Youngest on Top - Chapter 94

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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 94

The atmosphere in the room sharpened in an instant.
It was a condition sufficient to make everyone serious.

A Sacred Maiden who had reached a certain level could alter the nature of divine power.
In other words, she could make Artemisia’s Temple Priest her own Temple Priest.
As long as the Temple Priest himself consented.

Saelika, sensing that atmosphere, furrowed her brow.

‘Stake a partner on a mere card game for entertainment?’

Eyrene, whose eyes met Saelika’s, laughed with a soft chuckle.

“Oh my, it seems you’ve misunderstood my meaning. Surely you don’t think I meant for you to hand over your partner to another temple?”
“….”
“We’re only wagering the ‘partner’ role—today’s Tea Party Hall companion position.”
“….”
“This place happens to have a beautiful greenhouse. A stroll through it would be quite a different sort of pleasure.”

Eyrene smiled sweetly and glanced at the other Sacred Maidens.

“How about the winner personally chooses her partner and receives an escort?”

The other Sacred Maidens had no reason to refuse.
Rather, they welcomed it wholeheartedly.

‘Spending time alone together in the greenhouse….’
‘It’s more than enough to prove I’m a far superior Sacred Maiden compared to that little brat from Artemisia.’
‘Even if not immediately, if I could use this opportunity to make Kaiser my Holy Knight….’
‘Someone like Admiral Ekellan deserves someone better than perpetually last-place Artemisia—he deserves me.’
‘Hmm, this works out well. I was just needing a decent healing-type Temple Priest. Someone like Randel would be perfect.’
‘Hehe, what a commotion it would cause if I made a High Priest my partner? I wonder what it would feel like to receive an escort from Artemisia’s High Priest.’

In any case, it was a definite advantage.
A trivial occasion like a greenhouse stroll could become the foundation of the future.

The Sacred Maidens finished their calculations and nodded in agreement.

“I’m in.”
“Me too. This sounds thrilling.”
“It’s been a while since I could show off my skills.”

Eyrene nodded with a smile at the other Sacred Maidens’ consent, then covered her mouth as she looked at Saelika.

“Oh my, Saelika. You don’t seem interested, do you?”
“….”
“This is a game meant to lighten the mood, but if you don’t want to play, I’d rather not. It’s better we skip it.”
“….”
“After all, today’s tea party is essentially held for you.”

‘A lie.’

Saelika held back a bitter laugh internally.
Eyrene had been pretending to care for everyone while displaying such hypocrisy.

‘Her intentions are so transparent it’s almost laughable.’

There was a reason she suddenly proposed the card game.

‘To create a competitive dynamic between me and the other Sacred Maidens.’

Indeed, the Sacred Maidens who had been laughing and chattering beside Saelika now wore completely different expressions.
Even the Sacred Maidens who had been confronting Helene were watching for Saelika’s reaction.

In a sense, this tea party was truly for her.
A gathering designed to intimidate her before she even underwent her Sacred Maiden coronation.

‘Then I should answer brilliantly.’

Saelika spoke with a bright smile.

“Wow, I’ve never played card games before! How exciting!”

The other Sacred Maidens giggled at the sight of the child laughing so innocently.

‘What is this? She’s still young, so that’s probably why. Nothing special. Why did Helene lose?’
‘Her divine power itself might be strong, but her mind doesn’t work that way.’
‘I don’t need to worry about her. I should examine the other Sacred Maidens. Especially Eyrene.’

Eyrene’s eyes narrowed.

‘Is she stupid, or is she clever?’

It was impossible to tell.
I glanced at Saelika’s partners beside her, but they seemed unbothered.

Even in this situation, they were insisting the child try this and try that.
When the child opened her small mouth and took a bite, her chubby cheeks jiggled as she chewed happily.
The four men were absorbed in watching her.

‘…Did I overestimate her too much?’

Eyrene turned her head away.
There seemed to be no need to pay attention to that child anymore.

Saelika, happily savoring the chocolate fudge, called out to Enrik.

‘Enrik.’

Enrik: Right. As expected, not a single Sacred Maiden has undergone a second awakening.
Enrik: None of them can communicate with the Heavenly Realm, and of course, none can draw upon its power.

It was as I’d anticipated.
Then—.

Enrik: Go wild as you please.
Enrik: Causing chaos is what you do best anyway.

* * *

“It’s a very simple rule. The person who gets closest to 21 by adding up the card numbers wins. If you go over 21, you lose immediately.”

A card game known as blackjack.
It was a game frequently played at social gatherings.

Unlike blackjack played at casinos, the distinguishing feature of this game was that the dealer didn’t participate in the actual play.
Additionally, cards weren’t revealed simultaneously as they were dealt—another key difference.
This wasn’t a wager against the dealer like in casinos, but rather bets among the participants themselves.

“However, since there’s a limited number of players and card counting could disadvantage someone, I’ll use eight to ten decks.”

Eyrene spoke while casting a sidelong glance at Saelika.
It appeared considerate, but it was really an insult—suggesting she lacked the intellect for counting.

Of course, Saelika wasn’t bothered by such things.

‘Well, I never intended to count cards from the start anyway.’

Enrik: Right, right, naturally.
Enrik: Our youngest here, who prefers brute force over brains.

“Who will be the dealer? Surely not Eyrene’s partner?”
“My goodness, of course not.”

Eyrene shook her head, then tilted it thoughtfully as she spoke.

“For the dealer, I thought we’d ask someone from the attendants—whoever Saelika designates. It might be better if the dealer decides how many decks to use arbitrarily.”
“Then that person over there.”
“Yes, let’s go with them.”

The suddenly designated person appeared momentarily flustered, but soon accepted the cards and began shuffling them skillfully.
Before long, cards were dealt to everyone.

‘Hmm, let’s see what I got. I hope the total comes to 10 or 11.’

As Eyrene examined her cards with that thought, she was startled.

‘What? An ace and a king?’

K, Q, and J were worth 10.
An ace could be worth either 1 or 11.

‘I got 21 right from the start.’

This is impossible to lose.
These are numbers that guarantee victory.

‘If I’d known it would come to this, I should have wagered something else.’

Eyrene had never intended to win this card game.
All she wanted was for the other Sacred Maidens to grow wary of Saelika and trample her down.
Besides, since she was the one who proposed the card game, winning might invite gossip.

But now that the results had turned out this way, greed stirred within her.

‘A simple greenhouse stroll with someone else’s partner would have been nice, but I wouldn’t have minded something more.’

Belated regret filled her completely.

Meanwhile, the young girl sitting beside Eyrene stared at her own cards in disbelief.

‘An ace and a jack? That’s 21, right?’

The other Sacred Maidens felt the same way.

‘An ace and a queen? I’m seeing this right, aren’t I?’
‘An ace and a king!’
’21! It’s 21!’
‘Ah, I’m so torn. Should I choose Kaiser or Randel?’
‘I was planning on Admiral Ekellan, but now I’m switching to the High Priest? It’s actually hard to decide when I have so many options.’
‘I won so easily that I almost feel sorry for the other Sacred Maidens.’

Some laughed outright.
Others maintained a poker face while carefully controlling their expressions.
Some were already stealing glances at Randel and Kaiser, Admiral Ekellan and High Priest Anatullio.

Everyone’s reactions varied, but one thing remained the same.
They had all drawn 21.

Then, Saelika opened her mouth.

“But I need a different partner for the Greenhouse.”
“What? You’re saying something different now?”
“I suppose it’s because I’m worried I might lose.”
“The Greenhouse is fine. But I’d prefer to choose someone else.”

Eyrene, sensing her moment, smiled and nodded.

“Ah, I see. You’re right, it might not be appealing. I hadn’t considered that.”

The other Sacred Maidens began to protest with “But—”

“Then what if we raise the stakes? To make it more appealing to Saelika as well.”
“Raise the stakes?”
“How so?”

At the mention of higher stakes, everyone’s faces lit up with interest.
Saelika spoke.

“The winner gets one sacred artifact from each of the losers.”
“…!”

The Sacred Maidens froze at such an excessive prize.
The sacred artifacts they wore like jewelry were not particularly high-grade items.
But they were still sacred artifacts nonetheless.

There was nothing more shameful than sacred artifacts from one’s temple falling into the hands of another temple.
And for it to happen because of losing a bet, no less?

“Why not?”

Saelika blinked her eyes innocently.
But those blue eyes were saying something else entirely.

‘Why, are you scared? Coward.’

A silent mockery seemed to echo in the air.

This was absolutely ridiculous.
But.

‘I’m definitely going to win.’
‘It’s not 20—it’s exactly 21. There’s no way I lose.’
‘This is my chance. My chance to humble all those other temples.’
‘That arrogant brat will be begging through tears and snot.’

The hand I held became solid reassurance.

“I’m in.”
“Me too. Now it feels like a real wager. There has to be risk, doesn’t there?”
“Ah, but I quite enjoyed wagering our partners as well.”
“Then shall we add sacred relics on top of our partners?”

All eyes turned back to Saelika’s partners.

“Itchi, if someone from this room goes to the Greenhouse, does it matter who you pick?”
“Not at all. Whoever you want to take along is fine.”
“Then I’m good with that.”
“Then it’s decided.”

Saelika nodded.
But the child’s gaze was not directed at Eyrene, with whom she had been speaking, but elsewhere.
Toward the corner of the Tea Party Hall, behind the curtain.

* * *

‘What a reckless little thing.’

The young boy standing behind the curtain let out a soft chuckle.
The child’s intention was clear.
She would choose him, not another Sacred Maiden’s partner.

‘I was curious what this card game was about, so I watched. Things are getting interesting.’

“Does anyone need another card?”

The dealer asked.
Everyone shook their heads.

“Then please reveal your cards.”

At those words, the Sacred Maidens set down their cards in unison.
With very confident expressions.

“I’d like to spend some intimate time with Randel, talking about our temple.”
“Oh my, I can’t achieve that wish because of you? I’ll choose Kaiser.”
“You’re saying that with a sum of only 13? Admiral Ekellan, please come this way.”
“The person saying that has a sum of only 7? Did you misunderstand the rules? I’ve been interested in High Priest Anatullio from the beginning.”

The children who had been speaking up to that point faltered.
Something was wrong.

“13? You said 13?”
“That… that can’t be right! Why is it…”
“It was definitely 21! 21!”

Saelika thrust her head forward and stared at the numbers.

“3 and 5. Add them. It’s 8. Not 21.”
“No, it was definitely 21!”
“It’s 8. Count the numbers carefully. Daddy also likes people who count numbers carefully.”
“Ugh…!”

She was definitely teasing them on purpose for choosing the High Priest.
Having the High Priest escort her was essentially disrespecting the entire Artemisia Temple.

But I couldn’t refute it either.
Unlike before, the cards were the 3 of Hearts and the 5 of Spades.

While the table stirred with commotion, Eyrene stared at her cards with a dazed expression.

“It was definitely 21, an Ace and a King…”
“Eyrene silly?”

Then, a bright voice came from beside her.

“An Ace looks like this. A King looks like this.”

Saelika moved her plump little fingers busily, forming letters.
As if kindly teaching a child who didn’t understand.

“Is it difficult because it’s a foreign language?”
“….”
“One plus one equals two. Not twenty-one. Adding one and one is easy. You need to study hard, Eyrene….”
“….”
“It’s fine! You’ll learn if you study! There’s no shame in not knowing!”

Grrrr—my teeth ground together.
It was one thing to be underestimated, but this was going too far.

“You…! This is your doing!”

All the children clearly had twenty-one, yet they were panicking about the cards changing.
But Saelika?

An ace and a king.
The card that should have been in Eyrene’s hand was now in front of Saelika.

“You deliberately used tricks just now, didn’t you? With sacred magic!”
“What’s the problem with that?”

Saelika’s eyes widened as she tilted her head in confusion.

“…What?”
“If you make twenty-one, that’s fine. That’s what they said. Right, Helele?”

Helene’s face crumpled like she’d bitten into something bitter.
Her name pronunciation had been strange for a while now—was it intentional?

“Huh? Helele. Elele said so too!”
“…Yes.”

I had no choice but to answer before she kept calling me that.

“And everyone thought the same way, didn’t they?”
“…!”

At those words, the Sacred Maidens flinched.

Saelika was right.
Everyone in this room had planned to use sacred magic to alter the numbers on their cards to win.
Since avoiding detection was difficult, they’d change at least one card to get as close to 21 as possible.

‘Wait.’

The children froze and stared at Saelika.

‘Even changing the cards in your own hand requires such caution, yet she changed the cards in someone else’s hand?’
‘And not just one person’s—everyone’s cards in this room?’

Was that even possible?

‘I didn’t sense anything at all….’

Even if I was excited about getting 21, I should have felt some trace of sacred magic from the cards. It made no sense.

Unless there was an overwhelming difference in skill.

“T-that can’t be right….”
“You said this was your first card game, didn’t you?”
“Yeah, it’s my first time here.”

In this life, anyway.

Enrik: Hah! That brat! She used to live in the casino!
Enrik: I’ve dragged her out of that gambling den over a thousand times!
Enrik: She’d switch cards with sacred magic in the casino and never got caught!
Enrik: Well, she did get caught! But nobody could say anything about it.
Enrik: The other angels didn’t want to admit they lost to sacred power!

Saelika stared at the chat window with an odd expression.

Enrik: Our girl! She’s a legendary con artist who could swindle even those with eyes wide open!

“….”

Should I take that as a compliment?

‘I’m starting to understand why I was suddenly exiled to the human realm….’

And why my brothers treated me so harshly.
Saelika was having a moment of reflection about her past.

Clap, clap, clap.

Slow applause echoed through the room.

“That was quite the game.”

With those words, a young boy emerged from behind the curtain with an unhurried gait.
Those who caught sight of the boy’s face gasped, drawing in sharp breaths.

“P-Prince Demian?”
“Prince Demian has come to this place…!”

Indeed.
The young boy was the eldest son of the Grand Duke of Northern Noishurael.
Demian Noishurael.

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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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