Everyone Was Obsessed With Me After I Became the Youngest Princess Favourite - Chapter 67

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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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During festivals, beggars actually received generous alms, making it a profitable season for street children.
‘Of course, it would have been a headache for the Academy.’
“Brother, don’t cry. Dana will come see you soon.”
Just then, Diana’s sweet voice came from right beside me.
It seemed it was now my turn to greet Diana after Allen.
Lucio tilted his head slightly, as if he didn’t quite understand his youngest sister’s words, but soon chuckled softly and patted the child’s head.
Watching him, I anticipated that Lucio would now turn and board the carriage.
But Lucio, as if it were the most natural thing, turned his gaze toward me standing beside Diana and took a step closer.
‘Does he have some task for me related to the library?’
As I blinked and looked up at him, he suddenly spoke.
“Make this place feel like your home.”
“…?”
“I’m very pleased to have you here.”
While I froze at his unexpected words, the wind blew and my hair scattered slightly.
Lucio slowly raised his hand and tucked the fallen strands behind my ear.
“Study hard… no, not too hard. Just stay calm and composed.”
“….”
“Answer me.”
“Oh, yes!”
I, who had been dazed, was startled by his urging and answered loudly.
Lucio seemed satisfied with my response, chuckled, and gently patted my head just as he had Diana’s.
For some reason, my toes tingled, so I quickly lowered my head.
But feeling an intensely hot gaze, I looked up again and met Allen’s eyes—his face looked as if he’d seen a ghost.
It felt oddly familiar. It was similar to when Taize had brought me to my new room last time.
This time, even the Duchess Elrad was watching with a startled expression, making me even more embarrassed.
But Lucio had already boarded the carriage with an indifferent face.
Soon the carriage began to move, and I stood dazed until it disappeared from sight.
* * *
“I don’t understand.”
After seeing him off, Diana and Allen went to their classes, and even the Duchess Elrad went out, so I headed alone to the Main Library.
Whether it was because it was originally Lucio’s space or because his final words to me were strange, I kept thinking of him.
“Make this place feel like home….”
When did he reject me so firmly, and why does he say such tender things and leave me feeling so unsettled?
I grumbled to myself and walked toward Lucio’s neatly organized desk.
Perhaps because he had been there just moments before, a faint scent still lingered.
It was a fresh, cool mint fragrance like the tea he always drank.
As I inhaled that scent, feeling somewhat calmed, I was running my fingertips across the smooth wooden desk when I noticed something.
“Hmm?”
A note lay in the center of the desk that I couldn’t believe I’d overlooked until now.
Picking it up absently, I found a list of book titles—basic etiquette books that any noble should know, imperial protocols, and aristocratic handbooks.
Lucio found the books listed far too basic and simple, and he was flipping through the list with a puzzled expression when I noticed something.
Read them all.
I let out a hollow laugh upon seeing the sentence written in sharp handwriting at the very end of the note.
“So that’s why you told me to study hard.”
I answered without fully understanding what he meant, but now it all made sense.
Since I had nothing else to do anyway, I found and pulled out one of the books listed in the note. Then a small piece of paper fell out with a soft thud.
“What is this now….”
Lucio’s handwriting from the note was densely written across the paper.
Only then did I carefully open the book on the desk and realize that detailed annotations were written in the difficult sections or parts I might not understand.
Some parts I truly didn’t know, and some I had partial knowledge of, but even though I’d only skimmed through, Lucio’s explanations made them easy to comprehend.
“Surely not?”
The note listed more than just one or two books.
“There’s no need to go that far….”
I quickly found and pulled out the books, then fell silent.
Surely not—yet every single book had annotations.
And among them, the etiquette manual had the most annotations, which was furthest removed from my life as an informant.
Looking at the papers detailing the proper protocols for treating the imperial family at the Imperial Palace, I finally understood Lucio’s true intentions.
Not long ago, the Empress held a tea party with the Imperial Princess at the Imperial Palace, and it happened to be the day after I caused my mana rampage.
I later learned that the Duchess Elrad had made the excuse that Diana was ill and didn’t attend.
Because Duke Elrad enjoyed the Emperor’s trust, it was overlooked, but if it had been other nobles, it would have been sufficient cause for gossip.
And since I couldn’t attend this time, another opportunity would surely be arranged, and there was a high probability I would enter the palace following Diana.
It was clear that he wanted me to master court etiquette so I could behave properly as Diana’s maidservant.
“He really does adore his sister.”
Of course, it was partly for the honor of House Elrad, but Diana’s affection for me and her willingness to follow me was undoubtedly the greatest reason for such meticulous care.
“If Diana were my sister, I’d probably carry her around every day and do whatever she asked.”
In fact, it seems I’m already doing that.
I smiled softly to meet his expectations and began reading the book carefully from the first page.
* * *
“Geez… don’t you get tired of this all day long?”
“…Pardon?”
“Never mind, never mind.”
Allen shook his head as he watched Lia, who was so absorbed in her book that she couldn’t even answer properly.
Training had been cancelled due to rain falling since morning, so Allen had come to the library and was flipping through a book he wasn’t even reading while observing Lia.
Something he’d heard recently made his heart feel oddly restless.
When he arrived, Lia was reading a book introducing kingdoms adjacent to the Empire, which only made it worse.
‘Surely she’s not actually planning to go to Bellus Duchy?’
He wished he hadn’t praised the duchy as magnificent or fascinating.
Allen wasn’t skilled at subtle probing, so he’d restrained himself several times from directly asking Lia if she had any intention of leaving House Elrad.
If he asked so directly, Lia might not have had such thoughts before, but then she could end up harboring different ideas.
So Allen, groaning inwardly and swallowing his words, glanced at Lia, who seemed determined to read every book in the library. The books she was reading were numerous, and their subjects were diverse.
Mages who ordinarily wouldn’t set foot in the Main Building, let alone physicians, had learned that Lia was staying in the Main Library and had begun competing with one another to bring books related to their respective fields.
Indeed, on the table where Lia sat were not only books that any citizen of the Empire would learn as basics, but also incomprehensible magical texts such as “Foundational Understanding of Magic and Mana,” “The Origins of Mana,” “Magical Circles and Advanced Sorcery,” and “The Classification of Magic by Attribute and School,” alongside specialized medical volumes like “Basic Medical Dictionary” and “A Comprehensive Compendium of Pharmacology and Medicinal Herbs.”
‘Is she actually understanding and reading all of this properly?’
Seized by sudden doubt, Allen picked up one of the books from the table, flipped through several pages, and set it back down.
It contained not a single illustration—only text crammed densely across every page—and his eyes couldn’t follow it at all. Yet watching her read with such intense focus, she must understand it rather than simply pretending.
“Ah, I wish tomorrow would come already.”
Tomorrow was finally the day the long-awaited Academy Festival would begin.
Allen had spent his time in his Territory and hadn’t attended the Gifted Academy where other noble youths his age studied, but he was planning to apply to the Academy’s Knight Division soon.
His older brother, who never failed to rank first in the Political Science Department each year, was somewhat daunting, but he was confident in swordsmanship at least.
The thought of touring everything—from the dormitories where Academy students lived to the lecture halls and Training Grounds—had Allen practically vibrating with excitement.
“Aren’t you looking forward to going outside tomorrow and seeing all sorts of things?”
Since arriving in the Capital City, she had never once left the Duke’s Mansion, let alone explored the city itself, so naturally she would be thrilled.
But Lia merely wore a contemplative expression for a moment before giving a small nod.
“Ugh, how boring.”
It bothered him that she, two years his junior, kept putting on such a mature act every time.
‘Since she’s friends with Jack, she doesn’t see me as a friend too, does she?’
It was a strange feeling—he didn’t like that Lia was his younger sister, yet he wanted her to see him as an older brother.
Never imagining that Lia might regard him as a younger brother, Allen stood up abruptly from the sofa with an exaggerated huff.
Then, seeing Lia still not sparing him a glance, he pouted but didn’t leave; instead, he circled around the sofa and began exploring the library.
Diana’s favorite fairy tales probably wouldn’t be here, but surely there was at least one book he could read.
Overwhelmed by the enormous collection of books packed densely on the shelves, Allen stomped loudly across the floor as he climbed the portable ladder.
That was when it happened.
“Huh? Where’s that breeze coming from?”
Though the library was large, it was completely enclosed by bookshelves on all sides, and because of the rain, the windows were shut tight.
Yet for just a moment, he distinctly felt a breeze.
As Allen’s head swiveled left and right in confusion, searching, he eventually turned his body toward the direction from which the faint breeze seemed to be coming.
Thud!
Allen froze solid, his eyes blinking rapidly.
Lia, who had been sitting motionless on the sofa like a statue reading a book just moments before, was now standing right in front of him.
And she had backed him against the bookshelf, trapping him with one arm.

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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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