Everyone Was Obsessed With Me After I Became the Youngest Princess Favourite - Chapter 232

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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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Rope had opened the door expecting the room’s occupant to still be asleep, but she started when her eyes met Lia’s.
“My apologies. I didn’t realize you were already awake.”
“Rope?”
But she was even more startled by the name that followed.
“Do you know me?”
Rope’s casual question made her pause.
She was well aware that the person before her was the Crown Princess Bellus of the Belus Duchy.
Having spent years working in an organization that dealt with information, she knew this much—but the Crown Princess was also a victim of the kidnapping incident they had orchestrated long ago.
There was no way she could know her.
Rope was bewildered, confused even, as to how Lia recognized her and addressed her with such courtesy.
And beyond that.
‘Why is she looking at me with such eyes?’
As if gazing upon someone she hadn’t seen in ages—someone she missed and was delighted to encounter.
“….”
At Rope’s reaction, Lia’s expression turned bitter.
In truth, memories of the past remained vivid—how whenever I faced difficult and desperate circumstances, Rope would appear and teach me things, help me through.
But when I encountered Rope in a similar situation today, I found myself calling out to her without thinking.
‘I really must be a fool.’
Or perhaps exactly the kind of person Rope had said I was.
I knew full well that Rope was one of the Demon Worshippers who had kidnapped me.
Yet the moment I saw her face, I felt welcome rather than betrayal.
I despised myself for it, yet at the same time, I couldn’t help it.
Unlike Jade, who had always been hostile, or my fellow disciples, and unlike Master, whose ambiguous attitude constantly embarrassed me—the executives had always treated me with genuine kindness.
Rope and Ted in particular had been especially attentive.
‘Ah.’
Lost in longing for a moment, I froze.
The thought struck me that perhaps it had all been a performance, following Master’s orders.
Like carrot and stick—isolating me while making me dependent.
“My lady, what’s wrong?”
My eyes had grown moist without my realizing it, my fists clenched, and at Rope’s careful question, I shook my head absently.
Then I flinched and asked back.
“What did you just call me?”
“Pardon? My lady, I—”
“M-my lady?”
I thought my ears had deceived me!
Now that I thought about it, I seemed to recall hearing something similar from Raezl as well.
But at the time, I had been so absorbed in finding the entrance to the Demon Realm that I hadn’t paid it any mind.
“My lady, you say….”
I was too bewildered and astounded to speak.
Rope bowed respectfully and spoke with careful courtesy.
“My master has instructed me to serve you with utmost sincerity. Please feel free to tell me if there is anything you need or any discomfort you experience.”
Lia regarded Rope with unfamiliar eyes as he addressed me with formal speech and treated me with such deference.
More than that, it was strange to hear him call Setikaael “master” rather than “Master”—though I suppose that distinction was subtle.
He called it so naturally, yet how had he never made a single slip in front of me all this time?
Even as I felt a pang of betrayal at his meticulousness, I found myself asking abruptly.
“Is this place the Demon Realm?”
“…Pardon?”
“I was dragged here so suddenly that I don’t know how much time has passed or where I am. My family must be worried sick.”
“Ah….”
Only then did Rope, who had just learned how his master had brought the Crown Princess here, swallow hard.
Well, could the way a non-human took a companion be anything ordinary?
“You said to tell you if I needed anything or was uncomfortable. How many hours have I been here?”
Rope felt a faint pity watching the Crown Princess press him with eyes full of confusion and worry.
Though his soul had long since lost its humanity, he found himself feeling compassion for the Crown Princess, who had fallen into the hands of demons twice now.
“This place is not the Demon Realm. And not much time has passed, so you need not worry so greatly.”
“Really? Is that truly the case?”
Lia, who had been almost certain that her plan had fallen apart, opened her eyes wide.
“But then why is it still daylight?”
“That is because the Black Forest, though located in the Human Realm, exists under the influence of the Demon Realm.”
Thanks to the Demons and Demon Worshippers offering sacrifices for so very long, the gateway to the Demon Realm located in the Black Forest had opened wide enough to summon Demon Beasts to this land once more.
Therefore, it was only natural that the Black Forest, connected to the Demon Realm, would be affected by this.
“And since the Demon Realm and Human Realm have different flows of time, the Black Forest also….”
Rope, who had been answering with almost unconscious enthusiasm, suddenly caught himself with a sharp breath.
Setikaael had only instructed him to serve his companion well, without telling him what not to say or imposing any particular restrictions on her.
Yet here I was, unknowingly elaborating on such matters.
I had let my guard down far more than I usually would.
But seeing that innocent, soft face with wide eyes, Rope felt an urge to teach her something more.
As if a forgotten instinct were awakening within me.
“Is that really true? That the flow of time is different?”
“…Yes. Outside, it has probably only just become evening.”
At Rope’s hesitant yet complete answer, Lia was startled.
That meant the full moon hadn’t risen yet, didn’t it?
“Oh, thank heavens! What a blessing!”
Lia covered her mouth with both hands like someone given a second chance at life, overwhelmed with gratitude.
That the Demon Realm and Human Realm had different times—she had never imagined such a thing.
Raezl and the Temple people, along with Diana, would not have known this fact either.
“What a true blessing.”
Realizing that my plan remained intact and still viable, I kept murmuring how fortunate it was while pressing a hand to my chest in relief.
Watching this, Rope’s heart stirred inexplicably, and he gazed at Lia with an enigmatic expression.
“What could possibly be so fortunate?”
Setikaael materialized without a sound.
* * *
I quickly closed my mouth as I watched Master enter the room, passing by Rope.
Rope had also gone rigid, his face hardening as he stepped back a pace.
“Surely you don’t think I’m displeased that I came here with you.”
Master, now standing before me, looked directly at me and asked.
“Right?”
The relief and joy that had filled my chest moments ago had long since evaporated.
I didn’t want to say anything to Master, but I was acutely aware of Rope watching nervously behind me.
I finally managed to pry open my reluctant lips.
“…I’m just relieved to see with my own eyes that you’re safe.”
Of course, I had no intention of confessing what I truly felt was fortunate, or what Rope had said to me.
Fortunately, Master clicked his tongue dismissively as he watched me glance at Rope.
Then he spoke to Rope.
“Leave.”
The moment the command fell, Rope departed without hesitation.
As I stared blankly at the closing door, Master tilted his head.
“I assigned him to attend you specially, thinking you might enjoy it. Are you truly so delighted?”
His question—knowing that she was a Demon Worshipper who had deceived and betrayed me—carried deep mockery and contempt.
Yet even knowing that Rope, like Serphin, was a Demon Worshipper who had sold his soul for personal desires,
I simply could not place Rope, who had endured hardship alongside me, on the same level as Serphin.
Even I thought myself foolish for this, and I lowered my head.
“Still, don’t worry yourself too much.”
Master reached out his hand toward me.
I wanted to avoid his touch before it reached me, but perhaps because of the mana-restricting bracelet I wore,
my body refused to obey my will.
Master’s hand finally made contact with my chin.
“I told you before. I am satisfied with only your resentment and hatred toward me. But that means I wish to possess every single fragment of your emotions for myself alone.”
Do not love another. Do not hate another.
Let all such feelings be directed toward me alone.
At his soft whisper as he gazed into my eyes, I stared back at him, rendered speechless.
Then he slowly lowered his hand, gently stroking the nape of my neck before gradually applying pressure.
I felt my pulse thrumming frantically beneath his palm.
“Lia, why are you trembling so?”
As my body tensed involuntarily, Master laughed and asked.
“Are you afraid I’ll kill you?”
“…”
“Or are you afraid I’ll do something to you?”
My fear seemed to delight him greatly, for a smile never left Master’s lips.
When I stared coldly and refused to answer, he simply spread his hand and gently wrapped his fingers around my throat.
As if he could snuff out my life whenever he wished.
I was seized by instinctive terror, yet simultaneously reminded myself that he loved me.
So I squeezed my eyes shut for a moment, then opened them and spoke.
“You won’t be able to do anything to me. If you do anything to me, I’ll die. Over and over again.”
“….”
“And you won’t let me die, will you?”
At those words, Master withdrew his hand from my throat.
“Yeah, that’s right.”
He laughed softly and shook his head.
“Even I think I’m an idiot, but I don’t have the confidence to wait that long.”
If necessary, I could simply rewind time.
Yet despite living for such an eternity, never had time flowed so sluggishly as it did now.
Master, deliberately concealing his raw fury beneath a dark smile, spoke in a self-deprecating tone.
I saw the veins in his clenched fist bulge blue beneath his skin, but I turned my head away and pretended not to notice.
Whether Master wrestled with his demonic instincts to suppress his rage was none of my concern.
Only.
‘So he really is planning to rewind time if I die.’
I had confidently told Raezl and Diana that the Demon loves me, so he’ll rewind time if I die, but hearing it spoken aloud from his own lips, only now did certainty settle in and my heart find peace.
‘Though it’s somewhat pathetic to find solace in such a thing….’
Now was not the time to indulge in such sentimental thoughts.
I needed to gauge what the situation and time were like outside the Black Forest.
‘…Surely that wasn’t a lie.’
In the past, I would have accepted Rope’s words about this being the Black Forest and time flowing differently between the Demon Realm and the Human Realm without much doubt, but now I had no choice but to be wary.
So how could I verify it?
I didn’t want to have a long conversation with Master.
Yet I was deliberating whether I should probe him cautiously anyway.
“Ow!”
At the sudden sharp pain, I lowered my head to find Master crouched down, tending to my ankle.
From moving about in shackles, the bone of my ankle had been scraped raw and red with wounds.
“Tsk.”
Master clicked his tongue and spoke.
“Just bear it a little longer. Once we cross into the Demon Realm, I’ll remove them.”
“…!”

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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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