I Became the Abandoned Daughter of an Underworld Boss

Otherwise, he would have died.

‘He… hiek…’

His eyes, twisted backwards, beheld the severed neck of Leticia, flung onto the kitchen floor!

Leticia couldn’t even make a proper confession before she died at the hands of the boss.

Perhaps five minutes passed, Sheldon quivered, barely holding on, his face crimson.

“Sa… save me…”

“Hm? What did you say?”

Sheldon’s face, already flushed red, contorted further as he pleaded.

“Khuh… I’m sorry! I… I swear Leticia deserved it! Just… give me a chance! I’ll find Lady Yuriana!”

Heh.

A laugh floated from Asil, so light that it couldn’t even stir the silver strands in his hair.

“Are you planning to put my daughter in the oven, huh? The trouble is, she’s not bread or meat. She isn’t some culinary ingredient you thoughtlessly stole.”

‘He… he heard that!’

Sheldon’s flushed face hadn’t a moment to blanch when Asil’s blade swung.

He recorded the final masterpiece of his life in a cookbook before joining Leticia in the annals of history.

“Huuh~”

“Meow~”

Yuriana successfully secured the cocoon of a silk butterfly, lounging against the black tree, stretching her jaw.

Following her, Lulu showcased a cat yawn, sharp teeth fully displayed. A fitting feline mirror of her new master.

Exhausted or not, she didn’t feel like moving.

Bread, cookies, sausage, water, and a silk butterfly cocoon.

She had weathered the harsh welcome of Dark House, and despite the missing funds, felt satisfied.

Gently stroking Lulu’s languid body across her lap, Yuriana muttered.

“Lulu, where shall we go now?”

“Meow?”

After running away for just a day, Yuriana lacked funds for a spinning wheel. Even if the little girl tried selling silk threads, who would believe it?

And if they asked about her parents… their condition was far from favorable, she would say so.

‘Mom died before I even saw her. She went to Heaven. Dad doesn’t care about me, and if anything, we’re less than strangers. How can I get along with Asil? I don’t feel confident.’

Yuriana’s spirits dampened. Perhaps she’d hold out here for a day or two, then return to Dark House.

Pouring water into the crevices of the stone, she handed it to Lulu, stretched, and yawned.

“Huuuuh…”

She was sleepy.

Her eyes closed as she took out a change of clothes from inside her leather coat and roughly covered her body with it.

Whoo, whoo, whoo…

The mournful call of a nightjar resounded from the depths of the forest, and stars glittered above.

Lulu took a few sips of water, curling against Yuriana’s warm belly, closing her eyes.

Several hours later, Lulu bolted upright.

“…”

“Meow?”

“… shh.”

A tall man stealthily stepped between the trees and put his finger to his lips towards Lulu before gently approaching and silently lifted Yuriana like a doll.

“Mm…”

Was she still dreaming?

Her heavy head nestled against his shoulder, her lips flinching a few times before slipping into a deeper sleep.

Lulu silently followed the man’s movements.

The next morning.

Trying to rise, Yuriana felt a slight strain in her legs.

Right, she ran away from Dark House.

Lulu hadn’t woken her, so her belongings likely hadn’t been tampered with.

Still… with the album, she’d be okay as long as its function worked.

Yuriana stirred and got up, startled.

“Huh?”

What happened?

She had definitely gone joyfully through the kitchen and packed up her belongings to go with Lulu into the Black Tree Forest.

Now she was back in her modest room!

“Lu-Lulu? Where are you?”

“Meow?”

As she tried to find Lulu with a trembling voice, she heard the familiar meowing from the direction of the shelf where Lulu’s cushion and hideout laid.

She quickly turned her head.

On Lulu’s bowl, there was plenty of food, and water too. Lulu was happily munching on dried chicken jerky.

Had she experienced this scene before?

‘Déjà vu…?’

So, it really was a dream?

“… album.”

She muttered halfheartedly, and a small window appeared before her.

Collection limit: 5/99

Rare collection: 1/12

Huh? It was still there; but why was she here?

In the album were cookies, bread, a canteen, smoked sausages, and the cocoon of a silk moth she presumably saved yesterday.

‘What the heck?’

She couldn’t ask Lulu, who could only speak cat language, and everything was still fuzzy.

She had run away and fallen asleep, but why was she back in her original room the next day?

At this rate, it seemed like the tale of

She quickly got off the bed and rushed towards the door.

Crash!

She turned the doorknob, but someone quickly came out of the opposite room and blocked her path.

“Miss!”

“Who are you?”

The woman with neatly tied brown hair knelt down and greeted her with a white apron.

“I’m called Levina. I will be serving Miss Yuriana from now on.”

“Where’s Leticia?”

“N-uh…?”

She flinched.

Levina hesitated at the first question, unable to answer right away.

Yuriana, instead of waiting for her to answer, asked another question.

“Well, I actually felt like I ran away yesterday and escaped, but why am I back here? Have you seen my belongings?”

“Oh, that. They got wet in the dew, so I was drying them outside. Don’t worry, Miss Yuriana. I didn’t throw anything away.”

Levina pointed toward the window beyond the hallway, seemingly relieved that the topic had changed.

On a shaded corner, she saw her tattered clothes and a canteen on a brick.

Her food… hmm, maybe Sheldon took it back.

No big deal: she could copy it now.

But they would probably get startled if they saw her copying, so she should do it somewhere no one was watching.

“Shall we go inside?”

“Okay.”

Levina led Yuriana into the bedroom, nervously shivering.

She knew that people like Asil Litus didn’t easily form bonds with others.

Wait… a brief moment before when he almost did? There was that broken-hearted past after the breakup.

And then there was the daughter, who resembled her father so perfectly.

‘She really is his spitting image.’

Although the boss had taken in his daughter, Levina noticed that Leticia hadn’t given her much attention.

The clothes drying out and packed with food were poorly fitting.

What was she even running away for?

Also, the boss hadn’t visited this annex since that incident.

Levina had expected something like this when she heard that Yuriana, the boss’s daughter, was staying in the annex.

Then the boss pulled out his knife and killed the two embezzlers.

What was even more surprising was that when Yuriana ran away from home, she passed through the magic barrier behind the annex and went out leisurely.

As the boss’s daughter, it wasn’t surprising that she was completely immune to electric magic.

‘The boss said he wasn’t even surprised when he heard the report. What a great father and daughter.’

Regardless of her fear of Asil Litus, Levina had always thought that Yuriana was no good.

She decided to courageously tell the truth.

“Miss, actually, the boss found you sleeping in the forest and brought you here personally. If you see him later, make sure to thank him. He might be happy.”

Yuriana’s eyes widened.

“Dad found me?”

“Yes.”

That made sense.

Lulu, who went with her into the Black Tree Forest, seemed calm and nonchalant, and hadn’t even warned her when a stranger tried to drag her off when she had been pretty ferocious against slave hunters before.

Since Lulu didn’t resist, it must have been Asil who found her.

Yuriana’s heart settled. She then threw out another question that had lingered on her mind.

“But… Levina, where’s Leticia? Did she get mad? I ran away on my own.”

This was difficult…! Levina quickly thought up an excuse.

“Leticia… er… she ran away. She didn’t want to live in Dark Town anymore and left for somewhere in the kingdom.”

“Really?”

“Yes. So, forget about her. You won’t find her.”

Yuriana made a wistful face but chose to understand Leticia.

She probably got bored taking care of a six-year-old kid.

Well, she hadn’t visited in a while, so that must’ve been the reason. Sheldon the cook had hinted at something before.

Now that Leticia had left Dark Town, she hoped she could start afresh and have a better life.

Leticia was pretty and knew how to talk, so she could do just fine anywhere.

Yuriana cheerfully said.

“I hope Leticia has good luck!”

“Y-yeah. I hope so too.”

Levina hastily agreed and then continued on, breaking in cold sweat. Meanwhile, Yuriana decided to tell her what she did wrong.

“In addition, before I left, I felt like I might be hungry, so I raided the kitchen a little. I want to apologize to the cook and the maid. Sheldon’s quick to anger, so he might have taken out his frustrations on the maid.”

Yuriana was spot on.

During her absence, Sheldon had angrily ransacked the kitchen, taking out his frustrations on the maid who was also away.