Everyone Was Obsessed With Me After I Became the Youngest Princess Favourite - Chapter 112

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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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“Pardon?”
Lia tilted her head slightly, not understanding what he meant.
Seeing her reaction, the Marquis bit the soft flesh inside his mouth with a quiet click.
‘How adorable!’
With her puffy eyes wide and round, tilting her head like a squirrel, she was impossibly endearing.
I couldn’t fathom why she was so charming.
‘Is this what people call the affection of grandchildren?’
Of course, Lia was a complete stranger to me, but there was no other way to describe this unfamiliar warmth blooming in my chest.
Not that the Marquis had any particular grievances with his grandchildren.
Askart was a well-behaved and courteous child, and Clara was equally respectful.
It was simply that he had never had a grandchild who would rush to him crying “Grandfather!” and embrace him.
Yet seeing this young child show no fear of me and treat me with such warmth made my heart gravitate toward her.
“So, well, you may call me grandfather!”
The Marquis spoke gruffly, forcibly concealing his true feelings.
“Ah….”
The child’s pupils dilated in surprise, trembling rapidly.
Unaware that the Marquis was worrying whether he had spoken too harshly, I found myself speechless, unable to utter a word.
In my previous life, I had called him “Grandfather” without hesitation, and the habit had become so ingrained that the words nearly tumbled out unbidden.
Yet now that the Marquis had actually permitted it, the words refused to leave my lips.
Only one thing had changed.
The possibility that the Marquis might truly be my maternal grandfather.
That alone was enough to make the words swirl in my mouth and my chest flutter with inexplicable emotion.
It was then.
“Father, what on earth are you doing right now?”
A voice as cold as frost echoed through the reception room.
* * *
Though I had heard this voice only once yesterday, I immediately recognized its owner.
My body reacted faster than my mind.
“…!”
As I had anticipated, the woman standing before the reception room was the Grand Duchess.
Having apparently just risen, her long hair cascaded loosely, and she wore a comfortable dress as her cold eyes fixed upon me.
But I had no time to concern myself with her frigid gaze, for my attention was stolen elsewhere.
The Grand Duchess’s exposed arms were so thin and frail that my heart sank with alarm.
‘Is she unwell?’
Now that I observed her more closely, her complexion was as pallid and sensitive as someone who hadn’t seen sunlight in ages—exactly like someone who had endured a prolonged illness.
“I….”
I was about to speak, my lips moving involuntarily.
“I came to see you upon waking, thinking you might be lonely. Did I mishear you say ‘grandfather’? It seemed so absurd that I thought I was still in bed.”
The Grand Duchess continued in a sharp tone as she walked slowly forward.
Only then did I realize how deeply angry she was.
‘Why? Now that I think about it, what were we even talking about…?’
I, who had been momentarily dazed, only then recalled that the Marquis had asked me to call him grandfather.
“You heard correctly. What’s wrong with calling me grandfather? Does that make me a grandmother?”
The Marquis spoke as if delivering a final confirmation.
“Ha! That’s completely unreasonable…”
“What’s unreasonable about it? Seeing you make such a fuss over something trivial, I needn’t worry about you. You’re perfectly fine.”
“Father!”
As the two of them raised their voices, my heart began to pound frantically.
Instead of having a pleasant conversation after meeting for so long, they were quarreling.
It seemed as though all of this was happening because of me, and I felt terribly awkward.
“I’m so sorry!”
As I cried out urgently, both the Marquis and the Grand Duchess turned to look at me simultaneously.
“It’s all my fault. I keep accidentally calling the Marquis grandfather… I misspoke, and that’s why this happened.”
My voice came out small and timid under their piercing gazes, and the Grand Duchess fixed me with a cold stare.
“You.”
“Y-yes…”
“Who taught you to interrupt so rudely? Is that how they raised you at House Elrad?”
“…”
In that moment, I was at a loss for words, and a deep sorrow washed over me.
To be honest… I had harbored a small hope.
Until now, both Marquis Diapel and Askart had been very kind to me.
Though it was somewhat embarrassing to admit, there were times I felt something beyond mere kindness—something like affection.
‘As if I were drawn to blood relations…’
So I had thought that perhaps the Grand Duchess might come to cherish me as the Marquis and Askart did.
But it was a delusion.
My heart, which had soared with joy at the fact that the Grand Duchess had finally looked directly at me and spoken to me, plummeted to the ground in an instant.
A profound sadness and sorrow overwhelmed me, and my eyes grew hot with tears.
Yet it was undoubtedly my fault for overstepping my bounds as a maidservant.
My delusion and arrogance, the comfortable life at House Elrad—they had caused me to forget my station, even if only for a moment.
“I-I’m terribly sorry.”
I quickly bowed deeply, and in that instant, a single tear fell to the floor.
Unaware that I was crying, I looked up in confusion, only to find the Grand Duchess staring at me with wide eyes as if she had received a shock.
It was then.
Suddenly, the Grand Duchess reached out her hand toward me.
My vision swam for a moment, and I instinctively hunched my shoulders and squeezed my eyes shut.
“…”
When nothing happened and I opened my eyes in confusion, I saw the Grand Duchess with a rigid expression.
‘Oh no.’
I had wanted to show only my best side, yet I had made another mistake.
I thought I had finally overcome it. Why does this young body still cling to that habit?
But deep down, I already knew the truth.
I had genuinely been terrified by the Grand Duchess’s cold, cutting expression.
I watched as she slowly withdrew her hand, her face rigid and tense.
I grabbed it.
“…What are you doing?”
Without thinking, I seized the Grand Duchess’s bony hand, and she responded with bewilderment.
“I’m… I’m sorry.”
“Let go.”
“Y-yes…”
Reluctantly, I released her hand with deliberate slowness and bowed respectfully to the Marquis.
“Then Marquis, please take good care of yourself during treatment. I should be going now.”
“…Very well.”
The Marquis, who had frozen in shock upon seeing my tears, slowly nodded his head.
I offered him a small, reassuring smile.
By deliberately mentioning “treatment,” the Grand Duchess would surely realize the Marquis was injured.
It was a small hope that they wouldn’t continue fighting after I left.
“Listen, Lia. It’s cold out—don’t walk. Wait here. I’ll have a carriage brought for you.”
The Marquis then grabbed my arm with an anxious expression.
Though it was the neighboring estate, the grounds of both mansions were so expansive that the distance to the main gate was considerable.
Still, it wasn’t so far that I couldn’t manage a walk for the sake of a stroll.
I hadn’t even come with the noblewoman Diana, so I couldn’t accept such consideration in this situation.
I was about to say it was fine.
“Lia?”
The Grand Duchess, who had been silent for a moment, raised her eyebrows.
“That’s your name?”
“…Yes! My name is Lia.”
Startled by the sudden question, I answered quickly.
I recalled how the people of Bellus Duchy had always shown subtle reactions whenever they heard my name.
I didn’t know what signal that was, but I thought it might help reveal my true identity.
“It’s a name that doesn’t suit you very well.”
But her response was a cold remark I hadn’t anticipated.
“Stella!”
At the same moment, the Marquis barked at the Grand Duchess as if to silence her. It seemed another fierce argument was about to erupt.
Seeing that, I felt I couldn’t endure it any longer, so I quickly bowed and fled the reception room.
My heart felt indescribably desolate.
Sorrowful, disappointed, and aching.
Even knowing that one cannot be satisfied on the first attempt, everything felt hopelessly overwhelming.
That was when it happened.
“Lia!”
I heard someone calling me from behind.
When I turned my head, Bianca was rushing toward me urgently.
Now that I thought about it, I seemed to have glimpsed her as I hurriedly left the reception room.
Perhaps she had come with the Grand Duchess from the beginning, and I simply hadn’t noticed.
“Hello, Bianca.”
She was someone I had longed to see again.
Yet given my current circumstances, our reunion felt unbearably awkward.
And sure enough, as if confirming she had witnessed the entire previous exchange, Bianca spoke with a grave expression.
“Lia. I know His Highness’s words must have hurt you, but please try to understand.”
“…What is there for me to understand?”
I should have said it was fine.
But my heart refused to cooperate, and a curt response escaped my lips before I could stop it.
‘Lia, Emily, Emma…. They’re all just common names given to orphans by the Orphanage.’
As if being branded an ill-mannered maidservant weren’t enough, even my name displeased them.
An indescribable gloom settled over me.
As I drooped and released a heavy sigh, Bianca’s shoulders tensed, and after swallowing hard, she spoke.
“The thing is, your name is the same as the Grand Duchess’s pet name, and that’s what troubled His Highness.”
“…What?”
What on earth was she talking about?
The possibility of learning information about the Grand Duchess made my eyes widen instantly.
“The Grand Duchess’s… pet name?”
I asked carefully, making sure my voice wouldn’t tremble.
Bianca closed her eyes tightly as if suppressing a distant sorrow, then opened them again.
“Yes. His Highness gave her a pet name when he chose her name, even before the Grand Duchess was born. ‘Lia.'”
Only then did the expressions of those people—Bianca and others—who had hesitated upon hearing my name come back to me.
“…Um, Bianca, may I ask the Grand Duchess’s name?”
I barely managed to suppress the turmoil in my chest as I asked, and Bianca nodded with a bittersweet smile.
“Adriana. Adriana Bellus.”

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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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