I Became the Male Lead’s Adopted Daughter

Kara was giving the servants instructions when she saw Leonier running and looking for her, then smiled kindly at her.

"You can\'t run. You could get hurt."

"Uncle told me he was going to get his nose broken."

"And it doesn\'t mean he raises his voice to us."

"But I\'m not used to that kind of attitude."

"Master is a good person instead of someone who does everything he wants."

Kara only asked her why she was looking for her after a gentle nudge.

Leonier clenched Kara\'s clothes, sick from all the nagging.

"It\'s a secret story."

She whispered, her hands covering her mouth in case anyone else heard her.

Kara\'s and the servants\' faces warmed up.

After sending the servant at the request of their young lady, Kara and Leonier entered the nearby servant lounge.

Fortunately, no one was resting there because everyone was currently working.

"What are you looking for me for?"

She asked Leonier, wrapping a blanket around her body just in case it was cold.

"Uncle just told me something."

"What is it?"

"The one who gave birth to me."

"Ah, then… What?"

Kara\'s eyes widened as if they were about to pop out. Leonier was taken aback by the wrinkles around her eyes, which had stretched out as if she had just brushed them.

"He said that to the Lady?"

"Yes."

Leonier nodded.

"Uncle told me that his cousin gave birth to me."

"H-how did he check that?"

"The fangs of a beast."

Her tiny fingers pointed at her round black eyes.

"I have it, too."

"……"

"Someone who gave birth to me has it—."

"….."

"Grandma, are you crying?"

Surprised by the dripping tears, Leonier jumped up and waved her arms.

Kara took off her round glasses and wiped her wet eyes with her gloved hands.

Just as her blurry eyes became clear again, Leonier, who was worried about her, went closer.

"I\'m sorry. I guess it was right."

It had only been a few days since she had discussed with Loupe the possibility that Leonier was Regina\'s daughter.

Kara had not expected to uncover the truth this fast. It was as if the heavy stone that had been lodging in her heart for a long time was slowly being lifted.

However, just a short time later, another stone fell in its place as she remembered something.

\'You\'re no longer in this world.\'

She escaped her estate safely, but she met a tragic end at a young age.

"Thank you, I appreciate your concern."

Kara smiled warmly as she quickly wiped away her tears. "It\'s okay," Leonier said assuringly, trying to comfort her.

Seeing the tears of a strong butler in charge of the servants and guarding the house was strange to her, but she assumed it was because she was on good terms with Regina.

\'Ask Kara if you\'re curious.\'

Felio\'s reveal of the great secret of her birth had a sloppy ending.

\'I thought you didn\'t like Regina.\'

Even referring to the deceased as the "the most annoying woman in the world" in front of her daughter was not intended.

Leonier immediately rushed to find Kara.

First, she told her exactly what she had heard from Felio.

She wondered if Kara was upset, but she shook her head with a bitter smile as if she knew it would go against expectations.

"Did Uncle hate the woman who gave birth to me?"

"It wasn\'t like that."

Kara responded right away.

"If the Master truly hated Lady Regina—."

Kara, who was about to say no, paused for a moment to consider her response.

Leonier understood exactly what Kara was trying to say.

If Felio had truly despised Regina, he would have put his cousin in that carriage himself. He didn\'t seem to like her enough to say that it\'s just a family, so it could be tolerated.

\'That\'s the kind of man Uncle is.\'

In the novel, Felio was described as a lion.

The perception that only lionesses were hunted was a sham because it implied that the lion was lazy and incompetent, but in reality, they wandered around their territory from time to time, looking aftert the remaining cubs when lionesses hunt, and running to help them when they were in trouble.

Felio was compared to such a lion by the author.

Felio exuded a lively and overbearing aura on the surface, but he spared no attention to what was going on around him or if anyone was making a fuss about it.

However, he was merciless if it bothered him by not keeping that \'properly\'.

"Lady Regina is—"

Kara, unable to find a soft expression to describe Regina\'s character.

However, she did consider whether it would be difficult for her to find words to express herself again this time.

Kara closed her eyes tightly and opened them slowly as if she had spent a long time preparing for it.

"She was very tactless."

"….Yes?"

"I know it\'s not something a servant should say. But at least the Master thought so. Of course, she was nice. A lot of people adored her."

Putting it nicely, she looks after everyone. And, putting it badly, Kara said that Regina was so naive that she wouldn\'t be able to tell when she was wearing or falling out.

Most people chose to characterize Regina as the former, but Felio clearly saw her as the latter.

"Lady Regina was, in fact, one-of-a-kind. She had the blood of the Voreotti family, yet, she was always smiling, sweet to everyone, and had a romantic dream of ideals, no matter how many times I say it."

"Is that it?"

"She cherished love and peace."

Kara\'s longing smile lent credence to her words.

"Somewhere there was a blank corner."

She didn\'t think that was something to say with a smile, but Leonier frowned quietly.

"Lady Regina liked the Master a lot. Neither of them had any siblings, so they wanted to get to know each other and hung around to play together. She did it with a good heart without malice—"

Looking at Kara, who also spared no words, Leonier nodded as if she understood.

Now, there was no need to listen about the rest of the details. She knew Felio and Regina were the polar opposites.

\'She was the opposite of Uncle.\'

Felio disliked people who appeared in front of him without notice.

But apparently, his cousin, whom he resided under the same roof with, was the type of person, which must have caused him a lot of stress.

\'How tactless can she be…\'

As far as what Kara had told her, Regina must have been a considerably more ignorant person than she had thought. She was looking for more after that.

Nothing was more troubling than a tactless idealist, as Leonier experienced in another world.

They babbled about that good thing without understanding the truth, causing a lot of problems around them, and as soon as they became involved with it, they were on the waiting list for anger disorder.

\'I\'m not sure if this was set up by the author.\'

However, she now knew that the reason why Regina didn\'t appear in the novel was because Felio was just not interested in Regina that much, so he didn\'t even speak or bring it up.

Having a cousin was bothersome in his life, and he could live without it.

Thinking like that, she felt a little sorry for Regina.

"Lady, by any chance…"

Kara made eye contact with Leonier as she kneeled and lowered herself. Her deep gray eyes fluttered.

"Do you want to see Lady Regina?"

No, not at all.

"….."

She wanted to say something, but her mouth wouldn\'t open.

Leonier\'s interest in Regina was not that great.

There was no way a mother who gave birth to a kid who had no memory of her would be remembered.

As proof, Leonier has never addressed Regina as "Mom."

"It\'s all right since I have Uncle, Grandma, and Maid sister."

Leonier wrapped her arms around Kara.

"Thank you for letting me know."

To be honest, she shouldn\'t have asked.

The birth secret, which was little more than a question, was nothing but a disappointment.

*****

The blizzard lasted for many weeks.

Leonier lost interest in her real parents after searching for Kara and asking about Regina.

Because the individual in question was like this, the matter was automatically discarded.

"Are you sure that\'s all right?"

Finally, Felio asked first.

Leonier was sitting in front of the fireplace reading her favorite book, "Life is useless," and turned her head.

Felio stretched out a long pencil and fiddled with the tip of the child\'s hair while lying languidly on a long sofa.

It has been a month since Leonier arrived at Voreotti\'s mansion.

Because of the consistent care, the tiny child\'s limbs and legs became strong, and the smelly hair grew soft and smelled like flowers.

Now the black hair has come down to the shoulder, and the maids liked it more than Leonier, saying that it could soon be beautifully braided.

Felio thought that it was fortunate that the child recovered her health, but quickly became startled by the fact that he truly thought of such a thing.

"So, should I cry for someone I don\'t even remember?"

Leonier said as she returned her gaze to the book. Nonetheless, Leonier tried to show more interest in her biological parents who brought her into this world.

She was curious as to how a Voreotti child ended up in an orphanage.

\'So what happened to the person who gave birth to me?\'

So the last time she asked, she received an unexpected response.

"They ran away."

Regina\'s lover was thought to be a nomadic knight living a wandering life.

Felio\'s father, who was Voreotti\'s head at the time, was naturally opposed to the two.

However, Regina was already blinded by love and ran away with her lover at night despite facing the family opposition.

Leonier cut off all interest in her biological parents from there.

Regina was Regina, but the father who ran away with her was more interesting.

\'An unknown traveling knight?\'

She couldn\'t even laugh since it sounded so suspicious.

Simply by putting the pieces together, it was clear that he was a liar, trying to pretend that there was some kind of rubbish, however,  Regina was deceived and rushed away with the love of fate and all.

\'It was merely a game they were playing with each other.\'

Kara couldn\'t help but be disappointed by Leonier\'s reaction.

Leonier, meanwhile, was disappointed with those who gave birth to her for days, claiming, \'I knew what I didn\'t need.\'

On the other hand, it was fortunate to be able to quickly find out and organize the secrets of such a birth without dragging on.

"I don\'t dwell on the past. I\'m just looking forward to the future."

"In that respect, you look more like me than Regina."

In fact, as Leonier began to gain weight on her face, she had heard several people mentioning that she resembled Felio.

"I\'m glad. It means you have a good sense."

In the voice of the child who answered, it was evident that there was really neither longing nor regret for her biological parents.

Instead, what she was showing was the, \'please stop talking about it\' kind of an expression.

"I miss Teacher Connie and my friends."

Rather than her deceased mother, Leonier was concerned about Connie and her other friends who had been living at the orphanage.

Felio said that they were all sent to an orphanage on the Voreotti estate.

And he promised to take Leonie to the orphanage once the sun came out.

"But aren\'t you busy?"

Leonier laid on the sofa and stared at Felio slacking off.