Everyone Was Obsessed With Me After I Became the Youngest Princess Favourite - Chapter 59

—————
This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
—————

I had so many questions for the child still whimpering in pain.
Since when had they endured this torment, and why had they remained silent, pretending everything was fine despite such treatment?
‘And why had they wanted to leave us?’
Yet I felt no resentment.
How could an adult who had assumed the child would be fine, who had failed to truly understand their circumstances, harbor any sense of hurt?
There was only remorse.
“You didn’t trust me. Not enough to even speak of it.”
The fact that I had wounded the child and failed to protect them was undeniable, and Duke Elrad’s gaze grew heavy with sorrow.
Yet he had not surrendered.
Even now, he wished to correct his wrongs and become someone the child could trust and rely upon.
And so his singular desire remained unchanged.
For Lia to survive this night and greet the next day safely.
* * *
“Who are you?”
“You keep calling my name.”
Lucio remembered the day he first met the child.
It was unlike him to speak to someone he would normally have ignored, yet he had done so.
The child trembling before him resembled a small, fragile creature shaking in fear.
He had never witnessed anything so vulnerable.
It seemed weaker than a newborn beast.
A skeletal frame, arms and legs bearing scars visible between tattered clothes.
And those brown eyes that darted nervously, glistening with tears—they captivated him.
After that, I encountered the child several times.
Or rather, I deliberately positioned myself before them.
There were countless ragged, starving beggar children clustering outside the Academy, yet why did only this one capture my attention so persistently?
I couldn’t understand it myself, but without realizing it, whenever I left the Academy, I found myself searching for the child as a matter of habit.
The child appeared unwashed, their matted hair and disheveled appearance indistinguishable from other begging children.
Sitting on the streets begging for coins, or sometimes rummaging through garbage heaps with skeletal hands.
Yet strangely, I felt no revulsion.
Only displeasure at the fear flickering in those eyes when they looked at me.
I had given the child food and medicine on occasion, but their eyes always held terror when they gazed upon me.
That displeased me greatly.
For some reason, it angered me.
I couldn’t even understand why my mood had become so dark.
It was strange—others’ fear of me had never bothered me before.
Then came that particular day.
Heavy rain poured outside the window. Naturally, the child came to mind.
Without an umbrella, they would surely be drenched.
That fragile body would certainly fall gravely ill, and then—
‘They might die.’
By the time that thought crossed my mind, I was already grabbing an umbrella and stepping outside the Academy gates.
But the front entrance was more chaotic than usual.
Soon, a familiar voice reached my ears—trembling with fear.
⟨I didn’t steal it. I really… I’m not lying….⟩
In that moment, it felt as though all the blood drained from my body.
The instant I arrived at the scene with hurried steps, my eyes met those of a child sprawled on the ground.
Suddenly, a surge of fury consumed me.
As though I’d swallowed a burning coal, my vision blazed with heat. While I paused to steady my breathing, the child scrambled to his feet and bolted.
Watching the child’s figure grow smaller as he fled in panic, I barely managed to hold onto my fraying sanity.
There was something I needed to do first.
⟨How dare a street rat like you lay hands on someone’s belongings… Ahhhhh!⟩
The Noble Boy, who had been shouting while holding a fountain pen toward where the child had vanished, let out a scream.
Lucio had seized his wrist and snapped it clean.
⟨L-Lucio, sir?⟩
Ignoring the startled voices of those around him, Lucio pressed his foot down hard on the fountain pen that had fallen to the ground.
The pen shattered with a crisp snap, just like its owner’s wrist.
Lucio wanted to repay the child for every insult and pain he had suffered with equal measure.
Of course, this would not be the end.
From this moment forward, this Noble Boy and his entire house would face a hellish fate—one they would come to wish was death instead.
But there were far too many eyes watching to destroy the boy right now.
This was not how he conducted his affairs.
Breaking the boy’s wrist in the first place had been far too impulsive.
So Lucio turned away. He needed to find the child.
There was so much I wanted to say when we met again.
Now you understand, don’t you?
That this world is filled with terrifying things.
So come with me.
If you stay by my side, you won’t be in danger.
Don’t ever leave my sight.
Lucio could no longer bear the thought of the child living on the streets, suffering from cold and hunger.
Even questioning why he was thinking such things now felt meaningless.
All that mattered was contacting the Duke’s Mansion and bringing the child there.
Though the atmosphere at home had changed considerably since Mother passed away, it would still be better than the streets.
Once I made that decision, I couldn’t understand why I hadn’t thought of it sooner.
Perhaps the child would refuse, but Lucio had no intention of listening to such protests.
That was simply his nature, and the way he operated.
Everything before this had been wrong.
Once all decisions were made, my heart grew impatient like someone desperate to bring the child to Elrad Duke’s Mansion as quickly as possible.
⟨I wish someone would have asked me if I was hurting.⟩
Suddenly, I recalled a wish the child had once made, eyes tightly shut.
Yes, I would grant that wish.
Not only that, but I would give the most precious gift in the world, let them eat delicious food to their heart’s content, dress them in beautiful clothes, and make them happier than anyone else—so Lucio thought.
But then….
The child could not be found.
Even after sending people to search, I could not find that one small child.
Of all times, rain poured down all night.
Lucio gazed at the rain falling beyond the window, unable to sleep.
The vivid image of the child, whom I must have been agonizing over, remained clear in my mind.
Regret washed over me anew.
I should have simply chased after the child immediately.
Spending the night consumed by regret, dawn finally broke the next day.
Even knowing the child was not there, Lucio made my way to the place where the child often sat begging.
Eventually, I even went directly to the cave where the members of the Beggar Gang who traveled with the child slept huddled together.
But the child was not there.
Not the next day. Not the day after that either.
‘Only now have I finally learned their name.’
Lucio, not knowing how long my waiting would continue, gazed silently at the pouring rain and laughed hollowly.
〈…Lia.〉
It was the moment when the world of a man who had never known loneliness was turned upside down.
* * *
Lucio slowly lifted my eyelids.
Last night I had interrogated the maidservants throughout the Underground Dungeon, and it seemed I had come up to the Library at dawn and closed my eyes for a moment.
But somehow I had fallen into deep sleep.
Yet though I had awakened from sleep, my mind was hazy and my body felt heavy.
It seemed I had dreamed the same dream I’d been having these past few days.
‘What was the dream.’
Lucio sighed as I wiped away the tears trailing down my cheeks without emotion.
The emotions from the dream still clung heavily to my body.
The problem was that the sensation of having dreamed was vivid, yet I could not remember the content at all.
“Ha.”
The moment I rose, tears fell again with a soft patter.
Now that I thought about it, the sofa was completely damp from how much I had wept. A hollow laugh escaped me.
“Am I truly losing my mind.”
* * *
I opened my eyes with difficulty, feeling a dull throb in my head.
Beneath the soaringly high ceiling, I could see the gossamer canopy attached to the bed.
My entire body ached as though beaten, and I was so heavy that I could not move a single finger.
My mind wanted to rise immediately, but reality was unforgiving, and when I managed only to roll my eyes and look to the side, I could see the landscape beyond the window where the curtains had been drawn back.
Last night my senses had been overwhelmed by the thick sound of rain loud enough to deafen, but now that the rain had passed, the sky had cleared beautifully.
“…Ah, ugh!”
I recalled yesterday’s memories and let out a short sound, my brow furrowing.
The moment I made a sound, my throat burned and ached terribly.
It was likely the aftermath of screaming and coughing up blood yesterday.
“Lia? Are you awake?”
Just then, the door between the bedroom and the drawing room opened, and the Duchess Elrad entered.
She was not alone—her face haggard from having stayed up all night.
“Darling, come here.”
As the Duchess Elrad patted the arm of the Duke Elrad, who stood with a vacant expression, he quickly rang the bell placed on the nightstand beside the bed.
Immediately, as if they had been waiting outside all along, a mage and physicians rushed into the room.
“Now that she’s awake, check her condition at once.”
At the Duke Elrad’s command, Tellin and the mages began bringing mana stones and strange instruments around me, casting recovery magic, while simultaneously Baron Bardo and the physicians examined my body and the inside of my mouth.
“Your throat is quite swollen, as expected.”
The Baron, furrowing his brow with concern, handed me what appeared to be a pain reliever.
I swallowed it without complaint, and she patted my head approvingly.
“The medicine will take effect soon, so bear with it a little longer.”
Then she turned and spoke to the Duchess Elrad as well.
“You must avoid hot and spicy foods.”
“I understand.”
The Baron nodded and stepped back, and then it was the mage Tellin’s turn.
“You experienced mana runaway—do you remember?”
As I felt my body becoming more comfortable thanks to the recovery magic, I winced.
And with a chastened expression, I nodded.
All the terrible things I had done yesterday came back to me vividly.

—————
This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
—————