The Adopted Princess Hopes to Escape the Genre - Chapter 10
The carriage step was high for someone of my small frame, and the Duke, noticing this, hesitated as he hovered nearby. He seemed to be debating whether he should help me or not.
When I held out my hand to him, he finally rushed over, grabbed it, and helped me up into the carriage. After seating me first, the Duke climbed in and sat across from me before speaking.
“I apologize. Thomas is hot-tempered but deeply loyal to our family. I hope you can understand.”
“Well, I don’t know. If he truly cared about your family, wouldn’t he have adjusted his attitude the moment he realized you were considering adopting me? That’s just a thought I had.”
“……”
“Or maybe he thinks a beggar adopted into the Duke’s family isn’t worth serving? Should I be the one to understand his behavior?”
I shifted my gaze away from the Duke, looking out the window instead.
“I misspoke. I’ll make sure to set things straight with Thomas so that he won’t give you any more reason to worry.”
I didn’t reply to his words, and the Duke didn’t press me further. That was the end of our conversation.
The interior of the rattling carriage fell silent, and I leaned my forehead against the wall, closing my eyes as fatigue set in.
Every now and then, I opened my eyes briefly in a half-asleep state, only to notice the Duke sneaking glances at me. But I wasn’t the type to act affectionately or warmly toward someone just because I could sense their feelings.
I wasn’t close to him, nor did I like him. Besides, I didn’t have the energy left to play nice and navigate social niceties for someone I didn’t care about.
I’d been out in the rain for quite a while and had spent the entire day running around, leaving my stamina completely drained.
For a homebody who spent most of her time lazing around under a blanket, this grueling schedule was far too much to handle.
Didn’t they say that God only gives humans as much hardship as they can bear? It seemed there’d been some serious miscommunication between me and God.
‘This is a bit too much for me to handle.’
As I silently appealed to God about my struggles, I turned my gaze outside. From the carriage window, the world I saw felt slightly alien compared to the one I’d lived in.
There were no skyscrapers, smooth roads, or people glued to their phones as they walked—just a stereotypical medieval European setting.
A world I’d only read about in print turned out to be far more inconvenient than I’d imagined.
Even in the most advanced cars, I’d always suffered from motion sickness, so the jolting, earthquake-like ride of the carriage made me want to get off immediately.
As nausea crept up on me, my expression darkened, and any thought of striking up a conversation with the Duke disappeared entirely.
The Duke, who had been watching me closely, finally spoke after noticing my face, which must have turned pale by now.
“You don’t look well. Are you feeling unwell?”
I slowly opened my previously closed eyes at the sound of his concerned voice from the front.
“The carriage jolting is making me feel a bit sick.”
“Would you feel better if we took a break for a while?”
“No. I’m sorry, but could I sleep for a bit instead? I think it might help.”
“Of course. Don’t worry about me. Do whatever makes you feel comfortable.”
The Duke’s words were the last thing I heard before I fell into sleep, almost collapsing.
***
I slowly opened my eyes, greeted by the pleasant sensation of a soft mattress supporting my back and a thick, plush blanket wrapped around me.
Moving my fingers, I felt around and realized I was lying in a bed.
Opening my eyes, I was met with an unfamiliar ceiling. A ceiling adorned with paintings that looked like something out of a museum.
This is what possession should feel like! This is how it’s supposed to start! Not in a rain-soaked forest!
With a flutter of excitement in my heart, I climbed off the bed and headed to the dressing table.
‘Of course, the first thing to check is my face.’
At last, I would get a proper look at what I looked like now. Taking a short breath, I raised my head, and the reflection in the mirror was… unexpected. Not in terms of beauty, but just unexpected.
The face staring back at me was that of a child with green-tinged hair and slightly muted violet eyes.
I didn’t recall any novels with a protagonist who had green hair. Was this an original world?
Knock-, knock-.
As I scrutinized my reflection, the sound of knocking broke my focus. Before I could say “Come in,” the door burst open.
Startled by the utter lack of decorum, I could only roll my eyes toward the door.
Standing there was a woman, staring at me with clear disapproval.
“You’re awake. The Duke is waiting for you.”
The woman frowned deeply when I didn’t respond, as if wondering why I wasn’t following her already.
“This is why the uneducated are such a problem….”
