"Why did you put on clothes?"
Leonia’s voice was filled with obvious discontent.
"Who do you think made me?"
"It’s not like you’ll wear out if I look!"
"I’ve really reached my limit. Even my own daughter harasses me now."
"Hmm, okay, sorry then."
Leonia repented immediately, linking her pinky finger as if making a vow.
"I’ll sneak peeks from now on."
Instead of meeting her pinky with his own, Ferio muttered about how he needed to find her a proper etiquette teacher as soon as possible. Leonia puffed up her cheeks in protest.
"So, why are you here?"
Remembering her reason for coming, Leonia rummaged through her pocket and pulled something out.
"This is for you, Uncle."
Inside a small ribbon-wrapped pouch were clumsily shaped cookies.
"You worked so hard torturing people in the underground prison earlier, right? You must be tired, so I baked cookies with the head chef. Eat these and regain your strength."
She explained that she had reduced the sugar content since Ferio didn’t like sweets.
"You always give me candy, so this time, I’m giving you something."
Ferio alternated his gaze between the cookies and Leonia.
"Not that it matters, but the ingredients for these cookies were bought with my money anyway."
From the grand mansion to the toilet paper in the bathroom, everything in this estate belonged to the Duke of Voreoti, Ferio himself.
"...I really hate it when you do that."
Leonia pouted, complaining about his complete lack of romance. How could someone look so cold and grim while bragging about money? It was exasperating.
"If you’re not going to eat it, give it back!"
She reached out to snatch the cookies back, but it was futile. Ferio swiftly tucked the pouch into his pocket.
"Who said I wasn’t eating them?"
"I don’t want to give them to you anymore. Do you think people can survive without money?"
"Your money is mine now, anyway."
"Uncle, I was joking earlier."
Understanding what he meant, Leonia quickly backtracked, tapping her tiny fist against her forehead with a playful grin. She even stuck out her tongue, her winking eye fluttering awkwardly.
Having become an outsider in the room, Lupe silently watched the father and daughter.
‘Did they forget I was here?’
They had completely lost themselves in their own world, leaving Lupe utterly ignored.
Only after Leonia left the room did Lupe finally find an opening to speak.
"Oh, you’re still here."
So, they really had forgotten him. Lupe let his shoulders slump in defeat. He hadn’t even done anything, yet his exhaustion deepened. Honestly, he just wanted to rest for a few days—maybe even three or four.
"What {N•o•v•e•l•i•g•h•t} did you come to say again?"
"I haven’t even started yet."
Ferio’s tone was dry, vastly different from how he had just spoken to Leonia.
He unwrapped the cookies and examined one. Though they looked crude, they were baked to a nice golden brown. The scent was pleasantly nutty. Taking a bite, he tasted ginger—perfect for when he was tired.
Lupe found himself genuinely surprised.
‘He actually looks like a real person.’
Normally, Ferio was indifferent to everything and everyone, a figure of cold detachment. But when that tiny girl appeared, he instinctively pulled her into his arms, met her eyes, and had an actual conversation.
His tone, though laced with teasing, carried warmth and responsibility.
The Duke of Voreoti, when with the child, was no longer as terrifying.
"...It’s about Miss Leonia."
Ferio, mid-chew, shifted his gaze toward him.
Yes. That was the look.
Lupe felt a chill run down his spine as Ferio’s atmosphere returned to its usual menacing presence.
"I think we should investigate her background."
"First, I ask that you not get angry when you hear me out."
Ferio’s flat response made Lupe flinch.
Still, he steeled himself, determined to proceed.
"Please, I’m saying this knowing it could cost me my life."
"Are you going to offer a pinky promise, too?"
Ferio scoffed, popping another cookie into his mouth. It was surprisingly to his taste.
Lupe took Ferio’s rare joke as a sign of approval and took a deep breath before speaking.
"I believe Miss Leonia is connected to Lady Regina."
The room fell into complete silence.
Realizing he had stepped on a landmine, Lupe clenched his eyes shut.
Voreoti territory experienced winter sooner than any other place. Yet, despite the chilling atmosphere in the room, sweat trickled down Lupe’s back.
An unbearable, suffocating silence stretched between them.
After a long pause, Ferio finally spoke.
Though Lupe couldn’t bring himself to meet his gaze, the mere sound of his voice made it clear that he was in a terrible mood.
"But her body was never found."
Just as Kara had said.
At the time, the search party had only found the carriage—neither Regina nor her lover’s bodies were ever recovered. The rapids downstream had been vicious, so everyone assumed they had perished. Even Ferio had never questioned that conclusion.
"If they survived and had a child, and if that child is Miss Leonia, then we need to correct the rumors of her being an illegitimate child."
Lupe felt hopeful at Ferio’s murmured response.
"I actually had considered looking into Leonia’s past myself."
"But hearing your theory makes me think I shouldn’t do it."
Lupe, who had just begun to relax, looked up in shock.
"We met Leonia in an orphanage."
"That’s exactly why we need to confirm her parents!"
"To do what? Tell her we found her dead parents?"
Lupe finally understood.
Leonia being in the orphanage meant that—regardless of whether Regina and her lover had survived initially—they were now dead.
Lupe bit his tongue, chastising himself for his thoughtlessness.
"And being Regina’s daughter wouldn’t be good for her."
A runaway noblewoman from a collateral branch who fled with a man her family opposed.
The illegitimate daughter of the most powerful man in the empire, the Duke of Voreoti.
Both labels were scandalous in their own right, but if one had to be chosen as Leonia’s title, the latter held far greater legitimacy. At least with that story, Ferio was assumed to be her biological father.
"...I made a mistake."
Lupe admitted his fault without resistance. He had been too caught up in the past and failed to consider the present. It was a clear miscalculation.
"Still, you’re better than me."
Expecting a withering glare, Lupe instead received an unexpected compliment, making him respond with a dumbfounded voice. Looking up, he finally met Ferio’s gaze.
"Regina’s daughter, huh...."
His expression was calm.
"I never even considered that possibility."
It was almost peaceful.
Why hadn’t I thought of that?
Was it because the child was too thin? Or because she looked like a beggar?
If Lupe had drawn that connection, then Kara, the butler, likely would as well. The current staff at the estate had all been hired after Ferio became Duke. While they may have heard rumors of Regina, they wouldn’t have recognized her face. It made sense that none of them thought of her when seeing Leonia.
But Ferio was different. He had grown up with Regina. He knew her better than anyone.
Yet, not once had he thought Leonia looked like her. Not even close. Until Lupe mentioned it, he had never considered any resemblance.
I swore to forget you, who wanted to escape from Voreoti... and I suppose I really did forget.
A bitter smirk twisted Ferio’s lips.
"Do you think Leonia resembles Regina?"
If anything, she looked more like Ferio.
Ferio felt reassured that his perception wasn’t failing him.
"...Confirming it is simple."
He felt no need to ask Leonia herself or search for Regina’s traces.
He had seen Leonia’s black eyes shimmer like gold dust in the orphanage. At the time, he assumed she had mana. Some children, when born with latent magical ability, instinctively cast protective spells in moments of crisis.
But what if it wasn’t mana?
What if, like himself and Regina, she had inherited the fangs of a beast?
If the child truly carried Voreoti blood—
The snowfall was so dense that nothing could be seen beyond it. This was the true arrival of winter in the North.
The Voreoti territory always welcomed winter earlier than the rest of the empire. It had been cold when Leonia first arrived, but compared to the current frigid storm, that had been nothing.
Leonia, who had been staring at the large poached egg on her plate with sparkling eyes, looked up.
"We’ll have to postpone ‘Dangling’ until later."
Ferio, who had been cutting into his morning steak, spoke casually, popping a bite into Leonia’s mouth. ‘Dangling’ was a new torture method Leonia had devised the day before. The name had been Ferio’s idea.
Munching contentedly, Leonia glanced at the rattling window, shaken by the harsh wind.
"Because of the weather?"
Today, she was dressed in a thickly lined pair of overalls with a soft white shirt underneath. A yellow headband rested on her short black hair.
Her round cheeks looked fuller than they had the day before.
"The knights would freeze to death before the guests did."
Ferio muttered lazily, regretting that he hadn’t strung them up yesterday.
After finishing their meal, the maids draped a light red indoor cloak over Leonia’s shoulders. No matter how warm the mansion was, Ferio had ordered extra precautions for the child, given her still-fragile health.
"I look like Superman."
"A man who wears his underwear over his clothes."
Ferio frowned at the mental image.
"...There are perverts like that?"
"He’s not a pervert. Hmm... He just wears his underwear outside. It’s his personal taste."
Ferio, who was often accused of being a pervert by Leonia, felt unjustly wronged. There was a far worse pervert out there, yet his daughter was defending him.
Leonia, oblivious to his thoughts, continued praising Superman’s muscular physique.
Is this love for strong men in her nature?
Just how bad had her life at the orphanage been for her to turn out ?
The intensity of hospitality awaiting the "guests" in the underground prison would increase yet again.
Clicking his tongue, Ferio watched as Leonia skipped ahead, her red cloak fluttering. Turning back with a grin, she waved enthusiastically at him.
"You’re going to trip and break your nose."
His lazy steps quickened.