Everyone Was Obsessed With Me After I Became the Youngest Princess Favourite - Chapter 142
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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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“It’s been bothering me. I wonder if there’s some resemblance.”
It had been nearly ten years since Allen and Lia parted ways in childhood, and he hadn’t seen her face since.
Allen’s memory of Lia’s features had grown hazy.
Moreover, he’d been told that even the face he remembered wasn’t real, which only deepened his curiosity.
‘I’ve heard she bears a striking resemblance to the Grand Duchess…’
He’d once seen a portrait of the Grand Duchess at the Diapel Marquis Estate, but for some reason, he couldn’t quite picture it.
Then Allen learned of the existence of Clara Amber, Lia’s cousin.
Since Clara’s mother, Countess Amber, was the Grand Duchess’s younger sister, perhaps there was some resemblance.
In his fading memories, Lia’s hair color had been the same brown as Clara’s, which made it seem all the more plausible.
“She doesn’t look like her at all! Not one bit!”
“…Really? Even though you’re family?”
“Yes! Not at all!”
Allen’s hopeful expression fell as his expectation of imagining Lia’s face, even slightly, crumbled.
“And besides, Miss Amber isn’t even my sister’s family!”
Diana smiled with a victorious expression, raising only one corner of her mouth.
When Allen looked confused, Diana swung her feet and spoke.
“My sister didn’t even tell me she had her debutante ball! We don’t even exchange letters like I do, and we don’t know how each other is doing—how could Miss Amber be family?”
“But she’s still your cousin, so she is family…”
Allen flinched and shrank back at the murderous aura Diana was emitting as he tried to argue that she was family.
Diana, who had confidently entered the Training Grounds as a child, determined to become a knight, possessed swordsmanship talent at a despairing level—the complete opposite of himself, Jack, and Aiden.
She had trained from dawn with considerable determination, but her skills never improved, and eventually Diana gave up her dream in utter disappointment.
Yet she could emit this level of threat to him, a Sword Master. In a sense, it was even more impressive.
“Just because blood is mixed doesn’t make everyone family. Diana, you’re much closer to Lia than she is! Yes, absolutely.”
Allen hurriedly changed the subject and gauged Diana’s mood.
Her eyebrows, which had seemed about to touch the carriage ceiling, had somehow returned to their proper place.
But seeing her mouth stubbornly pressed shut, it seemed her mood hadn’t fully cleared.
“Diana, don’t be like that. Cut your brother some slack, won’t you? I always pick you up, don’t I?”
From today’s gathering to the TPT meetings and Salon visits, Allen always picked up Diana because she wanted him to.
It was an excuse to escape uncomfortable situations a bit sooner.
Allen was also embarrassed about going to gatherings filled only with young ladies. It was just that his embarrassment wasn’t more important than Diana’s request.
“But if you don’t want to go, you just don’t go. Why do you always attend?”
It didn’t seem like she particularly enjoyed her time with the young ladies, nor did she seem to want to become the queen of high society.
Diana shrugged in response to Allen’s question.
“I need to secure my position early so my sister will have an easier time later. And I need to keep watch so no nonsense spreads from now on.”
“Huh? Nonsense? What are you keeping watch for?”
“You don’t need to know, brother. Anyway, don’t pay attention to Miss Amber. Every time I see her, I’m in a terrible mood. …Though not as much.”
Diana’s voice at the end was so quiet that Allen couldn’t quite hear the last part.
But Allen didn’t think much of it and simply nodded, “Okay.”
Diana’s eyes narrowed.
“Are you really not going to pretend you didn’t hear?”
“Then it’s true. Why?”
“I thought you weren’t really interested.”
“Interest has nothing to do with it. And Diana, anyone you dislike, I dislike too.”
Though younger than me, Diana possessed a keenness and intelligence that surpassed everyone else.
Allen trusted Diana’s judgment of people as much as he trusted his own mastery of the sword.
Moreover, though it still felt unreal, his sister was supposedly the reincarnation of the ‘Saint.’
Just as he had witnessed Lia’s true form, Diana’s ability to perceive the purity within a person’s soul made her all the more trustworthy.
“But about Lia… if she’s already had her debutante ball, doesn’t that mean she now appears in her true form to others as well?”
Then is that illusion magic completely dispelled? What about the mana that was supposedly sealed?
At Allen’s murmur, Diana bit her lip sharply.
The letter that arrived from the Grand Duchy recently only mentioned that the debutante ball had taken place, with no separate mention of the mana seal.
So Diana surmised that perhaps only the illusion magic had been dispelled.
Until now, she had refrained from meeting Lia due to concerns about mana runaway, but especially because of the illusion magic. The thought that everyone except her might now be able to meet Lia made her feel terribly dejected.
“When did this awakening supposedly happen?”
Then Allen asked Diana, who was visibly downcast, with careful concern.
Diana sighed deeply and shook her head.
* * *
“Aiden!”
The moment the carriage came to a stop inside the Elrad Duke’s Mansion, Diana, who had opened the door before Allen, cried out.
But the boy with deep blue hair, lost in thought, merely stared blankly at one spot despite Diana’s loud call.
“Hey! Aren’t you listening to me?”
“Huh…? Diana? When did you arrive?”
Aiden was startled when he noticed Diana approaching him.
“Tsk, where do you have your mind wandering off to?”
A promising knight who might become a Sword Master like Allen or Jack hadn’t even noticed someone approaching nearby.
Diana shot him a jealous glare before turning her gaze to where he had been staring blankly.
There she saw maidservants hurrying along with cleaning supplies, apparently heading to clean the Annex Building.
“Still wet behind the ears and already…”
“That’s not it!”
When Allen, who had witnessed this scene, clicked his tongue in disapproval, Aiden cried out indignantly.
“I was just thinking about Sister Lia…”
And at his unexpected words, Allen’s expression became flustered.
Diana, having already caught on, was awkwardly feigning ignorance.
“Sigh. Sister was so kind to me. She read me fairy tales and played house with me.”
“Hey, I played with you too!”
“Diana, you only bullied me the whole time! Sister had to stop you!”
Aiden’s voice cracked as he continued with a bitter expression.
“I was so shocked when I came back from my trip and she was suddenly gone. I really miss her. And she hasn’t contacted me even once since then.”
Though it was fortunate that his sister, who had been an orphan, found her parents, Aiden grumbled that missing her was still missing her.
It was Aiden’s honest feelings, unaware of Lia’s true identity and circumstances.
Allen was newly surprised that young Aiden had remembered Lia for such an extraordinarily long time.
“Hey, be, be quiet! A person who’s gone, what’s the point in recalling them!”
At that moment, Diana let out an awkward shout, her eyes wide open.
Allen sighed and closed his eyes.
Diana, like her mother, was terrible at lying, and it was painful to watch with open eyes.
However, Aiden seemed completely oblivious to Diana’s falsehood and asked with a twitching smile.
“What, are you jealous?”
“Are you insane? Purple eyes with purple bruises right next to them would look just perfect, wouldn’t it?”
Watching Diana and Aiden bicker as usual, Allen shook his head and turned away from them, heading toward the Training Grounds.
“I wonder if Jack is still there? It would be nice to spar after so long.”
Recently, whenever the two of them wielded their swords with true intent, the Training Grounds’ facilities suffered, so they had been holding back considerably. Perhaps because of this, stress had accumulated heavily.
“Oh my! You’re not wearing a shirt!”
“Look at those broad shoulders and muscles.”
“Ah, if only I could be held in those arms once.”
At that moment, embarrassing whispers reached Allen’s ears.
Allen looked around with a flustered expression.
He could see maidservants with flushed faces peeking through the gaps between their awkwardly raised fingers, squealing as they watched inside the Training Grounds.
Turning his gaze back to peer inside the Training Grounds, he saw a sturdy man wielding a sword under the scorching sunlight.
His frame had grown so tall that I could barely remember his gaunt appearance from childhood, with a skeleton and musculature solidified through his growth years.
And a handsome man with distinct features that emanated a uniquely taciturn yet solemn atmosphere.
It was Jack Seidian.
* * *
“Hah….”
Jack steadied his breathing and concentrated his mind.
Then the entire world except him slowed, and no sound reached his ears.
It was a phenomenon that occurred when his nerves became extremely acute.
Only at such moments could he feel the movement of wind and the trembling of air itself.
Jack wanted to completely internalize this moment.
Only then could he perceive where his opponent’s eyes and sword tip were directed before they moved, and respond first.
Despite breaking through walls multiple times and becoming a Sword Master, there was one reason Jack continued to transcend his limits.
Because he possessed a firm objective.
“Jack!”
At that moment, Allen called out to me from the entrance of the Training Grounds, his face flushed, hurrying over.
“Hey, put your shirt on quickly!”
“Pardon?”
“Put your clothes on! There are maidservants outside!”
Allen threw clothes at me without preamble, and I tilted my head in confusion.
“And so? Must I concern myself with that?”
It was common for knights to train without their shirts on, unable to overcome the sweltering summer weather.
At my composed demeanor, Allen, who had been shielding me with his entire body, raised the corners of his mouth with a “Ho.”
“Is that so? Then by all means, continue being a feast for the eyes.”
“A feast for the eyes…?”
“I didn’t realize you were the type to enjoy others’ gazes. I apologize for meddling where I shouldn’t have.”
Jack, who had been oblivious to Allen’s meaning, suddenly turned his head in embarrassment at the teasing words spoken with a chuckle.
In that instant, a sharp cry pierced the air: “Kyaaah!”
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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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