Youngest on Top - Chapter 89

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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 89

If Diana truly was Behemoth’s messenger, it was highly likely.

Enrik: That lunatic Misa could’ve easily given such an order.
Enrik: Probably planning to snatch you up if you got kicked out of the temple before awakening.

“I should’ve beaten him to death back then.”

I clenched my fists tightly.
For reference, “Misa” was our shorthand for “that insane psychopathic perverted stalker.”

Enrique: Hahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahaha
Enrik: Beat him to death?
Enrik: Ooh, so you wanna beat him to death, huh?
Enrik: You’re thinking about beating that lunatic Misa to death?
Enrik: Is that right??

“….”

Ugh. My blood pressure’s rising.
To experience the miracle of high blood pressure at this young age.
Enrik is truly a remarkable angel.

Enrik: I am pretty amazing, aren’t I!

Sigh….
Why did I have to be connected to Enrik of all people.

Enrik: That’s because you’re still a little squirt, so you can’t talk to the older brothers, you know.
Enrik: You couldn’t handle their holiness.
Enrik: I’m already overwhelming enough on my own.

‘Does that mean if my power grows stronger, I’ll be able to talk to the other brothers too?’

I began to seriously worry about this.
Would it really be a good thing for me if more people could speak to me?
Especially the other brothers….

Enrik is loud, rude, disagreeable, arrogant, tactless, presumptuous, and has a refined taste for tormenting his youngest brother—that’s all.

Enrik: Introducing yourself?
Enrik: How dare a pea-sized thing approach the heavenly Enrik.
Enrik: Want me to strike you with divine lightning?

Still, he was the one brother I found somewhat comfortable with.

Enrik: What, what are you saying.
Enrik: Honestly.
Enrik: Geez, honestly.
Enrik: Anyway. So what do you need?
Enrik: Who do you want to beat up?
Enrik: That Misa bastard?
Enrik: I’ll rough him up for you if that’s it?

“Stop reading my mind like you own the place!”

Enrik: I can’t help but read it even if I’m not trying.
Enrique: You’re so weak lol

I clenched my fists tightly.
I had to grow stronger, regardless of whether my other brothers nagged me or not.
At least so I wouldn’t hear that anymore.

‘If it wasn’t because of that Misa bastard—.’

Then the conclusion was that another temple had targeted me.

‘Why? Why did they target me?’

Before my awakening as the Sacred Maiden, they wouldn’t have even known I was one.

Was it simply because I stood out?
Anyone who had been paying attention to the sequence of events would have noticed that many changes in Artemisia Temple were because of me.
And then I even became a Divine Nova at the conference.

“What do you think?”

Enrik: I can’t tell you that right now.
Enrik: Besides, using forbidden words would trigger a conversation ban.

What could Enrik possibly help with?

Enrik: Use your head and think about it.
Enrik: Oh right, you have no talent for thinking, do you?
Enrik: If you don’t want to use your head, use your body instead.
Enrik: Your body is far superior to your intellect anyway.

“Is that a compliment about being strong?”

Enrik: It’s an insult about being stupid.
Enrik: Anyway, whether then or now, you still love anything strong and powerful.
Enrik: Build up your strength so you can better accept the world’s secrets.

As frustrating as it is, Enrik is right.
The fact that I’m communicating with an angel as naturally as breathing yet can’t receive proper help means I’m weak.

Enrik: …Still, other Sacred Maidens can’t even connect with the Heavenly Realm right after awakening.
Enrik: You’re not that lacking.
Enrik: Why are you being so unadapted to this?
Enrik: Don’t call yourself weak with your own mouth.

I’m the one who can’t adapt to this.
Enrik actually attempting something like comfort.

I let out a small laugh and opened the door.
Now that I’ve mostly adapted, I should go outside and get some activity—.

I froze.
I stood motionless, my hand still on the door.

Something was wrong with the corridor.
My animal friends were greeting me.

No, the animals weren’t the problem.

“…Why are you all here?”

At my words, the adults lifted their heads.
They all looked gaunt and hollow-eyed, their lips parched and cracked.

With sacred power, their bodies should naturally be brimming with vitality, so this shouldn’t have been possible.
What on earth had happened?

“Dadu, why are you like this? Are you hurt?”
“Sae…!”
“Our youngest!”
“I was sick with longing to see our baby!”
“Waaah! I thought I’d forgotten your face!”

The adults suddenly sprang from their seats and swarmed toward me.
People who had looked half-dead moments before now rushed at me all at once, and somehow…

‘It feels like a horde of zombies is charging at me…’

“Oh, our precious blessing finally shows their face!”
“Let me see, let me! Why does your face look like this! Our tiger has become a chick!”
“How could this be, oh dear. We didn’t know you were suffering so much. This is all our fault.”

The adults wept openly, turning my face this way and that to examine my condition.

‘They’ve all been so worried this whole time.’

I had thought no one visited because they were busy, but it seemed they couldn’t bring themselves to come because they felt guilty.

I felt oddly embarrassed.
It was strange to receive such excessive treatment.

‘There’s no need for this.’

I had also believed Diana was the Sacred Maiden.
I had hoped so desperately for the Sacred Maiden to appear that I didn’t want to even consider the possibility she was a fake.

“We truly failed you. We did something unforgivable to you.”
“How hard you must have endured alone all this time. Bearing the sacred fever by yourself, and withstanding that demon’s tyranny!”
“From now on, no matter what happens, I’m on the youngest’s side!”
“Uuuuh…! B, breathe!”

I can’t breathe!
At this rate, I’ll turn into a burst honey bread instead of a whole one!

That’s when Sirius pulled me out from between the crowd that was squashing me.

“Everyone’s being excessive. Compose yourselves and stop fussing over the child.”

Devon bristled at Sirius’s cold words.

“Excessive? No matter how much we express it, our blessing’s worth is never enough! Aren’t you on our blessing’s side too, Sirius!”
“No, I’m not on the youngest’s side!”

Sirius declared firmly.

“It’s not some shallow alliance like that. From now on, I will become one body with the youngest, completely unified. Starting today, any attack on the youngest will be considered an attack on me.”

Whiiing—.
A cold wind swept through the corridor in one complete circle.

I looked up at Sirius, bewildered and speechless.
His expression was infinitely serious.

Then the High Priest, standing at a distance, called out to me.

“Sae.”
“Yes.”

After calling me, he stood there without approaching.
He only gazed at me with complicated eyes full of so much to say.

Only after a long while did he finally open his mouth, and the first thing he asked was about my physical condition.

“…Your body.”
“I’m fine.”
“…Yes, seeing your face is enough.”

The High Priest said that and turned away.

It was strange.
Those shoulders of his, once broad as Mount Tai, effortlessly bearing the weight of this great temple.
Now they sagged as though he could barely carry his own body.

‘But where is Randel?’

* * *

Once outside, the High Priest swiftly retrieved the rabbit doll he had hidden behind his back, keeping it from the child’s sight.

“…High Priest, you’ve been without sleep all these nights, mending this doll while thinking of Sae. Why didn’t you give it to her?”

Mogen, who had followed him out, asked carefully.

“…Do I even deserve to approach that child?”

I wanted nothing more than to embrace her tightly.
To see those blue eyes up close, to caress her soft cheeks.
To examine every detail of her gaunt face.
To check from head to toe that she was unharmed.
To whisper again and again that I would never treat you this way again.
To say I’m sorry, I’m sorry, I was wrong.

“I have no shame, and I’m ashamed to face that child.”

How could I presume to meet her on my own terms?
Above all, she might not even want that.

“But…Sae will want you to treat her as you did before.”

At those words, the High Priest laughed bitterly at himself.
Amused by his own pathetic hope that it might truly be so.

Seeing that forlorn expression, Mogen irritably ran his hands through his hair.

“Ugh, this is so frustrating!”
“…?”
“That’s not it, High Priest!”

Mogen’s demeanor, which had been as gentle and docile as a capybara, transformed in an instant.
He leaned on one leg and fixed the High Priest with a casual, defiant gaze.

Even Kaiser had never addressed the High Priest in such a manner.
Much less Mogen, who had originally been someone who could barely speak to the High Priest.

“Sae might hate you. Honestly, since everyone was deceived by the demon and neglected that child, of course she’d be angry.”
“….”
“I don’t even want to look at your face!”

Whoosh.

“I don’t want to make eye contact with you!”

Whoooosh!

“I don’t want to exchange words with you!”

Whooooosh—!

The High Priest staggered under the barrage of brutal truths.
Even when his body had been pierced by black arrows of demonic fire, it hadn’t hurt this much.

“But what does that matter.”

Mogen tilted his head with a provocative smirk.

“If you just disappear because Sae hates you, does anything actually change?”
“…!”
“At best, she’d just say, ‘Good riddance. Goodbye forever, Dad.'”

The image of Saelika saying those words floated vividly in the High Priest’s mind.
His eyes trembled violently.
The destructive force was greater than any offensive spell.

“So if you want to avoid that, then whether you break, shatter, crumble, or whatever—you have to do something!!”

Mogen’s eyes blazed as he roared the words.

“Shouldn’t we do our very best and clash with that child!”
“…!!!”

The High Priest’s eyes widened dramatically.
A lightning-like realization struck his mind with tremendous force.

Mogen, breathing heavily and gasping for air, squeezed the rabbit hat tightly and stepped back as if realizing his mistake.

“Forgive my rudeness, High Priest.”

The High Priest, too, squeezed his rabbit doll tightly and approached him.

“Not at all. You are as much family to me as one bound by thread and sweat.”
“High Priest…!”

The two men gazed at each other with burning eyes.
The rabbits clutched firmly in each of their hands also looked at one another with warm eyes.

It was the moment a stitched rabbit family bound by thread and sweat was born.

* * *

‘Huh? Why is it so quiet?’

Upon arriving at the Trainee Priest Quarters, I tilted my head in confusion.
I had expected the children to be playing noisily in my absence, but the garden was remarkably silent.

“Where could they be?”

Then, I heard what sounded like a shout echoing from a distance.
I quickly moved my feet toward that direction.

“The youngest oooooone!!!”
“I’m sorryyyyyy!!!!”

The children were rolling around the training grounds while shouting like that.

‘What, what is this?’

In that moment of confusion, the children spotted me.

“The youngest! The youngest is here!”
“Sae!”
“Woohoohoo! Sae’s here!”
“You didn’t abandon us!”
“Of course not! We’re brothers! We’ll do really well! Really!”

The children rushed toward me, reeking of sweat.
Then they lifted me up and began tossing me high into the air.

“Ahhhhhhh!”

I was startled and flustered as I suddenly found myself being lifted in celebration.

‘Huh? This is actually kind of fun?’

“Huh? Huh? He’s smiling! Sae’s smiling!”
“Come on! Throw him higher!”
“Send him flying!”
“They say kids like physical play the best!”

The children tossed me around, even channeling their sacred power into it.
Since they were so enthusiastic, I played along and pretended to enjoy it.

I absolutely did not enjoy physical play like a child would.
Absolutely not.

After the celebration ended, the children set me down and knelt before me.
The children, their spirits now deflated and hesitant, spoke to me.

“Listen, we know you’re really angry with us. When we teased you back then, we didn’t mean it—it was just for fun—.”
“I’m mad.”
“…!”
“Really mad.”

The children’s heads snapped up as they exchanged whispers with each other.

“Ah, I only thought of you as a demon.”
“A, an angel?”
“Really an angel?”

So they’re finally recognizing my true self.

Leaving the murmuring children behind, I headed to my room.
I had heard that Randel was there.

* * *

My room was a complete mess.
Randel sat crumpled in that disarray like a discarded painting.

His green eyes wavered when he saw me.
His colorless lips trembled several times before he spoke.
A smile that wasn’t quite a smile flickered across his face.

“Sae, you’re here. I was trying to clean up quickly, but I’m late again. Just wait a moment, I’ll tidy it up right away—.”
“Stop it.”

I strode toward Randel and lifted his hand up sharply.

“…!”

His hand was a complete mess.
Glass shards stained with bright red blood glimmered across his palm.
The glass fragments were shattered so finely and embedded so deeply that I doubted whether they could all be removed properly.

“It’s nothing.”

Randel withdrew his hand from mine and spoke.

“Compared to the pain you’ve endured—.”
“Why is Randel being hurt?”
“….”
“It’s my fault that I caused trouble.”
“….”
“Why does Randel have to suffer? Why does Randel have to feel sad?”

His hands were in a state so pitiful it hurt just to look at them.
Seeing Randel in pain felt like grinding shards of glass into my own heart.

But what infuriated me more was that Randel seemed utterly unbothered by it all.
His eyes were saying this was too light, too insufficient—.

“…I made you suffer even more because of me.”
“….”
“I should have understood the situation properly. If I had—.”
“Randel is busy with the Sacred Maiden’s matters.”

With the Sacred Maiden’s arrival, Randel’s schedule became even more hectic.
His workload had skyrocketed, and Diana refused to leave his side.

Randel was probably cutting into his sleep just to manage everything.
It couldn’t have been easy for him to still take such careful care of me in the midst of all that.

Yet Randel still found moments to check on me.
He even went out of his way to bring me pudding and wanted to hear how I was doing.

“Just… he couldn’t refuse the Sacred Maiden. That’s all it is.”

He simply couldn’t reject Diana as she approached him so openly.
He thought she was the Sacred Maiden, and even if she wasn’t, she would collapse at the slightest stress.

“Sae is always so strong, so kind, so gentle.”

Randel laughed painfully.

“…I don’t deserve to rely on your kindness.”
“….”
“From now on, you’ll have a godfather too—.”
“Stop!”

Fear seized me.
The way Randel spoke, as if he would drift far away from me forever.
As if he were leaving for somewhere else entirely.

Only then did I realize it.
Diana tormenting me was never truly the burden.
What weighed so heavily on me was something else entirely.
The fear of losing Randel because of her.
That was what terrified me most.

With a sudden rush—!
I pulled Randel into my arms.
As if I would never let him go.

Randel, who always held me in return, went rigid and stiff.
The hand that always patted my back fluttered helplessly through the air.

Strangely, that made my heart ache unbearably.
When I lifted my head, Randel’s face blurred before me.

Why was I crying so foolishly in a moment like this?
I pressed down on the sobs that kept spilling out, gasping out my words.

“Don’t leave me, Randel!”

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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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