Everyone Was Obsessed With Me After I Became the Youngest Princess Favourite - Chapter 230

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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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“Diana…?”
Duke Elrad found himself taken aback, noticing that his innocent young daughter’s face seemed somehow more mature than it had been just yesterday.
Diana, catching his reaction, laughed awkwardly.
With her awakening complete, she had recovered the memories of her past life.
She could hardly remain as carefree and thoughtless as before.
“Father!”
There was no way she could.
Even with her memories restored, Diana’s sense of self as the youngest princess of House Elrad felt far more vivid and real.
Quickly returning to her role as the beloved youngest daughter, Diana wedged herself between Duke Elrad and Duchess Elrad, chattering away.
“I’m planning to go to the Temple right now.”
She spoke with the casual tone of someone heading out for a night stroll.
But Duke Elrad and Duchess Elrad both froze, their eyes widening.
“Diana, you…”
From the day they first learned that their daughter was the reincarnation of the Saint, Duke Elrad and Duchess Elrad had known that her destined fate and future could neither be resisted nor avoided.
And so they had long anticipated that someday Diana would speak these very words.
Yet no matter how firmly they had steeled their hearts, now that this moment had arrived, their minds went blank with dread.
“Diana… have you awakened?”
Duke Elrad, who had never once asked Diana such a question before, inquired with a bitter tone.
In truth, while he knew his daughter was distressed at not being able to meet Lia, he had secretly harbored a hope that her awakening might be delayed, given her tender age.
‘But in the end…’
Seeing the Duke’s sunken expression, Diana felt her nose sting, yet she answered with even greater brightness.
“Yes. That’s why I’m going to rescue my sister.”
“Lia?”
“Diana, what on earth is happening right now…”
“I can’t explain the details. But please don’t worry too much. Everything will be fine.”
Diana cut short Duchess Elrad’s concerns and suddenly threw herself into her mother’s embrace.
Duchess Elrad gently patted her daughter’s back with practiced ease.
With her eyes closed, Diana thought how grateful she was to still have this warmth.
In her previous life as Lia’s spy in Terenthium, she had learned that Duchess Elrad had died because no one could detoxify the poison she had ingested.
But in this life, thanks to the Splecia that Lia had created, she would not have to endure that terrible sorrow.
“To my sister, I can only feel sorry and grateful. That’s why this time, I absolutely must be the one to save her.”
Diana murmured softly that it simply had to be this way, then turned her head to speak to Duke Elrad.
“By the way, I came to find you because there’s something I need to ask before I go. You’ll grant my request, won’t you?”
“Let me hear it first, and then I’ll decide…”
“No. Promise me unconditionally that you’ll grant it.”
Puffing out her cheeks and stubbornly pressing her lips together, Diana made Duke Elrad let out a small sigh.
At first glance it seemed like she was merely being her usual petulant self, but the faint anxiety glimmering in her eyes made him sense that this was neither mere stubbornness nor childish whining.
“Very well.”
The moment the Duke’s consent fell, Diana opened her mouth as if she had been waiting for this very moment.
“Tonight, please lock the doors of House Elrad and ensure that no one enters or leaves.”
This was merely an unfounded worry.
Diana believed that if the Demon had truly chosen Lia over his own ambitions, as Raezl suggested, then the situation she feared would never come to pass.
The Demon would be too preoccupied with taking Lia and opening the gates to the Demon Realm to spare any effort elsewhere.
But.
“I did tell my Older Brother and Vice-Captain Taize not to move the Lexion Knights… but Father is still the Captain, after all.”
She was being selfish.
Even if a one-in-a-million situation were to unfold, she didn’t want to bear even the slightest sacrifice.
The Temple people who called her a Saint might point fingers at her true nature rather than admire or respect her, if they ever knew.
‘But my people are what matter most to me.’
Diana didn’t want to lose her people in vain as she had in her past life.
She never wanted to experience such pain and sorrow again.
So just in case, she had sent word to Aiden to feign illness and keep his family from going out, and she had already made arrangements with Raezl regarding the Grand Duke’s family and the Previous Marquis.
It was then that Duke Elrad raised his eyebrows and asked.
“Diana, what on earth is happening tonight? Surely you don’t mean another Demon Beast is appearing…?”
“No! It’s probably… nothing will happen.”
Diana believed that even if her judgment was wrong and a Demon Beast did emerge, she and the Holy Knights would be more than sufficient to handle a skirmish in the Black Forest.
“Probably nothing will happen? What kind of answer is that?”
So even as the Duke frowned, she answered with confidence.
“If Father, Mother, my Older Brothers, and everyone at the Duke’s Mansion all stay safe here, then nothing bad will happen.”
Duke Elrad, who had been silent for a moment with his mouth closed, then spoke.
“I am the Minister of Military Affairs of this Empire, a Duke, and at the same time, a knight. I have the duty to protect not only my family but also the Emperor and the people of this land. No matter how much you ask, Diana, I have no intention of abandoning my responsibilities.”
Diana had anticipated such a response.
Her father, though called a cold-blooded man who cared only for his family, had never once failed in his duties.
“I said nothing will happen. Can’t you just promise to go with peace of mind?”
“…”
Duke Elrad found it difficult to refuse the affectionate plea of his youngest daughter, whom he cherished more than life itself.
In the end, he nodded.
“If there truly is nothing amiss as you say, I will not set foot outside tonight.”
“Thank you, Father!”
Though the condition differed slightly, Diana was delighted with just that much and nestled into the Duke’s embrace.
After bidding farewell to her parents, Diana moved forward with grim determination to meet one last person before going to the Temple.
* * *
At that moment.
Lucio was leaning against the headboard of his bed, reading a book, when his thoughts drifted once more to this morning.
〈I love you.〉
The Crown Princess’s voice, whispered while she thought I was asleep, tickled my ear and stirred my heart.
Truth be told, yesterday Lucio had found it difficult to resist Lia’s seduction.
But he couldn’t do anything more than a kiss to the Crown Princess, who could barely remember what had happened and was clearly tense.
Yet he couldn’t trust himself to simply hold her hand and sleep, so he had to wash himself with cold water more than once.
Not wanting to miss the chance to lie beside the sleeping Crown Princess, Lucio had finally lain down next to her with his cooled body.
How much time had I spent gazing at that doll-like beautiful face?
The moment Lia awoke, Lucio quickly shut his eyes and feigned sleep.
A very wise choice indeed.
The Crown Princess, believing me to be in deep slumber, stroked my hair, confessed her love, and even pressed her lips to my forehead.
While passionate kisses were wonderful, moments like these were equally precious beyond measure.
‘Had I been awake, she would never have been so tender with me.’
I wouldn’t have been able to hide this foolish expression either….
“This is quite the opportunity.”
Just as I was touching my lips, which had gone completely slack with bliss, a cold voice reached my ears.
Lucio froze upon seeing his younger sister standing in the doorway without knocking, glaring at him with a tilted stance.
“…Diana?”
“You seem awfully pleased, not knowing who your sister is with or where she is right now?”
I wondered if something was wrong with my head and I’d misheard.
But Diana’s sarcastic remark confirmed that wasn’t the case.
While she normally had a brash, tomboyish side, his younger sister had never confronted him like this before, so Lucio asked, momentarily flustered.
“Diana, what are you talking about? Where is the Crown Princess with right now?”
“Hmph, you want to know?”
“Yes. Her Highness did tell me she’d be away somewhere for several days… or rather, a bit longer than that….”
Lucio’s expression suddenly turned rigid.
He’d been seduced by the promise of merely holding hands while sleeping, and reassured by her words of love, so he hadn’t asked the detailed questions he normally would have—where she was going or why.
Seeing Lucio’s serious expression, Diana clicked her tongue.
Given that she’d said such things to her brother, it was clear that Lia had devised today’s plan the moment she learned the curse’s contents.
As Diana pondered this, she suddenly tilted her head.
‘Wait. If it’s not several days but tomorrow, everything should be decided….’
Why had she said it might take longer?
As Diana struggled to discern Lia’s intentions, she suddenly pressed her forehead.
She realized that Lia had prepared for the possibility that she might fail to find the altar tonight or fail to enter the Black Forest, accounting for the next full moon.
…Or perhaps even the possibility of things going wrong and having to return.
‘It seems my sister thinks it will take a long time to break my brother’s curse.’
Or perhaps she hoped it would take longer.
After all, curses cast directly by demons are extremely potent and stubborn.
Just as it took Raezl a long time to break the illusion spell cast on Lia’s appearance.
So if the plan went awry, perhaps she hoped he wouldn’t remember her properly.
No man would sit idle knowing the woman he loves has been kidnapped.
Diana’s heart grew heavy, and she briefly regretted turning away Raezl when he’d come for purification work in the afternoon, insisting she’d do it herself.
And she looked at Lucio with furrowed brows.
For a moment, the face of someone from ancient times, completely out of their mind, flashed before her.
She didn’t want to see that mad expression again.
But she understood all too well the turmoil driving him like that…
‘From now on, whether I like it or not, he’s my older brother.’
“Sigh. Come here. I’ll purify you.”
Diana exhaled deeply and gestured with her fingers, offering to dispel the curse.
Seeing this, Lucio hesitated, and Diana raised her eyebrows.
“I don’t want to watch you lose that girl again and go mad before taking your own life. Hurry.”

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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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