Everyone Was Obsessed With Me After I Became the Youngest Princess Favourite - Chapter 99

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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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Opening the secret space without permission weighed on my conscience, but I had no choice if I wanted certainty.
I bit my lips nervously, recalling what had happened not long ago.
“I’ll go finish up the details, so please rest for now.”
When I’d confronted Baron Bardo and Lucio.
From Lucio as he brushed past me, I caught a subtle fragrance that struck me like lightning with sudden realization.
The scent from him was the same as the one from the Guild Master of Darel who had burst into my room before.
When I’d visited the Guild or met him in the Maze Garden, the distance had prevented me from noticing clearly, but the day he entered my room was different from usual, and I remembered it distinctly.
“So it really was Lucio…”
I’d been fairly certain to some degree, but now that I’d confirmed it with my own eyes, I was at a loss for words.
The moment I infused mana into the artifact disguised as a book, a clicking sound echoed and the bookshelf began to move.
And within the revealed secret space lay a rather spacious area that resembled a study.
Reports were densely arranged on the desk, and papers affixed to the walls contained information from within and outside the Empire that appeared to have been recently collected, and I discovered the seal marks used when completing commissions at Darel in several places.
I could not deny it any longer.
“Darel… Elrad.”
Still reeling from shock, I muttered until I finally realized that Darel’s spelling was merely Elrad’s letters rearranged.
Lucio truly was the master of Darel.
In that moment, my pride as a first-class agent of Terenthium, the Empire’s greatest information guild, felt like it shattered into pieces.
‘Knowing he was a Sword Master didn’t mean I knew everything.’
Now that I thought about it, I recalled being puzzled when I saw romance novels among the inconsistent books Lucio read.
Why hadn’t I noticed sooner?
In the Information Guild, it was common to exchange information covertly through popular pulp novels that could be found at any bookstore. It was the same when branches needed to alert each other to emergencies.
Of course, I didn’t know the details since encryption methods and decryption techniques differed for each person, but the way information was handled was likely similar across any guild.
Beyond that, there was his characteristic imperious manner of speaking, the tea he preferred to drink…
Now that I thought about it, there had been quite a few hints, yet I only realized them now. I couldn’t help but sigh at my own foolishness.
“So are you going to make a contract with me or not? I’m a busy person. Can you answer quickly?”
“Is this your house? Why do you come and go like you own the place!”
“Aaaahhh!”
In that moment, all the thoughtless things I’d said to Lucio came flooding back.
With these vivid memories of my dark history resurfacing, I resented my excellent memory for once.
I barely restrained myself from throwing myself down and crying, and I groaned as I regained my composure.
And I decided to organize the situation once more.
‘Why did he establish the Information Guild in the first place?’
Someone of Duke Elrad’s standing would have personnel to gather information independently, so I couldn’t understand why he’d gone to the trouble of creating a separate guild.
Looking back at his past conduct, Lucio was a political and cold-blooded person.
He calculated every situation, inferred relationships, and acted by weighing the roles and conflicts between nations and individuals.
So this must surely have a definite objective…
“…The imperial throne?”
The thought that suddenly occurred to me sent chills down my spine.
In my previous life, Nicholas had risen rapidly as the next emperor after resolving an important diplomatic issue!
Duke Elrad had always maintained quiet neutrality like the Emperor’s sword in matters of imperial succession, so while suspicious, I hadn’t made a strong connection between Nicholas and House Elrad…
“Is it possible the Duke doesn’t know about this either?”
Is that why you established the Guild instead of using personnel from within the Duke’s Estate?
There was no concrete proof, but when I combined all the information I possessed, this was the most rational conclusion I could draw.
Lucio had placed Nicholas in the struggle for the throne, hidden from both the Emperor’s and the Duke’s eyes.
He must have judged that Nicholas was the most suitable person to become Emperor, considering various conditions including the restoration of House Elrad.
“Yes. Lucio is certainly capable of that.”
After all, he’s someone who attended the Academy, established the Guild, and within a few years grew it to the point of threatening Terenthium itself.
No matter how shattered my pride had become, I too had dealt with information for a long time, so my conviction only grew stronger.
“Ah….”
Then a sudden memory came to mind.
“Darel tried to scout me multiple times.”
Of course, I had no intention of leaving Terenthium, so I refused outright, but they persisted with tenacious contact.
Growing annoyed at their constant pestering, I issued a warning, and they said if I would just come to Lueje once and hear them out, they would stop approaching me.
“If I had gone back then, I might have met Lucio.”
Of course, because my appearance had been altered by an artifact, the Guild Master’s true identity as Lucio would have remained unknown to me.
“Ah! Could it be….”
At that moment, I recalled how Lucio had called my name—a name I had never taught him—as I was drawing my last breath.
“So he knew all along?”
I wasn’t certain whether he had even identified me as that beggar child.
But he would have known that the person he tried to scout for his Guild was the information broker ‘Lia’. No, it was more likely that he did know.
“….”
I had already given up on hearing the answer, but the mystery had been solved.
Yet something felt strange. Almost as though I felt a little disappointed.
“…I had thought he might actually remember me.”
Though my days as a beggar were mostly filled with sordid and miserable sad memories, the time I spent with Lucio was something I cherished as quite a good memory.
So perhaps I had harbored the hope that those memories weren’t mine alone.
“Sigh, but that’s not important right now anyway. I need to focus!”
I shook my head and lightly tapped both my cheeks.
Ancient history doesn’t matter at all.
Lucio’s purpose in establishing the Information Guild honestly had little to do with me.
“What concerns me more is how to face Lucio—or rather, the Guild Master—now.”
I had already revealed some of my abilities while saving the Duchess, and now he knows I’ve been scheming separately. What should I do?
“How sinister and strange must I appear to him.”
Of course, he wouldn’t acknowledge knowing me while breaking the contract terms, but I felt inexplicably melancholy.
“For now, I’ll rest today and think about it tomorrow.”
After deliberating briefly, I sighed and secured the secret place once more before leaving the Library.
Suddenly knowing so much made my head feel like it would burst.
Honestly, I felt lost and gloomy, but what could I do? Tomorrow’s me would bear that responsibility.
* * *
Time passed swiftly, and two months had already slipped away.
The mansion was in an uproar from morning. It was only natural.
‘Lucio is returning today.’
Though the graduation ceremony still awaited, the Academy students scheduled to graduate this year had completed all their coursework and settled their dormitory accounts today.
Now that I thought about it, something seemed odd.
‘Why did he graduate early?’
Of course, Lucio had never failed to rank first in his year, so it would have been possible if he’d set his mind to it.
But in the past, he was still attending the Academy even when I turned ten.
Yet I couldn’t fathom why he was returning to the Duke’s Mansion a full year ahead of schedule.
‘Well, it’s not my concern anyway. I shouldn’t worry about it anymore.’
I shook my head vigorously.
Over the past two months, I’d met with Lucio, the Guild Master of Darel rather than my young master, exactly once.
I should have met him four more times, but the meeting had been repeatedly postponed until it finally happened.
After much deliberation, I’d reached this conclusion.
〈I think I need to break the contract… You. I know there’s still time remaining on the contract, but I’ve created five times the amount of mana stones equivalent to a month’s wages, including the time I took off work, so perhaps this will…〉
〈Ha….〉
〈O-of course, since I broke the contract arbitrarily, I’ll pay the penalty fee too!〉
The more I spoke while offering the mana stones I’d painstakingly created by squeezing out every ounce of my mana, the grimmer Lucio’s expression became.
Unable to help myself, I even offered to pay the penalty fee as if coughing up blood, and he only sighed more heavily.
It was strange. Despite the illusion magic concealing his true form, I could see Lucio’s face overlaid upon the large, unfamiliar man’s appearance.
〈So he made this much again….〉
〈….〉
〈Forget the penalty fee.〉
I was startled by Lucio’s words while tilting my head in confusion at his cryptic remark.
As expected of an heir to a great noble house, he certainly had a generous spirit.
However, he mentioned that it would take time to liquidate the jewels he’d purchased in advance for cash and to sell the mana stones I’d created this time.
Since it was I who’d requested jewels as payment except for the final month, and it was I who’d broken the contract arbitrarily, I agreed to wait without complaint.
Once I received the full payment the following month as promised, my relationship with Darel would be over.
‘So all I need to do now is pretend not to know him.’
Since Lucio was also disguised, he would never acknowledge knowing me.
Just as it had been until now, pretending not to know each other was the best course of action.
That was when it happened.
“Oh my! What should I do? I haven’t slept a wink since last night, I’m so excited.”
“For the sun and moon to rise simultaneously—I’m so enchanted I might just die!”
As I left my room to fetch Diana, I heard the maidservants’ excited voices.
I chuckled inwardly, yet felt my heart inexplicably racing.
Today wasn’t just the day Lucio was returning to the Duke’s Mansion.
Crown Prince Bellus, Askart, was also visiting House Elrad.
‘And soon… I’ll be able to see Bianca again!’
The news was that Grand Duke Bellus and his wife were visiting the Empire to attend their son’s graduation ceremony.

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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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