Everyone Was Obsessed With Me After I Became the Youngest Princess Favourite - Chapter 173

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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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Diana’s passionate proposal left Lia’s mouth hanging open in shock.
But Diana’s words didn’t end there.
“I’ll never let a single drop of water touch your hands for the rest of my life! If my older brother gives you any trouble, I’ll scold him in your place. I’ll give you all the good things in the world. I’ll make sure you smile and stay happy every single day without fail! Oh, and when my niece or nephew is born, I’ll carry them every day….”
“Wait, wait!”
Lia, who had been listening to Diana with her mind spinning, urgently stopped her.
Good heavens—a niece or nephew? That was jumping far too far ahead.
Just thinking about it made me embarrassed. I covered my cheeks with both hands and shook my head, and Diana’s expression turned bewildered at my reaction.
“Don’t you like the eldest brother? W-what about the younger brother then? The younger brother doesn’t need to inherit the family, so he could go live in Bellus! Then you wouldn’t have to be apart from your family. Of course, I’d have to follow you to the Grand Duchy, so our family would miss us, but there’s nothing we can do about that.”
“Um, Diana….”
“You don’t like the younger brother either? Well, I have to admit the womanizer is a bit… Sigh, what do I do then.”
Diana clutched her head in her hands.
Honestly, she had never thought her brothers were lacking in appearance, ability, or character when compared to others, but measured against Lia, they all fell short.
Having finally made a decision in her heart, Diana spoke with grim determination.
“Fine. As a last resort, I’ll match you with the Grand Duke….”
“Rejected! Rejected!”
And before Diana could even finish speaking, Lia waved her hands frantically and cried out urgently.
“That’s definitely not it! And Diana, the Duke hasn’t confessed to me.”
“What?”
“I mean, he didn’t say anything like… he likes me.”
Lia spoke in a voice that grew smaller and smaller. Her face was bright red.
“That’s impossible! He didn’t say he likes you?”
At Diana’s shocked question, Lia nodded.
It wasn’t a lie.
Lucio truly had never said he liked her.
〈You already know, don’t you. Why I’m doing this.〉
He had only said that instead.
Lia trembled as she recalled Lucio whispering so intimately to her.
Now that I thought about it, I felt wronged.
Diana seemed to firmly believe that Lucio must have confessed his feelings to me, but I myself couldn’t be certain of Lucio’s heart.
‘What kind of person confesses like that? If you like someone, just say it clearly….’
Oh no! Lia shook her head again and brushed away the thought that had crossed her mind unbidden.
I had come all the way to the Empire with such desperate determination, yet here I was, leisurely entertaining such thoughts….
I felt pathetic about myself, but there was nothing I could do about the burning sensation in my ears and cheeks.
Most of all, I was mortified to be having this kind of conversation with Diana, whom I had always thought of as merely a child.
Diana, for her part, had no idea that Lia was being coy and awkward when she said she hadn’t received a confession, and was thoroughly disappointed in Lucio.
When they reunited, he had been so proactive that she was certain he must have conveyed his feelings.
‘What an idiot! A fool! Why couldn’t you even confess! When you like her so much….’
A sigh escaped her at the frustration.
Diana knew better than anyone how much Lucio liked Lia, even if others didn’t.
〈Diana, you said you received a letter—shall I read it to you?〉
When Lia sent her first letter from Bellus, saying she had arrived safely.
Her older brother, whom she rarely saw due to his grueling duties all day, suddenly appeared and asked to read it.
Diana, who was still learning to read and had been pestering her family to read Lia’s letters aloud, happily brought the letter to Lucio.
As those days continued on, and even when she no longer needed someone to read the letters to her….
Diana came to realize something as she watched Lucio keep coming to offer to read the letters aloud.
Lia was someone special to Lucio.
If that weren’t the case,
“Am I really not even curious about this…?”
he wouldn’t have muttered bitterly to himself while reading the letters, nor would he have gazed at Lia’s firmly pressed handwriting with longing eyes, wearing it away with his gaze.
Of course, it took a very long time for Diana to be certain what kind of light his feelings were.
Her older brother was so busy that it was hard to even see his face, and even when they were face to face, he didn’t reveal his true feelings easily.
But after holding back and holding back, when she asked directly, “Older Brother, do you love Lia? Do you want to marry her?”
Lucio stopped moving for a moment, then after a long pause, shifted his gaze to look at Diana.
And he asked back, “…What?” before suddenly looking flustered and hastily raising his hand to cover his face.
But he couldn’t hide his reddened ears and neck.
Watching Lucio grow embarrassed without being able to deny it to the end, Diana let out a cheer right then and there.
She thought her older brother might be able to fulfill her dream of becoming truly family with Lia.
Actually, she had considered Allen at first, but that foolish second older brother was already disqualified.
She had witnessed him requesting a dance partner from a brown-haired young lady who was a library clerk at the Academy Festival.
Moreover, Allen wasn’t even seeing just one person.
After that, he seemed to keep changing partners and dating, and whenever she happened to see him, it was always with someone with brown hair.
But as long as it had nothing to do with Lia, Diana had no interest in whether Allen met brown-haired women or bald men. She didn’t want to know her brother’s preferences.
In comparison, Lucio’s only flaw was his age, but he had no issues with women and was surprisingly considerate, so he seemed like a good match for Lia.
‘My sister thinks a lot and has a tender heart, so she’d like someone who carefully looks after her!’
Above all, her older brother liked Lia too, so her heart was completely set on this.
From then on, Diana had been subtly appealing her older brother to Lia by writing little details about Lucio in her letters.
‘After I’ve done all this!’
Diana felt a sharp pang of betrayal at the back of her head.
That was when it happened.
“Diana, I understand your feelings for now. Let’s talk about that later.”
Lia, whose face was still flushed pink, helped Diana up and spoke.
“What should I do? I need to go somewhere right now….”
Diana couldn’t bring herself to ask Lia to remove the necklace she was currently wearing and put on the one she had gifted instead, so she stood up awkwardly. Now that she thought about it, Lia had already finished getting ready.
“Sister, where are you going at this hour?”
And you’re not even feeling well!
When Diana asked with concern, Lia smiled awkwardly and spoke.
“I was planning to send a message to the Duke’s Mansion anyway. It looks like I won’t be able to go to the finals of the Sword Tournament together today. I need to enter the Imperial Palace now to see His Majesty the Emperor.”
“What?”
Diana, who already had plenty of grievances against Prince Nicholas, who had stolen her sister’s first dance from the first day of the Founding Festival, and the Emperor who had granted him the honor of dancing with her.
And now she was going to the Imperial Palace?
“Surely you’re not going alone, are you?”
“Well, that’s not quite it…”
“Then you’re going with family?”
“Um… no.”
Lia paused briefly before shaking her head.
It was at that moment Diana’s eyes widened in curiosity. “Then who?”
Jane’s voice came from beyond the door.
“Your Highness, Young Lady Clara has arrived. She’s waiting downstairs at the moment.”
Diana’s face froze in shock.
* * *
“Good day, Young Lady.”
“Yes, Young Lady.”
A stiff exchange of greetings passed between Clara and Diana.
Indeed, she had boasted in her letters about conducting herself well in society.
Diana’s tear-stained expression from moments before had vanished entirely, replaced by an air of noble composure.
Of course, when she glanced sideways at me, her face transformed into a desperate, pleading kitten’s gaze that seemed to ask, “Can’t I come along too?”
I found myself painfully turning away from Diana’s silent plea.
I couldn’t possibly bring Diana to the Imperial Palace.
‘There’s no need to risk her encountering Prince Nicholas.’
Yet even as I thought this, I felt uncertain about Prince Nicholas’s true feelings.
Just days ago, I had been certain that Prince Nicholas harbored affection for Diana.
It wasn’t merely because he had sent her a proposal letter in the past.
There were various reasons, but the most compelling was that unlike other noble families who wielded marriage proposals as political tools, Lucio seemed to have no such intentions whatsoever.
‘And now that I know Lucio works for Prince Nicholas…’
Moreover, Prince Nicholas would never use Diana to secure House Elrad’s support.
‘But the way he immediately asked me to dance after discerning the Emperor’s intentions…’
It was becoming clear that I needed to probe Prince Nicholas’s true feelings.
“Adriana!”
Clara, who had been engaged in this subtle tension with Diana, called out to me in a warm voice while linking her arm through mine.
Simultaneously, Diana’s eyes sharpened with displeasure.
She had been disappointed since learning I was going to the Imperial Palace with Clara, and now that Clara was making a show of it, Diana appeared even more upset.
But that feeling was short-lived.
“Adriana, surely you’ve finished getting ready…?”
Noticing my appearance belatedly, Clara asked in a deflated voice, seeming flustered.
Perhaps she had assumed I would dress as elaborately today as I had yesterday.
Thinking that even her modest adornments would appear plain by comparison, Clara had abandoned her usual neat appearance in favor of elaborate finery—more so than I, the Grand Duchess.
“I mean… isn’t this an occasion to meet His Imperial Majesty? Shouldn’t you pay a bit more attention to your appearance?”
Clara, her face flustered as she scrutinized me, spoke with careful concern.
Her expression and tone seemed genuinely worried for me.
Had I been even slightly naive, I would have felt momentary regret and gratitude for her thoughtfulness.
But.
‘What can I do when my opponent is so troublesome, Clara?’
To my eyes, it was painfully obvious that she was pretending to consider my feelings while subtly steering me in the direction she desired.

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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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