I Became the Male Lead’s Adopted Daughter

Before heading down to the dining room—

Leonia decided to sneak a peek at the room supposedly overflowing with gifts, dragging Connie and Mia along with her.

It was supposed to be a surprise until the party, but she insisted that just a little look wouldn’t hurt.

Her black hair sparkled with the first birthday gift from Ferio, the ornaments gleaming brightly as she trotted excitedly down the hall.

When they arrived at the door, Leonia’s mouth dropped open.

“We had a place like this in the house?”

The door, tightly shut, stretched all the way up to the ceiling.

She hadn’t even lived in the Northern mansion for a year yet, but Leonia thought she knew it pretty well.

She’d wandered around plenty whenever she got bored.

But she had never seen this place before.

She had passed by it, though. She just never imagined there’d be a door here.

The door, tucked away in a corner, looked exactly like the wall beside it. Same color, same molding, blended perfectly.

Is that why I never noticed it?

Leonia carefully touched the door. Only now did she spot a faint seam.

She pushed against it, putting more strength into her small hands.

The door didn’t budge.

Instead, the force bounced right back, making her stumble a few steps back.

“It makes sense you wouldn’t know, Miss.”

“This place is used as storage.”

“Storage?”

Leonia tilted her head.

“In the North, winter makes it hard to go outside.”

Connie explained.

Winters in the North were brutal—on blizzard days, not only was going outside impossible, but even opening a window could be dangerous.

So Northern homes had developed a tradition of building storage areas for food and essentials.

This old structure applied to the Voreoti mansion too.

“But our storage is outside.”

Leonia remembered visiting the outer storage annex once with Kara.

The main mansion was connected to important places like the indoor training grounds and storage, so people could move around easily even in winter.

That storage was packed full of food and supplies.

“This is more like a treasure vault.”

“T-treasure?”

The little beast’s eyes grew wide. Suddenly, the door looked very different.

“Not just anyone can enter here.”

“Only selected servants are allowed in, and only for a short time.”

As they spoke, Connie and Mia puffed their chests with pride.

“But we went in not long ago!”

“To move your gifts inside, Miss!”

They were clearly bragging about being the chosen ones.

The day Ferio had called them because he was worried about Leonia, he’d also given them permission to access this treasure vault.

“All of your gifts are piled up in here.”

“The Master ordered us to keep everything in one place.”

The vault stretched from the ground floor to the top of the tower, built in a unique design, with rooms and corridors just like the rest of the mansion.

And Ferio had stored Leonia’s gifts in the biggest room there.

Since last winter.

“S-since then?!”

Leonia gasped.

“The Master always called your birthday gifts ‘treasures.’”

Connie explained sweetly.

Even when the two of them were living in the capital, Ferio had secretly bought gifts and sent them to the Northern mansion.

“......”

Leonia’s ears turned bright red at the new revelation.

If she went straight to the dining room now, she felt like she’d burst into tears the moment she saw Ferio’s face.

This time last year, she hadn’t even been adopted for a full month. She’d still called him “Mister” back then, because it was too awkward.

“Ugh, what a sappy mess.”

She grumbled at herself.

That sweet, fluffy feeling, like eating a cloud of whipped cream, spread through her entire body.

Her fingers nervously fidgeted with the hem of her clothes, betraying her embarrassment.

Connie and Mia glanced at each other and smiled softly.

***

Leonia hadn’t thought of birthdays as happy in a long time.

“Happy birthday, Miss.”

“Wishing you a joyful eighth birthday.”

“Truly, congratulations!”

In the morning, the mansion staff had arranged a small celebration just among themselves.

Wearing a lovely flower crown, Leonia received heaps of well-wishes and presents from the servants.

She almost lost her voice from thanking everyone so much.

But she was happy.

It felt like she’d once again confirmed her place in the world.

The ground beneath the little beast’s feet had grown firmer.

“Happy birthday, Miss.”

Lupe stepped forward with a neatly wrapped gift and a gentle smile.

“Thank you, Uncle Lupe!”

Leonia threw her arms around him. Lupe stiffened in surprise, then smiled and hugged her back.

Having seen her orphanage days firsthand, Lupe was overwhelmed with emotion.

His gift was heavy.

“T-this is...!”

Leonia’s eyes widened as she ran her hands over the package.

The moment she tore the wrapping off, she let out a victorious cheer.

It was a muscle croquis reference book.

Two volumes, in fact.

“I remembered my promise and added it to your gift.”

Lupe said proudly.

He hadn’t forgotten to repay the little lady who introduced him to such a valuable recruit when they were short-staffed.

“Uncle Lupe...!”

Leonia, moved, planted a kiss on his cheek.

Suddenly, there was a sharp crack from behind.

The source of the noise was Ferio’s hand.

The armrest of the chair he was sitting on had been crushed.

For a second, Lupe thought he was the one being crushed.

Sweat trickled down the poor secretary’s forehead, but the clueless child was too absorbed in her new books.

Her hands trembled as she flipped through the pages.

“Haaah, haaaah...!”

The breath of the eight-year-old, soaking in those glorious muscle croquis sketches, was heavy and hot.

The adults, watching her fondly, flinched at the intensity.

There were many more gifts.

Connie, Mia, and the other maids had made her a beautiful dress, and the servants had pooled their money to buy her a new pair of shoes.

The gardeners had secretly grown yellow flowers in the greenhouse and gifted her a potted plant, while the chefs had crafted strawberry milk-flavored chocolates just for her.

“I wrote poetry.”

Inseréa, hesitating, handed her a book.

“A collection I wrote thinking of you since coming to the North.”

A thick, hardbound volume of handwritten poems.

Wow, she’s really something...!

Leonia suddenly remembered Inseréa’s past.

That era when she boldly stalked the Duke of Voreoti was not something easily forgotten.

“Th-thank you.”

With an awkward smile, Leonia glanced back at Ferio.

...Is he smiling?

Ferio wore a pleased smile. He looked truly satisfied with the heartfelt poetry Inseréa had dedicated to Leonia.

His little daughter now had a loyal subordinate, and he was absolutely thrilled.

Ugh, this damn dad.

Leonia let out a deep sigh. Her tired expression made everyone around her tense up.

Especially Inseréa, who looked like she was about to die on the spot.

“D-did you not like it?”

Inseréa trembled.

“It’s not that.”

Leonia rubbed her fingers together, making a greedy little circle.

“I’m looking forward to this month.”

Safe to say, Inseréa’s paycheck was going to be very generous.

This translation is the intellectual property of Novelight.

***

By the time the sun had just passed its peak, carriages began arriving one by one at the Voreoti mansion.

Like the true star of the day, Leonia went all the way to the front entrance herself to greet the invited guests.

“Happy birthday, Lady Leonia.”

“How can you be so bright and adorable?”

“No wonder the Duke dotes on you.”

The sight of such a tiny child standing proud and greeting adults as the host of today’s party was so adorable, smiles bloomed on all the guests’ faces.

“Oh my.”

Countess Bosgruni covered her mouth with her open fan and smiled warmly.

“What a darling little hostess we have here.”

“Countess Bosgruni!”

“Hm...”

Then, with just the slightest twinge of disappointment in her eyes, the Countess gave Leonia a look. Realizing immediately, Leonia quickly corrected her posture.

“Countess Bosgruni.”

She gently pinched the hem of her dress and gave a neat little curtsy.

“Thank you so much for coming to my birthday party today.”

Only then did the Countess’s expression soften again.

“Well, I am your etiquette teacher after all.”

“I’m always learning so much from you, Countess.”

“You really do have the prettiest way with words.”

Master and student exchanged fond smiles.

“But... is that man here?”

Suddenly recalling Ardea, the Countess’s sweet expression twisted into a grimace.

Leonia shook her head.

“I haven’t seen him in quite a while either.”

“Then how are you keeping up with your studies?”

“I’m still working through the homework he left.”

When she gets stuck, she marks the spots, reviews them later, and if she still doesn’t understand, she asks Ferio or Lupe for help.

Hearing this, the Countess let out a heavy sigh, clearly exasperated.

“That bastard, seriously...”

Her fan creaked slightly as she gripped it tighter.

Leonia was really glad there wasn’t a teacup in sight right now.

If there had been, even in his absence, Ardea might’ve dropped dead just from the Countess holding a cup.

“Oh, dear me...”

Realizing herself, the Countess quickly returned to her usual graceful smile, as if nothing had happened.

Leonia thought it was way too late for that, but whatever.

“Dad says he’s away on some business.”

“As if that man has anything important enough to call it business.”

She waved it off, saying the most he’d be doing was poking around some ruins or something.

Leonia blinked.

“...You know him?”

“Of course I do.”

The Countess confessed she’d fallen for Ardea because of exactly that—his boring obsession with studying—and shared a bit about her youth.

“I was young back then, too. Who knows what I thought was so charming about him being holed up with books all the time...”

“Oooh!”

“Thanks to that, I got stuck managing the family and raising the kids all by myself.”

“Then why didn’t you get divorced?”

“They offered me the family headship and title if I agreed not to.”

Apparently, the late Duke of Voreoti had insisted on that to keep the family’s traditions intact.

Huh?

Leonia tilted her head.

Didn’t the previous Duke hate Ardea?