Youngest on Top - Chapter 273

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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 273

* * *

Roiland Prince had awakened.
Though that’s what they said, the true meaning behind it was likely—.

‘He can speak again!’

The fact that Roiland Prince had been confined with aphasia was not something to be openly discussed.
It was known that Roiland Prince had been in poor health since childhood and was convalescing at a separate palace in the south.

My suspicions had been correct.
A secluded palace that Grizelda’s maid had guided me to through a secret passage.
There, I found Roiland Prince.

“Don’t… cry… sister.”

Speaking aloud with his mouth open.

“Roi…”
“Don’t cry…”

Princess Grizelda held Roiland Prince’s hand tightly, tears streaming down her face endlessly.
Her entire attention was focused on Roiland, so she seemed unaware that I had entered.
It was Roiland Prince who noticed me first.

“Tes… sa…?”

At those words, Grizelda turned her head.

“Oh, I’m sorry. I didn’t realize I had called you here.”
“It’s fine. But… where is the Emperor?”

The only people in this place were Grizelda and her attendants.
Grizelda spoke calmly.

“I haven’t told him yet.”

Though I spoke as if it were nothing in front of my younger brother, I could sense the anxiety beneath his words.

‘After all, the Emperor is the one who imprisoned Roiland.’

I decided to ease Grizelda’s greatest concern first.

“Prince Roiland is in good health.”

As I finished my examination and spoke, Grizelda’s expression brightened noticeably.

“What a relief. Truly… Oh, Roiland. This person here is Sacred Maiden Saelika from the Artemian Temple. She is a Grand Sacred Maiden, no less.”
“A… Grand Sacred Maiden?”
“Yes. You wouldn’t know, but she has helped you greatly all this time.”
“I know.”

Grizelda faltered at Roiland’s words.

“You know?”
“Yes.”

Roiland nodded slowly.
Then he began to speak gradually.

“I… was trapped for so long. It was terrifying, freezing, exhausting, and agonizing. No matter what I did, I couldn’t escape.”

What Roiland was describing was a past I had also witnessed.
The past that repeated endlessly within Roiland’s heart.
The moment that caused Roiland to lose his voice.

“Then an angel… the Sacred Maiden appeared to me.”
“Sacred Maiden Saelika?”
“With another angel. She looked remarkably similar to the Sacred Maiden.”

At those words, a dialogue window appeared before my eyes.

Enrik: Haha, youngest, people say we look alike, don’t we?

‘Please don’t say something so unpleasant.’

Enrik: I’m, I’m even more upset now?!
Enrik: Really, completely terrible!
I don’t like it at all! Absolutely not!

‘…Alright. What does anyone care?’

Why was he so worked up?

‘But the fact that Enrik and I appeared….’

Enrik’s blessing on the statue had been showing happy memories from the past.
It seemed the blessing had been strengthened when it met my divine power.
For Roiland, it had been a good thing.

“Whenever I was afraid and alone, both of you would appear for me.”
“You both comforted our Roi.”
“The angel comforted me, and the Sacred Maiden….”
“Yes, yes, and the Sacred Maiden?”
“With her fists….”
“…Fists?”

Grizelda’s expression became subtle.

“She destroyed everything around her.”
“….”
“….”

Grizelda looked at me.
I deliberately averted my gaze from hers.

“Every time the Sacred Maiden swung her fists, all the spaces that had confined me shattered and crumbled. The happy memories filled those empty spaces.”
“….”
“Memories with my sister. That’s how I found the courage.”

Enrik: Wow, our youngest only uses violence even within blessings.
Enrik: Though in the end, it was still a blessing. She made that child happy, after all.
Enrik: Blessing (physical), Purification (physical)

‘Be quiet.’

I was just pouting when it happened.
Roiland Prince spoke to me.

“There’s something I need to tell you.”

* * *

After finishing our conversation.
I was guided through the secret passage just as I had been when entering.
There was no benefit in being discovered coming and going from the confined prince’s palace.

“It seems the imperial palace has quite a lot of secret passages.”

As I spoke while observing the paths branching in multiple directions, Grizelda’s maids nodded.

“Yes, there are secret passages like these known to our attendants, but there are also passages known only to the imperial family. And passages known only to the Emperor himself.”
“Since the palace has undergone repeated expansions throughout the empire’s history, there are passages that were once used but are no longer in service.”
“There must be places that have been completely forgotten.”
“I see.”

The Heavenly Realm has many such places as well.
It was the moment I nodded in agreement and moved forward.
A strange presence emanated from beyond the wall.

‘Is someone else using the secret passage? No, but this is….’

“Sacred Maiden?”

As I stood still, the attendant maids called out to me in confusion.

“…It’s nothing.”

I smiled faintly and continued walking.

* * *

Anakin: Now you’ve resorted to burglary?

‘Burglary? I’m just using the existing secret passages.’

That’s right.
After Grizelda’s attendant maids had graciously guided me out through the secret passage.
I slipped back in alone once more.

‘That presence from earlier still bothers me.’

Enrik: Could it be the royal family or their associates?

‘There was something peculiar about the power I felt.’

Serha: Power?

‘Yeah, it’s not magic, but… there’s this strange sense of discord, I guess.’

The secret passage branched into multiple paths like a labyrinth.
Without knowing the layout, I felt like I’d just wander in circles until I starved.

‘But if I follow this presence, I should be fine.’

As I focused, the presence became clearer than before.
Even the traces of where it had passed.

I held my breath and moved toward it.
It didn’t take long before I could discern what the presence was.

‘What is this? People?’

I saw figures clad in pitch-black masks.

‘What are they holding?’

The masked figures were moving something.
I tried to heighten my senses to discern what it was, but I couldn’t.
As if something was blocking my perception.

‘A barrier is blocking it. Was this barrier the source of that discord?’

I drew out my sacred power in a thin thread.
My plan was to pierce a needle-sized hole through the curtain to sense what lay beyond.
That was when it happened.

“…!”

A presence registered from behind me at the same instant my mouth was covered.
Just as I was about to drive my elbow into the intruder’s solar plexus.

“Shh. It’s me.”

A whisper reached my ear.

‘Shuri?!’

The hand covering my mouth loosened.
When I turned my head, it was indeed Shuri.
He pulled me close against him.

“…!”
“Stay still.”

With those words, voices came from beyond.

“Did you hear that sound?”
“I didn’t hear anything….”
“We should check to be sure.”

Footsteps approached toward us.
Shuri pulled me backward while keeping me embraced, moving slowly.
What had appeared to be a solid wall was actually something we could pass through.

‘An illusion device!’

As befitted a secret passage, such a mechanism was in place.
However, the space within the wall was so cramped that barely one person could fit.

Our chests pressed against each other.
I felt Shuri’s breath against my ear.
The sharp scent of winter.
And the warm scent of the sun.

Thump, thump.
I couldn’t tell whose heart was racing.
Was it pounding from the anxiety of being discovered?
Or for some other reason?

Squeeze.
Shuri’s hand pulled my waist closer.
Close enough that his lips nearly touched my ear.

“…?!”

Startled, I looked at him, but Shuri made no move to release his hold.
Instead, he turned his head and met my gaze.

Thud, thud.
Through the muffled sound of my heartbeat, I could faintly hear footsteps growing distant.

“There was no one there.”
“Really? I was being overly cautious.”
“Well, the curtain is quiet anyway.”

I heard the voices of the masked figures exchanging words from a distance.
Only then could I exhale.

“You were too close.”
“I had no choice. They came right up to us.”
“…Is that so?”

I was somewhat suspicious, but since I was turned away, I couldn’t verify if it was true.
Shuri smiled.

“I understand your curiosity, but it’s best not to touch that curtain. It reacts to even the slightest impact.”
“What’s inside it?”
“I don’t know either.”

Shuri shrugged and continued speaking.

“A few days ago, I noticed something felt off, so I investigated. They’ve been continuously moving something.”
“Moving it? Where to?”
“The Erilaus Altar.”
“…!”

The Erilaus Altar.
The altar at the heart of the imperial palace—the very reason the empire’s system was established in this place.
The altar mentioned in the founding myth itself, where the empire’s first emperor received divine revelation from the gods.

“But I couldn’t determine what they were moving. Special ability users are tricky to read.”
“….”
“Well, if you wanted me to expose them and kill everyone, finding out would be simple enough.”

Shuri added lightly.
The moment I expressed interest, he seemed ready to act immediately.
I shook my head.

“I don’t need to know what it is.”
“Hm?”
“I think I already know.”

The founding myth of vanquishing demons and establishing the empire.
It was humanity’s greatest legend.
The Erilaus Altar stood at its center.
And the sacred relics scattered throughout the imperial palace.

‘These madmen.’

The very act of trying to become a Demon God was insane.
But I never expected them to be this deranged.

‘They’re trying to summon a Demon God to this land?!’

Sacrificing all the lives of the empire itself…!
They truly knew no limits.

But.

‘It’s also a perfect opportunity to settle everything at once.’

“Now that I think about it, we never held that coronation banquet.”

It should have been held on the day of the coronation itself.
But we couldn’t because of the demon attack.

Despite my sudden remark, Shuri didn’t ask anything.
Instead, he chuckled softly.

“Then we should hold it again.”
“It’s the Sacred Maiden’s banquet. I’d like to hold it at the Erilaus Altar, where mythology dwells, but will His Majesty the Emperor permit it?”
“As your partner for the banquet, I cannot simply stand idle.”
“I haven’t even asked Your Highness to be my partner yet?”
“My mistake.”

Shuri extended his hand toward me.

“Would you grant me the honor of being the Sacred Maiden’s partner?”

I placed my hand in his.
Just as he had done before.

“Gladly.”

* * *

Parmanasus Temple, Jedo Branch.

“What did you say?!”

Beatrix furrowed her brow.

“Where is this banquet being held?!”
“At the Erilaus Altar, at the request of Sacred Maiden Saelika.”
“Could it be that our plan has been discovered…?”

Suspicion bloomed within her.
She had taken every precaution to blind Saelika’s eyes, but that rat was no easy opponent.

“That won’t be it. The moment we make even the slightest contact with the veil, we would inevitably sense it.”
“I see….”
“And it’s not entirely strange that the Erilaus Altar is desired for the banquet.”
“Yes, it’s a place steeped in imperial mythology. Wouldn’t the High Priestess wish to hold a banquet in such a location?”
“Given the disturbance at the High Priestess’s coronation, she would want to leverage the symbolic power of the altar.”

It was a reasonable argument.
Beatrix nodded in agreement.
Had she been Saelika, she too would have relied on the symbolism of the Erilaus Altar.

“But what will you do?”

At the Priest’s question, Beatrix lifted her head.

“An invitation to the banquet arrived from the Artemia Temple.”
“What…?”
“Addressed specifically to Beatrix.”
“Ha!”

Beatrix let out a scoff as she took the invitation.
The card bore words written in Saelika’s own hand.

I do hope that Beatrix, with whom I share a long history, will grace the occasion with your presence.

“The presumptuous woman. Now that she’s become High Priestess and public opinion favors her, she acts as though she’s already won.”
“What will you do?”
“Of course I’ll attend. She asks me to grace the occasion. I’ll grace it for her.”

Her crimson lips curved into a smile.
The Parmanase Priests nodded as well.

“Indeed, it will be quite brilliant.”
“To think she chose the Erilaus Altar as the banquet hall—perhaps it works in our favor?”
“Hehe, Saelika’s vanity is aiding us.”

.
.

Yet when the banquet day finally arrived.
Events unfolded in a manner entirely contrary to Beatrix’s expectations.

“Prince Roiland?”

An utterly unexpected figure had appeared at the banquet hall.

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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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