Everyone Was Obsessed With Me After I Became the Youngest Princess Favourite - Chapter 24

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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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“Your Grace, the Council of Elders has assembled in the Council Chamber.”
At the Aide’s words, Duke Elrad rose from his desk where he had been reviewing documents.
Dark circles shadowed his eyes—the result of sleepless nights spent conducting a thorough investigation over the past several days.
“So the sluggards have finally gathered all at once.”
“They’re all preoccupied trying to understand what this is about.”
“Of course, everyone except the chairman.”
The Aide lowered his head at the Duke’s scornful tone.
Though he offered no verbal response, the Duke could easily envision Count Valery pacing furiously in the Council Chamber.
With his second son, Sid Valery, suddenly imprisoned and an emergency Council session convened, the man’s temperament would be seething with rage.
It was almost surprising he hadn’t stormed in immediately.
That man had always viewed me as a mere boy, an incomplete Duke.
‘He’s probably convinced himself he’s taken a blow and needs to retaliate.’
But this is only the beginning.
As Duke Elrad—Dominic—passed through the long corridor lined with portraits of past family heads, his expression turned coldly contemptuous.
My father, the Previous Duke Elrad, had been an incompetent man.
After several failures, he began relying entirely on the Council of Elders for every decision, eventually abandoning all responsibility altogether.
To overthrow the Council of Elders who manipulated House Elrad and my useless father, and to inherit the title, eighteen-year-old Dominic had gone to war fresh from his coming of age, seized victory, and willingly became the Emperor’s blade.
I survived desperately, becoming a figure of dread known throughout the Empire as the Cold-Blooded Ghost, and with the Emperor’s approval and aid from the deeply connected Grand Duke Bellus and House Diapel, I was able to strip the title from the Previous Duke.
Yet I could not completely eradicate the Council of Elders’ influence that had already spread throughout the entire House Elrad.
More precisely, I was forced to retreat one step when I clashed violently with the Council over my marriage.
“The family head has arrived.”
As I strode through the long corridor with measured steps, the massive Council Chamber doors swung open.
Upon my entrance, the elderly men seated at the elliptical table rose and offered their respects.
Most still harbored resentment toward the Duchess Elrad, yet they were men who possessed respect and loyalty toward Dominic Elrad, who had governed House Elrad brilliantly for over a decade.
However, a minority of the Elders still resisted having their influence suppressed.
They were Count Valery and his followers—men who could not forget the taste of power they had once wielded when they controlled House Elrad.
“Everyone, be seated.”
The moment I spoke and took my seat at the head of the table, Count Valery, the chairman, slammed the table and shouted.
“Your Grace! How could you imprison my son, the proud Vice-Captain of the Lexion Knights, in the dungeons beneath the Duke’s Castle?!”
My eyes narrowed at his declaration, spoken with such certainty despite the fact that this had not yet been officially announced.
“The chairman seems quite interested in the internal affairs of House Elrad.”
“….”
“Your temperament remains as hasty as ever.”
As Count Valery flinched at my characteristically cold expression and gaze, I gestured with my chin toward Taize, who stood guarding the door.
Count Valery, who had always disapproved of Taize—a commoner-born knight trusted by me as much as my own son—was about to protest when his brow furrowed sharply.
Taize, his expression dark, threw the Council Chamber doors wide open, and Lexion Knights entered, leading Sid Valery bound like a criminal, forcing him to kneel.
The elderly Elders, including Count Valery, gasped in shock at the extraordinary insubordination unfolding before their eyes.
“Count Valery?”
“W-what is the meaning of this?!”
Watching the Council of Elders raise their voices, I realized that regardless of House Elrad’s position, Sid Valery—who had served me loyally for so long and even participated in war—commanded the deep trust of everyone present.
And I shared that trust completely.
Had I not believed in him, I would never have entrusted him with the Vice-Captain position or made him my son’s mentor.
“This is absurd! You’re treating an honorable knight like a criminal over some common girl!”
Count Valery shouted, his neck flushed with rage.
After learning through his informant in House Elrad that his son had been imprisoned in the Underground Dungeon, he had spent considerable effort investigating the cause and reached this conclusion.
He had never anticipated that a mere commoner girl could possess information capable of controlling both Sid Valery and the Valery Count Family, and his emotional reasoning reflected that blindness.
“The presiding officer already issued a warning, yet you seem incapable of understanding even a single word.”
At the Count’s protest, I furrowed my brow wearily.
“Moreover, an honorable knight? Sid Valery, tell me yourself. Are you truly an honorable knight who has upheld the oath of chivalry?”
“Your Grace, what do you—”
“Count Valery. If you speak one more word, I will not show mercy.”
At my sharp tone, the Count flinched and closed his mouth.
“I ask again. Are you truly a knight?”
“….”
Despite my question, Sid Valery, kneeling in humiliation before me, remained silent.
The man who had shown nothing but loyalty and trustworthiness in my presence until now merely glared at the floor with bloodshot eyes.
“It seems you have nothing to say even with a mouth. Taize, you answer. What is a knight?”
“A knight is one who serves their lord with devotion, protects the weak, and upholds honor.”
“Then, in your knowledge, is Sid Valery a knight?”
“That is….”
Taize’s lips trembled before he lowered his head.
Count Valery’s piercing gaze was formidable, but it was not easy to insult a man who had been Vice-Captain of the Knight Order with one’s own words.
“Your Grace. I understand the situation now, and I comprehend your anger at Sir Valery’s failure to fulfill his duty as a knight. However, I must respectfully suggest that this may be an excessive measure….”
In the tense atmosphere, one of Count Valery’s retainers gathered courage to speak, but fell silent under my piercing gaze.
“Excessive? Knight or not, do you believe it is right for the strong to unilaterally oppress the weak simply because of inferior status?”
“….”
“Very well. Then, as a vassal loyal to House Elrad, how would you view this matter?”
The Council of Elders tilted their heads in confusion at my sudden question.
One of the knights restraining Sid Valery stepped forward and spoke.
“I believe everyone is aware of the great suffering that Lady Diana recently endured.”
“That happened because the wretch assigned to protect the young lady failed to do his duty properly!”
Seeing Count Valery suddenly raise his voice as if remembering something, the knight continued.
“That day, the Vice-Captain ordered us, who were assigned to covert protection, to stand down. He said that since Your Grace had entrusted the young lady’s protection to Sir Taize Seidian, there was no need for us to guard her until further orders came.”
“What, what did you say?”
“And after the young lady disappeared, he strictly instructed us not to speak a word, lest we displease Your Grace.”
The knights behind him nodded in agreement, confirming they had all heard this.
“How amusing. A man who commits dereliction of duty without hesitation, yet concerns himself with my mood.”
My lips twisted savagely.
“But if he truly wished not to displease me, he should never have ordered Taize Seidian to withdraw from his protective duties.”
“…!”
At the icy edge in my voice, the Council of Elders and Count Valery finally grasped the full scope of the situation, their faces draining of color.
Crack!
In a heartbeat, the Count rushed toward his son and struck Sid Valery across the cheek, his voice booming with fury.
“You, you madman! How dare you toy with the safety of the young lady? And you still call yourself a son of House Valery, sworn to serve House Elrad with loyalty?”
Then he turned to me, bowing deeply.
“Your Grace, this man is no son of mine from this moment forward! This is his alone to answer for—I beg you not to doubt the loyalty of our house.”
“Is that so? Then the fact that most of the funds the Valery Count Family used to purchase that mine recently came from the Lexion Knights’ budget—that too was merely Sid Valery’s personal transgression?”
“…What?”
Caught off guard, the Count’s eyes, which had been squeezing out tears and maintaining his act, snapped wide open.
“There’s no need for lengthy explanations. We can verify it directly.”
Before my words had even finished, my Aide placed the pre-prepared report on the desk.
It contained the secret ledger discovered in Sid Valery’s quarters and documentation detailing how the Lexion Knights’ budget had flowed into the Valery Count Family’s coffers.
The records bore unmistakable traces of the purchase of mines and land, and the creation of hidden assets.
“Embezzlement! Have you lost your mind?”
“I never expected this from the Vice-Captain.”
“We are people who live by the honor of being loyal servants to House Elrad….”
Upon confirming Count Valery’s seal stamped plainly on the documents, the Council members swiftly made their decision.
There was no way to claim that Count Valery had not been involved.
Realizing there was nowhere left to retreat, Count Valery desperately fell to his knees.
“Your Grace! House Valery has served as a pillar supporting House Elrad for long years, offering our lives and loyalty. Though I have erred through a moment of greed, I beg your mercy this once…!”
The white-haired Count made his desperate plea to a Duke young enough to be his son.
But Duke Elrad was a man who had cast aside even his own father, the Previous Duke, without emotion.
“From this moment forward, I strip the Valery Count Family of their vassal status. Await your sentence as a criminal.”
“N-no, Your Grace! Please show mercy! Ahhh! Won’t someone release me!”
Count Valery cried out desperately, but he was dragged away by the knights nonetheless.
The Council members, witnessing his downfall unfold before their eyes, could only swallow hard in silence.

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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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