Everyone Was Obsessed With Me After I Became the Youngest Princess Favourite - Chapter 4

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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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“Sigh.”
Diana glanced at the tattered rags she would soon be wearing and let out a sound somewhere between a sigh and a pout.
Finding her both adorable and pitiful, I suppressed a smile and spoke.
“I’ll wash your clothes for you tomorrow.”
“Sister?”
“Yes, sister.”
Diana tilted her head like a little lark, and without thinking, I reached out and gently stroked her hair.
Though we had no soap, washing her several times in the lake would make her reasonably clean.
Of course, the path to the lake was treacherous.
The reason Thomas and his gang could lord it over the children was precisely because they were the ones who fetched water from the lake.
‘It will be difficult, but there’s no helping it—I made a promise.’
As I sighed with worry at the thought of going to the lakeside tomorrow to do laundry, I suddenly lifted my head.
“Am I an idiot?”
A fact I had completely forgotten while returning to childhood suddenly came back to me.
“How could I have forgotten that?”
I lightly tapped my own head and broke into a broad smile, unable to hide my joy.
Though I was born with limited mana and never became a great mage, I was quite skilled at several simple spells.
“I can use a lightening spell!”
Tomorrow, when I lifted heavy buckets of water with both hands in front of all the children, their jaws would drop in astonishment.
“I need to show that Thomas fellow what I’m made of.”
Knowing the thought was childish, I covered my mouth and giggled, and Diana, watching me with wide eyes, let out a small laugh in imitation.
“Now, let’s wash your feet too.”
My heart felt abundant at the thought of replenishing water with magic, so I set down the wet cloth beside me and drew a large bucket of water.
When I poured the water over her dirt-caked bare feet and legs, Diana flinched.
“Huh?”
I thought it was because the water was cold, but once I rinsed away the dirt, her legs were covered in scratches, and her feet bore deep wounds.
My eyes trembled as if battered by rough waves.
I had no idea. Not in my past memories, nor until just moments ago.
Beyond the shock of suddenly being alone, I had neglected and resented this suffering child.
As my expression grew serious, Diana suddenly cried out.
“No! It doesn’t hurt!”
Diana shook her head stubbornly.
Her plump cheeks jiggled adorably, but her eyes looked anxious.
She looked just like a frightened rabbit.
“It’s okay. I’m not angry. You can tell me the truth.”
“…Really? You won’t yell?”
I nodded to confirm, but the child, still uncertain, hesitated and watched my face nervously before finally sniffling.
“Dana… it hurts…”
“Sister will make it stop hurting soon.”
“How will you do that?”
Moved by sympathy, I spoke quickly, and Diana’s eyes widened in surprise.
Her innocent words made me burst into laughter.
I couldn’t possibly leave such a small, precious child in pain.
I hastily opened my small hand and brought it to the child’s foot.
The moment I silently chanted the healing spell, a brilliantly dazzling light erupted from my palm.
“…!”
The light from my hand swiftly enveloped Diana’s foot, and the wound closed instantly.
“Wow!”
Diana, who had been watching me with curious eyes, widened her gaze and cried out loudly.
“Sister, that’s amazing!”
Diana clapped her hands toward me in admiration.
Normally, I would have laughed embarrassedly at being amazed by such a simple healing spell, but the light that emanated when I cast the magic was far stronger than usual, leaving me equally astonished.
I offered Diana a slight smile, then closed my eyes to examine my body’s mana.
In that moment, a strange warmth bloomed from deep within my heart.
Startled by the mana that filled my entire heart so completely, I quickly opened my eyes.
‘Wasn’t the amount of mana something innate?’
I was utterly bewildered.
The Master who had taken me in and taught me magic had clearly told me that my mana capacity was low and I lacked the aptitude to become a mage.
Though it was disappointing, I had been satisfied with the mere fact that I possessed mana at all, since having mana was rare even among commoners.
That’s why I had focused so intently on martial arts instead….
“What on earth is happening?”
Why was this abundant mana, which I had never once felt in my past life, now surging abundantly within my heart?
Bewildered by a situation as incomprehensible as returning from death itself, Diana suddenly threw her arms around my neck.
“Sister, thank you.”
Her soft voice came through with a gentle smile.
Caught off guard by the child’s warm body heat, I forgot my worries entirely.
Sharing warmth with someone like this felt unfamiliar to me.
As I awkwardly raised my hand to pat Diana’s back, a question suddenly occurred to me—one I had never considered before.
How had the Elrad Duchy ever lost such a precious child?
* * *
That night.
To soothe Diana, who was whimpering restlessly in her sleep, I left the shared dormitory and came to the large window in front of the stairs on the second floor.
The sight of the full moon rising above the dense trees was quite picturesque, though the cold was sharp enough to make my breath visible.
“Sister, read me a story….”
After spreading one thin blanket on the floor and draping the other over her, Diana wriggled and rested her head against my leg as she spoke.
“A story?”
“Yes! About the princess!”
“The princess?”
She nodded eagerly.
Faced with such an obvious request, I found myself at a loss.
Now that I thought about it, I recalled hearing that ordinary children outside the Orphanage would fall asleep to their parents reading fairy tales to them.
“What should I do? There are no books here.”
But the children here had no parents to read fairy tales to them, and since no one could read, even if there were books, they couldn’t have read them anyway.
“No books?”
Seeing Diana’s surprised face droop, I smiled gently and stroked the child’s head. Then, though it wasn’t the princess story she had hoped for, I slowly opened my mouth, recalling distant memories.
“Once upon a time, a very long time ago. There was an Orphanage. One day, an unusually large carriage stopped in front of that Orphanage.”
* * *
Diana listened to the story with rapt attention, but soon her breathing became heavy and she fell asleep, snoring softly.
Carrying Diana back to the bedroom, I felt intensely hungry and exhausted.
‘Could it be from using magic…?’
Even as I thought this vaguely, my body had no strength left, and I collapsed into sleep almost the moment I lay down.
Because of this, I didn’t notice when, a few hours later, someone touched my hair with small hands for quite some time.
However, being sensitive to the creaking sound of metal, I eventually opened my eyes…
“…Dana?”
“Huh? Big sister’s awake!”
Diana, who had been focused on my hair, greeted me with a bright smile.
I was startled.
I had expected her to cry and whimper when she woke up, as she had in the past.
I hadn’t expected her to be awake and so spirited on her own.
It was only because no one had properly comforted her before that she had been that way—Diana was truly a clever and lovely child.
I quickly scanned my surroundings and, seeing the other children still asleep, whispered my question.
“Dana, why are you awake already instead of sleeping more?”
Looking out the window, dawn was just breaking over the horizon.
It had been a tiring day for both me and Diana. Perhaps her sleeping place was simply uncomfortable?
Then Diana, placing her small hands on her belly, spoke sadly.
“Dana’s hungry…”
“Ah… you were hungry.”
I asked gently, looking at her with sympathy.
“Weren’t you lonely by yourself?”
Diana, blinking her blue eyes, shook her head.
“Touched big sister’s hair. Pretty.”
I froze at her unexpected words.
“…Pretty?”
“Yeah, big sister’s pretty. So pretty! Sparkly!”
Watching Diana raise both hands and wiggle them, I couldn’t say anything.
Somehow, tears threatened to spill from my eyes.
Had I ever heard anyone call me pretty before?
“…This is my first time.”
* * *
Actually, when I was young, I thought I was very pretty.
Every time I looked in the mirror to wash my face, I was startled by what I saw.
My hair fluttered like watercolor in soft pale pink, and my eyes sparkled like jewels in deep rose—not to mention my flawless porcelain skin, my delicate nose, and my adorably plump lips.
But none of the children at the orphanage ever told me I was pretty, and I convinced myself they were all jealous of me.
Until someone told me my hair color was the most common brown in the empire.
When I heard that at five years old, I was so shocked that I went around asking the orphanage children about it.
“Emily, what color do my hair and eyes look like to you?”
“Huh? Brown hair and brown eyes, obviously.”
Not just Emily, but all the other children gave me the exact same answer.
Unable to accept this, I eventually went to Jack—not someone I was particularly close to, but someone who seemed incapable of lying—and asked him.
“Um, Jack… do you also see my hair and eyes as brown?”
Jack had apparently been waiting for this question, having watched me tediously ask the same thing to every child at the orphanage, and answered immediately.
“Yeah. Your eyes are a dark brown, and your hair is a softer, slightly lighter brown than that.”
“…I see.”
Only then did I accept that something was wrong with my eyes.
Even when I looked in the mirror, I still couldn’t find any brown in my reflection, but I kept it to myself.
‘There must be something wrong with me.’
But understanding something intellectually was different from truly accepting it in my heart.
The Central Square near Terenthium, the information guild on the busiest street in the Capital City.
In front of the Fountain especially, there were many street artists who danced, sang, or sold paintings to earn money.
After the orphanage closed and I joined Terenthium, I frequented that street and took notice of one painter.
A hooked nose, a prominent mole that seemed to take up a third of his face, and the sparse remaining hair on his bald head…
A ruthlessly honest painter who drew strikingly realistic portraits without a shred of concern for his patron’s feelings!
“Sir, please paint me exactly as you see me.”
I gathered my courage and sat before him.
And that day, for the first time, I was able to face the version of myself that others saw.

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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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