Chapter 14
With eyes full of anticipation, I looked at the potential male lead. But he didn’t react at all.
If anything, the boy seemed uncomfortable under my gaze, fidgeting and glancing away.
My excitement faded quickly at his indifferent response. But then I reminded myself—building connections now could help me survive later.
“Wouldn’t it be better to think of this as recruiting allies in advance?”
To improve my odds of survival, I pushed myself to be social and spoke to the boy first.
“You’re the same age as me? Then we can be friends.”
“Why would I be friends with you?”
As expected from his prickly first impression, he wasn’t going to hand out friendship easily.
“Suit yourself. So, what’s your name?”
Of course, I wasn’t fazed by the sass of a seven-year-old.
“I’m Rashid Bacaris.”
“All right, Rashid. I’ll be counting on you.”
I grabbed Rashid’s hand and shook it, even though he had no intention of initiating a handshake. Rashid flinched and quickly slapped my hand away.
My hand hung awkwardly in the air before I calmly lowered it.
“Bit prickly, huh. Well, it’s our first meeting—I get it. Let’s go in.”
I walked past Rashid, who looked flustered despite being the one to reject me, and entered the mansion.
He quickly came to his senses and followed me inside, asking,
“Are you giving me a tour of the mansion?”
“Me?”
“Who else is here but you?”
“Why me? I’ve only been here two days.”
“Two days?”
Rashid frowned in confusion.
“Aren’t you Roinez?”
Roinez? Oh, he must mean Rose. I guess he wasn’t paying attention during introductions.
“Yeah. I was adopted two days ago.”
“Then where is Roinez?”
Was he trying to mess with me?
“She’s been missing for four years.”
My words must have shocked him, because his face went pale and he demanded urgently,
“She’s missing? For four years? Why?”
His reaction was oddly intense. Did they meet before? But wouldn’t he know if it’s been four years?
“Were you two close?”
“Our families interacted. Wouldn’t it be weirder if I didn’t know her?”
“Then why don’t you know she’s missing? And your reaction’s kind of over the top for just a family acquaintance.”
“My father never mentioned it. And honestly, I was really young, so I don’t remember much. But I still vaguely recall the feeling I had when I first saw her.”
Surprisingly, Rashid answered my question honestly. His unusually subdued gaze even seemed tinged with sadness.
“He felt something when he first met her? Sounds like love at first sight.”
This was bad. Rashid’s first love might have been Roinez.
And the object of this elite, male-lead-tier guy’s first love was none other than the biological daughter of House Delphinium.
I swiftly crossed Rashid off my list of potential male leads. It’s always best to ditch bad stocks early.
The Delphinium household already saw me as a substitute for their real daughter. The last thing I needed was for my future husband to do the same.
If a flower can’t bloom, it’s better to cut the bud early. Some might argue it’s okay to let it sprout a little, but that’s their business.
I prefer stability. No need to walk the thorny path.
“Sounds like your first love.”
“F-First love?!”
Rashid’s face turned bright red at my comment. I chuckled and mumbled like I was talking to myself.
“Starting young, aren’t we?”
I definitely said it loud enough for him to hear. His tomato-red face told me I hit the mark.
‘Teasing others really is the most fun.’
My habit of teasing siblings and friends kicked in naturally. Rashid, now visibly annoyed, snapped back.
“It’s not first love! It was just… something unfamiliar I felt. That’s why I wanted to meet her again and confirm it.”
“Right, right. You sure that wasn’t your heart talking?”
Rashid didn’t have a comeback and just glared at me in frustration.
I giggled again at his reaction. He opened his mouth, ready to retort, but said nothing.
He must’ve realized he’d only dig himself deeper if he argued, so he clamped his mouth shut.
A bit disappointed, I clicked my tongue when the Duke of Delphinium approached.
“Emma, please show the young master to the guest room. Lasetia, you’ll be starting lessons today.”
Lessons…?
The sudden declaration wiped the smile off my face.
“Lessons? What kind…?”
“It’ll be easier to adjust if you start with etiquette and basic culture classes.”
“C-Culture? E-Etiquette…?”
I stammered, overwhelmed by this sudden academic schedule.
I’m still seven, you know…? Do they do early education here too? This feels like child abuse…
K-Ropan really wasn’t for the faint of heart.
The room the maid guided me to already had someone inside, waiting for me.
The woman turned from the window at the sound of the door opening.
She was a lady with light brown hair braided low. She didn’t look very old, but her every gesture was seasoned with experience.
I didn’t even know what kind of lesson this was, so I just stood there holding the doorknob, confused.
The lady simply stared at me silently, and a long silence stretched between us.
As I glanced around awkwardly, a line from a romance fantasy novel I once read came to mind:
“The young lady must not know that lower status individuals cannot speak first before the higher ones.”
‘Even if I’m young, I’m technically a duke’s daughter now, so I should speak first.’
I stepped away from the door and approached her, greeting her politely.
“Hello. My name is Lasetia.”
No matter where I was or whose body I inhabited, the soul inside was still Yoon Se-ah, a Korean.
After 24 years in Korea, Confucian etiquette was deeply ingrained in me. I instinctively bowed my head and waist while greeting her.
“I’m Countess Haines. I’ll be teaching you the basics of etiquette starting today.”
The Countess gave a light nod as she introduced herself.
“Should I call you ‘teacher’?”
“Whichever way is comfortable for you, my lady. ‘Teacher,’ ‘madam,’ or ‘countess’ is all fine.”
She smiled kindly as she responded. Then she studied me for a moment and touched her chin.
“Have you had any etiquette training before?”
“No. This is my first time.”
Clapping softly, Countess Haines said in a hopeful voice,
“Then we’ll start with the basics.”
Her cheerful tone carried a mix of bitterness and joy—maybe it was just my imagination.
“As a noble daughter, you shouldn’t bow your head or waist to just anyone.”
I nodded sheepishly, realizing I’d just done exactly that moments ago.
“You already seem to know that those of higher rank should speak first…”
The lesson went on for quite a while. Since we chatted a bit during the session, by the end, we felt fairly comfortable with each other.
Countess Haines was gentle and witty. Even knowing I was a commoner and adopted daughter, she treated me without prejudice.
Her warm attitude was a first for me in this strange world, and it felt nice. She even reminded me a bit of my real mother from my original world.
Knock knock.
I was enjoying our conversation so much that I didn’t realize time had flown. A familiar voice came from beyond the door.
“This is Emma, the head maid. I’m here to escort the young lady—it’s past the scheduled time.”
Countess Haines covered her mouth gently in surprise.
“Oh my, look at the time.”
The clock on the cream wall, adorned with gold trim, showed 3 PM.
“Well then, my lady, I must be going. I had a wonderful time today.”
“Goodbye, teacher. I had a great time too.”
By the end of the lesson, the awkward Korean bowing at 90 degrees was gone—only a refined noble lady who mastered perfect etiquette remained.
After Countess Haines left, I sat on the sofa and sipped the remaining tea.
I thought etiquette class would be boring, but it wasn’t bad at all.
I had thought what I really needed to learn in this Ropan world was how to dodge wine being splashed on me at a banquet, how to get wine stains out of my dress quickly, and how to avoid getting slapped by angry noble ladies.
But this class flipped my expectations.
As I sipped tea with a faint smile, I heard a sharp click of the tongue behind me.
“Tsk.”
Clearly done loud enough for me to hear. But I knew better than to react to provocation.
Several more tsk sounds and moments of silence followed, until the head maid finally spoke, seemingly giving up the power struggle after five minutes.
“For a fake, you sure act the part.”
