I Became the Male Lead’s Adopted Daughter
Chapter 214

Count Urmariti wanted nothing more than to storm the platform.

‘That bastard! That filthy scum...!’

The very man responsible for pushing his innocent young daughter to her death was right before his eyes.

He was just a few steps away—close enough to wrap his hands around that bastard’s throat and crush it.

But the Count had to swallow back his blood-red rage and suppress the urge.

That swan bastard couldn’t be killed so easily. He had to writhe in agony.

He needed to be tormented until he begged to die, until even hell recoiled in horror at the suffering he endured.

And the one creating that opportunity... was the granddaughter left behind by his dead daughter.

“To smear such a disgrace on my dead child!”

His fury toward Remus was entirely real.

“Do not insult my daughter!”

His voice, charged with fury and eyes blazing like a blade, rang through the temple.

“You’d better shut your damn mouth before I rip it off! Don’t you dare speak my dead daughter’s name with that foul tongue of yours!”

Count Urmariti’s threat was so chilling it sent shivers down the spines of all present. Yet the nobles understood him completely.

“To speak so of a dead girl... and a Voreoti, no less...”

“It’s a miracle the Count didn’t kill him on the spot.”

“Can you imagine the pain he endured from all the rumors?”

“Then why didn’t he say anything sooner?”

At that question, the Marquis of Hesperi, who had silently observed, let out a scoffing laugh.

“Is that something to say from the mouths of people who, until moments ago, believed Olor’s bastard was the real father?”

His mocking tone made the nobles cough awkwardly in embarrassment.

“Don’t twist my words. I’m simply saying we should understand the Count’s perspective.”

After all, if House Voreoti or Count Urmariti had publicly denied the rumors about Regina, it would only have fanned the flames—fueling speculation and further tarnishing the name of the dead.

People drawn to salacious gossip would never be moved by a sober plea.

The Marquis’s sharp remark silenced all the previously noisy mouths.

Some flushed with shame, others lowered their gazes in guilt.

The truth was, nearly everyone here had played a part in smearing Regina’s honor, treating her like juicy gossip.

Only a handful could say they had the right to offer Count Urmariti comfort.

“Thank you, Marquis.”

Now more composed, Count Urmariti expressed his gratitude.

The Marquis gave a short nod as if to say it was nothing. He too believed he had no right to offer comfort so easily.

He wasn’t a perfect father either.

Regardless, the momentum had now completely shifted to the Voreoti side.

Eyes filled with contempt and disgust turned toward Remus. It was the first time in his life he had faced such disgrace, and it shocked him deeply.

This moment—where no one believed a word he said—felt like a living nightmare.

‘Is this a dream?’

But the sound of Count Urmariti’s thunderous threat still rang vividly in his ears.

“I will not let this pass!”

Count Urmariti declared.

“I will make Olor pay for the sin of insulting my dead daughter!”

“And so will Voreoti.”

Ferio joined in.

Before she was Count Urmariti’s daughter, Regina had been a rightful member of House Voreoti, a bearer of the Fangs of the Beast.

Ferio had every right to exact that punishment.

“I’ll personally teach you just how heavy the price is for touching the name Voreoti.”

The Beast of the North twisted his lips into a grim smile.

Remus drew in a sharp breath.

He had practically laid his neck on the guillotine. The nobles’ scornful stares were the blades poised above him, and Ferio was the executioner who would bring them down.

For the first time in his life, Remus felt something akin to the fear of death.

“N-No!”

He recoiled violently.

“Regina really did sleep with me! That girl you adopted from the orphanage—she’s my daughter! She has my blood!”

But no matter how loudly Remus screamed, not a single soul believed him.

Instead, people looked at him with sheer revulsion.

Just the sight of him shamelessly airing his delusions and claiming another man’s daughter as his own was enough to make anyone sick.

Unable to watch any longer, Lota fled the platform.

But even as she descended, she had nowhere to go. She nearly ran toward her father, Count Erbanu, but froze like a nervous puppy mid-step.

‘He’s not going to help me...’

Lota was sure of it. The moment she saw Count Erbanu’s face, the ground felt like it dropped beneath her feet again.

That man only cared for her when she was being "useful." She couldn’t trust him.

And in truth, Count Erbanu paid Lota no mind. He was too busy panicking, worried the flames might leap onto him.

After all, he was the one who had arranged an engagement between his then-underage daughter and that pedophile.

‘I need to get on Varia’s good side...!’

So instead, he was busy scheming how to look favorable to Varia.

“...But wait.”

Ferio, largely unimpressed by all of this, suddenly muttered.

“How exactly do you know Regina?”

That offhanded remark made Remus immediately lunge forward.

“Because I saw her myself!”

“How?”

Ferio asked.

“Regina lived her whole life in the North, and you’ve always been in the capital and South.”

“That’s because I was in the North!”

Watching from behind, Leonia smiled.

‘Got him!’

She clenched a quiet fist of victory.

“In the North?”

Why would you be there?

Ferio tilted his head, genuinely unable to make sense of it.

Remus, seeing this as his only chance to prove his claim, lit up.

The veins in his neck bulged.

“Regina taught me so much! She trusted me, loved me, and taught me many things! I can prove it right here, right now!”

“Viscount Olor’s son!”

Then Emperor Subiteo cut in, voice brimming with anger.

“What is this disgraceful display!”

His face was plainly aghast.

“You insult the dead and show no remorse. Do you not even know the meaning of shame?!”

For once, the Emperor was speaking like a decent person.

Ferio’s eyebrow twitched ever so slightly. He never imagined he’d live to hear such righteousness come from that man’s mouth.

He fought the urge to laugh. No way he’d miss this wonderful scene over a lapse in composure.

“This is truly disgraceful.”

The Emperor berated Remus, full of disappointment.

“You, who have lost your honor, have no right to speak.”

To be abandoned by the Emperor filled Remus with intense betrayal.

A sinister grinding echoed from between his clenched teeth.

“By the Emperor’s authority, this Honor Ceremony is hereby—”

The Emperor tried to quickly declare the ceremony over, but Remus cut him off.

“The Imperial Family sent me to the North!”

A new claim appeared.

“For years, the Imperial Family coveted Voreoti! I was a knight in the Imperial Order back then. On the late Emperor’s command, I infiltrated the North! That’s how I met Regina!”

The temple erupted once again. This was an entirely new—and even more shocking—story.

“W-What nonsense...!”

The flustered Emperor stammered.

“How will you prove that?”

Ferio asked.

Remus grinned.

“There should be records in the Order. I was officially part of the Imperial Knights.”

“You bastard!”

Despite the Emperor’s wrath, Remus didn’t stop.

“They told me to find Voreoti’s weaknesses!”

He began loudly spilling secrets about Voreoti in public.

His throat was so tight that his voice rang with metallic strain, and spit flew from his mouth in his frenzy.

“Black diamond suppresses the Fangs of the Beast! If a Voreoti consumes powdered black diamond, they’ll die!”

Leonia scowled.

‘He’s completely insane.’

It was a wonder he’d managed to hide his freakish nature all this time.

To Leonia, Remus looked like a raging monster—finally exposing his true form.

He was a twisted freak who only felt satisfied when controlling every situation in the palm of his hand.

This moment was proof of that.

The second things stopped going his way, he turned into this.

Leonia hadn’t expected him to fall apart so easily, but it seemed Ferio and Varia had anticipated it.

“Remus was always that weak.”

Varia calmly explained from beside her.

The eyes watching Remus’s screaming fit were ice-cold.

“The weaker a person is, the easier they fall apart when something unexpected happens.”

That’s why he tried so hard to control everything—because he was too pathetic to handle anything otherwise.

“...But that’s not weak, that’s just crazy.”

Leonia pouted.

“This isn’t even fun.”

All the cool lines had already been taken by her dad, and the little beast cub was annoyed.

All she had done was prick her finger and shed a few drops of blood.

Even Varia had gotten in a solid blow at Remus, and she hadn’t.

‘Should I cry?’

Maybe it’d be fine to cry like she used to, and fully unleash the Fangs of the Beast.

She knew how to control them now—she could aim them right at Remus and the Emperor, no problem.

“Then go on, say something.”

Varia smiled playfully. Leonia’s eyes widened.

“Really?”

“Just shout, ‘Stop spouting nonsense!’ in a cool voice.”

“But wouldn’t I be ruining Dad’s cool moment?”

“This whole thing’s already a wreck.”

At Varia’s words, Leonia grinned.

“Mom, you’re so smart.”

“So does that mean I’m cool, too?”

“You’ve been cool since the first time I saw you!”

“And Leonia’s been cool from the start, too.”

The two hugged each other tightly.

Then Leonia darted to Ferio’s side. He looked down at her, the daughter who had suddenly appeared beside him, with an unreadable expression.

But then he glanced toward Varia behind her and chuckled softly, stepping aside.

“What a complete idiot.”

Leonia sneered at Remus.

“So if a Voreoti eats black diamond, they weaken, and pregnant Voreotis weaken their Fangs of the Beast?”

She scoffed, repeating Remus’s nonsense word for word.

“You pathetic lunatic.”

Ferio and Varia had each landed a blow.

“And everyone who sided with this lunatic...”

That comment earned a chorus of embarrassed coughs from around the hall. Leonia’s lips curled into a wicked smile.

Now it was time for the little beast to ❀ Nоvеlігht ❀ (Don’t copy, read here) have the final word.