Everyone Was Obsessed With Me After I Became the Youngest Princess Favourite - Chapter 256

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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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“I did resent you a little.”
A faint tremor threaded through his exhaled breath.
I blinked slowly before asking.
“You resented me?”
“Yes.”
Resentment….
The unexpected word caught me off guard.
But I soon found myself accepting it.
“So it really was a cursed connection after all….”
“It wasn’t.”
I pouted slightly.
“But you just said you resented me. What did I do wrong?”
“Wrong….”
Lucio echoed my words like a sigh, then pressed his forehead against mine and whispered softly.
“You did nothing wrong. I’m just being foolish on my own.”
Even though I have no right to resent anything.
The moment I saw Lucio add that quietly with a self-deprecating smile, my heart inexplicably sank.
I tried to hide my turmoil and moistened my dry lips.
Fortunately, Lucio kept his gaze lowered and didn’t notice my distress.
I was about to ask more casually when relief washed over me.
Lucio looked directly into my eyes.
“There’s no reason for me to be confused just because I’ve regained my memories.”
“…!”
Lucio immediately denied my deduction—that he was confused because he hated Spleshia and felt a disconnect with his current emotions.
As a result, it was I who became confused.
‘What does that mean?’
Does it simply mean his current feelings are certain so there’s no confusion, or could it be that even in the past….
It was the moment my eyes narrowed at the thought that suddenly surfaced.
“Now you don’t misunderstand my heart, right?”
Lucio asked carefully, as though he believed he had explained sufficiently.
I snapped to attention and opened my eyes wide.
“No! Then why did you do that? How could you not say a single word to me….”
How could you make the betrothal disappear as though it never happened?
“Were you perhaps planning to meet first as your mother suggested, and break things off if we didn’t match?”
“Have I lost my mind?”
I deliberately provoked him with my words, and Lucio’s expression grew serious.
“Hmph.”
I scoffed as though I wasn’t frightened at all, but absurdly, the anger that had flared at Lucio’s reaction subsided a little.
Besides, Lucio would never do such a thing.
He had said he never forgot me—someone he merely brushed past in his previous life—and continued searching for me.
‘Perhaps… we forged a deep bond even in our past lives from ancient times.’
With such thoughts, I glanced at Lucio with a peculiar expression.
But as if misinterpreting my silence, Lucio asked with an anxious look.
“You don’t really think my feelings are that fickle, do you?”
It wasn’t quite that bad, but I deliberately kept my mouth shut and said nothing.
Then Lucio’s eyes grew even more restless.
I considered teasing him a bit more, but curiosity won out.
“Then tell me. When were you trying to convince me to get engaged before leaving, and why did you suddenly change your mind?”
“That’s…”
Lucio hesitated and exhaled softly.
“It’s exactly as I said in front of the adults earlier. Regardless of the reason, I cannot forgive myself for hurting you and making you cry.”
“Even if I say it’s fine?”
“It may look like stubborn pride to your eyes, but… yes.”
At his answer, my eyebrows twitched in dissatisfaction, and Lucio bit his lip slightly before speaking.
“More than anything, I want to be properly recognized by your family even now. I know how precious they are to you.”
Hmm?
“In truth, from the moment our relationship as lovers was revealed, I felt like I’d buttoned everything wrong from the start, and my heart has been heavy ever since.”
At Lucio’s words, a forgotten memory surfaced.
Because I lost my senses after our first kiss, that fact spread throughout the neighborhood and our relationship with Lucio was unintentionally revealed…
‘I was so embarrassed that I deliberately erased it from my memory!’
But there was certainly persuasive power in Lucio’s words.
〈I will work hard going forward so that trust in me is restored to the point where you can entrust Lia to me with confidence. And I will ask for marriage talks again.〉
I could newly feel that his promise to Mother—that there would be no parting between us—was sincere.
‘But if I keep sulking after hearing such a reasonable explanation, won’t I look like an even more difficult person?’
I had already urged him to propose again the moment I opened my eyes!
Belatedly grasping the situation, I let out a small, quiet cough and spoke.
“Well, I did think it would have been nice to take things step by step from dating to marriage.”
Though of course, it’s not something I should be saying while sitting on Lucio’s lap.
“…You did?”
Lucio, however, didn’t seem to think that way, and his eyes drooped slightly at my words.
“I see… I’ve been too hasty all this time.”
No, why are you getting so gloomy about it…
Perhaps because his eyes were naturally sharp, the downturned gaze felt all the more dramatic.
I paused and gently brushed beneath Lucio’s eyes. Then, as if to soothe him, I spoke.
“Honestly, though we’ve known each other for a long time, the time we spent apart is far longer than the time we spent together.”
Even when we first met in front of the Academy.
Even when I lived as a maidservant in House Elrad.
We were acutely aware of and conscious of each other’s existence more than anyone, yet the time we actually spent together was terribly short.
Even now, with everything resolved as it is, Lucio has been busy helping the new Emperor stabilize the turbulent political situation, so even meeting like this was a rare occurrence.
Lucio nodded slightly, seeming to agree with my words.
“So from now on, I want to spend enough time with you. I want to hear your story directly from you, not through someone else’s words.”
I felt the same way.
Rather than tracking Duke Elrad’s movements as I had done before as an information source, and rather than learning about Lucio through Diana’s letters, I wanted to know him by spending time together.
“So let’s start dating tomorrow.”
At his sudden proposal, my eyes widened in surprise.
This was Lucio, who had been too busy to even see me lately!
And ‘starting tomorrow’ at that?
Lucio chuckled and spoke.
“I’m on vacation starting tomorrow.”
“R-really?”
Lucio nodded and pressed his lips together, unable to contain himself.
“I rushed through my work to see this expression. All those late nights were worth it.”
Ah, so that’s why I couldn’t even reach him by phone, let alone see his face, for the past week…?
I felt both sorry for Lucio, who had suffered to spend time with me, and deeply moved—my nose tingled with emotion.
“How long is your vacation?”
“Until the coronation.”
“Wow!”
“And it’s not confirmed yet, but I asked Nicholas to send me as a resident ambassador to Bellus Duchy. So I can stay there for at least a year.”
“…!”
I was even more shocked by Lucio’s words than by the fact that he’d taken a vacation.
“So you can return to the Duchy comfortably with your parents.”
I’ll follow you there.
At Lucio’s added words, my heart pounded as though it might burst from my chest.
“Is that… really allowed?”
“Why wouldn’t it be?”
“But…!”
He was saying he’d come to Bellus Duchy to follow me, even at such a crucial time when he could stand at the pinnacle of power as the new Emperor’s closest aide?
And on top of that.
“What about your family?”
“They’ll all love it. Diana might even want to come along.”
We might all be able to travel to the Duchy together.
My heart raced powerfully once more at Lucio’s words.
During those past days when the Demon had prevented us from properly interacting and we could only exchange letters, I had desperately wanted to invite everyone to Bellus Duchy.
“Lucio, you….”
You had it all planned!
I felt ashamed for even momentarily suspecting that he no longer wanted to stay close to me as before.
Moved by his words, I quickly embraced Lucio’s neck.
With a soft laugh, his body trembled lightly against mine, and I caught the pleasant scent of mint.
Wanting to see his smiling face, I pulled back slightly, and his eyes—softer than ever before—gazed down at me.
As I looked into those beautiful luminous blue eyes, his lips slowly drew closer.
“Wait, just a moment.”
Just before our lips could meet, I pressed my hand against Lucio’s mouth and spoke urgently.
“Are you confident you can convince my family?”
Though I didn’t want to refuse a kiss with my beloved after so long apart, worry took precedence.
Honestly, I never expected them to object even after learning of my connection with Lucio and the kindness Duke Elrad had shown me.
Given that reality.
“I think it might have been better to just push through this time….”
As I spoke cautiously, Lucio’s expression darkened slightly, as though concern had taken root in him as well.
But soon he pressed a kiss to my palm and spoke with confidence.
“Don’t worry. I’ll do my best.”
Well, I trust Lucio, but….
Thinking of my family, who had struck me such a decisive blow during today’s meeting, I felt nothing but unease.
‘By now, are they all raising their glasses in celebration?’
At that thought, my heart grew restless, and I exhaled a deep sigh.
* * *
At that very moment, at the Diapel Marquis Estate.
“This is….”
“…quite a predicament.”
“It certainly seems that way.”
“Oh, what on earth should we do?”
Contrary to Lia’s expectations, the family gathered in the Reception Room bore the atmosphere of a funeral.

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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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