I Became the Male Lead’s Adopted Daughter

A few months ago.

‘So they’re trading with the Tabanus Guild.’
The blizzards that had relentlessly battered the North all winter had only just subsided.
Viscount Rebous Kerata, who had come for a routine report, received an unexpected order.

‘Gradually reduce the delivery quantities.’
‘…Excuse me?’
‘And on the day I instruct you, release all the stockpiled goods you’ve set aside from the reduced deliveries to the Tabanus Guild in one go.’

Viscount Kerata had been visibly flustered by the inexplicable command.
Ferio usually never interfered with the affairs of other nobles unless a serious problem arose. He didn’t even show interest.
Among the northern nobles, the most famous example of this was the new etiquette tutor of House Voreoti.

Even for his beloved daughter, he had sent a separated couple as private tutors.
Ferio’s disinterest in others was practically legendary.
‘…Understood.’

Yet instead of questioning it, Viscount Kerata lowered his head and accepted the order.
With his calm demeanor and friendly, burly appearance, Viscount Kerata responded with his usual warm smile.
‘The Kerata family will not suffer any harm.’

Perhaps because of his unquestioning obedience, Ferio gave him that assurance.
Kerata, who had done his best to remain composed while following Ferio’s cryptic order, sighed in deep relief inwardly.
And then, he quickly grasped Ferio’s true intent.

In truth, it wasn’t even hard to deduce.
Voreoti had marked Tabanus as prey, and was already in motion to begin the hunt.
When the Master of the North gives such an order, it is the duty of a loyal noble to obey without question.
Naturally, this led to certain revelations.

That the Tabanus family and a few other northern nobles were connected to the chaotic monster breeding season last fall—
And that they had kidnapped the monster offspring and stored them somewhere.
There was one thing he suspected.

Just earlier, he had mentioned “monsters” on a whim, and the reaction had been telling.
Viscount Kerata clicked his tongue.
‘Monsters usually reach maturity around six months.’

The Black Beast would begin the hunt before then, and that day was now just around the corner.
Yet despite that, they were still acting so clueless—it was almost laughable.
‘There’s someone behind all this.’

And who that “someone” was, he didn’t even need to see to know.
“…Young Lord Tabanus.”
In that moment, Viscount Kerata’s patience snapped as he called out in a heavy voice.

Musca Tabanus, who had been endlessly voicing complaints, flinched.
“Then let’s do this.”
Without bothering to hide the fact that he was barely tolerating the young man’s stubbornness, Viscount Kerata carried out the final part of Ferio’s instruction.

“We can’t hunt reindeer immediately. Interfering with a mother reindeer raising her young is risking our lives as well. And we also need time to replenish the dwindling population.”
He asked for some time.
“…Until when, exactly?”

Musca Tabanus asked cautiously, his tone noticeably more respectful now.
“At least until the newborns are weaned.”
Viscount Kerata smiled, gathering the last of his patience.

It wouldn’t even take a week.
***
“Damn it!”

Once Viscount Kerata left—
Alone in the office, Musca Tabanus downed an entire bottle of liquor straight from the neck, swearing under his breath.
He felt humiliated that he had been overwhelmed by the very man he’d thought of as easy prey.

“That smug bastard…!”
To think that idiot-looking oaf had been hiding such a nasty, calculating nature beneath that friendly smile.
The more he thought about it, the more ashamed and humiliated he felt. Musca slammed his fist down on the table with full force.

But his anger wasn’t just directed at Viscount Kerata.
Lately, every time Musca Tabanus tried to take any action, some invisible wall would block his path.
Looking back, the start of it all was peculiar.

It began with the tea party hosted by Duke Ferio Voreoti.
‘Could he have figured it out?’
The buzz of alcohol that had been steadily climbing in his head disappeared all at once.

There were too many things that didn't sit right to dismiss the idea.
From trade issues to business ventures the Tabanus family had invested in—each one had either gone bust or the other party had expressed hesitation and backed off.
Everything had gone downhill since the tea party.

‘If only I hadn’t gotten caught that time…!’
Musca grumbled to himself, blaming it all on getting caught by that tiny little brat while trying to sneak into Ferio’s office.
“Still, blood is blood—both of them are damned annoying.”

There wasn’t a single part of her that didn’t resemble him, in looks or in attitude.
Far from being intimidated by an adult, she had glared at him and tattled without hesitation—so infuriating that just thinking about it made his blood boil.
“Acting Head.”

At that moment, one of his aides entered the office.
“What?!”
Musca Tabanus snapped sharply, his nerves frayed.

“Count Mereoqa and Baron Glis have arrived.”
At the mention of the visitors’ names, Musca calmed himself and instructed them to come in.
The two men soon entered.

“Something troubling you?”
Count Mereoqa asked as he sat down.
He had noticed the half-empty bottle on the desk—without even a glass, meaning Musca had drunk it straight.

“It wasn’t anything serious.”
Musca Tabanus answered shortly.
In truth, it was Count Mereoqa and Baron Glis who looked more troubled.

Especially Count Mereoqa, who had recently been thoroughly humiliated by someone half his age—his expression was grim.
His standing wasn’t what it once was.
Thanks to his arrogant daughter, Count Mereoqa had gotten on the wrong side of Duke Voreoti.

Despite being the highest-ranking of the three present, he couldn’t assert himself at all.
He had been marked by Ferio.
And so, despite all three of them resenting Voreoti, they unconsciously bowed to his authority.

It was a strange thing.
“There’s a message from the capital.”
Baron Glis pulled a crimson envelope from his coat.

Musca took it and slowly opened it.
Inside was a single pure white swan feather.
“They say they’re looking forward to it.”

As he stared °• N 𝑜 v 𝑒 l i g h t •° at the feather in the envelope, a foolish smile crept across Musca’s lips.
***
“Uuugh…!”

Leonia’s face was red and scrunched up, as if about to burst from exertion.
“Look at that ugly face.”
Ferio, watching from the side, made a teasing remark.

“Agh, I’m concentrating right now!”
This translation is the intellectual property of .
Leonia shot him a narrow, side-eyed glare, then screamed and tensed her whole body again.

She was straining so hard, her twin ponytails trembled from the force.
The Voreoti father and daughter were in the middle of Fangs of the Beast training in the empty training ground.
Soon, a golden silhouette began to shimmer and rise from behind Leonia’s back.

She had finally reached the point where she could summon Fangs of the Beast at will.
The result of relentless training.
Ferio watched the golden form behind Leonia with sharp attention.

He had been prepared to unleash his own fangs if things went out of control—but now, he was certain there was no need for that.
“Uuugh...!”
At some point, Leonia had crouched low to the ground, groaning as she forced out the last of her strength.

Then her eyes shot open, black pupils glimmering with golden mist.
“Hi-ya!”
With that, Leonia suddenly leapt.

Her newly filled-out limbs stretched with power—boing—in the air.
The golden mist began to shape itself into a fang—then quickly dissolved.
Only Leonia’s over-the-top shout echoed uselessly around the training ground.

“…Huh.”
Ferio gave a brief remark.
“It was funny, at least.”

“Just laugh at me already…”
Leonia, mortified by her own display, covered her face with both hands.
Between her black twin braids, her ears were flushed bright red.

“Even if I wanted to laugh, I’m too drained.”
In all his life, he’d never seen a Voreoti summon Fangs of the Beast with such a ridiculous battle cry.
He thought it might make a good footnote in the Voreoti family history someday.

“Where the hell did that ‘hi-ya’ come from?”
“I was desperate!”
“At what, exactly?”

“If you keep picking on me, next time I’m yelling ‘curse!’ instead!”
Curse! Curse!
Leonia pouted with a rebellious look, puffing up indignantly.

She had grown a good deal between last winter and this spring—finally starting to resemble a six-year-old.
Still smaller than her peers, but she was steadily catching up.
“I can make them one at a time now…”

She turned around to show him, and summoned four fangs in a row from her back.
Each of the four had a slightly different shape.
“To use them perfectly, you have to summon all four.”

Ferio displayed his own—four crimson fangs, darker than blood, gleaming with sharp edges.
“Only then can you use your full strength.”
“I know…”

Leonia grumbled as she retracted the fangs.
The Voreoti family’s hereditary power, Fangs of the Beast, as its name implied, consisted of four fangs—two on the upper side, two on the lower.
And each of those four held a different power.

Those powers varied slightly depending on the bearer.
‘Author’s favoritism…’
Leonia recalled the original story, scoffing at how biased the author had been toward the male lead.

Still, she wasn’t exactly complaining—she was benefitting from it too.
“You’re like Regina in this.”
Ferio, uncharacteristically, mentioned his cousin’s name.

Startled, Leonia asked what he meant. Ferio waved it off casually.
“Regina also struggled with this during training.”
She had no trouble summoning one fang at a time, but producing all four at once had been a real challenge.

And her learning speed had been slow on top of that.
“Am I slow too?”
“You’re fast, Leo.”

In fact, her pace was more similar to Ferio’s.
Ferio’s expression was full of pride as he said it. Leonia grinned when she saw it.
“You’ve started forming the shapes—soon you’ll be able to summon them perfectly.”

“Mm! I’ll keep working hard!”
“And cut the weird battle cries.”
“That wasn’t on purpose, okay?”

Leonia grumbled, grabbing Ferio’s hand. He always had to pick a fight when things were going well.
‘Still, that’s how Dad shows affection.’
The man was just clumsy with people.

‘Maybe I should help fix that before he meets Varia…’
Leonia seriously considered giving him a bit of a tune-up, so he wouldn’t make a bad impression on his future fated partner.
Though honestly, it didn’t have to be Varia.

If he met someone good, Leonia would be happy for him.
But if Ferio really ended up living alone forever, just raising her until he died, that would be a bit too sad.
“Master, Young Miss.”

Connie greeted the father and daughter as they exited the training ground.
“…Ah, right.”
Suddenly remembering something, Leonia turned to Ferio and said she’d go on ahead.

“You’re really going?”
Ferio, who knew exactly where his cheeky daughter was heading, looked unconvinced.
“Right now, I’m the lady of House Voreoti.”

Until Ferio remarried and brought in a wife, the role of lady of the house naturally fell to his daughter, Leonia.
“So of course I have to go!”
With a huff, Leonia strutted off with a skip in her step.

After quickly washing and dressing up, Leonia headed off to fulfill her role as acting lady of House Voreoti—
To the Northern noblewomen’s tea gathering.