I Became the Male Lead’s Adopted Daughter

“...Yes?”
At Leonia’s sudden words, Probo came to a halt.
The pony he was holding also stopped, and in that brief moment, Leonia dismounted.

Probo, too, finally sensed the suspicious presence. When another knight moved to draw his sword, Leonia hurriedly stopped him.
“I’ll block it. Just go.”
“I cannot leave you alone, young miss.”

Probo placed a hand on Leonia’s shoulder, pulling her toward him as he swept his gaze around.
The children and knights, unaware of anything amiss, were still happily enjoying their ride up ahead.
‘No one noticed?’

The knights and children continued playing noisily, completely clueless.
That was what Probo found suspicious. The Gladiago Knights had sharper senses than anyone, honed through brutal training and monster hunting.
And yet they hadn’t sensed anything?

‘And this presence...’
Probo tightened his grip around his sword. But he didn’t draw it.
Something was holding him back.

It was a familiar sensation. And there was no hostility.
“I’m just going over there for a moment.”
Leonia said this with a determined expression. Probo immediately objected.

Even if there was no hostility, the presence was still suspicious.
“You can’t go alone.”
“Then at least send the children back to the estate first.”
Leonia slipped out of his grasp and grinned.

“I’ve got fangs, remember?”
Thanks to her recent training, she could now manifest the very tip of her Fangs. That alone was enough to rival a decent knight.
And even though she’d lost control before, she had already used the Fangs once.

“Send the kids back and come quickly with the others.”
“But—”
“Hurry!”

Only then did Probo start moving, leading the pony toward the others.
Once she confirmed that the knights had taken the children safely back into the estate, Leonia ran quickly toward where the presence had been felt.
‘The Fangs reacted.’

Her small hand pressed against her pounding chest.
It was a sensation she had never experienced before.
But she understood immediately.

This was a warning from the dormant Fangs of the Beast—alerting her to an unfamiliar presence aimed at her.
Just as she had been taught, Leonia prepared to reveal her Fangs.
Golden mist slowly shimmered over her black eyes.

There was still some shaking, but compared to when she lost control before, the movement was far more stable.
From within the stables came the sound of agitated horses. They were uneasy due to the Fangs she’d extended.
Leonia silently apologized to them and moved quickly.

At the same time, she tore off a decorative piece from her clothing and left it behind as a marker—
For the knights who would follow her.
‘But why did only Probo oppa and I feel it?’

Not only were the horses known for being sensitive, but even the knights, who had far sharper senses than most, hadn’t noticed.
Probo had sensed it too—but only after Leonia.
The place she reached was a corner of the garden, not far from the stables.

There, the high walls surrounding the vast estate came into view. Atop them were iron spikes, like spears.
And below them—
“...”

A white-furred creature stood still.
A beast with blue-speckled patterns stared at Leonia, wagging its tail.
Its eyes, as they locked onto hers, were deep—like a quiet universe hidden behind the sky.

“...A snow leopard?”
Leonia murmured.
The proud beast flinched slightly. As if startled, asking silently how she knew.

Leonia had never seen a snow leopard in real life. The northern region around the orphanage she’d lived in wasn’t a natural habitat for them.
Maybe there had been one in the animal encyclopedia in the estate’s library, but she hadn’t read it yet.
But in another memory—she had seen pictures.

That was unmistakably a snow leopard.
‘A monster... it’s not, right?’
The chances of it being a monster were close to zero. It had only been a few months since Ferio had last gone out to hunt them.

Besides, this was the estate of the Black Beast. It was the closest place to the Northern Mountains, and yet even monsters instinctively avoided it.
The young beast and the snow leopard continued to stare each other down.
During that, Leonia sensed clearly that the snow leopard bore no hostility.

She retracted the tiny tip of her Fangs.
The snow leopard didn’t attack.
That strange presence earlier—it had definitely come from the snow leopard.

But even then, there had been no hostility.
‘...Huh?’
Then something struck her.

“Snow leopards are supposed to be...”
She murmured, but just as she was about to finish her thought—
The snow leopard flicked its tail once, then with a graceful leap, jumped atop the wall and dropped down to the other side.

It almost soared over the sharp iron spikes.
“Young miss!”
The moment the snow leopard vanished, Probo and the other knights arrived.

“Young miss! Are you all right?”
“Probo oppa, what about the kids?”
“They returned safely to the estate. Meleis is with them in the room.”

“Thank you.”
Only after confirming that the children were safe did Leonia let her guard down.
And the cold she had momentarily forgotten seeped in, making her body shiver. Probo gently picked her up in his arms.

“Are you hurt?”
“I’m fine.”
“What happened?”

Probo looked around the empty garden and asked.
“...A cat.”
Leonia replied.

“There was a big, chubby cat.”
That was the only way she could describe it.
Because she knew—that snow leopard wasn’t just an ordinary snow leopard. And it was too soon to reveal its true identity with her own lips.

* * *
“A cat?”
Ferio squinted one eye.

While enduring the tedious tea party, Probo had come to inform him of what had occurred at the riding grounds.
Ferio excused himself and left the gathering.
“Leonia and the children—are they safe?”

“They’re currently in the room with Meleis and Paavo. Manus and the other knights are patrolling the riding grounds and nearby areas.”
“Any chance it was a monster?”
“I don’t believe so. Only the young miss and I sensed anything suspicious.”

“The other knights?”
Probo shook his head. They hadn’t noticed a thing.
Ferio’s eyes narrowed sharply.

“What did the cat look like?”
“She said it was big and chubby.”
“She’d call # Nоvеlight # a monster cute too.”

Ferio muttered casually, as if it wasn’t a big deal—though he was already imagining Leonia begging him to keep a monster as a pet.
“Was there anything worth keeping?”
“You’re joking, right?”

Probo, already overwhelmed by that very issue, was speechless.
Ferio let out a quiet laugh as he looked at him.
This translation is the intellectual property of .

“It was a joke.”
“Either way, that wasn’t a monster.”
“You know what that creature was?”

“If only you and Leonia sensed it…”
The answer was obvious.
“Sir Probo Elefan.”

He called Probo by name.
“You may be from eastern nobility, but surely you haven’t forgotten who rules the East?”
Probo’s eyes widened with each of Ferio’s words.

“N-No way...!”
Only then did he realize why that presence had felt so familiar.
It was magic power—mana.

Originally, ora was most keenly sensed by those who possessed ora, and mana by those who possessed mana.
That’s why the other knights hadn’t sensed the strange presence earlier.
“T-The Marquis of Ortio…!”

Probo looked ready to faint.
“He’s arrived earlier than expected.”
Whether that surprised him or not, Ferio simply turned and headed toward his office.

“…What’s this now?”
Ferio stopped in his tracks with a look of distaste.
There were two unexpected people standing in front of his office.

And the unpleasant feeling Ferio sensed was directed entirely at just one of them.
“Dad!”
Leonia came running toward him with quick steps.

Ferio caught her in his arms and looked over her complexion. Thankfully, there was nothing visibly wrong.
But the child’s expression was filled with wariness directed at the person standing nearby.
“Why are you here?”

Ferio asked the other person while still looking down at Leonia.
“Sir Musca Tabanus.”
The “what is this” he’d spoken earlier had been directed at none other than Musca Tabanus.

Musca Tabanus stepped back from the office door in a flustered panic.
His hand had been awkwardly lowered—frozen at about the same height as Leonia’s head.
“Do I need to ask twice?”

“……”
“I asked what you’re doing here.”
“I-I was just…”

“Dad!”
As if waiting for the cue, Leonia pointed her finger at Musca Tabanus.
“A little while ago, I had some cookies with the kids, right? And then I tried to nap, but I couldn’t fall asleep, so I thought I’d sneak out and come see your office, but…”

Leonia began chattering away like a tattletale.
The gist was that she couldn’t sleep after everything that happened earlier, so she went wandering around the estate out of boredom, and while passing by Ferio’s office, she spotted a stranger.
That stranger had his hand on the doorknob, as if trying to go inside.

“So I told him not to go in, but he totally ignored me!”
“What did he say to you?”
“That bastard...!”

“Isn’t it a little odd to call something that disgusting a ‘bastard’?”
Ferio cut in with an unnecessary jab.
Leonia, in the middle of her animated tattling, paused for a beat.

“…You’re right.”
Anyway, that crazy man—Leonia, being the good daughter she was, corrected herself.
But her rough way of speaking, words like “anyway” and “crazy bastard,” stayed the same.

“I stood in front of him and told him not to go in, right? But that guy totally looked me up and down, smirked, and laughed at me!”
“T-That’s not true!”
Musca Tabanus quickly tried to explain.

He claimed he had to use the bathroom and left the tea party for just a moment, and while wandering around, ended up in front of Ferio’s office by accident.
Then he said he mistook it for a bathroom and was about to enter.
“Don’t lie, you freak.”

Leonia growled, glaring daggers at the man.
“That bastard cursed loud enough for me to hear him.”
“What did he say?”

“He said... something about ‘the filthy blood of some lowborn wo—woman’…”
Her voice, which had been full of excitement while tattling, gradually faded.