Everyone Was Obsessed With Me After I Became the Youngest Princess Favorite

It’s really useless if I’m young and weak. I will have nothing to say even if I am kicked out.

“Uung.”

At a loss for what to do, Diana, who was sleeping next to her, groaned as she tossed and turned.

Only then did Lia notice Diana’s presence and was surprised.

She didn’t know how long Diana had been sleeping, and the child was completely wrapped in the blanket and couldn’t be seen.

Lia felt sorry and guilty as she remembered the Duchess who had been giving her medicine and Diana who had been by her side every time she woke up during her illness.

“I’m sorry, Dana. It’s all because of me…”

She couldn’t even spend time properly with her newly found family.

Lia gently patted Diana’s back a few times and then carefully got off the bed and headed to the bathroom attached to the room.

Even though the maids had helped her wash her body and change her clothes while she was sick, she still felt uneasy and wanted to take a shower.

As she turned on the faucet of the huge bathtub that seemed big enough to fit a person and a half, hot, steamy water started flowing out.

Moreover, when I tried to take off my clothes, I realized that I was wearing a high-quality dress that was presumed to be Diana’s.

Receiving unexpected and excessive treatment, Lia became restless and anxious as a habit.

‘…this won’t last long.’

Although Diana is following me a lot now, a 4-year-old’s mind can change easily.

She couldn’t just rely on a child’s mind, as she would soon forget the memories of being with me.

‘I don’t plan to stay here forever.’

Lia, who tried to calm her quivering mind, took off the dress she was wearing as she recalled what she had to do here.

***

“How is the child doing?”

“Her fever went down last night.”

The Duchess answered the Duke’s question.

She let out a sigh as she placed a cup of coffee on her desk, which was piled high with reports.

“She vomited everything she ate and was sick the whole time. I thought it was a big problem.”

The Duke lightly patted her hand as she spoke, and her face looked gaunt as well.

But even though he had been busy with processing related to the orphanage since returning to the palace, he finally had some time to spare.

The Duke sipped his coffee while rubbing his forehead and asked, “What do you think of the child?”

“What do you mean?”

“Do you think it would be okay to leave her by Diana’s side?”

“I haven’t known her for long…but she seems like a good child. She’s kind and gentle, and she never throws a tantrum even when she’s sick.”

The Duchess thought about Lia, who had silently suffered through her pain without making a sound.

If it had been Allen or Diana, they would have screamed, yelled, and caused a commotion.

Moreover, the shock of taking care of the child and changing her clothes still lingered within her.

Although she was 4 years older than Diana, she was similar in size, so it was not unexpected that she had a skinny body. When I took off her clothes, I felt much more sorry, the skinny body was as if the skin on her stomach was attached to the ribs.

“I think I know why Count Marietta cares about her.”

It was a well-known fact within the empire that Bianca was treated as a servant and abused by her family when she was young.

That’s why she completely cut off her original family and left the empire without any regrets as soon as she received her title.

“She’s still a young child… I wonder how scared she must have been all this time.”

Still, the Duchess of Elard breathed a sigh of relief, saying that it was really fortunate that Tellen had cleanly removed the scars.

“Come to think of it, it’s strange. Divine power doesn’t work, but Tellen’s healing magic does.”

Despite being the most capable senior mage in the Duke’s household, Tellen’s healing ability was less effective than the divine power that raises life force rather than magical power.

Then, the Duchess clapped her hands and said, “That’s right. I need to look into it more, but Tellen said that if someone possesses extremely pure magical power, it may not be compatible with divine power.”

“Then what about that child’s body?”

The Duchess quickly nodded her head.

After healing the scars on the body and examining the mana, Tellen shouted that there seems to be a tremendous amount of mana dormant in Lia’s body.

The Duchess trembled as she recalled the struggle to send him away when he was about to collapse, thinking that he was about to wake up the child and conduct an experiment.

She then spoke to her husband, who seemed lost in thought.

“I’ve got to go. I need to make sure the child is awake…”

Then the Duke raised an eyebrow and said,

“I don’t think you have to go.”

***

I carefully closed the door so as not to wake Diana and stopped in front of the spiral staircase after walking through a long hallway.

Where should I go to meet Duke Elrad?

“Should I go to the dining room since it’s morning? Or to the training field where the knights are practicing?”

As I was thinking, I met a servant and asked him where I should go to meet the Duke.

Honestly, if a young child said they wanted to meet the Duke, I would have been taken aback.

However, although they seemed a little surprised, they kindly showed me the way to the office.

Not only that, but they even asked about my well-being, knowing my identity and even that I was sick, which made me blush with embarrassment.

‘Perhaps it was imprinted in people’s minds that Diana ran to me when we arrived at the castle.’

After walking for a while with these people, who offered to accompany me so that I wouldn’t become a nuisance, I finally stood in front of a heavy door.

The door was adorned with an embossed silver wolf, the emblem of the Duke’s family, in the center, indicating that it was the office of the Duke, the master of the castle.

I suddenly realized that I had really entered the Elad Duke’s residence.

It was the moment when I was staring blankly for a while and was about to knock while taking a small breath.

Suddenly, the door opened with a clunk, and I unconsciously stepped back, thinking that the Duke had opened it.

But I was surprised to see someone unexpected.

“Lia”

At that moment, the Duke’s wife exclaimed with a complex expression of worry and relief.

“You’re awake!? Can you walk around like this already?”

‘If you’ve woken up, you should pull the rope and call a maid.

Did you get scared because you woke up alone?

I’m sorry, I should have stayed by your side.

As soon as the Duchess saw my face, her words poured out, making me feel like I was really a child who needed to be protected.

‘I barely made up my mind a little while ago.’

I hesitated to answer, not knowing how to control my feelings that kept loosening.

“Why did you come to see me?”

At that moment, a deep and heavy voice descended upon me from above my head. Startled, I lifted my head and saw the Duke sitting in front of his desk behind the Duchess.

I regained my senses in an instant.

“I, I have something to tell you.”

“Something urgent enough to tell me as soon as you wake up. Come in first.”

“But, she just woke up.”

Although the Duchess lightly grabbed my shoulder as if to say she could do it later, the Duke had already pushed aside the papers he was working on and stood up from his seat.

The Duchess looked at me with a worried expression.

“Well, tell me quickly then. I’ll be waiting for you in the room.”

“Sit down.”

 Yes.”

The Duchess led me into the study and then stepped aside.

I sat down on the sofa as instructed by the Duchess.

I hesitated about how to start the conversation, but it was the Duke who spoke first.

“I had something to tell you, and it’s a good thing you’re here.”

I wonder what he wants to tell me.

‘Maybe it’s about my future…?’

Feeling regretful that I couldn’t bring up the topic first, even though I thought it would come up, I looked at the Duke.

However, his words were different from what I expected.

“With the ledger of the orphanage director you gave me, I was able to catch all the nobles and merchants who traded slaves.”

Already?

I was so amazed that I couldn’t even ask a question.

But the face of the person who delivered this amazing news looked very calm.

“As the evidence is solid, they will soon be sentenced to prison,” said the Duke as if it were a trivial matter, and I was taken aback.

But since he was one of the only two Dukes in the Empire and also the military general, the Duke of Ellard could easily do what he wanted.

‘Besides, it’s not just any other matter, we are catching criminals,’ I thought to myself, nodding my head in agreement.

I then recalled the reason I had come to visit in the first place and asked the Duke,

 “Excuse me, is my friend Jack, who was injured at that time, okay?”

 The Duke narrowed his eyes for a moment as if recalling something, then nodded his head.

“I forgot to mention. The child who was found collapsed at the daycare center has woken up safely. Their physical condition has also fully recovered.”

I breathed a sigh of relief and felt genuinely grateful for the news.

I waited for the Duke to continue speaking.

“…”

“….? 

However, he didn’t have much else to say.

It was strange.

He must have said that he had talked to Jack, who had saved Diana, about whether he had any intentions of coming to the duchy.

As I stared at the Duke in confusion, he said, “Ah,” as if he had just realized something.

“The Knights said he asked for your safety as soon as he opened his eyes. They said that he was fine.”

Feeling confused, I shouted in dismay as I watched the Duke close his mouth again.

“Jack will become a great knight!”

“A knight…?” the Duke asked, puzzled by the sudden comment.

Realizing that I didn’t have enough evidence to support my statement, I quickly added, “Jack is the tallest and strongest in the orphanage. He trains every day without fail, and even when he’s hit by the director, he endures it until the end without crying…”

The Duke remained silent.

“…”

“Once you see it, you’ll know…”

Instead of answering, the duke looked at me with his calm blue eyes.

Feeling intimidated, I avoided his gaze and began to think about how to persuade him.

That’s when it happened.

“I understand.”

A calm voice rang in my head.

Surprised, I lifted my head and saw the duke smiling at me.

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Translator Note:

This chapter was translated by Bree.

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