Everyone Was Obsessed With Me After I Became the Youngest Princess Favourite - Chapter 229

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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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“Please, don’t worry yourselves.”
Raezl couldn’t bear the frigid silence in the carriage any longer and carefully broke it.
The moment Lia’s carriage had returned to the Marquis’s Residence, he had departed immediately for Terenthium’s headquarters with Grand Duke Bellus’s family and the Previous Marquis.
The Grand Duke, whose beauty was so striking that ordinary beauties paled in comparison, and the Crown Princess Bellus, whose radiant smile could warm any gathering—
Along with the Grand Duchess, whose doll-like features were exquisite, and the Previous Marquis who commanded the Border Region, all bore faces weathered as though battered by a tempest.
And truly, it would be stranger if they appeared unaffected when Adriana, whom they all cherished as dearly as life itself, had willingly walked into the Demon Realm’s lair.
Raezl had spoken words of comfort, but he couldn’t suppress his own anxiety.
〈If I don’t meet the Demon, this world will be filled with the cries of innocent people.〉
Recalling Lia’s resolute gaze as she spoke those words, my heart grew heavy.
Of course, I was moved by how Diana, the Saint herself, had said that Lia was more suited to be a Saint than she was.
Though I too have devoted my life to following God’s will, I couldn’t claim with certainty that I could step forward so readily to sacrifice myself.
“High Priestess.”
Just then, the carriage halted, and Grand Duke Bellus’s subdued voice pulled me from my thoughts.
Raezl nodded and opened the carriage door, only to freeze in place.
“…!”
Before his feet even touched the ground—
He could feel it.
An intense demonic aura rippling so fiercely that it stung his skin.
His body trembled at the overwhelming presence of that demonic force.
“High Priestess.”
At that moment, the Holy Knights who had been lying in ambush near the Cafe, as Lia had instructed, rushed forward and knelt.
They too were visibly tense, their eyes fixed on the ominous sky that hung overhead.
Then the one at the front spoke.
“High Priestess. After the Crown Princess Bellus entered, Sir Jack Seidian circled the area before going inside shortly after.”
“What?”
“We were hesitating, having been ordered merely to observe, when suddenly demonic aura began pouring outward. We believe we must quickly assess the situation inside….”
Crash.
At that moment, Grand Duke Bellus, unable to restrain himself after hearing this exchange, rushed forward and threw open the Cafe’s door.
His eyes fell upon Jack, lying unconscious on the floor.
“What in the world is that man doing here….”
Worried that this unexpected arrival might have caused Lia difficulty, Raezl furrowed his brow and ordered the Holy Knights to take Jack away.
Then, leaving the ashen-faced Grand Duke’s family and the Previous Marquis behind, he stepped into the Cafe.
As he surveyed the space, so thick with demonic aura that it didn’t feel like human territory at all, he finally discovered the magic circle drawn on the floor and let out a silent breath.
“High Priestess…?”
Though he had already steeled himself and sent Lia off—
Even knowing that Lia wouldn’t be here, Grand Duke Bellus had come this far to confirm it with his own eyes, and now called out to Raezl with an aching voice.
Raezl turned and nodded.
“It seems Lia has gone there as planned.”
The only place where this world and the Demon Realm are connected.
To the Black Forest.
* * *
Early this morning, in the back garden of the Duke’s Mansion.
Lia appeared before Diana, who had just completed her awakening as the Saint.
The moment Diana saw Lia, she collapsed to the ground and burst into tears.
〈Sister, I’m sorry. Because of me… I placed such a curse on you….〉
At that time, I had wanted only to make the Demon feel the same pain I felt.
Moreover, I had hoped he would feel shame for loving a human whom he regarded as vermin, and that unlike me, he would suffer anguish every time he saw such a weak human.
But I did not know.
That the human the Demon had come to love was the reincarnation of Splecia.
And I did not realize.
That I would cause such pain to the human I thought I would cherish so dearly I wouldn’t know what to do with myself, by my own hand.
Unable to face Lia, who had suffered from the terrible curse I had placed upon her, Diana had instinctively rejected her awakening.
Now, even if Lia said she never wanted to see me again, I would have nothing to say.
I was roughly wiping away the tears that streamed down my face, fearing she would find even my crying repugnant, when—
〈Diana, it’s not your fault.〉
Lia rushed forward and embraced Diana, who was lost in self-reproach and regret.
〈…Sister?〉
〈Even if you are a Saint, you’re still human in the end. How could a human ever understand a Demon’s heart?〉
Because Lia, as always, comforted herself instead, Diana eventually wept openly for a long time.
And just as she finally began to calm down.
Raezl, who had been quietly watching from the side, revealed what he had surmised about why the Demon, who had even turned back time to save Lia, had been living in such silence.
Perhaps he had abandoned his ambition to dominate the surface world and intended to take Lia as his consort and return to the Demon Realm.
Otherwise, unlike in the past, he would not have merely unsealed the seal on Lia’s heart, but would not have shared his own power with her.
And in truth, if one considered the peace of humanity and this land, the Demon’s intentions could not be called entirely malicious.
But with Diana’s sharp glare and the fact that Lia, whom he had watched since childhood, could not be sacrificed—
Raezl pondered deeply on how to find the entrance to the Demon Realm.
If the connection between the Demon Realm, the Demon’s stronghold, and this land could not be severed, the Demon could not be destroyed no matter how much effort was expended.
The Black Forest, where the entrance to the Demon Realm was located, was the only place where this land and the Demon Realm were connected, and one could not enter without permission. If one entered recklessly, it was a dangerous place where even ordinary humans, let alone those with mana affinity, would lose their minds.
Even if the Priestesses with holy power, the Holy Knights, and he himself would not suffer from headaches or hallucinations, there was still no guarantee they would not lose their way.
But entering the Black Forest to destroy the Demon was an absolute necessity.
It was then that Raezl was devising a method to find the entrance to the Demon Realm in the Black Forest.
〈I will go. The Demon… loves me, so he will surely take me to the Demon Realm.〉
Lia volunteered, saying she would enter the Black Forest first to find the entrance to the Demon Realm, and then guide everyone there.
Diana protested vehemently, and Raezl also hesitated, but Lia was resolute.
From the beginning, it seemed she had made up her mind firmly to do so when she came to the Duke’s Mansion.
Upon learning that tonight was the night the full moon would rise.
〈In the past… around the time the full moon rose, Master and all the executives were always frantically busy. They would always be absent that night. It seems they went to the Black Forest then.〉
Lia’s words were correct.
The night the full moon rose was when the demonic energy was most concentrated on this land.
They likely expanded the entrance to the Demon Realm by offering sacrifices at the altar back then.
Lia, who had calmly laid out her plans ahead, speaking as though everyone would be doomed if she didn’t meet with the Demon, seemed to be trying to lighten the heavy atmosphere.
〈Please, don’t worry so much. Even if things go wrong, if I die, the Demon will just turn back time anyway….〉
〈Sister!〉
〈Lia!〉
Diana and Raezl, upon learning what resolve Lia had steeled herself with, vehemently objected with fervent protests, but ultimately had no choice but to follow her plan.
The Demon could set events in motion whenever he wished.
Next month, or perhaps the month after when the full moon rose.
Or perhaps he might come for Lia this very day.
No one could break Lia’s resolve—that she would not allow her family to witness her being abducted again.
The same held true for Lia’s family as well.
And as a result, up until now….
* * *
“Saint. The High Priestess says to tell you that things are proceeding according to plan.”
“…Is that so?”
Diana, recalling the conversation she’d had with Lia at dawn, slowly turned her head while absently touching the bracelet on her wrist.
A high priestess and holy knight sent from the Temple to assist me stood in prostration, awaiting her command.
Diana unconsciously clenched her fists as she turned over the news she’d just received.
That things were proceeding according to plan meant that Lia had gone into the Black Forest with the Demon.
She found it difficult to feel relieved and pleased upon hearing such news.
But.
“Then we should begin our preparations as well.”
Now that she had committed to following Lia’s plan, she had to fulfill her role without the slightest error.
A beautiful soul who had become my hope when I had lost faith in humanity.
And now I had been given another chance to fight for Lia, who had called me a “hero.”
Diana continued speaking, deliberately ignoring the priestess and holy knight who were moved to tears by her use of “we.”
“Before we depart for the Temple, there’s something I need to tell my family. It shouldn’t take too long, so please wait outside.”
“Yes! Don’t worry, Saint. Please come out at your leisure.”
Diana felt an inexplicable unease as she watched the two hurry from the room.
As the Empire’s only Crown Princess, Diana had received treatment befitting her station without want, yet this kind of reverence and devotion still felt burdensome.
‘If this keeps up, later they’ll have me completely under their thumb….’
At the ominous premonition that flickered through her mind, Diana quickly shook her head.
Even if the priestesses tried to hold her back, she had no intention of complying gracefully.
If things went well and the Demon was destroyed, from then on she would live as one family with Lia without restraint. She would never abandon that dream of a Duke’s Estate for anything!
With firm resolve, Diana headed straight for the reception room where the Duke and Duchess were having tea.
The Duke, who had been returning to the Estate faster than anyone else recently, had come back early today and was with his wife.
But his expression was not bright.
Worries had accumulated from recent troubles with Lucio, and….
After hearing that the Great Sage had visited yesterday, the Grand Duchess who had gone to the Marquis’s Residence suddenly appeared in the middle of the night, tears glistening in her eyes, before unleashing a torrent of curses: “You! You damned fool! You stupid bastard!” and then left.
Moreover, the Temple, which had never dared show its face near House Elrad, claiming it would protect the Saint, had now sent people.
It was at that moment when the Duke, sensing that something was amiss, furrowed his brow in grave contemplation.
Upon Diana’s entrance into the Reception Room, the Duke faltered.

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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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