I Became the Male Lead's Adopted Daughter-Chapter 109
After a long, satisfying nap, Leonia awoke to a delightful surprise from Ferio.
“Want to go on a picnic?”
“Yes!”
Ferio had unexpectedly suggested that they take some time to explore and have fun before returning to the North.
Leonia instantly agreed, beaming with joy.
She quickly ran to the bookshelf and pulled out a book titled Tourist Attractions of the West, her dark eyes sparkling as she held it out to him.
“Are you really that excited?”
Ferio let out a quiet laugh, a bit taken aback.
“Of course! Going on a trip with Daddy is a big deal.”
“You say that like I never take you anywhere.”
Ferio countered, reminding her of how he’d often taken her to the square whenever he had time. And during their stay at Count Rinne’s estate, they’d even gone to the beach together.
But the baby beast simply clicked her tongue and wagged her finger.
“Don’t underestimate the play-hunger of a seven-year-old.”
A simple trip to the local plaza or the beach wasn’t nearly enough.
“Leonia, must you always use words like that?”
“What? ‘Hunger’?”
Leonia flipped open the book and asked innocently.
“Daddy, whining over something that trivial is so uncool. Besides, ‘hunger’ isn't a bad word. It's the driving force of life.”
With a hand over her heart, she declared solemnly that everyone carries their own hunger inside them.
“Nice excuse.”
But Ferio wasn’t buying it.
To his ears, it just sounded like she was defending her pervy vocabulary.
“Ugh, why do you have to be handsome and annoying?”
“If you’re that annoyed, leave the house.”
“No thanks.”
Leonia rubbed her head affectionately against Ferio’s arm.
“I need to inherit the fortune.”
“My materialistic little brat...”
Who else but me would raise you with this much love?
Ferio tapped her head as he reviewed the map of the village they’d explore after their forest stroll.
* * *
The road home to the North turned into a joyful journey.
“This forest is huge!”
“Shh, quiet now.”
The beastly father and daughter had come to the forest for a proper nature walk, pausing to focus on the sounds of the woods.
Ferio cupped his hand like a funnel around her ear.
“Listen closely.”
Leonia took her father’s hand and closed her eyes.
“Wow...”
Suddenly, sounds she hadn’t noticed before tickled her ears.
Birdsong, the quick rustling of small animals, and the gentle swaying of high branches in the wind—all layered like a symphony.
Leonia smiled brightly.
“It feels like I just had something really delicious.”
“You ate something?”
“My ears are like a mouth, and the sounds are delicious.”
Listening to nature had made her overwhelmingly happy, she explained.
The two had come into the forest alone—no guards—for a quiet stroll.
The villa staff had packed sandwiches and drinks into a basket for their lunch.
Afterward, they planned to stop by a nearby village to buy souvenirs.
The return carriage would be waiting in that village when they were ready to head back.
“Daddy, I want to write a letter to the Capital estate.”
“Then let’s stop by the village after lunch and write one.”
“And I want to buy a gift too!”
After chatting and walking for a while, the beastly duo sat down for lunch beneath the trunk of a massive tree.
Ferio spread a mat, and Leonia rolled ✪ Nоvеlіgһt ✪ (Official version) onto it playfully.
She pulled out a sandwich from the basket and offered it to him.
“You first.”
“Now that’s rare...”
He was about to praise her for being sweet when he noticed something suspicious.
Leonia held one sandwich out to him, but she had another one subtly hidden behind her back.
One was perfectly intact, while the other was slightly squished, with sauce leaking from the wrapper.
“...Fine, you take the pretty one.” frёewebnoѵēl.com
“Everything tastes better when it’s a little messy.”
Leonia chirped, full of charm, comparing it to how gimbap always tastes better when the side is slightly burst open.
“Gimbap? What’s that?”
Ferio accepted the misshapen sandwich and asked. It was the first time he’d heard the word.
“Uh, I saw it in a dream. You take dried seaweed, add seasoned rice, veggies, ham—stuff like that—then roll it up. It was sooo good.”
Leonia explained enthusiastically while unwrapping her sandwich.
A bite of her chicken sandwich, soaked in sweet mustard sauce, quickly disappeared into her small mouth.
“You wrap rice in seaweed?”
Seaweed was sometimes used in Southern salads, and rice was a delicacy imported from exotic lands in the East.
The combination sounded strange even to imagine.
Ferio took a big bite of his sandwich.
It tasted good.
After finishing lunch, the two continued walking until they reached the village on the edge of the forest.
It was a small, simple place, but because it was near a popular vacation spot, it was surprisingly lively.
According to Ferio, the Rinne estate was nearby, so there was always foot traffic.
The two wore hats to hide their black hair.
Their outfits were simpler than usual, toned down for the occasion.
But no matter how much they covered up or dressed down, the eyes of passersby naturally gravitated toward the beastly pair.
Ferio’s beauty shimmered like he belonged to another world, and Leonia had inherited every bit of it.
“Daddy, I want to buy stationery and a pen.”
“Shall we go into the shop?”
“I want to check out that one.”
This translation is the intellectual property of Novelight.
But the beastly father and daughter paid little attention to the stares.
In fact, they moved around the village quite comfortably. Unlike in the Capital, no one here whispered or pointed when they recognized them.
They entered a small shop and bought a letter set decorated with forest illustrations, along with a pen and some ink. Then they dropped by a street café nearby.
Of all the tables lined up under the shade of the awning, the one occupied by the beastly duo drew the most attention without question.
“...I don’t have to write like a noble, right?”
Before beginning her letter, Leonia looked up and asked.
She didn’t want to write with all the stiff, pretentious language nobles used.
“They’re family, aren’t they?”
Ferio replied, pulling over a nearby empty chair and placing the lunch basket on top. He gestured for her to write comfortably.
“Then...”
Leonia began jotting down her thoughts—how they’d safely passed through the gate, how she already missed everyone, how winter would come right after autumn so they should dress warmly and eat lots of hot soup...
While she wrote, Ferio quietly read the book he’d brought along, sipping the coffee they’d ordered. Every so often, he glanced at Leonia and smiled to himself.
“But, Daddy.”
By the time she reached the third sheet of stationery, Leonia suddenly spoke up, a thought popping into her head.
“You’ve been reading a lot lately.”
She’d had a similar thought when they passed through the Western gate.
Has he always liked reading this much?
Even back in the North, he would occasionally lean on the couch with a book during rest time, but he hadn’t been this constantly glued to it.
Now, every time she looked, he was reading.
“What are you reading? Is it interesting?”
“Are you done with your letter?”
“Mhm. Just two more pages.”
“You didn’t catch it from Inseréa, did you?”
Ferio gave her a sidelong glance. Ever since Leonia got close to Inseréa, he wondered if she’d picked up the habit of writing long letters too.
“Nooo!”
Leonia shot him a look as she returned to her writing.
“I meant, what kind of book are you so into?”
She pouted and held out her hand, subtly demanding the book.
Ferio looked between the small outstretched hand and the book, then gave a slight shrug.
“Don’t pull out the bookmark.”
“Hehe, I’m just gonna move it to a new spot.”
“You’re a menace.”
Still, Ferio handed it over.
The moment Leonia received the book, she read the title on the cover.
“Report on Ancient Ruins.”
Then tilted her head and blinked up at him.
“You read stuff like this?”
“You shouldn’t be picky with books.”
“Ugh, you can’t go five minutes without lecturing, can you?”
“And you can’t go five minutes without talking back.”
Ignoring him, Leonia continued flipping through the book.
It looked like it had been bought recently—the cover was still pristine.
“Huh?”
She spotted a familiar name.
Ardea Bosgruni.
“Professor Ardea?”
“It’s a paper he published.”
“Really? Whoa!”
Leonia’s eyes lit up at the unexpected reveal.
She recalled what she’d heard back at the Academy and the Imperial Research Institute.
Ardea, despite his messy personal life, was second to none in academic skill.
One of his protégés had gone on to great success.
And his final student was Varia, right?
I hope she’s doing well...
Thinking of Varia, Leonia flipped through the pages, eyes skimming.
“What’s it about?”
“A paper Ardea published.”
“A paper?”
“It came out last year. Caused quite a stir.”
Leonia blinked in surprise at Ferio’s explanation.
“So it stirred things up outside the house too, huh.”
Her eyes narrowed slightly at the book.
As a teacher, she respected Ardea—but as an adult, he wasn’t someone she wanted to emulate.
“What’s the paper about?”
“Exactly what the title says. It’s a study of ancient ruins.”
“Oh, right. He was a history teacher.”
So that was his field of expertise. Leonia nodded, piecing things together.
Wait, there are ancient ruins here?
That was what really surprised her.
The idea that this world had ancient ruins too made it all feel startlingly real.
Her curiosity piqued, Leonia opened the book at a random section where no bookmark had been placed and began reading the beginning of a chapter.
“Across various nations, there are differing theories about the origin of humanity...”
To summarize:
There are many theories about humanity’s origins, but in the Bellius Empire, a widely accepted idea is that humankind began in the vast southern seas.
Leonia thought that theory made a lot of sense.
Feels kind of like evolution.
Though it wasn’t strictly evolutionary—it also incorporated elements of creationism, where a god had created life starting in the sea, with humans being the final creation.
“Here.”
Leonia handed the book back.
“Pretty interesting.”
She asked Ferio to let her borrow it once he finished reading. The almost-eight-year-old was showing interest in a famous professor’s academic thesis.
“But why did it cause such a stir?”
