Youngest on Top - Chapter 78

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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 78

“….”

What on earth was this?
I couldn’t fathom this child at all.
She was an entirely different existence from any human Kaiser had ever encountered.

Most people would have given up by now.
When he refused to grant their wishes, they showed predictable reactions.
Those who merely
“Ugh, what a mess.”
shook their heads were among the better ones.
Some spread vicious rumors about him.
Others spat at him and wouldn’t even turn their heads in his direction.

‘But why do you keep….’

In the eyes of the child who said she liked him, there was not a trace of falsehood.

Kaiser turned around quietly.
As he was leaving the Trainee Priest Quarters, he spotted Randel in the distance.
Beside him stood the Admiral of Southern Echelan.

‘Why is the Admiral here?’

That man was no ordinary fellow either.
He was certainly someone to be wary of.

Randel and the Admiral of Echelan approached the child.

“Randel! Admiral!”

The child raised both arms high in greeting to Randel and the Admiral of Echelan.

“Our little lady is adorable as always today.”

Admiral Ekellan smiled brightly as he looked at the child.
The Admiral gently pinched Saelika’s cheek and shook it.

“Or is she particularly cute only in front of me?”
“Sae is always adorable.”
“I don’t know. The child is cutest when she’s bright and cheerful, but she’s always bright in front of me.”
“Sae is almost never anything but bright.”
“I said particularly in front of me. It’s only natural that a daughter brightens up when she sees her father.”

Randel’s and Admiral Ekellan’s gazes clashed fiercely.

Kaiser snorted and thought to himself.

‘Idiots. That kid is brightest in front of me.’

She constantly repeats words like ‘amazing,’ ‘cool,’ and ‘I like it.’
At that thought, he flinched.
He remembered once again how he had made that bright child tremble in fear.
As he dwelled on this, he flinched again.
I couldn’t understand why this matter bothered me so much.
It wasn’t the first or second time the child had trembled at the sight of me.

Saelika sighed softly as she looked at the Admiral.

“I told you, I’m not the Admiral’s daughter.”
“Yes, yes, but there’s going to be a grand party in the Southern Region soon. Usually fathers and daughters attend together, and if you came with our little lady—”
“Sae is a child of the Temple.”
“Ah, so she can’t even go out? Are you planning to keep the child locked away?”

Kaiser watched the two bicker from a distance and shook his head.

This quarrel wasn’t worth watching any further.
Serge Ekellan Admiral was already famous for being mad.

‘So that’s the way he’s insane.’

But this was the first time I’d seen Randel act like this.
He was twisted in his own way, but not like this.

‘He seems to have truly lost his mind even more.’

No matter what those two do, that child wants me as his godfather anyway.
An arrogant smile played at Kaiser’s lips.

* * *

True to my word, I followed Kaiser without tiring.
Kaiser entered a meeting, so I decided to wait for him outside.
I went out to the Garden and lay down on a gazebo bench with my stomach.

‘I should draw today!’

Recently, Kaiser often wouldn’t let me into his Study.
So I’ve been carrying something to pass the time these days.
Today it was a sketchbook.

I quickly sketched Kaiser with crayons.
Just as I was about to color his clothes in black, I stopped with an “Oh.”
And I picked up the crayon labeled “Elegant Shocking Miracle Pink.”
This special color was sent by Gerald.

‘Kaiser deserves magnificent armor too.’

Black armor is too dull, so I’ll color it in something vibrant.
I’ll paint it in the most brilliant pink.
I’ll even add flowers on his shoulders to match the pink armor.

‘…It’s absolutely not revenge for not letting me into his Study.’

Hmm, hmmmm.
Humming a tune, I was deeply focused when a shadow fell over my head.

‘Is it Kaiser?’

The meeting must have ended.
Still, he didn’t just leave but came to me instead.
If he asks who this is, I absolutely must say it’s not him.

I lifted my head.
Before I could even see their face, the pattern on their clothing caught my eye first.
A pattern I knew all too well.
But not the emblem of Artemisia—.

Thump.
My heart lurched unpleasantly again.
It felt as though my breath had caught in my throat.

I swallowed hard and forced myself to raise my head a bit higher.
That was when I confirmed the identity of the shadow’s owner.

Thump, thump—.

“How adorable. You draw quite well.”

Boom boom, boom—.

“I heard all the trainee priests of the Artemisia Church left for their training retreat. Why didn’t you go?”

My heart felt enormous, as if it had lodged itself in my ears.
I clasped my trembling hands together.

‘Why, why….’

“Perhaps you’re still too young.”

Why was this person here?

The face looking down at me broke into a gentle smile, filling my entire vision.
Overlaid upon it was the memory of that cruel, exultant expression.

Boom boom boom boom boom boom boom boom boom boom boom boom.

The sound of my heartbeat flooded my ears.
Fearing my heart would burst at this rate, I clutched at my chest.

“Hgh… Ugh!”

My lungs constricted with a sensation so suffocating I let out a whimper that seemed ready to tear free.
Then the woman extended her hand toward me with a worried expression.

“Are you alright?”

A pale, smooth, delicate hand.
Bright red, sharp fingernails.
That hand gripping a whip, and she….
She, she struck me with such cruelty….

“You wretched vermin! Because you failed, Amelia was humiliated!”

“Now, calm yourself. My, you’re being too rough. Why are you doing this?”

Beatrix.
That was certainly her name.
Though the children at Parmanasus Temple called her by a different name.

‘Amelia’s mother.’

This woman was Amelia’s godmother.
And she was so devoted to Amelia that she deserved that title more than her actual name.

Beatrix stayed by Amelia’s side, teaching her everything.
So that Amelia would succeed, so she would display her greatest abilities.
Which meant I….

“Is this all you can manage?”
“Ah, don’t worry. Have you heard? The story of a knight who awakened and grew stronger when facing death.”
“A Temple Priest is no different, really.”
“You can manifest far greater sacred power. I’ll help you. If you face death a few times, you’ll grow much stronger.”
“Though, they say most of the time you just end up dead.”
“So you’ll become desperate enough not to die, won’t you?”

When I nearly actually died, Amelia came looking for me.
That woman rushed toward Amelia with an expression completely different from when she had been driving me so mercilessly.

“Oh my, Amelia. What are you doing here…. You don’t need to see something this filthy.”
“Please…save….”

Amelia stared at me with a shocked expression as I pleaded desperately for my life.
As if she never imagined I would suffer such a fate.

She could have fled from the horrifying scene, yet Amelia drew closer to me instead.
Amelia crouched down and grasped my hand firmly.
Until that moment, I believed that kind and gentle girl was saving me.
After all, Amelia was the Sacred Maiden who would save everyone.

But.

“I won’t let your efforts go to waste!”

Amelia made her vow with a resolute expression.

“I’ll definitely become the greatest Sacred Maiden! For you!”

For me…?

“That’s our Amelia for you. How can she have such a pure heart.”

Beatrix smiled, her lips curling upward.
And as if she found Amelia utterly endearing, she gently stroked the top of her head.
Amelia laughed shyly at Beatrix’s praise, a soft giggle escaping her lips.
And without hesitation, she released my hand.
I remember my hand falling limply in that moment, powerless.

That day, my sacred power was strengthened.
Explosively so.
But for an entire month afterward, I could neither eat properly nor speak.

‘…It’s fine.’

Before my regression, the Parmanace Church took me away about one to two years from now.
The Parmanace Temple Priests I encountered at the Orphanage during this period showed no interest in me whatsoever.
So for now, I’m safe.

‘It’s fine.’

It’s okay, Saelika.
So act naturally.
Don’t act like a child.
Get a hold of yourself.

I grabbed my collar and tried to steady my nerves.
That’s when it happened.

“Saelika.”

I heard someone’s voice.
Unfamiliar at first, but now so achingly familiar.
I didn’t need to look to know who it was.
And so… tears welled up in my eyes.

‘No, I can’t.’

Don’t cry.
Don’t let him see.
He absolutely cannot see me crying.
He already suspects me.
If I cry like I know something after seeing the Temple Priest of Parmanace…
Who knows what he’ll misunderstand.

“Ka… Kasim…”

But the moment I saw his face, the tears came pouring down.
Relief washed over me, and I couldn’t hold back the tears anymore.

Kaiser approached me with a hardened expression.

‘Idiot, idiot!’

Why did I cry.
To cry in front of someone who doesn’t even like me.
What if he suspects me more, what if he dislikes me even more.

My trembling hands gripped my lower garment.
I was preparing myself for a scolding.

…He extended his hand toward me.
As if telling me to take it.

“Sae.”
“Ugh….”
“It’s alright.”

I hesitantly grasped his hand.
The moment the warmth of his palm reached me, I felt reassured yet somehow even more sorrowful.
The instant I was embraced and our faces met, I burst into tears with a wail.
Kaiser’s eyes widened sharply as he held me.

* * *

Kaiser had merely intended to head out of the Study.
He wasn’t deliberately passing by just because Saelika was waiting for him again.
He held candy in his hand, but that was something he’d kept for when his energy ran low.

It was just as he emerged outside with the Holy Knights.
Quentin spoke with a puzzled voice.

“Isn’t that the Temple Priest of Parmanace? Why is she here….”

Looking in that direction, Quentin was right.
In the Garden stood a woman wearing robes bearing the emblem of Parmanace.
And before her—

“Saelika…?”

There was a child with a severely hunched back.

The Holy Knights focused on the Temple Priest of Parmanace rather than the child.

“No way, isn’t that Beatrix?! That crazy—!”
“How dare she—!”
“We must drive that woman out at once!”

Commotion erupted around them.
Yet Kaiser’s ears could not register the voices of the holy knights surrounding him.
His gaze was fixed upon a single point.

The child was trembling violently, curled up like a hamster.
I had never seen her like this before.
She had always been remarkably bold and spirited.
Save for that one moment when I had frightened her.
But even then, it was nothing like this.

Who had done this to her?
A strange fury welled up within me.

‘How dare they.’

“Saelika.”

At the sound of my voice, the child flinched, her small frame shaking.
Then, very slowly, she lifted her head.
Her small face had gone deathly pale.

“K… Kaiser…”

Her voice came in a whisper.
Her breath seemed ready to break at any moment.
Her large eyes trembled with tears as she recognized my face.
Like a lost child discovering her parents.

Only when I felt the child’s warm, tender body heat did I realize I had already reached out toward her.
Before she could respond, she tumbled forward and clung to me desperately.

Her small body continued to tremble uncontrollably.
Each movement felt desperately urgent.

I lifted the child into my arms.
In that moment, our eyes met.
Her blue eyes, glistening with tears, trembled several times more intensely.

“Uu… waaahhh!”

Saelika burst into sorrowful tears.
Kaiser awkwardly patted the child’s back.
He had never comforted a child before.
So his touch must have felt clumsy, yet the child burrowed into his embrace like a chick trembling in the cold.

Kaiser gazed quietly at the golden crown of the child’s head.
It was very small and perfectly round.

‘Why does this child rely on me so?’

I had done nothing for this child.
Rather, I had pushed her away, rejected her, cast her aside.

Yet still, she looked up at me with eyes full of trust.
Her eyes spoke to him ceaselessly.

I am on your side, Kaiser.
You are someone I can believe in and rely upon.

Kaiser pressed his hand firmly against the child’s back.

‘How can you think so innocently without a trace of doubt?’

That was when it happened.

“My, what an unusual sight this is.”

Beatrix spoke with a gentle smile.
Her voice was soft, yet deeply unpleasant.

Kaiser’s gaze turned sharp as he looked at her.
There was something ominous in his eyes.

“What did you do?”
“I only complimented her drawing. That’s all.”
“And she became this frightened? You expect me to believe that?”
“It’s true. What would I do to a child?”
“With you, anything is possible.”
“Must you frown so coldly? We haven’t seen each other in so long.”

Beatrix drew close to Kaiser.
With a languid smile, she examined his picturesque features one by one.

“Well, that’s what makes it charming, though.”

She laughed softly, then reached out her hand toward Kaiser.

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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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