The Protecting Lion (I Became the Male Leads Adopted Daughter)

Chapter 3

The carriage continued on their journey to the north until night. Leonia and Ramona were snuggling up with each other with a blanket over both of them, although Ramona secretively shifted it to Leonia so she wouldn't get cold or sick. Leonia snuggled further towards Ramona as they both peacefully rested. Phileo noticed that although Ramona appeared to be sleeping, she was wide awake. Furthermore, during the carriage ride, she kept repeatedly coughing.

'It would seem shes a more sickly child then Leonia I suppose.' Phileo concluded. The carriage stopped abruptly, Phileo turning to the side to see Dame Meleis. "What is Dame Levipath." He asked. "I'm sorry we had to stop so suddenly, your grace. It's late and the ladies don't seem well. We were wondering if you would like to spend the night in a nearby inn. "

"Ah, i'm fine!" Leonia sprung up. "Me too, I feel fine." Ramona added but the two were completely ignored as Phileo continued with Dame Meleis's suggestion. "I'm talking here mister!" Leonia yelled, trying to catch their attention as Ramona visibly scowled and scoffed. "You're shaking because you have not eaten, but you still seem to have a loud voice." Phileo stated. "And you, have been coughing and looking tired the whole ride, I wouldn't be surprised if you just fainted right then and now." Ramona flinched, it was true though but she didn't know that he realised her looking sick.

The two fell silent in defeat but still had frowning faces.

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'It seems alright for Leonia and Ramona to rest here.' Phileo concluded as he observed the inn. As Leonia was getting ready to leave the carriage, she lost hold of the railing and fell but not before Phileo could catch her in time. "LEONIA-" Ramona yelled from behind her, extending her arm to catch her but fortunately Leonia fell into Phileo's arm. "W-wow I almost died..!! Mister your reaction time is something else.." Leonia gaped in awe however she was still stunned from the fall.

Ramona quickly rushed over, repeatedly asking if Leonia was okay which honestly hurt everyones ears. "Are you okay, are you okay, are you okay, are you okay, are you okay?!?!!" Ramona scrambled. Furthermore, what was more surprising is that Phileo had took a knee to catch Leonia. "Dame Levipath, take care of them."

"Ah, yes sir!" Meleis quickly responded. "First, get them somewhere warm and then some food afterwards." Phileo ordered. "I'll go ask the inn owner to make preparations right away." Meleis following his command. Passing over Leonia into Meleis arms, Ramona quickly waddled over to Leonia's side. "Who are you?" Leonia asked curiously.

"My name is Levipath Meleis, my ladies. Please call me Meleis." She introduced. "Are you a knight too?" Leonia continued asking. As Meleis continued moving, Ramona scurried to follow her but Ramona was kind of short and tired so she struggled a bit. Meleis noticing, simply slowed down for her to catch up. "Yes, that's right."

"Wow, thats so cool!" Leonia beamed as Ramona repeatedly nodded her head in agreement, kind of in an excited way.

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Meleis's heart sank at the sight, Leonia's back was covered in all kind of injuries and Ramona was covered in injuries and scars from head to toe. "..." Ramona scowled. She had never liked anyone seeing her injuries, in fact she never liked anyone seeing her being weak, for example getting sick. Luckily, Leonia interrupted the silence. "Unnie!"

"Ah, yes..yes." She quickly snapped back. "My back is a bit bruised right..." Leonia said, touching her bruises. "I really want it to heal faster~ I keep waking up because it stings. I kept getting hit before It could heal at all." Leonia sulked sadly. My lady, please close your eyes."

"Okay!" Leonia responded. Meleis was bathing Leonia because Ramona insisted on bathing herself, Meleis sneaking a glance to make sure Ramona was okay. "My lady, don't worry too much about the bruises. At your age, a little rest and some good food can heal anything." Meleis uttered.

"My younger brother gets hurt a lot too, so I have medicine that helps with healing. I'll put some on after we're done washing." Meleis continued. "Also Lady Ramona, are you sure you don't need help?" Meleis turned to the side. "Yes, I do not. Continue on with Leonia." Ramona firmly stated as she scrubbed her hair. Her whole body stung when it touched water or even the slightest force. "You have a younger brother?" Leonia asked.

"Yeah. He's a ball of trouble so he goes around and gets hurt a lot."

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"Surprise~!" Leonia proudly showed off her new clothes as Ramona was complimenting her left and right. It was a simple blue dress with a white undershirt with her hair tied into two pigtails. While Ramona was wearing a simple long flowy white dress with black collars, sleeves, buttons and pockets and a large long braid.

"..."

"It smells so nice! I've never smelled something like this before~" Leonia continued. Ramona admitted secretly that she too loved certain smells for example, the clothing. "You're still pretty ugly." Phileo blatantly stated which broke off Leonia's celebration. An irk mark appeared on Ramona's forehead. "How dare you call my cute precious adorable sister ugly you fat piece of **** *** * ******* **** ***** ****** annoying *******."
("you fat piece of shit get a fucking life loser bastard annoying asshole.")

The whole room stood stunned as Leonia started laughing out loud. Phileo stood in silence. "What a wide range of vocabulary." He commented.

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As Leonia slept peacefully in a bed, Ramona laid next to her wide awake. In another room, Phileo and Meleis continued discussing.

"The abuse seemed pretty serious. According to the lady, the beatings took place continually over long periods of time. Lady Ramona's body was covered head to toe in scars. I was so surprised because they were both too small for their age but it looks like they didn't feed her properly as well." Meleis reported, Phileo analysing the situation quietly. "Dame Levipath."

"Yes, your grace. "

"Anyone who has dared to touch the children will be brought to the dukedom. I'll torture them myself."

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Phileo walked back to his room, on the way hearing Ramona's aggressive coughing. He peeked inside and saw her on the ground, gasping for air while coughing up blood onto the floor. He slightly entered the room and leaned on the doorway as Ramona scrambled to clean up the blood.

"You never informed either me or Meleis about this. If we were aware, we could have called a doctor." He suddenly cut in as Ramona flinched, turning towards him. "D-don't be dramatic, it's just a little blood-" Ramona excused before coughing aggressively again.

Phileo sighed and rubbed the back of his head. "You're one troublesome kid aren't you?" He stated. Ramona immediately scoffed, glaring at him. "The minute we arrive in the north, you will see the family physician." Phileo said, turning around, preparing to leave. "W-wait!" Ramona scurried to deny it.

"No excuses, you're going even if you're as right as rain."

"Hold on, don't I have a say in this?!" Ramona argued. "I'm your parent now which means I'm responsible of your health. Plus Leonia and you need treatment for your injuries anyway." He refuted back, slamming the door shut, leaving no time for Ramona to fight back.

AUTHORS NOTE
-this has actually been sitting in my drafts for more then six months and i was planning on only releasing it once i completed it but eh why not 🤷‍♀️ anyways have an amazing day, i prob wont ever update this but if you want i can post a wip