I Became the Male Lead's Adopted Daughter-Chapter 105
Papa Beast didn’t take Baby Beast’s words at face value.
And with good reason—Leonia was a child devoted solely to realizing her every selfish desire, someone you’d never believe was about to turn eight.
“You’re always shouting about muscles, drenched in greed.”
“Not today, I’m not.”
“Didn’t the other kids find it gross?”
Ferio asked.
Honestly, muscles only looked impressive when covered with skin—underneath, the real deal wasn’t exactly pleasant to look at.
Ferio had learned that early on, thanks to his long years of monster hunting.
That’s why, in some ways, he couldn’t understand Leonia’s deep love for muscles.
“They said it looked like sausages and got all excited.”
Apparently, the kids even broke into song about wanting to eat sausages.
“And Daddy.”
Leonia spoke in an unusually serious tone.
Seeing her speak without her usual playfulness, Ferio instinctively matched her gravity.
“Muscles are beautiful in and of themselves.”
Focusing only on the outer layer—the dead skin cells covering everything—was not true devotion to muscles.
Placing her hand solemnly on her chest, Leonia declared her conviction.
“......”
She had a point.
Ferio found himself agreeing.
He too cherished Leonia with a similar level of affection—perhaps even more.
However, the “love” Leonia described for muscles... sounded disturbingly unwholesome.
And Ferio reassured himself once again that his paternal affection was nothing like that kind of warped love.
“If I love someone, I should love even the poop inside their body.”
“So, for you, that ‘poop’ is muscles?”
“Exactly!”
“You little mani—”
Ferio caught himself mid-sentence, barely stopping the insult from spilling out.
“Were you just about to call me crazy, Daddy?!”
Leonia looked at him in disbelief.
“...I was going to say, my daughter, who I love so much it drives me crazy.”
“Liar! That was totally a curse word!”
Leonia jumped up on the sofa, declaring she’d heard it all loud and clear.
Ferio promptly sat her back down.
“Don’t stand on the sofa.”
“Okay.”
Even while bickering, the child was obedient. She even gently brushed the spot she’d stood on with a handkerchief to clean it.
“......”
Viscountess Kerata quietly poked her own thigh with her fan.
She was on the verge of falling over from how hard she was trying not to laugh at the comedic sparring between the Voreoti father and daughter.
She wasn’t the only one. The rest of the room had fallen silent, fully immersed in watching this beastly duo’s back-and-forth with barely contained laughter.
The children, meanwhile, were too distracted by snacks to pay close attention.
“Well, I’ll let that slip-up go—out of the kindness of my heart.”
Everyone makes mistakes, after all.
Leonia gave Ferio a pointed side-eye but forgave him. With the caveat that there wouldn’t be a second chance.
“Anyway, since Daddy loves me that much, if I ever have explosive diarrhea, you’ll wipe it for me, right?”
“No.”
Ferio answered without hesitation.
“I’ll have the maids do it.”
Ferio was extremely cautious when it came to touching Leonia.
Even when he did, it was only over her clothes and limited to places like her hand, back, or head—anywhere that wouldn’t make her uncomfortable.
He followed parenting books that advised fathers to be careful with physical contact with their daughters, and Ferio fully agreed with those principles.
If Leonia ever found out, she’d probably shed a tear, touched by his consideration.
“Why would I ever touch you?”
The problem was, Ferio skipped all that context and went straight to the punchline.
Leonia’s jaw dropped in shock.
She looked like she might stop breathing any moment.
The rest of the room, enjoying the show, stirred with fresh amusement.
“And why are your metaphors always so disgusting?”
Couldn’t she use cleaner, more wholesome examples?
The last one—something about picking flowers—had been far better.
“...Ugh, you’re so annoying, Dad.”
Leonia growled, properly pissed now.
“One day I’m really gonna poop on your back.”
“And that’ll be the day you forfeit your inheritance.”
“You’re so annoying!”
Waaaah!
Leonia pounded on Ferio’s thigh with her fists.
Even then, she was careful not to hit too hard—after all, that thigh was precious.
And just like that, the first tea party Leonia had planned came to a chaotic end.
A truly messy finish.
* * *
After the tea party ended,
Leonia wrote a reflection paper on the experience, as both homework and a punishment assigned by Ferio.
It was her penance for threatening to poop on her father’s back.
“I mean, it’s not the first time I’ve said that...”
It’s not like I actually meant to do it.
Leonia grumbled to herself.
Time and time again, she reminded herself—she had zero intention of actually soiling herself just to spite someone.
‘Should I actually do it, just once?’
Should I get drunk and pretend I went nuts?
Leonia seriously considered it, then sighed and shook her head in resignation.
She couldn’t even get alcohol with her current body, and even if she could, she doubted she’d be able to drink it.
She didn’t want to ruin this healthy body she’d worked so hard to maintain, all for the sake of revenge.
‘And it’s not even worth calling “Lord Booze.”’
Why honor something I can’t even drink?
“Booze-trash, booze-trash~!”
Finished with her reflection, Leonia hummed a cheerful tune as she made her way toward where Ferio was.
“Daddy!”
Knock knock—she tapped on the study door and stepped inside. Ferio, lounging on the couch with a book, extended an arm to beckon her over.
Leonia charged ◆ Nоvеlіgһt ◆ (Only on Nоvеlіgһt) toward him at full speed—then froze.
“......”
Then she pouted hard, her lips sticking out in pure discontent.
“Hmph!”
With an exaggerated snort, she turned her head away.
“Leonia, why’d you come all the way here just to sulk in front of me?”
Ferio flipped a page without looking up, casting her a side glance. His indifferent reaction only made Leonia angrier.
“I can’t help that I’m mad!”
“You’re ridiculously diligent, you know.”
You’re the only one who’d go out of her way to find the person she hates just to advertise that she’s sulking.
Even as he poked fun, Ferio closed his book and held out his arms.
It was an unspoken invitation to stop sulking and come into his embrace.
“Hmph.”
Leonia grumbled, but slowly snuck into his arms anyway.
Still, pride made her twist her body so her face stuck out awkwardly.
‘Seriously, it’s just not fair.’
Just moments ago, when she walked in, Ferio had looked so impossibly handsome that it was almost painful to accept he was her father.
All he wore was a loosely fitted shirt, yet he radiated the air of a dangerous rebel.
The sleeves were half-rolled, revealing firm forearms, and the way the shirt was haphazardly tucked into his pants made his waistline dangerously visible.
His broad shoulders and chest muscles stood out starkly.
And those long legs—thanks to the quadriceps Leonia adored most—asserted themselves boldly even through the fabric of his pants.
He looked like an enraged bull.
This translation is the intellectual property of Novelight.
The way he sat there reading, exuding an air of perfect indifference while looking like that—it was practically divine.
Ferio truly seemed to exist on a whole other plane of coolness.
‘...If only he weren’t my dad.’
Leonia’s mood plummeted in an instant.
He was such a gorgeous, magnificent man—and yet, this cursed familial bond made him as unreachable as food in a painting.
Just remembering that he was her father dried up the fluttery thrill that usually filled her chest.
‘Well, not like I can do anything about it. He is my dad.’
Grumbling to herself, Leonia lightly slapped Ferio’s arm, the one wrapped around her waist.
“You said you wouldn’t touch me.”
“When did I say that?”
Ferio responded calmly, letting her tantrum wash over him.
“You said you wouldn’t touch me. That you don’t touch me.”
“Me? When? You must’ve misheard.”
“At the tea party! You said it!”
Leonia fumed, claiming she’d been mortified and emotionally wounded.
Only then did Ferio remember what she meant.
“That gross metaphor thing?”
“Oh, my blood pressure!”
Leonia grabbed the back of her neck as if about to faint.
“Today, this dad has clearly declared war on his own daughter!”
“I didn’t plan anything.”
“I was so embarrassed, I can’t show my face in public anymore! How am I supposed to look Count Rinne and Viscount Kerata in the eye?!”
“Just look at them. Normally.”
Ferio’s lazy response made Leonia kick her legs furiously.
If she had feathers, she would’ve flown off like a bird.
Ferio waited patiently for her to calm down.
Luckily, Leonia soon tired herself out and slumped like a deflated balloon.
She flopped over onto his thigh and buried her face in it.
“...Why don’t you want to touch me?”
she asked quietly.
Truthfully, she wasn’t angry so much as deeply hurt.
“So are you not going to hold my hand anymore? No more hugs? No kisses either?”
“Why wouldn’t I?”
Ferio replied immediately.
“But you said you didn’t want to touch me...”
“I never said that.”
“Same difference!”
Leonia shrieked, her voice muffled against his leg.
Her face wasn’t visible, but Ferio could feel how downcast she was.
“Leonia.”
He gently ran his hand over the back of her head, where her hair was tied in two pigtails.
Baby Beast shook her head in protest, but then peeked at him from the corner of her eye.
Still, Ferio’s large hand returned to softly stroke her again.
“It’s not because I don’t want to touch you.”
If it were, he would’ve kicked her out long ago, he added casually.
“...Huh?”
Leonia froze and slowly lifted her upper body.
“You mean you almost kicked me out?”
“There were honestly a few times.”
“Seriously?!”
“If you weren’t my child, I would’ve sent you away.”
In other words, no matter what mess she caused, he would never send her away—because she was that precious to him.
To Ferio, Leonia was his one and only family, his beloved daughter.
And that’s why he was always so careful when it came to touching her.
“You’re a girl, so as your father, there are things I need to be mindful of.”
“You were actually thinking about that?”
Leonia blinked, surprised.
Considering how he hired tutors and made decisions purely based on his own whims, she had never imagined he’d think so deeply about something like this.
She was quietly impressed.
“There’s always a chance that, even unintentionally, I might do something that makes you uncomfortable. Even if you don’t feel that way, as your father, I have a duty to be careful.”
“Daddy...”
Leonia’s lower lip quivered with emotion.
Her pitch-black eyes welled up with tears.
“I love you...!”
The Baby Beast threw herself into his arms. All the bitterness and hurt she’d felt moments ago melted away like snowflakes under the sun.
“I mean, I’d still let you pat my butt whenever you want.”
If he asked for a right-cheek pat, she’d gladly offer the left one too.
