Youngest on Top - Chapter 37

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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 37

My body stiffened involuntarily.

“Huh? I’m asking you.”

It felt like I’d turned my back to a predator.
Fighting the urge to look back despite my anxiety, I lowered my head and gripped the Kailum Crystal tightly in my palm.

‘…Should I hit and run?’

The moment I tried to draw upon my power.
The Young Boy suddenly seized my arm.

‘Ugh…’

I bit my lip hard, suppressing a groan.
I hadn’t realized he could read the signs of an attack with such sensitivity.

‘What on earth is someone like this doing here…’

The Black Market may be lawless, but no one acts this recklessly.
Because there are all sorts of customers, the Vigilante Group operates within the Black Market.
They’re an armed force comparable to top-tier mercenary companies, so everyone avoids causing trouble.

But seeing him act this brazenly meant he was truly thoughtless.
I had a bad feeling that if my affiliation with Artemisia Temple was exposed, nothing good would come of it.

‘This isn’t my specialty.’

Divine power flowed from the Divine Heart, coursing through my body.
It was such a small amount and non-aggressive that the Young Boy didn’t notice.

Soon my eye color and hair color changed.
I strengthened only my eyebrows slightly and stopped the power.
This was the limit for secretly changing my appearance without the Young Boy noticing.

‘Anyway, since he’s still young, he’ll probably mistake me for a pretty-faced young man at this level.’

“Seems like you’re not listening to what people say.”

At the same moment, black electricity crackled across the arm he’d seized.

‘It hurts!’

I quickly twisted my body away, but the young boy blocked my escape route.

“Well, it doesn’t matter where you go. Just hand that over.”

The young boy’s eyes flicked toward the Kailum Crystal I was holding.
Could he have come here searching for this from the start?
I clutched the sacred object tightly against my chest.

“I absolutely hate dealing with frustrating people. You won’t answer, you can’t understand what’s being said.”

The young boy’s hand suddenly swept back the robe I’d pulled over my head.
Our eyes met instantly.
He furrowed his brow.

“A child? Why is a child here?”
“You’re a child too.”

At my words, his peculiar-colored eyes gleamed with an odd light.
He was about to say something.

“Master, we need to escape now.”

At the Messenger’s warning, the young boy furrowed his brow.
He extended his hand toward me.

“Give it.”

I held the Kailum Crystal even more firmly.
This was Artemia’s breath that I’d barely recovered—I couldn’t just hand it over to some reckless brat.

‘The Temple absolutely needs this.’

That child tried to forcibly snatch the Kailum Crystal from me.
I held on for dear life.
I curled myself up like a loaf of bread, clutching it to my chest.

“Master! If we delay any longer, we’ll leave traces!”

He was right.
The heavy thud of military boots grew steadily closer.
The Vigilante Group was coming.
Time was on my side.

The young boy clicked his tongue and turned his head toward the exit.
Just as I felt relieved, thinking he might give up and leave,

“…?!”

The young boy simply lifted me up as I huddled there.

“What, what the——!”

Before I could protest, the young boy hoisted me onto his back and slipped out of the Black Market with nimble movements.

* * *

I was seriously contemplating the situation.

‘Is this what kidnapping is?’

Burly dark men surrounded me, muttering amongst themselves.

“What is this child?”
“The master brought her.”
“I know that. I’m asking why he brought her.”
“She was there.”
“Was she a slave? Her condition seems good for a test subject. But why would he bring a slave?”
“She was a guest.”
“A guest? What, is she an assistant to some dark mage?”
“Or maybe she’s actually an old dark mage pretending to be a child.”
“What, that’s perverted.”
“A perverted old geezer.”

In all my years, I never thought I’d hear myself called a perverted old geezer.
This is how I live, Artemia. Is this not excessively harsh, even for exile?
Even if it is exile, isn’t it too harsh?

“It’s not Beontae. It’s not Habeomtaeng either.”

The men chuckled at my curt reply.

Then, the boy who had gone inside came out.

“It’s noisy.”

The boy approached me, brushing his disheveled hair back.
The child approached me, brushing back their disheveled hair.

“No way.”
“That’s absurd.”

I shook my head while holding the Kailum crystal in my arms.

“Forget it. You should pay first.”
“You haven’t paid the price.”
“You’re the one getting in my way.”
“You’re getting in the way.”

So fiercely that I could tell even with his face obscured.
Even though her face was covered, it was obvious.

“I was going to plunder it anyway.”

I had nothing to say in response to such brazen confidence.

“Stealing is bad.”
“That only applies to legitimate businesses. I have no intention of paying those bastards.”

So you destroyed the shop because you didn’t want to pay for what you wanted?
There’s no other reason?

‘Madman.’

But I couldn’t entirely fault his refusal to give money to such a place.
I had considered sweeping it all away myself, after all.

“Not paying money to a bad shop is a good idea.”

At my words, the young boy’s eyes narrowed.
The men behind him chuckled, saying things like “Well said?” “He got praised.” “First time I’ve seen a kid talk back to the master like that.”

“But I’m not a bad child. You can’t steal from me.”
“That only matters if you actually own it.”
“It was originally mine. I came to retrieve it.”
“Ha, something that’s probably been rolling around for hundreds of years—and you claim it belongs to a brat who was just born?”

I was somewhat taken aback.

‘Could this bastard not know this is a Kailum Crystal?’

But then why is he after it?

No, I already understood why he wanted it.
That’s precisely why I could afford to be so composed.

But it didn’t make sense that he would pursue it without even knowing what a Kailum Crystal truly was.

“Come to think of it, there’s no need for me to bicker with you.”

A sharp, cold light flashed across the young boy’s eyes as he looked down at me.

“I can just kill you and take it.”

A chill ran down my spine.
This wasn’t a joke.
He was genuinely capable of killing me.

I glanced cautiously around the area.
Every single man present was an exceptional fighter.

‘And to make matters worse, there are plenty of ability users among them.’

Even if I exhausted every ounce of divine power I had and shattered the Divine Heart, I had no confidence I could break through.

“Child. It’s better if you don’t resist too much.”

The young boy’s eyes gleamed with an eerie light.
A suffocating pressure bore down upon my body.
The innate majesty of a born ruler radiated from the boy’s frame.

“Your fragile life rests in my hands.”

I stared up at him blankly before speaking.

“Well, about that…”

I lifted the Kailum Crystal I’d been holding.

“Even if I use this, I can’t break the curse.”
“…!”

The atmosphere around us sharpened instantly.
The men who had been chuckling moments before snapped taut like ballistas ready to fire.
But I paid them no mind.

The young boy’s eyes, darkened to an abyss, consumed me entirely.
Just his gaze alone made my breath catch in my throat.

Only then did I realize it.
This young boy had been looking out for me all along.
Even when he said he would kill me, he wasn’t truly serious.

I clenched my teeth.
I couldn’t afford to lose my nerve now, of all times.
Most importantly, I held the key.

“Is that what you want because of the curse?”

Just as I could see that Ilay’s soul was a reincarnation, I could see it with my own eyes.
The curse that bound this child’s soul.

It was a horrific curse.
If he had been an ordinary person, merely witnessing that curse would have driven him mad.

The curse was also the source of this child’s abyssal power.
He had gained tremendous strength through the curse, yet the fact that he hadn’t died was almost miraculous.

‘How is he even alive in that state?’

It was power no human could bear.
Even now, at this very moment, it must be consuming his life.

Perhaps because of that, from the moment we began, he looked to me like nothing more than an injured kitten baring its claws.

‘…Though admittedly, he’s far too dangerous to call a kitten.’

One wrong swipe of his paw could kill me.

“Even if you try, you can’t break the curse. It will only hurt less.”

The young boy’s aura grew more ferocious.
With just that, my skin tore and a red line appeared across my cheek.
I spoke without flinching.

“But I can break it for you.”
“Nonsense.”

The explosive momentum showed no signs of subsiding.
If anything, it only grew worse.

I knew he wouldn’t believe me anyway.
I breathed a touch of divine power into the Kailum Crystal.
Just a taste for now.

Whoooosh—!

A crystalline light bloomed forth, and a refreshing energy radiated from the crystal.
The Young Boy’s pupils trembled.
For the first time since we’d met, his face showed bewilderment.

“This is…”

I handed the Kailum Crystal to him.

“Try holding it yourself.”

The boy furrowed his brow with suspicion.
I waved both hands encouragingly.
Go on, go on.

After all, he wasn’t even a Priest of the Artemisia Sect.
So how could he possibly use a sacred relic properly?

‘I’m just putting on a show.’

Of course, the effect of merely putting on a show was tremendous.
It would ease his suffering.
No matter what he tried, his pain never diminished—so this alone was reason enough for him to desire the Kailum Crystal.

‘But compared to actually using it, this is practically nothing.’

Sure enough, the boy who had infused mana into the sacred relic stared at me with furrowed brows.
His pain was lessening now, but it was a different world from before.

I smiled softly.

“So, whose life hangs in whose hands now?”

* * *

“Ah, I’m thirsty.”

At my single word, the Dark Men moved with perfect synchronization.

“Here! We have milk!”
“We have juice! Orange or grape—which would you prefer!”
“Would you like some snacks?”
“Yes!”

Watching me crunch through cookies, the Young Boy furrowed his brow.

“Who are you?”
“I… I’m Ricardo.”
“…Shuri.”

I was certain that wasn’t his real name.
Mine wasn’t either.

“I can lift the curse right now, you know.”

Crash!
The man pouring orange and grape juice simultaneously dropped the glass in shock.

“What, what did you say?!”
“You couldn’t lift it?!”

The men tried to take back the plate of cookies.

“Wait a little longer, I’ll lift it soon.”
“Oh, would you like more cookies?”
“We have other snacks too.”

Unlike the flustered men, Shuri remained composed.

“I’d like an explanation.”
“I’m still a child.”
“And?”
“Still weak.”
“….”
“When grow, can help little.”
“So you’re saying I need to keep you alive.”
“Mm.”

Even at the mention that it would take a long time to resolve, Shuri remained unmoved.
Eyes devoid of disappointment or anticipation—worn and hollow.
Too harsh to belong to a child still so young.
As if they reflected the years this boy had endured.

‘…Getting deeply entangled with this one doesn’t seem like it would lead anywhere good.’

Even thinking that, I set down the cookie.

“Child, but like before, little can help.”

Shuri, who had been watching me quietly, grasped the mask with one hand and tore it away.
Through the tear in the black cloth, a face of breathtaking beauty was revealed.

Skin flawless and impossibly smooth.
Long, sharp eyes with deep shadows and perfectly sculpted brows.
The irises swirled with gold, crimson, and azure—a mysterious blend like gazing into the cosmos itself.
A sharp nose and full lips.
Cheeks still bearing the softness of youth, yet a jawline as sharp as a blade.

Even I, who had witnessed countless gods and angels renowned for their beauty, was taken aback.
But my shock stemmed from more than that alone.
I knew exactly what face this child would grow into.

‘Why is the Crown Prince here?’

That’s right.
The boy before my eyes was the Crown Prince of this empire.

Countless questions erupted simultaneously.
Why hadn’t the Crown Prince received curse removal?
The highest temples like Parmanace would have rushed to perform the ritual.

Of course, even the highest temples would struggle to break a curse in one attempt.
But they could still alleviate much of the suffering.

‘They have sacred relics and holy maidens, after all.’

It was strange that he would raid the Black Market for Kailum Crystals when perfectly good sacred relics existed in other temples.
Especially when he didn’t even know if it was a sacred relic.

Lost in thought, I suddenly caught myself.
The Crown Prince’s eyes were studying my reaction.
His gaze was piercing, as if dissecting me.

‘There’s nothing good about being caught knowing his identity here.’

A child I happened to meet who can break curses and knows the face of an unknown Crown Prince?
Not suspecting would be foolish.

“Shuri, you’re seriously handsome!”

I raised my thumb, pretending my shock was purely about that.

“You must be popular with the girls. I’m jealous!”
“….”
“Do you have an older sister or younger sister? Introduce me.”
“….”

Shuri’s eyes dimmed noticeably.
Maybe I’d overdone it.
I awkwardly fiddled with the Kailum Crystal.

‘Let me give him an injection that hurts less and get out of here quickly.’

The Dark Men were tossing dozens of strawberries into the air, claiming they’d make strawberry milk, slicing them with their swords in swift motions.
I spoke to them.

“Everyone, leave.”
“Don’t you like strawberry milk?”
“That’s why I said to get banana milk instead.”
“From now on, I’m going to seal the curse.”
“…!”

The men’s gazes fixed upon me.
Their expressions turned serious, as if questioning when I’d been wrestling over milk.
And beneath that lay vigilance.

Then Shuri opened his mouth.

“Leave.”
“But Master.”
“Do I need to say it twice?”

His voice was devoid of inflection.
Shuri wasn’t even looking at the men.
He spoke lightly, as if in passing.

Yet the men’s faces went pale and they bowed their heads.

“We apologize.”
“We’ll leave at once.”

The men filed out in perfect order, leaving only Shuri and me in the room.

“You said you’d seal my curse.”
“Yes.”
“What do you want from me?”
“Well, first—.”

I took a step closer to Shuri.

“Take it off.”

—————
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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