My Youngest Keeps Bringing Home Male Leads - Chapter 10
—————
This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
—————
Episode 10
“Agnes! You’ll be back soon, won’t you?”
“What if you go and don’t come back?”
“Agnes is getting married now! So she won’t come to us anymore, that’s what the servants said!”
“But that’s not true, is it? Agnes can’t get married because she has no money!”
“Without Agnes, we have to go to boarding school!”
“I won’t cause trouble anymore. Okay? Don’t go!”
For the first time, the Twins—who usually showed little reaction when leaving for holiday—seized Agnes by the hem of her skirt.
Faced with such an absurd claim, Agnes hurriedly shook her head.
“What are you talking about?”
“Then why are you leaving? You suddenly say you’re going the moment those people arrive!”
The clinging grasp felt unfamiliar. Looking back, she’d always assumed she was the one chasing after them, but perhaps that had never been the whole truth.
Their manner of speech was still uncouth, yet somehow it made her smile, and Agnes patted both children in turn.
“I’ll come back. You can’t just stop studying because I’m not here!”
“We understand, Agnes!”
“You promised! You really did!”
Leaving the two children waving behind her, Agnes boarded the carriage.
Kesenor and Silmare were already inside.
‘I wonder if they heard what the children were saying?’
Though worried, Kesenor gazed out the window with an impassive expression, while Silmare looked thoroughly displeased.
His fine brow was deeply furrowed, and it soon became clear that the carriage itself was the source of his displeasure.
“To bind a soul as free as a wild horse in this manner!”
“There is no other way to travel, I’m afraid.”
“Mage, you use the Teleport.”
“Moving three people would exhaust me. Especially you would be far more difficult.”
“But aren’t you Celestial? You can’t manage magic of that caliber?”
It was a remark that plainly belittled Kesenor’s abilities, and his brow furrowed in equal measure.
‘Oh… I can barely breathe.’
Sighing quietly where no one could see, Agnes forced herself to smile brightly.
“It’s all right. It won’t take long. We should reach Laberose Mansion in half a day.”
The two men continued their bickering while Agnes soothed them, and by then the carriage had already crossed the boundary of Valdemar’s territory.
Once past the fiefdom’s border, the landscape changed noticeably. The farmland was poorly maintained and choked with weeds, and the road was uneven, making the carriage lurch and sway.
Both passengers gazed out the window without comment, yet Agnes felt her chest tighten inexplicably. Though she had traveled this road countless times before, now it only filled her with shame.
“The depopulation has been severe since the Rift opened…”
The words tumbled out almost as an excuse, and both men replied in unison.
“It must be the same everywhere these days.”
“The World Tree’s gift of nature is not something we ought to mend by hand.”
She understood they meant to comfort her, but Agnes flinched, lowering her eyes. She fussed with the wrinkled hem of her skirt, trying to calm the turbulent feelings within.
The carriage passed through a village that looked visibly neglected and made its way toward the mansion. The villagers glanced at the carriage here and there, but mostly with indifference.
Though they must have known it was the carriage of Agnes, the lord’s eldest daughter, since the carriage rarely passed through, they showed little interest.
The carriage came to a halt before the mansion. The tight sensation in her chest spread into a dull ache, and now she could barely draw breath.
Accepting Silmare’s escort with feigned composure, she stepped down from the carriage, but the sight before her eyes was enough to make Agnes squeeze them shut.
Laberose Mansion was truly desolate.
Moss stained the perimeter wall in mottled patches, and wild rose vines sprawled haphazardly in tangled disarray. The garden, once quite handsome, was now overgrown with weeds.
Beyond the garden, the mansion itself had most of its windows shuttered, and no one could be seen moving about. It was as if no one lived there at all.
This was the Laberose Mansion that Agnes had fought so hard to preserve, even taking on work as a tutor.
She pulled the corroded doorbell, and soon a figure rushed out from the mansion.
It was an older man with sparse white hair—Alfred, the mansion’s butler.
Upon seeing Agnes, his face lit up with joy and he hastily opened the door.
“We had no word you were coming!”
“I came in a rush. It’s been a while, Alfred.”
“We received the letter you sent last time! Goodness, Miss Amy is alive!”
“Yes. And Rupert is doing well too, by his account.”
Even as she was conscious of the guests behind her, Agnes eagerly showed him the letter written by Rupert, keen to share the good news.
Alfred’s eyes widened and tears welled up.
To lighten the moment, Agnes gestured toward the guests standing behind her.
“These two met them in person.”
“Oh, thank you so much! For bringing such joyful news…!”
Seeing Alfred so delighted eased the melancholy and shame that had weighed on her heart.
Wanting to delight Alfred further, Agnes retrieved a small box from the carriage.
“Wait till you see what’s inside!”
“What is this? If it’s so heavy, you should have said something.”
When Alfred finally opened the box, his gasp of astonishment set off a brief commotion. Only after explaining the whole affair did he laugh—a sound caught between tears and mirth.
“My goodness, our youngest lady……. What on earth happened down in that Rift!”
“In any case, is this enough to hire some workers?”
“Workers?”
“Yes. I noticed on the way here that you seemed understaffed. That’s why you can’t tend the fields, isn’t it?”
“It’s not just the fields. Everyone’s preparing to flee at the slightest excuse, they tell me. ……Oh dear. I shouldn’t be saying such things in front of a guest.”
“Don’t trouble yourself—I’m hardly ignorant of the situation. In any case, we need to see to lodgings for your visitors.”
“Indeed. Nothing’s prepared, and I’m at a loss for what to do.”
Agnes spoke gently, as though soothing the anxious steward.
“That’s why I’m saying—use this to hire people. Workers, servants, maids, whoever you need.”
“But that sum won’t sustain wages for long, will it?”
Kesenor stepped forward, observing Alfred’s furrowed brow—the steward evidently believed the chest held all there was.
“I believe my services are required.”
“Pardon?”
“The time has come to fulfill our agreement. Rupert mentioned this mansion has a spacious basement. Is that correct?”
“Yes, that’s right. There is a basement.”
She remembered it because she had sold off the items that once filled it to pay debts.
Of course, by now it was likely empty except for a few remaining provisions.
“Then show me the way.”
Alfred departed to ready the guest chambers, leaving the three to proceed toward the basement.
Kesenor seemed oddly animated.
His expression remained as composed as ever, yet his eyes gleamed noticeably, and the corners of his mouth curved upward in the faintest smile.
“I’ll create a vault using Magic that only you can open, Agnes.”
“How? You mean right now?”
“Of course. I am Kesenor of the Celestial. It’s Magic we commonly employ when storing valuables.”
So saying, Kesenor positioned himself before one wall of the basement. As his hand touched its surface, golden dust rose from his fingertips, etching a Magic Circle into the stone.
“This is a chance to demonstrate my abilities.”
It seemed he had been needled by Silmare’s earlier remark—that a Celestial couldn’t use Magic.
Once the Magic Circle was complete, Kesenor withdrew five Magic Stones from his pocket. As he set them into the five points of the Circle, it blazed with brilliant light.
Sparkles of radiance converged toward the Circle’s center.
Centered on Kesenor, a light so dazzling it seemed to explode burst outward.
Crack!
The ground thundered. The earth beneath their feet trembled as though the basement itself might collapse. As Agnes stumbled, Silmare quickly moved to steady her, gripping her shoulder.
Kesenor’s eyebrow twitched slightly as he caught sight of it from the corner of his eye.
At last, as the tremors ceased.
“It is done.”
Kesenor’s voice rang out, deep and resolute.
Agnes gazed at him standing amid the luminescence, filled with wonder.
It was as though wind dwelt only around him. His long hair stirred in an invisible current, his dark eyes gleaming like amethyst.
The shimmering golden light circled around him in reverence, then vanished as if drawn into his chest.
The basement fell dark once more. Only the Magic Stones embedded in the wall now pulsed with a vivid, steady glow.
“Will you open it now?”
“How?”
“Simply place your hand upon the circle at the center there.”
Agnes laid her hand upon the central circle of the Magic Circle. It responded, beginning to move.
Silently, without light or sound, the circle rotated halfway. Behind it, a vast chamber became visible.
Within that luminous cavity, a gentle glow suffused everything, casting light so brilliant it dazzled the eyes.
“Heavens……it truly does exceed the Empire’s yearly budget…….”
And there, just as Kesenor had said, gold coins lay stacked “like a mountain.”
—————
This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
—————