Everyone Was Obsessed With Me After I Became the Youngest Princess Favourite - Chapter 214

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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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“Your shoelace has come undone.”
At that moment, Lucio placed the parasol in Serphin’s hand and bent down.
Just as he said, the lace tied around Serphin’s ankle was fluttering in the breeze.
With his long, pale fingers, Lucio grasped the string, creating a soft rustling sound as he fashioned a pretty ribbon around Serphin’s ankle before straightening up again.
Serphin’s cheeks had flushed even deeper than before.
In a way, it was inevitable.
Lucio, kneeling on one knee to tie the shoelace’s knot amid the warm autumn sunlight, gentle breeze, and wildflowers blooming abundantly around them, looked like a scene straight out of a fairy tale.
Just when I thought I had barely averted a crisis, my lips grew parched once more.
Serphin watched Lucio retrieve the parasol from her hand with still-glistening eyes, and I already knew from experience exactly how this delicate atmosphere would unfold.
And damn it, my instinct proved correct.
Serphin tilted her chin slightly upward and slowly closed her eyes.
In response, Lucio, as if reading her intentions, began to lower his head with deliberate slowness.
I watched their faces draw closer without blinking once.
Whether out of curiosity to see how far this would go, or hoping that Serphin would push him away despite knowing he was under a spell—
I couldn’t even discern what I truly wanted.
My heart pounded wildly.
And finally.
“…!”
The moment their lips were about to touch, Lucio suddenly tilted the parasol.
As their forms disappeared behind it, my mind suddenly snapped into focus.
I swung my hand urgently through the air.
Whoosh—!
Simultaneously, a violent wind swept through the back garden, and the parasol shielding them flipped over with a loud crack.
I quickly examined the two figures standing beneath the now-ruined parasol.
Surprisingly, Lucio and Serphin’s faces were not as close as I had feared.
I couldn’t tell if their lips had already touched and separated, but for some reason, Lucio was covering his own mouth with the hand not holding the parasol.
His complexion was deathly pale.
Then Lucio suddenly turned his head.
I had suspected that despite my efforts to conceal my presence, someone as perceptive as him would sense me—but I never expected him to look directly at my exact location.
Lucio glared at me with a contorted expression.
As if enraged that I had disrupted this intimate moment.
Seeing that look, a wave of disappointment, injustice, and betrayal crashed over me all at once.
I glared back at him, then immediately turned and began to run.
At the same time, the tears I had been holding back came pouring down.
This morning, I had come to the Duke’s Mansion because there was something I wanted to tell Lucio.
Since he was someone who never showed weakness, even to family, I wanted to comfort him and reassure him.
And—
Yesterday I was too flustered to say anything, but I wanted to tell him that it was alright if he couldn’t remember me.
Because I remember everything, from beginning to end, without missing a single moment.
Even if you never recall me, we will always be together from now on, so please don’t worry—that’s what I wanted to say.
‘I never imagined I would witness such a scene.’
If I returned to the Marquis’s Residence in this state, my family would surely notice my tears, so I made my way to Diana’s Room instead.
I thought that venting my frustrations about Diana and Lucio would ease the ache in my heart.
‘Diana is young, so I shouldn’t mention that they were about to kiss.’
Perhaps if she heard that, she might never call Lucio her brother-in-law again.
The absurdity of the thought made me laugh even amid my sorrow.
But when no answer came despite my repeated knocking on Diana’s door, the sadness surged back up within me.
I had fortunately avoided the servants on my way from the Back Garden to here, but if I remained in the Corridor like this, someone would surely discover me crying.
Eventually, I recalled the Duchess Elrad’s words about how she had kept my childhood room vacant, and I opened the Adjacent Room’s door.
Without even taking time to observe the neatly arranged space, I simply collapsed and began weeping aloud.
In that moment, I felt as though I had returned to those days before meeting my Parents, when I had regarded myself as worthless.
* * *
“Young Lord?”
The moment the Imperial Princess called out to Lucio and placed her hand on his arm, he had to clench his teeth to keep from crying out.
The nausea that had risen in his throat when he had leaned in to kiss Serphin moments before still had not subsided.
Fearing that if he didn’t expel the contents of his stomach immediately, his ‘act’ would be exposed, Lucio threw the broken parasol to the ground and spoke.
“This must be the Crown Princess Bellus’s doing. I heard she was a mage, but I never expected her to follow us in secret.”
Fortunately, the discomfort and revulsion he had felt while in the Imperial Princess’s presence merged into genuine anger, and his voice emerged naturally filled with rage.
At that, Serphin’s lips curved upward slightly.
“You stopped me from entering the Maze Garden earlier too. It seems you were jealous of me spending time with the Young Lord. But since you’re still young, I’ll let it slide.”
“That cannot be. Not only has Your Highness interfered with our time together, but you’ve also destroyed property. I must receive an apology for this rudeness at once.”
“An apology?”
“Yes. I apologize, Your Highness, but would you be willing to return to the Palace now?”
“What? But we were supposed to have dinner at Obli Restaurant this evening….”
“I will make a new reservation. In my current state of mind, I fear I cannot enjoy a meal properly. Please understand my desire to show Your Highness only my best self.”
Speaking in courteous tones, Lucio softened his gaze apologetically as he met Serphin’s eyes.
She flushed and nodded without thinking.
Then Lucio turned away without a shred of hesitation.
* * *
“Bert, continue watching the Imperial Princess. Don’t miss a single detail of who she meets or what she discusses—report everything to me.”
The moment Lucio stepped out of the Back Garden, he spoke into the empty air.
Bert did not reveal himself, but Lucio immediately sensed his presence receding into the distance.
Now alone, Lucio finally loosened his cravat and exhaled deeply.
Simply putting distance between himself and the Imperial Princess seemed to open his airways slightly.
This morning, the moment he had opened his eyes, he had prepared for work and ordered Bert to monitor not only his own words and actions, but also Serphin and her surroundings.
It was a precaution in case his condition became unstable while in the Imperial Princess’s presence.
And just as he had suspected, upon encountering Serphin, he had completely lost his reason.
Each time Bert reported to him during brief separations from the Imperial Princess, Lucio was left speechless with frustration.
Yet he could not reduce the time spent with Serphin.
He hoped that as she gradually lowered her guard, he might hear her speak of the contract with the demon.
It was as I was entering the Duke’s Mansion, having placated Serphin through equal parts willingness and necessity.
The moment Lucio saw Diana and Lia emerge before the Entrance Hall, his mind suddenly sharpened, and he felt his reason returning.
Whether this clarity stemmed from his younger sister’s holy power, or from the Crown Princess’s ashen complexion upon seeing him arrive with Serphin, he could not say.
But if his reason remained intact as it was now, the probability of extracting the full account of events from Serphin’s lips—or at least obtaining a hint toward resolution—was extraordinarily high.
Having swiftly assessed the situation, Lucio recognized what he must do first.
It was to turn away from Lia.
Serphin had even made a pact with a demon to possess him, so she would naturally despise the Crown Princess, his betrothed.
Should she detect even the slightest hint that he cared for her, she would not remain idle.
Thus, Lucio deliberately cast a cold gaze toward Lia and treated her with a sharp, cutting demeanor.
It was difficult to tear his eyes away from her troubled expression and the sight of her hands clasped so tightly her knuckles had turned white, but having forced himself to ignore her, he found relief only once he had distanced himself from Lia.
Yet that reprieve was brief. Not long after, sensing a presence emanating from the Back Garden, Lucio instinctively realized that Lia had secretly hidden herself there.
From that moment, his attention was drawn entirely in that direction, and he could not concentrate on the Imperial Princess.
He had heard that the Crown Princess was an accomplished mage, but he was bewildered—what manner of life must she have lived to conceal her presence so completely? Was such a thing even possible through magic?
Fortunately, Serphin, who had sold even her soul to a demon to possess him, remained entirely oblivious to his state.
She was deceived by a few honeyed words and the forced smile he managed to muster.
But what Lucio had not anticipated was that Serphin desired far more than tender words and gestures.
He thought he had narrowly escaped the moment when the atmosphere had begun to turn suggestive, yet seeing Serphin persistently close her eyes filled him with despair.
Setting aside his revulsion toward the Imperial Princess, the fact that the Crown Princess was witnessing this was deeply troubling.
Truthfully, he had never genuinely accepted her as his betrothed, but no matter the circumstances, he could not allow her to see him kiss another woman.
Perhaps he had been influenced by Allen’s repeated warnings last night—not to commit deeds he would come to regret.
Ultimately, the best choice available to him was to obscure Lia’s view with a parasol.
But….
Lucio realized that he could not kiss Serphin, regardless of whether Lia was watching or not.
Though he had resolved to simply close his eyes and get it over with, a violent wave of rejection surged through his entire body—so intense that nausea rose in his throat, and without thinking, he clamped his hand over his own mouth.
By great fortune, the wind that Lia summoned before Serphin opened her eyes allowed him to conceal his action.
Yet his condition remained poor, and truthfully, he no longer wished to remain in Serphin’s presence.
It was as Lucio, offering the absurd pretext that he would accept an apology from Lia, departed and turned toward his Room.
That he suddenly stopped in his tracks.
A faint sound of weeping drifted from somewhere, and his heart plummeted.

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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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