Everyone Was Obsessed With Me After I Became the Youngest Princess Favourite - Chapter 199

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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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Whoosh.
I quickly drew the curtain shut, clutching my startled chest.
‘No, he’s already here?’
I had only just sent the message.
Then I heard knocking on the balcony door again.
Unable to leave someone standing outside indefinitely, I reluctantly opened the door.
“Was there someone else in here? I only sensed your presence, so I knocked….”
Lucio, stepping into the room, asked with a puzzled expression.
I let out a small laugh.
“How can you just burst in like this without giving me time to prepare?”
“Prepare?”
“I haven’t even looked in a mirror since I woke up this morning! My hair must be a mess, and my face is probably awful….”
As I continued speaking with a hint of resentment, I faltered.
There was something peculiar about the way Lucio was looking at me.
“Why are you staring at me like that?”
When I gave Lucio, who was smiling mysteriously, a strange look, he made no attempt to hide his raised lips as he spoke.
“Do you want to look beautiful to me now?”
“What?”
“When you were younger, you said it was enough to look beautiful only to Diana. But not anymore?”
His question left me momentarily speechless.
How could he ask something so brazenly?
Annoyed that Lucio seemed already certain of the answer, I quickly shook my head.
“That’s not what this is about.”
“Really?”
“Yes, it’s not.”
“Well, I do.”
Lucio, who had drawn close without my noticing, took my hand.
Startled by the cool touch, I gasped as he pressed his cheek against my palm and spoke.
“Lia, I only want to be found beautiful by you.”
Then, as if words alone weren’t enough, he leaned his face against my hand and smiled.
Captivated by the sight, I swallowed hard and asked in a trembling voice.
“Did you… drink?”
“…What?”
“No, I don’t smell alcohol.”
I brought my nose close to Lucio and sniffed, but all I detected was his familiar mint scent.
I withdrew my hand from his grasp and spoke with an incredulous expression.
“So you said that while in your right mind?”
Goodness, does this man have no shame at all!
I truly cannot believe it.
How could I have ever thought of such a person as cold and aloof?
Ah, now that I think about it, he was rather cold.
My cheeks were burning, yet when his face touched my hand, all I felt was a cool, distant chill.
At that moment, Lucio let out a deep sigh. “You really are….”
“Why are you sighing? You’re the one who said something strange first.”
I pouted, and Lucio’s expression turned incredulous.
“Think about it—for nearly ten years, I haven’t even caught a glimpse of the person I love. I’ve thought of you dozens of times a day, waiting only for the moment we’d meet again. Don’t you think I’m showing remarkable restraint?”
“…Restraint?”
This is restraint?
Noticing the words I couldn’t bring myself to add, Lucio tapped his forehead against mine in reproach.
“If my patience had wavered even slightly, you’d already be wearing a veil as my wife. I wouldn’t be sneaking into your room like this—I’d be walking boldly into our bridal chamber.”
“Th-that’s….”
A veil? A bridal chamber?
Flustered beyond measure, I instinctively stepped backward, and Lucio’s eyes narrowed.
“Why are you so startled? Surely you weren’t planning to toy with me and refuse to marry me?”
“Toy with you….”
“Don’t change the subject.”
“….”
“Answer me. You won’t marry me?”
Why was the conversation heading in this direction?
I was bewildered, but seeing the anxiety and hurt in Lucio’s expression, my resolve weakened.
I exhaled softly and spoke.
“I’ve simply never given marriage any thought.”
It wasn’t merely because of my family’s warnings—I myself had never seriously considered marriage.
Accepting Lucio’s feelings had been somewhat impulsive to begin with, and now marriage….
“Wait—are you proposing to me right now?”
Surely not?
Diana had done it properly, on one knee…?
I looked at him suspiciously, and Lucio said, “Of course not,” as he naturally grasped my wrist.
He slowly traced from my wrist to the back of my hand, then gently caressed each finger while murmuring something softly.
As I tilted my head in confusion, I asked something I’d been wanting to know.
“But how did you get here so quickly?”
Ever since Lucio knocked on the door, something felt oddly familiar.
I suddenly remembered when I’d sent a message to the Guild Master of Darel regarding the Duchess, and Lucio had appeared in my room immediately.
But that was possible because Lucio had been at the Estate then. This time, I had no idea how he’d arrived so swiftly.
“You didn’t spend all day clutching the communication device, waiting in front of the Marquis’s Residence, did you?”
“….”
At my thoughtless murmur, Lucio quietly averted his eyes.
“You really did?”
No wonder his face and hands were so cold!
“How long have you been waiting?”
“Not long ago.”
“That’s a lie! What if I had fallen asleep without checking the communication stone? You should have just come to me, you fool!”
As I glared at him with hurt feelings, he laughed and spoke.
“I was worried it would put you in a difficult position if I came to you.”
When he had brought me here yesterday after I collapsed, my family’s reaction had been anything but ordinary.
At Lucio’s words, I let out a deep sigh.
“But I was already in plenty of difficulty even without you coming, you know?”
If I was being honest, it was my fault for collapsing in the first place, and Lucio had simply cleaned up the mess—but as I pouted anyway, he murmured “I’m sorry” and gently rubbed the back of my hand with his thumb.
His tender, careful touch quickly melted my frustration away.
I quickly grasped his hand with my other hand as well.
“Just how long were you out in the cold?”
Even as we held hands like this, blowing warm breath onto them, Lucio’s hand remained ice-cold.
As I continued to fret, saying “You’re so foolish. You should have just come. I would have been fine even if it caused me trouble,” he spoke as if he had no choice.
“Actually, it seemed like something was happening at House Diapel, so I couldn’t visit as easily.”
At those words, my eyes widened.
“Could it be…?”
“But I didn’t deliberately investigate. House Diapel has decided to withdraw all their investments, so rumors that Amber County will go bankrupt have already spread far and wide.”
So it was that story after all.
“Everyone curses Clara Amber for slandering you, yet at the same time they say the Previous Marquis’s actions were far too heartless.”
At Lucio’s addition, my fists clenched involuntarily.
It wasn’t something I hadn’t anticipated.
To those who didn’t know the truth, my grandfather must appear miserly for casting out his daughter and granddaughter because of me.
As I failed to hide my distress, I felt Lucio’s gaze fixed intently upon me.
Looking at his expression, I could guess what he wanted to say.
He wanted to hear directly from me why my grandfather had made such a decision.
It was shameful family business that I couldn’t easily speak of, so I hesitated for a moment, but I didn’t want to hide it from Lucio, so I slowly opened my mouth.
“Actually, it was revealed yesterday that the Countess was involved in my kidnapping.”
“…What?”
“She didn’t join hands with the Demon Worshippers. She simply informed Father of the day the Grand Duke’s Castle would be empty…”
And before I could even finish speaking, Lucio pulled me into his embrace.
I had tried to downplay it so he wouldn’t be too shocked, but it seemed to have little effect.
“There’s nothing so serious about it. My family seems to have been greatly shaken, but I’m fine,” I said, slipping slightly out of his arms, but Lucio’s eyes had grown terrifyingly dark.
“Are you angry?”
At my question, Lucio nodded as if I had struck a nerve.
“Yes, I’m angry. If you hadn’t been kidnapped, you wouldn’t have had to suffer so much or be wounded. You could have grown up in a warm and safe place, receiving your family’s love and care. I’m furious that you couldn’t have that.”
As he spoke, anger surged up within him, so he stopped and exhaled.
After a moment, having composed himself somewhat, Lucio asked carefully.
“Did you cry?”
“No. I didn’t cry.”
“No. I didn’t cry.”
Before I could even finish my question, he looked at me with an expression of disbelief.
Watching Lucio scrutinize my eyes carefully, I was suddenly reminded of the past.
That day when he had demanded to know who made me cry, as I wept in sorrow after hearing Mother’s harsh words.
My chest tightened inexplicably.
“I’m truly fine, so I’m saying I’m fine.”
Because there is someone here who grieves and grows angry on my behalf.
“…Very well. If that’s what you say, then so be it.”
He reluctantly acquiesced to my words, muttering softly.
“It was wise of me to tell Diana not to come to the Marquis’s Residence today.”
“Was it?”
As Lucio nodded, I praised him for his good judgment.
I would be fine even if Diana came, but I wasn’t certain how my family would react.
Besides, I had spent the entire afternoon talking about Lucio—it might have been awkward if Diana had been present.
Then, Lucio, who had remained silent as if his mood hadn’t improved at all, spoke.
“The Countess’s remaining years will not be comfortable. Not to the extent that I would need to lift a finger further.”
Startled by what felt like a somewhat dangerous statement, I looked up, and he relaxed his taut lips to explain.
“She’ll likely be divorced soon.”
“Divorced?”
“Yes. Count Amber has harbored much discontent toward the Countess all this time, but he’s been enduring it out of deference to House Diapel.”
Given the circumstances, it was not difficult to foresee what would unfold.
A noblewoman without the means to support herself, cast out in divorce and unable to return to her family, would face nothing but a bleak future.
‘And Clara, bound by the Emperor’s decree, cannot even leave the County Territory….’
So the Countess would now, far from indulging in luxury, worry about her very survival, separated from her daughter, and spend the rest of her life in solitary desolation until death claimed her.

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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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