The Adopted Princess Hopes to Escape the Genre - Chapter 17
Warm sunlight filled the bedroom as birds chirped cheerfully outside the window—a refreshing morning for some but the dawn of yet another battle for me.
Bang-!
Uninvited guests barged in without even a knock.
Still buried under the covers, I sluggishly blinked my heavy eyelids. My vision was blurry, and the lingering sleep made everything feel surreal.
Curled up like a ball, I barely opened my eyes before letting them fall shut again.
Just as I was about to drift back into slumber, someone I assumed to be a maid slammed a basin of water down on the bedside table. The force made the gilded basin’s contents slosh over the edge.
“Ah, it’s cold!”
Some water splashed onto her hand, making the maid exclaim in irritation—as if she hadn’t been the one to slam it down.
Despite the commotion, I was still half-asleep, hovering in that hazy border between dreams and reality. This sluggish state made me unusually forgiving of everything around me. Even when the maid snapped in annoyance, I let it slide.
At least, until she crossed the line.
“Do you think it makes sense for a beggar to become a noble lady overnight?”
“Why wouldn’t it? It’s already happened. Seems like the impossible just became possible….”
It wasn’t just one person who’d entered the room; a different voice chimed in.
“And who are you, taking the beggar’s side? Never mind! Anyway, yesterday, the head maid told me I had to serve this beggar. I was so upset I went and bought cookies to cope.”
“She’s not a beggar anymore, though.”
“But she comes from one. Why are you nitpicking every little thing? Anyway! I was so upset because of this beggar that I had to buy cookies to cheer myself up!”
“I was just correcting the facts. But… What kind of cookies?”
“Butter… does that even matter right now?”
What is this stereotypical T and F personality conversation?
“Then what does matter?”
“I said I was upset! I was so upset I had to buy cookies!”
“So I asked, what kind of cookies did you buy?”
“Ugh, forget it. Why am I even talking to you?”
The maid who had been arguing about cookies sighed and wiped up the spilled water on the bedside table with a cloth. But soon, her irritation reignited, and the sparks of her anger landed squarely on me.
“Are you still asleep? Do you even know what time it is? Ugh. Who else in the duke’s household would be this lazy?”
“What if someone hears you?”
“She’s clearly too groggy to even know what’s going on. Besides, what’s the point? How could some stray beggar suddenly become a lady of the house? They should’ve just adopted me instead.”
The maid clicked her tongue in frustration.
“I don’t want to be adopted; I’d rather get a raise.”
“It’s so unfair. Here I am, fetching water for someone, and she’s lounging on a fancy bed without a care in the world.”
“Still, it’s work that gets us paid. Who cares if she was a beggar or a vagrant before?”
“True. But… my pride won’t let me serve a beggar as a lady of the house!”
Hearing the word “beggar” being thrown around endlessly right in front of me had become unbearable. Pretending to sleep only works for so long. When my tightly shut eyes started to twitch, I finally decided to address the two maids.
“I’m not asleep.”
As soon as I spoke, the maids jumped back in shock, hands flying up to cover their mouths.
Did they really think covering their mouths would somehow retract all the things they’d already said? After spilling every rude thought without holding back, what good would it do now to just stand there with their mouths covered?
“Good morning… or it would’ve been if it weren’t for you two ruining it.”
“A-Ah, my lady…!”
“Yes, that’s right. I’m your lady now. Even if, until yesterday, I was just a beggar.”
I opened my eyes and smiled crookedly, watching their faces turn even paler. Perhaps my upside-down gaze while still lying down made me look scarier.
“Now that we’re done with introductions on my end, how about yours?”
“…….”
“Why so quiet? Is introducing yourselves too much of a courtesy for a beggar who just got promoted overnight?”
“N-No, my lady! Please forgive us!”
“W-We’re sorry, my lady!”
The maids didn’t bother responding to my request but kept their heads bowed, fidgeting with their hands as if the floor held all the answers.
If there’s one thing I absolutely hate, it’s having to repeat myself.
“Let’s start from the left. Name, age, job, and how long you’ve been working here.”
Startled by my command, the maids finally raised their heads to look at me.
“My name is Mari, and I’ve been working as a maid in the Delphinium household for three years. I’m ten years old this year.”
Among the two, the quicker-witted maid was the first to speak up.
“Next.”
“I’m Anna. I’ve been working as a maid in the Delphinium household for four years, and I’m eleven years old this year.”
‘Ten years old? Eleven? Isn’t this child abuse? More like child exploitation, to be precise.’
“Ten? Eleven? If you’re being exploited as child laborers, make sure to wave a carrot next time.”
“A… carrot?”
At the mention of a random carrot, the trembling maids exchanged bewildered glances. They silently asked each other what I could possibly mean, but of course, neither of them knew.
