Youngest on Top - Chapter 82

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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 82

If I explain one by one that this isn’t harassment, it seems like I’m being a poor sport about a joke.
But if I push forward with training, Diana might misunderstand.

‘If it looks like I’m challenging the Sacred Maiden’s authority….’

I quickly shook off that terrible memory.

The truth is, I’ve only recently started fitting in with children my own age.
So I don’t know what to do in a situation like this.

‘And a confrontation with none other than the Sacred Maiden….’

I deliberately turned my gaze away from the memories trying to surface.

It seemed best if I just removed myself from the situation.

“W-well then, I’ll go to my room! I need to make crêpes!”

I quickly turned around.
And I took a brisk step forward.

“Huh?”
“Sae?”

I heard the children’s bewildered voices.

‘Was that wrong? Did I make a mistake?’

Should I not have left and return right now instead?
I hesitated.

“Youngest!”

I heard someone calling me.
It seems returning was the right choice.
I quickly turned back around.

But Diana broke into a bright smile and tilted her head curiously.

“Huh? You called for Diaena?”

The child who had called me spoke with a flustered expression.

“What? No, the youngest is Sae—.”
“Oh come on. Diaena arrived at the Temple last of all. The person who came last is the youngest.”
“B-but in terms of actual age—.”
“Diaena is younger!”

Diana wiggled her index finger adorably.

“Diaena knows all about it. Sae’s older sister came from an orphanage. That’s why she doesn’t even know her own name. So she doesn’t know how old she is either. Right?”
“Hey.”

Dmitri glared at Diana with a frown.

“Are you done talking? Apologize to Honeybread right now.”
“Why?”
“Why? You’re—.”
“But it’s the truth. Diaena barely said anything wrong.”
“You keep wanting to hurt Honeybread like this?”
“Why has Dmitri been taking Sae’s older sister’s side this whole time? Diaena is the youngest and the Sacred Maiden!”
“So what’s so great about being the youngest and the Sacred Maiden? Does being a Sacred Maiden mean you can hurt people?”

As Dmitri pressed the issue, tears began to glisten in Diana’s eyes.

“The Sacred Maiden is the most important person in the Temple! The Sacred Maiden is the Temple’s princess! Dmitri is mean! You’re awful! Sae is awful!”
“This stubborn nonsense—!”

Just as an angry Dmitri was about to say more.

“Cough, cough!”

Diana, who had been shrieking, began coughing and covered her mouth with both hands.
Soon her palms began to stain a vivid crimson.

“…Blood?!”
“D-Diana!”
“Sacred Maiden! Call the adults! Quickly!”

The Trainee Priest Quarters descended into chaos, and soon the adults came rushing at the sound of the commotion.

* * *

Diana was carried out of the Trainee Priest Quarters in the arms of the adults.
Several Priests remained behind to piece together what had happened.

“What on earth happened for the Sacred Maiden to cough up blood?”

The children exchanged glances before carefully speaking up.

“Well, it seems Diana misunderstood something.”
“She saw us training. We were training pretty intensely.”
“I guess she got startled.”

At the children’s words, Dmitri let out a scoff.

“That’s not it. Diana was throwing a fit saying she should be the youngest instead of the Protagonist, and then she coughed up blood all by herself. It’s pretty funny, actually.”
“What do you mean? Why was she insisting on being the youngest? Start from the beginning.”
“Just as I said. She watched the training, then stepped in telling the Protagonist not to bully the children, but when the children called the Protagonist the youngest, she suddenly—.”
“So the Sacred Maiden coughed up blood while talking to whom?”

I was about to step forward when Dmitri pulled me back.
Then he stepped forward himself.

“Me.”
“Dmitri!”

The Priest, concluding it was Dmitri’s fault, grew angry.

“A newly awakened Sacred Maiden is sensitive. You know this yourself, don’t you? Before awakening and right after, she’s in a fragile state—like glass that shatters easily.”
“She didn’t seem fragile to me.”
“You brat! After finally having a Sacred Maiden appear, and you’re going to criticize her like that?”
“Right, we could coax her with kind words instead.”
“But that one started it with the Protagonist—.”
“I’m fine with it.”

I stepped forward quickly.
Dmitri showed no signs of backing down, and if this continued, the Priesthood might end up disadvantaging him.

“Diaena just arrived. Everything’s unfamiliar. And my body hurts too. When you’re like that, everything feels hard. So please understand, okay?”
“…I understand.”

As Dmitri stepped back, the Temple Priest let out a relieved sigh.

“Divine fever is something we cannot heal. We can only wait for Diana to overcome it alone.”
“Right, so you all need to watch over her carefully. She’s your generation’s Sacred Maiden, after all.”
“Yes….”
“We will be careful.”

The children bowed their heads at the adults’ words.

“Then go check on Diana later.”
“Protagonist, want to go together?”
“Come with me.”
“I can go too.”

A whole procession of followers gathered.
At that, the Temple Priest sighed.

“If you all rush in together, it’ll be chaotic. Dmitri, Ilay, Edmund—you stay here. It’s better if Sae goes alone.”
“…Yes.”

Worried they might stop me too, I quickly moved toward the door.

* * *

Click.
I opened the door to Diana’s room and stepped inside.

‘There’s no one here.’

I had naturally assumed the adults would be gathered around.

‘Ah, they must be sleeping.’

I could see Diana lying peacefully in bed, fast asleep.
Her hands and feet had been cleaned and her clothes changed—not a trace of blood remained visible.

I carefully approached the bedside and examined Diana’s face.
Her complexion was pallid and gaunt.

‘…It feels wrong to just leave like this.’

Seeing her suffering, I found myself unable to turn away.

According to the Temple Priest, no one can heal the Sacred Maiden’s divine fever.
She must endure it entirely alone.

‘My sacred power won’t help, but there must be something else I can do.’

I reached out to touch the cold compress resting on Diana’s forehead.
As expected, it had already grown lukewarm.

I cooled the compress again and placed it back on her forehead.

In that moment, Diana’s eyelids fluttered open, revealing crimson eyes.

“Diaena. Are you okay?”

I asked eagerly.

Diana simply stared at me without answering.

‘What’s wrong?’

Just as the silence stretched too long, Diana opened her mouth.
And instead of the slurred speech she had been producing until now, she began speaking with perfectly smooth pronunciation.

“…I know. You hate me, don’t you?”

I was caught off guard by her unexpected words.
Before I could deny it, she spoke again.

“I’m the one you’re jealous of.”
“Jealous?”
“Because I’ve been the youngest here, monopolizing everyone’s love in this Temple.”

Her eyes were filled with a peculiar certainty.

“But compared to the Sacred Maiden, being the youngest means nothing.”
“….”
“Besides, are you even really the youngest? You’re an orphan, aren’t you? You don’t even know your real age?”
“Even if I’m not the youngest, it’s fine.”
“You were only loved because I, Diana, wasn’t here.”
“….”
“You only received special treatment as a substitute because the true Sacred Maiden was absent.”
“….”
“Don’t deny it. You always show up whenever I’m being favored by the High Priest or the Elders, don’t you? You’re jealous, aren’t you?”
“No. That’s because I wanted to talk to you and Diaena—.”
“Stop lying. It’s creepy and disgusting how you secretly peek from behind when Randel, Kaiser, and I are talking.”
“….”
“Now that the real me is here, you can’t pretend anymore, so you hate me, don’t you?”

I had never once wanted to pretend to be Diana.

“That’s why you’re taking Dmitri, Ilay, and Edmund away from me.”
“Dmitri, Ilay, and Edmund aren’t things. Taking and being taken from is wrong.”
“What?”
“Diana is the Sacred Maiden. We must cherish the Trainee Priests.”

Diana’s face twisted viciously.

“How dare you act like the Sacred Maiden! They’re my Trainee Priests! How dare you act like you’re looking after them!”

Diana raised her hand sharply upward.
That was when it happened.

There came a knock at the door.
Soon the door opened and the Trainee Priests entered.

They must have come without the adults knowing.
Worried about Diana.

“Are you awake? We heard voices.”
“We wanted to see if you were okay….”
“My dear priests…!”

Diana brought the hand she had raised to her eyes and rubbed them vigorously.
Her reddened eyes looked as though she had been crying all along.

The children startled and approached the bed.

“Why, why is something wrong?”
“Why are you crying? Does it still hurt?”
“H-hehe…. No. Diaena got scolded because of her mistake…. I’m just a little sad.”

Diana’s eyes glistened with tears even as she forced a smile.
Then she quickly looked at me and bowed her head deeply.

“I understand. You’re the older sister’s friends. You’re the older sister’s people. Not Diaena’s.”

The children’s eyes widened at the sudden words.

“I won’t be greedy. Diaena wasn’t trying to take you away. I just wanted everyone to get along. So please don’t be angry, okay? Okay?”

The children looked bewildered and uncomfortable.
One child tried to say something, but another stopped them.

Diaena fidgeted with her fingers, gauging my reaction.

“Diaena doesn’t understand much about the Temple. I won’t do it again. I won’t rush at the older sister again. I didn’t know. Please forgive me, please. Okay?”

And she clasped her hands together, pleading earnestly.
Toward me.

“So please don’t hit Diaena….”

At Diana’s words, the children’s eyes widened as they stared at me.
Their faces were shocked.

“Did you really hit the Sacred Maiden?”
“Haha, Sae. I wasn’t hitting her—I was opening her meridians, you know? But still, she’s the Sacred Maiden…”
“The Priests just told us to be considerate. This time you went too far.”
“Yeah, she even coughed up blood just now.”

Yes, that’s exactly right.
Diana was in a state of coughing up blood as an aftereffect of awakening as the Sacred Maiden.

So contrary to Ilay’s suspicion, there was a high probability this child was truly the Sacred Maiden.

‘If only she didn’t hate me this much.’

Artemisia’s Sacred Maiden should instinctively be favorable toward me.
Even though I’ve been reborn as human, my soul is Artemia’s Messenger.

‘Even if she doesn’t unconditionally follow and like me, it’s definitely strange for her to be hostile toward me like this.’

I quietly rose from my seat.

“I didn’t hit her.”
“Y-yes! That’s right! Tae didn’t hit Diaena!”

Diana forced brightness into her voice as she spoke.
A single tear rolled down the child’s cheek.

The children looked like they had no idea what to do.

“I’m going now.”
“Huh? U-um…”
“Yes, that would be best.”

Receiving the children’s farewells, I stepped out of the room.

Click.
From beyond the closed door, I heard Diana’s crying.
The children’s voices trying to comfort her, unsure what to do.

* * *

The next day.
Randel came looking for me.

“It’s been a while, Sae.”
“Yes!”

It really had been quite some time.
Diana had been particularly attached to Randel, and he’d been too busy looking after her to visit.

“Look at this.”

Randel held something out to me.
It was pudding.

“Wow!”
“Want to eat it with me in the garden? It’s quite warm today.”
“Yes!”

We sat at a table set up in one corner of the garden.

“It’s strawberry pudding. I thought you’d like it.”

Randel smiled warmly.
The strawberry pudding was delicious.

“Your hair has gotten quite long.”

He was right.
My hair, which once reached my shoulders, had now grown past them.

“We could tie it up now, couldn’t we? I remember tying your hair when you first arrived.”

He was referring to the time when the other children hadn’t yet returned from their training retreat.

“Randel and I do that quite often.”
“That’s right. I should give her a hair ribbon as a gift.”
“That’s fine.”
“I just wanted an excuse to tie up Sae’s hair myself.”

Randel’s green eyes gleamed with warmth.

‘Randel must have heard what happened yesterday too.’

Yet Randel never brought up Diana.
He simply smiled gently without any hint of concern, speaking only of ordinary things.
Just as we used to do.

‘Ah, this is comfortable.’

For the first time in a while, my heart felt at ease.
A subtle smile crept across my face.

“Randel!”

A familiar voice called out from a distance.
It was Diana.

Diana came rushing over and stopped before Randel and me.
Then she glanced at me.

“…?”

Diana withdrew her gaze from me and looked up at Randel with a bright smile.

“Mister Ilay, I heard everything.”
“Heard what?”
“The Sacred Maiden can choose two papas?”

Diana’s crimson eyes sparkled with particular brightness.
Her hands clasped together as if overwhelmed, and she let out a small “Kyah!”
Her cheeks flushed red with anticipation and excitement.

‘Ah.’

I could sense what this child was about to say.
And my prediction proved correct.

“Randel can be Diaena’s papa instead!”

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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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