I Became the Male Lead’s Adopted Daughter

The princess had always lived hiding her true identity, so she felt a flicker of gratitude toward Leonia for recognizing who she really was.
Of course, she had no intention of ever saying that aloud.

"Shall we move somewhere else?"
Leonia was the first to speak.
"I’d appreciate that," the princess replied promptly. It would be troublesome if someone overheard them.

They slipped into one of the vacant rooms, and as soon as they were inside, Leonia locked the door.
Click. At the sound of the latch, Princess Scandia flinched.
"I’m not going to eat you or anything."

"You look like you might," the princess said bluntly.
"So, what is it you want from me?"
"I don’t want anything."

Leonia already knew the truth from the original story. That Princess Scandia was born male—and why she dressed this way.
"You really do take after your father."
As expected.

"Is Sir Ibex doing well?"
At the mention of her "father," Princess Scandia gripped the sword at her waist. The mood, which had been oddly calm despite the tension, instantly turned deadly.
Her skill was enough to startle even Leonia, who had hunted monsters before.

But that was the extent of it.
Leonia merely stared back at the princess who stood on guard. The unshaken gaze in her eyes unnerved Scandia far more than the other way around.
That kind of killing intent was nothing to the black beast.

Does she already know how to use ora?
Judging by how she held her sword and the unusual aura around her, she had likely already reached the level of a swordmaster who could freely wield ora at her age.
Even if not, it was certain she possessed skills near that level.
She’s only two years younger than me, right?

To have that build and skill at fourteen—remarkable.
Leonia looked at the future muscle specimen that was Princess Scandia with great satisfaction. That handsome face was exactly her type, too.
I should get along with her.

Heheheh. Leonia smiled with a strange glint that made the princess take a step back.
"Why are you looking at me like that?" Scandia asked warily.
"Like what?"

"Like you’re about to devour me."
"I said I’m not."
…Not unless you grow into a really good-looking musclehead someday, she thought but kept to herself.

"Anyway, are you okay?"
Leonia asked.
"Must be hard for you to go outside like this."

After all, Princess Scandia was, quite literally, a "princess." Living disguised as a girl while hiding the fact that she was male, any outing carried serious risk.
"…That’s why I’m dressed like this."
Loosening her guard a little, the princess relaxed her shoulders. She brushed the surface of her uniform with one palm.

"It gets stifling being stuck inside all the time. So Mother takes me out with her as a guard now and then."
"Then who’s in the princess’s quarters?"
"A stand-in."

A maid’s daughter who served the Empress was playing the role in her absence.
"That seems like an important detail to share with me."
"You already know everything, don’t you, Lady Leonia?"

The princess loosened the collar of her uniform as she spoke. Her Adam’s apple jutted out visibly from beneath the open neckline.
Even at fourteen, he was unmistakably a boy.
"Dressing as a girl is getting harder these days," she muttered, her voice shaking along with her Adam’s apple.

Leonia suddenly remembered the princess’s childhood.
Back then, even when she saw Ferio, she hadn’t cried. Her hair had once been as transparently silver as the Empress’s, but now it had dulled with a tinge of ash.
Still, the pretty and charming features remained.

I thought only our family was a mess…
Without realizing it, Leonia reached out and toyed with Scandia’s hair. The princess was startled by the casual gesture.
Her tightly tied ash-silver hair shimmered through Leonia’s fingers.

The Empress is something else too.
An eye for an eye, a lie for a lie.
A betrayal answered by betrayal, maybe.

Princess Scandia was the child born of a brief moment between Empress Tigria and her former lover, Ibex.
"So then, the Second Prince…"
"Do not doubt my brother."

The princess’s face turned stern. For the first time, Leonia felt a chill run down her spine.
"My brother is without fault."
In other words, the Second Prince’s bloodline was genuine and unquestionable.

"That’s not the point."
Leonia let go of the silver hair.
"Because of you and Her Majesty."

Even if the blood of the emperor ran through him, the fact that his mother had borne another man’s child was enough to shake the legitimacy of his claim.
Which was why Empress Tigria disguised her second son as a daughter.
She even raised him to appear weak and frail, someone who could faint at the slightest thing.

For one reason only—
To save both of her sons.
The child who carried imperial blood would survive in the palace, and the one who carried Western blood would survive in the West.

In the original…
Leonia recalled the story she knew.
Princess Scandia was sent to the Hesperi estate in the West under the pretense of needing convalescence.

Then, not long after the Second Prince ascended the throne, the princess revealed her true identity.
A new heir to the West—and the next Marquis of Hesperi—was born.
***

After finishing the pleasant tea party, Leonia went straight to find Ferio.
"Dad! Dad! Dad!"
"What? What? What?"

Leonia ran around Ferio in circles, calling out. Ferio answered every call and gently patted his excited daughter’s head.
"Ugh, I got totally wrecked at the Rinne estate."
"Don’t tell me you got in trouble with the lady of the house…"

"It wasn’t like that!"
Leonia, ever guilty from her extensive record, yelled reflexively.
Ferio took her word for it and settled onto the drawing room sofa.

Leonia flopped down and rested her head on his firm thigh, draping a nearby blanket over her dress.
"Tell everyone to leave."
"Everyone, out."

At Ferio’s command, the servants quietly exited the drawing room.
Only after the door closed with a soft click did Leonia begin chatting away about everything that had happened at the Rinne estate.
"……"

As the story went on, Ferio’s face twisted more and more with displeasure.
"Leonia, you’ve got quite the talent."
He clicked his tongue when she finished, though the sigh wasn’t directed at his daughter.

It was aimed at Princess Scandia and Empress Tigria—more specifically, at the Empress.
She did it on purpose.
She knew Leonia would be there.

Ferio brushed aside her bangs. Her smooth, round forehead peeked out.
Lying on her father’s lap, Leonia wore a silly, carefree smile.
"What’s so funny?"

This clueless kid…
Ferio scolded her with a groan.
"What did you talk about with the Empress?"

"Mm…"
Leonia slowly sat up and gave a brief summary of the tea party conversation.
“She asked about you, your watch business, and whether you’ll be attending the upcoming banquet.”

As she spoke, she messily combed her tangled bangs with her fingers.
“At first, I thought she just dropped by because she was friends with Lady Abipher and happened to see me by chance…”
She paused, thinking for a moment, then spoke again.

“But it really did seem like I was the main reason she came.”
Ferio had thought the same.
There was no way the Empress would make such a bold move without a purpose—let alone bringing the princess with her.

What’s her angle?
To the world, Empress Tigria was seen as pitiful—a woman abandoned by the emperor and humiliated by a mere concubine.
But those who truly knew her would never describe her that way.

Ferio, for one, knew the truth.
The Empress was a savage beast.
Her marriage to the emperor had been nothing short of a tragedy, but she was never someone who simply endured it in silence.

Raised with the pride of a warrior, she gave up on the emperor early on.
She remained in the imperial palace only because of her role as Empress and the duties that came with it.
Cold and resolute even toward herself, Empress Tigria had a child with the emperor purely out of obligation. Thus, the Second Prince was born.

To Ferio, that alone said everything about how formidable she was.
So if ⊛ Nоvеlιght ⊛ (Read the full story) that same Empress went out of her way to visit a count’s estate just to see Leonia, it was only natural that Ferio felt the need to be on guard.
“Is she trying to arrange a marriage?”

Leonia murmured.
“…Voreoti is forbidden from marrying royalty.”
Ferio, deep in thought, answered sternly. The worst-case scenario he’d been trying to ignore had now been blurted out by his daughter.

He had no intention of marrying her off—not now, not ever.
Even if that centuries-old agreement between the Voreoti and Imperial family forbidding marriage no longer existed, it was absolutely out of the question.
“But the princess isn’t royalty, technically.”

Leonia casually dropped a bombshell as if she were brushing lint off her dress.
If Princess Scandia ended up in the West like in the original story and succeeded as the heir to House Hesperi, there would be no issue with Leonia marrying her.
“You like her?”

Ferio asked nervously.
“Dad.”
Leonia shook her head.

“She’s only fourteen.”
She scoffed, as if to say, what would I do with a little kid like that?
“Though… if she grows into a handsome muscle man, that’s a different story.”

The ever-prepared pervert left some wiggle room.
“There’s no such person in this world.”
Ferio declared flatly.

“But you’re a handsome muscle man, Dad.”
“I’m the only one.”
Ferio corrected himself immediately. In other words, no man would ever be good enough for Leonia. Ever.

“Just take the kid and toss the man.”
“This might be your worst parenting moment yet.”
Leonia shook her head.

It really was a talent—spouting that kind of nonsense with a completely straight face.
That’s not even the problem right now!
Honestly, her potential marriage didn’t matter to her at the moment.

Does Dad seriously not feel anything for Varia?
Is he actually a eunuch?
The girl was too busy orchestrating an inappropriate relationship between her father and the live-in tutor.

***
While Leonia was busy scheming…
"……"

Varia was lost in deep contemplation.
Before her was the muscle anatomy sketchbook Ferio had given her—drawn by Leonia when she was just nine years old.
In one of the illustrations, Ferio stood upright, dressed in a buttoned shirt and trousers, glancing off to the side.

Because of his posture, his lower back and waist were slightly twisted—and Leonia had drawn that area nude.
Next to each projected muscle was its official anatomical name.
She’s seriously talented…

Varia couldn’t stop being impressed.
This wasn’t the work of a nine-year-old. Not even a twelve-year-old could draw like this.
The detail in the art surpassed even stamping ink directly onto real muscles. It was so lifelike, it felt like it could move at any second.

Not even professional artists could render muscle this precisely.
A truly educated pervert…
In recent days, Varia had gotten to know some of the estate’s staff and exchanged greetings regularly.

Especially after becoming a bit friendlier with Connie and Mia, Leonia’s personal maids, she’d heard something important.
“The young lady’s an educated pervert.”
“Educated perverts are the scariest.”

They had both openly referred to the girl they served as a "pervert."
Varia had felt a chill go down her neck.
Back at the Erbanu estate, a servant saying that about their master would be punished severely and thrown out without a single reference letter.

But Connie and Mia didn’t even bother to look around before speaking.
“I’ve studied a lot, after all!”
And Leonia had even joined in herself, proudly calling herself a pervert.

Varia found herself genuinely admiring Ferio for tolerating—no, embracing—this bizarre hobby. That, she concluded, was true love.
And maybe… she was a little jealous.
Still, Varia’s dilemma wasn’t about some bittersweet romantic longing.

"Muscles are… really cool…"
She had just discovered an entirely new world.