The Adopted Princess Hopes to Escape the Genre - Chapter 16
Feeling slightly better, I turned to head back to my room, but something caught my foot, and I fell flat on the floor.
“Ah, ♩♬!”
As I hit the ground, my knee collided with the floor, and a sharp jolt of pain shot through my leg.
“Which ♬♪ dared to trip me, ♬♪♩♩?”
Still lying on the floor, I glanced around, but there was no one in sight. The moment I realized I’d fallen on my own, the embarrassment quickly replaced the pain.
Afraid someone might have seen me, I cleared my throat and hurriedly propped myself up as if nothing had happened. Feeling sheepish, I reached for the rabbit doll I’d dropped in the fall, but someone emerged from the shadows and stepped on it.
My face immediately scrunched up in irritation, and words slipped out before I could stop them.
“Excuse me, you’re stepping on my rabbit doll.”
“…….”
“I don’t know who you are, but could you please move?”
A mocking laugh came from above at my words. When I raised my head toward the sound, the person who had stepped on my rabbit doll revealed themselves from the darkness.
“Hello.”
The moment he appeared, chills ran down my spine. I could feel the hostility directed at me so clearly.
‘Why…?’
“Lucian-oppa?”
“Ha, ‘brother’.”
The term “brother” seemed to irritate Lucian even more, and the air around us grew noticeably colder.
“I don’t know what purpose brought you to the Delphinium family or what cunning tricks you used to deceive Father, but don’t think for a second that your age will make me let my guard down.”
“……?”
What is he talking about? It wasn’t me who used any tricks—it was your father, okay?
Stunned by the sudden and absurd accusations, I could only stare at Lucian, bewildered.
“That innocent, cute little face of yours won’t work on me.”
“Excuse me? I haven’t done anything….”
“It won’t work, I said.”
What is this utterly insane person even talking about?
My expression soured, and I stared at Lucian as though he were a lunatic.
“Even lying there, pretending to be pitiful, it’s no use.”
When I didn’t take my eyes off him and just stared blankly, Lucian looked at me with an annoyed expression. He eventually helped me up from the floor and even brushed the dirt off my knees.
As if his nonsense speech was the entirety of his business, he dashed away the moment he finished talking. I could only stare helplessly in the direction he disappeared.
“What’s with that guy…? Is he out of his ♬♪♩ mind?”
Left alone in the cold hallway, I let out a dry laugh. Picking up the rabbit doll left pitifully on the floor, I dusted it off and tucked it under my arm before heading back to my room.
***
As soon as I arrived in my room, I changed into the prepared indoor slippers. Since the maids had already bathed me thoroughly, there was no need to wash again.
‘The only good thing about this place… They bathe you when you’re too lazy to do it yourself. Can’t I take just one maid with me when I go back?’
With an impossible wish, I flopped onto the bed, feeling refreshed. The moment my body sank into the mattress, the fatigue I had been holding back surged forward. Meeting so many people today must have drained me.
As someone with an extreme “I” type personality, interacting with others sucked the energy right out of me. I needed periodic recharging sessions on my bed to recover. Just like how HP diminishes in games, the further I was from my bed, the more my stamina depleted.
It was the incurable affliction of a homebody. Only my bed could heal it.
Lying in bed and rolling around, I organized my thoughts.
And the conclusion I reached was that my first character interaction was an utter failure.
The eldest oppa seemed like a stoic siscon. The second? Just a lunatic. And the third appeared to be a tsundere.
Surprisingly, none of them showed much displeasure or strongly opposed my adoption. In fact, except for Lucian, they even seemed to welcome me.
“Call me brother.”
“Call me brother!”
“…I won’t be easily fooled just because you’re young.”
The genres blending together made my head spin. What is the true genre of this place?
Even if it’s a childcare story, I can’t fully enjoy it because the missing daughter keeps bothering me. And if it’s a family regret story, how am I supposed to build a wall between us when this family is so harmonious?
“Hey, Tosooni, what do you think? What should I do?”
(TL note: Tosooni seems to be the name of the rabbit doll Kaiden gave Lassetia)
Feeling weighed down by the situation, I couldn’t help but talk to myself.
I don’t want to ruin the present by being shackled to a future that may or may not come, but I also don’t want to cling desperately to the affection I’ve gained, living in constant fear of losing it.
After tossing and turning for a while, I finally fell asleep, tightly hugging the rabbit doll as moonlight streamed through the window, giving me just enough comfort.
