I Became the Male Lead's Adopted Daughter-Chapter 96
Leonia went over the people who came to mind.
But no one really stood out.
‘Uncle Carnis is fine since Lady Abipher is with him... I thought about giving it to Her Majesty the Empress, but...’
Empress Tigria hadn’t come down to where the Marquis of Hesperi stood.
The silver-haired woman remained up high, conversing with someone who appeared to be her handmaiden.
‘Well, I wouldn’t come down either.’
How could she face the father who sent her off to marry the Emperor? Leonia could fully understand.
While she was still deliberating, the Marquis of Hesperi noticed the note wrapped around the candy.
The moment he read it, his expression betrayed clear shock.
Leonia, who had been resting comfortably in his arms, flinched slightly.
But the seasoned warrior quickly reined in his reaction and gently patted the back of the child’s hand.
And that was when it happened.
“Pardon the interruption.”
An uninvited guest stepped into the amiable little gathering.
“Lady Voreoti.”
The stranger called out to Leonia.
“What business do you have?”
The Marquis of Hesperi looked down at the interloper with clear disapproval.
Then his eyes narrowed as they caught sight of the armband on the man’s left arm.
“A royal attendant?”
And not just any attendant.
The armband was reserved only for the elite attendants who served directly beside the imperial family.
It was embroidered with the feather of the golden eagle—the symbol of the Imperial House.
“......You serve His Majesty, the Emperor.”
It was Marquis Pardus who spoke first, and the proud smile on the attendant’s face confirmed it.
Leonia barely managed to suppress her grin.
‘He’s here!’
Finally, the prey had walked straight into her trap!
The baby beast struggled to keep her excitement in check.
The moment had come—the foolish prey was now standing right in front of her. She had been waiting for this moment, crouched among the crowd.
“What happened to the previous attendant?”
“He was removed for... certain reasons.”
“I see...”
Marquis Pardus gave a vague reply as he recalled the former attendant.
That man had passed along false information planted by Ferio and Lupe to the Emperor, then quickly relayed it to Count Tabanus.
As a result, Count Tabanus had died at the hands of the Gladiago Knights.
The Emperor had flown into a rage upon discovering the truth and dismissed the attendant.
If all he got was dismissed, he was lucky.
Most likely, the man’s corpse was already rotting somewhere in a nameless forest, eyes still wide open.
“His Majesty wishes to see Lady Voreoti.”
The attendant relayed the expected message without a single deviation.
Naturally, everyone objected.
“You must first receive the Duke’s permission.”
“Since when does one need a duke’s permission to meet the Emperor?”
“Lady Voreoti is a child!”
Carnis, who had held back for so long, finally exploded.
His anger was more than justified.
“She’s still so young. Her guardian should be with her! What if she accidentally offends His Majesty?”
Even as he burned with fury, Carnis tried to offer reasonable arguments: the Duke of Voreoti should be present.
His reasoning was sound, and the attendant hesitated.
A single misstep here could lead to disaster.
This was the West—a region friendly with the North. Its master was present, and the Rinne family, owners of the empire’s largest trade port, were here as well.
The attendant had to think fast.
Should he summon Duke Voreoti, or should he follow the Emperor’s order and take the girl?
Luckily for him, the choice didn’t take long.
“Uncle Carnis.”
Leonia took Carnis’s hand. His rage had been so intense that madness nearly sparked in his eyes. Her touch startled him.
With a gentle smile, Leonia patted his hand.
“It’s okay.”
Then she quietly looked toward Abipher. Sensing her intent, Abipher slipped her arms around her husband to calm him.
“I’ll go.”
Leonia said.
“But I want to go with Marquis Pardus.”
“Would you?”
The marquis smiled softly. “It would be an honor.”
“Marquis, my legs hurt.”
“Then I shall carry—”
“You, Marquis. You carry me.”
Ignoring the approaching attendant, Leonia reached out to Marquis Pardus.
He gladly took the baby beast into his arms with practiced ease.
Leonia gave him a surprised look.
He was very good at carrying children—likely because he’d raised several grandchildren himself.
The attendant walked ahead, and Leonia followed behind in the marquis’s arms.
Everyone in the banquet hall turned to watch her.
Leonia was used to the eyes boring into her by now. That didn’t mean she no longer found them irritating.
Normally, she would’ve growled, What are you staring at?
But not now. Now, she had to hold it in.
“Marquis.”
Leonia discreetly handed him the last remaining candy, asking him to pass it to that person.
Marquis Pardus said nothing, but he understood the baby beast perfectly.
As someone who respected strength, he would never interfere with her hunt.
They soon arrived at the grand staircase.
Just beyond them was the Emperor.
Marquis Pardus gently set Leonia down and turned to the attendant.
“I’ll go up and announce her arrival to His Majesty.”
“That’s my job—”
“It’s fine, it’s fine.”
The marquis climbed the stairs alone, leaving the attendant behind with his genial smile.
Now only Leonia and the attendant remained.
Leonia swayed slightly, eyes fixed on the floor, while the attendant watched her in silence.
He didn’t know how to handle children.
“...Boring.”
Leonia muttered.
“I’m sleepy.”
She even yawned loudly as if she truly were.
“I wanna go back to Daddy.”
Then she actually turned around. The startled attendant jumped to block her path.
“You must meet His Majesty.”
“No. This is boring.”
“But you said you would see him.”
“I said I’d go, not that I’d see him.”
Leonia narrowed her eyes.
“Don’t give me orders.”
You're just the Emperor’s dog.
The disgust layered in her gaze and the chilling tone of her voice carved across the attendant’s throat like a blade.
A strangled groan of fear escaped him as he struggled to speak.
His trembling hands shook like those of a drunk clutching a bottle.
The naive child from a moment ago was gone.
In her place stood a black beast, crouched low and baring fangs, ready to leap for the throat at any moment.
Leonia no longer needed to pretend.
Everything was in place.
“...So this is the one.”
A large shadow soon loomed over her.
“That child.”
The instinctive revulsion in his voice stirred something deeply unpleasant in the baby beast.
The cloying scent of his heavy perfume only made it worse.
“So you’re the bastard.”
Leonia ◆ Nоvеlіgһt ◆ (Only on Nоvеlіgһt) couldn’t help but scowl. The calm yet subtly scornful tone grated on her nerves.
“Your Majesty, Lady Voreoti.”
Marquis Pardus’s voice rang out.
He addressed her with proper courtesy, using her full title.
Though it infuriated him that the Emperor dared to look down on Voreoti, he showed no outward emotion.
That wasn’t his place.
“......”
Leonia met the golden eyes gazing down at her.
The Emperor of the Bellius Empire.
Subiteo Aquila Bellius.
My prey.
The baby beast growled.
It was time to bare her fangs.
This translation is the intellectual property of Novelight.
***
“His Majesty the Emperor and Lady Voreoti.”
“I thought it was impossible...”
“She looks like she’s in danger. Is this alright?”
“Come to think of it, the Duke isn’t here.”
The murmuring among the nobles was louder than ever.
From the moment the child was invited to such a late-night banquet, things had seemed odd—but no one had imagined that Leonia would end up face-to-face with the Emperor, alone.
Everyone had assumed the meeting would take place somewhere more private, like an audience chamber, or at least behind closed doors.
Even the Emperor had intended it that way.
What changed the plan was none other than Marquis Pardus.
“Being alone with a child will not be well-received by the public eye.”
“Are you suggesting something improper, Marquis?”
Naturally, the advice left a bad taste, and Emperor Subiteo glared at the marquis.
“Not at all, Your Majesty.”
Marquis Pardus bowed even lower, emphasizing the humility expected of a subject. The Emperor’s mood eased slightly.
“The Duke might use it against you.”
The Duke of Voreoti was now known throughout the Empire as the textbook definition of a ‘daughter fool.’
His young daughter was the most precious thing in his life—and also a reverse scale that no one dared touch.
“Even the smallest gap must not be allowed.”
......
It was a valid argument.
“Your Majesty, perhaps it’s best not to meet the young lady at all—”
“Then can’t Your Majesty go down yourself?”
Empress Tigria tried to dissuade him gently. But Consort Usia’s syrupy voice cut in without hesitation.
“Show everyone!”
That she was so generous, even to the illegitimate daughter of Voreoti.
That she was merciful enough to come down the stairs herself to meet a little bastard child.
“It would look amazing!”
Consort Usia clasped her hands and blinked her eyes with feigned innocence.
She looked so innocent and adorable that no one would’ve guessed she was the mother of the twelve-year-old imperial prince.
It was an utterly idiotic suggestion.
Surely he wouldn’t actually listen to her?
Tigria and Marquis Pardus shared a silent, desperate hope.
But the Emperor turned out to be more disappointing than expected.
He was tragically soft-eared and loved those who flattered him.
“Unbelievable.”
Recalling the events just moments ago, Marquis Pardus almost contorted his face in visible disgust.
He’d almost let his emotions show.
He looked at the Emperor and thought: he was like a host parasitized by Consort Usia.
There had always been stories across nations of kings who brought ruin upon their realms after being bewitched by concubines, but to think that such a man was their emperor—how disheartening.
“...Consort Usia is formidable indeed.”
A concubine who ruled above the Emperor.
Regardless, the marquis swallowed his bitterness and introduced Leonia.
Emperor Subiteo looked down on her with a disapproving gaze.
“She’s the spitting image of the Duke.”
Even as a bastard child of unknown maternity, she carried the Voreoti blood unmistakably.
That deeply dark black hair and eyes, the slightly upturned eyes, and the firmly pressed, straight lips.
And on top of that, the insolence to stare him down without fear—utterly disgraceful.
“Lady Voreoti, this is His Majesty, the great Emperor of the Empire.”
Marquis Pardus stepped in at the perfect moment. Emperor Subiteo squared his shoulders and looked down at the child.
To Marquis Pardus, he looked like a pigeon puffing out its chest. He smiled faintly at the ridiculous sight.
“......”
Leonia and Emperor Subiteo stared at each other in silence for quite some time.
Neither spoke first.
The child looked up at the Emperor with innocent curiosity, while the Emperor waited—intently—for her to speak first.
If he were a man of greater magnanimity, perhaps he would have initiated the conversation.
But Emperor Subiteo was not such a man.
“...You’re the emperor, mister?”
Leonia finally opened her mouth.
The word ‘mister’ turned several nobles pale.
Someone even gasped, “Hiiik!”
“I was taught the emperor was supposed to be a great person.”
Leonia grinned brightly.
“Is that so?”
At last, the Emperor reacted for the first time.
Even though she was a bastard, she was still a Voreoti. He never expected her to say something that resembled praise.
“I am indeed the Emperor of this Empire.”
In a pleased voice, he introduced himself.
Compared to dealing with Ferio, Leonia felt so much weaker, more pliable.
He figured he could toy with her as he pleased and plant fear in her.
At the same time, he’d also leave the nobles with an impression of his benevolence.
“How did you find the banquet?”
Emperor Subiteo asked, as if generously bestowing a gift.
“It was boring.”
And just like that, the baby beast hurled dung in his face.
