Youngest on Top - Chapter 264

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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 264

* * *

The Fathers and the Artemia Priests were in complete chaos.
Saelika eventually left them all behind and entered the reception room.
It was impossible to have a conversation with them all present.

“I came all this way to cheer you on, and this is how you treat me—like cold leftovers?”

Ryubik rested his chin on Saelika’s head as he spoke.
Saelika replied with displeasure.

“Cold leftovers? That’s not it.”
“You rejected me from the partner position twice.”
“There were reasons for all of that—ugh, fine. I’m sorry. Once the coronation is over, I’ll show you around the capital.”
“A full day, the way I did for you every time you came to Bennayser?”
“Yes, yes, I get it.”
“You promise?”
“I promise.”

Ryubik hooked his finger around Saelika’s and grinned widely.
When their eyes met, Saelika smiled back at him.

‘…So she really doesn’t mind. Physical contact like this between us.’

Ryubik’s smile turned bitter.

In the Kingdom of Bennayser, the Artemia Temple held a status equivalent to the state religion.
As such, he had seen Saelika consistently since childhood.
Over all that time, they had become familiar and intimate with each other.
Yes, they were close.
Just that.

“Ryubik?”

Saelika gazed at Ryubik with a puzzled expression.
Worry seeped faintly into her large, sky-blue eyes.
She had noticed that something about Ryubik’s demeanor seemed off.
Even though he hadn’t shown it at all.

‘…In the past, I would have been satisfied with this much. But now—’

This wasn’t enough.

‘Of course it isn’t. I saw that kind of reaction right before my eyes.’

The image of Saelika’s face, flushed crimson and flustered, came to mind.
A tender light flickered in Ryubik’s eyes.

“Hmm, I’m curious about this system that you teach directly as well.”

Decaren interjected between the two of them.

“Your Highness Decaren, didn’t we go to the plaza together last time?”
“That was to discuss matters concerning the kingdom’s temples.”
“You’re being too much, Saelika.”
“Right. You haven’t gone anywhere with us.”
“But you went with this muscle barbarian.”
“Your Highnesses said you were more curious about the temple branches than the system.”

Kaishurit watched the scene unfold with narrowed eyes.

‘When did those guys become so close?’

Of course, the princes had been at the system for quite some time now.
He knew they spent time with Saelika whenever they had the chance.
Though Saelika was so busy that she rarely made time for them.

‘Even so, there’s no reason they should be that close.’

“Well then, Your Highnesses should head back for now. I’ll contact you later.”
“You’re waiting? Keep your promise.”
“Has Ryubik been fooled his whole life?”

Saelika sent the princes away.

‘…As expected, Sae is fine. The problem was those fools clinging to her.’

Kaishurit felt his mood improve.
That was when it happened.

“We made a covenant to share influence, yet it seems to be utterly disregarded.”
“It’s not influence, just conversation. Isn’t Your Majesty simply weak with the common tongue?”
“Well, meet with me separately sometime too.”
“Why does Your Highness Tarasius wish to see me?”
“…My younger brother wishes to see you.”
“Oh, of course!”

Saelika nodded readily without hesitation.
Kaishurit furrowed his brow.

‘She just nods right away like that?’

His mood soured again.

Once the dragon-kin and elves departed, the young girls withdrew with mysterious, tittering laughter.
Only Kaishurit and Saelika remained in the reception hall.
Kaishurit spoke to Saelika.

“Are you a flirt, Sacred Maiden?”

Saelika stared at the suddenly irritable Kaishurit with an exasperated expression.
A flirt, of all things.
Somehow, hearing it from Kaishurit rather than anyone else made her feel even more wronged.

“Who are you calling a flirt?”
“What about those princes from earlier?”
“They all want to establish temple branches in their respective nations. I’ve been discussing various matters with Ryubik.”
“Ryubik? You must be quite close. Yet you call me Crown Prince every single time.”
“No, that’s—.”
“And as if that weren’t enough, now you’re seducing elves and dragon-kin too.”
“Seducing?! Who are you making sound like a shameless woman…! I’ve never even dated anyone, let alone had a romantic interest!”

I’ve never flirted with anyone.
At those words, Kaishurit’s mood brightened instantly.
So absurdly quickly that even he found it ridiculous.

“Hmm, so you’ve never flirted with anyone at all.”
“Well, I was just so busy.”
“…Wait.”

A sudden thought made Kaishurit pause.

“There must be at least one person, right? Really, not even one?”
“Are you teasing me right now?”

Saelika’s cheeks flushed with indignation.
Her upturned eyes were filled with resentment.
Kaishurit leaned his body toward her.

“Think carefully. There must be one.”
“….”
“Just one person.”

As Kaishurit’s face drew close, Saelika’s vision began to spin.

‘Why does this man smell so good.’

Thump, thump.
Her heart showed no signs of calming.

“W-well, Your Highness the Crown Prince, what about you!”
“Of course I have one.”
“…!”

In that instant, Saelika’s expression crumbled.
Kaishurit grinned wickedly and spoke.

“I’ve been flirting with just one person all along—someone pure-hearted and devoted to a single love.”
“….”
“You know who it is, don’t you?”

As I whispered, Saelika’s face flushed an even deeper crimson.
As if it would burst if touched even lightly.

Kaishurit’s gaze darkened to a dangerously intense degree.
Even when I had told her not to make other men confused while claiming to like me, Saelika’s reaction had been indifferent.
But this reaction was something else entirely.

“Think about it carefully.”

His breath brushed against my ear.

“Y-yes, I will!”

Saelika sprang to her feet.
And she pushed Kaishurit out firmly.

“Then please go now! I’ll see you at the coronation!”
“Sacred Maiden—”
“Goodbye!”

Slam!
As I closed the door, my breathing grew ragged.
Saelika slid down the wall and collapsed.

‘Oh no…’

For some reason, the fact that I had been touching Kaishurit was so unbearably distracting.
Everywhere he had touched me, my heart seemed to race wildly.

‘This has never happened before.’

“If something like that happens, it’s definitely heart failure.”
“Right, I need to isolate myself from the cause of the heart failure and rest.”

That’s what Ilay and Edmund had said.

‘…Could it be that I actually like Shuri?’

Saelika hung her head low.
Even her ears burned hot.

‘This is ridiculous.’

* * *

A dark night.
Rashka, the wolf-kin, gazed up at the moon shining solemnly in the night sky.

“What’s wrong?”

Rashka wasn’t startled by the voice from behind him.
Thanks to his keen senses, he had long since detected the presence of Reks and Paffenpa.
Rashka spoke.

“…Isn’t it strange?”
“What is.”
“For Saelika to be a minion of the Demon God, the actions she displayed in the stadium…”
“Her goal is to seize the position of High Priestess that originally belonged to Amelia. Of course she’d put on that much of a show.”
“A show? That?”

Rashka clenched his teeth.

“I saw it. The moment she came inside that day, Saelika collapsed. She was holding on. By any means necessary.”
“…”
“She sacrificed her own body to protect people, and you call that a show? Isn’t it the opposite?”
“Deception is what the filthy Demon God’s proxy does best.”

Paffenpa, the sheep-kin, spoke firmly.

“If humans are already deceived, I never expected Lord Rashka to fall for it as well.”
“…But if the accusations against Lady Amelia are true, then rather—”
“I cannot hear this.”

Reks cut off Rashka’s words.

“Have you forgotten? Amelia saved our beastkin. She grieved so deeply that she couldn’t save more because of Saelika. Meanwhile, Saelika invaded us.”
“….”
“Above all, the power I felt emanating from Amelia.”
“…!”
“Isn’t it identical to the power I felt when the revelation descended?”

Reks fell silent.
Yes, since coming to the Empire, there had been unsettling aspects regarding Amelia, but this one thing he could not deny.
That power was unmistakably the power of a savior.

It was then.

“I wondered where that foul stench of filthy beasts was coming from.”

A cold voice rang out.
Turning around, I saw elves regarding the beastkin with contemptuous expressions.

“Hmph, as if you creatures reek of grass and vegetation.”

There was only one forest this dense in the vicinity of the capital.
Since both the elves and beastkin felt more at ease in nature, this encounter was practically inevitable.

Nemus spoke to Reks.

“Disappointing. I never thought one bearing the crimson seal on his back would lack such judgment. To side with such a deceiver.”
“Nemus, have you grown old? Haven’t you elves continued to await the master of the World Tree?”

The master of the World Tree.
At those words, Nemus fell silent.

Why wouldn’t he?
We still wait even now.
And we shall wait forevermore.
Until this breath leaves us.

“Yet you side with that contemptible woman who cast Amelia into disgrace?”

Reks’s eyes flashed with intensity.

“I sense the same power dwelling within the World Tree in Amelia’s divine energy…?”
“…!”

The Elves’ expressions hardened.
It was a fact Wiridian had known since he first came to the Sanctuary.
Yet it was also a truth he had turned away from after coming to know Saelika.

Reks spoke.

“Shouldn’t you be the ones reconsidering your choice?”

* * *

The sky was brilliant.
It was a day without a single cloud.

“It must be because today is our Sae’s coronation ceremony.”

Randel spoke with a smile.
Kaiser added to his words.

“They say it’s already becoming difficult to control the crowds.”

The High Priestess coronation ceremony was the final trial to be conducted as a High Priestess.
It was the moment to announce to the various gods that she had become their representative, the High Priestess, and to receive their recognition.

‘Well, it’s a formal procedure, but…’

If the gods were going to reject her after selecting her, why would they have gone through the trouble of holding a selection tournament?
The reason they held a selection tournament was that a Sacred Maiden with the support of many people would gain stronger power and become a High Priestess.

After finishing my preparations and stepping outside—

“Saelika!”
“The High Priestess!!”
“High Priestess, bestow your blessing upon us!!”

People had gathered from the Artemia Temple Sanctuary branch, far from the coronation venue.
And among them, Shuri extended his hand toward me.

“My Sacred Maiden.”
“…Your Majesty.”

For some reason feeling bashful, I carefully placed my hand upon Shuri’s.
My heart raced wildly.
Somehow, the cheers from those around us grew even louder.

The coronation ceremony proceeded under the direction of our High Priest.
Soon after, a gate materialized between Shuri and me.
Entering this gate together with my partner and receiving acknowledgment from the gods was the most crucial ritual.

“Are you ready?”
“Yes.”

I took Shuri’s hand and crossed through the gate.

“Wow…!”

An exclamation escaped my lips unbidden.
A breathtaking vista unfurled before my eyes.
The space woven from sacred power manifested landscapes impossible in reality.

“Ah….”

I felt the abundant presence of Artemia.
I closed my eyes and savored that presence.
It was profoundly comforting and warm.

‘Did I… do well this time? As Artemia’s Sacred Maiden?’

The gentle breeze felt as though Artemia herself were praising me.
When I opened my eyes again with a smile.

“…!”

Shuri’s face was inches from mine.

“Y-Your Highness, the Crown Prince?”
“It’s just the two of us in this world.”

At those words, I suddenly became acutely aware of our current situation.
And simultaneously, a sense of wrongness.

“Wait— doesn’t something feel off?”
“I don’t think there’s anything strange about us being together like this.”
“No, that’s not what I mean.”

I turned my rigid gaze around the surroundings.

“…Turbid energy?”

The moment I recognized it, the space began to distort.

‘This can’t be happening!’

This place was a space composed entirely of pure sacred power.
With turbid energy seeping in, the space could only collapse.

‘But how did turbid energy even enter this place? It’s impossible!’

No.
There was an existence capable of making such a thing possible.

‘If it’s Misa, then it’s possible…!’

The back of my head tingled.
Was Misa really going this far to interfere with me?

‘…Amelia used the power of a high-ranking demon when she dealt with the abyss.’

That wasn’t all.
She even mixed Misa’s aura into Shuellina’s body.
A thought I had buried surfaced—the one I had dismissed because Misa seemed unaware of Amelia.

‘Did he really help Amelia?’

Everything spun.
I struggled to maintain coherent thought.
Before my eyes, Amelia’s smiling face wavered.
That familiar gentle expression, that pitying smile directed at me.

‘Familiar…?’

I lifted my head.

‘Ah.’

This wasn’t the present Amelia.
It was Amelia from the past—before the regression.
Even knowing that, I couldn’t move.

It felt as though murky energy was strangling my breath.
No.
Not murky energy—Parmanase’s divine power.
Just like before, Parmanase’s divine power burrowed into me, shredding my soul piece by piece.

The Parmanase Priests laughed wickedly.
Consider it an honor!
You’ll exist as a living battery for the Sacred Maiden!

‘It hurts.’

“Sacred Maiden!”

‘It hurts, it hurts, it hurts!’

“Saelika!”
“Gasp!”

A warm, solid body pulled me close.
As if to tell me this was reality.
And in that same moment, the illusion that had filled my vision shattered away.

Thump, thump, thump.
The repeated rhythm of my heartbeat.
With each pulse, the heightened senses that had been on edge gradually stabilized.

I slowly lifted my head.
Shuri was gazing at me with an expression I had never seen before.
As if angered— or perhaps more than that, sorrowful….

I could not help but understand.
That vision was not something only I had witnessed.
Shuri had also seen my past— the version of me before the regression!

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