Everyone Was Obsessed With Me After I Became the Youngest Princess Favourite - Chapter 169

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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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Only after Jane gave a small cough to alert Baron Bardo and Tellin to my presence did the Baron quickly close his mouth, while Tellin spoke with an imploring tone.
“Your Highness the Grand Duchess, please tell His Excellency. Investing in the Magic Tower would be far more valuable than wasting resources on that useless vegetation.”
“You ignorant mage, don’t speak if you don’t know! Your Highness the Grand Duchess, Splecia truly is a precious medicinal herb. We’re currently conducting experiments to create a perfect antidote. Of course, mana stones are terribly expensive, but… it seems the more expensive the mana stones, the better their quality affects Splecia’s growth…”
Baron Bardo watched my expression carefully, worried I might actually begrudge the mana stones and report this to the Duke.
I nodded reassuringly at the Baron, and inwardly, I was astonished.
Her hypothesis came remarkably close to the truth.
‘The Baron wouldn’t have known that the quality of mana infused into Splecia was what mattered.’
Nine years ago, among those from House Elrad and the Marquis’s household whose memories of me had been erased through Raezl, Baron Bardo was included.
This meant he didn’t remember me cultivating Splecia by directly infusing my mana while saving the Duchess Elrad, and as a result, all that remained in the Baron’s memory was the formula for the antidote.
But as he repeatedly failed to create an antidote of the desired potency using the same formula, the Baron had apparently turned his attention back to researching Splecia cultivation at its source.
And if he infused high-purity, superior-grade mana stones as she predicted, he would be able to cultivate Splecia with even greater efficacy in the future.
‘But no matter what, he’ll never be able to create an antidote equal to what I made before.’
“We’ve arrived, Your Highness the Grand Duchess.”
At that moment, Baron Bardo informed me that we had reached the greenhouse prepared behind the Annex Building.
Suppressing my trembling heart, I slowly stepped inside and froze at the sight before me.
Countless pink petals of Splecia bloomed in profusion, swaying in unison as if welcoming me.
Simultaneously, a bitter wind from Snow Mountain swept through, and my cheeks felt frozen.
Blinking, I looked down and saw an endless expanse of snow-covered land stretching before me.
At my feet, a single small blade of grass bloomed through the snow.
As I gazed at it, from that point onward, the white snow melted and a verdant field was revealed, and soon pink flowers bloomed abundantly all around.
The dreamlike, beautiful, and vivid scene unfolding before my eyes was an illusion, yet not an illusion.
“Ugh…”
I felt a sharp pain as if struck by a hammer across my chest and stepped back.
“Your Highness!”
“Your Highness the Grand Duchess, what’s wrong!”
Jane and the Baron startled and caught me from both sides, while Tellin and the physicians in the greenhouse also appeared flustered.
But all I could do was bury my face in my hands to hide my contorted expression.
〈There is one person not mentioned in mythology. A person who was killed by incurring the demon’s wrath. I am perhaps…〉
Along with a sharp ringing in my ears, Raezl’s voice echoed endlessly through my mind.
In that instant, the world spun dizzily, and a story unknown to the world—one only the highest priests within the Temple knew—surfaced in my thoughts.
And I understood with absolute certainty.
‘So then, I truly am…’
The one who stole the demon’s power.
Splecia, humanity’s first mage.
* * *
In ancient times, before the Holy Demon War.
The demon who guarded the Demon Realm possessed immense power and dreamed of becoming a god himself.
He led his demonic creatures to the lands of humans, waged war, and ruled the world through disease, fear, blood, and tears.
Then one day, the demon realized his power was gradually disappearing.
The demon quickly found the human who had stolen his power.
It was none other than Splecia—the first human to ever carry a demon’s power, ‘mana’, within her heart, and the first mage.
Splecia was a girl with a remarkably pure soul, rare even among humans.
The demon believed that killing the girl would restore his power, and without hesitation, he did exactly that.
But… his power, already lost, never returned.
It was because of the antidote herb the girl left behind—Splecia, named after the girl herself.
The girl was foolish and weak, unaware that power had awakened within her, yet unknowingly she breathed her mana into grass blooming from frozen earth and imbued it with powerful magic.
That the people of this world would be freed from the poison of monsters…
That they would be liberated from the suffering of illness and wounds…
The girl’s earnest prayer, wishing for a world without pain, transformed an ordinary herb into the legendary antidote.
The demon laughed at the fact that with his overwhelming power—power enough to possess the world—the girl had merely created medicinal herbs rather than opposing him or slaying monsters.
However…
He never anticipated that the humble herb he had scorned would plant the seeds of mana within humanity.
From that day forward, beings possessing power beyond the human realm began appearing everywhere.
The mana inherent within those whose lives were saved by Splecia manifested as ‘aura’, sometimes as ‘magical power’.
That was not all.
Among those who mourned Splecia’s death and prayed to God, divine power began to manifest in those untainted by demon poison.
And among them, a Saint blessed with the most formidable divine power and eyes that pierced through the purity of souls finally declared war against the demon.
The Holy-Demon War had begun.
* * *
Splecia.
The medium through which mana was transmitted to humanity, and the name of the one who stole the demon’s power.
‘And my past life.’
I rose from the bed with a hollow laugh.
It seemed I had lost consciousness momentarily from the aftereffects of the divine spell Raezl had given me, saying it might help restore memories of my past life.
When I came to, I found myself not in the Greenhouse of the Duke’s Estate, but in the Bedroom of the Marquis’s Residence.
“Sigh…”
A headache seemed to be forming, so I exhaled a long breath and pressed my forehead.
Raezl had spoken as he watched the power sealed within the demon’s soul stone I wore—specifically, the demon’s mana—being absorbed into me.
〈I suspect… you are the reincarnation of ‘Splecia’, the human who does not appear in mythology, or more precisely, was erased from it.〉
At first, I wondered why the name of the legendary antidote herb had come up.
It felt oddly unsettling to dismiss it as coincidence, but after hearing Raezl’s full explanation, I could only laugh.
At the same time, I understood why Splecia could only become such a rare antidote herb.
No one else possessed both healing magic as potent as mine and the ability to infuse such pure magical power.
And that remains true even now.
No matter how much mana is infused using high-grade mana stones, without my mana, it would never match the legendary antidote herb from the myths.
The moment my thoughts concluded, my hands trembled without my awareness.
Though I had long suspected my identity through Raezl’s words, it was still shocking.
The scenes I had witnessed before losing consciousness made it impossible to deny any longer that I was the reincarnation of that Splecia who had been killed by the demon.
“…So that’s why. Did you really hate me that much?”
Wasn’t killing me once enough—did you want to keep me by your side and torment me instead?
In that moment, an indescribable emotion surged through me, and my eyes grew hot with unshed tears.
That was when it happened.
“Adriana?”
“Dear, have you come to your senses?”
My Mother and Father, who had quietly opened the door and entered, gasped in surprise upon seeing me awake.
“How are you feeling? Are you alright?”
“I’m fine. You must have been quite frightened.”
“Of course I was! When I heard you’d suddenly lost consciousness, I was terrified!”
“Your father’s heart nearly stopped.”
“I’m sorry.”
I wore a dejected expression.
I felt terrible for worrying my family, and it seemed I’d also caused trouble for House Elrad.
“Oh dear. My daughter is troubling her father again.”
At that moment, Father, seated beside the bed, stroked my hair and spoke in a melancholic voice.
“You haven’t done anything wrong. So don’t make that face. It pains my heart.”
“…Yes.”
At Father’s words, I felt as though even my former self was being comforted.
Yet a corner of my heart remained somewhat sorrowful.
The expression Father had spoken of…
‘It must be the face I wore in my childhood.’
Ever since I’d been reunited with my family.
Mother, Father, my Older Brother, and Grandfather all wished for me to grow into a child who was so happy every day that I didn’t know what to do with myself.
And whenever I inadvertently showed hesitation, became timid, or grew even slightly melancholic, they would hurt more than I did, their hearts aching for me.
Meeting a family that loved me so, I had never known a single day without happiness.
I wished that my family would also be happy through me.
So before them, I made an effort to show only a brighter, more cheerful side.
I deliberately pouted like a spoiled child, and acted as though there was no longer any sorrow or emptiness within me.
‘But…’
I still could not erase the memories of pain and loneliness.
Though I wished to forget and disregard all of my past, the circumstances didn’t allow it.
For the demon’s soul stone still hung around my neck.
‘That’s why I felt relieved by Raezl’s request.’
I couldn’t even imagine how sorrowful my family would be if they learned I was living a second life.
While it pained me to hide such a secret, it was far better than my family suffering.
I suppressed the emotions welling up within me and forced a smile, and only then did Father’s expression soften as he smiled back at me.
That was when Mother spoke.
“Fortunately, the physicians found no other abnormalities in your body. They said your energy is depleted and you’ve accumulated considerable stress.”
“Is that so?”
“Yes. I wonder… was it because of that Second Prince yesterday? Even when I kept glaring at him, he wouldn’t let go of you.”
Mother’s teeth clenched as she muttered in an ominous voice.
His expression was so fierce that he looked ready to lodge a formal complaint with the Imperial Palace at any moment, so I quickly opened my mouth to speak.

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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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