Everyone Was Obsessed With Me After I Became the Youngest Princess Favourite - Chapter 181

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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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In the pre-dawn darkness, only the hoot of an owl pierced the silence.
A figure cloaked in black, concealed by shadow, perched atop a towering tree.
From this vantage point, the gates of Count Petie’s Estate lay directly below.
Moments later, as mounted Imperial Knights escorted a carriage away from the estate toward the Imperial Palace, the figure descended without hesitation and slipped inside the carriage undetected.
While the knights, oblivious to the intruder’s presence, urged their horses onward toward the Imperial Palace.
‘…Found it!’
The figure examining the contents of a box exulted silently.
It was Lia, perfectly disguised beneath black garments and a mask.
I carefully placed the counterfeit I had prepared into the box and secured the genuine article.
Then, moving without a sound, I slipped from the carriage and watched the Imperial Knights recede into the distance before finally allowing myself to breathe.
‘If I can just return safely like this….’
I had accomplished the primary objective of my journey to the Empire.
Elation surged through me, but in that same instant, I reminded myself not to lower my guard.
“…?!”
A gaze I had never sensed in my previous life suddenly pressed against me.
My nerves snapped taut, and my body went rigid with tension.
‘Could they have been watching from the start?’
I had not relaxed my vigilance for a single moment since leaving the Marquis’s Residence.
I had refrained from using magic to avoid drawing the attention of the Emperor or anyone else….
My heart hammered violently against my ribs at the thought of the item in my possession being discovered.
‘I cannot lose this under any circumstances.’
It was my last hope.
The very reason I had come to the Empire, risking my own safety, was for Diana’s awakening.
With that thought, I pushed off the ground and launched myself into motion.
The gaze that had been observing me intensified, and then began pursuing me with terrifying speed.
The pursuer’s movements and aura were far from ordinary.
As the distance between us refused to widen, anxiety and dread consumed me entirely.
‘Could it be the Master? Or other agents?’
What if they take the item from me?
‘If it really is the Master, I cannot escape.’
To die so pathetically again….
Fear poisoned my thoughts with despair.
I quickly shook my head to clear it.
Though I had not managed to lose them, my swift escape meant the Marquis’s Residence was still within close range.
‘They surely won’t follow me inside the house.’
But I had to prepare for any possibility.
I pivoted sharply and hurled the dagger concealed in my sleeve.
Caught off guard by the sudden attack, my pursuer emerged from the shadows to defend, and in that instant, I closed the distance and drove my elbow with brutal force into their abdomen.
Unprepared for such ferocity, they staggered backward, and seizing the moment, I drew another dagger from my waist and thrust it forward.
With a sharp piercing sound, the blade sank deep into flesh, and my eyes flew wide open.
I had never expected the attack to land so cleanly, given that my opponent’s aura was far from ordinary.
Startled as I was, I was about to spin around and flee when—
“Lia.”
A familiar voice reached my ears.
I froze and turned my head, and in the dim darkness, our eyes met.
“…Lucio?”
Only after calling out his name did I snap back to reality.
“What on earth are you doing here…!”
“Just a moment.”
Lucio cut off my words, took a slow breath, and then rested his head against my shoulder.
I was startled by the weight pressing against me, but then I gasped at the searing heat and examined him more closely.
“…!”
Lucio’s face had gone deathly pale, and his shirt was soaked crimson with blood.
Only then did I grasp the situation, and my eyes widened in horror.
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“Why didn’t you defend yourself! You could have blocked it! You could have easily dodged!”
I grabbed the blood-stained hem of his shirt and cried out.
“…I was afraid you’d get hurt if I tried to defend.”
His answer was so absurd that I finally burst into tears.
“I’m sorry.”
Seeing my tears, Lucio apologized helplessly.
“Don’t cry.”
As he gently wiped away the tears streaming down my cheeks, his words only made the sorrow well up inside me even more.
Just moments ago, when I unexpectedly encountered Lucio, I had fallen into complete panic.
I had rushed him back to the Marquis’s Residence and frantically searched for bandages and medicine to administer first aid to his stab wound, so frantic that I hadn’t even thought to use magic.
“Why are you just sitting there receiving treatment! You should have asked me to use magic long ago!”
If I had been too panicked to think, he should have at least said something—instead, Lucio had stubbornly endured the pain in silence, and I resented him for it.
Even though I knew it was wrong to speak harshly to an injured person, I shouted in frustration, and Lucio responded with an apologetic expression.
“You overexerted yourself at the Tournament Grounds today. I thought you must be exhausted….”
That standard applied to ordinary mages, not to me!
“Besides, it wasn’t even that serious of a wound.”
“What did you just say?”
I was so exasperated that I glared at him with wide eyes.
Though it wasn’t a fatal wound, the blade had definitely struck true.
‘How terrified I was when I saw that ashen, bloodless face and the gaping wound….’
I had eventually come to my senses and used magic to heal the wound cleanly, but because he had lost so much blood, Lucio’s face remained pallid.
It would have been painful enough if he had simply been injured, but the thought that I had hurt him with my own hands pierced my heart like a dagger, filling me with anguish and agony.
My own suffering was familiar to me. But his suffering—I could not bear that.
‘If only it had been me who was injured instead….’
“…Ah.”
In that moment, a teardrop clinging to the corner of my eye fell, and understanding arrived with it.
‘I think I’m in love with Lucio.’
I stared blankly at Lucio, unable to even think of wiping away the tears streaming down my cheeks and jawline.
Silver hair holding the moonlight.
Beneath it, cool, sharp eyes and a perfectly sculpted nose.
And when I saw his beautifully shaped, full lips, my heart began to race.
‘When on earth did this start?’
I traced through my memories carefully, but I couldn’t pinpoint exactly when I’d begun to love him.
Lucio had been someone special to me from the moment we first met in front of the Academy in my past life.
I had never forgotten the chocolate and gold coins he’d given me, or the salve for wounds.
Even after becoming an informant, whenever his name came up, I found myself perking up my ears without realizing it.
‘But I thought that was just gratitude….’
Now I wasn’t so sure.
It was only recently that I’d come to understand I was somewhat dull in these matters.
“Are you very angry? I didn’t mean to surprise you….”
Then Lucio apologized again, seeing me silent.
He seemed to think my flushed face was from anger.
In truth, I found even his anxious voice so captivating that goosebumps rose on my skin, and I fidgeted with my ear for no reason.
Then, belatedly noticing Lucio’s unbuttoned shirt, I hurriedly turned my head away.
I was the one who’d brought him into the room and then undone his shirt to treat his wound, yet my face burned with embarrassment.
“P-please put your clothes on first.”
“…Clothes?”
Lucio tilted his head at my words, then let out a soft chuckle.
He was quick to pick up on things—he’d clearly noticed I was embarrassed.
“This is soaked in blood. You want me to put it back on?”
The way he whispered teasingly near my ear made all my fine hairs stand on end.
I’d only just become aware of my feelings for him, and he was already stimulating enough just by existing—what was he trying to do, make my heart burst?
“Then you’ll take it off? If it’s uncomfortable, you should just leave. We can talk about the rest when it’s daylight.”
I waved my hands frantically, urging him to go, and he let out a shallow sigh before beginning to button up his shirt.
Just as I was about to catch my breath——
“Oof!”
Suddenly my body lifted, and large hands pulled me by the waist.
I found myself settled on Lucio’s lap.
“W-what are you doing?”
“You seemed cold.”
I asked in shock, struggling, and Lucio answered brazenly.
I was about to snap back at him, but my hands gripping his shoulders were trembling.
I just hadn’t noticed—my entire body was shaking.
‘I pretended otherwise, but I was quite startled, wasn’t I.’
Not just what was happening now, but this entire day had been exhaustingly long.
I’d gone to the Imperial Palace to meet the Emperor, encountered Master at the Tournament Grounds, and on top of that, discovered Jack had killed me in my past life.
The moment I acknowledged this, exhaustion crashed over me like a tidal wave.
As my heavy eyes blinked, Lucio pressed the back of my head as if he’d been waiting for this moment, drawing me against his chest while his large hand began gently patting my back.
Separate from my racing heartbeat, a soft, enveloping sense of security spread throughout my entire body.
I asked in a noticeably more relaxed voice.
“Why did you follow me there?”
“I knew where you were going. How could I let you go alone?”
A sigh escaped me unbidden at Lucio’s response.
During the day, I’d watched Count Petie cling to the Emperor, and it occurred to me that the Emperor might send Imperial Knights to the Count’s Estate. So I’d formally commissioned Darel to handle it.
I’d asked them to contact me immediately if they spotted the Imperial Knight Order slipping out of the Imperial Palace in the middle of the night.
The moment I saw the signal flare light up in the communication tower, I bolted toward the Count’s Estate.
But I never expected Lucio to chase after me.
I wasn’t accustomed to him worrying about me.
Even though I thought I understood Lucio’s feelings to some degree, it seemed I still hadn’t fully accepted them.
‘I’ve barely adjusted to my family’s affection… how could I possibly believe that a complete stranger with no blood relation cares for me?’
That thought sparked a new question.
Why did Lucio care for me?
‘I’m not particularly attractive as a woman…’
As I muttered this habitual thought, I suddenly recalled something Lucio had said.
〈I’m fine. I can wait.〉
My drowsiness vanished in an instant.
I lifted my head from where it rested and asked.
“You said you could wait. Until when?”
“Hmm?”
“How long are you going to wait for me?”
Lucio tilted his head as if gauging the intent behind my question, then answered my persistence.
“Until you accept me.”
A smile like spring sunlight had bloomed across Lucio’s face.
Seeing this, I spoke impulsively.

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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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