I Became the Male Lead's Adopted Daughter

Chapter 22

Crash!

“For, forgive me! I’m really sorry!”

In the end, Count Tedross fell flat on the floor. The poor man who was called to the duke’s estate because of his wife’s mistake had the chair he’d been sitting on just now tossed on the ground, and he slammed his forehead on the floor and cried and begged.

No one sympathized with him. Rather, there were those who envied Count Tedross. With the exception of Count Tedross, the nobles gathered here had one criminal record of ‘going unnoticed’ for their own gain while Pelliot was not in the North. Lupert, who returned from work at the orphanage, stayed up all night and searched all over as if in anger.

And they had one more thing in common. The point is that they made the rumors about Leonia particularly vicious. The rumor spread exponentially until it reached the ears of Cerena Tedross, who believed those rumors. And because of her arrogant nature, this was the result. They heard that Cerena, who had gotten a taste of the fangs, was lying in bed like a half-broken person.

“To the eyes and ears of all who dwell in the Voreoti mansion from now on.”

Of course, that wasn’t Pelliot’s business.

“There should be no sign or sound of Cerena Meleocca.”

Count Tedross, who had been begging for a long time, flinched. Pelliot showed tolerance of him, acknowledging only his wife’s sin alone. At least the Tedross family silently and faithfully ruled only their estates while Pelliot was away.

So, as long as he were to divorce Cerena, there would be no harm to his family.

For that purpose, Cerena was called by the surname of her family before her marriage. The purpose was asking Cerena’s parents to support her separately later on.

Fortunately, Cerena’s biological father, Count Meleocca, was also here. The blond and blue-eyed Count, resembling Cerena, closed his eyes tightly to the future that was upon him.

“I, I will!”

Count Tedross, who got up from the ground, sniffled and crouched at the waist. Pelliot motioned for him to leave. As soon as Count Tedross disappeared as if running away, the red tinge in the beast’s black eyes grew eerily vivid.

“…Gasp!”

Someone grabbed their hand and neck with trembling hands. Like a plague, one after the other, the other nobles also suffered from shivering or not being able to breathe properly. Some leaned over as if they were falling on the table.

“There will be no second chance.”

Just by exposing the tip of the beast’s fangs, the prey wandered through death as if they were going to run out of breath. The beast just stared, and not even a threatening sound came from his mouth where his fangs flashed.

“The reason I did not impose any sanctions on those absurd rumors was because I didn’t think it was even worth dealing with you guys who are begging to be killed in front of me.”

Even the warning now issued was very light. The nobles who received it with their whole body were on the verge of death.

“At that time, I’ll roll around in front of the fireplace with my daughter.”

In fact, Pelliot was like that during the days of heavy snow. Leonia, who sat on his lap, carefully chewing a strawberry milk candy into her mouth, smirked every time she made eye contact with Pelliot.

‘Mister!’

The face looking at Pelliot warmed his heart.

“This is the last warning.”

Red energy bloomed like a haze from the large hand that lightly touched the table. As the beast’s fangs became a little clearer, the nobles flapped their bodies like fish out of the water and fell.

“Remember that I am watching you now.”

The black beast narrowed his cold eyes, hiding his sharp fangs and claws as he bided his time.

Next would be death.

* * *

Leonia and Lupert waited for Pelliot in the drawing room that was far from the conference room.

Leonia wanted to wait nearby, but Lupert desperately refused, saying, ‘The Duke is surely using his fangs.’

“Is Uncle Lupert injured?”

“I was working in my office.”

While waiting, Leonia was worried by asking Lupert if there were any injuries because of her. Fortunately, he was so focused on his work that Lupert didn’t even know what had happened at the time.

“But I did feel something strange.”

His body was suddenly sweating cold, and his heart was pounding like crazy.

“Because the beast’s fangs are that strong.”

Leonia had read the original story like a distant memory, so she knew it well, too. However, the fangs she experienced were very different from what she experienced in writing.

The beast’s fangs in the novel are beautifully portrayed as the strongest power in the world. The author’s favoritism towards this added that even if forces such as aura and mana were to be combined, they both couldn’t win against the fangs. It was used as a device to raise Pelliot’s charm once more.

‘It’s not that cool.’

On the other hand, now that she has experienced the beast’s fangs on her own, she couldn’t think that way so easily. Leonia sparsely remembered the time when she activated her fangs in the aftermath of the incident, but she could clearly recall the feeling of genuinely wanting to kill Cerena while the woman was in front of her. The beast’s fangs are sharp and relentless, like tearing a pillow apart with a knife.

“…It’s a terrifying power.”

Leonia’s eyes were infinitely deep and serious as she sat on the sofa and looked at her legs that wouldn’t reach the floor.

Lupert looked at the child and smiled bitterly. People were usually arrogant when they had such strong power. One example were noble children who believed in only their family’s reputation, and the nobles who were being scolded to death by Pelliot in the conference room right now belong to that category.

But Leonia was seriously considering the aftermath of her own power. This was a display of seriousness that you wouldn’t normally see in a child. It’s both strange yet heartbreaking.

“The Lady doesn’t have to think about it anymore.”

“I am not a kid.”

“But you are a kid…”

Do you know how old you are?

Lupert burst into laughter at her tone of voice, sounding like an old person.

“Leonia.”

After finishing his work, Pelliot made his way to the parlor. A piece of clothing was hung on his arm.

“Mister…!”

Leonia, who was about to run reflexively, suddenly stopped. Pelliot and Lupert looked at it strangely. Normally, it would be normal to hug right away and chat. Leonia, unable to come closer, twisted her body to and fro.

“If you want to go to the bathroom, don’t hold back. You’re going to be sick.”

Pelliot, who was concerned about it, said something, and Leonia shouted loudly. Lupert behind her shook his head as if it wasn’t the case.

“This is being shy! Why are you so clueless!”

“A shy kid screams loudly. I’m going to be deaf.”

“And you don’t know too much about women! In that case, you should say ‘I’m going to pick flowers’.”

“What’s up with the flowers?”

He said that he would cut all the flowers that bloomed in the world, and Pelliot motioned for her to come quickly and stop talking nonsense. Leonia rolled her eyes here and there for a moment, and then she approached, as if giving up.

“Lupert.”

He said as he placed the clothes that Pelliot had brought to Leonia. The clothes hanging on his arms was the cloak that Leonia wore mainly when walking in the mansion or garden.

“The guests are ready to go out.”

“I will go and check.”

Lupert lowered his head in affirmation. Before leaving the room completely, Lupert gave Leonia a bright smile to meet again next time. Leoni also smiled softly and waved her hand.

Pelliot, who was looking at him with distaste, quickly relaxed his shoulders and took the child in his arms.

“Your body?”

“It’s okay.”

“Fever?”

“No fever.”

Look at this, Leonia exposed her forehead. Soon a large hand fell over it. Pelliot’s hand was so large that it almost covered the child’s face, and Leonia laughed as if it was funny.

“You’re laughing now.”

Leonia stopped at the small murmur. Pelliot tilted his head at an angle.

“Why aren’t you laughing again?”

“Uh…”

The two father-and-child looked at each other without a word.

In fact, Leonia was disturbed about the fact that she cried in front of Pelliot last night. It was her first time meeting Pelliot after that, so it was a little uncomfortable for her to be together with him like this.

‘I hope I didn’t make a mistake.’

As her feelings grew a little more intense, the longing she had been hiding deep inside burst out, making it impossible to hide. When she thought back on that time, she felt ashamed. She looked weak on the outside, but she wasn’t like that on the inside.

Fortunately, Pelliot didn’t mention anything about that day. She didn’t feel any useless sympathy or senseless emotions in the gaze directed at her. Pelliot Voreotti, as always, was showing off his hideous intimidation with a languid look on his face.

“…But, seeing off noble guests is Kara’s job.”

Leonia, who had nothing to say, recalled the strange conversation between Pelliot and Lupert a while ago and asked. It was strange when she actually asked. Why was it that while noble guests were leaving the mansion, the duke’s secretary, Lupert, was the one to escort them out?

“Ah, that. It’s not a big deal,” said Pelliot, moving forward. “A kind of surveillance.”

“Surveillance?”

“For the rats roaming around.”

Pelliot’s easy-going ridicule was a tribute and mourning for those who dared to do something in advantage of his absence. At the same time, he was also determined to clean up the northern region properly once he got rid of the rats this time.

Apparently, his absence for three years had a bigger impact than he thought.

The breeding season of the monsters that were said to be particularly noisy, for such things, the baby monsters that were not noticed throughout the hunt. There were even violent actions of some gentle monsters that weren’t originally targets for hunting.

‘Also some cases of illegal monster trading.’

Sometimes, monsters had mysterious charms, and it would be wonderful if people could tame and nurture them.

Then, secretly catching monsters happens, and the foolish incident that has been recorded several times in history was about to repeat itself.

It was almost impossible to catch an adult monster, but a baby monster could be captured through the use of drugs or intermediate magic, so these were often throughout history.

‘Because a monster is a monster.’

It didn’t always end well.

They were cute and docile for a while, but once they became adults in less than a year, they would reveal their ferocious nature to harm people. In severe cases, they would even destroy their surroundings. Naturally, it would become the responsibility of the Voreoti Duchy to hunt and kill monsters.

‘How do I catch them?’

While he was contemplating whether to rip the rats who passed this cumbersome post-treatment horizontally or vertically, at that moment—

“…You’re actually working.”

Even the slightest emotion in Leonia’s muttering voice was vivid.

‘It didn’t show that well in the original.’

The novel indirectly expressed Pelliot’s position and busy work, such as a busy duke, a master of the north. However, like the male lead in any novel, he was busy meeting the female lead , taking a walk, eating, and falling over each other on the bed while being busy working out.

Pelliot’s forehead became wrinkled.

“Thank you for the insulting compliment.”

He knew for sure just how his disobedient daughter thought of him.