she might be tired after arriving in the capital, Ferio had told Tra, the butler, not to wake Leonia.

“Eat slowly and get ready to go out.”

Leonia, who had been munching on a piece of freshly served bread, suddenly raised her head.

Her cheeks were puffed out so much, they looked like they’d burst. Ferio couldn’t help but let out a soft laugh.

The way she ate so diligently was endearing.

“We need to tour the capital.”

“Mmmff mmh mmff...!”

“Swallow everything before you speak.”

Leonia hurriedly moved her jaws, munching fast.

Her twitching cheeks soon paused, and her throat visibly gulped.

Then she grabbed the water next to her and drank it down in big gulps.

With a dramatic puff, Leonia finally caught her breath.

“Then buy me a book!”

The little beast’s face bloomed with joy.

***

In the capital of the Bellius Empire, there was one very famous bookstore.

It was the oldest and largest bookstore in the entire empire, drawing visitors from early morning.

From daily newspapers to personalized magazines, and countless books displayed across the building—

They even sold accessories for reading.

The place was always bustling with people.

A black carriage came to a stop in front of it.

“...Hey, hey!”

Someone browsing the display stands jabbed their companion’s side repeatedly.

“What the hell...?!”

Annoyed, the companion dropped the magazine they had just picked up to buy.

Even though it was a freshly released issue from the day before and had been placed for sale just that morning, the bookstore staff didn’t scold him.

The black carriage exuded a chilling, warlike presence, as if it had returned from tearing through a battlefield.

The massive black horse pulling the carriage was larger and more robust than any ordinary warhorse.

Its hooves struck the ground lightly, letting out a sharp snort.

People nearby flinched with startled gasps.

“The Duke of Voreoti...”

A hushed voice echoed alone in front of the silent bookstore.

Emblazoned on the carriage was the crest of a roaring black lion—mouth wide open—which symbolized the House of Voreoti, rulers of the North.

Soon, Ferio stepped down from the carriage.

This translation is the intellectual property of Novelight.

His jet-black hair was slicked all the way back, and beneath it, his sharply defined features were not just handsome—they belonged to another realm entirely.

His eyes, filled with an abyssal darkness, were piercing, and his pale lips were so full they looked like something worth stealing.

On top of that, with the weather growing warmer, his lean and powerful build was clearly visible beneath the light clothes he wore.

With every step he took, the fabric of his clothing stretched tight across his frame.

“Oh my...”

“Good heavens...!”

Young noblewomen let out desperate sighs.

“Nanny! Nannyyyy!”

“I’m scared! Waaaah!”

But children, startled, burst into tears and cried out at the top of their lungs.

At that moment, Ferio came to a stop.

The warm and lively air of the plaza froze in an instant.

Those who had been sneaking glances quickly turned their eyes away and sucked in a breath.

Everyone thought the duke was angered by the sound of the crying children.

However—

They couldn’t have been more wrong.

“Daddy.”

All eyes turned toward the Duke’s feet.

A small, adorable figure, previously unnoticed, was lightly shaking her bunny-tied pigtails.

A child who looked exactly like the Duke of Voreoti beamed up at him with a radiant smile.

Wearing a soft, lightweight cape, a white shirt, and blue shorts, Leonia twirled in circles around Ferio.

Her black eyes, slightly upturned at the corners, sparkled with bold confidence.

“This is the bookstore?”

Leonia looked up from the ground floor all the way to the top of the building with wide, round eyes.

Then she wobbled backward, and Ferio quickly caught the back of her head and shoulders.

“Don’t fool around. Be careful.”

“I wasn’t fooling around. I was looking at the building.”

“Tsk. Come here.”

Ferio crouched and stretched out his arms wide. Leonia immediately leapt into them and was lifted high into the air.

The Duke of Voreoti gently brushed her bangs aside with his hand.

Meanwhile, Leonia carefully looked back at each and every person whose eyes had been glued to them.

‘Eyes.’

Her chubby little finger pointed at theirs.

‘Down.’

Then she flicked it toward the ground.

The people she pointed at hastily lowered their gazes.

The baby kitten who had been smiling sweetly at her dad just moments ago had vanished.

In her place stood a little beast—annoyed and growling—irritated by the unnecessary stares and threatening anyone who dared to keep watching.

“Leo.”

“Mm?”

“Don’t let that kind of thing bother you.”

Ferio spoke as he patted her back. He had long grown sick of these kinds of looks.

“But we’re not some kind of spectacle,” Leonia grumbled.

She had experienced it sometimes back in the Voreoti Plaza too, but people there weren’t nearly this blatant about it.

In fact, many in the North would deliberately avert their eyes out of respect for their lord.

But here, people stared so openly it felt like they were watching animals at a zoo.

“They’re just low-class.”

Ferio curled his lips in disdain.

“That doesn’t mean you have to understand them.”

Leonia nodded.

“Don’t associate with people like them. Walk with your chin up and your head high. If anyone tries to pick a fight, have the knights identify them and report back to me.”

“That person’s dead meat, then.”

Leonia didn’t know who it would be, but she sincerely hoped no one tried it.

If anyone got caught by her dad, they'd suffer something worse than death.

Leaving behind a crowd frozen by that brutally honest exchange, the predator and his cub stepped into the bookstore.

The moment they entered, the staff bowed deeply in unison.

“You go look around at some books.”

Set down from his arms, Leonia grabbed Meleis’s hand, who had accompanied her as her escort.

She waved briefly at Ferio as if to say “see you later.”

Ferio watched as the child headed upstairs with her knight.

She had been so sensitive to all the stares just moments ago, but now she was chatting away happily, her mood completely lifted.

“D-Duke...”

At that moment, the bookstore’s owner cautiously approached.

The store owner had rushed over the moment word came of the Duke of Voreoti’s arrival, and his forehead was beaded with sweat.

He wiped it off quickly with a handkerchief and greeted Ferio with a nervous voice.

“Is there... something you’re looking for, Your Grace?”

Even at the owner’s polite inquiry, Ferio didn’t respond right away.

He spent a long moment staring up at the staircase Leonia had gone up before slowly turning his head.

“I’d like to place an order for some books.”

“Ah, yes! Of course!”

The owner rushed to the counter and brought back some paper and a pen.

Ferio listed a few book titles, and the owner jotted them down quickly, straining to recall whether they were in stock.

A scholar’s thesis that stirred up the public last year; a collection of newly enacted or revised laws from the previous year.

A long-beloved book on business theory, and one by a philosopher often quoted in academy textbooks.

“And lastly...”

After ordering a number of titles, Ferio named one final book.