Everyone Was Obsessed With Me After I Became the Youngest Princess Favourite - Chapter 53

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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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“….”
“…M-Master. When did you arrive?”
I asked in a trembling voice.
Lucio, who had been staring intently at the book that fell to the floor, lifted his eyes and looked at me.
“Just now.”
“Ah… haha. I, I see.”
Please, give some warning before you move around like that!
I had been so absorbed in the book that I let my guard down. I bit my lip.
“Why are you so startled?”
“Pardon?”
“….”
I tried to respond, but instead of answering, Lucio simply stared at me before suddenly sighing and rising to his feet.
Naturally assuming he was heading toward the desk, I quickly bent down and picked up the fallen book.
And when I lifted my head—
“…?”
Lucio was already seated on the sofa across from me.
Unbothered by my startled gaze, he reached over and rang the bell on the table.
Moments later, a maidservant entered.
“Bring tea and milk.”
Lucio typically enjoyed mint tea, and he never added milk to it.
‘So asking for milk means….’
There was no denying it—the milk was clearly for me.
In truth, over the past few days, Lucio had been continuously providing me with small snacks and refreshments, so this wasn’t entirely surprising.
‘Thanks to that, I feel like I’ve been putting on weight lately.’
And the maidservant, aware of this, cast a displeased glance in my direction. Of course, she said nothing aloud.
Once the maidservant left, Lucio looked at me as if asking what I was doing standing there.
I had no choice but to organize the books and sit on the sofa.
I would have preferred if he’d given me work to do. Facing each other like this was the most unbearable.
‘Think of something else. Focus on something else.’
I decided to avert my attention from this situation by staring into empty space.
As I pondered what to think about, I recalled that Lucio enjoyed mint tea.
Having spent a long time with the Information Guild, I possessed knowledge that political and social circles did not—information rarely known to the general nobility.
Among such details were the wine preferences of major nobles, their hobbies, and even intimate matters like their sleeping habits.
However, information regarding House Elrad was extremely restricted, making it nearly impossible to learn about Lucio’s preferences.
In Terenthium, House Elrad was considered the second most difficult place to approach after the imperial palace itself, so there was no need to elaborate on how rare and valuable such information truly was.
Therefore, if I were to sell the information that Lucio enjoyed mint tea to noble ladies or aristocratic wives, it would fetch an extremely high price.
‘But I could never do such a thing.’
Though I was once an information broker, I am now unmistakably a servant of House Elrad.
Even if I were to leave the estate in the future, there are matters I must keep silent about.
Moreover, I knew not merely trivial preferences like Lucio’s taste in tea, but a truly significant secret he harbored—yet I had never sold it to anyone.
‘In truth, Lucio is also one of the few Sword Masters on this continent, just like Allen….’
Crackle.
It was then, while I remained lost in thought, that a strange sound reached my ears.
Unable to resist my curiosity, I shifted my gaze forward and saw him tearing open the brown paper bag he’d been carrying since entering the library, retrieving something from within.
“…!”
I held my breath, utterly astonished.
Lucio glanced at me in that state, but there was nothing he could do about it.
What he’d pulled out was bread.
Too plain for the heir of House Elrad to eat—flour dough fried until golden brown and coated generously with sugar.
Not the luxurious kind studded with chocolate chips or an assortment of nuts, just simple bread.
Yet this seemingly plain bread was quite famous near the Academy.
Young nobles who had only ever tasted fine desserts at their estates discovered street snacks in the independent space of the Academy, and it had become popular among them.
‘I wondered where he’d gone this morning—surely he didn’t go to the Academy?’
There would be no reason for someone who’d come home to rest after exams to make a trip to the Academy.
Yet even knowing this was unlikely, I found myself regarding him with considerable suspicion.
“Eat.”
With a blunt expression, Lucio offered me the bread.
I froze completely.
Suddenly, a voice I thought I’d forgotten long ago echoed in my ears.
〈You wanted to eat it so badly you couldn’t stop staring at it, didn’t you?〉
He was right.
Every time I saw Academy students carrying this bread around and eating it, my gaze was stolen away.
Already starving and hollow-bellied, I wanted this warm, fluffy-looking bread so desperately.
When the other children in the Beggar Gang had devised a plan to draw the street vendor’s attention and steal some, I’d wanted to pretend I wasn’t part of it.
Clatter—the sound brought me back to my senses as I watched a maidservant set down tea, a teapot, and a cup of white milk on the table.
The maidservant looked back and forth between the bread in the brown bag Lucio had spread open and me, her eyes full of disbelief.
By the time I returned to the dormitory, word would surely spread that I’d been leisurely eating bread the young master had bought in the library, but I didn’t care.
I felt the savory and sweet aroma invade my nose as I defiantly lifted the bread to my mouth and took a bite.
The warm bread chewed softly, and the crunchy sugar was perfectly sweet.
Eaten with white milk, the moist and tender texture filled my mouth in a way that was utterly blissful.
‘So this is what it tastes like.’
Truth be told, at that moment, I couldn’t eat the bread he’d offered and simply stared at it blankly. I was flustered because I couldn’t discern his intentions.
Then he tilted his head and asked.
〈Why are you making that kind of expression?〉
Perhaps it had been so long since I’d seen a mirror.
At that time, I had no idea what expression I was wearing.
So I lifted my grimy hands and felt my face.
The corners of my eyes and mouth were distinctly turned downward.
I probably wanted to cry.
When I shook my head, not understanding why I wanted to cry, he let out a small sigh.
Then he set down the envelope and pulled a small bottle from his pocket.
“This is a potion that lifts one’s spirits.”
At Lucio’s words, my eyes widened.
I knew magic existed in this world, but I had never actually seen it before, and my heart raced with excitement.
Besides, a distinguished nobleman like him would never lie to me, so I naturally believed every word he said.
I was already salivating over the bread alone, and now he spoke of a magical potion.
I couldn’t refuse, and I slowly placed what Lucio offered into my mouth.
It was chocolate—the first thing I had ever tasted in my life.
“Does your mood feel better now?”
Lucio asked as I sat there, savoring it in my mouth for a long moment.
Even at the orphanage, I had only eaten meager meals, and once I took to the streets, I either scavenged through garbage or went hungry—that was my daily reality.
The chocolate I tasted for the first time sent shivers through my entire body, and I nodded repeatedly, thinking, “Magic potions truly are remarkable!”
Lucio looked at me with surprise for a moment, then his eyes curved into a smile.
It was the first smile I had ever seen from Lucio.
At that moment, without regard for me frozen in place, Lucio spoke.
“Then call my name. Like you did last time.”
“…Pardon?”
I blinked, recalling the day I first met Lucio, when I had carelessly murmured his name while practicing writing.
I thought he had let it pass quietly without anger, but startled by this sudden command, I made a tearful face and quickly dropped to my knees, pleading.
“I’m so sorry. I won’t presume to call your name carelessly again.”
〈….〉
Fortunately, Lucio only let out a shallow sigh and said nothing.
Not only that—he even began giving me chocolate quite often after that.
I treasured it so much that I couldn’t bring myself to bite it; instead, I let it melt slowly on my tongue.
But then the children from the Beggar Gang saw me do this and told me the truth: it wasn’t a magical potion at all, but chocolate.
I was taken aback, and soon felt dejected.
I wondered why he would offer such pity disguised as a lie to a mere beggar, and why it was me among all the other children.
But I would never find the answer to that question.
‘It wasn’t long before I left the Beggar Gang anyway.’
After that, managing the café run by the Guild, I tasted many desserts and chocolates.
But I could never recapture that flavor from the first time I tasted it.
‘…Or so I thought I never could.’
When I came to the Duke’s Castle with Diana.
The chocolate the Duchess Elrad gave me was identical to that magical potion from that day.
Sweet enough to bring tears to my eyes, sweet enough to make my entire body tremble.
Perhaps what matters most is that it was my first.
“Um…”
Without thinking, I called out to Lucio, and when our eyes met, I was startled.
I don’t know where I found the courage.
Thinking of the Duchess Elrad, the worry and curiosity that had been plaguing me lately spilled out impulsively.
Over these past few days, Diana, Allen, and even the Duke had stopped by the library, yet there was one person.
The Duchess Elrad had never set foot here.
Though she spent her days occupied with duties, that didn’t mean she left the estate every single day.
There were many days when she handled her affairs from the mansion, and she could have easily visited at least once.
Yet despite asking me daily how I’d spent my time, she never took a single step into the library.
I could discern the reason without much difficulty.
It was because she believed Lucio found her presence uncomfortable.
Having witnessed her forced smile more than once, my worry only deepened.
The thought that this might somehow influence the Duchess Elrad’s death filled me with sudden dread.
Perhaps that’s why I found myself asking Lucio, who still hadn’t taken his eyes off me and waited patiently.
“Why do you call the Head Maidservant by her name?”

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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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