Everyone Was Obsessed With Me After I Became the Youngest Princess Favourite - Chapter 159

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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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“Listen, the person who would give you a handkerchief is….”
“I want to receive it from you.”
Jack answered quickly.
Though I didn’t hear him finish, I could somehow sense what he was about to say.
That there wouldn’t be many people giving a handkerchief to such a renowned knight.
But.
“Gifts from people who don’t really know me hold no meaning.”
Over the years, I’d received love letters and gifts from countless women regardless of their status.
Yet Jack found all of it burdensome and uncomfortable.
Because there had always been only one person he wished to receive attention from.
“Understood.”
That was when it happened.
Lia’s face suddenly lit up as if she’d realized something, and she answered with a bright smile.
“…Really?”
“Yes!”
Despite her refreshing answer, Lia didn’t even glance at the handkerchief and simply walked past the counter.
I looked at her in confusion, but she only gave me an expression that said to trust her.
Though a hint of doubt crept in, Jack shook his head.
‘Right, even if she’s not perceptive, she should have understood with that much explanation.’
It seemed she intended to give him one she already had. Jack’s lips curved up slightly at the thought.
* * *
The day of the Founding Festival finally arrived.
Early in the morning, I attended the opening ceremony and watched the Imperial Princess Serphin on the platform above.
Having woken earlier than usual, she appeared tired as she covered her mouth with her hand while yawning.
“…And so we celebrate the founding of the great Laksten Empire. Let all rejoice and enjoy!”
Just then, the Emperor, who had been delivering a lengthy address, declared the opening.
“Long live His Majesty the Emperor!”
“Long live the Laksten Empire!”
Thunderous applause and roaring cheers erupted from the crowd.
The nobility and envoys were no different.
Everyone seemed eager to return and prepare for the Imperial Palace ball that evening.
“Adriana, your mother and I will return to the Marquis’s Residence immediately to rest before the ball.”
I answered Father quickly.
“As I mentioned beforehand, I’ll watch the Sword Tournament with Diana!”
The Founding Festival Sword Tournament had so many participants that preliminaries were held over two days in tournament format, with the finals on the last day.
The finals were particularly popular—commoners found it nearly impossible to obtain tickets. I myself had only heard about it secondhand every year and had never attended once.
But this time, I planned to watch the finals for the first time.
‘Of course, I already know who this year’s champion will be.’
After all, who wouldn’t know who would claim victory in this tournament, just as everyone knew last year’s champion Allen?
While sightseeing at the Night Market yesterday, I saw gambling dens wagering on the tournament results. Jack’s victory had already become a foregone conclusion—everyone was desperately trying to guess who would take second place.
But no matter how strong a favorite contender might be, preliminaries must still be contested.
Jack’s preliminary round was set to begin this very afternoon.
‘I was naturally planning to watch anyway….’
But after he’d made that special request for a handkerchief yesterday, I absolutely had to attend.
“Very well. Then I’ll enjoy the matches, and head to the Imperial Palace this evening….”
My parents were just about to urge me not to stay out too late.
“Sister!”
I heard that familiar address—one I’d been hearing several times a day lately.
But it wasn’t Diana’s voice, which always brought me joy no matter how often I heard it.
I turned to see Countess Amber, adorned with an ornate opal necklace, waving her hand as she approached us.
With the ostrich feather ornament pinned in her hair, she resembled a peacock.
Though she was acutely aware of the gazes around her, the brightness of her expression—as if she’d completely forgotten the incident at the Marquis’s Residence—left me thoroughly displeased.
‘It seems I need to settle this matter once and for all.’
I nodded inwardly and acknowledged her with an exceptionally bland tone, taking my mother’s place.
“Well, if it isn’t Countess Amber.”
A crack appeared on the Countess’s face, which had been approaching with a delighted expression.
“What? Is she still….”
Her trembling voice carried indignation, but realizing we were in front of others, she forced a smile.
Then she stood before me, watching me quietly as if waiting for something.
“…?”
After a moment of bewilderment, I soon realized what she was waiting for and nearly let out a hollow laugh.
As the Grand Duke’s daughter, I held a position where I need not even bow to the Imperial Princess.
‘Yet she expects me to show deference first.’
But it appeared the Countess possessed no such common sense whatsoever.
Just as she was about to point this out, she opened her mouth.
“Adriana, there’s no need to engage with her. Come along now.”
My mother cast a cold glance at the Countess and gently turned me by the shoulder.
“Look, the Princess is waiting for you over there.”
Just as Mother said, I could see Diana standing with Allen a few steps ahead.
It seemed that after the opening ceremony ended, she’d come straight toward me but had been forced to wait at a distance when the Countess arrived with her entourage.
“Sister, what on earth is going on…!”
“Let’s go.”
The Countess, unable to believe the insult she’d just suffered before everyone’s eyes, kept calling out “Sister” with her face flushed crimson, but Mother simply pushed gently at my back.
That was when it happened.
“Uncle, it’s been so long since we last met. I’m Clara.”
Clara, whom I hadn’t even noticed was there, quietly stepped forward and curtsied as she greeted Father.
“Ah, yes….”
Father, who had been standing quietly and reading the atmosphere between Mother and the Countess, answered awkwardly.
“Clara, you’ve become quite the lady in the time since we last met.”
“It’s been a long time since we last saw each other. I hope you’ve been well all this while?”
“Hmm…”
Father nodded with a troubled smile, and Clara glanced at me before speaking.
“Truthfully, when I heard that Adriana had been found, I was overjoyed. I worried so much when I learned you were ill. But to think we’d meet like this in the Empire…”
Clara’s eyes sparkled with genuine emotion, but her expression suddenly grew somber.
“Yet it seems Aunt isn’t particularly pleased to see me. May I ask why you appear so displeased?”
The girl, whose modest attire seemed plain compared to the Countess’s finery, smiled with such pathos that the atmosphere shifted instantly.
Watching Clara turn the situation to her advantage in a heartbeat, I inwardly clicked my tongue.
I was just about to step forward, thinking it would be better for me to handle this girl rather than leave it to Mother, when—
“Why don’t you first confirm whether your mother even has a sister before using such a title?”
“…I beg your pardon?”
“Your mother said she’d treat herself as having no family, so I said I’d do the same. I have no need for a younger sister who would carelessly speak of my daughter.”
Clara flinched at Mother’s icy words.
Watching Father accept Mother’s words, I saw the Countess’s smug expression crumble as she realized she wouldn’t receive any leniency.
Most of all, the cold family relationship laid bare before everyone drew sharp, piercing glares toward the Countess.
“Clara, let’s go!”
The Countess spun around with a flushed face, letting out a sharp cry as though she were angry.
She seemed to be trying to express her own indignation, but to my eyes, she looked like nothing more than someone fleeing to escape the situation.
‘She should have known better.’
Perhaps the Countess had misunderstood because Mother had been lenient until now, but Mother was never swayed by others’ gazes or bound by status and reputation—especially not when family was at stake.
In a sense, the Countess had enjoyed considerable goodwill while remaining within that circle of family, yet she had kicked away that boundary with her own feet. Everything that followed was merely reaping what she had sown.
‘But still, by now, surely she’s resenting me, wondering how I could do such a thing.’
Somehow, the Countess’s thoughts seemed transparent to me.
By comparison, Clara was far better at concealing her true feelings than the Countess.
The way she left, trembling lips pressed firmly together, offering polite farewells to Mother and Father, made her appear quite the victim.
However.
“…”
The glance Clara cast my way as she passed was remarkably sharp.
As though the unexpected commotion had provided entertainment, the onlookers who couldn’t tear their eyes away began to leave awkwardly with forced smiles once the Countess and Clara departed.
“Mother.”
“It’s fine, Adriana.”
Before I could even open my mouth, Mother smiled gently, as though she already knew what I was about to say.
“We’ll be returning to Bellus soon anyway. What does it matter if people talk?”
“But…”
“You do worry so much, don’t you, my dear?”
Mother shook her head and whispered softly against my ear.
“Gossips aren’t fearless people—quite the opposite. They’re far more cautious of the strong. So all the arrows will be directed at Regina. She’s raised a daughter to that age, so it’s about time she came to her senses.”
Mother laughed, gesturing dismissively, appearing almost innocent.
It was a stark contrast to how she’d treated her younger sister and niece moments before, or the words she’d just whispered.
Yet there wasn’t a single false word in what she’d said.
Still, I couldn’t shake the sharpness I’d seen in Clara’s eyes at the last moment.
‘I wish he’d just keep quiet and stay out of trouble.’
An ominous premonition whispered that such hopes were unlikely to come true.
* * *
After seeing my parents off to their estate, I boarded House Elrad’s carriage alongside Diana and Allen.
Jack had departed earlier for the Tournament Grounds to prepare for the preliminaries, so we decided to grab a light lunch in the area before heading back.
I rested my chin on my palm against the carriage window, my thoughts drifting back to what had occupied my mind during the event.
‘I still can’t fathom why she returned alone when she left with the delegation in the first place.’
A few days ago, I’d heard that the Imperial Princess Serphin, who had departed for the Liven Kingdom, had returned to the capital by herself.
Yet the Empire’s delegation that had accompanied the Imperial Princess remained conspicuously silent.
‘Has he already detected the new king’s ambitions and begun moving?’
Or was he caught in some other troublesome situation?
‘Why hasn’t he returned yet?’
I caught myself muttering absently and fell silent.
Since arriving in the Empire, my mind had been perpetually tangled with tasks to accomplish and matters to investigate.
Yet one person continued to occupy my thoughts regardless.
‘No matter how much I think about it, I can’t make sense of it, but perhaps he was searching for me even in the past.’
And that person I’d naturally expected to meet upon arriving in the Empire.
I found myself deeply curious about Lucio Elrad.

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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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