Everyone Was Obsessed With Me After I Became the Youngest Princess Favourite - Chapter 143

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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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Jack desperately tried to ignore the way his ears burned hot as he quickly dried himself with a towel and began putting on the shirt Allen had tossed to him.
“Why the sudden rush? I thought you didn’t care about this stuff?”
Jack ignored Allen’s sluggish response and asked instead.
“Have you already visited the Imperial Palace?”
“Huh? Oh, right. They kept subtly pressuring me to join the Imperial Knight Order, and I was dying trying to refuse them.”
After buttoning up his shirt completely, Jack stared at Allen with a puzzled expression.
“Why?”
“I thought you might be missing out on a good opportunity. It’s not comparable to the Lexion Knights, but still, leading the Imperial Knights and representing the Empire….”
“That’s enough. Even if I receive a title later and leave my family, I’d rather establish my own knight order than serve under the Imperial throne.”
Jack noticed Allen’s true feelings—that he simply didn’t want to pledge loyalty to the Emperor—and his expression grew even more puzzled.
After all, Duke Elrad was called the Emperor’s Sword and served as the Minister of Military Affairs, and Lucio, though a minor noble, was a talented official in the Foreign Ministry and a loyal servant of the Empire.
“Jack, if you get an offer too, make sure to refuse it well. Getting involved will only be a hassle.”
“Don’t worry, I have no intention of accepting.”
But Jack had no desire to serve the Imperial family either.
The position of Commander of the Imperial Knights was certainly prestigious, but what he truly desired was….
“Huh? Isn’t this the potion Lia sent you?”
Just then, Allen noticed something beside the sword Jack had set down and asked in surprise.
“Why are you taking it out now? You treasure this so much—you even brought it back unused when you went to Diapel Territory last year.”
“It wasn’t intentional… I simply hadn’t found a particular need for it until now.”
Jack picked up the small emerald-green crystal vial, about the length of two finger joints, looking somewhat embarrassed.
Last year, when neighboring nations suddenly posed a threat, the Diapel Territory, located in the Border Territory, had requested reinforcements from the Capital City.
Jack, who had only recently broken through to the Sword Master realm, immediately volunteered, but he had to leave without even writing a letter to Lia.
Remarkably, as if she’d been waiting, Lia had sent him several potions she’d made herself, explaining they aided in faster mana circulation and recovery.
They were incomparable to the standard stamina recovery potions sold at the Magic Tower.
Yet despite facing several crises during his first real combat experience, Jack couldn’t bring himself to use the potions Lia had sent.
Knowing that Jack had carefully preserved the potions, Allen found this strange and stared at him intently.
Feeling caught, Jack cleared his throat awkwardly and spoke.
“Actually… Lia found out somehow and got angry with me.”
“What?”
“She somehow knew I hadn’t touched the potions, and she said if I didn’t use them right away, there wouldn’t be any next time….”
Allen froze stiffly as he watched Jack speak awkwardly.
It seemed likely that he himself was the culprit who had informed Lia of this fact.
Since she only sent him a stamina recovery potion, he had pestered Diana to write in a letter asking if he could try some of the potion Jack treasured so much.
He had simply been delighted when he later received the same potion from Lia.
Allen’s eyes darted back and forth as he forced a smile and asked.
“So, you’re planning to drink it during today’s training?”
“Yes. I thought it would be good to do so. And Lia is… starting to learn swordplay as well.”
At those words, Allen recalled the contents of the letter Lia had sent Diana last time.
“Right, you finally convinced the Grand Duchess, didn’t you!”
“Yes, she seemed quite excited about it.”
“Tsk, what a shame. I’ve thought from the beginning that Lia should have learned swordplay.”
“It’s a bit late, but she’ll do well regardless.”
Jack stated it with unwavering conviction.
Allen, though his memories had grown somewhat hazy, nodded as he recalled Lia’s shocking movements.
* * *
The Training Grounds of Bellus Grand Duchy’s Castle.
The Knight Order’s atmosphere, already sharp and disciplined on ordinary days, felt even more solemn today.
While squads trained quietly in their formations, one knight standing in the center of the Training Grounds glanced nervously at the Grand Duchess and Bianca, who were discussing something serious, and asked the knight beside him.
“Why is the atmosphere so tense today?”
“What? Ah… you just got back from leave, so you wouldn’t have heard. Starting today, Her Highness the Grand Duke’s Daughter has decided to learn swordplay. That’s why.”
“What? Her Highness the Grand Duke’s Daughter?!”
The knight’s startled cry was so loud that not only the surrounding knights but even Bianca frowned.
Yet despite the disapproving glances, the astonished knight whispered softly.
“Is that really true?”
They had known that the Grand Duke’s Daughter, whom they were sworn to protect with their lives, had long wished to learn swordplay… but they never imagined it would actually be permitted.
“So that’s why the atmosphere is like this.”
“Yes. I wonder if Her Highness the Grand Duke’s Daughter might shed tears today. It seems the Grand Duchess and the Captain are planning to train her quite harshly.”
Tears from that small, precious Grand Duke’s Daughter!
Just thinking about it made their hearts ache, and though the knights understood the Grand Duchess’s reluctance to teach swordplay, they became anxious.
It was then.
“Your Highness the Grand Duke’s Daughter, may light shine upon your future.”
At the voices of the knights standing near the entrance of the Training Grounds, those who had been conversing straightened their posture and offered their respects with disciplined formality.
And as they quietly lifted their heads, the Grand Duke’s Daughter, whose pale pink hair usually flowed long in soft, wave-like curves, entered the Training Grounds with it tied high in a single knot.
With slightly drooping, gentle eyes and deep pink irises, the Grand Duke’s Daughter entered with a tense expression, but the moment she noticed her arms and legs moving in the same direction, she hurriedly stopped and shook her head.
“Huff. M-my heart….”
The sight was so endearing that not only the knights who frequently visited the castle but even those watching from afar felt their hearts clench.
Honestly, the Grand Duke’s Daughter they served, Adriana, was impossible not to love.
Despite having spent a lonely and difficult childhood, she was always kind and gentle, considerate of everyone, delighted by small things, and though she blushed shyly, she mustered the courage to express her gratitude. Watching her brought warmth to their hearts.
“Mother.”
“Ahem, ahem! Adriana, you arrived right on time.”
And the Grand Duchess, still unaccustomed to her daughter’s loveliness, cleared her throat and barely regained her composure.
She had never seen Lia so nervous before, and even in her simple training clothes, she looked so beautiful that worry seized her first.
Since her coming-of-age ceremony, the nobility of the Grand Duchy, having heard rumors of the Grand Duke’s Daughter, had lost their senses and rushed to send invitations and love letters.
But today was not the time to admire her daughter’s loveliness.
“First, before we begin training, I think it would be good to check your stamina. How about we start with thirty laps around the Training Grounds as a warm-up?”
Th-thirty laps!
The knights gasped at the Grand Duchess’s words and covered their mouths.
They wanted to applaud if that delicate Grand Duke’s Daughter could even walk one lap around this vast Training Grounds…!
But the Grand Duke’s Daughter, who had been rigid with tension, soon nodded with a determined expression and immediately began running around the Training Grounds.
“…She runs well.”
“Your movements are remarkably light.”
Surprisingly, the Grand Duchess maintained perfect form and never stopped running.
Of course, as time passed, her breathing grew ragged and her pace slowed, but the crucial point was that she never once stopped to rest.
And when the Grand Duchess finally completed all thirty laps, the knights forgot about their own training and stared in bewilderment.
“What’s next?”
The Grand Duchess barely suppressed her astonishment at seeing her daughter panting yet brimming with enthusiasm, and spoke in a clipped tone.
“Next, you’ll throw these and hit the targets.”
“…Throwing knives?”
“What, did you think I’d have you grip a sword right away?”
…Of course, in a normal situation, one would teach sword-holding stance first.
But since the purpose of this training was different, the Grand Duchess spoke without shame.
Still, she was honestly confused.
‘I never thought she’d actually complete all thirty laps.’
I had intended to scold her sharply if she collapsed midway, saying that was all she could manage.
But that was fine.
In her current state, barely able to stand upright, hitting distant targets with trembling arms would be difficult even with grit and concentration.
Apparently daunted, Lia stared down at the throwing knife with an odd expression, quite unlike how she’d sprinted around the Training Grounds moments before.
But no one here knew the truth behind that expression.
“Go on, throw it.”
The Grand Duchess urged her forward and pointed to the trees at the perimeter.
Several targets were already affixed to the trees.
The distance was considerable, and with her depleted stamina and inexperience, there was no way the Grand Duchess could hit the targets.
With so many knights watching, it was clear the intention was to humiliate her by having the throwing knife fall short of even half the distance to the trees.
‘What will become of our Grand Duchess…’
All the knights wore stiff expressions, watching the Grand Duchess carefully, but in their hearts they gazed at Lia with unanimous sympathy.
Even the Grand Duchess herself, who had given this task, felt her resolve weaken when she saw her daughter staring down at the throwing knife with a flushed face from running, and she turned her head away.
Whoosh, thunk! Thunk! Thunk!
Suddenly, a fierce whistling sound accompanied something embedding itself into something hard and solid.
“…?”
The Grand Duchess, who had blinked with a dazed expression, saw the throwing knife embedded in the distant target and her eyes widened.
“You… you just…?”
Did Lia really throw the knife?
And hit three of them in one go?
The Grand Duchess, alternating her bewildered gaze between Lia, who was now fingering the next throwing knife, and the target, shook her head thinking she must be seeing things.
She had deliberately prepared only blunt throwing knives so Lia’s fingers wouldn’t get cut.
Even a skilled practitioner couldn’t hit targets with such blunt knives…
Whoosh, thunk! Thunk! Thunk! Thunk! Thunk…!

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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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