Everyone Was Obsessed With Me After I Became the Youngest Princess Favourite - Chapter 248

—————
This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
—————

Particles smaller than dust drifted through the black void, gradually fading from sight.
Then, as if time were flowing backward, the suspended particles reappeared and began clustering together, eventually taking on a distinct form.
What materialized was a beaded necklace with a crimson glow.
* * *
Setikaael opened his eyes very slowly. The moment he became aware of this fact, his expression grew bewildered.
He had certainly taken the Saint’s final arrow in Lia’s place.
He should have vanished without leaving any trace in the human world, not even his soul remaining….
“Master, we’ve gathered all the sacrifices for this ritual. Shall we begin moving them? Can you open the entrance to the Black Forest tonight?”
“….”
“Master?”
Setikaael stood confused as he observed the executives seated around the circular table, all staring at him.
Creak!
The door suddenly burst open, and an unexpected person appeared.
“…!”
At the sight of someone he thought he would never see again, Setikaael’s breath caught.
The newcomer awkwardly scratched their head.
“Ah… the sign. I’m sorry, I forgot.”
The frozen executives, hearing the apologetic words, finally released relieved sighs and began to speak.
“Lia, you really are something! For a moment, I thought this was your room, not the Master’s!”
“More than that, because of Lia, we had to put a sign on the door. Master, wouldn’t it be better to just teach Lia to knock?”
“That’s right. Master, you’re far too lenient with Lia.”
Several days later, on the night when the full moon rose.
The tension from worrying whether they might have overheard the meeting regarding the ritual to open the Demon Realm’s entrance had dissipated, and they teased Lia with even more mischief than usual.
Yet the one who truly felt like they were being mocked was none other than Setikaael.
He could not comprehend what was happening at all.
He examined Lia thoroughly with an expression of disbelief.
Then he noticed the necklace around her neck—more precisely, his own sealed soul stone.
It bore cracks far more severe than when he had previously rewound time and reattached the broken pieces.
“What on earth….”
At that moment, Lia, who had been pouting at the executives’ remarks, raised her hand abruptly.
“A mission, a mission! I haven’t received a single request in over a week, you know.”
It seemed she had interpreted his muttering as a question about the purpose of her visit.
At words that carried an eerie sense of déjà vu, Setikaael finally realized that the conversation from the day Lia had infiltrated the Elrad Duke’s Mansion under a false mission and died was repeating itself.
Clenching his fist out of sight, he slowly parted his lips as memories flooded back.
“Very well. I’ll give you a mission.”
“Really? This time you’ll give me a proper mission, won’t you?”
Seeing Lia ask with half-joy, his words caught in his throat.
“…Lia.”
“Yes, Master.”
At the sound of her name, Lia answered immediately and met his gaze.
Her eyes were filled with obedience and blind trust in equal measure.
In that moment, Setikaael felt a chill run down his spine so intense it made his skin crawl.
It was the image of Lia that he had yearned for so desperately.
Not the Lia who had laughed bitterly with wounded despair, screaming and cursing at him, but rather the one gazing at him with eyes parched for recognition and praise, craving affirmation….
If Lia were to learn the truth now, she would turn away from him in an instant.
Having already lost Lia once in such a manner, Setikaael had no desire whatsoever to repeat that tragedy.
He rose abruptly from his seat and strode toward Lia with long, purposeful steps.
As the distance between them narrowed rapidly, Lia instinctively tried to step backward.
But Setikaael’s action of pulling her into his embrace came before she could retreat.
Feeling her body stiffen in shock and the warmth of her presence, Setikaael squeezed his eyes shut.
He could not tell whether this was a cruel illusion or the final chance granted to one who had once dreamed of divinity.
Only one thing mattered—that Lia was in his arms.
“Master, I believed you were my benefactor and savior.”
“I was so lonely and suffering back then… If you had only been kind to me, I surely would have loved you….”
Suddenly, the words Lia had once spoken to him echoed in his mind.
Right after that, she had stabbed him with a dagger infused with holy power….
Were those words truly nothing but lies?
Could there not have been even a sliver of truth mixed within them?
Perhaps the Lia who had spoken those words would recoil in disgust if she knew what he was thinking now.
Yet the Lia now cradled in Setikaael’s arms, though startled, did not push him away.
“M-Master?”
At her voice, unable to hide her bewilderment, his fingertips tingled.
As he carefully loosened his hold, he saw Lia gazing at him with wavering eyes.
“Why did you suddenly….”
“Because I love you.”
Setikaael spoke with sudden intensity.
“Knowing your abilities, I couldn’t bear to see you hurt or in danger, so I didn’t assign you those missions.”
Lia, who had been about to speak, wore a dazed expression—as though she could not believe his confession at all.
Lia was not the only one shocked.
The Guild executives who knew of Setikaael’s true identity as a Demon—or more precisely, the Demon Worshippers—were even more horrified, frozen in place.
At that moment, Setikaael turned his gaze toward them.
Faced with his cold and eerie eyes, no different from any other time, the executives felt as though they had become insignificant creatures, and they suppressed their fear as they quickly fled the room past Lia.
Though he was concerned about leaving Lia behind, he felt no great worry.
Though Setikaael had only just realized that he loved Lia, he had already sensed to some degree that she held a special place in his heart.
From the day when, during a meeting in a torrential downpour, the Master had suddenly rushed out and returned carrying a child drenched and nearly dead from the rain, Lia was the only one in the Information Guild—disguised as Terenthium—who was not a Demon Worshipper.
Meanwhile, Lia, who had been in a daze, finally came to her senses at the sound of the executives closing the door behind them.
“So that means every time you excluded me from dangerous missions… Master was….”
Unable to finish her words, her lips trembled, and Setikaael answered in her stead.
“Loving you. For a very long time.”
….
Hearing Setikaael’s confession of love once more, Lia’s expression became peculiar.
She seemed confused, struggling to accept what he was saying.
Perhaps she thought his confession didn’t align with the harsh treatment he’d shown her until now.
I recalled Lia’s face as she had sarcastically asked why he hadn’t treated her well if he truly loved her.
Setikaael, wearing a bitter smile, declared plainly.
“I admit I’ve been cruel to you. But things will be different now.”
Perhaps I’m capable of the kind of love you desire.
* * *
“Tonight, we’ll leave the Empire by ship. Prepare yourself.”
Using the excuse that my work wasn’t finished, I escaped from Setikaael and descended to the first floor, but before I could even calm my confused mind, I heard those words and was left speechless once again.
“Master, are you speaking to me?”
Unable to believe it, I asked again, and Setikaael chuckled before answering.
“You said you wanted to take on an important mission.”
“A mission…”
“I’m thinking of relocating the Guild’s headquarters. To a different continent, in fact.”
At those words, not only I but all the Guild members organizing today’s requests and collected information wore expressions of shock.
“Master, what are you saying? Moving the headquarters out of the Empire? The entrance is here…”
Rope, an executive who had carelessly mentioned classified information in front of me—who knew nothing—stopped abruptly upon seeing my bewildered expression.
“When did you start questioning my orders?”
Setikaael asked irritably, furrowing his brow.
As the aura of anger emanating from him silenced everyone, including me.
“Lia.”
Setikaael called me again, his voice tender.
“You decorated this headquarters, after all. So you’ll choose our new nest on the other continent. Isn’t this the kind of important mission you wanted?”
“W-well, yes, but it’s so sudden.”
Sudden.
Having spoken those words, I understood myself.
I had never left the Empire until I came of age, so this restless feeling made sense.
“But if we’re going to the harbor tonight, shouldn’t we leave now or we’ll be late…”
“It’s fine. We’ll use a portal, so it won’t take long.”
“…!”
Unlike my colleagues who frequently used portals for missions, I had never been assigned a task outside the Capital City and had never witnessed one.
My anxiety about leaving the Empire was brief; the fact that we’d be using a portal excited me a little.
Though my mana reserves were limited and I couldn’t cast impressive magic, I had always been interested in magic-related things like artifacts and scrolls.
“Are you excited?”
Seeing my brightened expression, Setikaael smiled and asked.

—————
This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
—————