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

“It’s all because of you! I’m doing this all because of you!”

The maid, who was receiving the duchess’s anger with her dripping water, shouted venomously.

“What a crab! Because you’re right next to the duke!”

Lucio looked expressionlessly at the head maid who was making loud noises at her.

She didn’t even need to use the self-made excuse that she had prepared in advance. She must have thought she had already discovered everything, because she was revealing her true face, which the culprit had kept hidden.

“If it weren’t for you, I would…!”

“Did you want to be a duchess?”

Lucio opened his mouth on behalf of his mother, who clutched her breast at the vicious cry of the maid Jean, and his father, who consoled him.

The maid Jean turned her head and looked up at Lucio, as if drawn by her voice.

Lucio looked exactly like the Duke of Elad, whom she had first seen long ago, when she was a humble baron’s daughter.

She would have rather despised him. Although they had been together for several years, Lucio had an indifferent look in his eyes that was just like Duke Elad, who did not even recognize his existence.

“No!It’s not that I was greedy for that position!”

Maid Jean, who shook her head and denied Lucio’s words, spoke with her lips quivering.

“I am… I just wanted to be by the Duke’s side.”

Duke Elad’s face contorted in displeasure at the words, which were like a confession he had kept hidden for decades.

When the head maid saw this, tears welled up in her eyes.

“I knew. How could someone like me stand next to him? Even if I die and wake up…”

But her sorrow was short-lived, and her resentment was again directed at the Duchess.

“But neither are you. There should have been a noble woman by the duke’s side, not a mean woman like you. I was willing to give my allegiance to the Duke if he found someone worthy of him!”

Duke Elad, who had been listening in silence to the absurd words, snorted. But before he could say anything, the Duchess opened her mouth first.

“What kind of woman would come and catch his eye? You would have done the same thing again.”

“…what?”

“Listen carefully. I am the one this person chose. It wasn’t even yours to decide from the beginning. But one thing you said is correct. Even if you die and wake up, you won’t be able to stand next to this person.”

Maid Jean widened her eyes at the Duchess’ words. She was screaming so loudly that her blood vessels had all burst and her eyes were ugly to look at.

Duke Elad said, turning his head.

“Just pull this out.”

With those words, the maid Jean lost her mind.

* * *

Teiz left her room with the maid, Jean, whom he had knocked unconscious. Then the Duchess, who was barely holding on, collapsed into her Duke’s arms and burst into tears.

The duke patted the shoulder of his wife, who had become noticeably thinner in a few days.

At that time, Lucio asked Viscount Bardot.

“Are you really sure you don’t have to worry about your physical condition anymore?”

“Yes. In fact, there is virtually no chance of survival in this type of extreme poisoning, but even if one does survive, the aftereffects are severe. There are many cases where movement becomes difficult or vision is lost. However, if you take good care of your body by removing all the toxins from your body, let alone the aftereffects, you will be able to stay healthier than before.”

Of course, recovering your body won’t heal your emotional wounds…

Still, being alive was important.

Even though he had already heard the story once, the duke laughed out loud at the fact that he still couldn’t believe it.

“That thing called splessia… That was truly amazing.”

When Lia first discovered Splessia through the sponsorship of the ball, she honestly wasn’t very impressed.

Even when lawmakers and pharmacists came together to ask for support for research, it was not because they recognized its value.

It was lightly granted in the form of, “If it goes well, good or bad.”

But she never thought something like this would happen.

“It’s not a legendary herb for nothing. But it’s all thanks to Lia doing her best to create an antidote. If that child wasn’t there…”

She probably wouldn’t have even thought of checking to see if I was poisoned by Splessia, let alone detoxifying it.

Viscount Bardot shook his head at the naturally expected result, and the duke, helpless and almost losing his wife, hugged her shoulders again.

“By the way, Your Excellency, how do you plan to resolve the matter of Lia growing Splessia and creating an antidote?”

Until now, the situation was so urgent that we focused on creating an antidote. But now that the work is somewhat done, she wanted to dig into how Lia achieved this amazing feat.

Viscount Bardot felt a mad passion for learning and curiosity, both as a member of parliament and as a scholar.

“That…”

Lucio narrowed his eyes as he looked at the Duke who was silent as if he was contemplating the future situation.

“Father, the matter is…”

“Do whatever Lia wants. Don’t ask anything, and don’t burden me.”

At that time, the Duchess, who was in the middle of crying, raised her head. Although it was red and wet, the duke also nodded with a more determined look than usual.

It was as if he owed Lia not only his wife, but also his life. Furthermore, family happiness.

So, he would listen to what the child wants to the best of his ability.

* * *

After briefly talking about the maid’s disposition, the Viscount and Lucio went outside.

The Viscount was also overworked from treating the Duchess, so she couldn’t overcome her fatigue and touched her eyes as she went down the stairs.

Lucio, who was ahead, suddenly stopped, startling the Viscount who lightly bumped into his back.

“S-sorry. Little Duke…”

But there was no answer back.

When she looked up and tilted her head, she saw Lucio staring somewhere.

“…Lia?”

Viscount Bardot was surprised to see a small child just coming down the stairs.

The child raised his head as if he heard a sound.

“Ah! Eh. The great master was there too.”

“…”

As Lucio did not answer and just looked at him, the embarrassed Viscount asked brightly.

“I thought she was with the lady, but she’s so busy going somewhere.”

“She said she was hungry so I’m going to get her a snack.”

“Oh my. Why do it yourself instead of calling someone else?”

“That is… Now the deacon has called the other employees together.”

Since she had already mentioned the head maid’s business to the butler, it was clear that he was briefly explaining the situation to the servants.

Viscount Bardot, who thought it was probably an order from the thoroughgoing Duke, spoke on behalf of Lucio, who still remained silent.

“Lia, you’ve been through a lot. I can’t rest properly and I have to take care of the lady right away.”

“It’s okay. It’s my job. And serving her is not difficult at all.”

There was a slight blush on the child’s face as he answered with a bright smile.

It was clear that her child really liked the princess, as much as she was the princess’s rumored favorite.

“Where did such a wonderful and kind child come from? Actually, as you said, you must be the fortune of the Elad family.”

“Oh, no!”

Lia’s face became even redder as she urgently waved her hand.

It was so cute that Viscount Bardot burst out laughing.

“Nope. You can’t be too humble. Do you think so too, Duke Xiao?”

As soon as she finished speaking, Lia glanced at Lucio, even though she was embarrassed.

No matter how determined she was to no longer cling to the approval of others, it had been her goal throughout her previous life. Moreover, she felt like she wanted to be praised, perhaps because she always seemed immature to Lucio.

‘I don’t want to say thank you, but I want to hear things like Thank you for your hard work.’

However, contrary to Lia’s wishes, Lucio spoke to Viscount Bardot with her stern face.

“I’m going to go finish the work, so you can take a break.”

“Yes? Ah, yes.”

Lucio could have said something, but he passed by Lia and went down her stairs.

The Viscount, who was stroking his arm with some unexplained awe, noticed Lia unable to take her eyes off the direction where Lucio had disappeared and smiled sheepishly.

“Come on, let’s go down too. The lady will be waiting.”

“…yes!”

Lia, who had been dazed, responded in surprise. However, Lia, who seemed to be following Viscount Bardot who was leading her, suddenly stopped and fluttered her eyelids.

It was her moment of epiphany.

* * *

Okay.

The maid came to her senses from the water splashing on her face, and her body shivered from the cool energy. However, because her body was bound, she could not move freely.

“W-this place…”

Her breath caught in her throat as she saw the gloomy, dark walls of stone blocking her on all sides.

She had been managing the dukedom for nearly 20 years and she knew of the existence of the dungeon, but this was her first time setting foot in it.

“You seem to have a lot of spare time. She doesn’t even know that poison is spreading through her body.”

At that time, she looked at the maid, Jang, who was looking around her head, and Teiz spoke coldly.

It was at that moment that the maid, Jang, opened her eyes wide and tried to glare at her fiercely. In her eyes, she saw her tall figure entering the prison.

“…Dominique?”

The maid Jean frowned at her quivering voice.

“How dare you mention His Excellency’s name so carelessly. She hasn’t come to her senses yet. Has the poison made you crazier?”

“A few hours left.”

“I used up all the remaining poison I had hidden in my room, so I probably have less than 12 hours left.”

Nodding her head, Lucio looked with disgust at her maid, Jean, who was breathing heavily as if she was not breathing well.

 

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