Youngest on Top - Chapter 93

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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 93

* * *

Only after my eyes adjusted to the light could I begin to make out their appearances.

‘What, what is this? Have I entered paradise?’
‘Oh, Lord Jarhaden…!’
‘I have witnessed the descent of the divine upon this earthly realm…’

The children clutched their excitedly racing hearts and began whispering among themselves.

“That’s the famous Kaiser, isn’t it? I knew it the moment I saw him!”
“The mightiest Holy Knight! Now I understand why he’s the strongest. He conquers with his face!”
“Ah, I wish I could be pierced by that gaze…”

One young girl suddenly clutched her head as if struck by vertigo and nearly collapsed.

“Good heavens! It’s Admiral Ekellan from the Southern Region!”
“Admiral Ekellan despises the Temple, so how could he be at such an occasion…?”
“Ah, I wish I could sail away with the Admiral on that blue sea…!”

Even a young girl who dreamed of retiring from her duties as Sacred Maiden had emerged.

“Who is that Priest with the light brown hair? His emerald eyes are as fresh as spring leaves kissed by sunlight.”
“The aura he radiates is gentle yet firm like a mature branch—you can tell at a glance he’s someone of great standing.”
“But I’ve never heard of such a person existing in Artemisia. Who could he be?”
“Could he be another nobleman like the Admiral?”

The curious gazes of the young women, which had been stealing glances at Randel, suddenly fixed upon one man.
The last one to enter.

Towering height and upright shoulders.
A taut, defined waist.
A firm jawline and a high, sculpted nose.
And above all, mysterious silver eyes that held majesty and authority.

His appearance was certainly striking enough to captivate, even to draw one in—but that wasn’t why the young women hesitated.

‘Wait, hold on. Could that person possibly be…?’
‘A High Priest?’
‘Isn’t that the High Priest of Artemisia?’
‘No, seriously, a High Priest?’

The young women blinked their eyes repeatedly at this suspicious reality.
But from every angle, he was indeed a High Priest.
Anatullio, the High Priest of Artemisia.

Then one question bloomed in everyone’s mind.

‘Why is the High Priest here at a tea party?’

There’s a time to join in, and a time not to.
It was extraordinarily awkward.
And even more—.

‘Why is he holding a child?!’

A small young woman with golden hair that sparkled like sunlight was nestled snugly against the High Priest’s broad chest.
Everyone furrowed their brows at this peculiar sight.

‘Huh? Why does it suit him so well?’
‘It suits him so well it’s actually frightening.’

The sight of a cool and imposing man cradling a soft child in his arms was unexpectedly…

‘Well, it might not be so bad.’
‘No problem. The High Priest could attend.’
‘Besides, there’s no rule saying the High Priest can’t attend.’
‘In fact, preventing him from attending would be discrimination!’

Then, a young woman with a kind smile spoke to Saelika.

“Um, you are Saelika, aren’t you? It’s nice to meet you. Would you mind sitting next to me if you’re comfortable?”

At those words, the other Sacred Maidens’ eyes gleamed.
How sneakily she made her move first!

“Isn’t that seat a bit shaded? My seat gets wonderful sunlight.”
“Oh, but my seat gets far more sunlight than that.”
“There’s no seat next to you!”
“We can always make room.”

Saelika instantly became the center of the tea party.

* * *

After an intense scramble for seating, Saelika found herself positioned at the heart of the tea party.
The young women chattered away with delighted expressions.
Such a rare opportunity to see someone of her stature was truly precious.

“I never expected the High Priest to come to a place like this. Oh, I don’t mean that in a bad way—I meant it as a surprise. In a good way.”
“That’s right. The High Priest usually wouldn’t even consider attending something like this.”

There was certainly a matter of the High Priest’s dignity to consider.
Of course, the young women were delighted that Anatullio High Priest paid no mind to such formalities.

Anatullio, who had been handing Saelika a fork, answered.

“I didn’t come here today as the High Priest.”
“Then as what?”
“As this child’s grandfather.”

Anatullio’s expression remained stoic, yet unmistakable pride shone through his features.

The young women blinked.
Grandfather?
With that face?

“My goodness!”
“How witty of you~!”
“The priesthood of Artemisia must be so fortunate. To have such a humorous High Priest!”
“Oh my! So today you’re not the High Priest, but Saelika’s grandfather! Perhaps I can be a bit more relaxed with you then?”

The young women erupted in delighted laughter.
Whatever a handsome man says is amusing.

The young girls gazed at Saelika with curious eyes.
Since Anatullio had mentioned she was his granddaughter, their interest was piqued.

“How did Admiral Ekellan come to know Saelika?”
“It was a fateful encounter.”
“My goodness? What kind of fateful meeting was it?”

Even Admiral Ekellan spoke gently when he had Saelika at his side.
The young girls, who knew well how much he despised the Temple, were secretly astonished.
Not wanting to miss this opportunity, they continued to bring up Saelika as a topic and asked questions.

Meanwhile, Kaiser remained silent and still in his seat.
The young girls could not easily approach him with conversation.
He was such a wild beast of a man that his mere presence exuded an oppressive atmosphere.

‘Is he uncomfortable? He seems to have come reluctantly…’
‘Well, Kaiser’s personality is as famous as his reputation.’
‘They probably brought him here semi-forcibly since he’s the most renowned.’

Then, Saelika reached out to grab a cookie.
It wasn’t far away, but the child’s arm was quite short.

Before the attendant could approach, a muscular arm suddenly appeared, its firmness evident even through the fabric.
A veined hand grasped the cookie.
It was Kaiser.

He placed the cookie in the child’s mouth and spoke.

“Chew it well before swallowing.”
“Yes.”
“And drink some milk too.”

As the child gulped down the milk, Kaiser grasped her plump cheek with one hand and examined it.

“Let me see.”

Kaiser pulled out a handkerchief from his pocket and gently tapped the child’s lips with it.

“You’re quite messy.”

He grinned wickedly.

“Sigh…”

Suddenly, sighs erupted simultaneously from all around.

Yet in that very space, an entirely different world was unfolding.

“Oh my, so you’re Randel.”
“How could we have been unaware of someone so remarkable? You’re truly a hidden gem of Artemisia.”
“Ha, you flatter me.”

Randel, with his tender compassion and gentle nature, was particularly popular.
All the young women who spoke with him fell into a dreamy, entranced state.

“I’m so delighted to have met someone as wonderful as you.”

Randel smiled warmly at her words.

“The feeling is mutual. I owe my gratitude to Sae.”
“To Saelika?”
“Yes, if it weren’t for Sae, I wouldn’t have come tonight, and I would have missed the opportunity to meet such wonderful people.”
“My goodness! Then I should thank Saelika as well.”
“Me too! Thank you, Saelika.”

Randel had naturally guided the conversation so that Saelika became the center of attention.
The young women, charmed by his kindness, praised Saelika without reservation as they conversed.

Thanks to the presence of the four men, the atmosphere around Saelika was warm and convivial.
Yet there were those who did not welcome such an atmosphere.

* * *

‘What is this? Why is the mood like this?’

At first, I was startled by the miraculous appearance of those four faces.
But they quickly regained their composure.
Either on their own, or because of the whispered voice of a partner beside them saying, “Sacred Maiden.”

These were all Sacred Maidens from the Temple, fiercely competing against one another.
Though no agreement had been made, these young women had come to this gathering with a singular purpose.

‘We must break Artemisia Temple’s wings before it takes flight.’

In their eyes, the other Sacred Maidens laughing beside Saelika appeared pathetic.

‘Artemisia has served as a buffer all this time. Now that buffer might disappear.’

The Temple that had tried to surpass Artemisia and enter the Octagon.
The Temple that was already squabbling within the Octagon over who ranked higher.
They could find comfort because the perpetual last place had held steady.

The hope that an eternal last place could be broken.
The relief that even if a new Temple climbed into the Octagon, their position wouldn’t be stolen.
The assurance that no matter how badly they lost in competition within the Octagon, they wouldn’t be last.

But now that last place had gained a possibility of escaping its position.

Of course, that possibility was infinitesimally small.
No matter how rapidly the situation improved, that was the limit.
They were far too far behind to catch up with the formidable Octagon Temples that had led for decades.

So some might think it was too early to make a move.
But wasn’t it always easier to break wings sooner rather than later?

“My, the Sacred Maiden of Artemisia is quite impressive, isn’t she?”
“Indeed. Attending her first gathering and arriving late at that, without even an apology.”
“Look at that grand entrance. What, the protagonist always arrives last—is that it?”
“Ah, so we’re just extras?”

At their pointed remarks, Saelika lifted her head.

‘Late? Me?’

She had arrived thirty minutes early from the scheduled time.
Honestly, no Temple would welcome Artemisia’s resurgence, so she had come early on purpose.
To set the atmosphere beforehand.

‘…It seems I really did arrive late.’

Even the Sacred Maidens who had been laughing cheerfully beside me grew visibly uncomfortable.
So they hadn’t been making baseless accusations.

‘Ah, now I understand what’s happening.’

That’s why everyone was already here.
Saelika held back a smirk.

At that moment, Admiral Ekellan began to furrow his brow and open his mouth.
Saelika gripped his hand firmly.
She also cast a meaningful glance toward the other adults.

‘Don’t interfere.’

This was a tea party of Sacred Maidens.
If a guardian partner stepped in, it would undermine the Sacred Maiden’s position.

Everyone understood Saelika’s gaze and released the tension from their bodies.
They trusted the child.

Enrik: Ha, are you insane?
Enrik: What kind of petty trick is this?
Enrik: Hey, flip the table. You’ll win with strength. You’ve got plenty of experience beating people.

Surely he wasn’t telling me to beat all the Sacred Maidens here.
This was the same person who had mocked me for being afraid of fighting them.

Enrik: That’s only true if the opponent wasn’t pulling petty stunts like this!

Saelika ignored Enrik and fell into thought.

Since I had the invitation, it would be easy to prove that my scheduled arrival time was three o’clock, not two.
But what would happen if I showed the invitation here?

‘Oh my, it seems there was a mistake in the delivery process.’
‘I see. Still, I wish I had come better informed about the timing.’
‘These kinds of miscommunications happen from time to time. Ah, but you’ve only just become the Sacred Maiden, so you wouldn’t know, would you?’
‘Being an orphan and a commoner, I’m unfamiliar with social gatherings like this. I’ll have much to learn going forward.’

It was predictable without even looking.
How many times had I endured this in the Celestial Realm?

Enrik: What?

When everyone united to kindle hostility, the actual causality didn’t truly matter.

‘Every revelation requires a performance.’

Saelika gauged the time.

‘The son of the Grand Duke of Noischlaehel from the Northern Region was supposed to attend the tea party today.’

Admiral Ekellan had said as much.

“The illustrious Northern fellow is far too occupied with affairs of state to attend personally. His son comes in his stead, I hear.”
“He’s probably hoping to scout whether any of this generation’s Sacred Maidens might receive an oracle concerning that boy.”
“Foolish Northern brute, still caught in the Temple’s web. Well, except for our apple, of course.”
“The boy is always so busy, he won’t stay long. His father keeps him on such a tight leash. Still, it’s been a while since we’ve seen his face.”

Admiral Ekellan’s eyes were warm as he spoke.
Yet when he mentioned the Grand Duke, his gaze turned fierce as if regarding a mortal enemy.

‘Right, the Prince of Noischlaehel is blood-related to the Admiral after all.’

If it had started at two o’clock, considerable time had already passed.
Since arriving near the end would be impolite, the Prince of Noischlaehel would arrive soon.

‘Good. Then—.’

I decided on the performance.
Saelika blinked her eyes innocently.
As if the sudden criticism directed at her frightened her somewhat.

The other Sacred Maidens grew delighted at her reaction.

“She even brought four partners with her.”
“I wonder if she can truly fulfill the role of a Sacred Maiden.”

Saelika tilted her head in confusion.

“Do it properly, Sae. Right, Helene?”

Helene was flustered by the sudden arrow directed at her.

“Huh? Well, that’s… Helene knows.”

At the repeated question, Helene bit her lip tightly.

Helene had been completely defeated even before Saelika awakened as a Sacred Maiden.
If Saelika now claimed to lack proper abilities, what would become of her?

“Yes, Saelika has quite considerable ability, and… actually, when I saw her at the Artemisia Temple, she managed the children quite well…”

To avoid losing face, I had no choice but to reluctantly take her side, like eating mustard while crying.
It was truly irritating.

“What, Helene. You said before that Artemia—.”
“That’s ancient history! I’ve competed directly with Artemia, so I know better than you!”
“What, are you just saying that because you lost?”
“It’s not because I lost—she was genuinely incredible. Just by walking, she changed all the tiles—.”

With just one word from Saelika, the confrontation between the children shifted.
No longer against Saelika, but against Helene instead.

A glimmer of understanding flickered in Eyrene’s eyes as she watched.

‘I thought the child couldn’t say anything and had no choice, but it seems she deliberately didn’t show the invitation right away.’

The other children also seemed to newly realize that Saelika had defeated a Sacred Maiden even before becoming one herself.

Eyrene smiled.

“Now, now, that’s enough. Tea parties are meant for pleasant conversation, but it seems everyone’s on edge because of the cold weather.”

Eyrene clapped her hands lightly to diffuse the tension and made a suggestion.

“How about we change the mood and play a simple card game?”
“A card game?”

The Sacred Maiden, who found the atmosphere uncomfortable, eagerly seized upon the idea.

“Yes, wouldn’t it be nice as entertainment for the tea party?”
“But there’s no need to—.”
“What if we added a wager to make it more entertaining?”

At the mention of a wager, even the children who had been driving the conflict fell silent and turned their gaze toward Eyrene.
Eyrene smiled knowingly.

“How about each of you puts up your partner as the stake?”

Partner?
Everyone’s eyes turned in one direction.
Toward the four people sitting beside Saelika.

—————
This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
—————