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

“How did you steal the evidence? How did you know what it was and what the director was doing?” Duke Elrad asked.

“…I accidentally discovered it when I was in charge of cleaning the director’s office. Sometimes there are people who bring children to the orphanage, and after hearing what they said, I learned what happened to the children who followed the director.”

Duke of Elrad stared at Lia in silence for a long time, perhaps to gauge her true intentions.

Lia gulped at the thought of lying to the Duke of Elrad, but tried to be proud of herself. Because the director’s sin and the ledger as evidence were not false.

At that moment the Duke’s mouth opened again.

“You seem to have a pretty bad habit.”

Lia flinched. Since joining the information guild, I’ve lived without guilt over eavesdropping.

Unexpectedly, her face burned red as the Duke pointed it out.

However, the Duke really appreciated Lia.

After all, the director was not a proper guardian, so he had no confidence in him to protect the orphanage children.

To the Duke, Lia seems to be a quick-witted and clever child, and Diana, who’s usually shy, even follows her, so he thought it would be helpful to keep her around.

But unaware of the Duke’s thoughts, Lia sighed inwardly.

Lia thought, ‘The Duke must have been disappointed in me. That’s right, what if he thought I shouldn’t have done it?’

My life has always been like that. There’s no way I can easily win the favor of others so easily.

Although she was a little disappointed, Lia, who recalled her role, thinking, ‘I’ll just put Jack back to his original place,’ bowed her head firmly determined.

So Lia did not see it…

The faint smile that bloomed in Duke Elrad’s lips.

⚝

On the way to the Duchy, Duke Elrad stopped by an inn in a nearby village, as he had said before.

It was in order to feed Diana and have her washed properly before taking her back to the Duchy.

When they got off the carriage, the sun was already setting.

“You’d better wash up first.”

The Duke, who managed to calm Diana, who was whining because she was hungry, sent the two children up to the room first, and then ordered the Knights to guard the door thoroughly. 

In addition, he summoned the innkeeper to wash the children and dress them in temporary clothes.

Soon, two female servants, who appeared to be in their late teens, bowed their heads.

It was a small village, and they didn’t seem like they could harm the children, so there seemed nothing to worry about.

But after a lot of things on his mind, the Duke still felt worried about leaving the children alone with strangers.

The troubled Duke of Elrad called in the only woman among those who were currently dispatched and could be trusted.

“Sir, did you call me?”

“Well, I’m afraid it’s a little late, but thank you for coming all the way here from the Duchy, Count Marietta. Please send my regards to the Archduke as well.”

“You’re welcome.” 

Bianca continued with a heartfelt response.

“I’m so glad we found the princess. If we don’t find her today, the Archduke himself is going to have to make a move.”

“His Highness?”

“Yes, because it’s such an issue that’s…”

As Bianca smiled awkwardly, blurring the end of her words, the Duke of Elrad also shut his lips stiffly.

After a while, Bianca asked cheerfully, as if to change the mood that turned awkward.

“Then why did you call me? Are you going to send me back without even giving me a proper meal before I even get to the Duchy?”

“No way. I’ll treat you to a grand supper when we get back to the castle. More than that.”

Then Duke Elrad pursed his lips unlike usual.

Bianca Marietta was a noble from the Duchy and a proud Knight Commander of the Archduke, although she was below in rank.

Moreover, knowing that Bianca came to the periphery of the Empire without any political reason, Duke Elrad asked politely, 

“I want you to watch over the children while they wash.”

“Yes?”

Bianca, who looked puzzled for a moment, quickly noticed the Duke’s concerns.

She also thought the safety of the children was the top priority, so she gladly nodded and added,

“If you’re really worried, why don’t I cast a cleaning magic on the kids?”

At Bianca’s suggestion, the Duke shook his head.

“The kids must have been unable to wash for a few days, and even if they’re washed several times with water, it seemed that the water wasn’t enough. One or two cleaning magic won’t work.”

At those words, Bianca nodded her head, recalling the untidy state of the children.

As a swordsman and an excellent wizard at the same time, that didn’t mean Bianca was overflowing with mana.

More than Duke Elrad expected, she used up a lot of mana to find his daughter, the young princess, and was a little tired using other heavy magic preventing the mana runaway of the other child.

“Then I’ll keep an eye on the princess and the child. Come to think of it, that’s rather good. There was something I wanted to check…”

“Hmm?”

“No, it’s nothing.”

Bianca shrugged her shoulders with an elusive smile, gave a light salute and headed to the second floor where the children were staying with the female servants waiting.