Everyone Was Obsessed With Me After I Became the Youngest Princess Favourite - Chapter 260

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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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How could one possibly compare flowers to grandchildren?
Seeing the Previous Marquis raise the white flag and fall silent, the Grand Duke gazed at the Grand Duchess with eyes full of emotion, as if to say, “As expected, only my wife is on my side!”
The Grand Duchess let out a soft laugh at the sight of her husband and asked.
“Your Highness, don’t you think grandchildren would please you more than a bouquet? Perhaps that strange feeling you’re experiencing now would disappear if you held a grandchild in your arms.”
“What? I, well…!”
Though he had only just accepted his daughter’s boyfriend, the Grand Duke’s expression turned as if he were having a heart attack at the mention of grandchildren—something he had never even dreamed of.
“But, but Adriana is only nine years old… How could she, how could a child….”
The Grand Duchess’s lips curved upward in amusement as she watched her husband stammer like a broken record.
Had his close friend Duke Elrad witnessed this, he would have surely clicked his tongue and shaken his head, remarking that her wicked nature was showing.
At that moment, the Previous Marquis, who had been feeling betrayed by his daughter for taking his son-in-law’s side, observed the scene and nodded in agreement before interjecting.
“My daughter was quite young too, yet she married and bore two children!”
“What? But surely your wife wasn’t that young….”
“That’s how young she seemed to me! It appears I have much to teach you. Shall I tell you the story of when I first heard that Stella was with child? Or perhaps it would be better to tell you about the day of the wedding ceremony instead.”
“Father-in-law, I apologize, but I’ve just remembered something I had forgotten….”
“Mark my words—when you hand Adriana’s hand over to that rascal Lucio, you will surely weep! Tears streaming down your face!”
The Grand Duke, who struggled with refusal, gathered his courage to speak, but the Previous Marquis simply waved him off and draped an arm around his son-in-law’s shoulders.
The Grand Duchess watched her husband being dragged toward the Reception Room as if observing someone else’s hearth, then suddenly turned her head.
She caught sight of her son, who was burying his nose in the bouquet with a serene smile, clearly delighted by it.
“Askart.”
“Yes, Mother.”
“When your friend the Young Duke came here and went on about how there’s no flower as beautiful as Lia, did you feel nothing watching him?”
“Mother, of course I felt something.”
“Is that so? What did you think?”
Askart answered as though he had received a strange question.
“Lucio was always sharp even as a child, and he certainly has excellent taste! Of course, everyone knows our Lia is beautiful.”
“…That’s all?”
“Oh! I was also surprised. I never expected Lucio to say such things.”
Askart clicked his tongue, noting that though the boy had always been cold and indifferent, and rarely spoke much, he apparently had no sense of embarrassment.
Meanwhile, it was he himself who was naturally gifted at speaking such sickeningly sweet words.
‘Though that’s limited to Adriana and me, which is the problem.’
Realizing that Askart felt nothing even while watching his friend and younger sister in the throes of romance, the Grand Duchess decided to ask more directly.
“Askart. Is there no one you’d like to give flowers to?”
Until now, she had left him be, thinking that when the time came, he would naturally meet someone special.
But now that Adriana had unexpectedly brought someone she intended to marry, the Grand Duchess found herself concerned about Askart.
Especially since he was the heir to the House of Bellus.
At that very moment, Askart answered matter-of-factly.
“Someone I’d like to give flowers to? Of course there is. I’ve already given them several times.”
“Really?”
Though she knew her son, like his father, was a poor liar, the Grand Duchess asked in surprise, her voice tinged with astonishment.
Then Askart spoke as if feeling slighted.
“I give Mother flowers quite often. And you too, Lia.”
‘Well, that’s true enough…’
The Grand Duchess’s lips trembled as she failed to hide her disappointment.
Of course, what he said wasn’t wrong.
Even on ordinary days, not just special occasions like birthdays, my affectionate son would present bouquets to both Mother and me.
‘His appearance is more than presentable—in fact, I’d say I raised him beautifully. So why is this happening?’
With his status, looks, and temperament all flawless, the Grand Duchy was teeming with admirers of Askart, regardless of gender.
Yet for some reason, there were surprisingly few Young Ladies approaching him actively.
The Grand Duchess, unable to fathom the reason, shook her head and spoke.
“With so many flowers, they must be heavy to carry. Let’s go inside.”
“Oh, let me take those!”
Askart quickly took the bouquet the Grand Duchess had been holding.
Though he became completely buried beneath the flowers, his face still radiated brilliance.
The Grand Duchess paused as she observed him.
‘Ah, perhaps it’s because he’s far too handsome.’
For a moment, the Grand Duchess grasped why no women approached her son, but she quickly shook her head.
‘Surely not with that face…’
Someday, a brave soul would appear to claim a beauty.
Just as the Young Duke had claimed Lia the moment she came of age.
* * *
“Do you like them that much?”
Is he really saying that now?
I, burying my face in the bouquet, nodded eagerly in bewilderment.
Then Lucio murmured awkwardly.
“I thought you preferred pink roses…”
“Well, I do like them!”
But since they were flowers Askart frequently gifted, and ones I saw daily in the Diapel Marquis Estate’s greenhouse, my enthusiasm for them had inevitably waned.
Moreover.
“I’ve never seen blue roses before.”
The bouquets Lucio had given to the family certainly seemed to have made quite an impression…
The moment the carriage door opened and I glimpsed those blue roses, I forgot what color the other flowers had even been.
“I’m seeing them in person for the first time too. I’m glad you like them.”
“Seeing them in person for the first time…?”
As I repeated his words in confusion, Lucio offered a sheepish smile.
“I heard that blue roses were only recently developed with great difficulty in another kingdom.”
Working at the Foreign Ministry, one hears all sorts of stories.
Lucio added the rest casually, but that wasn’t the important part.
“So you’re saying you imported these roses from abroad?”
Aside from the fact that this was fresh intelligence obtained from the Empire’s Foreign Ministry, I couldn’t imagine how much time and money it must have taken to procure such a large quantity of flowers that had been cultivated with such difficulty.
Lucio spoke as he watched me gape wordlessly.
“It wasn’t that difficult.”
“….”
“Just a little.”
As if I didn’t already have enough work to do, and he’d even stayed late just to take this vacation!
I would have been delighted if Lucio had given me even an ordinary flower.
But knowing he couldn’t have rested at all while searching for this one, I couldn’t help but sigh.
At my reaction, Lucio glanced at me cautiously.
“Did it suddenly displease you?”
“How could it? The flower isn’t at fault. I’m sorry, that’s all. But is there a particular reason you went through such trouble to find this specific flower?”
“…I liked the flower language behind it.”
“What does the flower language mean?”
Lucio looked directly at me and opened his mouth.
“Miracle.”
With that answer, I found myself gazing blankly at his eyes, which curved softly as if spring itself had arrived.
Suddenly feeling my face flush with heat, I quickly turned my head away.
Along with his lingering gaze on my cheeks came the sound of his laughter.
Embarrassed, I glanced at Lucio and asked pointedly.
“Am I really that beautiful?”
Though I posed it as a joke, it was something I’d genuinely wondered about ever since he’d called me beautiful in the lobby of the Marquis’s Residence.
“When I was young, you humiliated me in front of everyone by saying I wasn’t pretty.”
“That was….”
“You said I grew up looking exactly as I did back then, just with a different color. Doesn’t that mean I grew up not being pretty?”
“…I was wrong.”
With each word I spoke, Lucio’s expression darkened, and soon he let out a pained groan before apologizing.
“I was too foolish back then to be honest. The truth is, I’ve thought you were beautiful every single moment without exception.”
“Tch.”
If Lucio, who remembers every lifetime, says not a single moment was excluded, that means he even thought I was beautiful when I was a ragged beggar wandering the streets.
I thought it was nothing but flattery, yet despite myself, laughter burst forth.
Lucio, quick to notice my mood had improved, spoke tenderly.
“From now on, I won’t be foolish anymore, so tell me whenever you want something. If I could just hear you say once that you’re pleased with me, I wouldn’t find it troublesome at all to go through such effort to find flowers like these, because you’re so beautiful it drives me mad.”
Wow, this man really… doesn’t he feel any shame?
My face burning instead of Lucio’s, I fanned myself with my hand before suddenly asking with a mischievous tone.
“What if you went through all that trouble to get it, but I said I didn’t like it?”
I expected him to be flustered, but surprisingly, his answer came quickly.
“Then I’d have to try again. Until I find what you like most. In that sense, how about this flower?”
Could it become your favorite flower?
At his hopeful question, I pondered for a moment before shaking my head.
And I answered honestly.
“I think that might be difficult. Actually, my favorite flower is the very first one I ever received as a gift.”

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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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