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

“Your Excellency, the elders have all gathered in the conference hall.”

At the aide’s words, Duke Elard, who was looking at the documents in the office, stood up.

It was dark under his eyes because he had been staying up all night for the past few days to conduct a thorough investigation.

“It must have been a while since all the heavy-assed people gathered.”

“Everybody’s going to be busy trying to figure out what’s going on. 

“Except for the chairman, of course.”

The aide lowered his head at the tone mixed with ridicule.

There was no answer, but the Duke could easily anticipate the appearance of Count Valerie, who would be rampaging into the meeting hall.

The second son, Sid Valerie, was suddenly imprisoned and even called a council of elders, so his stomach must be boiling because of his personality.

Rather, it was better not to attack right away.

Because that guy always looked at me as a kid and a half duke.

“I’m sure he thinks he’s been beaten up.”

We’re just getting started.

Duke Elard, Dominique, coldly sneered as he passed the long hallway lined with portraits of successive family heads.

His father, the previous duke, was an incompetent man.

After several failures, he began to depend on the Senate for everything and eventually gave up on everything completely.

Eighteen-year-old Dominique, who had just come of age, went to war, won the victory, and willingly became the Emperor’s sword to succeed the title by driving out the Senate and incompetent father who controlled the ducal family.

After becoming a terrifying existence known as the “Cold-Blooded Vampire of the Empire, he had survived fiercely, and with the approval of the Emperor, he was able to strip the title of Duke from the ancient Duke’s family with the help of the deeply connected Belus Grand Duke and Diapel Marquis.

However, he could not uproot the influence of the entire aristocratic faction, which had spread throughout the entire Duke’s family.

More precisely, due to his conflict with the aristocratic faction over his own soul matters, he could only retreat.

“

“Your Excellency, the Duke has arrived.”

After walking through a long corridor, the door of a huge conference room finally opened.

As the duke entered, the elderly men sitting around the long oval table stood up and bowed.

Most of them still harbored resentment towards the duchess, but they were people who had shown respect and loyalty to Dominique Ellard, who had governed the duchy so well for over ten years.

However, a minority of the elders still harbored resentment towards having their influence suppressed.

They were Valerie, the Count who had once tasted the flavor of power while manipulating the Duke, and those who followed him and could not forget the experience.

“Please be seated, everyone.””

As the Duke spoke and took his seat on the dais, Valerie, the chairman, slammed the table and shouted.

“Your Excellency! Why have you imprisoned my son, Sid Valerie, who is also the proud vice-commander of the Lexion Knights, in the underground dungeon of the Duchy?!”

Although it has not yet officially announced, he spoke with conviction, causing the Duke to narrow his eyes.

“The Chairman seems to be interested in internal affairs of the Duchy.”

“…”

“You still have a hot temper.”

As Count Valerie flinched under the Duke’s characteristic cold expression and gaze, the Duke gestured with his chin to Taze, who was guarding the door.

The moment when Baron Valeri was about to say something, feeling uncomfortable about Taze, a commoner knight who was trusted by the Duke as well as his son, the door to the conference room was suddenly flung open by a grim-faced Taze. The knights of the Lexion Order entered the room with the bound Valerie in tow, kneeling before the Duke’s presence.

Elders, including the shocked Valerie, were taken aback by the scene unfolding before them.

“Count Valerie?”

“What is the meaning of this?!”

Despite the outcry of the elders, the Duke realized that everyone had trusted Sid Valerie for a long time, regardless of their status, including himself, who had served as his lord and fought alongside him.

If he hadn’t trusted him, he wouldn’t have given him the position of vice-captain and wouldn’t have let him teach his son.

“This is outrageous! How can you treat an honorable knight like a criminal just because of a young commoner girl?!”

Count Valerie shouted, his neck turning red with anger.

The conclusion reached after trying to uncover the cause behind his son being imprisoned in the underground prison through the information network planted in the Duke’s mind was that a mere commoner girl had information that could shake Sid Valerie, and even Count Valerie, to their core.

He never expected that a mere commoner girl would hold such information, and his emotional reaction was due to this unexpected revelation.

“The captain doesn’t seem to understand, even though I warned him earlier.”

The duke narrowed his eyes as if tired of the baron’s complaints.

“And as for being an honorable knight… Sid, Valerie, tell me yourself. Are you really an honorable knight who has upheld the knight’s oath?”

“Your Grace, what are you talking about?”

“Count Valerie, if you say one more word here, I won’t let it go.”

The sharp tone of the Duke made the count flinch and close his mouth.

“I’ll ask you again. Are you really an honorable knight?”

“…”

Despite the Duke’s repeated questioning, Sid Valerie, who had been kneeling in humiliation, remained silent.

The man who had shown more loyalty and reliability than anyone else in front of the Duke until now only glared at the ground with bloodshot eyes.

“I see you have nothing to say, even if you have a mouth. Taze, you say it. What is a knight?”

“I am a person who is loyal to my lord, protects the weak, and upholds honor.”

“Then is Sid Valerie, do you know a knight?”

“That is…”

Taisez pursed his lips and bowed his head.

The sharp gaze of Count Valerie was intimidating, but it was not easy to insult someone who had been the deputy commander of the knights with his own mouth.

“Your Grace, I understand the situation roughly. Lord Valerie may have been angry because he did not fulfill his duties as a knight. However, it seems a little too much to me….”

One of the close aides of Count Valerie, who dared to speak up in the brutal atmosphere, closed his mouth under the stern gaze of the duke.

“Too much? Even if you’re not a knight, do you think it’s right for you to oppress the weak unilaterally just because you have a lower status?”

“…”

“Very well. Then, from the perspective of someone loyal to the Elad Duchy, how do you view this?” 

It was when the elders were looking puzzled at the sudden remark.

One of the knights who had been pressuring Seed Valerie stepped forward and spoke up. 

“I believe everyone here knows about the great trouble Miss Diana went through not too long ago.”

“Well, isn’t that because the guy in charge of her protection didn’t do his job properly?”

As Count Valerie suddenly raised his voice as if he had something to say, the knight continued speaking.

“That day, the vice-captain ordered us, who were in charge of the secret escort, to stand by. Your Grace had entrusted the guarding to the Sedian Knights, so we didn’t need to guard Miss Diana until the next command was given.” 

“What, what did you say?”

“After the young lady disappeared, His Highness firmly requested that we do not say anything that could defy his intentions,” the knight said, and the other knights behind him nodded in agreement.

“How funny. A person who casually uses a title takes care of my feelings.” the duke snarled.

“But if you truly didn’t want to go against His Highness’s intentions, you shouldn’t have ordered Taze Seydian to step down from his post as the young lady’s escort,” the knight suddenly raised his voice.

“….!”

Members of the council and count Valerie finally understood the full extent of the situation at the sound of the ringing voice.

Clang!

In the blink of an eye, the count ran towards his son and slapped Sid Valerie’s cheek, screaming in anger.

“You, you crazy bastard! How dare you play with the safety of the young lady? Are you still the son of the Valerie family who remains loyal to Elard Duchy after doing this?”

Then he bowed deeply to the Duke and said,

“Your Excellency, he is no longer my son! It was my own doing, please do not doubt the loyalty of our family.”

“Oh? So was it also Sid Valerie’s personal deviation that most of the funds used to purchase the mine a while ago came from Lexion Knights’ budget?”

“…. What?”

Surprised by unexpected words, the count, who had been puffing smoke out of his eyes for a while, opened his eyes wide.

“It’s unnecessary to say anything else, you can confirm it yourself.”

The aide, who had prepared the report in advance, placed it on the desk with a scary expression as soon as the Duke finished speaking.

It was a document that detailed the process of how Lexion Knights’ budget had flowed into Count Valerie’s hands and the secret ledger found in Sid Valerie’s residence.

There were clear traces of buying mines and land, and creating hidden assets.

“Ha! Embezzlement, is he crazy?”

“The chairman didn’t expect this.”

“Whether we are people who live with the honor of being loyal to the Elad Ducal family…”

The elders, who even checked Count Valerie’s seal, quickly made up their minds.

It is an outrageous claim to say that Count Valerie had no involvement in the matter. Count Valerie, who had no other choice but to keep pushing forward, urgently knelt down.

“Your Grace! As a family that has supported the Ellard duchy, the Valerie family has devoted their lives and loyalty for many years. Although we made a mistake out of greed in a moment of weakness, please forgive us just this once…!”

The white-haired Count begged desperately to his son’s liege lord, but Ellard was the person who had even unfeelingly dismissed his own father-in-law.

“After this moment, I will strip the Valerie family of their noble status. Wait for punishment as a criminal.”

“Your Grace, please have mercy! Aah! Can’t you let this go!?”

Despite Valerie’s desperate cries, he was eventually dragged out by the knights.

The elders who witnessed his downfall were speechless and swallowed their saliva in silence.

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Translator Note:

This chapter was translated by Bree.

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