Youngest on Top - Chapter 25

—————
This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
—————

Chapter 25

* * *

My heart raced as I gazed up at the High Priest with eager, hopeful eyes.
Unfortunately, I couldn’t see his face clearly.

‘If I just lifted my head a bit more…. No, I can’t.’

It seemed like I’d be able to see if I lifted my head, but moving felt impossible.
I had squeezed every last drop of holy power to maintain the expansive sacred barrier.

It was a shame I couldn’t see the High Priest’s expression, but I wasn’t anxious.
There was no way he could dislike what I’d done.

‘Didn’t I do well?’

I’d saved all the children.
And I’d even protected the sacred tree.
Surely this proved I was a useful existence?

Maybe… he’d pat my head?
I stole a glance, and our eyes met with the High Priest.
He had lifted his head at some point.

I was startled.
I was certain he’d be smiling….
Why did he have that expression?

“You didn’t do well.”

His voice was rigid and stiff as he spoke.
My heart sank with a heavy thud.

I forced the corners of my mouth upward. Smiling children were loved.
Children who made reckless expectations and then grew disappointed were a nuisance.
So—

“I didn’t do anything well.”

But no matter how hard I tried, the corners of my mouth kept wanting to droop downward.

‘…I didn’t do anything well…?’

Tears welled up in my eyes, blurring my vision.
The pain from the burn wounds came rushing back belatedly.
My nose stung and my lips trembled uncontrollably.
No, I couldn’t.
I had to hold it together.

“Never do this again.”

Why…?
Was I truly useless all along?

Tears streamed down.
My vision blurred further as I watched the High Priest’s face contort with displeasure.
Terrified he might abandon me, I frantically wiped my wet eyes with my blistered hands.
Afraid that the High Priest would leave me behind like this, I quickly wiped my wet eyes with my blistered hand.

“There’s no need to try so hard.”
You don’t need to work hard.

Would I never be accepted, no matter what I did?
Why can’t I be accepted no matter what I do?

Not before the regression.
And…not even now.
No matter how hard I worked, how much I strived….
No matter how hard I try, no matter how much effort I put in, I…

“So don’t do anything at all. The more you thrash, the more pathetic you become.”
“So don’t do anything? The more you struggle, the uglier it becomes.”

Amelia, who received praise and affection for merely smiling.
Meanwhile, I was never enough, no matter how hard I tried.
Meanwhile, no matter how hard I tried, it was never enough.

“I-I don’t… sob… what should I do?”

How could I ever be loved?
I have nowhere else but this place now.
This is where I belong.

“You don’t have to do anything.”

It was the same words I’d heard before the regression—the command to do nothing.

“You don’t have to try. You don’t have to make an effort.”
“….”
“Sae.”

But his tone was different somehow.

“Hic, ugh….”

No matter how many times I blinked, tears kept welling up.
The High Priest’s face grew clear, then blurred, then clear again.
I tried to hold back the tears, but the harder I tried, the worse it became.

When he reached out his hand, I hastily offered him the divine water wrapped in cloth.
Since I was annoyingly crying, I needed to move quickly.

But his hand passed by the divine water and touched something else.
The rabbit doll inside my embrace.
The very doll the High Priest had given me.

“Bunny too, keep it safe.”

I spoke with a hint of embarrassment.
This wasn’t an important object for the Temple.
But it was precious to me.

The High Priest, his fists clenched tight, lifted me up.
It was sudden, yet incredibly gentle.
My cheek was pressed firmly against his broad, solid chest.

To be honest, it was incredibly uncomfortable.
And yet.

‘…It’s warm.’

My tears and runny nose had soiled the High Priest’s chest, but he didn’t seem to mind at all.
He even gently wiped my face clean.

I didn’t know how to respond, so I tensed my body rigidly.
Bani’s ears perked up in my arms.

The High Priest carried me as he walked forward.

‘Where are we going?’

Since the Dormitory had burned down completely, my room was naturally consumed by the flames as well.
Still, the Temple was so vast and suffering from such a shortage of hands that there would surely be plenty of vacant rooms.
He was probably taking me to one of them—

‘…or so I thought.’

We arrived at a room that felt very much in use.
The air inside carried warmth, and the table was piled high with documents.

The High Priest carefully set me down on the sofa.
Light soon began to flow from his hands.
Golden letters carved themselves into the empty air.

A large hand touched my arm gently.
It hurt so much that my body instinctively flinched.

“…Does it hurt?”

I was flustered by his question.
What if he thought I was rejecting his touch?
That’s not it at all.

“I’m fine!”

I spoke with exaggerated cheer, but the High Priest’s brow furrowed.

“If it hurts, you tell me it hurts.”
“….”
“Don’t say you’re fine.”
“….”
“Answer me.”
“Yes….”

I glanced cautiously at the High Priest before adding softly,

“But I don’t dislike the High Priest’s hands.”

He paused, looking down at me.

“Because the High Priest’s hands are medicine to Sae.”
“….”

The High Priest said nothing in response.
Yet the hands touching me became even more careful than before.

Following the High Priest’s touch, the skin that had been bright red and swollen began to subside, as did the blisters that had risen in bumps.
After treating my face, arms, and legs, he turned my body over.

“…!”

A sharp intake of breath sounded from those around us.
The High Priest remained silent for a long moment.

“…?”
“Never do this again.”

When I turned my head to look at the High Priest in confusion, he spoke through gritted teeth.
His jaw was clenched, so I answered obediently, “Yes.”

Soon his hands touched my back.
They had been careful before, but now they were far gentler still.
As if handling something so fragile it would shatter at the slightest touch.

From pouring out so much holy power, I had become completely parched and exhausted.
Randel brought fresh clothes, and the High Priest personally helped me change into them.

Clean and dressed in new garments, drowsiness began to creep over me.
Perhaps the tension was finally releasing.

‘I can’t fall asleep now….’

I blinked hard, fighting against the pull of sleep.
I was spending a rare moment with the High Priest, whom I rarely saw.

I needed to explain how I discovered that Sae was underground, and how I managed to enter. These were things I had to clarify….
Only then would everyone understand and not think I was strange….

“Go ahead.”

Large, warm hands enveloped me.
Soon my head rested against his firm chest.

“It’s alright to sleep.”

A comforting vibration.
It truly felt like it would be okay to rest—.

“This place is safe, so rest well.”

I sank into a deep, dreamless slumber.

* * *

Anatolio gazed at the sleeping child.
Breathing so deeply that no sound escaped, the child clutched the rabbit doll tightly.

The rabbit’s ears were slightly singed at the tips and grimy.
Yet it was in far better condition than when he had first found the child.
How carefully the child had protected it, even while offering their own body to the flames.

“Your Eminence.”

The child who appeared speaking those words.
I was taken aback—this was the first time anyone had made such a bold demand of me.
I had thought this was a child raised with abundant love.

But I was wrong.
Even after discovering treasure and giving it all away, the moment our eyes met, the child’s spirit crumbled and I found myself studying their expression.

Now that I thought about it, from the very beginning, this child had constantly been gauging my mood.
As if being disliked had seeped into their very bones.
Always worried about offending someone, about provoking anger, about being cast out….

What had made you so timid?
How had you learned such an attitude at such a tender age?

“You did well.”

Even at that sparse praise, the child’s face lit up with bewilderment.

“…Will you do Gromon’s hair like that too?”
“Since you’re doing well. If you do well, then with mommy and daddy, we can do it like this.”

Unable to properly ask for a caress, the child awkwardly tousled their own hair.
Then immediately they grew anxious and afraid.

“I’m sorry, I made a mistake.”

Unable to bear that sight, I placed my hand on the child’s head.
It was so small and round that I was startled.

I couldn’t fathom why that clumsy gesture brought such joy.
The child gently stroked the spot where my hand had touched, murmuring “you did well” over and over again.
Like secretly taking out a precious treasure to admire alone.

“….”

It was then that Anatolio understood.
The child’s request for an embrace from someone they’d just met wasn’t because they didn’t expect rejection.
It wasn’t a bold demand for warmth—it was simply stating the means to obtain it.

This child didn’t know how to ask for things.
Though bold in demeanor, what she truly needed most remained hidden behind trembling lips.

Yet whenever I granted her a single wish, she gave me everything in return.
A mere brush of my hand through her hair, and she rushed toward me with all her might.

“I wanna be partners with the High Priest. (I wanna be your partner.)”
“High Priest, do you like mushrooms?”
“…I’ll eat them instead of you…. And Randel will help too….”

The way she ate mushrooms with her face drained pale was as solemn as a hero rescuing a princess.
I couldn’t help but let out a quiet laugh at the absurdity.

“Yeah. Your expressions are fun.”
“Your expressions are always new. I like you. So there!”

One moment she was being reckless.

“Actually, I like Randel more. As much as the sky and earth!”

The next, she stuck out her tongue and pouted.

“Bribe.”

Then, as if it pained her to let something so precious slip away, she handed me chocolate.
She took it back, then gave it again.
It was quite the spectacle.

Her reason for offering the bribe was even more absurd.

“Yeah. I’m gonna become a Priest someday.”
“For what purpose.”
“To be a Priest, I need to be with the High Priest and learn together.”
“….”
“Because I like you, High Priest.”
“….”
“More than chocolate.”

Me? She likes me?
I couldn’t believe it.
What had I done for this child to go this far?
Just because I stroked her head once, merely for that reason alone.

The child followed me earnestly wherever I went.
How exasperating it had been when I tried to protect her from that pervert.

But what was even more exasperating was that I found myself smiling back at her smile.
Looking around, everyone’s faces were bright.
How long had it been since I’d seen them like this?
It felt distant, like a faded memory.

Over the long years of gradual decline, we had all slowly lost our laughter and peace of mind.
It was a shadow that no amount of effort could dispel.

But then this child came, and everything changed.
Laughter became more frequent.
The Priests who never joked began to tell jokes.

“…Sae.”

Anatolio brushed the sleeping child’s hair.

Sometimes she seemed to know everything, and sometimes she didn’t know even the most trivial and obvious things.
That’s why being treated as merchandise or called by numbers meant nothing to her.

I wanted to tell her that it was unfair.
I wanted to tell her it was something to be angry about.
In truth, I was the one most enraged.
For some reason, I couldn’t tolerate everything that had made this child so small.
It felt unfamiliar, and yet somehow…

“…”

Like the soft, round crown of her head resting against my palm now.

Anatoly never left the child’s side.
He simply caressed her head endlessly.
Throughout the night.

* * *

I awoke after six days.
I was startled when I first heard that.

‘As expected, deploying a sacred barrier on such a wide scale was too much.’

Thanks to the High Priest’s treatment, my wounds had healed considerably.
Of course, the shock hadn’t completely subsided, but it wasn’t severe enough to keep me unconscious for six days.
If it had been anyone else, they would have needed multiple rounds of treatment to heal, but the High Priest was truly remarkable.

When I assessed the divine power within my body, it was pitiful.

‘Wow… it’s completely drained. And this is supposedly the state after six days of recovery?’

It was fortunate that the Divine Heart hadn’t cracked.

Just then, the door clicked open.

“Dmitri?”

Dmitri peeked his head through the doorway and his expression crumpled when he saw me.

“You idiot—!!”
“Hello, Sae.”

Ilay, who followed him in, smiled gently and struck Dmitri’s chest with a soft thud.

“Ugh!”

Dmitri clutched his stomach in pain.

“We came right away when we heard you’d woken up.”
“Just a little while ago.”

I startled awake to find Randel sitting beside me.
His face, which had kept vigil through the night by my side, looked rough despite his tenderness.
Of course, even that appearance was handsome.
He was just about to leave to fetch some rice porridge for me to eat.

“Hurry and get up! The fluffy honey bread has completely deflated.”

Dmitri grumbled.
Both of them had come because they were worried about me.
I understood that much.
But—

‘Why is he here?’

Edmund had entered the room and was closing the door behind him.

“Eddie, why are you here?”

When I asked out of curiosity, the boy’s face flushed crimson.

“Who, who said I wanted to come?!”

The boy’s eyes wavered as he shouted.
His gaze fell upon my shortened hair.

Had he come because he felt sorry for me?
As I tilted my head in confusion, Edmund spoke with arrogance.

“You should feel honored.”
“…?”
“It’s glorious to sacrifice for someone more noble than yourself.”

The boy lifted his chin haughtily, looking down at me as he spoke.

“So your efforts for me are only natural, and you should actually be grateful to me instead.”
“You brat, what kind of tone is that to use with Honey Bread?”
“I know I lack manners, but you’ve crossed the line.”

Dmitri and Ilay, both furious, glared at Edmund.
As I tried to stop the two of them, my chest tickled uncomfortably.

“Cough!”

That was the moment.
Edmund moved with blinding speed.
He poured water into a glass and held it out to me.
With both hands, no less.

“…?”

Unsure what this was about, I didn’t even think to accept it and simply stared up at Edmund.
His face flushed as he cried out.

“This isn’t me serving you!”
“….”

I hadn’t even mentioned anything about serving.

—————
This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
—————