Everyone Was Obsessed With Me After I Became the Youngest Princess Favourite - Chapter 103

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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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Whether his sharp cry had wounded her, or whether she was simply startled by Askart’s sudden outburst—for he was always so quiet—Clara’s eyes widened before she began to sob pitifully.
As her cries grew louder and spilled beyond the door, Countess Amber, who strode through the Grand Duke’s Castle as though she owned it, burst in without hesitation.
Inside the Grand Duchess’s chamber—a space treated almost as sacred ground.
Clothes and jewelry lay scattered about.
And Clara wore them.
Without needing explanation, the Countess grasped the situation at once and cried out.
“Even if my sister has lost her senses, I am still your aunt, and Clara is your sister. Yet you treat people with such contempt? Is this how the Grand Duke taught you?”
The Countess unleashed her fury upon Askart while demanding an apology.
Askart wanted to tell her that Clara should apologize first for entering her younger sister’s chamber without permission, but seeing all the castle’s servants gathered before the door, he held his tongue.
It was the first moment in his life—born a noble Grand Duke’s heir—that he truly felt shame.
Moreover, Clara’s sobs, those of a small girl whose breath came in gasps, had already drenched his spine in cold sweat.
He dreaded that his mother, who already woke from nightmares each evening hearing his younger sister’s cries, might hear this sound.
“I… I was wrong. So please, stop crying. …Please.”
In the end, Askart apologized to Clara, drowning in humiliation.
But watching Clara laugh and say, “It’s all right, brother. I forgive you,” he thought once more: she was not his sister.
That evening.
Thanks to Countess Amber making a scene, the Grand Duke emerged from his study to find Askart.
After hearing the full account, his father fell silent for a moment, then rose without scolding or comforting him, simply saying he understood.
Afterward, a spell was inscribed upon his younger sister’s chamber door, barring entry to all save the Grand Duke, Grand Duchess, and Askart himself.
He had worried that Countess Amber and Clara might rage and thrash about, but no such thing occurred.
His father had allowed them to purchase clothes, shoes, and jewelry to their hearts’ content from the Duchy’s finest dressmakers and jewelers.
“The child is four years younger than me, so she couldn’t wear my old clothes anyway. That worked out well. Though I did prefer the hair ornament I saw last time. And a tiara too! Ah… I wish I were the Grand Duchess.”
By chance, while taking a walk through the Back Garden, Askart overheard Clara speaking to her governess, and he understood.
Clara, who coveted his younger sister’s position, would never wish for Adriana to return.
He was so furious he wanted to rush at her immediately, but Askart gritted his teeth and barely restrained himself.
He did not wish to sow discord in the Castle once more because of Clara.
Yet even knowing his father had acted coldly toward his mother’s relatives only out of necessity, he felt a deep resentment.
His own sister’s fate remained unknown, and he did not know where or how she lived.
Yet he was forced to watch a child who dared covet his sister’s place receive a princess’s treatment within the Grand Duke’s Castle, laughing without care.
Moreover, facing Countess Amber, who made him feel petty and wicked each time, had become unbearably difficult for Askart.
So after enrolling at the Academy, he did not return to the Duchy even during holidays.
Though he had matters to attend to in the Empire, he feared encountering Clara or Countess Amber.
‘But that will end now.’
He had been preparing himself mentally since the semester began to wind down, yet he had nearly forgotten it all with news of his parents attending the graduation ceremony and his meetings with Lia.
His mood had grown heavy and somber.
“I’ve never traveled on a Grand Ducal vessel before. It must be incomparably more comfortable than an ordinary ship, surely? Uncle must have cast magic upon it himself.”
At Clara’s innocent voice, Askart’s head snapped up.
He heard her clearly, yet could not easily comprehend her words.
Watching Askart’s eyes waver and shake in confusion, Clara laughed brightly.
Clara laughed brightly as she watched Askart’s eyes trembling in disarray.
“Once your graduation ceremony ends, I intend to return to Bellus Duchy with you.”
“…What?”
“Winter isn’t the social season anyway, so the timing works out perfectly. Doesn’t it?”
In that instant, Askart’s face drained of all color.
“You… Why.”
Words that couldn’t quite escape his throat burned hot within him.
I had disliked it before, but now a revulsion beyond description consumed me.
Crash!
Askart shot to his feet.
He spun around without so much as glancing at the overturned chair.
In truth, Askart had long since mastered the art of smiling through thorns whenever he faced Clara.
Yet this sudden suffocation flooding his chest was unbearable.
Simultaneously, the image of that child smiling while cradling the bouquet I had given her surfaced in my mind.
‘I should ask her to come with me.’
From the moment I reunited with Lia, I had yearned to return to the Duchy with her.
But I couldn’t bring myself to ask. Even seeing her face these past days, I couldn’t utter similar words.
I didn’t wish to burden the child thriving at the Elrad Duke’s Mansion with my own selfish desires.
Yet now, in this moment, I felt certain that if Lia were with me, I could endure even the suffocating Grand Duke’s Castle.
‘Just this once, let me be selfish. At least I can ask, can’t I? I could persuade her that she needn’t perform maidservant duties at all, that she can do whatever she wishes….’
Though perhaps not to the degree of a princess, I knew the child held affection for me.
Clinging to that gossamer thread of hope, Askart hastily departed the Greenhouse to pursue Lia, who had left mere moments ago.
“…Sigh.”
Left alone, Clara’s smile faded the instant the Greenhouse door closed.
Her expression was terrifyingly cold for a thirteen-year-old girl.
〈When I see you, I’m reminded of my lost sister.〉
〈If I had a sister, would it feel like this?〉
Not even a hollow laugh escaped.
At first, I doubted my ears, thinking I’d misheard. But seeing him chase after her with that ashen face proved it was no mistake.
“Is he insane?”
I know well that Askart doesn’t regard me as his sister. Rather, he dislikes me.
That was acceptable.
The moment I accepted that his sister existed only in the form of the lost Grand Princess, the young Clara who had purely wished to follow Askart as an older brother simply ceased to exist.
Still, I tried to understand. He must be worried about his sister. Besides, I share neither his hair color, nor his eye color, nor even a single feature of his face.
But….
“Why does he treat that maid differently?”
That maid shares no resemblance to Askart either.
With pale pink hair and deep pink eyes, she bears even less resemblance to the Grand Duchess.
If anything, there were more similarities between her and me. At least we both share brown hair.
My teal eyes at least resemble my maternal grandfather’s….
“I won’t let this slide.”
Clara’s jealous eyes gleamed as she reached out and crushed the lush pink rose that had bloomed unseasonably.
* * *
‘Did they have a fight?’
I hurried out of the Greenhouse and glanced back over my shoulder, tilting my head in confusion.
When I saw Clara introduce herself as Askart’s sister at the Imperial Palace last time, I had vaguely assumed they got along well.
But seeing the sharp-edged words exchanged beneath her smiling face, I realized I must have misunderstood something.
On the other hand, I was puzzled. Why would Askart, who was kind even to a mere maidservant like me, show such an attitude toward his cousin?
‘I thought he was simply a naturally kind and affectionate person.’
Honestly, I was shocked. And something felt strange.
As I continued walking without pause, I brought my hand to my chest.
My heart fluttered and churned oddly.
‘Is it because of what Askart said?’
I had been too startled to say anything, but recalling it now, I felt just as flustered.
And besides….
“Why am I like this?”
Feeling tears about to spill, I quickly covered my mouth with the back of my hand.
It happened last time too, and now it’s happening again.
When Askart smiled brightly, I found myself laughing without thinking, and when his expression turned sorrowful, I became terribly dejected.
And when he was sad….
‘I feel like I might cry.’
I couldn’t understand why I felt this way.
I sometimes felt something similar when looking at Diana, but it was never this intense.
I had just resolved to return to my room and think it over carefully.
Thud.
Walking forward mindlessly, I made a mistake I would never normally make.
I suddenly collided with something hard and solid, tumbling backward.
‘Did I hit a wall?’
Realizing what an absurdly foolish mistake I’d made, I quickly looked left and right to see if anyone had witnessed this ridiculous scene. Then I froze.
The servants of the Marquis’s Residence, lined up as if greeting their master, were staring down at me with pale, horrified expressions.
Gulp.
Only then did I slowly look up at what was directly in front of me, and I went completely rigid.
Unlike my memory of white hair, I saw only streaks of silver in his sky-blue hair, and his clear cyan eyes gazed down at me.
“Ah….”
Only then did I realize that what I had collided with was not a hard stone, but Marquis Diapel’s leg, and I cried out in shock.
“Grandfather! Are you alright?”

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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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