Everyone Was Obsessed With Me After I Became the Youngest Princess Favourite - Chapter 198

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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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This is absurd, absolutely absurd!
I couldn’t believe my ears at Mother’s response.
But the murderous atmosphere surrounding me suggested I hadn’t misheard.
In the end, I found myself stammering out a question.
“H-how did you find out…?”
“That fool brought you here unconscious, and both of your lips were so swollen. How could I not notice? More importantly.”
Gulp.
As I swallowed involuntarily, Mother let out a hollow laugh and continued.
“He admitted it himself. Said you collapsed from overexertion.”
“Ahhhhhhh!”
In that moment, I let out a panicked shriek.
This was utterly ridiculous.
Without even glancing at my family’s bewildered faces, I shoved my chair back and bolted from Grandfather’s bedroom.
Please, let this be nothing but a nightmare from last night!
* * *
‘Damn it….’
Though I desperately hoped otherwise, it wasn’t a dream.
After spending some time alone, I emerged into the Reception Room and addressed Askart without a shred of embarrassment.
“So you’re telling me you brought the entire Magic Swordsmen Corps to the Empire because of me? What about the Duchy?”
“The Magic Tower’s mages are there. What’s there to worry about? Things might pile up a bit, but that’s all.”
I had no rebuttal for Askart as he shrugged casually.
In truth, I’d left him behind partly so the future Grand Duke could gain experience, but Bellus Duchy wasn’t the sort of nation to fall into chaos just because its ruler was temporarily absent.
But that wasn’t my only concern.
“What about the Empire? Considering the number of soldiers equivalent to a single Magic Swordsman, they might feel threatened and lodge a protest.”
“I don’t think that’ll be an issue. Demon Beasts appeared in the Empire, didn’t they? We just say we came to support them. Besides, they probably won’t protest anyway.”
“But still….”
“If you’re really bothered, you can just return to the Duchy.”
As if this was what he’d really wanted to say all along, Askart continued.
“Now that there’s no problem meeting Diana, you can invite her to Bellus Duchy whenever you want. Or better yet, she can come with us now.”
Why stay in the Empire at all?
At his added question, my parents turned to look at me.
Just days ago, I’d told them I wouldn’t leave the Empire.
That I had things to accomplish here.
That I would have my revenge.
But circumstances had changed.
I’d delivered the sacred relic to Diana, but it hadn’t produced the desired result.
‘And I’ve confirmed that Master is a demon.’
Honestly, I didn’t have the courage to seek out Terenthium and confront him right now.
‘The appearance of Demon Beasts troubles me, but returning to the Duchy and waiting for Raezl might also….’
“Don’t tell me you’re hesitating because of Lucio?”
I was still deliberating when Askart asked in a sharp voice.
Why does that name keep coming up when I’ve only been pretending not to know?
The moment I opened my mouth in confusion.
“I’m telling you again, this old man is against it!”
Grandfather burst through the Reception Room door and shouted.
I had told him he needed to rest in the Bedroom, but it seemed he couldn’t hold back any longer.
“There are plenty of fresh young men your age, so why of all people did you have to choose such an old geezer!”
He always boasted about his vitality to me, saying age was just a number.
His contradictory words left me speechless.
But since Grandfather seemed to have regained some energy, I quietly swallowed my words.
Unexpectedly, Askart interjected.
“Grandfather, that’s not quite right. Lucio is the same age as me. I’m not that old. I’m in my prime.”
“Ahem, ahem.”
As Grandfather cleared his throat, Askart belatedly caught on and hastily stiffened his expression.
“Of course, compared to Lia, he’s completely ancient. Lucio has no conscience at all!”
I stared at Askart with exasperation as he flipped his words around as easily as turning his palm, showing no shame whatsoever, and he made a pitiful face.
“Lia, what’s with that look? Are you already taking Lucio’s side?”
“When did I ever take sides?”
“Oh no, oh no! They say raising a younger brother is pointless, and here you are treating me so coldly, Lia….”
Askart, who had been feigning tears of grievance, quickly changed his expression when he saw my bewilderment.
“It’s the face, isn’t it? Back then, Allen told me you really pay attention to men’s looks, and that you treat me well because I’m handsome!”
Wait, when did Allen ever say something like that to Askart?
Then Grandfather sighed deeply.
“Good heavens! That fellow resembles his father with his decent looks, so you just fell head over heels?!”
“Adriana, a man must carry himself with dignity and know how to devote his loyalty to one woman. Appearance is merely fleeting, so it’s not that important.”
Father chimed in with a serious expression.
But his words lacked all conviction when spoken by someone whose face still gleamed brilliantly despite approaching middle age.
And it seemed Mother felt the same way.
“My, that’s not true at all. How important is appearance!”
Mother dismissed the barrage of glares from Grandfather, Father, and Askart with a snort and turned her head toward me.
“Adriana, you did well to notice his appearance. Your mother has calmed her anger more than once by looking at your father’s face when he was being frustratingly stubborn.”
“M, my lady….”
“Still, your father isn’t entirely wrong. A man’s devotion is precious. For your information, your father didn’t know any women until he met me. But that fellow… seems far from being a man of such devotion.”
It seemed that because my kiss with Lucio had been discovered, his score had plummeted significantly.
‘Come to think of it, I was the one who asked for the kiss first….’
Then Mother continued with a disapproving expression.
“It turns out he also has dealings with the First Princess. They even went to the Liven Kingdom together.”
“That was just because we went together for work. And it’s only the Imperial Princess being one-sided about it; that person shows no interest at all!”
Without thinking, I defended Lucio, and Askart struck his chest saying “Again, again! You’re taking Lucio’s side!” again.
Mother also sighed while looking at me.
“Sigh, my naive daughter. She said that? And you believed her just like that?”
“…But it’s true.”
I wasn’t trying to make excuses.
But hearing my timid murmur, Mother shook her head as if I had already fallen head over heels for Lucio.
“Fine. Dominic didn’t have marriage in his life plans before meeting the Duchess Elrad, so his romantic history was clean. The son probably has a high chance of being the same. But what about his personality?”
“His personality?”
“It feels like spitting in my own face to harshly judge my only friend’s character, but…”
Mother hesitated for a moment before speaking with determination.
“Do you know how filthy Dominic’s personality is? It’s bad now, but it was worse when he was young! Not a shred of humanity, just venom in his eyes. I worked so hard trying to save one person, you have no idea! And after I finally fixed his personality, instead of thanking me, he blamed me for his twisted nature! At least the second and youngest sons seem to take after the Duchess Elrad, but the eldest looks exactly like his father in personality. Lia, because you’re young, his cold and aloof appearance might seem cool right now, but listen to your mother. You’ll have an easier time with a warm and cute man.”
Overwhelmed by the flood of words, I barely managed to protest.
“Mother, you know how deep and loyal Duke Elrad is.”
The Duke had even fallen into the Emperor’s trap in place of my grandfather.
And for decades, he had never mentioned that story to Mother.
Though Mother and Grandfather didn’t know the truth, knowing it myself, I couldn’t tolerate anyone—not even my mother—speaking ill of the Duke.
Fortunately, Mother seemed to acknowledge his character even if she had complaints about his personality, nodding and saying, “Well, that’s true…”
Encouraged by that, I carefully opened my mouth.
“He may look cold on the outside, but he’s warm inside. He’s subtly affectionate, and in his own way, he has cute moments too…”
At my casual addition, Askart’s expression turned to shock. “What?!”
This time, even I thought I was defending Lucio, so I scratched my cheek awkwardly.
Then Mother let out a deep sigh.
“I suspected you two were fairly close, but cute moments…”
If he seems cute, it’s already over.
At Mother’s words, the rest of the family wore expressions of defeat.
I deliberately turned my head away, ignoring it.
* * *
That evening.
After hearing my family’s warnings that they would allow light romance but marriage was premature and not to even think about it, I came upstairs to my room completely exhausted.
I’d heard so much nagging throughout dinner that I couldn’t tell if the food was going down my throat or my nose.
‘Still, it went more smoothly than I worried it would.’
Though I hesitate to call it fortunate, it seemed my family didn’t have the energy to fuss more than usual because of the situation with Clara and the Countess.
‘Of course, if marriage becomes a serious topic later, things might be different then…’
I was just thinking I’d worry about that when the time came, lying my exhausted body on the bed, when—
“Huh?”
A light flickered from the communication crystal placed on the table beside my bed.
Now that I thought about it, from this morning until now, I hadn’t checked the communication crystal once while being with my family.
‘He must have been worried since I collapsed at the Imperial Palace!’
I quickly got up to check, and found a pile of messages from Lucio.
After quickly scanning through the worried contents, I sent a message saying it was fine when he asked if he could visit my room for a moment.
It wasn’t that late, and since he’d probably been waiting for contact all day, I thought it was right to show my face.
‘It’s not like I particularly wanted to see him,’
I pushed away the mounting embarrassment and sat up in bed.
In that very moment, I hurried toward the vanity.
Knock, knock.
The sound of someone tapping on the balcony door reached my ears.
“…?”
Wondering if it could be, I drew back the curtain slightly and my eyes met directly with Lucio standing before the door.
Upon seeing me, Lucio broke into a radiant smile.

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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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