#21

x Month x Day

It seems there truly is nothing I can't do.

Leonia turned out to be Regina’s daughter. The child possesses the Fangs of the Beast. I had no idea, and yet I gave her a name that literally meant “beast.”

Leonia, whose very impression was extraordinary, really was a remarkable one—just like her name.

However, what worries me is the child’s twisted preferences.

She likes men who wear their underwear over their pants. She defends lunatics like that while calling me a pervert.

Moreover, she seems to have an interest in homosexuality. I might need to seriously consider the child’s sexual orientation.

It’s highly likely that the orphanage has influenced her. Tomorrow, I must be harsher in how I deal with the orphanage teachers.

x Month x Day

Leonia was no ordinary pervert.

The sheer nerve she showed shouting about good muscles at the knight training ground, or the way she played with the knights’ pectorals—I’m fairly certain she’s not in her right mind.

It seems the orphanage’s harsh environment implanted her with a dreadful set of values. For a child who must have lived a desperate, powerless life, muscles probably became a symbol of strength and authority. That would explain her warped preferences.

I’m not sure how to fix this issue. For now, I’ll try to think it over carefully with the guests from the orphanage tomorrow.

Also, I’ll have to prohibit Leonia from ★ 𝐍𝐨𝐯𝐞𝐥𝐢𝐠𝐡𝐭 ★ entering the knight training grounds without my permission.

x Month x Day

Thankfully, I can stop worrying about an heir.

Leonia simply enjoys watching homosexual romances—especially those between men. It seems to be a secondary preference developed from her obsession with muscles.

I honestly can’t understand why she’s so obsessed with seeing men stick together, but in any case, the Voreoti bloodline won’t be ending with her, so I can breathe a little easier.

I discussed the child’s development with the orphanage guests today, but, as expected, no proper solution came to mind.

Still, my suspicions haven’t disappeared.

Why, despite having Leonia with them, knowing that black hair is a rare trait in the Empire, did they never once contact House Voreoti?

There’s nothing more I can get from those already imprisoned.

That leaves only the teachers who didn’t end up in prison...

***

“......”

The black pupils of the child trembled weakly.

For a brief moment, golden mist bloomed across her black eyes, but thankfully, Leonia quickly regained her composure and the mist faded just as fast.

‘He really did know.’

So she wouldn’t start hyperventilating, Leonia instinctively covered her nose and mouth with both hands and breathed in and out slowly.

Her shoulders, which had been rising and falling rapidly, gradually calmed.

‘He was suspicious from the very beginning.’

Ferio had been suspicious of the orphanage—and of Connie—from the moment he adopted Leonia.

For a moment, Leonia’s chest ached. The betrayal by Connie resurfaced after a long time, but that wasn’t what hurt most.

What made her feel guilty was imagining what kind of feelings Ferio must have had when he looked at her back then.

‘But still...’

Leaving all that aside—

‘This man was worrying this much about my preferences?’

That was honestly the more shocking part for Leonia.

She hadn’t read everything, but nearly half the parenting journal was deep reflection and concern about her personal tastes. She had assumed he stayed quiet because he understood her, but it turns out he’d been worrying all along.

He even worried about producing an heir.

‘If he was that worried about an heir, he should treat Boom-Boom better.’

Leonia snorted. 𝚏𝗿𝗲𝐞𝚠𝕖𝐛𝗻𝗼𝐯𝕖𝚕.𝚌𝗼𝗺

Other than Scandia, she felt it would be impossible to date or marry any man. Because of Ferio, her standards had become so high that no ordinary guy even registered to her.

‘...Should I keep reading?’

She could return to her room now, having read this far, but Leonia shifted into a more comfortable sitting position.

Ferio’s parenting journal let her see what her father had been thinking at the time, and that made it fascinating.

‘Spying really is the most fun.’

Leonia grinned wickedly and opened the diary again.

***

x Month x Day

The date for the monster hunt has been set.

Before that, I must hurry and introduce Leonia to her tutors.

Countess Kerena will teach her etiquette, and Ardea will teach the pride and history of the North. Despite committing an unforgivable act as a hardline noble, ironically, he holds more pride for the North than anyone else.

Still, it’s unfortunate that I couldn’t bring in Countess Bosgruni to teach etiquette because of Ardea.

If I had my way, I would’ve prioritized the Countess. But considering what Ardea experienced in the capital, I cannot dismiss him lightly—so I can only feel regret.

x Month x Day

The child’s hands were very small.

Thinking back, today was the first time I had ever held Leonia’s hand.

Smaller than others her age, slower in her steps, with hands so tiny—watching her walk, I couldn’t help but think she looked terribly fragile.

But watching her try so hard to match her steps to mine stirred something indescribable in my chest.

Maybe this was what Carnis meant when he talked about a father’s love. Yet, I can’t say for sure whether this feeling really is paternal affection.

Still, the sensation of holding Leonia’s hand remains vividly clear. That small, soft hand carried a warmth I had never once felt before.

Thinking that such a small thing had moved so fiercely to stay alive, I don’t think I’ll ever forget this moment.

The garden I walked through with Leonia was beautiful.

x Month x Day

I made a grave mistake.

As Kara said, I was under a major delusion. I should have trusted and reflected more deeply on the words of the woman who cared for me more than my own parents.

Leonia lost control of the Fangs of the Beast due to emotional distress. As a result, she suffered from a severe fever. I will make sure that the punishment for what caused her pain is exacted.

It seems I didn’t see Leonia as a child of her age. Or perhaps, just as Kara said, I treated her like a pet I brought in to play house.

My foolish decision caused the child pain, and for the first time, she cried in front of me. The way she sobbed and asked, “Who am I?” broke me with every word.

I must admit it now.

I was lonely, and I adopted the child on a whim to fill that emptiness. And the price for that poor decision fell on an innocent child.

I held her in my arms and patted her until she fell asleep. It was something I had never done before, so I wasn’t sure if I was doing it right. But when she mumbled “muscles” while touching my chest, I was dumbfounded—and immensely relieved.

Seeing her find peace in my arms, she was truly lovely.

It seems I am now ready to become the “father” Carnis bragged about so much.

And the one who put the final period on that preparation was none other than my one and only daughter.

I never want to pass on the loneliness I once felt to this child.

***

Thunk, thunk.

“......”

Leonia couldn’t read the journal anymore.

Tears welled up, clouding her vision. Soon, she couldn’t see anything at all. The tears, which had filled her eyes and clung to her lashes, finally gave in to gravity and rolled down her cheeks.

“Snff...”

She hurriedly wiped her tears away with her sleeve and shoved the journal aside. A few drops had already fallen onto the pages, slightly smudging the ink.

“You stupid Dad...!”

In the end, Leonia sobbed loudly.

“Waaah! Waaaah!”

Never had she felt so stupid and foolish as she did today.

She had snuck in at night out of mere curiosity to read the journal her father had written while agonizing over her again and again—an irreplaceable record of his thoughts, written solely for her.

It tore her heart in two.

Not even when she got into a fight with that etiquette instructor, or when she learned the truth about her birth, had she felt so deeply sorry.

Leonia realized now that she had made a terrible mistake.

She often took her father’s sincerity too lightly. Like that time she tricked everyone to go meet her stalker when she was young.

People didn’t treat Leonia like a child. That was partly because of her mannerisms and speech, which were too old for her age—but also because the name “Voreoti” made others forget just how young she truly was.

But Ferio was different. He treated her as someone who deserved protection. A child that adults should safeguard.

And he protected and cared for her exactly the way he believed he should.

“Daddy...”

Leonia, for the first time in a long while, felt truly sorry—and she sincerely repented.

“Did you finish reading?”

A voice, unfamiliar yet close, made Leonia whip around in surprise.

“Too bad I’m not Dad.”

Varia stood there, holding a small lamp. A brooch made of black diamond was pinned to her nightgown. That’s why Leonia hadn’t noticed her presence.

“Mom...”

Leonia quickly wiped her tear-streaked face with the back of her hand and looked around before scooting to the side. She patted the spot next to her.

“Sit here.”

Leonia sniffled as she spoke. She couldn’t let Varia, who had given birth just two months ago, sit on the cold floor.

“I brought cushions.”

Thankfully, Varia had two thick cushions in hand. She placed them on the ground and seated Leonia. Thanks to that, the two of them didn’t have to argue over who got to sit where.

Once seated, Varia placed the lamp beside the library’s glass lantern. The room grew brighter.

“Uh, since when were you here?”

Leonia sniffled again and asked. With the extra light, Varia could now clearly see that Leonia’s face was red from crying.

‘She really is a child.’

Varia found her daughter adorable.

When she was embarrassed, she pursed her lips into a straight line and avoided eye contact—exactly like Ferio.

There was no denying it—they were father and daughter through and through.