Everyone Was Obsessed With Me After I Became the Youngest Princess Favourite - Chapter 102

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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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“I don’t want to. I won’t go back.”
The Grand Duchess rejected his words swiftly, as if bouncing them away.
Yet despite her firm tone, her face was deathly pale, as though she might collapse at any moment.
“My lady….”
As if he had already anticipated her answer, the Grand Duke exhaled a weary sigh.
Knowing the resolve that had driven his wife from her long seclusion to leave the castle, he did not believe breaking her stubbornness would be easy.
He began his persuasion again, calmly and steadily.
“It is a long journey. Askart will understand if you do not attend the graduation ceremony….”
“I know. That’s precisely why I won’t.”
“….”
“Askart is my son too. My heart ached sending him alone to the Empire, so I must attend his graduation.”
Having spoken thus far, the Grand Duchess turned away, unable to continue, and breathed slowly.
The Grand Duke, the maidservants, and Bianca all watched with darkened eyes.
Bianca especially, who had been excited about the journey to the Empire, felt her spirits plummet upon seeing the Grand Duchess, her heart growing unbearably heavy.
The Grand Duchess she remembered was not someone so ashen and lifeless, devoid of any vitality.
She had been brighter than anyone, confident, and always radiant.
But nine years ago, when she lost her newborn daughter, she changed completely.
And no matter how much time passed, a mother’s grief over losing her child never faded.
Not even a little.
* * *
“Lia, stop admiring them now and come sit. All the desserts are ready.”
I turned my head at Askart’s voice, having been absorbed in viewing the pink roses blooming in the Marquis’s Residence greenhouse.
On the table set in the center of the greenhouse, I could see warm cocoa and sweet desserts laid out.
As I took my seat, Askart across from me asked with a smile dancing in his luminous jade-green eyes.
“You see them every day, yet you enjoy them so much?”
“Yes. They’re so beautiful. And the fragrance is lovely.”
It was true. For several days now since Lucio and Askart returned, I had visited the Marquis’s Residence to admire the flowers, yet I never tired of them no matter how many times I looked.
“I wish the Young Lady could have come with us….”
Diana, like the Duchess Elrad, was quite sensitive to the cold.
The Marquis’s Residence greenhouse was warm despite the chilly weather outside, and since it reminded me of the Glass Greenhouse at the Duke’s Castle, she had seemed to enjoy it greatly when she visited last time.
“The Young Lady went out with Lucio today, didn’t she?”
I nodded.
Over the past few days, Lucio had been frantically busy taking over his duties properly.
Yet this morning during breakfast, he unexpectedly proposed showing his siblings around the Capital City.
Diana was excited, of course, and even Allen, whom we rarely saw these days, looked delighted.
So I decided to stay away from Diana’s side for today.
‘Siblings should have good time together once in a while.’
It was one thing to join in when the family had cozy meals or tea time together every day, but one had to be considerate.
Besides, I didn’t need to feel lonely without Diana now.
I could come to the Marquis’s Residence like this, admire the beautiful flowers with Askart, and enjoy sweet desserts.
The Marquis Diapel’s residence exuded the grand and dignified atmosphere characteristic of a prestigious noble house.
Yet from the moment I first stepped inside, it somehow felt comforting and familiar.
‘It’s quite charming that there’s a greenhouse bursting with vibrant roses hidden away like this twist.’
It reminded me of Marquis Diapel himself—stern on the surface, but tender-hearted within.
And above all.
“Here, try this.”
Askart held out a scone generously spread with clotted cream and raspberry jam.
The scone came so close to my face, clearly expressing his desire to feed me directly, that I couldn’t even think to refuse—I simply opened my mouth wide and took a big bite with an eager sound.
“Haha.”
Askart laughed with delight at the sight of me.
It wasn’t just now.
Whether his words inviting me to visit anytime were sincere, Askart gave me a smile that seemed to melt away whenever he saw me.
I’d noticed long ago that he adored me, but that didn’t stop my cheeks from flushing.
Embarrassed, I gulped down the cocoa, only to cough at the temperature being hotter than expected.
“Are you alright? Don’t drink it so hastily when it’s that hot.”
Askart immediately wiped the corners of my mouth with a handkerchief, his expression filled with concern.
“I-I’m sorry.”
“I wasn’t looking for an apology….”
With physiological tears glistening in my eyes, I barely managed to speak, and Askart suddenly pressed his lips together and stared at me intently. Then he hesitated, his mouth moving slightly.
Puzzled by this, I tilted my head in confusion, when suddenly the greenhouse door opened and I sensed someone entering.
“Your Highness, who is….”
“When I see you, I think of my lost younger sister.”
Askart said it suddenly, like a sigh.
Startled, I forgot what I was about to say and looked up at him with a questioning “…What?”
Askart’s expression crumpled as if he might cry.
“I know I’m strange myself….”
“….”
“I keep thinking about it. If I had a younger sister, would I feel like this? You’re exactly….”
“Brother!”
At that moment, a girl in a neatly designed dress with long, dark brown hair walked toward the table with a bright smile.
I reflexively stood from my seat.
I knew who the girl was, calling out cheerfully to Askart.
She was Clara Amber, Askart’s cousin and the granddaughter of Marquis Diapel, whom I had seen at the Imperial Palace before.
“I heard you’ve been staying at the Marquis’s residence for several days now? I had no idea….”
Clara, who had been approaching with a delighted expression, stopped in her tracks.
“You are….”
Tensing at her gaze directed toward me, I quickly bowed in greeting.
“Ah. I was wondering where I’d seen you—you’re the maidservant of the Duchess Elrad. But why are you here….”
“You act so freely without even being invited. Clara, is that how the Countess taught you?”
Clara, who had been continuing to speak with a puzzled expression as she looked at me, faltered.
I too was startled by the cold voice beside me and whipped my head around.
Askart wore his usual gentle smile, yet an inexplicably sharp chill seemed to permeate the air.
Only then did I realize that the voice I’d heard moments before truly belonged to Askart.
A suffocating silence descended upon the greenhouse.
I stood there awkwardly, merely observing his reaction, when Askart suddenly turned his gaze toward me.
“I’m sorry.”
“I’m fine—”
“Come, sit.”
“…Pardon?”
I found myself at a loss for words.
‘I thought he’d apologize and naturally dismiss me, but instead…’
Clara remained standing in her original spot, unmoving.
Yet Askart smiled warmly at me as though she were invisible.
“You haven’t finished eating. Everything was prepared for you.”
“No, truly, Your Highness. I should take my leave.”
Unable to bear the tension any longer, I spoke first.
I watched Askart’s expression darken, but there was no helping it.
I quickly bowed respectfully to the frozen Clara before hastily departing the greenhouse.
* * *
Watching Lia vanish like the wind, Askart clenched his fists and glared at Clara.
Clara flinched at his fierce gaze, her expression hardening with wounded pride.
Yet that lasted only a moment before she smiled sweetly once more and spoke.
“Brother, it’s been so long since I’ve seen your face. Why do you look so displeased? You were upset that I didn’t visit you sooner, weren’t you?”
“Ha!”
Askart let out a sharp, hollow laugh.
But Clara paid no mind to his reaction and settled into the seat where Lia had been sitting.
“Still, Brother, how could you embarrass me like that in front of others? People will misunderstand. They’ll think you hate me.”
Watching Clara smile so sweetly, Askart found himself recalling an old memory.
Countess Amber, his mother’s younger sister, and her daughter Clara had begun visiting Bellus Duchy around the time his mother started spending more and more days confined to her chambers.
Since Marquis Diapel, his maternal grandfather, could not afford to leave his territory unattended for long, he had suggested that Countess Amber visit in his stead.
Though they were not particularly close sisters, it was believed that family would be more helpful than strangers in healing a troubled heart.
Yet Askart found both the suddenly-appearing Countess Amber, who roamed the Grand Duke’s Castle as though it were her own home, and the existence of his cousin four years his junior—Clara—merely strange and uncomfortable.
So even when Clara sought his company and visited him persistently, he pretended not to notice, remaining in his room and refusing to pay her any attention.
Years passed in this manner.
At twelve, when early adolescence arrived and Askart had grown particularly sensitive, the sight of Countess Amber and Clara moving about the Grand Duke’s Castle began to irritate him far more than before. And eventually, an incident occurred.
“What are you doing? Why are you in this room?”
“Brother?”
“Put that down this instant. That belongs to my sister!”
“But no one’s going to use it anyway. Why can’t I? I’m your sister too, aren’t I?”
Clara spoke innocently, draped in precious ornaments their parents had purchased annually for his sister, clutching a beautiful doll tightly in her arms.
In that instant, Askart’s eyes flipped back.
〈Who is my sibling? You are not my sibling!〉

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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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