I Became the Male Lead’s Adopted Daughter

"I wouldn't know."
Lupe shrugged his shoulders.

"The Duke’s lower half is beyond my jurisdiction."
"You’re just like me—good at lying."
The Marquis of Pardus entered the unoccupied office.

He placed the box he was carrying on the table and settled comfortably into a chair. As Lupe poured the tea, he asked,
"So it won’t take long to find out."
He was so good at lying that the Marquis could tell he was bluffing.

"You speak as if you already know something."
The Marquis sipped the tea he’d been handed and let out a soft chuckle. His mustache twitched slightly.
"It must be the daughter from the cadet branch everyone thought had died."

Lupe’s eyes widened. The Marquis found his expression amusing and continued, as if daring him to be even more shocked.
In truth, this level of deduction didn’t even qualify as real reasoning for the Marquis.
"A mysterious wandering knight, a romantic elopement, and of all days, it had to be the day a rare northern downpour hit. The carriage was swept away in the flood, but their bodies were never found."

The torrential rain had erased all traces of the fleeing couple.
"It’s already been ten years since that day. If the two of them had survived and escaped, it’s more than enough time to have had a child. Well, I honestly thought they’d drowned too."
Despite saying their survival was unexpected, the Marquis’s face remained calm.

Lupe stared at his father in disbelief, astonished by how quickly he’d figured out Leonia’s identity.
But the Marquis, used to such looks, only shrugged his shoulders—just like Lupe had earlier. Lupe’s face turned red.
"You didn’t know?"

"The Duke didn’t know either."
Lupe used the absent Ferio as a convenient excuse.
"……Can’t be helped."
The Marquis set down his teacup and lightly shifted his gaze.

"The Duke never liked Lady Regina."
"He didn’t dislike her."
"Her head was a garden blooming with endless flowers."

The youngest son had thought fondly of Regina, but the Marquis of Pardus felt the exact opposite.
He was one of the few who had viewed her negatively.
In fact, he had once coldly criticized her as someone who was no benefit to House Voreoti.

"You investigated Lady Regina’s fate……?"
"No."
The Marquis answered firmly.

"I don’t dig into my master’s past."
The former Duke had already given up on Regina, who’d run off with a man he disapproved of, calling it love. Ferio had done the same.
The Marquis had no intention of chasing after someone so thoughtless.

In fact, he felt a certain relief that such a person had vanished from House Voreoti.
It might have been a cruel sentiment, but to the Marquis, Regina was only worth that much.
"But Lady Leonia is quite fascinating."

Her once gaunt cheeks had filled out, and after receiving peace and stability at the ducal estate, Leonia had become almost unrecognizably healthy.
What’s more, the resemblances to Ferio were striking enough to startle anyone.
That rare black hue in her body, the upturned eyes, the firmly shut straight lips—

"Her face alone is telling, but……"
There was also the way she carried herself, like someone who’d already lived a lifetime. Far more composed and mature than her peers.
That’s why people instantly assumed Leonia was Ferio’s illegitimate child the moment they laid eyes on her.

Even the Marquis, after confirming the truth of her birth, couldn’t help but question it.
"Still, rumors that she’s the Duke’s real daughter would be far better for the young lady."
"Obviously."

The doors flew open with a harsh sound, and Ferio entered. The Marquis of Pardus began to rise to greet him, but Ferio raised a hand to stop him.
With a shrug, the Marquis gestured toward the table with his chin, directing Lupe.
"I must have troubled the young lady."

"Don’t say what you don’t mean."
"Good thing I brought those fluffy cream puffs."
Though she’d been wary of him, Leonia hadn’t been able to take her eyes off the pastries—an unmistakable child.

Ferio seemed to know that too, since when he went to retrieve her, he snatched the cream puff box right out of the Marquis’s hands.
"I’ll bring even better snacks next time."
"Don’t come back."

"I should stay on good terms with the next Duke of Voreoti."
"Did you bring it?"
Ferio ignored the Marquis’s sly tone.

Lupe, who had been waiting nearby, immediately opened another box the Marquis had brought.
Once the velvet cloth wrapping it was removed, a lattice pattern of alternating light and dark colors was revealed.
When the lid opened, thirty-two small sculpted pieces, each in its own narrow compartment, came into view.

They were chess pieces.
Lupe began removing all thirty-two chess figures. Each one was a handcrafted work of art made from rare gems mined in the North.
Unlike ordinary chess pieces, these came in a wide array of colors and represented various animals.

"I want to break this thing."
Ferio muttered as if the set’s value meant absolutely nothing to him.
He held a swan-shaped piece carved from crimson ruby in his hand.

"One of those is worth an entire mansion."
"The North is overflowing with gems."
"To be precise, only the Voreoti estate is."

The Marquis corrected him and began placing the pieces one by one on the unfolded chessboard.
"I’ve brought news about recent developments in the North and the growing signs of illegal monster trade."
"You’re late."

"My apologies."
With a light tapping sound, the chessboard began to fill.
"You must have had your reasons."

"I’m honored you understand."
Ferio tapped a black lion-shaped piece with his finger.
It was made from black diamond—only found in minuscule quantities, and only in the North.

The chess pieces on both sides were dazzlingly colorful.
This translation is the intellectual property of .
But in front of Ferio were mostly black and white chess pieces, while in front of the Marquis of Pardus, the board was filled with red and yellow ones.

And beside Ferio’s position, a single blue chess piece stood alone, like a spare.
“……The Mereoqa family.”
A chess piece at the very front moved. It was a pawn carved in the shape of a chameleon.

The game of chess between Ferio and the Marquis of Pardus had begun.
“A noble family that migrated from the central region. After the young countess caused a major incident recently, they were severely reprimanded by the higher-ups. I hear the House of Voreoti demanded a massive compensation.”
“Baron Glis.”

Tap—a different chess piece moved.
“A newly ennobled family, granted a title not long ago. They used to be a merchant family, but their youngest daughter was hired as an administrator and, rather unusually, was granted both a title and land. The former Duke of Voreoti approved it under imperial orders.”
As they took turns moving their pieces, the two continued their conversation without pause.

Each time a black chess piece moved, Ferio asked a question. The Marquis of Pardus would respond as he moved his red and yellow pieces.
The black pieces captured by the Marquis were handed to Lupe, who placed them in a separate box he’d brought for that purpose.
Tap, tap.

For a brief moment—
Only the sound of chess pieces shifting echoed through the quiet office.
“Count Tabanus.”

A chess piece shaped like a grotesque fly was placed in front of the Marquis.
“A troublesome house.”
For the first time, the Marquis’s previously unhesitating hand faltered.

“A migrant family that settled in the North long ago. They’re from the South originally. Not quite as long-standing as our house, but they have some history. Though, they're staunch imperialists to the bone. You must be quite familiar with them, having spent three years in the capital.”
The Marquis let out a dry laugh, as if recalling something absurd.
Meanwhile, a deep furrow formed between Ferio’s usually even brows.

He was so irritated, he wanted to neatly slam Count Tabanus’s head into a parliament desk.
“The bastard who insisted the concubine be made empress.”
This was the very reason Ferio had spent the past three years in the capital, frequently entering and leaving the Imperial Palace.

After the late emperor’s passing, the crown prince—soon to be emperor—had abruptly proposed elevating his concubine to empress.
Even though the crown princess, who had already borne him two children, was still very much alive.
Ferio, along with the Northern nobles and the Western faction that had {N•o•v•e•l•i•g•h•t} produced the crown princess, stayed in the capital for three long years, putting pressure on the imperial family to prevent this.

Even the Eastern nobles—typically neutral—voiced their disapproval.
Of course, the South, which included the concubine’s family, supported the proposal.
A disgraceful three years, Ferio thought.

Even now, it remained one of the darkest chapters in the Empire’s history under the current emperor.
In the end, the crown princess safely became empress, and the concubine was made a consort.
“……Anyway.”

The Marquis of Pardus continued, cautiously watching Ferio.
Whenever the capital or the Imperial Palace was mentioned, Ferio’s mood soured—so it was best to move on quickly.
“Count Tabanus has remained at his capital estate since then. Since he stood on the opposing side of the Duke, he likely won’t be coming North anytime soon.”

“What about the Tabanus estate, where Mereoqa and Glis supposedly sent people?”
“The first son of Count Tabanus is acting as the family head.”
At the same time, the Marquis moved a white goat-shaped chess piece.

“……Right, they run a merchant guild.”
Count Tabanus leveraged his connections in the central and southern regions to run a fairly large guild—third largest in the North.
Ferio narrowed his eyes lazily.

“I wondered how they got their hands on baby monsters……”
The Tabanus guild bought herbs that grew in the North and monster remains slain by the Gladiago Knights.
All the products they sold had powerful effects.

That would explain the bizarre behavior of a certain monster during its breeding season, as reported by Mono, the vice-commander.
Since they already had powerful ingredients, they likely hired a couple of mages to concoct a potion.
Stimulating monster reproduction and capturing the offspring would’ve been easy.

“So then.”
One of Ferio’s eyebrows arched.
“They’re heading west.”

The snowy white goat chess piece that the Marquis had just moved—white represented the West.
To reach the capital from the North, merchants had to pass through the Western region. A massive mountain range lay between the North and the capital, making the direct route treacherous.
So who would be aiding Tabanus’s schemes?

Ferio’s lips twisted.
A Western noble was involved.
“……Clever move.”

A hollow chuckle scattered through the quiet office.
“They’re targeting Her Majesty the Empress.”
It was a ploy meant to tarnish the reputation of Empress Tigria, once the daughter of the powerful Hesperi Marquisate—the ruling family of the West.

And if they could drag the North into it as well, even better.
“Whose idea, I wonder?”
“You already know, don’t you?”

The Marquis moved a red chess piece.
A swan.
“Olor……”

Viscount Olor.
“A fool who was awarded a viscountcy as a reward for having a cunning daughter.”
“Lately, House Olor has become the heart of the South.”

“Even with Marquis Meridio still around?”
Marquis Meridio had been the long-standing authority in the South.
“Things have changed. The South isn’t what it used to be.”

At the Marquis’s words, Ferio thought of Paavo, a southerner.
He had come North out of admiration for the powerful Gladiago Knights, but he’d also grown disillusioned by the changes in his homeland.
“A whale beneath the surface, a swan above.”

The swan’s noisy paddling was keeping the whale from ever rising to the surface.
It meant Viscount Olor had effectively replaced Marquis Meridio and was now dominating the South.