Everyone Was Obsessed With Me After I Became the Youngest Princess Favourite - Chapter 157

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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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Before coming to the Grand Duchy, I had summoned the Butler upon hearing Askart’s words and reviewed the old ledgers.
I wanted to ascertain how much the Countess had spent during her visit to the Grand Duchy.
And I was truly taken aback.
‘No matter that it’s someone else’s money….’
The Countess was genuinely extravagant.
The Amber Count Family was hardly a small household, yet there were days when she had squandered an entire year’s budget of the Count’s estate in a single day.
‘For such a person not to have visited the Grand Duchy for nearly a decade….’
Perhaps she had been exercising tremendous restraint and self-discipline all this time?
I could scarcely imagine how alluring the earrings I had displayed must seem to her in such circumstances.
Of course, if she knew from the start that I had no intention of giving them to her, she would be mortified, but the Countess knew nothing of this, so by now she was surely regretting her harsh words to me and lamenting the earrings she could not possess.
And henceforth, she would not speak a single ill word about me, instead imagining the earrings or something else she might yet obtain from me.
‘Or perhaps she might even go so far as to praise me and boast of our acquaintance?’
* * *
…That was what I had thought merely days ago.
Yet here she was, claiming she had rejected the earrings I had merely glimpsed to her. A hollow laugh escaped me unbidden.
Honestly, I had assumed the Countess would keep quiet for now, wary of Mother’s displeasure.
And I had thought that days later, she would visit the Marquis’s Residence again to apologize to me, or coax and cajole me with claims that everything had been a misunderstanding.
‘Yet here she is, already accepting bribes disguised as gifts and carrying on without a care.’
In a way, she was a remarkably simple person.
She had spent far longer in society than I had, so she surely knew that kindness without expectation does not exist, yet she chased only the pleasures before her eyes.
‘She simply doesn’t think deeply about such things.’
From what Mother had said, the Countess seemed to possess a rather headstrong nature.
Perhaps she had even dismissed Mother’s warning—which resembled a final declaration of estrangement—in one ear and out the other.
“Had she come to apologize again, I would have treated her as an aunt.”
After sending Jane out, I clicked my tongue softly and made my way to my desk.
For now, it mattered little if she enjoyed herself. She would face difficulties soon enough, but that was of her own making.
“More importantly, it seems the time to act is drawing near.”
The Founding Festival, which would last three days, was already upon us.
From envoys of foreign nations come to celebrate the founding of the Laksten Empire to tourists and visitors.
The Founding Festival season was the time when the Capital City saw the most people in a year, and thus when noble families maintained their most rigorous security.
And the moment I was targeting was precisely the point right after the Founding Festival ended.
‘Security would be at its most lax then.’
Moreover, given the circumstances of House Petite had declined from their former glory, their security would be even more negligent.
Fortunately, over the past several days, I had managed to revive old memories and successfully sketch out the complete interior layout of Count Petie’s Estate.
Count Petie, Kenneth Petite’s father, was loose-tongued and fond of boasting, and when drunk, he would frequently speak of matters regarding the interior of his residence or treasures he had acquired—things others would rarely mention—and this had proven invaluable.
I tapped my fingers against the space directly beside the staircase leading to the third floor of Count Petie’s Estate, lost in thought.
‘He had said this space connected to the underground vault where treasures were stored, but would it be there?’
Or perhaps, failing to properly assess the value of the sacred relic, he had placed it in the storage room beside the Separate Quarters instead.
“I need to gather more information.”
* * *
That evening.
I was in the midst of preparing myself.
I had promised to go out with Diana.
As I finished dressing by placing a bonnet atop my braided hair, I heard footsteps and a voice from beyond the door.
“Sister, it’s me, Diana! May I come in?”
“Yes, come in quickly.”
“Wow….”
The moment Diana rushed through the door and saw me, she cupped her cheeks and spoke in a dreamy voice.
“Sister, you’re so beautiful!”
“Dana, you look lovely too.”
“No! Sister is the most beautiful in the entire world!”
Diana shook her head vigorously, her fists clenched tight, and I couldn’t help but laugh at how adorable she was.
“But is it already time for our appointment? I hurried as much as I could….”
“No! I came early. I wanted to see you, sister!”
I chuckled and asked, “Where are the others?” Diana informed me that they were waiting in the lobby on the first floor.
Hearing that Allen and Jack were waiting, I hurried downstairs and saw my parents coming to see me off.
Upon spotting me, Father exclaimed with an emotional expression.
“My daughter, you’re radiant with beauty today as well!”
“Father, really!”
It was the same praise as always, but perhaps because we weren’t at the familiar Grand Duke’s Castle and were in front of Jack and Allen, I felt even more embarrassed.
“What am I doing? I simply spoke the truth because you are beautiful….”
But Father instead turned to the two of them with a sincere expression, as if questioning what was strange about it.
“Don’t you think so?”
“Well….”
“…Yes. I believe Your Highness the Grand Duke is correct.”
Allen awkwardly nodded at Father’s question, while Jack answered a beat too late.
My face burned intensely.
But Father’s shameless behavior didn’t end there.
“Oh! So your name is Jack? It seems we share some common ground.”
As Father, who had even put his arm around Jack’s shoulder, began to launch into praise of me, I quickly wedged myself between the two of them.
“Father, please stop! And Jack, why are you nodding along?”
There was once a time when I thought Jack could never tell a lie.
“Sigh. Social interactions are simply difficult, aren’t they?”
“Hm?”
I gently patted Jack’s arm as he tilted his head in confusion, then shot Father a glare.
His expression immediately turned pitiful, and I found myself unable to stay angry, breaking into laughter instead.
‘At least the atmosphere seems pleasant, which is fortunate.’
As I descended to the first floor, I had worried slightly whether Jack might feel uncomfortable having encountered my parents.
I recalled the first meeting between my parents and Jack from a few days prior.
“Your Highness the Grand Duke, Your Highness the Grand Duchess. It is an honor to meet you for the first time. My name is Jack Seidian.”
“Oh, right. Nice to—wait! Jack? You mean the Jack that Adriana wanted to introduce to me back then?!”
Father’s eyes suddenly widened in a way that didn’t suit him, and he scrutinized Jack from head to toe with meticulous attention.
As Jack froze in bewilderment, I hastily interjected to end the situation, but…
In truth, it was something I couldn’t quite understand.
When my parents asked to hear stories from my childhood, instead of recounting the hardships I’d endured at the Orphanage, I would go on and on about how kind and wonderful a friend Jack had been.
‘And I’d even praised him, saying he would become an incredibly remarkable knight in the future.’
Of course, Father’s behavior seemed to carry no malice, but to observe someone so intently as to embarrass them…
No matter how much I thought about it, that day felt strange, so I’d even asked my parents if Jack had made some mistake.
But Mother simply smiled, and Father only perspired profusely without giving me a proper answer.
Yet today, fortunately, the atmosphere hadn’t been unpleasant.
I was nodding in relief when suddenly a large hand extended before me.
“Shall we go, Lia?”
It was Jack.
I looked back and forth between Jack’s face and hand, bewildered by his attempt to escort me, then smiled bashfully.
“Jack, I remember the old days. You’ve become a real knight now.”
“…I was a knight back then too. An apprentice, but still.”
“Right, you were.”
I nodded and smiled, just about to take Jack’s hand when—
“Sister, let’s go!”
Diana suddenly appeared from behind and linked her arm through mine, pulling me along.
I found myself ushered out the door and waved toward my parents.
They waved back in return.
Fortunately, there was no mention of whether I should go without an escort.
‘After all, my companions are among the few Sword Masters on the Continent…’
Despite knowing my abilities well, my parents, who always worried like they’d set a child by the water’s edge, would find great reassurance in the presence of Allen and Jack.
Of course, Jane, my escort and maidservant, seemed inwardly disappointed at not being able to accompany us, but I had entrusted her with separate duties.
I left the Marquis’s Residence with a light heart.
* * *
The moment the door closed, the smiles vanished from the Grand Duke and Grand Duchess’s faces.
The Grand Duchess quickly patted her husband’s hand and spoke.
“You held back well.”
“Did you see, my dear? How he tried to hold hands right in front of us…!”
“It was merely an escort.”
“Still!”
The Grand Duke trembled with his fists clenched, bristling with indignation.
“Fortunately, Lady Elrad intervened so we didn’t have to witness that, but should we really allow her to spend time with such a large and sinister fellow?”
“Then what are you suggesting? Following them in secret?”
“Would that be acceptable?”
“Absolutely not!”
The Grand Duke’s expression grew dejected at his wife’s firm response.
The Grand Duchess shook her head vigorously.
“Good heavens, he was so oblivious when courting, yet Father’s instincts are this sharp.”
“…Pardon?”
“It’s nothing. Rather…”
The Grand Duchess lowered her voice and spoke with grave seriousness.
“Lady Elrad might be more dangerous than Lia’s friend!”
“Pardon? Why would Lady Elrad…”
“Did you already forget what I said?”
The Grand Duchess, who had worn an expression of disbelief, quickly grew indignant.
“I told you what was among the gifts sent by House Elrad last time!”
“Ah, you mean the sapphire bracelet that was a family heirloom of the Duke’s Estate.”
“Exactly. Moreover, it was also a keepsake of the Previous Duchess Elrad!”
The Grand Duchess remembered how, after Dominic had driven out the Previous Duke Elrad, he had first secured the bracelet—a keepsake of the Previous Duchess Elrad and a family heirloom of House Elrad.
She also remembered how he had cherished it dearly before giving it to Edel and proposing to her.
So when that very bracelet arrived as a gift, how astounded she had been.
“They’ve clearly marked our Lia as their future daughter-in-law. They’re trying to subtly spirit away our precious daughter!”
The Grand Duchess glared in the direction of the Duke’s Mansion.
The playful promise from her childhood had long since faded from her memory.

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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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