Youngest on Top - Chapter 292

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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 292

I stared at Shuri with wide eyes.
He smiled.

“Saelika.”

His voice carried a peculiar resonance.

“My angel.”
“…!”

Those were the words Shuri from my past life used to call me when we were alone.

I suppose I could still be called an angel now.
I could be called a hero as well.
But….

“Shuri….”
“I won’t let you go now.”

“I don’t think I’ll ever let you go.”

Words I’d heard in the distant past echoed through my mind.
Shuri cupped my cheek in his hand.

“Even if you try to leave, absolutely not.”

“Never again.”

His eyes, gleaming with an enigmatic light, held me entirely within them.
Just as they had once before.

What had I said back then?

“Why?”
“Because I’m desperate.”

The same question received the same answer.
Something surged up from deep within my chest.
My nose tingled.

But what emerged was laughter.

“You… you never leave me lonely.”

Just moments ago, I’d thought it was lonely to be the only one remembering.
How did Shuri manage to illuminate my world so brightly once again?

“I was always the one making you lonely.”
“…You’ve never made me lonely. Not then, not now.”
“…”
“Because I met you, came to know you, and could remember you.”
“…”
“I always felt like I was with you.”

His low, measured voice wrapped around my ears like silk.

Even though I had erased all memories of him from my mind.
Shuri did not treat it as if it never happened.
Instead, he called it precious.

Feeling my heart soften, I deliberately teased him.

“So that’s why you never married?”

Shuri faltered.

“From what I hear, countless beauties and talented women from across the continent flocked to you. After all, you’re the Emperor who subdued the calamity and founded an empire.”
“…There wasn’t anyone.”
“What?”
“No one was prettier than you.”
“…”

At his casually thrown words, my cheeks flushed hot.
Shuri tilted his head.
Black strands of his hair slid smoothly across his cheek.

“Because of someone, my standards became too high, and I’ve done nothing but listen to nagging about marriage my whole life. So—.”

A large hand grasped my left hand firmly.
He pressed my hand against his warm lips.
Precisely against my ring finger.

“This time, you have to take responsibility, don’t you?”

Shuri’s eyes consumed me entirely in their gaze.

* * *

A moment later.
The bedroom door opened.

The men who had been pacing nervously in front of it suddenly lifted their heads sharply.
They looked like meerkats.
…Though their builds were quite burly.

“Sacred Maiden….”

The men who had moved toward Saelika flinched.
Saelika’s condition was far from normal.
Her face was flushed red like a ripe apple, and her eyes were hazy.

“Sacred Maiden?”
“…It seems she’s not hearing anything at all.”
“What on earth happened in there?”

The men stared at the tightly closed bedroom door with apprehensive eyes.
What was this feeling of being curious yet not wanting to know?

“…But whenever our master uses her charm, the destructive power is truly incredible.”
“Right, even we who’ve built up immunity sometimes get shocked enough to nearly have a heart attack.”
“…But the Sacred Maiden’s immunity should be formidable too? She lives surrounded by all sorts of beautiful women.”

The priests of Artemia were renowned for their beauty.
It was said that people attended services just to cleanse their eyes.

And what of the princes still hovering around Saelika?
Even the Elves, the beast-kin, and the dragon-kin.

“…Seems like someone who wouldn’t bat an eye at most things. How on earth did you manage to seduce them?”

Curiosity killed the cat, after all.
The men who quietly opened the bedroom door collapsed with internal injuries.

“S-soaked in water, no less!”
“And it wasn’t just water either. She even scattered flowers everywhere…!”
“She’s really pulling out all the stops to seduce them!”

To think that cold-blooded, heartless woman would resort to such coquetry!

* * *

After leaving the Crown Prince’s residence, Saelika gradually came to her senses.
Somewhere along the way, I had wandered through several of the sprawling imperial palace gardens.

‘Ah, I brought so much to give to Shuri but forgot it.’

The treasures I had packed from the Heavenly Realm came to mind belatedly.
But returning felt awkward for some reason.
Saelika looked down at her left hand and paused.

“Come out.”

Having wandered aimlessly, Saelika found herself in a secluded corner of the outer palace grounds.
Naturally, no one was around her, and there was no response.
But Saelika paid no mind and opened her mouth again.

“I know you’re there, so come out while I’m being nice.”

Then the bushes rustled and moved.

“As expected, Darling always recognizes me no matter when or where. Is this what they call a match made in heaven?”

The one who emerged from within was none other than Behemoth.

‘Thanks to the Erilaus Altar, it seems they couldn’t enter my inner palace.’

Saelika clenched her fists tightly.

“Enough talk. Let’s fight.”

A solemn golden light gathered in her fist.
It was power on an entirely different scale than before.
Behemoth opened his mouth urgently.

“Wait! The calamity wasn’t something I caused!”
“So?”
“It was all orchestrated by Parmanase and his lackeys. You know that. I’ve been too busy loving Darling.”

Saelika’s gaze grew even colder.

“That’s not love—that’s stalking. And it’s true you lent your power to the Parmanase temple, isn’t it?”
“I only did that to see Darling up close. Besides—.”

Behemoth stepped closer to Saelika.

“—you’ve never gotten this angry at me for doing things like that before. Between us, it’s happened more than once or twice.”

His words were true.
How many times had I committed such insane, psychotic, perverted stalker acts
that she calls me Misa.

“You’re misunderstanding.”
“…?”
“I’m not furious because of that.”

Saelika raised her fist smoothly.

“I’m absolutely livid because of what you did to Shuri.”

Crack!
Beneath the clear sky, the sound of the pervert getting thrashed rang out crisply.

* * *

“It’s shocking.”

Behemoth muttered with a puffy, sullen face.

“Why would you get this angry with me…”

He glared at Saelika with resentful eyes.
It was the gaze of someone watching an unfaithful spouse.

“Because of another man, no less.”
“….”

He’s insane.
Saelika found herself thinking this and nodded in agreement.

‘Right. He was always mad, wasn’t he.’

“In over a thousand years, this has never happened. What could possibly be good about that human.”

Seeing how genuinely upset he was, Saelika let out a deep sigh.
Regardless of everything else, she and Behemoth had accumulated more than a thousand years together.

“…Shuri is a bit tactless, unfortunate, and willful, I’ll admit.”

The memory of first meeting Kaishurit in this lifetime came to mind.
A smile played at the corners of Saelika’s lips.

Behemoth was genuinely appalled.
Saying such things while wearing that smile.
That’s cheating, isn’t it.

“But Shuri is kinder than anyone else.”
“…What?”

Behemoth stared at Saelika with an incredulous expression.
Though he hadn’t spent much time in the human realm, one thing was certain.
Kaishurit was separated from kindness by hundreds of millions of years.
He was the type who wouldn’t blink before killing everyone if something displeased him.

“You shattered my barrier without hesitation. But Shuri didn’t even break a barrier that was already damaged.”

Saelika didn’t need to see it to understand.
He must have only come out after Artemia’s priests arrived and dispelled the barrier.

“In case I might be in pain.”
“…Why would that matter?”

Behemoth couldn’t comprehend it.

“Pain is the optimal method to engrave my existence into another’s mind. There’s nothing more exhilarating than that.”
“….”
“The reverse is equally true. In that sense, today was thrilling as well. My body is still filled with the love Darling left behind.”

Behemoth winked.

“Of course, only Darling can give me such joy.”

…Should I just kill him?
I think I could manage it right now.
Saelika seriously contemplated it.

“Come to think of it, he also enjoyed the pain caused by Darling just like I do.”
“…Are you joking? Shuri isn’t a pervert like you!”
“He was cursed by me for Darling’s sake.”
“….”

After a moment of silence, Saelika spoke.

“Normally, that would be suffering, as you say.”

Had there been no curse, how brilliantly would he have lived as the Emperor’s firstborn son, as the Crown Prince of the Empire, surrounded by people’s adulation?
There would have been no reason to wander outside the imperial palace, pointed at by others.

“But do you know what Shuri said?”

“Being surrounded by thousands, tens of thousands of people and receiving their praise means nothing.”
“….”
“I only need you.”

“Shuri never even considered it pain.”
“Is he a pervert?”

Saelika glared at Behemoth.
A pervert calling Shuri a pervert!

“Shuri never once tried to claim credit for his accomplishments. Without him, I wouldn’t have awakened my power at the Erilaus Altar that day.”

If that hadn’t happened, my brothers wouldn’t have descended to this land either.
Amelia would have completely seized Parmanase’s power, and the true catastrophe would have begun.

If Kaishurit hadn’t manipulated the formation that was prepared at the altar.
Everything would have fallen apart.

“He performed the most crucial task without ever showing it.”
“….”
“It was always like that. Even when he saved me, he never boasted about it to anyone.”

He appeared at my side at some point, and lent his strength at another.

“You know me. I have to take credit for things. I’d be making a fuss saying, ‘Did you see? The power of our Artemia!’ ”
“….”
“When I said this earlier, do you know what Shuri said?”

“Before the regression, you lived having lost even your name and existence itself.”

“Even I didn’t care about that, but Shuri did.”

“Overshadowed by someone like Amelia, both Saelika and Reyarsha lost everything and lived on.”
“….”
“So this time, your name alone is enough.”

That was precisely why Kaishurit didn’t reveal himself even though he had saved the world.

“Then you…?”
“I already acted selfishly once before.”
“…?”
“Out of my own greed, I kept your name for myself alone.”

It was about my past life.
He was the only one who knew Saelika’s true name back then.

“I like Shuri.”

A foolish man who lived a life completely stolen from him, yet called it joy.

“….”

Behemoth’s eyes narrowed as he listened quietly to Saelika’s words.

‘…So in the end, what is this? Bragging about your boyfriend?’

It was truly absurd.
Was this something to say to him of all people?
What was even more infuriating came next.

“Behemoth, someone like that will appear for you too.”

That’s what Saelika said.
And with complete sincerity at that!

Crash!
Behemoth slammed Saelika roughly against the wall.

“I could overlook everything else you said. But what?”
“Behemoth….”
“Someone like that will appear for me? While leaving you behind?”

Behemoth’s eyes burned a vivid blue.

“You shouldn’t have said that.”

A massive hand gripped Saelika’s cheek roughly.
Behemoth’s face, always so smooth and cunning, twisted grotesquely.

“You don’t understand that I….”

Ever since childhood—memories now faded and dim—seeing Saelika had brought me joy.
For over a thousand years, it never ceased to amuse me.
No matter what I did, no matter what schemes I devised.

“Do you think I treat you like some plaything?”

Unlike the fierce momentum with which Behemoth had risen, his voice grew increasingly hollow.

“I like Shuri.”

The image of Saelika’s face as she spoke those words with a smile surfaced in my mind.
An expression entirely different from the one looking up at me now.

“Damn it!”

Behemoth vanished from sight.

Left alone, Saelika blinked her eyes.
In over a thousand years, this was the first time she’d seen Behemoth act this way.

‘Wow, he’s really sulking.’

Saelika shrugged her shoulders.
Time had slipped away considerably.
Having left the Heavenly Realm and come out without any explanation, her family must be worried.

‘I should hurry back.’

It was the moment Saelika brushed off her shoulder that had struck the wall and lifted her head.

“…!”

Her eyes met those of a grotesque creature.

* * *

Upon closer inspection, the grotesque creatures were her family.

“F-Father?!”

It wasn’t just Ardin, Kaiser, and Randel.
My uncles, older brothers, the High Priest, and the Elders along with the Priests were all here.
They all looked oddly deflated.

“Why is everyone acting like that?”

Seeing Saelika ask with her eyes wide and round, my family members gradually began to regain their normal composure.

“…Is it true?”
“What is?”

Looking at my daughter tilting her head in confusion, Perardin Noishurael Duke couldn’t bring himself to ask again.

“I like Shuri.”

‘Cough!’

Just recalling those words made my heart feel as though it were melting from deadly poison.
And Kaishurit was of marriageable age!
There had already been much talk about the vacant position of Crown Princess.

Seeing Perardin Noishurael Duke rendered speechless, Kaiser stepped forward.
He had faith in his daughter.
What she’d said to that Demon King earlier was just a trick to kick him.
In any case, that was it.
That was certain.

“Sae.”
“Yes.”
“Don’t tell me that the moment you came home, you went to meet that fool… ahem, the Crown Prince?”

You didn’t, right?
Please tell me you didn’t!

But Saelika’s expression said everything.
My daughter’s pale cheeks flushed a bashful crimson.

‘This damn Shuri bastard!’

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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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