My Youngest Keeps Bringing Home Male Leads - Chapter 21

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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 21
Lilia followed Agnes ahead, stealing a glance over her shoulder as they moved away.
Silmare stood motionless, watching the two of them disappear into the distance.
‘He really is strange, isn’t he?’
With that thought, Lilia smiled to herself.
Lately, whenever Lilia, Elena, and Martha gathered together, there was one subject they discussed with endless chatter.
‘Don’t pay attention to what the nobility say, Lilia. That’s a servant’s virtue.’
Martha, who had said such things, was the most enthusiastic about it.
Even this morning, while preparing breakfast, Martha had been the first to stir up the gossip.
‘Do you know what I saw yesterday, Elena?’
‘What did you see?’
‘Well! The Marquis with our young lady!’
‘What? What about our young lady?’
‘They sit beside each other talking every time, don’t they? And her hair came loose messily, and then—the most remarkable thing!’
‘What?!’
‘He brushed it back over her shoulder, I tell you!’
‘And our young lady?’
‘Our young lady said nothing and simply let him!’
‘Goodness, well then, do you know what I saw?’
‘What did you see, Elena?’
‘The Viscount said he had something to show our young lady and took her hand to walk into the garden!’
‘My word!’
‘When I brought out the meal, he even served her food!’
‘Really?’
‘Would I lie to you?’
Lilia stood beside them, smiling and nodding along.
It had been happening for days now, after all.
‘They’ve both fallen head over heels for our young lady, haven’t they?’
‘Exactly, yes?’
‘How else would they keep doing such things? At first I thought they’d come because of Amy, but!’
‘Then our young lady turned out to be so earnest and composed that they simply tumbled right in!’
‘No doubt about it!’
‘Which one do you think our young lady prefers?’
‘Hard to say. Our young lady is so innocent, you know. The two men are the ones suffering, really.’
‘Right? Our young lady would know nothing at all about such things between men and women.’
With that, Martha turned slyly to look at Lilia.
As both their gazes suddenly fixed on her, Lilia flinched in surprise.
‘Why, why are you looking at me?’
‘Lilia, don’t you think our young lady is too innocent?’
‘I don’t know much about nobility, but honestly, by the time you’re twenty, most people have had a romance or two.’
‘That’s true, didn’t you?’
‘No, no! I never did!’
‘Really?’
‘It’s not a shame! When I was young, every time I went down to the village the man on my mind would change!’
‘Good heavens, Elena! That’s not something to say in front of a young girl!’
‘Well, I’m just being honest about it!’
There truly had been nothing, but even if there had been, the moment word got out it would spread in ways impossible to predict.
Lilia shook her head firmly.
‘There really was nothing. I’ve been too busy working.’
‘That’s true. You’re similar to our young lady in that way, aren’t you?’
‘Five younger siblings, you said? My, how hard you must have had it.’
‘Speaking of which, what are the second young lady and the young master doing?’
‘They’ve taken their money and are probably enjoying some free time for once, don’t you think?’
‘Tsk, tsk, tsk, our eldest young lady can’t even rest—just works on and on.’
‘They’re still quite young, though?’
‘Even so! By that measure, isn’t Agnes still young?’
‘That’s true. When the youngest young lady was born, our young lady was younger than the second one is now.’
‘Exactly. If she were my daughter…’
‘Oh, Elena, let’s stop there!’
The two of them, trading words back and forth, looked very affectionate indeed.
Lilia watched her with a smile, and on one hand, she thought Agnes didn’t seem to be unaware of what was happening.
‘Even now, she’s being shy about it.’
When she passed along the message that the Marquis had called for her, she saw Agnes’s earlobes flush red as though startled.
Silmare too seemed to have an air of inner regret about it.
‘Does the young lady prefer the fairy more?’
Thinking of how affectionate the two of them looked together, her heart stirred inexplicably.
Truth be told, she was far too busy to spare a thought for such things.
The moment they’d arrived at the Mansion, construction work had begun in earnest, leaving her with an enormous amount of cleaning to do, and she had to help with various odd tasks besides.
Lilia wasn’t the only one who was busy, so there was no room for complaint.
Oliver and Pavel, who had come with her, were rarely seen except at mealtimes.
Oliver was kept busy tending to the Garden, while Pavel and Ben set out from the Mansion each morning to inspect the road construction.
‘But the young lady has become so very beautiful.’
Lilia gazed warmly at Agnes’s retreating figure as she hurried along.
‘When I first saw her, she looked almost like one of us.’
During the interview, Lilia had been shocked to learn that Agnes was the daughter of a Viscount’s household.
It made sense—her clothing was plain, and her hair, simply gathered and pinned up, had looked rather ordinary.
Yet in just a few days, Agnes had changed considerably.
The cheeks that had seemed pale and hollow now had color in them, blooming with a soft blush, and her hair, which she used to tie back hastily, had grown soft and lustrous thanks to Martha combing and tending to it every morning.
‘I’m not a child anymore, Martha!’
This cry could be heard from Agnes’s room every morning.
‘Oh my, young lady. To Martha, you will always be a child.’
Martha would say with a laugh, and Agnes seemed helplessly caught in her embrace.
The dress she wore was newly ordered—a pale blue satin gown that wrapped Agnes’s fair skin with elegant grace.
‘Well, it’s not just the young lady who looks quite presentable now—I do too!’
This was part of why Lilia could take such joy in Agnes’s beauty.
The clothes Lilia herself wore were stiff and new, fabric far too fine for a servant to wear.
‘It’s the best dress I’ve ever had.’
They’d all insisted it was going to Laberose Mansion.
What would everyone say if they learned that Lilia was eating abundantly, wearing fine clothes, and living alone in a spacious room?
‘They’d be eaten up with envy, not knowing what to do with themselves!’
Agnes went up to the second floor where the Guest Room was, and Lilia prepared tea and dessert in the Dining Room to bring to the two of them.
Knock, knock.
A light rap, and Agnes’s voice came asking her to enter.
“I’m coming in, young lady.”
Opening the door, she found Agnes and Kesenor sitting across from each other at a table.
The Guest Room, which had been empty before, had become distinctly transformed since Kesenor’s arrival.
Books and stacks of papers whose origins she couldn’t fathom were piled in one corner, and strange gems called Magical Stones rolled about on the floor.
In a setting that seemed like something out of a storybook wizard’s study, even the appearance of Marquis Celestha felt unreal.
Those deeply set eyes, that refined nose, and the long black hair tied back behind his head.
The dark shirt and jacket that fit his frame perfectly.
When sitting beside Agnes, the contrast in coloring made him stand out all the more.
As Lilia set the tea and refreshments on the table, the two of them spoke animatedly.
“The roads are essentially finished now, then?”
“Yes. It should be done soon. The major thoroughfares are complete, and now only minor details remain.”
“Excellent. Then next would be outdoor lighting—what if I created some for you using Magical Stones? They’ll turn on and off automatically depending on day and night.”
“Like the ones on the city walls of Calburn City?”
“Precisely.”
“If the Marquis is doing it, it must be terribly expensive, surely?”
“Of course it would normally be, but since it’s a request from Miss Agnes, I’ll take only the cost of materials and a modest fee for my labor.”
Agnes began to shake her head in surprise, but soon realized that no amount of protest would make Kesenor relent, and she carefully gauged his expression.
“……Are you truly certain that will be enough?”
“If you think it insufficient, then spend time conversing with me in this manner every day. There’s nothing as valuable as time spent with Miss Agnes.”
“Marquis……!”
Agnes then grew visibly flustered and glanced at Lilia, who was standing nearby.
Kesenor, for his part, merely smiled at ease.
Agnes hastily changed the subject, as if she hadn’t heard.
“There’s one more thing I’d like to ask you about.”
“Yes, please do.”
“The dishware is so worn that I’ll need to place an order, but I’m not sure what to choose.”
“The household furnishings are indeed an important matter. I’ll look into it for you. Or if you’d like, we could go see them together.”
“Oh, is that so?”
Agnes answered readily enough, though a flicker of doubt crossed her face, while Lilia—listening from beside them—felt her shoulders stiffen.
‘Going together to look at dishes? As though they were setting up a household?’
But Martha paid no mind to the talk of her betters.
Of course, Martha herself would be delighted to hear such news.
Lilia smiled privately to herself, then withdrew quietly into the background.
As if sensing this, Kesenor’s gaze slanted toward Lilia—a glance so fleeting it lasted barely a moment.
A fraction of a second, nothing more.

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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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