The Adopted Princess Hopes to Escape the Genre - Chapter 0
“His Royal Highness, Crown Prince Eryan Winston Festine, and his partner, Lady Delphinium, daughter of the Duke, make their entrance!”
A debutante ball—a dream for any young noble lady.
Once just an ordinary college student, I, Yoon Se-ah, finally reached my debutante ball in this world I’ve lived in for eleven years—a spectacle I’d only ever read about in novels.
And here I was, holding the hand of the Crown Prince, an honor that every young noble lady in the empire could only dream of.
I stole a glance at Eryan, who was escorting me. His blonde hair gleamed under the lights, contrasting perfectly with his blue eyes. Even if I’d seen him on a high-speed KTX train, he’d unmistakably still look like a crown prince.
Sensing my gaze, Eryan tilted his head toward me and quietly asked,
“My Lady, what on earth possessed you to accept this proposal? I was sure you’d turn it down.”
“For the same reason you offered it to me, Your Highness.”
“I had a bit of a selfish motive. I didn’t realize you’d have a personal interest in me as well.”
He flashed a bright smile, starting to spout nonsense. Without a change in expression, I answered his theatrics with ventriloquy-like precision.
“Let’s just keep it strictly business. Just business.”
With a shrug, as if he expected my reaction, Eryan extended his arm to me once more.
“If you’re going to do it, do it right. Isn’t that so?”
“Yes, yes.”
I hooked my arm around Eryan’s, annoyed by his relaxed attitude even in such an important situation, and gave a little squeeze on purpose. Suddenly, I felt a prickling gaze from somewhere—a persistent, sharp one.
When I turned toward the source of the gaze, I saw Rashid, who looked distinctly displeased. As our eyes met, a deep crease formed between Rashid’s brows, even more pronounced than before.
‘Here I am, enduring this intense stare while entering with the Crown Prince, and all because of him. Talk about nerve.’
Not willing to back down, I glared right back at Rashid. He seemed caught off guard, not expecting me to respond in kind.
Once the exhausting entrance ceremony was over, Eryan, being the Crown Prince, had to move to the seat of honor, so he handed me over to my eldest brother, Theodore.
Having attracted a lifetime’s worth of attention with just this one debutante entrance, I was drained and muttered my complaints to Theodore, hoping for a break.
“I’d be fine on my own, you know.”
“A lady must always be accompanied by a gentleman in the ballroom.”
‘Why can’t they ever leave me alone here?’
“If I stay in such a crowded place too long, people start draining my energy. I really need to go rest alone in my room….”
Before I could even finish, Theodore gave off an intimidating aura, his face dead serious. Thanks to this, the noblemen who had been inching closer to strike up a conversation with us began backing away, one by one.
“I’ve never heard of such a magic before. Who, exactly, is stealing your energy? If I kill them, will your energy remain untouched?”
“Your actions right now….”
I sighed deeply at Theodore’s utterly unrestrained behavior, but before I could process it, three individuals who would only worsen my headache approached.
“So, you ended up debuting as Delphinium. It wouldn’t have hurt to debut under Marmelo, you know. Even now, it’s not too late to reconsider.”
“Hello, Duke Marmelo. Thank you for the suggestion, but I’ll have to decline.”
“It seems the one who needs to reconsider isn’t our Lassetia, but you, Duke Marmelo.”
Just then, out of nowhere, the Duke of Delphinium appeared, his face filled with rage.
‘Why are these two suddenly fighting now?’
Not wanting to get involved in this commotion, I started to back away. But as I did, something caught on my heel.
“Oh, excuse m—”
“So, a beggar’s made it big, huh?”
“Hey. I was bored anyway, so this is perfect. Why not just move into our house instead of making me come find you all the time?”
When I turned around, the sons of Duke Marmelo were standing there, arms crossed in a line, staring at me.
“Hello, young masters of Marmelo. Thank you for the offer, but I’ll have to decline.”
I repeated the same response like an automated answering machine.
“Especially for you, I’ll… hmm… even let you be my subordinate.”
“Don’t try anything with my sister.”
Now Theodore joined in, adding even more to the commotion.
‘Why are you all fighting now, too?’
I sighed, pressing my fingers to my temples, when yet another person approached.
“Lady, I have something to discuss regarding the research.”
“Hello, Archduke Douglas. Thank you for the offer, but I’ll have to decline.”
“I haven’t made any offer yet, though.”
“Yes. I decline.”
Turning my head, I noticed Rashid, whose expression had visibly darkened, standing beside his sister, Lady Baccharis, who was laughing uproariously at his discomfort.
With a weary look, I greeted Lady Baccharis with a nod, then took a quick glance around. For some reason, I was surrounded entirely by men.
Already, whispers had been circulating among the noble ladies, and today was likely to fuel those rumors even more.
“Isn’t anyone busy? Please, either go do your own business or have your conversations away from me.”
At that moment, the second son of Marmelo shouted out loudly.
“Hold on! Everyone, disperse!”
All eyes shifted to the second son of Marmelo, pausing mid-argument.
‘Finally, someone who understands my situation…!’
“Standing around here makes it look like she’s popular! Why is everyone gathered here? Go on, scatter!”
“…Really.”
I didn’t even do anything, and yet you all just came over on your own.
Ignoring my reaction of utter disbelief, the eldest son of Marmelo nodded in agreement and distanced himself from me. Beside him, Theodore and Lucian were fuming, demanding to know what he meant by that. Meanwhile, the Dukes of Delphinium and Marmelo were still locked in a tense standoff, using my “affiliations” as an excuse for their power struggle.
“……”
Ah, damn. I’m so exhausted. Will someone, please, just send me home?
Rubbing my face in exasperation, I thought back to how all of this began.
