#20

“Aww, as if you don’t know how much I care about you, Dad.”

Leonia quickly darted behind Ferio’s chair and began massaging his shoulders, just like she had done for Varia earlier.

With Ferio’s entire body made of solid muscle, there was certainly a satisfying feeling to kneading it—but this time, Leonia suppressed her personal interest and focused purely on relieving his tension like a dutiful daughter.

“I had no idea.”

Ferio’s expression relaxed noticeably as he spoke. It was thanks to ◈ Nоvеlіgһт ◈ (Continue reading) Leonia’s magical hands.

In any case, Ferio himself had never expected the parenting journal to go on for so long.

It had all started with something trivial.

“You were just so tiny at first.”

The eldest daughter’s diligent hands paused for a moment.

“But that tiny thing had thicker drool than a drunk old man’s spit.”

“Ha! Dad, your expressions really are...”

He’s just fluttering my lungs like a spring breeze.

Leonia’s grip on Ferio’s shoulder unintentionally tightened. Fortunately, she happened to be pressing a knot, so instead of pain, Ferio felt a refreshing sense of relief.

‘So I wasn’t the only one who thought that.’

Lupe, who was picking up the books from the floor, let out a quiet sigh of sympathy.

“So I was just going to jot down some quick notes.”

But not long after, it was revealed that Leonia had inherited the Voreoti bloodline.

Since she was the daughter of Regina, who had come from a cadet branch, Ferio wanted to document her development to better understand the Fangs of the Beast.

“......”

But even Ferio hadn’t expected those journals to continue for so long.

In fact, he was still writing them.

The only reason he had moved the completed ones into the study was because there was no more room in his drawer.

Now he had to write Belleani’s parenting journal as well.

“Then doesn’t that mean I should be allowed to read it?”

After learning the truth, Leonia found Ferio’s condition even harder to accept.

“There probably isn’t even anything that special in it.”

But Ferio didn’t respond to that.

So, in the end, Leonia still hadn’t read her parenting journal stored in the study.

***

Although she now knew the identity of the volumes in the study, Leonia’s curiosity only deepened.

“What kind of things did he write about me?”

Bringing Belleani into her room with parental approval, Leonia muttered under her breath.

“Ooooh, uuuu!”

Belleani babbled nonstop as if replying. That alone made Leonia grin until her upper lip drooped.

And then Belleani smiled too.

Leonia honestly couldn’t understand how such an adorable creature had come to be.

Sure, she knew it was thanks to her parents’ “workouts,” but still—it was miraculous no matter how many times she looked.

It was as if all the most beautiful and precious things in the world had been condensed into one form—that was Belleani. At least within House Voreoti. And she was destined to grow up being admired by the world.

Basking in the joy of her sister’s existence, Leonia tilted her head.

“Was there even anything to write about me?”

She thought this while shaking a rattle.

“Ooooh.”

Belleani turned her eyes and waved her arms in the direction of the sound. Her babbling increased.

“Your big sister was calm and mature, you know?”

The shameless older sister whispered proudly.

Leonia truly believed she had been a very easy child to raise.

‘For starters, I’m mentally older.’

She was articulate, sharp, intellectually advanced, and self-motivated.

She was in a different league compared to the average kid.

Each time she thought of one of her strengths, Leonia bent another finger. Now Belleani reached out for her big sister’s fingers and giggled gleefully.

‘My only flaw... is my taste.’

Fortunately, the baby beast was already aware of her problematic preferences.

“Ugh!”

As Leonia was deep in thought, Belleani suddenly grabbed the rattle. But she wasn’t strong enough yet, so the toy slipped and fell on her face.

“Oh no, no, no.”

Leonia hurriedly removed the toy. Belleani blinked with wide, surprised eyes. Thankfully, it was small and light, so she wasn’t hurt.

“Did I scare you, Lea?”

Leonia gently rocked her sister, worried she might cry.

“Uuuuuh.”

Fortunately, Belleani only whimpered a little before letting it go. As expected of a Voreoti cub—she wouldn’t cry over something that trivial.

“......”

Watching her little sister closely, Leonia murmured,

“Let’s give it a try.”

She recalled a thin wire she had stashed somewhere in her desk drawer.

***

That night.

“Good night.”

“Sleep well.”

“Sweet dreams.”

“Ooooh.”

Leonia said her evening goodbyes under the pretense of being tired and heading to bed early.

She kissed Ferio and Varia on the cheek, and then pressed a kiss to Belleani’s barely-there hair as she gave her final goodnight.

But it was all an act.

‘Wasted my talents on another performance...’

Even Connie and Mia had been fooled. Lying in bed, Leonia blinked her round eyes.

She waited until the footsteps of the maids outside her door completely disappeared, then carefully rose from bed.

She put on the softest, most silent pair of slippers she owned and wrapped her night robe tightly around her waist so that no fabric brushed against anything.

She tied up her long hair in a high bun and hung the necklace Scandia had given her around her neck.

'Boom-Boom...'

And just before stepping out of the room—

Leonia knelt reverently by the window and prayed.

'Please grant me permission to become a holy thief.'

Even though she had every intention of sneaking off to read the journal regardless, appearances still mattered. So she confessed her not-quite-a-sin to her beloved.

'I’d normally pray to God, but...'

Leonia opened the door without a sound.

'What a joke.'

After all, she had been thoroughly screwed over by the divine. If anything, she’d rather leave flowers at the late emperor’s grave than pray to some deity.

Though... that wasn’t exactly appealing either.

The hallway, now cloaked in darkness, was quiet. The shadows stretched deep, and the place took on a faintly eerie atmosphere.

But for Leonia—whose senses were several times sharper than others thanks to the Fangs of the Beast—that darkness was a perfect shield.

The baby beast moved without hesitation.

She glided up the stairs, nimbly dodged any obstacles placed along the corridor, and finally arrived at Ferio’s office.

It was locked tight.

Only Ferio, the head of the Voreoti household, held the key to this room.

'Good thing I came prepared.'

Leonia silently hummed to herself as she pulled something from her sleeve.

A straight wire.

'I’m so glad Paavo taught me this.'

Just like he’d shown her, Leonia bent and straightened the wire several times before slipping it into the keyhole with skillful fingers.

Anyone who saw her now would’ve mistaken her for a nighttime thief.

Leonia, crouched by the door and fiddling with the lock, didn’t look like the esteemed young lady of this noble estate at all.

“Ugh...”

It wasn’t working.

The empty clicks echoed meaninglessly for a while—

Click.

“......!”

At last, a sound that meant something. Leonia gently turned the wire clockwise. Her dry lips flicked out a tongue, moistening them with spit.

The wire slid slowly out of the lock.

“......”

Leonia rose and tried the doorknob again.

This time, it turned without resistance.

'Yes!'

She silently punched the air with excitement.

'...But shouldn’t this place be more secure?'

Just before stepping inside, Leonia frowned at how easily she had broken in.

The Gladiago Knights, the Empire’s strongest, guarded the mansion—but still, this office was the center of all major Voreoti operations. Its defenses felt too weak.

'Well, whatever.'

If a thief did break in, they’d be caught by the knights anyway and vanish without a trace into the underground prison.

Shaking off her unnecessary thoughts, Leonia carefully inspected the office.

Shrouded in darkness and devoid of people, the office felt completely different from its usual atmosphere. During the day, it brimmed with silent busyness.

But now, only a pale light from the moon filtered through the window.

'It feels weird.'

With Ferio’s usual presence missing from the desk, Leonia felt oddly unsettled.

After taking a moment to look around, she turned and headed toward the study.

“Oh, come on.”

Entering the study, Leonia let out a sarcastic chuckle.

At least the office entrance had been locked—but the study was completely open.

“Our dad seriously has no sense of danger.”

He was so confident in his own strength that he was careless about everything. Leonia found that frustrating... but also deeply enviable.

Inside the study, she first searched for a candle. Conveniently, there was a brand-new one and a matching glass lamp on an empty shelf.

Leonia picked up the candle.

“......”

Her gaze fixed on the wick, golden smoke began to curl in her eyes.

A red flame sparked to life at the tip of the wick. She waited until the flickering candle stabilized, then placed it inside the glass lamp.

Light spread through the once-dim study.

'What could he have written that he told me to read it only after he died...?'

Leonia pulled all of the parenting journals Ferio had written into a neat stack beside her.

She opened the cover of the oldest one—Ferio’s very first.

'My heart’s pounding...'

What could her father have written about her? Her heart thumped with anticipation. She took several deep breaths to calm herself.

Then, she began to read the first line.

“‘Apparently, there’s nothing I can’t do.’”

Leonia closed the journal immediately.

“...Is he insane?”

She’d lost count of how many times Ferio had left her dumbfounded, but this might have been the worst.

What kind of parent begins a parenting journal with a sentence dripping in narcissism?

'He really does think he’s amazing.'

Leonia thought it must be exhausting living like that.

Still, she had come this far to read it. So she took a breath, steeled her resolve, and opened the journal again.