I Became the Male Lead’s Adopted Daughter

Leonia stopped her quick-moving hand.
‘This isn’t right…’

Something about all this felt very off.
“Varia unni.”
“It's teacher now.”

“…Teacher.”
“Yes, young miss,”
Varia said, tucking a loose strand of ashy pink hair behind her ear. She had her hair neatly tied up in a single bun.

Ever since signing the employment contract, Varia had started calling Leonia young miss during lessons.
And Leonia, in turn, had agreed to only call her teacher during class hours.
Today was their first official lesson.

Varia had reviewed Leonia’s curriculum in advance and spent the whole night preparing practice problems.
Leonia’s academic level was already on par with academy students. If she took the entrance exam right now, she could easily take the top spot.
“Doesn’t this feel weird to you?”

Yet the girl looked completely disinterested in her studies.
“Is there something wrong?”
Varia feigned ignorance while skimming over the problems. Thankfully, nothing seemed off.

“This whole situation feels weird.”
Leonia finally set her pen down and muttered gravely.
“Why is it so peaceful?”

“That’s because you haven’t started solving anything yet.”
“My dad’s handsome, right?”
“If you do your problems, he’ll look even more handsome.”
“Then I’ll solve just this one…”

The ever-dutiful daughter picked her pen back up.
“I can’t let Dad turn into an ugly toad.”
As she worked through the problems, Leonia patted herself on the back for being such a perfect daughter.

Varia watched her with fascination.
She didn’t have many close relationships, but she’d never met a kid as weird and fun as Leonia.
And, honestly, one this perverted.

“What does your father’s good looks have to do with everything being peaceful?”
Varia asked once Leonia finished.
She’d guessed as much just watching from the side—but sure enough, every single problem Leonia had solved was correct.

She was frighteningly sharp. Everything Varia taught her, she absorbed right away.
“Can I be honest?”
Leonia cupped her face in her hands, looking serious.

“Employer and tutor.”
She nodded to herself in admiration.
“Gah, what a thrilling combination!”

Leonia grinned wickedly.
“Young miss.”
Varia reached out and gently held her hand, speaking with the kindness of a saint.

“If you say things like that in public, people will assume you're a pervert and have you arrested.”
Her gaze, as she patted the child’s hand, was overflowing with compassion.
“You might give the Duke a heart attack.”

“…Are you serious?”
Leonia narrowed her eyes.
“Nope.”

Varia immediately changed her answer.
There was no way the mighty Ferio would be taken down by his daughter’s twisted antics.
“Still, that’s how I see it.”

Leonia emphasized her point again.
“An employer and a tutor in a secret rendezvous. Isn’t that exciting?”
“Nothing to do with me.”

Varia responded like it was somebody else’s business.
The upward curl of her lips clearly meant: Over my dead body.
“Ordinary is best.”

She didn’t even want to get married.
Every household Varia had ever seen was far from happy.
Even the parents who once claimed to love her had turned on her—and stood by when she was sent to die.

And her younger sister? Not even worth mentioning.
Maybe someday she’d fall in love, but right now, Varia couldn’t even imagine building a proper family.
Romance itself just didn’t appeal to her.

“Aren’t you a little too young to be giving up on adventure?”
Twelve-year-old Leonia pouted.
Varia barely suppressed a laugh.

She still wasn’t used to Leonia sounding like a grumpy old woman.
“Sigh, this is killing me.”
Leonia thumped her chest.

‘They’ve finally met!’
Under the same roof, the original story’s leads were together. The very two who used to fall in love with a single glance were now here at House Voreoti.
So why was it so damn peaceful?

Leonia didn’t like how civil their dynamic was.
‘This time, it has to go according to the original.’
It had been five years since she vowed to ignore the original storyline and live life on her own terms.

That vow still stood strong.
But this time… this time, Leonia desperately wanted the original’s power to kick in.
‘You’re meant to be my mom.’

She’d known the moment she saw her.
Ferio’s match was Varia.
That woman standing in front of her was without question her destined stepmother.

How else would she have instinctively called her “Mom” at their very first meeting?
‘I’ll make you my mom.’
Leonia’s black eyes burned as she stared at Varia.

‘So why is Dad just standing there like a log?!’
They didn’t have time to waste—and yet Ferio was being so frustratingly innocent.
Leonia was dissatisfied with a father who focused only on parenting.

‘…Don’t tell me he’s actually impotent?’
The unfilial daughter flinched at her own disturbing thought.
“Well, shall we wrap up for today?”

Some time later, Varia suggested ending the lesson.
Since it was their first time teaching and learning together, the goal was just to get used to it.
“Unni, unni.”

Leonia waved her over urgently the moment class ended.
She’d made up her mind—if she didn’t step in and push these two into feeling things, nothing was going to happen.
Otherwise, the Black Beast of the North was going to get branded as impotent, and that was something Leonia, as his daughter, had to prevent.

“My dad…”
She leaned in and whispered something massive.
“He has ten of them.”

Leonia pointed at her stomach.
Varia’s gaze followed her finger. Leonia, dressed in a pale yellow dress, had a completely flat stomach.
What could she possibly have ten of in there? Varia wondered, her expression slowly freezing over.

“His abs?”
Varia gasped in horror.
“Dear heavens! The Duke has ten bellybuttons?!”

“Unni, are you messing with me right now?”
This time it was Leonia’s turn to be horrified.
***

After class, Varia made her way to Ferio’s office.
Leonia wanted to tag along, but she already had plans to visit the Rinne estate.
She waved to Varia with a disappointed look.

“I’ll bring back something tasty!”
After seeing her off, Varia headed upstairs to the office.
“Duke.”

Knock knock. She tapped the door lightly. A voice from inside told her to enter.
When she stepped in, Ferio was leaning back in his chair, flipping through documents with a lazy expression.
He wore his boredom on his face, but his posture was as sharp and disciplined as ever.

He was swamped with work.
He needed to finish this early if he wanted to attend the First Prince’s upcoming birthday banquet.
“Your belongings arrived.”

Ferio didn’t even look up, just gestured toward the sofa.
There were the things Varia hadn’t managed to bring from the dorms.
The open box was filled with her belongings from the Finance Department. Even a pen she’d loaned to a colleague and forgotten about months ago.

“Nothing missing?”
Varia glanced through the items and shook her head.
She hadn’t checked the bags yet, but she was sure everything was there.

“Thank you, truly.”
She didn’t know what to do with all the consideration Voreoti had shown her.
Even if the deal had gone through, she was aware of her position.

In many ways, she was a massive headache.
Even if she’d cut ties, she was still someone from House Erbanu.
And yet, they’d treated her with care. That alone meant a lot.

“Are you settling in well?”
Ferio asked, barely glancing her way before going back to work.
But both ears were focused on her answer.

“Perfectly!”
Varia replied with conviction.
“The room you gave me is more than I could’ve asked for.”

The first night, she’d stayed in a small guest room. But by the next day, Ferio had moved her to a much larger one.
His reasoning: there was no way his daughter’s tutor should be sleeping in a broom closet.
“Ah, during today’s lesson…”

Varia started recounting the class.
“I really felt like teaching her was worth it.”
She praised Leonia’s intellect and said she wanted to raise the difficulty a bit.

At first, she’d planned to just do her job properly. But after teaching Leonia today, she genuinely wanted to teach her more.
Which meant she needed to study again herself.
“Would it be possible to get some books?”

“Tell Tra later.”
Ferio agreed easily.
“…By the way.”

Just as things were wrapping up and she was about to stand, Varia mumbled to herself.
“What’s a rectus abdominis?”
Ferio, halfway to standing, paused and furrowed his brow.

“Where did you hear that?”
His daughter’s mischievous face flashed through his mind—he could practically hear her smug little laugh.
“Ah, it’s nothing!”

Varia waved her hands frantically, flustered.
“…Is it something?”
Then she changed her mind.

“Actually, after class, the young miss…”
She told him what Leonia had said. The only reason she had the guts to mention it was ~Nоvеl𝕚ght~ because Ferio didn’t scare her as much as she’d expected.
His face looked intimidating, sure—but not enough to make her knees buckle.

Ferio sighed and shook his head.
“People don’t have ten bellybuttons.”
He gave Varia a slightly pitying look.

“You’re surprisingly gullible.”
“G-Gullible…?!”
Her face turned red.

“How can you not know what the rectus abdominis is?”
“I-It’s not like I know everything…!”
She pouted, feeling unjustly attacked.

“….”
Ferio suddenly had a splitting headache.
So that’s what normal looks like…

Varia was right.
Even trained knights often didn’t know terms like “rectus abdominis.”
The only reason Ferio knew it was because he’d studied anatomy to match his daughter’s obsessive interest in muscles.

After years of raising a muscle-obsessed freak, his sense of normal had skewed.
“Miss Varia.”
Ferio stood and approached her.

“The rectus abdominis is here.”
He pointed directly at his stomach.
“…So he really does have ten bellybuttons?”

Varia gasped, hand flying to her mouth in horror.
She stared at the fabric stretched over his abs like she couldn’t believe what she was seeing.
“Oh no! I’ve just discovered the Duke’s deepest secret!”

“What the hell…”
Ferio nearly blurted out “What kind of lunatic are you?” but clenched his jaw just in time.
“The Beast” title is going to cry at this rate…

In the Finance Department, Varia had been called “the Beast”—a strict and terrifying officer.
But now, in front of Ferio, she looked more like a clueless puppy.
Wary, sure—but constantly bumbling into bizarre misunderstandings.

Ferio stared at her blankly as she continued to fret about his supposed ten bellybuttons.
No one had ever turned him inside out like this since Leonia.
“Hand.”

Unable to watch anymore, Ferio extended his own hand.
“Let me see your hand.”