Everyone Was Obsessed With Me After I Became the Youngest Princess Favourite - Chapter 277

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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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After explaining the Former Countess’s actions to my family as concisely as possible, I entrusted my furious Mother to Father and my Older Brother, then hurried upstairs to my room.
Lucio’s communication device had been ringing incessantly.
The moment I entered the room, I spotted Inyoung standing on the balcony.
“Good day, Crown Princess Bellus.”
As soon as I opened the window, Bert, Lucio’s trusted aide, greeted me with impeccable military bearing.
I nodded in acknowledgment, and he continued.
“The situation has become urgent, and my lord found it difficult to contact you directly, so he sent me instead.”
I had anticipated as much.
Of course, I couldn’t have imagined how the matter would escalate to this degree, or why Grandfather had been summoned to the Imperial Palace at such an early hour.
‘I assumed Uncle would work with me discreetly to recover the Former Countess and the classified information she had smuggled out….’
The moment I finished that thought, upon hearing Bert’s subsequent explanation, my jaw dropped.
“So Uncle reported directly to His Majesty?”
Bert nodded.
“Yes. My lord persuaded him multiple times through the communication device, but the Marquis Diapel firmly refused, saying that not only had he failed to notice the classified information leak, but he could not compound his failure by deceiving His Majesty.”
Goodness, how could he be so inflexible!
Though my neck tensed involuntarily, I couldn’t fault Uncle’s reasoning.
〈Our House Diapel has upheld its duty as the Empire’s shield for generations. It is a role no other noble house in the Empire has undertaken.〉
This was what Grandfather had told me back when I stubbornly insisted on learning swordplay.
When that bashful, perpetually grumbling man spoke of the loyalty and history his house had devoted to the Empire, his expression overflowed with nothing but pride.
It was obvious that Uncle, Grandfather’s successor and the current Marquis Diapel, harbored the same sentiment.
‘That’s precisely why it pains me.’
Because I knew this incident must have shattered Grandfather’s and Uncle’s pride.
I bit my lip once, then lifted my head sharply.
“So what’s the situation now?”
I absolutely had to recover the escaped Former Countess and the documents she had stolen.
It would be even better if we could capture the Deposed King of Liven Kingdom.
That way, we could minimize the probability of actual war breaking out and reduce the scale of the incident as much as possible.
“Currently, agents from Darel and the Diapel Marquis Knights have crossed the border and identified the location of the safe house where the Deposed King of Liven Kingdom is staying. We succeeded thanks to tracking Clara Amber.”
“That’s fortunate… Wait, Clara?”
Why would Clara’s name suddenly come up here?
I tilted my head in confusion for a moment, then recalled Clara’s circumstances—that she couldn’t leave the county—and took a sharp breath.
Seeing my bewilderment, Bert provided further explanation.
“A few days before the Former Countess departed for Liven Kingdom, we confirmed that she made contact with Clara Amber’s Nanny near Amber County.”
Yes, there was nothing strange about that.
Since the Former Countess had only Clara as a child, she likely wanted to send a letter before embarking on such a long journey.
But….
“Did Clara cross the border?”
Unable to believe it, I asked, and Bert nodded.
Good heavens. Surely she didn’t propose that they betray the nation together and flee, did she?
I couldn’t comprehend either the Former Countess, who extended her dark hand even to her own daughter, or Clara, who not only failed to stop her but actually followed her instead.
‘No matter how dire the situation, this is too much.’
People who made such selfish choices, dragging others into suffering simply because they themselves were in pain, were rare indeed.
Moreover, both of their predicaments were entirely of their own making, so they couldn’t even claim to be wronged.
While I was processing this, Bert reported that they had been fortunate—after replenishing their forces shortly, they planned to launch a surprise attack.
I calmed my excitement and nodded slowly.
Bert was right; they truly had been fortunate.
Without Clara, we would have had difficulty tracking down not only the missing Former Countess, but also the escaped Deposed King of Riben.
The irony of it struck me—a woman who had tried to survive by selling her family’s secrets was ultimately caught because of that very family. A hollow laugh escaped me.
However.
‘I’m worried about Grandfather.’
The thought of my Grandfather’s despair upon learning that not only his daughter but also his granddaughter had conspired with a foreign power, and of my Uncle’s self-recrimination, weighed heavily on my heart.
I exhaled softly and asked Bert about the concern I’d harbored while listening to his earlier report.
“You said the Darel Agents and the Diapel Marquis Knights crossed the border, didn’t you? Is that really all right?”
Even if they were from the same nation, moving without authorization would invite accusations of treason—it was practically a declaration of war, wasn’t it?
Bert, noticing my concern, quickly responded.
“Our lord has already obtained permission from the Liven Kingdom. After crossing the border, we also joined forces with the Riben Royal Guard Knights who were lying in ambush nearby.”
“Ah.”
I see. Well, we aren’t the only ones with fire at our feet right now.
Under normal circumstances, they would never have permitted foreign troops, but given how foolishly we’d allowed a criminal to escape, they had nothing to say.
Even as I understood this, an unpleasant aftertaste lingered.
Though we currently maintained a peace treaty and cordial relations, the Diapel Marquisate bordered multiple kingdoms, and the Liven Kingdom was the one with the deepest history of warfare with us.
‘Grandfather has mentioned more than once how sick he is of Liven’s treachery.’
And if Grandfather was cautious to that degree, wouldn’t the Liven Kingdom’s resentment toward House Diapel be equally immense?
They wanted to capture the Deposed King with the Empire’s aid, but they might also covet the confidential information of House Diapel, our ancient rival.
If I had truly been raised receiving only love as the Crown Princess, I wouldn’t have been capable of such suspicion.
But now, even if it was merely indirect experience like reading a novel, the memories of living exposed to people’s blatant malice in an unstable environment naturally gave rise to an ominous premonition.
‘If nothing happens, that’s fine too, and it’s better to prepare for unforeseen circumstances.’
Having made my decision, I looked at Bert.
Perhaps sensing the intensity in my gaze, Bert’s shoulders flinched slightly.
* * *
‘What is this? What on earth is happening…!’
Clara gritted her teeth, her face drained of color like that of a gravely ill patient.
Nearby, a fierce battle raged with the bone-chilling sound of metal clashing against metal.
She couldn’t fathom how the situation had spiraled into this.
‘I only wanted to start everything anew! What did I do wrong?!’
Even as she lamented her misfortune, swords clashed and people tumbled around her.
Trembling with fear that a stray blade might strike her, Clara curled herself into as tight a ball as possible.
‘If I’d known it would come to this, I never would have left Amber County!’
Clara wept as she thought of the home she’d considered a living hell until just yesterday.
She recalled the day she had secretly received a letter from her Mother, delivered through her Nanny.
When I first saw the letter’s opening—mentioning that she would be departing for the Liven Kingdom soon and asking me to join her—I was genuinely flabbergasted.
It wasn’t merely because she had made such a terrifying proposal: to defy the Emperor’s command and flee the Empire, despite my inability to leave the County Territory.
‘Is she in her right mind? No matter what, isn’t it better to live comfortably here?’
I had received no alimony upon the divorce and possessed not a single coin to my name. The thought that she expected me to follow Mother—a woman barely distinguishable from a commoner—seemed utterly absurd.
Above all, I harbored resentment toward Mother.
It was resentment that she had failed to use Grandfather and Aunt to overturn the punishment the Former Emperor had imposed upon me.
‘When Mother rushed to the Marquis Residence, I had such hope….’
I had even thought that perhaps Mother was all I truly had.
Yet to me, who believed my circumstances were the worst possible, the Former Countess revealed that there existed something far more terrible.
‘The House Diapel has cut off all support! They’re even demanding immediate recovery of the investment funds—what on earth is happening?!’
‘Father is simply angry right now….’
‘Silence! Why have I endured a woman like you all this time?!’
Whatever had transpired, she returned empty-handed and futile, and worse still, the support she had been receiving from House Diapel was completely severed.
Watching her quarrel with Father and ultimately be cast out divorced and destitute, I felt all affection drain away at her incompetence.
Simultaneously, I found myself thinking that this was, in fact, a relief.
Since the Emperor’s decree bound me to the County Territory, I need not follow Mother, and Father could not expel me either.

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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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