Youngest on Top - Chapter 66

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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 66

I prayed with barely a breath, pouring every ounce of desperation into my words.
My child-self seemed to have grown far too large, but surely I prayed well enough?

“…Thank you for your prayer, Priest. No one has ever prayed for me with such honesty—no, such sincerity before.”

It seemed I had done well.
The man who had held me for over two hours left the Prayer Room with glistening eyes.

His expression did seem rather downcast, though…

At that moment, I was too relieved to foresee the ripples this would create.

“Follow Saelika!”
“She is the light that will revive our dead roots!”
“The radiance of my hair’s abundance, Saelika!”

And so I had gained countless followers, regardless of race, age, or station.

* * *

‘I need to rest for a moment.’

Who knows what I might do in front of the next person seeking counsel.

I stepped out of the Prayer Room.
Unlike the familiar Artemisia Temple, an unfamiliar landscape stretched before me.

‘This place feels so strange…’

A surge of fear began to well up inside me.

‘It’s okay, it’s okay.’

I steadied myself deliberately, fidgeting with my fingers.
I wanted to suck my thumb to ease the anxiety.

“Just a little sleep and some food will make everything better.”

It was just a passing emotion.
Simply the heart of a child.

Pat, pat—I was walking while gently patting my own head.

Whoosh.
Someone suddenly lifted me up.

“…!”

I was so startled I couldn’t even scream.
My heart felt like it dropped, and I flailed my arms and legs.

“What? Why do you look like that?”

A familiar voice came with a familiar face thrust right before my eyes.
It was Admiral Ekellan.

“Admiral…!”

Someone I knew!
Without thinking, I clung tightly to the Admiral’s chest.

The Admiral’s body went rigid.
Worried he might shake me off, I held on even tighter.

“Don’t drop me.”

I was desperate.
My heart was still pounding wildly.

The Admiral remained awkwardly still for a moment, then began patting my back.
His hand was so large it covered my entire back.
It was warm.

Thump, thump.
Admiral Ekellan moved forward at a leisurely pace.
My body swayed steadily in rhythm with his steps.

“Look there.”

Admiral Ekellan came to a halt and pointed ahead.

There stood a mountain.
The Mountain of Gifts.
Gift boxes were piled high like a mountain—far more than what he had brought last time.

“….”

I had witnessed a similar sight before.
A very long time ago.

Admiral Ekellan spoke with triumphant pride.

“They’re all yours.”

Mine?
I shook my head vigorously.

“No.”
“They are yours, I’m telling you. Do you know how much effort I put into gathering all of—.”
“No!”

I turned my head sharply away from the Mountain of Gifts.

“I don’t want them. I don’t have any greed for such things.”

Trembling, trembling.
Whether from hunger or something else, my body wouldn’t stop shaking.
Painful memories kept surfacing.

“How dare you covet what belongs to the Sacred Maiden? Stealing Amelia’s belongings!”

No. I didn’t steal it.
Amelia gave it to me because she doesn’t use it anymore.

“That’s something the Duke sent for his daughter Amelia to use. Why do you have it?”
“What, did you think having it would make you the Duke’s daughter?”
“How dare you covet a gift the Duke gave his own daughter!”

No. No. No.
I never coveted such things, not even once.
Not even—

“Saelika.”

I gasped.
I lifted my head.
The Admiral was looking at me.

“…I’m not the Admiral’s daughter.”

This is a gift meant for the Admiral’s daughter.
Not for me.

The Admiral’s face contorted.
That’s when fear suddenly gripped me.

Had I caused another misunderstanding?

It was always like this.
I never coveted anything, yet they said I did.
I never stole anything, yet they said I did.

I quickly apologized.

“I’m not greedy. I’m not a bad child. I’m sorry….”

Admiral Ekellan, who had said nothing, slowly opened his mouth.

“…You never wanted anything.”

A large hand gently stroked my head.

“I was the greedy one.”

Admiral Ekellan’s face remained twisted with anguish.

But something strange happened.
I was no longer afraid or scared.

Instead, he looked like he was in pain.
He seemed to be suffering greatly.

‘He’s hurting because he lost his child.’

I carefully reached out and placed my small hand on the Admiral’s chest.

“Shh— now it won’t hurt.”

I glanced at the Admiral, but he still looked so pained.
No matter how much time passes, the heart that lost a child cannot stop aching.

“…just a tiny bit hurts.”

Still, I continued to rub his chest.

“A tiny bit less hurts.”

I hoped it would hurt even a little less.
That child would want their father to hurt less too.

* * *

Admiral Ekellan gazed down at the child sleeping in his arms.

In truth, he had been delighted until returning to the Prayer Room.
He felt the same way when he discovered the child toddling along and startled her.

“Zedommi…!”

When the child startled and clung to me, I didn’t give it much thought.

‘As expected, this little one really does like me.’

Far more than that damned northerner.

I showed off the gift to the child proudly.
Since I’d selected it myself, surely she’d be pleased this time.

“Look there. That’s yours.”

But the child’s reaction was unexpected.
Her face had gone pale as she shook her head repeatedly.

“No.”
“It’s yours, I’m telling you. Do you know how much effort I put into selecting all of—.”
“No!”

The child let out a sharp cry.

‘What is this, another rejection?’

I’d never encountered anyone who refused my gifts before.
Yet this tiny creature wouldn’t even wear the bells, wouldn’t open the gift box, and showed no interest whatsoever.
She’d even said that filthy doll was better than my gifts.

Now she was rejecting it without even looking.

Something surged up inside me.

But then.

“Not because… not because I don’t like you. I just… I don’t want you to have desires.”

The small body pressed against me was trembling.
The child’s face was drained of all color.

The irritation that had surged up dissipated in an instant.

“Saelika.”

I called out her name softly, and her large eyes trembled uncontrollably.

“…D-Daddy, I’m not your daughter.”

She spoke as though confessing a sin.
That she was not his daughter.

It was an obvious statement.
But why did she say it as though she had committed some terrible wrong?

In that moment, Admiral Ekellan understood.

‘…I made her this way.’

It had been so from the beginning.
The child had harbored no ill intent, yet I had misunderstood her as trying to pose as my daughter.

I had judged this small child hastily, doubted her, and kept my guard up.
I had resolved to make an example of her and punish her accordingly.

They say young children are sensitive to an adult’s emotions.
Without a single word spoken aloud, this child had sensed it all.
That I harbored such wicked intentions while pretending to treat her kindly.

‘I made this child become this way.’

To tremble like this.
To cry from such fear.

And yet, the child still reached out toward me with her small, trembling hands.

“S-Sir… it doesn’t hurt anymore.”

Her soft hands rubbed against the Admiral’s chest.
It felt as though something was spreading outward from his chest, centered on that small warmth.

It doesn’t hurt.
Rather, I’m the one who caused this child pain.

Why is this child trying to soothe my wounds?
Without even looking back at her own scars.

‘This child is not my daughter.’

I never thought of her as a daughter.
I never even thought she resembled one.
Then why.

‘Why did those words strike so close to home?’

The child, seeing Admiral Ekellan’s contorted face, murmured softly.

“…just a tiny bit hurts.”

It had been so long that it had hardened, and I hadn’t even felt the pain in my everyday life.
Since losing the child, the pain had been so natural to carry that I never noticed it.
That sorrow suddenly revealed its presence.

“A tiny bit hurts less.”

But yes.
As much as this child caressed me, as much as this child wished it.
For now, it seemed to hurt just a little less.

* * *

“Admiral?”

The Adjutant was startled upon seeing Admiral Ekellan.
In the Admiral’s arms as he returned to the Hotel was a child with soft, fluffy blonde hair.
Breathing gently, sleeping soundly.

The other subordinates besides the Adjutant began to whisper among themselves.

“The Admiral carrying a child around?”
“The man who wouldn’t even glance if a child collapsed right in front of him.”
“If he’s just ignoring them, that’s a mercy. He’s deliberately humiliated them before.”

The Adjutant, taking up that remark, spoke a word to the Admiral.

“Now you’re actually kidnapping children, sir?”
“It’s not kidnapping.”

Probably.

“Admiral, if I may speak candidly.”

The Adjutant’s face was rigid, but he spoke with careful firmness.

“That child is not your daughter, sir.”
“…I know.”

Why does everyone keep insisting this child isn’t my daughter?
I already know that.

“She just looked exhausted, so I was going to take her back to the Temple.”
“Then why not go directly to the Temple instead of bringing her here?”
“I’m going to feed her something when she wakes up, that’s why!”

The child had cried herself to sleep, pale as a ghost. How could I just dump her at the Temple like that?
I need to at least feed her before sending her back.

“Please don’t raise your voice. You’ll wake the child.”

The startled Adjutant patted Saelika’s back, which hadn’t stirred at all, and glared at Admiral Ekellan.

“You really show no signs of ever having cared for a child before.”
“Do you have experience?”
“My nieces and nephews.”

It was wise to listen to someone with childcare experience.
Admiral Ekellan fell silent.

Admiral Ekellan entered the room and sat on the sofa, cradling the child in his arms.
The child slept so soundly, completely oblivious to the world around them.

‘Practical training for such a young child? Isn’t this child abuse?’

Somehow, the child’s plump cheeks seemed to have lost a bit of their fullness.
Even the Admiral, who had been seething with anger at the Temple Priest’s conduct, soon began to doze off.

Soft, gentle breathing.
The child’s breath sounded like a tender lullaby.

* * *

Knock, knock.

“I’m coming in.”

The Adjutant entered carrying something suitable for the child to eat, then froze.

The Admiral lay stretched out on the sofa, fast asleep.
The sleeping child rested across his chest and stomach.

Their faces turned in the same direction.
The same expression on both.
Seeing them sleeping side by side like this, strangely enough…

‘They look almost like a father and child—.’

No, that wasn’t it.
Everyone’s sleeping face looks the same anyway, doesn’t it?
They’re all identical.
Eyes shut tight, mouth slightly open.

‘…But the Admiral is sleeping like this?’

During voyages, sea creatures could emerge at any moment.
And encounters with pirates were equally unpredictable.

Because of this, Admiral Ekellan rarely slept deeply.
He was the type to wake and prepare to depart before any battle alert could even be announced.

Clack.
Only when the Adjutant set the tray down on the table did the Admiral finally crack open his eyelids.

“Mm….”
“I’ve contacted Artemisia Temple. They said they’d feed her and send her back.”
“Unnecessary.”
“If we don’t contact them, it counts as kidnapping.”

Admiral Ekellan reached out with the utmost care and gently tapped Saelika’s cheek.

“She won’t wake up. I was planning to feed her before sending her back, but since the child won’t get up, there’s nothing to be done. I’ll just have to send her back asleep.”
“Wake her.”
“You’re cruel. How could I wake her when she’s sleeping so soundly?”
“Children must be fed on schedule.”
“And they must be allowed proper rest too.”

Just then, Saelika whimpered softly in her sleep.
The Adjutant’s eyes widened, and the Admiral continued patting her awkwardly.

He was patting her to encourage more sleep, but instead Saelika’s eyes opened.
Her large eyes blinked several times before focusing directly on the Admiral.

Admiral Ekellan offered an awkward smile.
Hoping desperately that Saelika wouldn’t be frightened.

“…Admiral?”
“You’re awake.”

* * *

‘Why am I with the Admiral?’

Startled at seeing the Admiral, I glanced around frantically.
Where was I?
Unfamiliar walls and furniture.
I had no idea where this place was.

‘What was the last thing I did?’

After sleeping, my fatigue had lifted, and I could think clearly again.
As I recalled recent events, my head began to ache.

‘Oh dear…’

I needed to show Admiral Ekellan that Artemisia was a temple worth supporting, yet I couldn’t understand why these complications kept arising.
I glanced furtively at the Admiral’s face.

‘Still, we’ll need food supplies regardless, so if I emphasize that earnestly… By now, the Admiral should be ready to make a decision.’

But something seemed odd about the way the Admiral was looking at me.
Why was he looking at me like that?

Then.

Growwwwl!
A thunderous sound erupted from my stomach.
It felt as though my body was crying out: I’ve satisfied my need for sleep, now it’s time for hunger!

Admiral Ekellan and his Adjutant looked at me in surprise.
Though slightly embarrassed, I deliberately stared off into the distance with an air of composure.

“I’ve brought something to eat.”
“Thank you.”

The Adjutant placed a small child-sized fork in my hand, and I nodded my head in acknowledgment.
Anyone who gives you food is a good person.

After finishing my meal, I was patting my belly contentedly when the Admiral suddenly thrust something toward me.

“Eat this.”

It was an enormous cookie that required both hands to hold!

‘I want to eat it all… But there’s only one cookie…’

There were only two of us eating.
Me and the Admiral.

‘…I need to make a good impression on the Admiral so I can have his backing.’

I resolved solemnly and broke the cookie apart.
Grasping the round cookie, I snapped off all four corners, leaving a diamond-shaped piece in the center.
I offered it to the Admiral.

“Here you go.”
“…”
“The middle part is really soft and delicious.”

Since I’d given him the most delicious part, I was hoping he’d overlook my earlier mistake.

But even as I held it out for a long moment, the Admiral didn’t take the cookie.
He simply stared blankly at the cookie piece I was offering.

“…?”

What was wrong?
Did he prefer the edges instead?

But those were too hard and hurt my mouth.
The center was the softest and thickest, making it the most delicious.
I was just considering whether to swap them with him when—

“…Thank you.”

Admiral Ekellan took the cookie from me.
His hand was trembling slightly.

“But the way you broke it to give it to me—”
“…?”
“…Never mind.”

Just as we were about to eat the cookies side by side, the door suddenly burst open.

“…You two look quite pleasant together.”

A sharp, commanding voice dripping with intimidation.

“How dare a kidnapper speak.”

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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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