Everyone Was Obsessed With Me After I Became the Youngest Princess Favourite - Chapter 225

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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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“You’ve arrived?”
“….”
“Hmm, were you very startled?”
Seeing the blank expression on his face, I understood why Lucio had suddenly come to my room like this.
‘His startled face is more amusing than I expected.’
I let out a soft chuckle, then suddenly lifted my head.
By now, I should have received some response, so why was it so quiet?
“Lucio?”
When he didn’t answer no matter how many times I called, I suddenly grew anxious and hurriedly climbed down from the bed.
I remembered how he hadn’t recognized me in this very room before.
Recently, there hadn’t been instances where he completely forgot who I was, but one could never be too careful.
“Could it be that you don’t know who I am….”
“A dream.”
“…?”
“I thought it was a dream. Perhaps a phantom born from my desperate longing for Your Highness.”
Lucio took a step forward and quietly closed the door.
Before I knew it, the distance between us had narrowed to barely a fist’s width.
Without thinking, I tried to take a step back.
“Do not distance yourself from me.”
Lucio whispered, gently grasping my arm.
“…Have you been waiting long?”
At my words, Lucio looked at me with reproachful eyes, as if asking how I could say such a thing.
Feeling suddenly embarrassed, I merely rolled my eyes, when I heard a small sigh from in front of me.
“Why are you here? Or rather, since when have you been here?”
“Well, you said you didn’t have much to do today. I thought you’d rest early since your condition hasn’t been good lately.”
I didn’t mention that it was already evening when I remembered my promise with him.
But Lucio asked with keen perception.
“Surely… you haven’t been with the Great Sage all this time, have you?”
“What? No!”
I quickly waved my hand and denied it with my whole body.
In fact, after Raezl had said what he needed to say to me, he headed to the Duke’s Mansion to meet Diana again.
He wasn’t visible when I left the Marquis’s Residence earlier either, so perhaps Diana was the one with the Great Sage right now.
With my arms crossed, I spoke to Lucio, who was studying me with suspicion.
“It’s true. My family came home early, so I barely had a chance to talk with Raezl.”
Of course, we did meet again after that.
I changed the subject and asked as if I had just remembered something.
“By the way, is the Duchess doing well?”
“…Yes?”
“The Duchess sprained her leg, so the whole family came home early.”
“….”
“You didn’t know?”
I’d suspected as much from his expression!
Lucio truly seemed oblivious to both the Duchess’s injury and the fact that the family had returned home.
“Isn’t that a bit much?”
The Duchess had even injured herself out of worry for her child, and here was this thoughtless son of hers!
“It seems… she didn’t wish to tell me so I wouldn’t be burdened with concern.”
As I clicked my tongue like I was witnessing the world’s most unfilial child, Lucio offered his excuse.
I understood, though.
The Duchess’s injuries weren’t severe, so she likely hadn’t wanted to trouble Lucio with worry.
Besides, knowing how perceptive he was, she probably feared he’d realize the injury was his fault, so she’d chosen silence entirely.
“Still, you should have noticed first. Living here and not even realizing your family had returned.”
“….”
“Of course, I know how much you care for your family, but feelings must be expressed. Can’t you be just a little kinder to your parents?”
Lucio, who had been listening to my scolding in silence, slowly opened his eyes at that moment.
“Have you… perhaps said something similar to me before?”
“…What?”
I swallowed hard.
〈Can’t you be just a little kinder to my lady?〉
Those words came flooding back the moment I heard Lucio speak.
“Do you… remember something?”
I asked with a trembling voice, and Lucio shook his head.
I forced a smile, trying not to show my disappointment.
But Lucio’s perceptiveness was truly remarkable.
“It seems there is something.”
I nodded and spoke as if it were of no consequence.
“It was a very long time ago. I’d even forgotten about it myself.”
Despite my casual response, Lucio’s expression grew complicated.
“Are you frustrated?”
“…I’m anxious.”
Lucio answered quietly, then looked up and asked.
“Didn’t you say you were waiting for the Great Sage because of me?”
“What? It wasn’t solely for that reason… well, yes, I suppose it was!”
I spoke honestly without thinking, then quickly changed my words at Lucio’s cold gaze.
“But why didn’t he come with you?”
At Lucio’s question, I fell silent.
〈Besides the enchantment of fascination, there’s another spell preventing you from remembering him?〉
After hearing Raezl speak about souls,
I suddenly recalled the part I hadn’t explained about Lucio’s condition and described it in detail.
Because ever since hearing that a demon beast loved me, I’d been plagued by uneasy thoughts.
And sure enough.
“It seems the demon cast the spell directly. The purification process may take longer than expected.”
Raezl went on to suggest that perhaps the demon’s contact with the Imperial Princess was also because of me.
From the demon’s perspective, wouldn’t it have wanted to remove Lucio, my betrothed, since he was an eyesore?
‘He even said that sending the Demon Beast might have been a warning for me to return to the Grand Duchy.’
“Is it perhaps difficult to break the spell?”
Instead of answering, I was lost in thought when Lucio asked in a serious voice.
“No? That’s not it.”
I shook my head urgently.
“He said I need to recover my holy power first. He’ll come by tomorrow, so please be ready to receive him. Don’t worry too much about it.”
Though it might take some time, Raezl would certainly break Lucio’s spell.
That was when it happened.
“Won’t you be coming with him, Your Highness?”
I flinched and blinked before barely managing to speak.
“Yes. The purification work needs to be done with just Raezl and me anyway….”
“Where are you going, then?”
But Lucio was sharp and persistent.
I answered awkwardly.
“Just for a few days… or perhaps a bit longer than that, I’ll be away.”
“Surely you’re not returning to the Grand Duchy….”
“That’s not it. Besides, it’s getting quite late—aren’t you tired?”
Before Lucio could dig deeper, I quickly changed the subject.
Even though he couldn’t remember, I didn’t want to lie to him.
I felt his questioning gaze upon me, but I gave a bitter smile and tugged at his sleeve.
“I’m exhausted today.”
I had dozed off briefly, but if I lay down in bed now, I felt I would fall asleep immediately.
Besides, being in this dim, warm room lit only by moonlight with Lucio made me feel a bittersweet ache, as though the world held only the two of us.
When my eyes suddenly met his crystalline blue gaze, my heart ached.
I gazed at his face, perhaps for the last time, before blurting out a question.
“Can I sleep here tonight?”
“!”
Lucio froze like an ice statue, and it was so amusing I nearly laughed.
Mischief bubbling up inside me, I whispered to him like I was tempting an innocent bachelor.
“We’ll just hold hands while we sleep.”
* * *
Meanwhile, at that very moment.
In Duke Elrad’s Garden, now that the rain had stopped, the lanterns shone brightly.
Two people were there.
Diana, who had just returned from an outing, and Raezl, who had been waiting for her with unwavering devotion.
“Saint….”
Raezl called out to Diana, who stood there dazed.
Diana was currently in a state of panic, having just learned from Raezl about the existence of Spleshia—erased from ancient mythology—the truth of mana, and the contents of the curse she herself had cast.
Now she finally understood why she felt such inexplicable, intense emotions whenever she saw Spleshia, the antidote.
Moreover, the true identity of the necklace Lia wore and the countless suffering she had endured.
And the fact that she had returned from death itself.
“It’s… all because of me….”
Seeing Diana gasping for breath under the weight of such shock, Raezl urgently added another layer to the barrier he had placed around the garden.
He couldn’t predict how Diana might react, just as Lia had spiraled into rampage upon learning the curse’s contents.
Fortunately, while waiting for Diana, his holy power had recovered considerably—a blessing beyond measure.
Raezl opened his mouth, striving to respond calmly and prevent another disturbance.
“I ask once more. Saint, do you truly wish to awaken?”
At those words, Diana squeezed her eyes shut.
Raezl had only come to understand why Diana couldn’t awaken after discovering the ancient texts.
The Saint herself had instinctively rejected awakening, sealing her own power and erecting formidable barriers around her memories.
Then Diana slowly opened her eyes, gazing at the sacred relic and ancient tome clutched in her hands.
Tears welled in her eyes and began to stream down her face.
Diana hastily wiped the tears away with the back of her hand.
I must not shed tears.
Yet… tears kept seeping out, though I had no right to cry.
Emotions and memories I had never felt before began to pour forth like a breaking dam.
“I was… never a good enough person to be called a Saint.”
Long before I came to recognize the purity of souls, I had already grown skeptical of humanity.
There were no perfect humans in this world.
Everyone was lacking in some way, flawed and rough-edged, harboring cowardice and depravity within themselves.
“Yet that girl loved all of humanity.”
“…Saint?”
Raezl felt something peculiar emanating from Diana as she murmured with downcast eyes, and he called out to her before stopping short, his eyes widening.
“Not me, but that girl… Spleshia was the one truly worthy of being called a Saint.”
A sacred light, incomparable to the lamps illuminating the surroundings or even the moonlight, was slowly flowing from Diana’s body.
“An arrogant demon who cared only for herself… I wished for her to love the humans I regarded as insignificant as insects. And I wished for her to suffer, grieve, and feel loneliness as she watched that human grow old, fall ill, and waste away, and to regret it all.”
Diana slowly raised her head.
A different light now shone in her eyes.
“I knew that casting a curse with holy power demands a price. I was willing to be cast into hellfire itself if only I could avenge that girl’s death. But… but why did that price have to be paid not by me, but….”
Spleshia.
No, why did Lia have to bear it.
Sorrow and regret, anger and despair rippled through her entire being.
“!”
In that instant, a brilliant light burst forth, completely enveloping Diana’s body.
Raezl dropped to one knee with an expression of awe, bowing his upper body.
The Saint’s awakening—so long yearned for—had finally come to pass.

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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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