Chapter 8
I thought he was joking, so I studied his expression, but Theodor looked serious.
“……”
In all my 24 years of life, I’d never uttered that word before. My mouth just wouldn’t move. Since I didn’t answer, even though I was the one being spoken to, we ended up in an awkward standoff, exchanging only glances.
But eventually, I gave in to the strange pressure Theodor exuded and cautiously opened my mouth.
“…Theodor… oppa (big brother)?”
“Yes. I’m your oppa.”
Only then did Theodor’s shoulders rise in satisfaction. Having finally achieved his goal of hearing me call him “oppa,” he walked past the dejected Duke Delphinium and left the office like his job was done.
I thought he was leaving for good, but he stopped by the door and turned around to speak to me again.
“Tomorrow, we’ll need to buy some clothes and jewelry. Let’s go out together.”
“Go out? With… you…?”
“Oppa.”
“Ah, yes. Go out with you, Theodor oppa?”
“Right. In two days, another ducal family will visit our mansion. Even without that, a proper daughter of a duke should have at least 100 dresses to change into.”
“100 dresses…?”
The ridiculous number left me momentarily speechless.
“Is that too few? Of course, I’ll buy new ones once the current ones go out of fashion. Don’t worry.”
“…You’ll buy more…?”
“Yes.”
“……”
All I could do was dumbly repeat what he said. Theodor watched my reaction and added,
“Maybe 100 really is too few. Let’s just get 200 tomorrow and go out again another day.”
I opened my mouth to protest—that I didn’t mean that—but Theodor had already skipped off out of the reception room.
As soon as he was gone, all the strength drained from my body.
“Ugh, I’m exhausted.”
It felt like a storm had just passed through.
“New dresses… jewelry…”
When I glanced beside me, the Duke of Delphinium was muttering to himself with his head down. He didn’t look capable of holding a normal conversation, so I left him and exited the office.
And then, at the door, I was met by an unexpected guest.
“…Bunny?”
It was Kaiden, who had stormed off earlier after ignoring me. He now stood in front of me with a solemn expression and shoved a stuffed bunny into my face.
The sudden situation caught me so off guard that my brain stalled.
Why was he giving me a doll? Was it a gift?
I thought he had run off because he didn’t like me.
“What’s this?”
“……”
I caught a glimpse of Kaiden’s ears—flushed red.
Don’t tell me… he ran off earlier because he forgot to bring the bunny?
Without a word, he handed me the stuffed bunny. As I took it, Kaiden seemed satisfied, and his expression softened.
“Thank you. Did you wait here just to give this to me?”
Kaiden gave a slight nod at my words.
Cute.
Now I kind of want to tease him more.
“I thought you ran away because you didn’t like me… That really hurt, you know.”
I covered my face with both hands and pretended to speak in a sad voice.
“I-I don’t hate you!”
Kaiden flailed in a panic when I pretended to cry.
“Just kidding.”
“You…!”
As I removed my hands and smiled like nothing happened, Kaiden froze on the spot, flustered.
“Should we introduce ourselves again? I’m Lassetia.”
“…I’m Kaiden Delphinium.”
I didn’t expect him to respond after being teased, but his cooperation made him seem even cuter.
“Can I call you Kaiden?”
“C-Call me oppa! I’m two years older than you!”
Wait a second… is this secretly a childcare genre? Now I’m confused.
I tilted my head and then spoke.
“Alright then, Kaiden oppa. Thanks for the gift.”
I shook the stuffed bunny as I thanked him again. Kaiden’s ears turned red once more, and he ran off, hiding his face with his arm.
“…He ran away again.”
I couldn’t help but laugh as I looked at the bunny in my hand.
In a slightly better mood, I turned to head to my room—only to trip and fall flat on the floor.
“Ah! ♩♬!”
My knees slammed into the ground, and a stinging shock shot up my legs.
“Which ♪♩ jerk tripped me…?”
I looked around from where I was sprawled on the floor, but no one was there. The moment I realized I’d tripped on my own, the embarrassment washed away the pain.
Worried someone might have seen me, I coughed awkwardly and quickly sat up as if nothing had happened. As I reached to pick up the bunny I’d dropped, a shadow stepped forward and stepped on it.
My face twisted instantly in irritation.
“Excuse me, you’re standing on my bunny.”
“……”
“I don’t know who you are, but could you move?”
A mocking laugh came from above me. When I looked up, the figure in the dark revealed his identity—the one stepping on my bunny.
“Hello.”
The moment I saw him, chills ran down my spine. I could feel his hostility toward me.
‘Why?’
“Lucian oppa?”
“Hah. ‘Oppa,’ huh.”
The word seemed to make Lucian even more annoyed. The air around us turned colder.
“I don’t know what your goal is for joining the Delphinium family, or what sly tricks you used to deceive Father—but I won’t be fooled by your act just because you’re young.”
“…?”
What is he even talking about? I didn’t deceive anyone. It was your dad who acted weird.
Too stunned to speak, I just stared at Lucian.
“That innocent, cute face of yours doesn’t work on me.”
“Huh? I haven’t done anything though…?”
“It doesn’t work.”
What the hell is with this impressively crazy guy?
My face soured as I looked at Lucian like he was out of his mind.
“You can lie on the floor and act pitiful all you want. It won’t work.”
When I continued to stare at him blankly, Lucian sighed in annoyance and bent down—dusting off my knees like he was doing me a favor.
As soon as he was done with his nonsense, he turned and bolted away at lightning speed. I was left staring dumbfounded in the direction he’d gone.
“What is his problem…? Is he freaking cursed or something?”
Lucian disappeared from sight, and I was left alone in the chilly hallway. I gave a dry laugh, picked up my poor bunny, dusted off its face, and tucked it under my arm as I headed back to my room.
** * * * **
As soon as I arrived, I changed into the indoor slippers that had been prepared for me. The maids had already cleaned me up earlier, so there was no need to wash again.
‘The one good thing about this place… If I’m too lazy, they wash me. Can I take just one maid with me when I go back later?’
With that impossible wish in mind, I threw myself onto the bed, feeling refreshed. The moment my body hit the mattress, all the suppressed fatigue came rushing in. I must have been drained from meeting so many people.
As an extreme introvert, I lose energy when I meet people. Like an HP bar in a game, the moment I leave the bed, my stamina starts depleting.
It’s an incurable condition of a homebody. Only a bed can heal it.
As I rolled around on the bed, I sorted through my thoughts.
And I came to a conclusion: my first character encounter had gone completely wrong.
The eldest brother was a stoic siscon. The second was just a lunatic. The third seemed like a tsundere.
Surprisingly, except for Lucian, they didn’t seem displeased or opposed to me being adopted. In fact, it felt like they were welcoming me.
“Call me oppa.”
“C-Call me oppa!”
“…I won’t be fooled just because you’re young.”
With all these mixed genres, my head was spinning. What’s the real genre of this place?
If it’s a childcare story, the missing daughter angle is too heavy. If it’s a family-reconciliation drama, this family is way too harmonious.
“Bunny, what do you think? What should I do?”
Caught between this and that, I muttered to myself.
I didn’t want to ruin the present by clinging to a future that might never come. But I also didn’t want to live in anxiety, afraid of losing the affection I’d been lucky to receive.
Tossing and turning for a while, I eventually fell asleep, hugging the bunny tightly under the glow of the moonlight streaming through the window.
