Everyone Was Obsessed With Me After I Became the Youngest Princess Favourite - Chapter 219

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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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“I’m fine.”
Swaying slightly, I gently pushed his arm away and steadied myself.
“But… your face is far too pale.”
“I was merely a bit dizzy, that’s all.”
My voice trembled pathetically, belying the excuse.
I finally let slip a small truth.
“I suppose… I was frightened.”
Lucio, who had been watching me with worried eyes, faltered at my words.
Then his eyes widened suddenly, and he spoke with an embarrassed expression.
“My apologies. I forgot who was responsible for the suffering you endured in your childhood…”
He looked bewildered at himself for having elaborated so extensively on the Demon Worshippers before me.
Indeed, even without knowing my past life or my connection to demons, it was reasonable to assume I harbored trauma from the Demon Worshippers who had separated me from my parents at birth.
However, I had endured far worse, and since Lucio had not deliberately brought up the subject, my feelings were not hurt.
Rather, thinking that he too was a victim, I comforted the bewildered Lucio and spoke.
“I truly am fine. Besides… even if Terenthium is truly connected to demons, there’s nothing we can do about it immediately, so let’s not dwell on it now.”
After persuading him once more, Lucio mercifully nodded in agreement this time.
“In truth, I am not entirely certain myself. If the Demon Worshippers are truly masquerading as them, it would be strange for them not to conceal the Imperial Princess’s visit despite knowing Bert was following her.”
At those words, I found myself pausing.
Though Bert’s skills were exceptional, there was no way Terenthium would have failed to notice him.
‘If they had wanted to prevent it, they could have blocked his entry from the start… Ah.’
Again.
Again, something felt subtly off.
Both the Imperial Princess’s sorcery and Terenthium’s unguarded demeanor.
Then Lucio broached an unexpected subject.
“Still, it seems necessary to continue observing them, so I’ve had surveillance placed on them. And it turns out they’ve opened a shop.”
“They’ve opened a shop?”
“Yes. If that place is truly Terenthium’s headquarters, it’s difficult to comprehend.”
Lucio was right.
Constructing a ‘headquarters’—the very heart of the Guild where all information converges—was far more intricate and difficult than one might imagine.
Especially when they had only relocated their headquarters a few years ago…
‘Could it be that the Master has grown capricious again?’
I was lost in serious contemplation, uncertain whether this was a good sign or not.
“Cough, cough.”
Lucio suddenly broke into a fit of coughing.
“Why the sudden cough? Have you caught a cold?”
“…I’m not sure.”
When I asked directly, Lucio’s response was vague.
And seeing my worried expression, he slightly contorted his eyelids and spoke.
“Now that you mention it, I think I might have a slight fever.”
“Really?”
I wondered how unwell someone who rarely showed weakness must be to appear this frail, so I hurried toward him.
“That’s why you should have rested if you took time off.”
I was about to reach out and place my hand on his forehead, my concern manifesting as nagging, when a scene flashed through my mind.
The memory froze me in place.
“What’s wrong?”
Lucio tilted his head with an innocent expression.
Exasperated by his act, I quickly stepped back and glared at him with sharp eyes.
“Liar!”
The image that surfaced in my mind was none other than Diana sprinkling holy water on Lucio.
Through Raezl, I had long known how dearly the Priestess and Holy Knights of the Temple cherished the Saint.
They claimed that protecting the Saint was their highest priority, and though they had never shown disappointment at Diana’s failure to visit the Temple even once, when she recently visited in secret, they welcomed her with extraordinary enthusiasm.
The moment they heard she had come seeking holy water, they unhesitatingly loaded enough to fill an entire bathtub onto her carriage.
Thanks to that abundance, I had watched Diana sprinkle holy water on Lucio at every opportunity—and yet he claimed to have a cold!
“Holy water carries divine power that subtly elevates one’s vitality. Yet you claim to have caught a cold?”
People paid good money for holy water for healing, and he had received so much of it?
Lucio, realizing his lie had been exposed, laughed awkwardly and touched his lips.
“My apologies.”
“Why would you worry me like that!”
“I wanted to draw your attention to myself. Even if it came through concern.”
…No, when he said it so directly, I had nothing to say in return.
Even under a curse, Lucio’s manner of speaking still made my face burn. I gazed at him with a sideways look, fidgeting with my fingers as I spoke.
“You don’t need to do that—I worry about you regardless.”
Somehow, speaking the words made me even more embarrassed.
Meanwhile, Lucio, showing no shame whatsoever, gazed at me intently before gently brushing my hair back and caressing my cheek.
Watching Lucio naturally create such an atmosphere, I inwardly clicked my tongue.
In truth, days ago, I had impulsively kissed him first, wanting to confirm the difference between him and Serphin.
But Lucio, who couldn’t even properly remember me, had overstepped so egregiously that I found him infuriating.
So I had declared a no-contact rule, yet afterward he had been watching for opportunities….
Just as Lucio was achieving his goal and I, having missed his warmth after so long, was closing my eyes in feigned reluctance.
Knock, knock! Knock, knock, knock!
At the sudden sound of knocking, I quickly opened my eyes and pushed Lucio away.
“W-who is it?”
Worried it might be Askart, I asked while forgetting this was Lucio’s office.
“Your Highness, it’s me!”
Fortunately, it was Jane’s voice instead of the person I feared.
‘Right, Askart went to the Imperial Mages Assembly today, so he wouldn’t be here.’
I had originally been invited as well, but I declined under the pretense of finding it burdensome and needing to check on Lucio’s condition.
Since Askart was devoted to magic, he was likely enjoying himself as he had when staying at the Duchy Magic Tower.
‘Besides, my parents and grandfather are out as well.’
After Lucio fell under the curse, the complexions of the Duchess and Duke had worsened day by day.
Seeing how worried my parents were about the Duke and Duchess, they decided to take Grandfather along for a change of scenery and go on an outing to the outskirts of the Capital City with them.
Though unintended, I’d also told Diana—who had shared lunch with me—to go play with Aiden for a while, and she’d left alone….
I swallowed hard, glancing at Lucio before suppressing my fluttering heart and telling Jane to come in.
While my own mood had become remarkably relaxed and leisurely, Jane’s face looked terribly anxious.
“Jane, what’s wrong?”
“Your Highness, I think you need to go to the Marquis’s Residence right away.”
“What? What happened?”
Startled, wondering if another crisis had arisen, I asked urgently.
Jane quickly bent forward and whispered.
“Raezl has just arrived.”
“…!”
At Jane’s words, my eyes widened.
“Is that really true?”
Since the day after we found the sacred relic, I had been waiting for Raezl’s return with such longing.
His homecoming had been delayed longer than expected, leaving me quite anxious, but this was wonderful news that made my ears perk up.
“Did you hear? Let’s go quickly.”
I spoke to Lucio with delight.
But for some reason, his expression was unusual.
“You seem rather pleased.”
As I stood there bewildered by his cryptic remark, Lucio spoke with a stiffly hardened face.
“You smile so brightly the moment you hear another man’s name.”
“…What?”
“You’ve never smiled at me like that.”
His petulant tone, and words that cut even deeper, made my cheeks flush crimson.
“So have I been smiling at you lately?”
I was absolutely exasperated!
“And another man? Are you really saying that about Raezl?”
Finding it so absurd that I shook my head, Lucio bluntly replied.
“The Great Sage is a man.”
Oh, for heaven’s sake!
I cried out in shock.
“Have you completely lost your mind?”
But Lucio responded brazenly.
“Isn’t it true that the Crown Princess knows better than anyone that I’m not in my right mind?”
“No, but even so… how could you possibly be jealous of Raezl?”
Though Raezl maintained a youthful appearance through sacred power, he had held the position of High Priestess since my father was a child.
‘He might even be older than Grandfather!’
But Lucio refused to back down.
“Don’t look at it that way. My concern is entirely plausible. Honestly, it’s not as though there aren’t decent men around you, so the fact that you chose me suggests you prefer older men….”
“Ugh, seriously!”
Unable to bear Lucio’s increasingly brazen remarks, I hastily clamped my hand over his mouth.
He responded by pressing a kiss to my palm with a soft smack.
“Stop, stop!”
Even if she was to be a maidservant I’d bring after marriage, Jane was right beside us!
Watching Jane deliberately fidget with the folds of her skirt, pretending not to notice, my ears burned with embarrassment.
Yet I couldn’t bring myself to truly scold Lucio.
I knew he had been desperately anxious lately over not remembering me.
Besides, the situation was so absurd that I found it ridiculous, but learning that he was genuinely jealous of the men around me—my lips twitched upward despite myself.
My resolve weakening, I whispered to him soothingly.
“Why do you think I waited so long for Raezl?”
“….”
“It was all because of you.”
I tugged at his arm and shook it gently, watching Jane’s careful pretense of obliviousness, and Lucio finally relented, turning his head away. He muttered softly.
“…Yet you once said it was fine if I didn’t remember.”
I stiffened.
I looked at Lucio in surprise at those words.
‘Of course I did say something like that….’
It felt as though he were jealous of his own self.
And sure enough.
Lucio looked directly at me and asked.
“If the curse cannot be broken, will you abandon me?”

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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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