Youngest on Top - Chapter 256

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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 256

To be precise, I saw a vision of a soul ascending into the heavens.
Wow, so that’s what ascension looks like.

‘…But this is no time for idle thoughts!’

I didn’t know how to stop an ascension.
Saelika clenched her fists tightly.
She was about to interfere with the ascension through sheer physical force.

Whoosh!
Strong arms wrapped around her.
A faint voice echoed near her ear.

“Thank you.”

A trembling voice, slightly dampened with emotion.

“Thank you, Saelika. …Reyarsha.”
“…”
“I’m grateful.”

Saelika’s arms moved awkwardly before wrapping around the Perardin Noishurael Duke’s back.
His embrace was strangely comforting.
Just like when she had been held in his arms in the past.

“…I’m grateful too.”

Her nose stung with emotion.

“For never giving up on me and continuing to search for me.”

A strong, steady heartbeat.
Firm breathing.
The scent of northern winter.
And warmth.

‘It’s Father’s embrace.’

The father and daughter remained locked in each other’s arms for a long while.
As if trying to fill the void of years spent apart.
Of course, that alone was not enough.
Yet somehow, it was enough.

.
.

‘Ugh, my eyes are so swollen.’

Saelika pressed her warm eyes shut.
Her vision had become hopelessly blurred.
Through the haze, a glossy face suddenly came into focus.

“Me?”

It was Mikhail.
His violet eyes sparkled brilliantly.

“Who am I? Huh? Huh?”
“You’re Mikhail, that’s who.”

Mikhail’s lips immediately pouted.
Demian poured warm water and handed it to Saelika.

“Here.”
“Thank you, Demian.”
“What?!”

Mikhail trembled and cried out.
Meanwhile, Demian set down the water bottle as if it were nothing, completely unbothered.
But it was all visible.

‘Wow.’

A spring-like smile bloomed across Demian’s usually cool face.
Admiral Ekellan chuckled and ruffled Mikhail’s hair.

“Mikhail, a man who obsesses over being called ‘older brother’ really doesn’t seem attractive at all.”
“Is that why I’m doing this? Just to hear you call me that?”
“Wasn’t it?”
“….”

Mikhail didn’t deny it again.
Admiral Ekellan asked Saelika a question.

“What about me, little apple?”
“Uncle Serge.”
“No.”

Serge Echelan shook his head.
His demeanor was so resolute it felt solemn.
And he declared it.

“Father.”
“….”
“….”
“…Who dares call himself my daughter’s father?”

Admiral Ekellan nearly died by the Duke’s hand for making that one joke.

* * *

Inside the darkened room.
Even as the moon tilted toward the west, Perardin Noishurael Duke could not leave the side of his sleeping child.
His gaze never left his daughter’s face.

How long had he longed for this moment.
To find his daughter.
For that child to return home.
To fall asleep in her own bed, feeling safe and at peace.

“…Why are you still looking at her with eyes that don’t quite believe? You’ve been watching for hours.”

At Admiral Ekellan’s words, the Duke answered softly.

“She might disappear.”

After it was revealed that Saelika, not Shuellina, was the true Reyarsha.
Saelika immediately said it was fine.
But it couldn’t possibly be fine.
Such a thing shouldn’t be resolved so simply.

“I thought I needed to make endless efforts to open this child’s heart.”

So I gave her all sorts of gifts.
Day after day, I sent gold and jewels, the most expensive dresses and ornaments.
So that when she woke in the morning, she would be surrounded by all manner of precious things.

Because I could only express myself that way.
Because I knew no other way to express myself.

“But I was wrong.”
“….”
“This child’s heart was already open.”
“…Sae always gives chances even to those who’ve wronged her. She constantly finds the good in people who’ve hurt her.”
“Far better than any adult.”

At those words, Admiral Ekellan looked at the Duke in surprise.

“Are you— really Perardin Noishurael?”
“What do you mean?”

The Duke’s gaze turned toward Admiral Ekellan.
It was a gaze utterly different from when he looked at his sleeping daughter—cold and tinged with contempt.
Of course, it had no effect on the Admiral whatsoever.

“I thought you’d say something like, ‘Of course. She’s my daughter.'”
“…My daughter is far more remarkable than I am.”

The Duke’s gaze turned back to Saelika.

“I will never become a source of shame to that child. I will never disappoint my daughter.”

Admiral Ekellan quietly observed that resolute profile.

‘The day that man would say he wouldn’t disappoint someone… I never thought it would come.’

What kind of man is Perardin Noishurael Duke?
A man who had never once thought himself capable of disappointing another—wasn’t that who he was?
For such an arrogant, reckless man to never bow even to the Emperor himself to harbor such thoughts…

‘This is less surprising than it is terrifying.’

But the truly astonishing part lay elsewhere.
Admiral Ekellan spoke into the empty air where no one stood.

“You’re just leaving like this?”

Then, from the seemingly vacant space, figures materialized.
Kaiser and Randel.
Admiral Ekellan let out a soft chuckle.

“I thought you’d turn everything upside down?”
“….”

Kaiser glared at the grinning Admiral Ekellan, his eyes narrowed.

Of course he’d come with that intention.
Why wouldn’t he?

A man who couldn’t even recognize his own blood, who only inflicted wounds—he deserved nothing.
I was worried Saelika might suffer further hurt.
Above all, whether as Perardin Noishurael Duke or as Admiral Ekellan, both were utterly worthless as fathers.
And yet.

‘How could I interfere after witnessing that?’

“…I’m grateful too. For never giving up on me and continuing to search for me.”

Admiral Ekellan spoke with amusement upon seeing Kaiser’s expression.

“Oh? So Kaiser, you’ve finally admitted we’re the most important family to you?”
“Nonsense.”

Kaiser spoke toward Perardin Noishurael Duke.

“Don’t misunderstand. I’m letting this slide today not for your sake, but for my daughter.”
“Ah, ‘my daughter,’ you say?”

Perardin Noishurael Duke responded with a twisted smile.
The gazes of the two men clashed with lethal intensity.
Rumble—CRASH!

That was when it happened.

“Mmm….”

Sensing some strange disturbance, Saelika rolled over in her sleep and whimpered.
In an instant, the violent wind that had been swirling between the four men subsided.
They all froze as if even breathing would mean death, watching Saelika’s every movement.

There was only one person who moved at that moment.
It was Randel.

Randel carefully tucked Saelika’s blanket back around her and gently patted her body.
At his familiar touch, Saelika’s expression softened as she breathed in steady, peaceful rhythm.

“Sae said she wants to grow to three meters tall. She wants to destroy everything as she walks.”
“….”
“Sae is still growing. If anyone dares wake the child, I will execute them in the name of Artemia.”

It was an extreme statement among extreme statements.
Above all, Saelika was an exceptionally light sleeper.
But the men present didn’t point this out—instead, they spoke with deadly seriousness.

“Be quiet.”
“She needs good sleep to grow tall.”
“Even if she doesn’t grow, I’ll destroy everything for her anyway…. But still, my daughter wants to be three meters tall.”

The Duke paused mid-sentence, then continued.

“But my daughter at three meters. That’s a bit….”
“….”
“—Isn’t that dangerous? Should the absolute volume of cuteness in this world really increase that much?”
“The world’s order would certainly be in peril….”

Kaiser, who had been nodding in agreement without realizing it, flinched.

‘How am I resonating so deeply with that bastard’s words?’

Of course, what he said was absolutely right.
But it left a truly bitter taste in my mouth.

* * *

The next morning.

“Youngest!”
“Why are you only just arriving!”
“Do you know how long we’ve been waiting?”

The moment I arrived at the Priest’s residence, the children swarmed toward me.
From the look of them, they’d spent the entire night with their eyes wide open.

“What happened? Why do you all look like you haven’t slept a wink?”

At my words, the children hesitated.
Dmitri spoke in an unusually timid voice.

“I was… worried you might not come back.”
“That’s not possible.”

At those words, Dmitri’s face brightened instantly.

“See! What did I tell you! I said Protagonist would definitely come back, didn’t I?”
“The one who was trembling the most, and now you’re acting all confident…”
“W-when did I ever tremble!”

Feeling caught, Dmitri quickly changed the subject.

“S-so anyway, Protagonist! Are you… are you okay? Your body?”
“Of course.”

I flexed my arm to show them, and a hand grabbed it.

“Why are your hands like that again?”

Edmund clicked his tongue and applied a healing spell to my hands.

“Thanks, Eddie.”
“What. Uncomfortable? Should I unwrap the bandages?”
“No!”

I let out a sharp cry without thinking.

“…?”
“No, it’s just. I think it’s fine to keep them on for today.”

I gently adjusted the bandages around my hands.
That was when it happened.

“Sae.”

I turned at the call to find Randel and Kaiser approaching.
Randel smiled gently and asked.

“Did you have a good time?”
“Yes, what?”

As I looked up in surprise, Randel quickly added.

“At the sanctuary.”

Ah.
I could never lie to Randel.

“Actually— I didn’t go to the sanctuary.”
“I see.”
“But I did have a good time!”

Kaiser placed a hand gently on top of my head.

“That’s all that matters.”

* * *

The children were busy digesting the sacred power that had accumulated within the sanctuary.
I called Ilay aside separately.

“You managed not to get caught by the adults last night? Though I suppose everyone’s been too busy lately.”
“That’s—.”
“Thank you. Ilay really is the best.”

Ilay stopped mid-sentence and smiled sweetly.

“I know.”

I briefly explained what I had witnessed in the beast-kin territory.

“Amelia was there right before the mass slaughter?”
“Yes. And Parmanase’s sacred power lingered heavily there too. The beast-kin think it’s a trace of salvation, but—.”
“It was sacred power that had already been left behind before that.”
“Right. She covered her tracks by pretending to save the beast-kin. But it was impossible anyway. The calculations were already complete once 666 lives and souls were paid as the price.”
“Then—.”

Ilay’s eyes narrowed.

“Amelia performed a ritual.”

I thought the same thing.
But there was something strange about it, like a puzzle piece that didn’t fit.
Ilay said the same thing.

“It’s strange. Amelia is Parmanase’s Sacred Maiden no matter what. So why would she help a demon cross over into the human realm?”
“Hmm, I’m not entirely sure about that either. Misa wasn’t cooperative with Amelia either.”

That was when it happened.
The door burst open and the children came pouring in.

“Protagonist! Did you see this?!”

A newspaper was held in Dmitri’s hands, looking oddly out of place.

“Amelia saved the beastkin! It’s causing quite the uproar!!”

Ah.
The puzzle pieces fit together.
It wasn’t a puzzle that didn’t match.
Just one piece was missing.

“Now I understand why Amelia did that.”

A chill ran down my spine.

“Making others miserable and then saving them—that’s Amelia’s specialty.”

Just thinking about how Demian suffered under the cursed blade in my past life made my chest burn with anguish.
And Amelia, despicably, had “saved” him from that torment.
Even though she had destroyed his life with her own hands!

“Then—.”
“This time, I’ll expose every last detail.”

My eyes gleamed with cold determination.

* * *

-Did you hear? Amelia saved the beastkin!
-Ugh, Amelia’s fanatics are still at it.
-The Grand Maiden selection needs to end already. Then we won’t have to watch Amelia’s supporters acting up.
-They keep spreading rumors trying to push Amelia up any way they can. It’s so exhausting.
-It’s not a rumor! It was in the newspapers!!!
Haha, it was a gossip magazine that turned every rumor into articles.
Leave it alone. They probably want to say something like that anyway. It’s the last desperate attempt of Amelia’s dads lol

The mana forum was ablaze for once.
But it was completely different from its usual fervor.

After the recent mission, most people considered Saelika the Grand Maiden.
In this context, even if Amelia’s good deed was revealed, it would only be ridiculed given its questionable authenticity.

-Actually, wasn’t it Saelika who saved the beastmen? The Asura and Muzik tribes both had connections with Saelika.
Honestly, it’s obvious that you made up rumors following Sae’s achievement ㅠ It’s so pathetic ㅠㅠ You even copied the rumors to make them ㅠㅠ

No one believed that Amelia had saved the beastmen.

But then.

“B-beastmen!!”
“The beastmen really came!”
“My goodness…!”

The beastmen truly arrived in the Empire.

—————
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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