I Became the Male Lead’s Adopted Daughter

“You seemed to have slept well last night.”
“……”
“And working out so enthusiastically since dawn, too.”

“Duke……”
Varia ducked her head in shame and reached out a hand as if begging him to stop.
She hadn’t expected they’d actually watched her in the hallway.

The moment she saw the two pairs of black eyes staring at her, she let out a shriek and collapsed.
“I’m truly sorry.”
“No need to apologize.”

“It’s so disrespectful, doing that in someone else’s house…”
“I wouldn’t call it disrespectful.”
Even as Varia looked like she wanted to sink into the floor, Ferio just kept at it.

His voice was infuriatingly flat, but the slight curve at the edge of his eyes gave him away.
Pervert…
Leonia, watching from the side, shook her head.

The three of them had gathered after breakfast to finish the discussion they’d started yesterday.
Namely, Varia’s hiring.
“It’s not possible right away.”

Ferio handed her the employment contract as he spoke.
“You’re still officially part of the Finance Department, Miss Varia.”
“Unni, go hand in your resignation!”
“Hand it in…?”

Varia was startled by Leonia’s bold phrasing.
“…Would that really be okay?”
But as she pictured her supervisor’s face, the idea of quitting didn’t seem so bad.

“In fact, I’d love to punch him in the face on the way out.”
“Unni, you get me!”
Leonia held out her fist. Varia hesitated, then bumped it gently with her own.

Leonia grinned as their fists met with a soft bonk, a pleasant jolt running up her arm.
“It’s the Voreoti-style greeting.”
“Is that a Northern custom?”

Varia asked curiously.
“No.”
Ferio quickly stepped in to defend the North’s honor.

Only then did the real conversation resume.
“First of all, if I’m going to hire you, you need to leave the Imperial Palace first.”
Imperial officials weren’t allowed to hold other jobs.

So for Ferio to hire Varia as a private tutor, she had to resign from her position as an administrative officer.
“That won’t be hard, but…”
Varia hesitated.

“It might take some time.”
She had current assignments to wrap up, and she’d need to train her replacement.
When she was being disciplined, she was ready to quit on the spot. But now that she was actually going through with it, all kinds of concerns surfaced.

Like Les, who’d be left behind alone.
And the coworkers she’d gotten along with.
“That won’t be a problem.”

Ferio pointed to a section at the bottom of the contract as if to say, Seriously, you worry too much.
“Just sign, and I’ll take care of the rest.”
“You will, Duke?”

Varia looked at him with skepticism.
Ferio scowled. He was not pleased with her distrustful gaze.
“You don’t believe me?”

“That’s the Imperial Palace we’re talking about.”
“Indeed it is.”
“No matter how powerful you are, Duke, that place belongs to His Majesty the Emper—”

“Did I say I would do it myself?”
Ferio let out a sharp snort.
“Marquis Pardus will handle it.”

Then he picked up a pen and dropped it into Varia’s hand without ceremony.
Varia, holding the pen before she could even think, was left speechless.
“You must’ve realized by now just what kind of relationship Voreoti has with Pardus.”

Pardus had aligned himself with Voreoti ages ago.
Though they couldn’t publicly flaunt a hierarchy, Pardus’s loyalty to the Black Beast was deeper than that of most old-blood nobles.
One word from Ferio, and Varia’s resignation would be smoothly taken care of.

“And besides.”
There was a real reason Ferio was being this thorough.
“Your little sister apparently caused quite a scene with Leo yesterday, didn’t she?”

He’d heard about the minor scuffle from Meleis.
“If you’re here, then it’s likely that Erbanu and Olor are already aware.”
And if so, those two houses were sure to try using Varia as a pretext to make contact.

Not to mention what they might pull if Varia entered the Palace to submit her resignation in person.
Ferio couldn’t stand the idea of trash creeping around his territory.
Especially the Olors.

Ferio unwrapped a candy and popped it into Leonia’s mouth.
Even his usually placid daughter didn’t seem too pleased.
Those scum would come, without a doubt.

Which meant Voreoti had to make a statement.
They had to show that Varia Erbanu now fully belonged to House Voreoti.
Only then would those two houses stay away and keep their claws to themselves.

“So, as for you.”
Ferio pulled out another candy.
“Just relax and wait.”

“……”
“Unless, of course, you’d prefer to personally inform your family…”
“I have no ties to them.”

Varia answered coldly.
“I just feel sorry for troubling you, Duke……”
And she meant it.

Quitting her job was something she could’ve handled on her own.
But as Ferio had said, severing ties with her family was nearly impossible by herself.
Damn blood.

That cursed bond was why she felt guilty burdening Voreoti.
“…This isn’t a burden.”
Ferio offered her the candy.

Varia hesitated, then shyly took it. The pink wrapper caught her eye.
“Hmm.”
Leonia raised her hand after a moment’s thought.

“I have a great idea.”
“No.”
Ferio shot her down immediately.

“Why not!”
Leonia shrieked. Varia blinked in surprise.
“Just hear me out before rejecting it!”

“I already know it’s going to be ridiculous.”
“It’s seriously a good one!”
“And if it’s not?”

“Then what if it is?”
The two beasts glared at each other, neither backing down.
Varia, still not used to their daily back-and-forth, watched with concern.

What if the Duke hit his daughter or punished her severely?
“If it’s good, let me draw your bicep muscles!”
“If it’s bad, I’m confiscating your sketchbook for a week.”

“For a week? That’s excessive!”
But the exchange felt more like childish bickering than an argument between parent and child.
Varia was stunned.

She’d thought it strange yesterday too, but watching a father and daughter talk like this was downright surreal.
The father she knew had only ever demanded obedience from her and her sister.
If she’d raised her voice at him like that, she wouldn’t have just been grounded—he’d have smashed everything in sight, and her mother would’ve fled to another room.

In the end, Ferio gave in.
“Fine, let’s hear it.”
“The point is to keep Unni’s family from saying anything, right?”

“In simple terms, yes.”
“Then this method’s perfect.”
Leonia stood up, eyes brimming with resolve.

“Dad, come here.”
She called Ferio over and sat him down beside Varia. Then, she carefully positioned his arms.
His left arm around Varia’s waist.

His right arm on her belly.
“And your head, like this.”
Following her instructions, Ferio suddenly found himself cradling Varia, gazing at her stomach.

Both Ferio and Varia stared at each other in confusion.
“This is the finishing move.”
The ultimate line that made every parent in the world freeze in horror.

“‘If our baby makes Mommy suffer, Daddy’s gonna scold them later, okay?’”
“……”
“……”

A suffocating silence fell.
Neither Ferio nor Varia dared to speak. They remained frozen in place.
“There’s a bonus version with morning sickness, too.”

Gag, uuugh!
Leonia acted it out, complete with bent-over posture and hand covering her mouth—flawlessly executed.
“Then Unni gently rubs her stomach and goes, ‘The baby says it wants strawberries…’”

“Duke.”
Varia cut in.
“Confiscate it for a week.”

“Then sign the contract, please.”
Ferio held out the contract. Varia signed without even reading it.
“Please expedite the resignation process.”

“Please take good care of my daughter’s education.”
“I’ll give it my all.”
The beast of the ❖ Nоvеl𝚒ght ❖ (Exclusive on Nоvеl𝚒ght) Finance Department’s eyes gleamed.

Ferio gave a satisfied smile.
“Just try not to get swept up in anything.”
The employer and new employee shook hands.

“…Wait a second?”
Leonia blinked, realizing something had gone very wrong.
***

The Finance Department exploded into chaos.
“Where is Miss Varia Erbanu’s desk?”
Several unfamiliar men with visitor tags appeared, asking where Varia sat.

“Well, it’s over there, but…”
Les pointed to an empty desk.
The strangers immediately began packing up Varia’s personal items into boxes.

They even snatched a notepad one employee had secretly borrowed and was using.
“What the hell’s going on?”
One staffer asked Les.

“Voreoti.”
“Voreoti?!”
The startled employee shouted reflexively.

Everyone in the room turned to stare at Les in shock.
“I don’t really know either.”
Les waved his hands in defense.

“But you’re close with her.”
“She just sent a letter saying she got hired by Voreoti, that’s it.”
“She got hired by Voreoti?”

“She did.”
As murmurs spread among the employees, the Marquess of Pardus’s heir entered.
Trailing behind him was a man bowing low—the Vice Minister of the Finance Department.

“As expected of the Finance Department’s beast.”
Getting hired by Voreoti the moment she was put on disciplinary leave? That was no ordinary talent, and the heir gave a pleased smile.
But the staff only found his smile chilling.

“If it were me, I’d resign too.”
He shrugged.
“Do you know how harsh those disciplinary consequences are?”

The heir turned to the Vice Minister for agreement, and the man let out an awkward laugh.
He was the very one who, after receiving a bribe from Count Erbanu, had suggested Varia’s disciplinary action to HR.
“Well…”

Les muttered.
“Promotion’s practically impossible here anyway.”
“True enough.”

“Even if she came back, it wouldn’t be like before.”
The mood shifted. Everyone quietly accepted Varia’s resignation and departure.
The Pardus heir watched them with amusement.

By then, the Voreoti agents had finished packing everything.
The Marquess’s son even opened the door himself to see them off.
“…So evil.”

Someone whispered.
“She’s completely cut ties with Pardus now.”
“With just Pardus?”

A noble from the pro-Emperor faction had gone over to the head of the noble faction—Voreoti.
“That’s a full-on defection.”
“Calling it a defection is…”

Les snorted.
She was with them all along.
To Les, who had been watching Varia for a long time, none of this was a surprise.