Everyone Was Obsessed With Me After I Became the Youngest Princess Favourite - Chapter 55

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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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‘Did he just say what I think he said? That I want to look pretty?’
I doubted my own ears.
Yet Lucio continued to regard me with that expressionless face—the same as always, though somehow it felt brazenly presumptuous.
I couldn’t fathom why he was curious about what I thought of him.
‘Is he mocking me?’
One thing was certain: his character seemed absolutely dreadful. My mood deteriorated by the moment.
Seized by an inexplicable resistance, I spoke with brittle precision.
“No.”
“…What?”
“I have no desire to appear pretty in your eyes, Young Master. It’s enough if I look beautiful to Miss Diana.”
Lucio’s expression, which had been gazing down at me with such arrogance, hardened slightly.
His gaze lingered on my face in prolonged silence, and my mouth felt parched.
A surge of impulsiveness made me regret unsettling his mood, so I added carefully.
“Please don’t be upset that I’m peculiar. There must be countless people who wish to appear beautiful in your eyes, Young Master.”
“…”
Even after I admitted to being an odd person, Lucio said nothing.
Perhaps because I had stared at his face so vacantly before, my words seemed to ring false to him.
“I’m serious.”
As I added this with a grumble, cracks appeared in his expression. Something clearly displeased him.
Just as his lips were about to open, the library door clicked open and someone entered.
“Sister!”
The one who burst through without knocking was Diana.
Startled to my feet, Diana immediately threw herself into my arms.
“I missed you so much!”
“I missed you too, dear.”
After holding the child for a while, I suddenly tilted my head.
“But Miss, did you come alone?”
“Yes! I came by myself!”
Diana answered with decisive certainty. Yet I frowned slightly.
Normally, when classes ended, she would return to her room with the maidservant waiting in the corridor, then summon me.
But ever since Diana discovered she could find me in the library, there were occasions when she moved about alone without an attendant.
“From now on, please call for me. Or ask one of the maidservants or attendants in the corridor to escort you.”
“Dana knows the way, though?”
Diana blinked her large eyes and tilted her head quizzically.
The way she seemed to say ‘I’m not a baby!’ was so adorable my resolve nearly wavered, but I quickly steadied myself.
“You mustn’t wander about alone like this.”
Diana, with her spirited nature, loved to dart about here and there.
Though for now her activities were confined to the safe grounds of the Duke’s Mansion, if the habit took root, she might lose her way outside again as she once had.
‘Truth be told, the estate is so vast even now that I can’t help but worry.’
Seeing my worried expression, Diana’s eyes grew resolute.
“Got it! From now on, I’m going everywhere with you!”
My heart ached at her declaration, her small fists clenched with determination.
“Yes! I’ll always be with you, Miss Diana.”
Moved by emotion, I responded, and Diana broke into a bright smile before nestling back into my arms.
“Hehe, I love you, big sister.”
“I love you too.”
“More than anyone in the world?”
“Of course. You’re the one I love most in the entire world, Miss Diana.”
“Then let’s play hide-and-seek!”
I couldn’t help but laugh at Diana’s innocent request.
Hide-and-seek had become one of her favorite games lately.
“Where should we play today?”
“The Back Garden!”
The Back Garden had small flower beds, a Fountain, and dense trees—perfect for hiding in various spots.
But.
“It looks like rain today, so how about the Courtyard instead?”
Persuaded by my suggestion, Diana eagerly pulled me along, eager to go.
As I moved toward the door, I suddenly stopped.
Only then did I remember Lucio’s presence—the master of this space.
I had completely forgotten about him the moment Diana entered the Library.
“Oh, Master Lucio. May I take my leave?”
Though embarrassed, I asked casually, and Lucio nodded.
It was as expected. He had told me to prioritize spending time with Diana.
I bowed respectfully and, taking Diana’s hand, left the Library.
* * *
Click.
The Library door closed.
“Sigh….”
Left alone, Lucio stared blankly at the door before letting out a hollow laugh.
“What’s wrong with my mind?”
It was clear that lack of sleep had affected his thinking.
Otherwise, he wouldn’t have gone to the Academy at dawn to rearrange his schedule, bought snacks, or said such foolish things moments ago.
“Did I really ask if I looked good?”
He doubted whether his own words even made sense.
Her blunt response had caught him off guard, leaving him momentarily speechless.
But.
“Because she cut it off so cleanly, it actually….”
Lucio trailed off, feeling as though he’d been bewitched by a ghost.
“None of this made sense from the beginning. Entrusting her with this place….”
The Main Library held a special significance for him.
Because of this, he had ensured that no one except family could access this place.
‘Yet it happened so easily…’
His father, Duke Elrad, seemed to believe that Lucio had entrusted the library’s management to the child because of the matter regarding the Back Garden that he had mentioned, but that was not the case at all.
It was because Lucio had been trying not to pay attention to that child, who had stirred up strange emotions from the moment he first saw her.
So when he discovered the identity of the strange intruder who had entered the library with silent footsteps, in truth, Lucio was far more flustered than Lia.
‘Why wasn’t I angry?’
If it had been any other maidservant, he would never have let someone enter his space so carelessly.
Of course, from the child’s reaction, which seemed as though she didn’t even know what wrong she had committed, Lucio immediately understood the discord among the servants.
But even so, it was not his concern.
To him, all humans except family were merely classified as useful or useless.
Yet, could it be because she had taken care of Diana?
Or was it because she was a child whom his family held particularly dear?
Perhaps it was because her gaze, wary and fearful of him, was incredibly irritating.
In any case, with such an utterly irrational and rather impulsive decision, he had entrusted the library’s management to the child, yet he himself could not understand his own actions.
That bewilderment was not all.
“Why do I want to feed her so badly?”
Regardless of what he had read in books, looking at the small, thin child stirred an inexplicable impulse within him.
He had never imagined that he would feel such a thing toward another person.
Watching the child stuff food into her mouth reluctantly, as if conscious of his gaze, with her lips pressed firmly shut, he even thought she resembled a squirrel.
Yet regardless of the reason, such unnecessary attention was utterly useless.
Lucio shook his head and dispelled the thoughts.
But just as that conversation with her held no meaning whatsoever, the image of Lia leaving without even turning back kept surfacing in his mind.
‘Perhaps it’s because I’ve never been treated this way before.’
The thought that a situation straight out of a romance novel might be unfolding made him laugh hollowly once more.
What was he thinking, dealing with a child who barely reached half his height?
Lucio quickly wiped away the cynicism and stood, heading toward his desk.
And he opened a romance novel with a pink cover that was utterly unbecoming of him.
“75. 121. 199.”
Having found what he sought in the first, second, and third paragraphs of the pages written on the note he had obtained today, Lucio immediately left the library.
* * *
I had played with Diana for quite some time and enjoyed a hearty lunch and snacks.
Having overeaten since morning, I patted my full belly as I gazed at Diana sleeping her afternoon nap, smiling softly.
“Sleep well and have sweet dreams until dinner.”
I whispered my farewell to the peacefully sleeping child and stepped outside, heading straight for the library.
Where had Lucio gone out again? The library was empty.
‘Well, it’s not my concern.’
Just as I was about to read more books, it suddenly occurred to me that now was the perfect opportunity to write a reply to Bianca.
I remembered all the contents of the books about the Bellus Duchy, but I wanted to write my reply while looking at the illustrations.
I thought I could better explain how magnificent that place appeared.
However, books from the Main Library could not be taken outside.
Writing a personal letter in a place where Lucio and others frequented felt unnecessarily embarrassing.
‘But if it’s now!’
Remembering the beautiful stationery I’d received from the Duchess in my room, I hurried outside only to find dusk already settling over the grounds, the sky overcast and heavy.
Moreover, raindrops began falling softly, one by one.
I made a mental note to bring an umbrella on my next trip and hastened toward the Servant Quarters.
Ever since numerous maidservants had been dismissed following the library incident, replacements had yet to arrive, leaving the Quarters shrouded in an ominous atmosphere.
With fewer hands but the same workload, each person’s daily quota had increased substantially.
Those unable to complete their tasks faced penalties, and discontent hung heavy in the air.
Though I knew it wasn’t my fault, I entered the Quarters cautiously, mindful of their resentment.
Yet something felt distinctly amiss.
With each step up the Staircase, an inexplicable unease bloomed in my chest.
And, as I’d feared—
A crowd of maidservants clustered before my door.
“What are you all doing here?”
The moment I saw them, my breath caught, but I masked my alarm and asked calmly.
Then I walked slowly toward my room.
“…!”
My door hung wide open, and the interior bore signs of a thorough ransacking.
“Perfect timing.”
The intruders spoke with brazen indifference, unbothered by my shock.
“We heard you laid your hands on the young lady’s belongings.”

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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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