Youngest on Top - Chapter 250

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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 250

Amelia looked at the man in surprise.
His face was familiar.

“You’re… the one who was with Emily—.”
“I’m Ted.”
“Hmm.”

‘A commoner, and doesn’t seem to be bourgeois either. But—’

Amelia’s eyes narrowed.

‘Wasn’t he said to have quite a bit of trust from the Operations Director?’

I had heard Emily mention this man a few times.

“Why does that Ted fellow keep hanging around? What if things go wrong?”
“Don’t worry, Beatrix. He’s been helpful to Amelia since the early stages of the Sacred Maiden Selection Tournament.”
“He could be a spy from another temple.”
“Would I lack that much perception? Do you remember the last mission when Saelika didn’t receive any patronage?”

She was referring to when Shuellina was impersonating the Perardin Noishurael Duke’s daughter.
The Perardin Noishurael Duke had given Shuellina lavish tributes, but Saelika received nothing.
Because of that, how much Saelika was mocked.

In fact, the forces supporting Saelika weren’t just the Duke.
Especially someone like Gerald from the White Pearl Merchant Guild would have easily given gifts worth noticing.
So I was puzzled about that…

“It was all Ted’s doing.”
“That man’s?”
“Yes. Several places sent sponsorship inquiries for Saelika, but Ted blocked them all. That’s why she received nothing.”
“Hmm, he’s quite capable then. People like Gerald or Madame Caitlin wouldn’t have backed down so easily.”
“Right? He’s quite useful, I’m telling you. Above all—.”

Emily grinned.

“It seems he’s taken a liking to you, Amelia.”
“Ah, so that’s what it was?”

Beatrix let out a soft laugh, as if all her questions had been answered.

“It’s only natural when you keep crossing paths with a being from the clouds.”
“There are countless men who fall for our Amelia and try desperately to make a good impression.”

‘His abilities aren’t bad, at least.’

Amelia’s gaze swept over Ted from head to toe.

Tall frame and broad shoulders.
A man whose smile, eyes narrowing softly, somehow commanded attention.
A face you might see anywhere, yet upon closer inspection, absolutely unique…

‘I’ve never been arrogant enough to categorize people and choose my companions based on rank.’

Amelia smiled softly.
It was a refreshing and captivating smile that made every man’s face flush.

“I think there must be a reason behind committing rudeness even while knowing it’s wrong.”
“Ah…”
“Ted.”

The moment she called his name, Ted’s face turned crimson.

A man skilled enough to achieve his desired results even when dealing with major figures like Gerald of the White Pearl Merchant Guild or Madame Caitlin.
Seeing such a man act so innocently before her wasn’t an unpleasant feeling at all.

“Th-thank you, Sacred Maiden.”
“So, shall I hear your reason?”

Amelia gently placed her hand on Ted’s shoulder as she spoke.

* * *

After the mission ended, every single day felt like a storm.
Invitations poured in like mountains, and even sending rejection replies became a monumental task.
Not only the branch temple of Artemia’s order, but believers flooded into the main temple in the east without a moment’s rest.

“At this rate, she’s definitely becoming the High Sacred Maiden.”
“With that amoeba gone, it’s basically just our youngest left.”
“There’s been a ton of talk about whether we even need to do the next mission since it’ll be the final one.”
“Of course! If our honey bun isn’t the top Sacred Maiden, who else could possibly be?”

The girls who had crowded into my room chattered away.
They were all incredibly excited.

“So you’re all just playing around like this?”
“Huh?”
“Roana, you weren’t defending your left side properly when you fought the commanders.”
“Th-that’s because four commanders came at me!!”
“Ah, so next time only three will attack?”
“Ugh….”
“Eddie, no matter how well the other girls are supporting you from the rear, you can’t completely drop your guard.”
“But the girls will do well, so—.”
“What if you get separated from them? Will you suddenly start guarding the rear properly?”
“Ugh….”

The girls fell silent.
My eyes grew sharper.

“Dmitri!”
“I-I fought well!”
“What good is you fighting well alone? If you’re the leader, you need to lead the girls so they can fight well too.”

I crossed my arms firmly.

“What are you doing? Go on, don’t slack off. Honestly, you’re all getting complacent.”

The girls pouted but filed out hurriedly.

‘Since I don’t know what that bastard Misa is thinking, I need to develop the girls as much as possible.’

I can’t afford to lose even a single one.

Ilay approached my side and patted my shoulder.

“Don’t be like that. The kids are just worried about you.”
“About me?”
“You’ve seemed down lately. So they came to cheer you up.”

My heart, which had grown cold because of that insane psychotic deviant stalker, somehow softened.
I know it too.
Lately, the kids have been sacrificing their early morning sleep and training even harder than before.

“If we were stronger, the youngest wouldn’t have had to face that demon alone.”

I saw them rolling around saying that on the way back from dawn training.
I casually poked Ilay.

“What are you doing, Ilay?”
“…?”
“Aren’t you rolling around too?”
“Honestly.”

Ilay chuckled and ruffled my hair vigorously.
Then he left the room.

I stood frozen in place.
A moment later.

‘Good. They’ve all left, right?’

I glanced out the window.
I could see the kids rushing toward the training grounds.
Before long, I could also see Ilay’s silver hair.

‘This is my chance!’

I quickly gathered my things.
Ilay is perceptive and Dmitri has beast-like instincts, so I need to be careful.

* * *

“Ricardo, you rascal!”
“How have you been?”
“Where on earth have you been? I couldn’t find you whether you’d ascended to heaven or descended into the ground!”

Shuri’s subordinates laughed heartily upon seeing me.
They seemed to welcome me even more warmly than usual.

“At least thanks to the young Sacred Maiden, we could get in touch with you.”
“How did you become so close with the young Sacred Maiden?”
“I was startled when she said you wanted to meet her.”

Well, that’s because I am her, after all.

“Come now, Ricardo—I baked a whole batch of cookies for you.”
“I made apricot jam from scratch too.”
“There are blueberry cookies and chocolate chip cookies and raspberry jam cookies!”

I looked at the men with slightly surprised eyes.
I’d always thought they somehow always had cookies on hand.

‘They were making them from scratch?’

The cookies were even shaped like flowers, stars, and hearts.
Imagining these burly men carefully molding the cookie shapes… well.

“Eat up!”
“Why are you so small and thin?”

A hand like a pot lid patted my back with a thud.

‘It’s just like meeting a grandchild as a grandmother.’

The cookies were naturally delicious.
The men smiled contentedly watching me eat heartily.

“How is it? You have all your favorites, right?”
“If you stay with our master, you can always eat things like this!”
“Isn’t it great? You want to stay with our master forever, don’t you? Right?”

‘So she was a grandmother welcoming her grandson-in-law, not her grandchild!’

Now that I thought about it, these men were the ones who had been making such a fuss about fulfilling Shuri’s love!

That was when it happened.

“Why are you all making such a commotion?”

A languid voice drifted from across the way.

“Master!”

The men brightened up.
And suddenly they began to look busy.

“Ah, I should check if there are any monsters nearby.”
“I need to buy some sugar.”
“I should grind some flour.”
“Come to think of it, they released new animal-shaped molds and they were incredibly cute.”
“You mean the ones with tigers, chicks, and rabbits?”

The men scurried away.
In an instant, only Shuri and I remained.
I was utterly dumbfounded.

“Um… hello?”

I raised my hand and laughed.
Honestly, it felt incredibly awkward.

Shuri looked at me and took a large step forward.

“What’s wrong?”
“Huh? What do you mean?”
“Why are you backing away?”
“Me, me backing away? When?”
“Right now.”

His face drew closer in a rush.
Without thinking, I retreated backward again.
Shuri stared at me intently.
With no excuse to offer, sweat began trickling down my back.

“Sometimes I push you away, and you keep coming closer anyway.”
“….”
“You even strip off your clothes.”
“That was to lift the curse—.”
“Touching, groping, teasing.”
“Hey!”

Unable to hold back any longer, I cried out.
Shuri chuckled softly.

“But why are you like this?”
“Well, it’s just that….”

Shuri tossed the question at me as I fumbled for a proper answer, stammering.

“Because I like you?”
“…!”

The casually thrown words sent shockwaves through me.

“Seems like I got it right.”

Shuri laughed with amusement.

“The one who speaks without filter is weak when it comes to this.”

I pouted my lips.

‘That’s right, I’ve lived over a thousand years and never even experienced a hint of romance!’

Either way, Shuri was right.
This wasn’t like me.
Shuri kept pushing that radiant face closer, which unsettled me, but regardless, I had work to do!

“First of all, I!”
“You?”
“I came to check on the seal!”
“So you were worried about me.”
“That’s not it! Last time I saw you suddenly collapse and—.”

Oops.

“So Saelika said it was strange that you suddenly collapsed! That’s why I came. I wasn’t worried at all!”
“You weren’t worried. Not at all.”
“…Well, I wasn’t completely unconcerned. I might have been just a teensy bit worried.”

I watched Shuri’s expression before asking.

“Hey, you’re not hurt, right? I was actually worried. A little bit.”

Shuri, who had been looking dejected, stared directly at me.
I rolled my eyes around before finally speaking.

“Maybe a lot?”
“Ha.”

Shuri leaned his head against my shoulder with a soft thud.

“Does it hurt a lot? The seal seems fine though. Why is this happening?”

I quickly examined Shuri’s body.
Just as I’d seen before, the seal was still holding firm.

‘Completely lifting the curse is… still impossible.’

I’d thought it might be possible now that I’d subdued three formidable Sacred Maidens, but it wasn’t enough.

‘How on earth did such a vicious curse end up being placed on him?’

No matter how much I thought about it, something felt off.
At first, I suspected it was because of the imperial succession dispute.
But judging by the Empress Consorts’ personalities, that didn’t seem likely.

‘Even Shuri is of the true imperial bloodline. He carries the blood of legends. He even has resistance to curses, yet….’

The more I thought about it, the more it became a mystery.

‘In any case, I’ll need to become a Grand Sacred Maiden to make it possible.’

I wanted to ease Shuri’s suffering as soon as possible.
I hoped he could live a complete life, at least as fully as others—just that much.

The changing winds that blow with each season.
The colors of the sky that shift from morning to evening.
How beautiful the flowers blooming in the garden before Shuri’s palace were.
How fresh their fragrance was.

I wished he could feel such trivial things.
And….

‘Would Shuri truly have someone he holds dear in his heart by then?’

“…Why are you like that?”

Shuri’s words snapped me back to reality.

“Why? What do you mean?”
“Your expression looked strange.”
“What’s wrong with my expression?”

I brushed my cheek once, but there was nothing unusual.
I hesitated slightly before speaking to Shuri.

“But you know, Shuri. Could it be that you’re misunderstanding something?”

Shuri’s brow furrowed instantly.
In a flash, the expression that people fussed over as sexy was complete.

‘It’s not my expression that’s strange—his expression is the one that’s more off.’

“What are you talking about?”
“That’s— I sealed your curse for you, didn’t I?”
“So?”

Red and blue golden eyes gazed at me.
For some reason, it was difficult to meet Shuri’s gaze.
I found myself looking down at the ground as I spoke.

“As your body and mind became even slightly more at peace than before, you mistook it for affection toward me— ugh!”

Suddenly, my shoulders were gripped firmly.
Shuri’s face was right in front of me.
I couldn’t read his expression.
It was like when we first met, and also like when we went out for dessert together.

Slowly, his lips parted.

“I like you.”
“….”

So it wasn’t a mistake?
That’s what I tried to say.
But the words caught in my throat and wouldn’t come out.

Shuri pronounced each syllable carefully and distinctly.
As if engraving it into my mind.

“And Saelika likes me.”
“No, that’s….”
“If you and Saelika are the same person.”

The assumption that pierced the truth stole my breath.

Shuri smiled, seeing my face.
It was a languid yet persistent smile.
One that seemed like it would never let go.

“Then we like each other, don’t we?”

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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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