Youngest on Top - Chapter 170

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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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Chapter 170

* * *

The children had grown lively, as if they’d never known fatigue.

“That thick haze has completely cleared.”
“Is this the same place? It looks completely different now.”
“This is what we did.”

The children fell silent for a moment, savoring the landscape they had created.
Though exhaustion lingered on their faces, their eyes shone like stars.

“Ah! Look over there.”

A jagged horizon carved and erased by golden sand.
Beyond it, the sun was setting in gentle descent.
With the final handful of sunlight, the desert sand gleamed brilliantly like gold dust.

The western sky was drenched in the glow of sunset, enchanting in crimson, pink, and gold.
The higher sky was tinged in violet, and beyond that, the eastern sky deepened into increasingly rich shades of blue.
In that distant east, night had arrived and stars were beginning to emerge in profusion.

A sight visible only in the desert, where nothing obstructed the view.
The children quietly admired the landscape.

During the week of rolling across the desert floor, they had never witnessed such a sight.
The thick haze had been blocking it.

‘Even without the haze, they wouldn’t have had the leisure to appreciate the scenery.’

The children glanced sidelong at the culprit.
Saelika was lost in deep thought, gazing at me.
Her golden hair was tinted red by the sunset glow.
Her round profile was cute rather than wistful.

The children inched their bottoms closer, gradually shifting their weight.
Thump.
As warmth pressed against her back and shoulders, Saelika glanced to the side.

Before she knew it, the children had huddled around her in a tight circle.
Yet they pretended not to notice, their heads tilted back as they gazed up at the sky.

“Why?”

At her question, the children shook their heads.

“Just because.”
“Hehe.”

The children giggled and leaned in with more of their weight.
Saelika’s brow furrowed.

‘So heavy.’

At this rate, she’d be flattened like a steamed bun.
Saelika leaned back against the children in return.

“Ow! You’re heavy!”
“This isn’t a honey bun—it’s a gold nugget!”
“At this weight, we could sell it for a fortune! Should we try?”

The children cried out playfully.
Swaying unsteadily, they eventually leaned against each other and looked up at the sky.

“This is nice.”

No one could tell whose voice had spoken those words.
They were all thinking the same thing.

Saelika felt oddly out of place within it all.
It was like being nestled inside a nest lined with soft feathers.

Hot, stuffy, and crowded.
But.

‘…Maybe it’s not so bad.’

For thousands of years, Saelika had been alone.

‘Only weak angels travel in groups like that.’

—Even in the heavenly realm.

‘Amelia is precious, so it’s only natural that I sacrifice myself in the darkness.’

—Before the regression.

Supporting each other, being supported in turn—it was far warmer than I’d imagined.
Perhaps I too have desperately—

“…missed these children.”

A small voice that escaped without my realizing it.
So soft it was like a breath, barely audible.
But the children responded immediately.

“Really? Our youngest missed us that much?”
“See, Honeybread can’t do without us, can she?”
“Goodness! Still a baby, still a baby. I thought she’d grown up by now, but she can’t manage without her older sister?”

Saelika regarded the children with a reluctant expression.
She’d spoken only one sentence, yet a hundred came back in response.
The children’s cheeks rose toward the sky, quivering
with laughter.

“If I’d known our youngest missed me this much, I would’ve come sooner.”
“Still, we’re better than the High Priest at the temple. When will he ever see our youngest again?”
“Did you know? They say the High Priest wept beneath the moonlight, saying ‘that star is Sae’s star, this star is mine.'”

Suddenly, a ghost story emerged.

“Come on, surely not…. The High Priest scolded the Elders for making a fuss when they got carried away.”

The other children quickly denied the ghost story.
Just imagining it was terrifying.

“But the really petty one was Kaiser.”
“Right. I never thought Kaiser would actually leave the temple like that.”

Saelika tilted her head as she listened to the children’s words.

“How exactly did Dad leave the temple?”
“Ugh, don’t even ask.”
“We were seriously shocked. A grown adult doing something like that….”
“Sae would be terrified if she heard.”

The children clicked their tongues and built suspense.
They seemed to be waiting for Saelika to urge them on impatiently, begging them to tell her already.
Saelika shrugged and asked the person in question.

“How did you leave the temple that the kids are talking about like this, Dad?”

Dad…?
Did she just call me Dad?

My body froze mid-conversation with the children.
Creak.
As I forced my neck to turn—

“…Eek!”

A demon stood there.
Kaiser’s crimson eyes gleamed fiercely as he glared down at us.

‘W-when did he arrive?!’
‘We’re in the middle of a desert?! How much time has passed since he finished the subjugation…!’

No, that wasn’t the important part right now.

‘We’re dead!’
‘If Kaiser’s true nature gets revealed like this, we’re finished!’

The children desperately made excuses.
Sweat dripped from their eyes.

“W-well, how did you leave! You left so magnificently as always!”
“Is it enough that only you were magnificent! How petty! I actually thought that?!”
“Y-yes! Magnificent, and magnificent, and… truly impressive!”
“Yeah, really impressive indeed.”

The children nodded in agreement.

‘He ran away from home just because he missed his daughter so much.’

If that wasn’t impressive, what was?
No one else could pull off something like that.

“…? Father was really that magnificent and impressive?”
“Ahem, I’m not entirely sure myself. But everyone said I was magnificent and impressive.”

Kaiser lifted his head arrogantly before his daughter.

‘A star….’

The Trainee Priests nearly lost their composure for a moment, but quickly laughed it off.
Gulp, terrifying.

There was something more frightening than a reinforced monster within the temple.

* * *

Kaiser wasn’t the only one who came to the desert.
Randel and the other adults, along with the Elders, came to greet them.
It seemed they were worried about the Trainee Priests undertaking such a large-scale subjugation on their own.

The Trainee Priests’ reaction was lukewarm.

“Why did you come? You didn’t need to.”
“I told you not to come because Sae would handle the subjugation on her own.”
“The taint has been purified, so isn’t the subjugation complete? I came to pick you up since you must have worked hard, and—pfft!”
“Are you really here because I worked hard? It doesn’t seem like it.”
“Ahem, Yonseok!”
“Aw, I was planning to have a campfire with the youngest in the desert!”

Embarrassed, they bickered with their respective guardians and other adults.
In any case, thanks to them, we were able to return to the Kingdom of Bennayser without trouble.

The royal palace blazed with light as it awaited our arrival.

“Glory to Artemia!!”
“Congratulations on your victory!”
“Thanks to you, Bennayser has been relieved of great worry.”

A grand victory banquet was held for the exhausted subjugation force.

“Sigh, I was really worried.”

With those words, strong arms suddenly wrapped around me.

“My Elah.”
“Your Highness Ryubik.”

Even at my response, the arms holding me didn’t loosen.
If anything, they only grew tighter.
The trembling in his arms told me how genuinely worried he had been.

“It’s been a while since Artemia decided to undertake the subjugation.”
“I thought I’d be going with you back then.”

Before setting out on the subjugation, Prince Ryubik had come to me armed and ready.
Naturally, I refused.
This was an opportunity to put our children through their paces—I couldn’t take Prince Ryubik along.

“I never imagined you’d actually leave with only children your age.”

Prince Ryubik lifted his head and met my eyes.

“…Honestly, I didn’t expect to worry this much either.”
“….”
“But I was worried.”
“….”
“Enough to want to cross the desert and rush to you right now.”

I nodded readily.

“If Artemia’s subjugation fails, Your Highness Prince Ryubik will suffer considerable losses as well. We’ll need to revise our political strategy.”
“….”

Prince Ryubik gazed at me quietly.
Somehow, it was an unpleasant look.
Like he was looking at a fool….

That was when it happened.

“Saelika!”

Crown Prince Habid came rushing over and clung to me.

“Your Highness, if you cling like that, won’t my Elah sway?”
“Brother, you should let go! It’s hard to balance because of you, isn’t it?”

The two princes glared at each other.
Unlike before, I was surprised by how their formality had vanished.
They seemed quite affectionate.

“It’s like watching Demian and Mikhail.”

At my murmur, Dmitri furrowed his brow.

“Are those two on bad terms?”
“…?”
“Why? Wasn’t that what you meant?”
“….”

What are you talking about.
Demian and Mikhail are the kind of brothers who share cotton candy together.

I was dumbfounded, but Dmitri glared menacingly at the two princes.

“Keep your hands off my Honeybread.”
“That’s right! Get away from our Honeybread!”
“What are you doing to our youngest?!”

The other children immediately joined in.
They tried to pry me away from the brothers.

“How dare you! Saelika will be my consort!”
“What?! Consort?”
“At first we spoke of a concubine’s position, but now she will be my Queen—.”
“A concubine?!”

That outburst didn’t come from the children.
The adults from afar came rushing over with eyes blazing.

“Did he just say concubine?”
“Who does he dare call a concubine?!”
“Crown Prince or not, do you have a death wish?!”
“Will death be enough? We need to shut that insolent mouth first!”
“As expected of you, Uncle!”
“Let’s do this together, my son!”

As if they hadn’t bickered on the way back, the trainee priests and adults moved in perfect harmony.
Seeing the priests and trainee priests approaching with ominous intent, Ryubik shielded his younger brother.

“Surely this is too much, even for a crown prince of a nation?!”
“If you’re a crown prince of a nation, you should know the weight of your words!”

A clash of wills with no room for compromise.
It was as if lightning flashed and struck the banquet hall.

I held my head.
The subjugation ended well, so why does my head hurt?

Enrik: I love beating up the mouth of the disaster that dared call our youngest a concubine!
Enrik: But our youngest isn’t your youngest—he’s our youngest!
Kailros: Everyone must carve into their bones that it is I, Kailros, who truly considers my younger brother family!

‘…This is seriously giving me a headache.’

Enrik: So those guys are the problem after all?
Kailros: How dare they give my brother a headache!
Kailros: That precious head of his barely gets used anyway, so it shouldn’t hurt at all!!
Enrik: For once, you’re actually saying something sensible, brother.

“….”

You two are the real problem!
You two!

* * *

The Grand Conference Hall of the Imperial Palace.
The crystal display board’s lights had already been extinguished.

“We have all come to understand how noble Artemia’s heart is in undertaking this subjugation.”
“There is no longer any need to watch over her secretly as if keeping surveillance.”

This was what the nobles had been saying.
The conference hall was filled with praise directed toward Artemia.
The more this continued, the more the faces of the Tashinjen Temple Priests rotted away.

The Emperor observed the scene with a most intriguing expression.
At this rate, the conference would soon dissolve.
While giving Artemia wings to soar!

‘But if they’re cornered at the cliff’s edge, they should make one last desperate struggle.’

Right on cue, Houston opened his mouth.

“I find myself worried. What if others misunderstand Artemia’s sacred intentions?”
“Misunderstand?”
“What Artemia saved in this subjugation were the people of Bennayser Kingdom and the desert tribes.”
“What you mean is….”
“The reason the public subjugation was first brought up was to verify whether Artemia was colluding with Bennayser Kingdom.”

Excelling at subjugation proved nothing.
Rather, wasn’t the reason I’d subjugated so diligently precisely because I was in collusion with Bennayser?
In the end, none of what we’d just witnessed resolved anything.

The Tashin Temple priests who grasped the hidden meaning were inwardly impressed.

‘As expected of Priest Houston. That scheming mind of his works quite well.’
‘Right after a victory in subjugation. Of course Bennayser would treat us as honored guests.’
‘Especially now that the Artemia Temple has been established in Bennayser.’

A perfectly reasonable reception.
But depending on how one framed it, it could be interpreted differently.

‘So they’re trying to paint that friendly scene as evidence of collusion?’

If the council adjourned now, it would end like this.
The Tashin Temple priests seized the opportunity to turn the tide.

“There’s merit to that argument.”
“After all, what we truly need to verify isn’t the subjugation itself, but rather our relationship with the Kingdom of Bennayser, isn’t it?”

Several nobles expressed reluctance.

“But surely there’s no need to go that far—.”
“It’s to eliminate suspicion. So no further rumors arise afterward.”
“Yes, it’s better for the Artemia Temple as well. Rather than becoming the subject of needless gossip, it’s far preferable to nip suspicion in the bud entirely.”
“…If you put it that way.”

At the priests’ words, the nobles nodded in agreement.

“Then it seems we’ve reached a decision.”

At the Emperor’s gesture, an attendant reactivated the crystal display board.
Priest Houston and the other priests watched the display intently, their bodies tense.

Soon, an image formed on the crystal.
A small child appeared.
It was Saelika.
And—

[She’s my queen!!]

The young boy cried out, suddenly pulling Sae into his embrace.

“That… that is—.”
“Crown Prince Habid of Bennayser!”
“Queen? Did you just say queen?!”
“Bennayser has a tradition of child betrothals.”
“What?! So Artemia abandoned the Empire and conspired with Bennayser?”
“She schemed behind the scenes while serving as the Emperor’s envoy!!”

A political marriage.
There was no clearer declaration of defection than this.

The priests seized this opportunity without hesitation.
They planned to drive the point home that she had conspired with them merely by receiving VIP treatment.
But to catch such a prize fish!

“Your Majesty! We cannot overlook this!”
“Yes! Artemia’s true intentions must be exposed!”
“Her enthusiasm for a campaign with no real benefit was suspicious from the start!!”

The Emperor’s eyes grew cold and sharp.
Houston smiled with grim satisfaction at that gaze.
It was a situation that rightfully warranted the Emperor’s fury.

“Behold, Your Majesty! She betrays you and proceeds with this political marriage—”

[Have I lost my mind?!]

Houston flinched.
That voice sounded as though it were directed at him.
But it wasn’t.

[A crown prince isn’t enough? First a concubine, now a queen?!]
[I’d rather die than hand her over to that bastard!!]
[Why should we die? If anyone dies, it should be him.]

“Wh-what is this?!”

The Temple Priests of Tashinjon stared in bewilderment at the scene unfolding before them—nothing like what they’d anticipated.

In the video, the children stood with their postures deliberately skewed, spitting into their palms with a sharp *ptui*.
They mimicked something they’d clearly seen countless times before, executing it with perfect naturalness.

[Leave this to me. It’s nothing. I’ll just kill him and be done with it.]
[Kill? Nah. My fist and that bastard’s face are just going to become good friends.]
[If you dared to covet our youngest, you’d better be prepared to pay the price.]

“Exactly!!”

At that moment, the Emperor slammed his knee and cried out.
Everyone turned to stare at him with startled expressions.

“How dare you covet anyone! I claimed him first!”
“Your… Majesty…?”

Only then did the Emperor come to his senses.
The nobles were regarding him with awkward, bewildered faces.

—————
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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