My Youngest Keeps Bringing Home Male Leads - Chapter 26

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

Chapter 26
Today, too, Amy struggled to bear witness to Agnes’s wretched state.
Agnes was trapped in a cramped, windowless room.
The only window was a single opening no larger than a palm, hung so high it was utterly beyond reach.
The room contained nothing but a table, a chair, and a bed.
At least there was a bathroom attached.
It might have been bearable had she even a single person to speak with, but no one had entered Agnes’s room for three months now.
When she shook the door, all that came back was the metallic clang of a lock from outside.
As the pale sunlight faded from the small window and darkness crept in, meals appeared on the table by Teleport.
After she ate, the dishes vanished with them.
It was as though she were a caged animal, kept for breeding in a pen.
She had not refrained from attempting escape.
At first, Agnes had been confined to an ordinary room where servants came and went freely.
Unable to endure being locked away at someone’s whim, she seized her chance when the maids brought meals and fled outside.
Of course, she was recaptured within hours.
She attempted escape several times more, but each effort came to nothing.
Finally, Agnes settled on fashioning a rope from Curtains and letting it down from the window.
‘No! If you go that way, sister, you’ll—!’
But even in dreams, it was impossible to stop her.
After Agnes climbed through the window, only starlight glimmered coldly beyond.
Amy knew the truth.
That very day.
Agnes, attempting escape, mistepped and fell.
Yet Agnes did not die.
Though she plummeted from a great height, not a single scratch marked her body.
Knights dragged her back to the room by her wrists with brutal force, but her wrists bore no bruises—only pale, unmarked skin.
That was the power the World Tree had granted her.
It was as though an invisible barrier had been layered over her skin.
No sharp blade or spear could pierce her, no matter how savagely anyone struck. Nothing could harm Agnes.
Emboldened by this discovery, Agnes became more daring in her escape attempts.
She did not hesitate even at methods that ought to have ended her.
As a result, her room grew steadily more isolated.
Until at last she was locked away in a forgotten corner where no one ventured.
“Lui, come here.”
“Meow.”
A small yellow cat purred as it rubbed against Agnes’s legs.
‘So sister kept a cat…….’
The novel had never described a life shared with a cat.
Perhaps because it had been a melodrama cycling through male leads, the detail had seemed unimportant and slipped from her memory.
“I’m grateful for you, at least.”
Perhaps the person who confined her had feared she would lose her mind alone in this room.
Whatever the reason, they had not taken even Lui from her.
Yet being locked in a room with nothing but a cat, day after unchanging day, was an unbearably tedious existence.
‘Still, sister endured to the very end…….’
As her nails grew and her hair lengthened, she trimmed them herself and washed clean each morning with the water delivered to her.
She read books left in the corner and exercised lightly, unwilling to let her strength fade.
But time changed her slowly.
First she lost her voice, then her expressions faded away.
Amy could only watch sadly as her sister grew gaunt and hollow.
‘In the novel, it was just a few lines…….’
How much longer would she have to witness this?
‘I hate this.’
She thrashed her entire form in protest, but it changed nothing.
Then, in that moment.
A faint sound came from beyond the door.
The sound of a key sliding into the lock, turning with a metallic click.
“——!”
Agnes, who had maintained her composure all this time, went rigid.
Gripped by terror, she retreated into the blind spot beneath the bed.
It was a pathetic attempt—barely more than a child holding their breath.
The cat that Agnes kept had also hidden itself beneath the wardrobe.
Because only one person could enter this room.
The man who had brought her here.
The same reason Agnes had no choice but to keep attempting escape.
As the door opened, the hinges—long unmoved—groaned in protest.
“Agnes.”
At the same moment, a low and beautiful voice drifted through the gap.
‘No……!’
* * *
What would happen next, Amy already knew.
The instant she screamed with her whole body, Amy barely woke from the dream.
She bolted upright, and a dark room came into view.
Amy was on the bed. Her sister was nowhere to be found.
‘Thank goodness…….’
Her heart eased.
She wandered from place to place, praying such a thing would never happen.
Because she wanted to protect her sister.
‘No one will lay a hand on her…….’
She made that vow, breathing hard, but Amy was only six years old.
“Hic—hiccup—…uh.”
Suddenly violent sobs leaked through her breathing.
Her face was soon drenched. She wiped it over and over with her small round hands, but the tears kept flowing.
She couldn’t breathe. Her chest felt tight.
“Waaaah!”
Unable to bear it any longer, she finally burst into tears.
Then the door swung open urgently. Through her blurred vision, she saw the familiar tall figure of a man.
Hearing Amy’s cries, he approached with both arms wide open.
The warmth of those arms, opened so brightly for her, was welcome. Amy threw herself into his embrace.
“Rupert, uh-uh……! Hic……!”
“My apologies, young lady. I only stepped away briefly to change the water, and you’ve woken!”
Amy buried her face in Rupert’s chest. As if his clothes were a towel, she rubbed her face against him, wiping away her tears wildly.
Still the sobs did not stop.
“I’m scared……!”
Her voice was hoarse. Her breathing ragged, her lips had turned pale blue.
“It’s all right, young lady. Nothing has happened. It was only a dream.”
On days when Amy had nightmares, this happened sometimes.
Drawing on past experience, Rupert tried to soothe her by stroking down her spine.
But today was different.
Amy could not calm herself, thrashing and struggling fiercely.
No.
He would eventually come.
He would come looking for Sister.
And then he would torment her terribly.
Until Sister wanted to give up everything…….
‘So I can’t just stay here crying……!’
She could say nothing.
The moment she spoke, it would feel like a done deed.
Like any effort Amy made would be trampled in an instant.
‘But I’m only six years old.’
Fortunately, wherever she went people welcomed Amy, and it was a blessing that the male leads who heard her story rushed straight to her sister.
‘But can that really stop him?’
Too anxious and afraid, Amy wept for a long time after that.
When it grew quiet and he looked down, Amy had fallen asleep in Rupert’s arms as if she’d fainted.
He checked her forehead; mercifully, the fever had broken.
Her cheeks, already flushed, were now reddened from rubbing against his clothes.
Even her round eyes were swollen pitifully.
Rupert cleaned her tear-stained face with a cloth dampened in clean water.
She was only a very small child.
What was she carrying alone, after all?
Over Amy’s face, the image of her young mistress—hazy in memory—overlapped.
She resembled Agnes, naturally enough as her sister.
The memory came back to her—that frail figure, spine held rigid with a false strength, trying to bear everything alone.
Rupert whispered softly as the distant memory surfaced.
“Do not worry, Miss. I shall protect Miss Agnes with my life.”
As though she had heard Rupert’s words, the furrow between Amy’s brows softened.
Rupert brushed away the tension with the tip of his finger.
Until her expression grew calm at last.
* * *
Agnes lay awake through the night.
‘I can’t believe I have to just sit here and wait like this.’
Unable to sleep, she had pored over the stacks of Construction Cost Invoices and reviewed the Supply List brought into the Mansion.
But the words barely registered.
When blue dawn light finally seeped through the window, her eyes burned with sudden tears.
“Fool. You’re hurt—why haven’t you come home? Get here now.”
Rupert is with him, so it should be fine. He’s not wandering alone, and Rupert has grown so strong he can defeat dragons.
She had tried to comfort herself with these thoughts all this time.
But Amy was only six years old.
‘Everything that’s happened until now has been because of you.’
Still, your sister wants you by her side more.
Sister can only care for you properly if you’re hurting right there beside her.
“This isn’t the time for this.”
She needed rest to manage today’s duties.
A warm cup of tea might help her gather her wits.
She steadied herself and opened the door.
“Silmare!”
“Agnes.”
He was just ascending the staircase.
“Thank goodness—is everything all right?”
The household staff would soon be waking, washing, and preparing for the day.
Keeping her voice low so as not to disturb them, Agnes inquired.
Silmare smiled softly then.
Though the hallway was dark with dawn’s shadow, it seemed as though light scattered around his beautiful mouth.
“Does something appear amiss to you? Did something occur?”
Agnes examined him carefully from crown to heel.
Mercifully, his clothes bore no tears or wrinkles. He looked immaculate.
When their eyes met again, she noticed the tips of his ears had turned a pale rose.
“It must have been cold outside. Your ears are red.”
“No. It was not cold.”
Filled with gratitude and apology, Agnes reached out and took his hand.
It was pleasantly warm.
“I was about to have some warm tea. Will you join me?”
“Of course. Absolutely.”
Silmare nodded, then his expression grew heavier as he continued.
“I have something to tell you as well.”
Likely the results of investigating what happened yesterday.
How much effort must he have expended through the night.
Agnes smiled and bowed deeply.
“Thank you for your help, Silmare.”
A soft light bloomed across Silmare’s face, like sunlight breaking through clouds.
He exhaled softly, then spoke with utmost gentleness.
“If I have been of service to you, that is enough. My Agnes.”

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