Everyone Was Obsessed With Me After I Became the Youngest Princess Favourite - Chapter 105

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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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“Ah….”
I paused for a moment before composing myself and speaking.
“It’s nothing serious, but the Grand Duke has a visitor. And… Marquis Diapel has also arrived.”
“The Marquis is already here?”
At that moment, a familiar voice came from behind me.
When I turned my head, Duke Elrad and Lucio were entering.
“You’ve come earlier than expected. I thought you’d arrive a few days later.”
The Duke embraced Diana naturally and settled into his seat as he spoke.
Seeing warmth flicker across the Duke’s usually indifferent face, I was briefly puzzled before nodding in understanding.
I recalled that Duke Elrad had been childhood friends with the Grand Duchess—the former young lady of House Diapel.
Since he had known the Marquis since childhood, it seemed he still addressed him respectfully as “Marquis” despite now holding the rank of Duke himself.
‘Now that I think about it, both the Grand Duke and Marquis Diapel lent their support when Duke Elrad inherited his title.’
My days as an informant were long past, so I didn’t know the detailed circumstances.
However, it was common knowledge that Duke Elrad had even participated in war to overthrow his father, the Previous Duke Elrad.
Suddenly, Lucio sat down beside me with a deliberate scraping sound.
I nearly turned my head involuntarily but barely restrained myself.
I found it strange that someone who usually moved without a sound or even a whisper would suddenly make noise like that.
‘As if he were deliberately drawing attention….’
For a moment, I thought he might be doing it intentionally, but the idea seemed so absurd that I inwardly shook my head.
“So, nothing happened? You weren’t frightened?”
“Pardon?”
I tilted my head briefly at the Duke’s abrupt question before understanding his meaning.
Marquis Diapel guarded the Border Territory, and combat with neighboring nations constantly eyeing the Empire was his daily reality.
An overwhelming presence and forceful atmosphere radiated from his entire being, and most notably, the large scar on his face gave him such a fierce appearance that children couldn’t help but cry at the sight of him.
‘…Right, a normal child should have reacted that way.’
I recalled my encounter with the Marquis earlier and wore a rueful expression.
〈Grandfather, are you alright?〉
In that moment of shock, I had unconsciously treated him as I once had in the past.
I had even mistaken his rigid, frozen expression for pain in his legs.
Just as I was about to call for a physician, I noticed the servants’ ashen faces and realized I had made some mistake.
Then, suddenly, the Marquis appeared different to me.
He was not leaning on a cane as he had been in my past memories.
Moreover, I now noticed an impossibly massive warhorse standing behind the Marquis.
It seemed he had just dismounted and set foot on the ground.
Staring blankly between the Marquis’s face and legs, I finally grasped my error.
〈His legs….〉
〈Marquis?〉
Fortunately, Askart’s sudden appearance—whether he had been following me or simply arrived at that moment—allowed the situation to fade away awkwardly.
Yet my foolish confusion and mistake continued to weigh on my mind.
Seeing me standing silently with a troubled expression, Duke Elrad spoke.
“It’s fine.”
“Pardon?”
“He’ll be accustomed to it. But he’s a good man.”
“Ah, yes, of course….”
She seemed to have misunderstood something, but I simply nodded inwardly without correcting her.
‘Isn’t this around the time when his legs would be aching?’
In truth, there was good reason for my momentary confusion.
The Marquis had injured his leg during this period, and because he hadn’t received proper treatment, he later ended up walking with a cane—he’d told me this directly.
‘I should visit the Marquis’s Residence tomorrow and inquire about it.’
That was when I made that resolve.
“Speaking of which, shouldn’t the delegation from Belus Duchy be arriving soon?”
“Mm. If we’re fortunate, the day after tomorrow; at the latest, sometime this week.”
At those words, I forgot my worries and perked up my ears.
My heart trembled helplessly at the thought of seeing Bianca again soon.
“Oh, and a messenger came from the Duchy saying that there’s been far more snow than last year, and they seem to need assistance.”
“How much?”
“Quite a bit.”
At the Duke’s brief answer, the Duchess’s face darkened.
The Elrad Duchy was naturally a cold region with heavy snowfall, so they typically prepared well in advance.
For them to send a messenger despite such preparations meant they feared a major blizzard might cause accidents.
“Shouldn’t you go check on it?”
“I can’t leave the Imperial Palace right now. The Prime Minister suddenly took a vacation, and everything’s fallen into chaos.”
The Duke Elrad frowned, saying he had to oversee it himself with his own eyes, or else the submitted reports wouldn’t be approved until next year.
“So I’ve arranged for Lucio to go in my stead.”
“Lucio?”
“Yes. It’s about time he went down to the territory directly, toured it, and met with the vassals.”
It seemed this was the conversation the two of them had in the study before dinner.
“But the graduation ceremony is coming soon. What if the snow keeps him from traveling?”
“He’ll use teleportation, so what’s there to worry about?”
“Still….”
“There’s still plenty of time before the graduation ceremony, so I’ll complete all the work and return before then.”
The Duchess’s worried expression was met with the Duke’s indifferent reply and Lucio’s calm assurance.
Apparently dissatisfied, the Duchess complained that father and son were exactly alike.
Watching the Duke hurriedly placate the Duchess, I laughed quietly to myself.
I knew the disaster the Duchess feared would not come to pass.
Of course, an unprecedented blizzard would strike this year.
‘Only it won’t be in the Elrad Duchy.’
The Duchy, which seemed to receive snow earlier than usual, would soon return to its typical pattern, but instead, the Capital City would be buried under an enormous amount of snow.
At nine years old, I had been living as a beggar on the streets around this time last year and had narrowly escaped death from blizzards multiple times.
The Tessar Orphanage was in the mountains and terribly cold, but those were the days when I came to appreciate how grateful I should be for even a dilapidated roof and walls, and a thin blanket.
Those were the days when I cursed Duke Elrad alongside the orphans every single night.
Yet now, thanks to Duke Elrad, all the children lived safely and warmly, and I could hardly believe I was sitting here sharing a meal with him.
Catching a glimpse of Duke Elrad sweating profusely as he worked to soften the stubbornly sullen Duchess Elrad’s heart, I found myself thinking that everything still felt like a dream.
* * *
At that same moment, in the Diapel Marquis Estate.
Marquis Diapel, Askart, Clara, and Count Amber and his wife, who had arrived late, were having dinner together.
Unlike the Elrad Duke’s Mansion, where cheerful conversation bloomed, this place was filled only with desolate silence.
The only sounds were the occasional sharp clinks of dishes.
It was just as the quiet meal was nearly finishing.
“I….”
The moment Askart carefully opened his mouth, the Countess, brimming with irritation, set down her water glass sharply.
“I hear you fought until dawn two days ago?”
The Marquis’s gaze, which had briefly touched Askart, turned toward his younger daughter.
Seeing the exhaustion etched between the deeply lined corners of his eyes, the Countess let out a derisive laugh.
“Yet you didn’t rest at all before coming to the Capital City. You must have missed your sister terribly.”
“….”
Since the Diapel Marquisate bordered the frontier, no teleportation gate connecting directly to the Capital City had been installed, lest the territory fall to enemy occupation.
To reach the nearest teleportation zone, one had to ride hard for a full day, yet the Marquis had mounted his horse immediately after the battle ended at dawn two days prior and chosen to head for the Capital City.
Truthfully, it was a grueling schedule.
But it was because he longed to see his family—not only his eldest daughter, who had risen from her sickbed after so long, but also his grandson graduating and his younger daughter as well.
The Marquis hesitated, wondering if he should correct her misunderstanding.
“Indeed, how delighted you must have been to hear that your precious daughter, who has been languishing like a corpse, was coming home to her family.”
“You…!”
“My lady, that’s enough.”
As the Marquis’s expression darkened, the Count, sensing the danger, hastily tried to silence his wife.
But the Countess, as if unaware of what she had done wrong, shook off her husband’s arm and held her head high.
At that sight, the Marquis felt the accumulated fatigue suddenly crash down upon him.
He had hoped the evening would pass quietly, but it seemed that was not to be.
The Marquis exhaled a sigh and spoke in rapid succession.
“Regina, you do nothing but prattle on as you please, and you’re absolutely insufferable. If I don’t want to see blood pouring from my ears, please, for once, close that mouth of yours.”
“Father, how could you say such a thing…!”
“Askart, speak.”
“Yes?”
“Wasn’t there something you wanted to say?”
The Marquis wanted nothing more than to hear what Askart had to say and then retire to his bedroom to rest.
Askart, who would normally have simply held his tongue at the table that had turned as thin as ice, swallowed hard and slowly parted his lips.
“Sir, it’s about the child you saw when you arrived today.”
“Hmm…? Ah, that child.”
At Askart’s words, the Marquis nodded.
“Yes. I was curious about that myself. Who exactly is that child?”
“She is a maidservant of House Elrad and my guest. The child is still young and unaware of propriety during the day, so I humbly beg your forgiveness for any discourtesy.”
Askart, having arrived late, only then learned that Lia had called the Marquis grandfather and touched him without permission.
In truth, the Marquis, though her maternal grandfather, rarely grew angry regardless of how crude his words might be.
Yet Askart worried that Lia might be scolded, so he sought forgiveness preemptively.
The Marquis, who had been silent until then, murmured softly.
“Forgiveness?”

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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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