I Became the Male Lead's Adopted Daughter-Chapter 75

‘As expected... the female lead...!’

It had been several days since they returned from the Academy tour.

But Leonia still couldn’t shake off the traces that Varia had left behind.

As she rolled across the bed, she suddenly sat up straight.

Her head was still in chaos.

‘I didn’t expect to brush past her like that.’

Leonia had always been sure that Ferio would eventually meet Varia.

After all, they were canonically a couple in the original story.

The way the novel described them as “locking eyes and ending up exercising on the bed”—that wouldn’t be for nothing.

But—

‘I didn’t expect her to have regressed.'

At one point, Leonia had briefly wondered whether the Varia of this timeline had regressed or not.

But she hadn’t dwelled on it—just brushed it off quickly.

Maybe that’s why this was hitting her so hard now.

‘No, even so...’

Honestly, she really hadn’t expected it. Like, really.

Hair standing on end, Leonia began pacing restlessly around her room.

Things had escalated far more than she anticipated.

Eventually, she sat at her desk, pulled out a blank sheet of paper, and picked up a black-feathered ink pen.

Then she began jotting down everything she could remember from the original story.

‘I barely remember anything anymore.’

The more she wrote, the more uncertain she became. Was this part right? Did that actually happen?

What she really needed were the pages she’d hidden in her room at the northern estate—notes she had scribbled down about the original plot.

Once she had jotted down a rough outline, she reviewed what she’d written.

‘...Good grief, that woman.’

Varia’s first life had been truly tragic and full of misfortune.

Leonia clicked her tongue.

Varia, a member of the southern noble Erbanu family, had always been an outcast in her own home.

Born with a dull, muddy shade of pink hair in a family known for vibrant, bright pink, she had always stood out—in the wrong way.

To make it worse, her parents openly doted on her youngest sibling, Lota Erbanu.

Lota even got engaged to the heir of House Olor, a viscount’s family.

Desperate for her family’s approval, Varia studied hard, entered the Academy, graduated with honors, and became a palace administrator.

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‘Stupid woman.’

Why would you do that?

She had no idea she was marching straight into tragedy.

Leonia’s lips drooped with sadness.

Even when she’d read it in the book, she had felt bad. But rereading it as someone inside the story made it feel far worse—pathetic, even.

Pity and sympathy welled up.

Leonia gathered herself and refocused.

After becoming a palace administrator, Varia had one day stumbled upon a classified document in the imperial library.

It revealed the emperor’s plan to fully conquer and consolidate all four cardinal regions.

Technically, it wasn’t unusual for a monarch to try and centralize regional power.

The real problem was Emperor Subiteo’s method.

He planned to annihilate the noble houses that ruled each region and replace them with his own people.

Even the Erbanu family had agreed to this scheme.

When Varia pleaded with her parents to oppose it, they scolded her harshly. Told her to stop spouting nonsense. Even slapped her across the face.

So Varia left her house in the middle of the night, aiming to find the strongest of the four regional lords—House Voreoti.

“Haa...”

Leonia sighed.

That escape was the last thing anyone heard of Varia.

She was officially listed as a runaway.

Her family made no effort to find her. The world slowly forgot she existed.

But in truth, she had been murdered—by her younger sister and her sister’s fiancé.

And her parents, fully aware, turned a blind eye.

‘And then she regressed.’

One year before entering the Academy.

“...She must be filled with rage.”

Leonia understood. She too had endured the corruption and abuse of the orphanage.

She’d survived with the grit and fury of someone desperate to escape and take revenge on the world.

Feeling a little too dark and heavy, she went out into the garden.

The sun was already high—it was a scorching midday. A thick, sticky summer heat.

“Shall I bring you something to drink?”

Connie, who had escorted her to the shaded pavilion beside the fountain, asked politely. Leonia hesitated, then smiled and nodded.

But the moment Connie turned to go get the drinks, Leonia’s smile vanished.

‘She’s probably still enduring everything alone, right?’

Varia kept lingering in her mind.

In the original, Varia had lived alone in the administrative residence before meeting Ferio.

She couldn’t shake the betrayal of her first life.

And she didn’t even try to.

‘I... get it.’

Leonia kept remembering her days at the orphanage.

Just thinking that someone she knew was living like that made her feel awful.

“Whew...”

Disgusted with herself, Leonia flopped forward onto the table.

She didn’t want to feel camaraderie over something so dark and sticky.

Then, a large shadow fell over her head.

“...Dad?”

Without even looking, Leonia addressed the figure who sat down heavily beside her.

She didn’t need to focus to recognize Ferio’s presence by now.

A cold hand rested against her forehead.

“Leonia, do you have a fever?”

“I’m not sick...”

“Then what’s wrong?”

“...”

Every time that worried voice brushed against her ear, Leonia shifted closer.

“Just...”

Before she knew it, she had snuggled right up beside Ferio.

She didn’t really want to look at him right now.

Her mood was so gloomy that showing her face felt unpleasant.

Thankfully, Ferio didn’t try to force her to face him.

“Dad’s hand is cool.”

“You’re just running hot.”

Long fingers began idly twisting the bangs over her forehead.

“What’s got you so deep in thought?”

“...”

“That’s how you end up overheating your brain.”

“You’re picking a fight again...”

Leonia wiggled her butt in protest, nudging Ferio.

“Sometimes girls just need to reflect on things like this.”

“Just say you’re sleepy.”

This translation is the intellectual property of Novelight.

“I’m serious.”

She pouted, then snuck a glance up at him.

Ferio was wearing a pale-pink short-sleeved shirt, collar open enough to show his collarbones.

Even the Black Beast was still human—he clearly didn’t handle heat well.

And being a northerner used to long winters, summer hit him harder than most.

“Hey.”

Leonia adjusted her posture and started to fiddle with his forearm.

Her fingertips were cold, but his arm was warm—much warmer than her body.

‘Does he have cold extremities?’

Her fingers, still playing with his arm, started pressing more firmly, like a massage.

“So let’s say...”

She spoke softly.

“I mean, really hypothetically, okay?”

“Hypothetically?”

“Yeah. Really hypothetically.”

She emphasized it several times.

Ferio, already tired of the buildup, smacked her forehead lightly. Leonia wobbled back and glared at him.

At the same time, Connie returned with drinks.

Perhaps she’d run into Ferio on the way, because there were two glasses.

Ferio picked the smaller glass and wrapped his handkerchief around it.

“Here.”

He placed it in Leonia’s hand himself—so the condensation wouldn’t get her hand wet.

“...What if someone...”

Leonia sipped the cold, sweet drink and finally managed to speak.

“...was hiding a huge secret and enduring it all alone...”

As she said it, she peeked at her dad from the corner of her eye. His expression was unchanged.

But Leonia knew he was listening.

“...And what if they looked so pitiful holding it in by themselves—what should you do?”

Now that she knew Varia had regressed, Leonia just felt bad. Deeply sorry for her.

She even wanted to go find her immediately and force her help onto her.

Strangely, she kept seeing herself in Varia’s past.

Her own pain in the orphanage. Varia’s betrayal and neglect from her family.

They weren’t really the same—but something resonated.

And now, Varia was here, in the capital. If she wanted to, she could meet her.

And she wanted to do something.

‘Didn’t I say I didn’t care about the original story?’

Even she was baffled by her own thoughts.

“Leonia.”

Then it happened.

Thump. Something cold pressed against her forehead.

She looked up. It was the glass, cleaned of moisture, placed gently on her skin.

Through the milky drink, Ferio’s large hand was visible.

“Did that person say they felt pitiful?”

Ferio asked.

“Did they say they were struggling alone? That they felt like they were going to die?”

“...Huh?”

Leonia faltered at the unexpected question.

Ferio looked at her quietly.

His gaze was sharp, like it could see through everything, and Leonia hesitated. Then, after a few pauses, she finally answered.

“No, she didn’t.”

Varia had returned to the past after dying in her first life—carrying pain and betrayal.

‘But she never gave up.’

She worked hard.

She completely gave up trying to win her family’s favor.

Instead, she lived for herself, and put her effort into revenge on those who killed her.

She made trustworthy friends. Found colleagues who respected her ◆ Nоvеlіgһt ◆ (Only on Nоvеlіgһt) skills.

“Then what made you feel pity for her?”

Ferio asked again.

His tone wasn’t scolding—but Leonia couldn’t answer.

His gentle voice and relaxed gaze felt uncomfortably sharp for the first time.

But Ferio wasn’t criticizing or pressuring her.

He had no intention of scolding his daughter.

All he did was sincerely answer the “what if” she had asked—and nudge her to think a little deeper.

“Is it just because of how she looked on the surface?”

Was that enough reason to pity someone?

Was it okay to feel sympathy just because they seemed pitiful?

It was a heavy question for a child about to turn eight.

But Ferio knew his daughter well.

He believed she would understand.

And once again, Ferio was right.

“Uuugh!”

Leonia’s face flushed. Then, like a bolt of realization struck her, she shouted.

‘I was thinking about it all wrong!’

Ferio had made her realize a massive misconception she hadn’t even known she had.

‘I don’t know everything.’

Yes, she knew the “original story.” She knew what was supposed to happen years from now.

But that was only a fragment of this vast world.

Her face burned with shame. Just knowing the plot had made her arrogant, irresponsible, and selfish.

The original story was, at best, a fleeting glimpse.