My Youngest Keeps Bringing Home Male Leads - Chapter 23

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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 23
This was not the first time Kesenor had urged Agnes to inspect the Territory.
Once when they first discussed aid for the fiefdom, again when he sent workers—and now this would be the third.
It was the third time.
Though she knew it was right to see how the people had been living and what hardships they faced, courage eluded her.
Because…
“That’s exactly why I’m afraid. I’m worried about how the people who were so kind to me as a child might feel toward me now.”
“That is hardly Miss Agnes’s fault, is it? Besides, they are people who belong to you. Even if their circumstances have worsened, they would simply find another Lord to serve.”
Though he meant to absolve her of blame, Agnes kept her head bowed, her fingers gripping the fabric of her dress.
Even if someone was employed or bound by circumstance, their hearts need not be enslaved.
Agnes remembered well how, despite receiving her monthly salary, teaching the twins had been nothing short of grueling.
“I don’t see it that way, your Grace. My father’s failures are as much mine as his.”
“Why would you think such a thing?”
“The villagers were kind to me only because my father was Lord. They believed that if they were good to me, he would be good to them in return.”
“They are entirely different people from you. You need not hold yourself to the same measure.”
“No. I was simply fortunate enough to be born a noble, but had I fallen into ruin, I would have been no different from them.”
Though what was past could be left behind, the experiences she had endured remained etched within her.
There had been a time when she believed people were born with different natures.
Now she could not think that way.
“Though of course, your Grace, you could never understand.”
Kesenor’s displeasure flared anew.
It was as though
Agnes and he were fundamentally different people.
As though within her circle stood not him, but merely the insignificant folk of her fiefdom.
It scraped across his skin like something rough and abrasive.
It was a trivial thing.
Not worth his attention.
Yet Kesenor pushed the uncomfortable feeling into a corner of his heart, neither affirming nor denying her words.
He simply nodded, as if to show he understood her heart.
* * *
The next day, Kesenor departed for Celesta Territory using Teleport.
In the moment the Five-pointed Star gleamed above the circular seal drawn upon the floor, his form vanished.
The golden dust that lingered where he had stood soon dissolved into the air with a soft shimmer.
That evening,
after finishing dinner and settling down to organize the ledgers,
the interest calculations proved more time-consuming than expected.
Kesenor had naturally offered to help, but this was a delicate matter—one she wished to handle alone.
‘It’s shameful to expose Father’s debts to another…’
Just then, a light knock came at the door, and Silmare entered.
Her expression was grave—a rare occurrence.
“What is it? It’s evening.”
“A group of soldiers is approaching.”
“Soldiers?”
“They don’t seem to be well-intentioned. If danger arises, we can leave now.”
Agnes hesitated for a moment, then bit her lip.
She had caught something Silmare was concealing.
“You mean only I can escape, correct?”
Silmare did not answer.
If they all moved together, they would certainly be noticed.
And above all, Laberose on the second floor could not be moved.
Someone had to remain.
It seemed either Silmare herself would stay, or else she intended to send only Agnes away.
Agnes smiled slightly, as if to dismiss the concern.
“We’re not at war. They’ve come on business, so I’ll meet with them.”
A moment later, a heavy rattling came from beyond the gate.
Bang, bang.
Had the gate not been repaired earlier, the force would surely have broken it.
Agnes had Pavel and Ben confirm their identities and open the gate.
Pavel and Ben returned and reported:
“They say they’re from the Kalborn City Security Force.”
Shortly after, more than ten soldiers filed in and took control of the central hall.
One of them stepped forward with an arrogant bearing.
He was a sturdy man with a longsword at his hip.
“I’ve come to see Lord Laberose.”
“The Lord is indisposed and cannot receive visitors.”
Agnes, standing before them, appeared small and frail compared to the man.
Though she might have been intimidated by the threatening atmosphere the soldiers gave off, Agnes remained composed and upright.
It was not her first time facing a hostile multitude.
Because of this, Agnes could regard them with a cold eye and speak sharply.
“If you’ve forced your way in without notice, shouldn’t you at least identify your affiliation?”
“Are you the young lady of the Laberose household?”
“I am.”
Moreover, Silmare stood behind her.
It was deeply reassuring to know that someone capable of helping her would intervene if trouble arose.
The soldiers at the back murmured when they saw the tall, slender man behind her—someone who looked decidedly unhuman in his otherworldly beauty.
“Silence.”
After dismissing their chatter with that word, the man who appeared to be their commander gave a curt nod with an air of indifference.
“I am Harold Miller, head of the City’s Security Forces. I’ve come under the City’s orders to conduct an investigation of Laberose Mansion.”
“What orders?”
As though surprised that Agnes showed no panic, he scrutinized her from head to toe.
Then he gazed at Silmare behind her with an expression that held some inexplicable amusement.
It was an unpleasant look.
“As you might suspect, a complaint has been filed. We received a report that the repayment deadline has long passed, yet you are concealing assets and refusing to settle your debts.”
“That’s absurd. We extended the repayment period on the condition that we pay interest without fail, and—”
“I’ve heard as much, but the situation changes if you have the means to pay. Word is you’ve been hiring workers and undertaking major renovations to the mansion lately. So I came to verify the rumors.”
“We are currently in the midst of settlement. Once the accounting is complete, we intend to repay both principal and accrued interest.”
She had been sorting through the ledgers just moments before.
It would have finished sooner had she received Kesenor’s help.
With so many creditors, and the promised interest rates varying, the process simply took longer.
Without this forced intrusion, she would have repaid them all of her own accord.
The creditors, having heard rumors that Agnes was spending money like water, may well have felt their anger justified.
She thought their grievance understandable, but even so, bursting in at this late hour was uncouth.
“And when exactly will that settlement be complete?”
He spoke with patent disbelief in Agnes’s words, his tone dripping with sarcasm.
“Rather than hiding behind excuses about being in settlement, shouldn’t you at least repay some small sum immediately?”
“Did the creditors demand that?”
“If they hadn’t, would I be standing here?”
“But is conducting late-night collection with armed soldiers what Imperial Law prescribes? Especially when we’ve committed no breach of contract?”
Agnes’s gaze bore into Harold.
Why had she worked as a tutor all this time?
To manage, at the very least, to pay the interest, preserve the mansion until her younger siblings came of age, and then sell the territory and estate to repay the rest.
‘So I accepted the conditions—the increasing interest rates each year, the clause that if I failed to pay interest, all my assets would be forfeited.’
More than that, she had also promised to repay the debt over the course of her lifetime in her own name.
Thinking back now, she felt the full weight of the contract—it had been a stopgap to buy time only until her siblings were grown.
It had only been possible because House Valdemar intervened as mediator.
‘Yet the moment they heard we’d come into money like this…’
The debt was essentially gambling losses—tantamount to loan-shark interest.
How little must they regard our house for such a thing to be possible?
The blood in her veins ran cold, but her mind burned hot.
Then Harold’s lips curled into a sneer.
“Fear not, young lady. I have no intention of causing you harm. I am merely—”
He deliberately cut himself off and jerked his chin toward the soldiers behind him.
“A report of hidden assets has come in, so we are conducting an investigation. I trust you understand.”
The moment he finished speaking, the soldiers surged forward.
Thud, thud.
The weight of their footsteps echoed heavily across the floor. At the same time, Miller issued a harsh command.
“Tear this place apart until you find even a single coin.”
Had he never intended to follow proper legal procedure from the start?
Because she was nobility that had fallen into ruin, little better than nothing.
The moment that realization struck her, Agnes could no longer restrain herself.
“Enough.”
A delicate voice, striking in contrast to Miller’s deep baritone, cut through the air.
Miller’s eyebrows shot up.
He clearly hadn’t anticipated resistance.
Fixing Miller with a hard stare, Agnes spoke in a grave tone that belied her fragile appearance.
“Don’t move another inch. Your commander is committing violence without a search warrant.”
“I beg your pardon?”
“Am I mistaken? According to Imperial Law, a search warrant must be present before one enters private property. Or perhaps you brought one and simply forgot to show it?”

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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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