Everyone Was Obsessed With Me After I Became the Youngest Princess Favourite - Chapter 69

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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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* * *
Allen and Diana had been brimming with excitement since morning, so we found ourselves waiting at the front of the Main Building long before the Duchess Elrad finished her preparations.
I exchanged warm greetings with the carriage that had been standing by, Taize who was responsible for our escort, and Jack, who was dressed in his apprentice knight uniform and assisting with the security detail once again.
“Wow, what is that?”
Allen asked with a startled expression.
Following his gaze, I realized he was staring at the bulging pouch hanging at my side.
“It’s the salary I’ve been saving up until now.”
I puffed out my chest with a touch of pride and tapped the pouch boastfully.
Though my recent activities amounted to little more than playing with Diana and reading books in the library, I felt immensely satisfied nonetheless.
Allen’s eyes widened as he asked his next question.
“Are you going to buy land?”
“…Pardon?”
I narrowed my eyes, wondering if he was teasing me with such an absurd suggestion, but Allen’s expression was utterly sincere.
Noticing that Taize was struggling to suppress his laughter, Allen tilted his head and added, “…Or maybe a house?”
I clutched my coin-filled pouch tightly, my expression growing dejected.
Allen’s complete lack of financial sense left me feeling rather melancholy.
But then again, how many noble young masters like Allen had ever earned money in such a manner?
Besides, my safe deposit box at the Capital Bank held more than enough to purchase land or a house, so my spirits quickly lifted.
“I’ve been diligently saving my salary, but not quite that much.”
“Really? Then why did you bring it all with you?”
“As you’ve been singing about, this is our first outing since arriving in the Capital City. I heard there are many shops and various stalls in front of the Academy. I thought I’d buy some snacks and purchase anything else I might want.”
Such as certain items that would form the foundation of my plans.
“Oh… but I don’t have any money. What should I do?”
At my words, Allen’s expression, which had been brimming with excitement, suddenly drooped.
I nearly burst out laughing at his genuinely worried face.
No matter what he chose, the escorts behind us would naturally pay for it anyway—such needless worry.
“Dana doesn’t have any money either… what should I do?”
Diana, who had been listening to our conversation beside us, also wore a dejected expression.
I was about to tell Diana that I would gladly treat her to as many snacks as she wanted with the money I’d saved.
“Dear me, one cannot do without money.”
Duke Elrad appeared alongside the Duchess Elrad, who had finished her preparations.
“If you go out on an outing but cannot buy what you wish to eat, you’ll surely feel disappointed.”
As Duke Elrad gazed intently at us with an expression that seemed to ask what we should do, Diana and Allen quickly caught on and scurried forward to stand before him, extending both hands.
“Please give us some!”
“Father, money!”
At the sight of his children demanding payment with such brazen confidence, as if they were retrieving something they’d left in his care, Duke Elrad laughed in exasperation, but he soon produced a pouch that appeared to have been prepared in advance.
“Here, spending money for you.”
“Wow!”
“Yay!”
The sight of Allen and Diana bouncing up and down alternately was so charmingly innocent that I could not help but smile.
That was when it happened.
“Here, Lia. This is your allowance.”
The Duchess Elrad handed me a pouch the same color as Diana’s.
“This… this is mine?”
I blinked in confusion, and the Duchess Elrad pressed the pouch into my hands as she spoke.
“Of course. Did you think I’d forgotten yours?”
“But… I have money.”
“I know. But that’s money you earned through your hard work, and this is your allowance.”
“…”
I was at a loss for words, staring blankly at the pouch in my hands.
It was the first allowance I had ever received in my life.
The Guild executives had often shown me affection and bought me delicious things, but they had never given me an allowance like this.
“Taize, you’re such a novice father that you didn’t even think to prepare something like this, did you?”
Duke Elrad, watching Taize flounder from the moment the word “allowance” was mentioned, triumphantly handed pouches to Jack as well.
Jack hesitated, saying, “But I’m not going out to play…” before suddenly thinking of something, eagerly accepting the pouch, and bowing gratefully.
Taize’s face colored in real-time with self-reproach and frustration.
“Now then, let’s be off.”
The Duchess Elrad called the children together to board the carriage.
Seeing this, I smiled softly to myself.
Though we had left early, the Duchess Elrad had also departed at quite an early hour.
Unlike Allen, who had been chattering about it for days, she too seemed to be looking forward to the journey to meet Lucio.
I felt my heart flutter inexplicably as I was about to board the carriage.
“Travel safely.”
Duke Elrad, watching Allen and Diana board the carriage, gave me one last glance and spoke.
It seemed he too believed I was more trustworthy than Allen, the oldest among us.
I smiled brightly and answered, “Yes!”
* * *
The carriage carrying the children departed from the Duke’s Mansion.
Duke Elrad, watching the carriage disappear into the distance, returned to his study to prepare for the upcoming imperial conference.
And as usual, he was reading through documents.
〈It seems Lucio thinks of Lia specially.〉
Suddenly, something his wife had said days ago came to mind.
Seeing his puzzled expression, his wife explained what had happened, saying she was startled when she saw how Lucio treated Lia just before departing for the Academy.
〈I’ve never seen Lucio be so kind to anyone before.〉
〈Well, that boy knows family is precious. Even if he hasn’t accepted her as a younger sister, he must have been grateful that she looked after Diana. Lia is special to us as well, after all.〉
〈That’s true, I suppose.〉
But the Duchess Elrad laughed softly, saying it was still surprising that it was Lucio, of all people, who was like this.
〈By the way, what happened with that matter we were looking into?〉
At her following words, Duke Elrad’s expression darkened.
Since the adoption of Lia had fallen through not long ago, he had been searching for a new adoptive home suitable to entrust her to.
Lia was still young, and I believed she needed a guardian to help anchor her wandering heart and give her a place to settle.
Of course, I had wanted to be that steadfast refuge for her myself, but since that had become impossible, I wished to provide her with a family where she could take root.
Yet that proved far more difficult than anticipated.
Since I intended to keep Lia close to Diana, I needed to find someone within the bounds of House Elrad—someone without greed, of virtuous character, and most importantly, someone who would genuinely cherish Lia and accept her as family.
When Taize had recently hinted at his desire to adopt both Jack and Lia, I had sent him away, telling him to ask the children first.
Upon hearing that Lia had refused, my initial relief suddenly transformed into regret.
Though I still disliked the thought of Lia calling another man father and playing the dutiful daughter to Taize instead of me, he was someone I could trust.
Recalling his wife’s troubled expression one last time, the Duke resolved that at the meeting to come, he would carefully review whether there might be a suitable vassal without children.
* * *
The atmosphere inside the carriage heading toward the Academy was better than ever.
Allen and Diana, delighted by this rare outing, chattered incessantly with laughter, while the streetscape rushing past the windows brimmed with the vibrant energy of a verdant summer.
“So when we get to the Academy, let’s ask Ascart to show us his rainbow magic. He made so many soap bubbles when we were little—it was incredible!”
Hearing Allen’s words tumble out with such excitement, I blinked.
I recalled the conversation Allen had shared with Crown Prince Nicholas during his visit to the Duke’s Mansion.
“Young Master, are you perhaps referring to Crown Prince Bellus Ascart?”
“Huh?”
“I believe your older brother mentioned him before.”
As I spoke, my eyes suddenly widened.
Crown Prince Bellus—the heir to the mighty Belus Duchy, and someone who had once been famous alongside Lucio for his striking appearance.
‘And the grandson of Marquis Diapel, who guards the Empire’s borders!’
〈Grandfather, are you all right?〉
〈I’m fine, thank you.〉
Then a forgotten memory suddenly surfaced.
Marquis Diapel—one of the few nobles I had encountered who did not look down upon commoners but treated them as people.
In my past life, I had formed an unexpected connection with Marquis Diapel; in this life, with Bianca. Hearing the name of someone connected to both of them filled me with an inexplicable warmth.
As I asked with sparkling eyes, Allen’s previously animated expression gradually faded.
“Oh… now that you mention it, Ascart…”
Allen suddenly grew serious, his lips moving as he fell into thought.
I tilted my head and asked why, but Allen remained silent, his lips sealed, until we arrived at the Academy.
* * *
“Wow!”
Diana leaped from the carriage with wide eyes and cried out.
I too gazed at the Academy, enclosed by its tall walls, with fresh perspective.
Though it was undoubtedly the same place as in my previous memories, my impression of it was entirely different.
Fragmented sunlight filtered through the leaves of towering trees, and the densely packed carriages and countless people moving through the streets overflowed with vitality and laughter.
It was so beautiful that I could scarcely believe this was the place I had fled from desperately on that rainy day.
“Hmm, it seems we arrived rather early.”
The Duchess Elrad looked up at the clock tower near the Academy’s main gate with an embarrassed expression.
“I thought we’d be caught in the crowd.”
It appeared we had departed so early that we arrived well before the time I had arranged with Lucio.
I decided to wait in front of his door until Lucio appeared.

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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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