Youngest on Top - Chapter 80

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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 80

“Please try this as well.”

All the adults laughed, finding her adorable.

“That’s right, that’s right. Chew it well and grow strong, our Sacred Maiden~.”
“How wonderful! You’re eating spinach too, how impressive!”

Diana, smiling shyly, handed a sausage to Randel.

“Randel eat it.”

Randel hesitated.
Then he shook his head and gave it back to Diana.

“Diana, you eat it. Eat and grow big and strong.”
“Diaena grow big and strong. Bigger than Randel!”

Diana was chewing food when she opened her mouth wide and eagerly stuffed the sausage in, chomping away.

“My, she eats well even while chirping like that.”

At Derrick’s words, Diana frowned deeply.

“Diaena not a chick!”

Diana pouted her lips and puffed out her chest proudly.
She placed her short arms on her hips and glared adorably.

“Diaena a tiger!”

Derrick and Randel froze, but most of the adults burst into hearty laughter.

“My goodness. It seems all little ones are alike.”
“Hehe, this brings back old memories.”
“Yes, the youngest was like this when she first arrived.”
“The youngest?”

When Diana tilted her head in confusion, another Temple Priest explained.

“There’s a child named Saelika who entered the temple most recently. She’s the youngest among the trainee priests. Even younger than Diana, they say.”

Diana clapped her hands and grinned brightly.

“Wow! Diaena is so excited!”
“Yes, if you get along well with the youngest—”
“But! Diaena is Diaena! I’m the Sacred Maiden of the Artemisia Temple. Not Saelika!”

The Temple Priest who had been explaining me startled and waved his hand frantically.

“No, no. That’s not what I meant. I misspoke and confused our Sacred Maiden.”

The other adults began coaxing Diana, who looked offended.

“That’s right, the Sacred Maiden is different from the youngest.”
“Will you forgive us, Sacred Maiden?”

Only then did Diana relax her stern expression and smile softly.

“Mm! Diaena is generous!”

The adults laughed with relief.

‘If I go in now, I’ll ruin the mood.’

Because they happened to be talking about me, it became awkward to enter.
As I was wondering what to do, Randel spotted me.

“Sae, why are you standing there? Come inside.”
“Oh, our youngest has arrived.”
“Have you eaten lunch?”

The adults welcomed me warmly.
Diana hopped down from her chair and toddled toward me.

“Wow! Is big sister Saelika?”
‘Big sister? Am I a big sister?’

Diana was noticeably taller than me by a couple of hand-spans, and her age seemed quite different as well.

‘Still, it would be nice if she called me older sister.’

The important thing was that I was finally meeting the Sacred Maiden.

Randel made space for me beside him.

“Come now, don’t stand there. Sit here. What’s the matter?”
“Ah, Diana—”
“Ow!”

At the sharp cry, every adult’s gaze snapped toward Diana.
I too jumped in surprise and looked at the child.

It seemed Diana’s hand had been pricked by a fork.
Since it was a child’s fork without sharp points, she wasn’t actually hurt, but she seemed quite startled.

As Diana’s face crumpled, the adults hurried to check on her condition.

“Are you alright?”
“Oh dear, you weren’t careful. No, I should have been watching.”
“Let me see.”

Diana shook her head at the adults examining her hand.
Then she stretched both arms toward Randel.

“Whimper, Randel—.”

Randel picked the child up and examined her hand.
After confirming her hand was fine, he tried to set her down.
But Diana nuzzled her head against his chest and clung to him even more tightly.

“Diana, you need to finish your meal.”
“No. I want to stay like this with Randel.”
“But…”
“Then Randel can feed me. Ahhh—”

Diana lifted her head sharply and opened her mouth wide.
Randel eventually placed a sausage into the child’s mouth.

“Sorry to interrupt our conversation, Sae. What was that about earlier?”
“Nothing at all!”
“Have you eaten? Did you already have your meal?”
“I ate! Lots! All kinds!”
“That’s right. Our Sae is so strong.”
“You’ll grow tall and sturdy too.”

The adults laughed and flexed their biceps to show off.

‘I wanted to talk with Diana, but I suppose it can’t be helped.’

It seemed difficult to have a conversation right now.
Diana still had her face pressed firmly against Randel’s chest.
She hadn’t yet adjusted to the temple, so everything seemed unfamiliar to her.

I would just have to wait until she came to the Trainee Priest Quarters later.
I had gotten ahead of myself in my excitement.

‘Diana will be staying here anyway.’

There was plenty of time.
I hopped down from my chair.

Randel asked me.

“Leaving already? There must be a reason you came all this way.”
“Sae, Kaiser is looking for you. I’m going to find Kaiser!”

I quickly made an excuse before Randel could worry.
Before he could say anything, Diana opened her mouth.

“Aww? That’s sad—. Diana wanted to stay with big sister Sae! (Aww? That’s sad—. Diana wanted to be with big sister Sae!)”

Diana pouted with a disappointed expression.

I was disappointed too.
I wanted to have a proper conversation with Diana.

* * *

Since it felt awkward to just return to the Trainee Priest Quarters, I decided to actually go see Kaiser.

‘He’s probably eating in his office again today.’

Kaiser disliked commotion, after all.
He didn’t get along well with the other priests either.

I arrived at Kaiser’s office and stood there, hesitating.
I wanted to knock and enter right away, but—.

‘What if I get rejected again….’

I found myself circling aimlessly in front of the door.

Then suddenly the door opened.
Startled, I looked up to find Kaiser gazing down at me.

“Come in.”
“Really? Are you sure?”
“Yes.”

What was this about?
Whatever it was, this worked out well.
I hurried into the room before Kaiser changed his mind.

“Have you eaten?”
“Yes, I have.”

Grrrrowwwwl—!
The moment I said I’d already eaten, my stomach let out a thunderous protest.

“….”
“…Eat.”
“Yes….”

I should have just said I hadn’t eaten.
Otherwise, Kaiser would probably have sent me away, telling me to go eat something.

My face flushed crimson as I hung my head low, and Kaiser slid a plate toward me.

“Thank you.”

And so we ate together.

‘Was I really that hungry?’

As the food settled in my stomach, my mind began to clear, and I remembered something I’d overlooked.
The day the Sacred Maiden arrived at the temple.

‘Kaiser had something he wanted to tell me that day, didn’t he?’

I’d completely forgotten about it because of the Sacred Maiden’s appearance.
I chewed the food in my mouth thoroughly and swallowed before asking.

“Kazamin, what were you trying to tell me back then?”
“…It’s nothing.”
“Are you still upset with me?”

Even as I asked, my heart pounded fiercely.
I tried my best to appear indifferent.

“It’s not like that.”

Kaiser sighed, and I flinched.
He met my eyes and spoke with gravity.

“I have never once connected you with Parmanace.”
“…Really?”
“Really.”
“Yes!”

Kaiser’s gaze was too resolute for me to doubt him.
Besides, Kaiser was not someone who would speak words he didn’t mean.
Hehe.

Eating with Kaiser turned out to be quite nice, actually.

“Eat more.”
“I’m eating lots already.”
“That’s not eating a lot.”
“But I am eating.”
“Don’t sneak mushrooms off your plate.”
“Yes….”
“You’re so small and skinny. You need to eat properly.”
“Okay….”

I hadn’t realized it before, but Kaiser was surprisingly nagging.
Eating with Kaiser wasn’t so great after all.
That’s what I thought—.

“If I go around calling this tiny thing my daughter, people will accuse me of child abuse.”
“…!”

I looked up at Kaiser in surprise.

So he was going to make me his daughter?
My eyes brightened as I gazed up at him, and he chuckled softly.

“Well, I’d never actually call this brat my daughter, though.”
“….”

What a mean man.

‘…Still, just in case, I should scrape the plate clean and eat every last bit.’

Scrape, scrape—I was so busy scraping the bottom of the plate with my spoon that I didn’t notice.
That Kaiser was watching me with an amused smile.

* * *

Everything in the temple revolved around Diana.

“Where is Diana?”
“Diana should like this.”
“The new year is coming soon, and I need to hear Diana’s opinion for the celebration….”
“I need to plan next year’s classes for the Trainee Priests, but where is Diana?”

Diana’s name spilled endlessly from the lips of the busy adults rushing about.
Diana was always surrounded by Temple Priests, and they all grinned widely whenever they saw her.
If she so much as pouted slightly, everyone would panic and scramble to make her smile.

It was only natural.
She was a precious, irreplaceable Sacred Maiden who had reappeared after skipping two generations.

Even the cold Sirius didn’t put up walls around Diana.
Devon, who always acted carelessly, was respectful to her.
She was the one and only existence who could propel Artemisia forward once more.

‘The adults are terrible! They’re hoarding the Sacred Maiden all to themselves!’

I lingered near the entrance of the Trainee Priest Quarters.
When would Diana arrive?

“Sae.”

I turned at the call—it was Ilay.
He smiled brightly as he watched me bouncing on my feet.

“You seem really happy that the Sacred Maiden appeared.”
“Of course I am!”
“Still, try to calm down first.”
“Calm down? But I’m not angry?”
“You don’t only need to calm down when you’re angry. You’re just too excited.”

Ilay led me to the Gazebo in the West Garden.
It was quiet since children rarely went there.

Ilay lowered his voice and spoke carefully.

“You said the Sacred Maiden never appeared before the regression.”
“Yeah.”
“But this time she did. Before you even searched for her. Don’t you find that strange?”

There’s only one reason why this life differs from before the regression.
My actions as someone who has regressed.

As Ilay said, I wasn’t directly involved in finding the Sacred Maiden.
But—.

“Things have already changed too much.”

My actions could have created a butterfly effect, triggering a chain reaction.

“The status of Artemisia Temple is different from before. That’s probably why, isn’t it?”
“Even if the status changed, would the Sacred Maiden really appear this quickly?”

Ilay had lived two lives, and with unhappy pasts in both, he was suspicious and cautious by nature.
So this suspicion might be unfounded.

But I don’t dismiss what Ilay says lightly.
Because I trust Ilay.

I nodded.

“Don’t say that. You’re too excited right now.”
“…That’s understandable. We’ve waited so long for this.”

It wasn’t just me who waited.
Ilay probably waited for the Sacred Maiden even more than I did.

“Ilay, if Diaena is the Sacred Maiden, we can cure all of Teodor’s ailments.”
“…!”

Ilay clenched his teeth as if struck at his core.

“…I know.”

Ilay looked into my eyes and shook his head.

“That’s why I want to be more careful.”
“Mm.”

There was no pain or sorrow quite like having hope snatched away after grasping it.
Both Ilay and I knew this truth deeply, etched into our very bones through experience.

* * *

“Artemiaaaa!”
“I believe in youuuu!”

The children’s training voices echoed loudly.

‘Good, they’re progressing well.’

“If you finish this set, each of you will add five hundred more repetitions.”
“She’s… she’s a demon…!”
“Artemia, have mercy…!”

Despite their protests, the children didn’t break their stance.
They had grown accustomed to it by now.

Just because Diana had arrived didn’t mean I could abandon my duties.
I finished training the children and went to find Kaiser.

‘I need to earn points if I’m to become his godmother.’

Since Kaiser hadn’t turned me away last time, I intended to work hard and make a good impression.

I spotted Kaiser walking with the Holy Knights in the distance.
I was about to call out to him when—

“Kazamin—!”

A cheerful voice called from behind, and I turned around.
It was Diana.

‘I feel like this has happened before.’

Diana ran toward Kaiser with quick, eager steps, spreading both arms wide open.

“Kazamin! Hold Diaena, please!”

Kaiser’s brow furrowed, but Diana remained undeterred, beaming with radiance.
That smile was dazzling.
She demanded love with such confidence, such absolute certainty that it would be given to her—this conviction shone unmistakably from her face.

When Kaiser didn’t pick her up, Diana tilted her head curiously and asked again.

“You’re Kazamin, the mightiest Holy Knight, aren’t you?”
“Yes.”
“The knights say that Diaena and Kazamin have the exact same hair color.”
“….”
“Diaena and Kazamin have the same eye color too.”
“….”
“Really, right? They’re the same, aren’t they?”

Diana touched her own hair with a gentle smile.

“I really, really want to see you smile. My knight!”

Diana giggled and clung to Kaiser’s leg.
The Holy Knights beside them grinned widely, adoring Diana.

“How fortunate for you, Kaiser.”
“I too am the Sacred Maiden’s knight.”
“I am always ready to fight for the Sacred Maiden!”

The Holy Knights puffed out their chests and playfully appealed to Diana.
Diana shook her head firmly.

“Diaena only wants Kazamin.”

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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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