I Became the Male Lead’s Adopted Daughter

Varia was overwhelmed by fear.

Because her belongings had been neatly placed under a nearby tree trunk.

There was no way that could’ve happened unless her bag and coat had grown legs and walked over there themselves.

‘No way...!’

Did someone from home follow me here too?

For a moment, the only image in Varia’s mind was of herself being dragged back home.

Her blood ran cold.

‘No. Absolutely not!’

Snapping out of it, Varia hurriedly bent down to crawl back into the hole. The evidence hidden on her back rustled as she moved. She couldn’t afford to lose it. Not this.

“You really are impressive.”

Varia flinched just as she was about to shove her head into the hole.

“L-Lord Pardus’ son?”

She turned around, hoping she was wrong. But no, there he was—Lord Pardus’ son standing right there.

She couldn’t believe what she was seeing.

The annoying man who had just kicked her out of the Treasury was now right in front of her.

Lord Pardus’ son looked on with amused curiosity as Varia lay flat on the ground, trying to squeeze herself through a hole under the wall.

The sight was so ridiculous that he quietly bit his lip, trying to hold back laughter.

Varia’s face turned beet red with shame.

But even stronger than the shame, a wave of fear gripped her chest.

“W-were you out for a walk...?”

She forced herself to sound calm as she asked what he was doing here.

“Of course I was waiting for you.”

He replied with a voice laced with amusement, adding that he hadn’t expected to see her again in such a state.

His laughter now seemed more genuine than the smirk he wore back at the Treasury.

But Varia didn’t care about that.

“...Was it my father?”

She asked in a trembling voice.

“Did my father send you?”

“You’re not seriously asking that, are you?”

There was a hint of annoyance in his tone as he threw the question back at her.

“I don’t mean to insult your family even a speck under my nail,”

He continued, politely enough.

“But how could someone like Erbanu dare to order around a Pardus?”

The smile on Lord Pardus’ son’s face vanished completely.

“Even in your imagination, that’s impossible.”

“Then... was it Olor?”

“You’re really terrible at joking, aren’t you?”

He didn’t say anything else after that.

An awkward silence filled the space between them.

Varia carefully clasped her hands together. Her right hand, hidden under her left, was clenched into a tight fist.

Worst-case scenario.

She was ready to punch him and run.

“Well then.”

Lord Pardus’ son shifted slightly, covering his face once again with a friendly smile.

“Shall we go?”

But Varia didn’t budge. She only tightened her hidden fist, ready to strike at any moment.

“W-where?”

“To my house.”

“...What?”

Varia’s eyes widened.

“Why... why?”

She couldn’t make any sense of this.

“Or would you rather go back to your own house?”

“No!”

She answered immediately, without even thinking.

Lord Pardus’ son raised his eyebrows in a "see?" kind of way, then gave a slight nod as if telling her to follow him.

The direction he turned to was not towards the plaza but deeper into the forest, down a narrow path.

“Let’s get you dressed first.”

He handed Varia her coat.

“...Why are you helping me?”

She asked as she took it from him.

“Suspicion is a very good instinct.”

That’s how you stay alive, he said, picking up her bag himself.

Varia, now wearing the coat, reached out to take it from him, but he shook his head and started walking.

“You don’t have to—”

“There’s no reason.”

He cut her off with the exact words she had been about to say.

“That’s right, you should keep doubting me for now.”

Varia’s head was starting to hurt.

He was speaking in such irritating riddles.

She kept watching him, suspicious and alert, but as soon as she saw the carriage waiting for them in the woods, her sense of hostility faded.

“Already done doubting me?”

He smiled weakly as he climbed into the carriage.

“B-but this is...”

Varia traced the emblem carved on the carriage door with her finger in the air.

A dark-spotted leopard—the symbol of House Pardus.

He had come here in his family’s carriage.

This carriage would stand out wherever it went, especially in the capital.

Which meant the chances of him harming her were slim to none.

“Well then.”

He extended his hand. Varia took it and stepped into the carriage.

The carriage emerged from the woods and blended seamlessly into the plaza, as if nothing had happened.

“You made the right choice coming out that way.”

Lord Pardus’ son smiled, glancing out the window. A carriage was emerging from the direction of the palace.

A pink rabbit was engraved on its door—it was Count Erbanu’s, here to fetch his daughter.

Varia’s breath caught in her throat.

She had only suspected it, but she hadn’t really believed her father would actually intervene in her punishment.

If she had left through the palace gates, she would’ve been caught for sure.

“What a loving father.”

“You’re not very good at jokes either, my lord.”

What a load of crap.

Varia forced a twisted smile.

Lord Pardus’ son let out a small laugh, having been hit with her own words.

When she first saw the infamous "Beast of the Treasury," she realized once again that you should never judge someone by their face.

With a face that looked like he’d cry just from watching °• N 𝑜 v 𝑒 l i g h t •° others argue, he was known as the scariest man in the Treasury.

Even the slightest glimpse of his dull pink hair was enough to make clerks tremble and flee.

A man who never bent to injustice.

‘...Count Erbanu’s going to have a hell of a time.’

How could a beast like him be born from such a soft bunny family?

Lord Pardus’ son found himself somewhat entertained.

He had never liked that rabbit-count strutting around like he owned the world after marrying into the Olor family.

“I like you, Lady Varia.”

“Sorry, I’m not interested in married men.”

“Did you really think that’s what I meant?”

He sighed dramatically, saying he had a wonderful wife and an adorable child.

“Enough joking. Tell me.”

Now that she was in the carriage, Varia needed to know.

“Why are you helping me?”

She wrapped her left hand around her clenched right fist.

He genuinely liked that she still hadn’t let her guard down.

“The Duke of Voreoti will be coming to the capital soon.”

So until then...

“Please stay comfortably at my house.”

Of course.

Varia’s eyes nearly popped out of her head, as if her father had just appeared in front of her.

Lord Pardus’ son gave a soft smile.

***

BANG!

“That damn girl!”

Count Erbanu slammed his fist on the desk.

A few neatly combed strands of his hair fell loose over his forehead.

Though streaks of white had started to show, his bright pink hair was still a trademark of the Erbanu family.

“After everything I’ve done for her!”

As he brushed the fallen strands back, his shoulders heaved with rage.

His disobedient eldest daughter had already been a headache, and just when he finally got the chance to drag her home, she slipped away like that.

And now her whereabouts were completely unknown.

Still, as the benevolent father he believed himself to be, he had personally brought a carriage to the palace to take his ungrateful daughter home.

But Varia hadn’t returned, even after hours passed.

When he contacted the Treasury, they told him she had packed up and left the dorms long ago.