Everyone Was Obsessed With Me After I Became the Youngest Princess Favourite - Chapter 1

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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“Well then, this is the child who will be living with you all from today on.”
Despite being covered head to toe in dirt with disheveled hair, the child was beautiful as a porcelain doll.
“You should greet her too.”
When the Director, a burly middle-aged man, spoke, the child flinched in fear and stammered out a greeting through sniffles, her voice surprisingly loud.
“Ah, h-hello…. I’m Dana!”
After greeting us, unlike the other children at the orphanage, she raised her plump arms and waved her maple-leaf-shaped hands.
The scene was identical to my past memory, down to the smallest detail.
‘Am I dreaming?’
No, this wasn’t a dream.
I stood there with my mouth agape, blinking rapidly, shaking my head internally.
Hadn’t I spent the entire day wrestling with hunger, acutely aware this was no dream?
Faced with an undeniable reality, I froze in place, my thoughts scattering.
‘…Of all days, why today?’
I had died at the Elrad Duchy and returned on the very first day that Diana, the youngest princess of the Elrad Duchy, arrived at Tessar Orphanage.
It was already difficult to accept that I had somehow returned to childhood, but seeing Diana right before my eyes sent me into complete panic.
I squeezed my eyes shut, desperately trying to make sense of this situation.
“Hic, hic-cup.”
At the faint sound of a whimper, my eyes flew open and I lowered my gaze slightly.
My sleeve was being gripped by small hands, and I found myself meeting the child’s clear, crystalline blue eyes.
“Ah….”
Seeing those eyes glistening with tears, my initial panic gave way to something else.
Without thinking, I found myself staring into those eyes.
And then, unbidden, the image of a man surfaced in my mind—one with eyes of that same brilliant blue, yet cold as ice.
And the moment I had faced death.
* * *
One day earlier, at the headquarters of the information guild, Terenthium.
I rushed up the stairs, gasping for breath, and burst through the massive closed doors.
Then I froze.
‘What, what is this!’
The guild executives seated around the circular table all turned their heads in unison to stare at me, as if on cue.
I tilted my head, wondering why they had all gathered for a meeting, and then it dawned on me.
‘The full moon must be approaching.’
Around this time, Master and the other guild executives were unusually busy, and they often disappeared for extended periods.
As someone outside the executive circle and not particularly close to the other members, I spent these stretches isolated, like a distant island.
“Lia, didn’t you see the sign at the door?”
That’s when Master spoke.
Unlike the older executives, he sat at the head of the table, yet he appeared to be barely in his mid-twenties.
‘I’m not sure exactly how old he actually is.’
This mysterious man was the head of an information guild that collected all manner of intelligence, yet paradoxically, nothing was known about him—and he was my superior.
Master let out a sigh as he carelessly brushed back his black hair that had slipped down.
“I told you to check that first whenever you enter my room.”
“I’m sorry, I was in a hurry and forgot.”
I answered sheepishly, deliberately avoiding Master’s crimson gaze, and he chuckled before shaking his head.
At that, the executives around us rushed over like a pack of hounds.
“Master, is this something to laugh about? Every time you let it slide like this, Lia never learns her lesson.”
“Exactly. And because of Lia, we had to hang a sign on your door. Wouldn’t it be better to simply teach her to knock?”
“Knocking, my foot—who in their right mind barges into Master’s room like that? For a moment, I thought this was Lia’s room.”
“That’s right. Master, you’re far too lenient with Lia.”
The executives leveled their criticism with thoroughly mischievous expressions.
Every word was mockery directed at me.
‘Lenient? What’s lenient about it? Master disrespects me constantly!’
I was grumbling inwardly when it happened.
“All of you, be quiet.”
At Master’s sudden authoritative tone, my eyes widened.
Was he actually going to take my side?
“Would teaching such etiquette make Lia the type to listen?”
“….”
I was the fool for hoping.
Master and all the executives were treating me like an idiot in unison.
‘Do they still think I’m that ten-year-old vagrant wandering the streets?’
My face darkened despite my pride in being the guild’s most capable talent.
And my greatest ability was ‘concealing presence’—yet they wanted me to learn to knock before entering a room!
The truth was, I’d only forgotten because I was in a hurry. Knocking was something I could easily remember if I set my mind to it.
‘Other intelligence guilds are still desperate to scout me….’
As I pouted and sulked, Master gestured for me to come closer and asked.
“So what’s the matter?”
The other executives turned their heads as if to say, “Well, let’s hear it.”
Only then did I remember why I’d sought out Master’s room.
“A mission! I haven’t received a single request in over a week!”
“Has it been that long already?”
Seeing Master speak so leisurely, I felt my frustration spike.
I was desperate to become a first-class informant recognized by everyone, not just in name.
“Master!”
I cried out indignantly, but Master merely chuckled and raised his hand, gently tapping my pouted cheeks.
I was about to feel hurt by this habitual treatment of me as a child.
“Fine. I’ll give you a mission, and you’ll complete it before I return. You can do that, right?”
“Really?”
I asked back eagerly, abandoning all pride.
“This time, you’ll give me a real mission, won’t you?”
Not like the one Susan, the baker, commissioned—finding out what color handkerchief Nick, the butcher, likes!
“A proper mission, then….”
Master regarded me with an enigmatic expression, then slowly lowered his hand and nodded.
“Wow, Master is the best! The most handsome in the world!”
Delighted, I thrust my thumb upward as the officers had taught me and lavished praise upon Master.
Master burst into laughter at my absurdity, and the officers bit back their amusement, their lips twitching with suppressed mirth.
I had simply done as I was taught, yet their reaction seemed decidedly strange.
‘But just now, it seemed like Master’s hand was about to touch my neck… or was that my imagination?’
I was tilting my head in confusion when—
“Go back to your quarters. I’ll assign your mission and brief you shortly.”
At Master’s words, I forgot my previous musings entirely and nodded with an eager smile.
And mere hours had not yet passed.
“…Where? The Elrad Duchy?”
I blinked at Jade in disbelief.
“Master truly entrusted me with an infiltration mission into the Elrad Duchy?”
Jade shrugged, confirming I had heard correctly as he continued outlining today’s mission parameters.
“Yes. You performed well on that maid infiltration not long ago. That’s why he’s assigning you this one.”
“But that was only because I was the only female first-class operative available!”
The Elrad Duchy was the most heavily guarded noble house throughout the empire.
As access was nearly as restricted as the imperial palace itself, being entrusted with an infiltration mission meant Master acknowledged my capabilities.
Yet my surprise at Jade’s uncharacteristically docile demeanor—he who had always mocked and belittled me—outweighed my joy at finally receiving a significant assignment.
Then Jade said something even more astonishing.
“Truth is, everyone knows you’re the most skilled among us.”
“…What?”
“We all know it. We just refused to acknowledge it because you receive Master’s favoritism, and that made us jealous.”
My mouth fell open at Jade’s words.
His compliment felt utterly bewildering.
Honestly, I was so thrilled I could have danced.
Yet I feigned composure and replied with affected nonchalance.
“I keep telling you I’m not receiving any favoritism.”
Normally I would have rebutted such an irritating remark sharply, but my good mood made my words come out gently instead.
Despite my efforts to suppress it, a smile threatened to leak through.
Then—
“By the way, didn’t you mention knowing someone in the Elrad Duchy?”
“…What? When did I ever say that?”
“Don’t you remember? On the day you came of age and drank for the first time, you mentioned something about the orphanage when you were young.”
My goodness. Did I really say such things while drunk?
I blinked in embarrassment.
The officers had arranged a gathering to celebrate my eighteenth birthday and hopefully bridge the gap between me and my colleagues.
Everyone had clearly been forced to attend by the officers’ orders, and I felt awkward and self-conscious. To dispel that discomfort, I recklessly drained cup after cup of the wine before me.
With no memory of what followed, I later learned that Master, who arrived late, had tidied up the gathering and escorted me back to my quarters.
‘Master clearly said I was sleeping peacefully!’
I hadn’t expected him to blurt out details about my past, and my face flushed with mortification.
“W-when someone’s drunk, they can’t help what they say, right? There’s no way someone like me would have any connection to such a distinguished noble!”
I shot to my feet, my voice rising as though to dismiss it all as mere pretense.
In my haste to flee, I failed to notice.
The bitter smile playing across Jade’s lips.

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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