Everyone Was Obsessed With Me After I Became the Youngest Princess Favourite - Chapter 89

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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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That sparring match happened entirely by chance.
When Allen saw Lia returning from an outing with Jack alone, her expression clouded and withdrawn, he forcibly dragged her to the Training Grounds.
Allen, whose nature was ordinarily straightforward, recalled how swinging a sword mindlessly whenever he felt troubled always lifted his spirits—he wondered if the same might work for Lia.
It was just as we arrived at the Training Grounds, seizing the moment while Diana was in her lessons.
〈Sigh… This is tedious, so let’s finish quickly. Young Master, take up your sword.〉
〈Huh? Me? You want to spar with me?〉
Allen stared at Lia in bewilderment, pointing at himself, but she had already picked up one of the wooden practice swords stacked for apprentice knights, thinking, “I should be able to handle a wooden sword by now.”
Allen, who had merely intended to get her moving to ease her mood, suddenly recalled Lia’s nimble movements from before, his bewilderment giving way to recollection.
An irresistible curiosity stirred within him as a knight.
〈Fine! But I’m different from that fellow you faced last time, so be careful.〉
〈Understood. Shall we begin then?〉
Though still too young to receive formal knighthood, Allen possessed skill that far exceeded the ordinary level of apprentice knights.
Thinking that Lia regarded him as comparable to those greenhorns from before, Allen issued his warning with proper courtesy.
Yet Lia merely nodded, her expression indifferent and radiating unmistakable irritation.
She was younger than me and had never received proper sword training, and yet…
Seeing the composure Lia exuded, Allen felt inexplicably tense and swallowed hard.
And moments later.
Allen blinked as he noticed the wooden sword had somehow arrived near his throat.
Had it been a sharpened blade instead, his neck would surely have been sliced as it passed.
〈Wh-what is this…〉
At first, it seemed Allen’s attacks would continue one-sidedly.
But as if that had merely been to gauge his level, an intense exchange of offense and defense erupted, and before long, Allen found himself retreating.
As Allen, breathing heavily, turned his head, Jack watching from the sidelines stared in shock as well.
The astonishment of the other apprentice knights observing the match was beyond words.
Indifferent to the shockwave that swept through the Training Grounds, Lia broke the silence.
〈Then I should be going. It’s nearly time for the Young Lady’s lessons to finish.〉
As Lia turned to leave, her expression had grown even more rigid than when she first arrived at the Training Grounds.
Yet no one present noticed the displeasure she harbored.
* * *
“Jack.”
After that, having recreated the sparring match with Lia countless times, Jack and Allen now sat side by side at one corner of the Training Grounds.
“Lia really is…”
Allen spoke, swallowing hard.
“Seems like a genuine prodigy, doesn’t she?”
At his solemn words, Jack sitting beside him nodded.
“Without question.”
“I honestly couldn’t believe my eyes. With that innocent face, I thought she was just some fool blinking stupidly, but who would’ve guessed she’d wield a sword like that?”
“They say her mana reserves are so vast that mages would covet them.”
“Exactly! We can’t afford to be complacent. People call us geniuses because they don’t know any better, but we’ve seen the real thing now.”
“True. We must train harder.”
Jack spoke with a resolute expression, and Allen nodded gravely in agreement.
It was then that the two prodigies were steeling themselves with such unwavering determination.
“Um… there’s something…”
“Huh? Aiden!”
Allen brightened visibly as he greeted Aiden, who had just entered the Training Grounds.
There was only one reason why Allen, who had been displeased with Aiden, was now showing such enthusiasm.
For some time now, he had been completely blocking Aiden from spending time with Diana under the pretext of teaching him swordplay.
“Why are you so late! Were you dragging your feet again because you didn’t want to come?”
“…No, sir.”
“Your answer was slow!”
Aiden, unable to lie, merely fidgeted with his fingers while staring into empty space.
At this, Allen clicked his tongue.
Initially, it had been an excuse to separate his younger sister from Aiden, but now that he saw the boy had genuine talent, teaching him was actually satisfying—though Allen remained displeased with Aiden’s overly timid nature.
“But what’s that in your hand?”
“…It’s pie. A traditional Dhamba Kingdom dessert that I made myself.”
“Oh! You brought this for your teacher to eat?”
Allen’s lips curved into a smirk as he reached out, but Aiden quickly spun around and protectively clutched the box containing the pie.
“No! This is for Lia!”
“Lia? Hey! Lia went to the Imperial Palace with Diana. She’ll eat plenty of delicious things there…”
“She’s not my sister!”
“Huh? What do you mean by that…?”
At Aiden’s outburst, Allen’s expression turned bewildered. Then realization struck him.
Since the day she arrived at House Elrad, they had always eaten together. Grown so accustomed to this, he had forgotten—Lia’s status was ultimately that of a maidservant.
At the Imperial Palace, not at the Duke’s Estate, she would naturally only attend to service, never sitting at the same table as Diana to dine.
‘So Lia has been standing beside the table this whole time, watching everyone eat…?’
At this unexpected realization, Allen blinked, and suddenly memories surfaced—of Lia being tormented by other servants for being a maidservant, a commoner, an orphan.
Jack’s expression darkened as well, for he shared the same recollection.
Only Aiden, unaware of these circumstances, gazed at the two in bewilderment as their demeanor abruptly grew serious.
It was then.
“Hey, Jack…”
Allen opened his mouth heavily.
“You don’t think someone has touched Lia again, do you?”
“…We can only hope not.”
* * *
“Oh dear. My grip weakened and I dropped it.”
Serphin smiled brightly as she spoke.
But I could not smile along with her.
Just moments ago, the gaze that had swept over me—’So you’re the maidservant that the youngest lady favors?’—had been so chillingly cold, and the way the knife had fallen right at my feet felt far too deliberate.
Then, a maidservant hastily placed a fresh knife before the Imperial Princess and bent to retrieve the fallen one.
But Serphin raised her hand to stop the maidservant, then fixed her gaze directly upon me.
“….”
While the adjacent table brimmed with the cheerful chatter and laughter of noble ladies, the table where the young noblewomen gathered was suffused with silence.
As I pondered the source of Serphin’s hostility toward me, I exhaled softly and took a measured step backward.
Simultaneously, Serphin’s eyes narrowed ever so slightly.
“My goodness. I had heard she was an orphan, but to this extent….”
One of the noblewomen, quick to perceive the Imperial Princess’s displeasure, scrutinized me from head to toe.
“If you lack proper training, you should at least have common sense. To simply retreat without being explicitly ordered!”
“It seems she lacks the fundamentals of a servant’s conduct.”
“Isn’t she being far too presumptuous, relying solely on the Duke’s favor?”
Emboldened by the atmosphere, they each added their own barbs.
Yet I remained unmoved.
At this, the noblewoman who had spoken first trembled with indignation as she continued.
“You don’t even notice when you’re being made a fool of in front of so many people? Why aren’t you picking up that knife right now and apologizing to the Imperial Princess!”
Realizing I could no longer remain silent, I was about to open my mouth.
“Um, I’m terribly sorry!”
At that moment, Diana suddenly rose from her seat and picked up the knife that had fallen on the grass, handing it to Serphin.
“Oh, no… I was speaking to the Duke’s daughter….”
“How tedious.”
“Y-Your Highness.”
“Duke’s daughter, I appreciate it. Though there was no need for you to retrieve it yourself.”
As Serphin offered only a faint smile in response, Diana nodded and returned to her seat.
In the awkward silence that followed, Serphin regarded me once more with those cold eyes.
“Your mistress bent her back for you—will you remain idle this time as well?”
Bewildered by Diana’s action, I stepped forward slowly at those words.
“It was my oversight. I should have explained to the young lady in greater detail the protocols of the Imperial court—specifically, what outsiders must observe. For instance, that items used by the Imperial family should not be touched carelessly by anyone other than the Imperial Palace’s maidservants or attendants. Of course, this applies even to a servant of House Elrad like myself.”
Before I had finished speaking, the noblewomen who had been berating me as an ill-bred orphan faltered and began exchanging uncertain glances.
Serphin’s expression had frozen into an icy mask.
The others may have genuinely been ignorant of such refined protocols, but the Imperial Princess who dwelt in the Imperial Palace could not possibly be unaware.
‘So she deliberately tried to trap me in this predicament?’
Had I picked up the object myself, they might have condemned me instead for lacking etiquette.
‘And of all things, it had to be a knife….’
Grasping a blade before the Imperial family, even if dismissed as mere accident, could become a grave matter depending on how the Imperial Princess chose to respond.
‘Had I acted rashly, House Elrad itself might have been drawn into this.’
Perhaps I was being overly sensitive, but a terrible chain of thoughts followed, leaving me uneasy.
Yet House Elrad remained a steadfast ally of the Emperor.
Moreover, with the Emperor in robust health, the matter of succession had not even been broached, so there was no reason for the Imperial Princess to move against House Elrad.
‘Then she truly was targeting me alone.’
I could not fathom why Serphin, whom I had only just met, displayed such animosity toward me.
“How dare you speak so brazenly, you orphan…!”
“That will be quite enough.”
Just as the young lady who had first picked a fight with me trembled and raised her voice, the Brown-haired Girl sitting beside Diana opened her mouth.
“It’s not this maidservant’s fault that she’s an orphan, is it?”
I paused, my gaze turning toward the girl.

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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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