My Youngest Keeps Bringing Home Male Leads - Chapter 69

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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 69
Agnes had no recollection of it, but she was born as the future Lord of Laberose and the eldest of her house.
Perhaps because of that, she’d occasionally acted willfully toward Edmund, her much younger brother.
The fact that he’d quietly withdrawn from his own position—despite having committed illegal acts there—suggested as much.
Still annoyed by Rupert’s quiet chuckling, Agnes clenched her fist and gave his arm a light punch.
It was meant as a jest, but his arm was hard as stone, and her own hand ached from the impact.
“You’re so stiff. I can’t even touch you anymore…….”
When she pretended to be discouraged, Rupert quietly bowed his head.
“My apologies.”
His mouth offered the apology while his eyes glinted with mischief.
Agnes pressed her lips together silently in disapproval.
In any case, it wasn’t the important matter at hand.
When Rupert used the key he’d found to unlock the archive room door, its interior was crammed with newspapers layered in thick dust.
Grabbing them carelessly would certainly mean inhaling all of it, so Agnes drew out a handkerchief to cover her mouth as she murmured.
“Edmund seems to be doing well.”
“Yes, so it appears.”
“He looks much more lively, doesn’t he? I suppose I was so lacking in composure that I tormented my siblings quite badly.”
“We were all lacking in composure back then.”
Agnes nodded.
In the past, everyone in the mansion lived withdrawn into themselves.
With no reliable adults to lean on and no idea what to do or how to proceed, they believed their best chance was simply to endure within the house.
When she recalled how her brother, who had always bowed his head in darkness, now replied readily to her remarks with a cheerful expression, a warm smile rose to her lips.
‘I wasn’t the only one who suffered…….’
She felt ashamed and sorry, wondering why she’d acted as if she alone carried the weight of everything.
“Will they both return home eventually?”
“I think it would be fine to leave them as they are.”
“You’re right. Once this matter is settled, I think I need to apologize first.”
For now, she didn’t understand the other side’s true intentions clearly.
Bringing her siblings here recklessly might entangle them in needless trouble.
After sending her father to the Naofa Forest, Agnes couldn’t simply wait in silence.
Agnes first shared what she’d learned in Asmarin with Ignitan and Rapitor.
Both men were deeply shocked and angry on her behalf.
‘Let’s strike down those villains at once!’
‘I’ll help you.’
But Agnes shook her head.
‘I can’t do that. Count Valdemar is like a king ruling a vast fiefdom. I’m not in a position to lay hands on him.’
Of course, she had no intention of leaving him unscathed.
She would certainly uncover the reason he’d done this to her father and turn her rage back upon him one way or another.
She’d been powerless to resist before, but now many people were willing to help Agnes.
Rupert was the first to step forward.
‘There must be similar cases involving your father. If Romanil was requested once or twice each year, someone must have used it.’
‘Then we’ll need to investigate what happened over the past ten years.’
‘I have an idea. Edmund’s Publishing House has been around for fifteen years. It was backed by a merchant guild, so they published newspapers regularly. Let’s check if they have old records.’
‘You can leave that to me.’
Without knowing exactly what he’d done, Rupert had somehow managed to open the locked door in the publishing office when Edmund was alone inside, and he succeeded without making a sound.
Edmund hadn’t noticed even when Rupert stood directly behind him.
Thanks to his quick discovery of the archive room key, they were able to examine the materials promptly.
Agnes withdrew the newspapers one by one, checking for Valdemar’s name.
After searching for a while, when a stiffness crept into the back of her neck and she looked up.
She could see Rupert in the distance, leafing through materials.
Because of his height, he was examining files higher up, his figure standing out clearly even in the dim light.
Recalling the bewildered expression Edmund had worn when he saw him, she laughed.
“Edmund was so startled—he couldn’t take his eyes off you.”
“Perhaps he was surprised by how much I’ve changed.”
“No. He was shocked because you’ve become impressive. You know how it is—when someone who seemed utterly insignificant like oneself suddenly becomes sharp and refined, it stings a little.”
“Surely that can’t be the case.”
“Ah, here it is!”
The embarrassed Rupert heard Agnes’s exclamation and came over to her at once.
Agnes was pointing at an article in the newspaper.
“Maritz Heide. He was a vassal of House Valdemar but lost favor and fell from power due to alcoholism.”
“I’ll make a note of it.”
The night was pitch black.
Tracing back through newspapers from roughly fifteen years prior, searching for incidents connected to Valdemar proved to be painstaking work.
Agnes rubbed her weary eyes and kept checking on Rupert whenever fatigue threatened to overwhelm her.
Watching Rupert stand there steadily, helping with such diligence, made her feel she ought to push herself a little harder as well.
After searching for quite some time, the two of them uncovered roughly three more people who had fallen into ruin under suspicious circumstances.
All of them had been brought down by gambling or alcohol addiction.
While such reasons were common enough among the nobility, it was rare for a family to decline so drastically because of them.
What struck her as odd was that such incidents occurred with peculiar frequency in the Valdemar Territory.
“The Marquis mentioned something to me—my father was apparently acquainted with the current Count of Valdemar’s elder brother. I wonder if these people might also have known the Count’s elder brother personally?”
“I’ll search further along those lines.”
Since the newspapers held nothing particularly useful, Rupert brought out a large box of gossip magazines that had been piled haphazardly inside.
Dust of such age rose like mist from them, and Agnes waved it away with her handkerchief.
“It’s all right, miss.”
“Be careful. We don’t want you getting a sore throat.”
“That seems unlikely, but in any case, thank you.”
Agnes settled into the chair Rupert had brought, while he simply dropped onto the floor and began riffling through the heap of papers.
The contents of the gossip magazines had a different texture than news articles—they were sensational and sordid. At first she’d been startled, but after reading long enough, she grew accustomed to it.
Still, she kept finding herself checking whether Rupert was looking in her direction.
‘I wonder if Rupert’s all right with this.’
He didn’t seem the least embarrassed, simply turning pages without a flicker of discomfort.
It felt as though she alone was blushing.
“One moment, miss. I think I’ve found something.”
Rupert soon held up a gossip magazine yellowed with age.
“It says Stefan Ritter claimed there was a problem in the succession process of the Count of Valdemar’s house.”
Naturally, the magazine denounced Stefan Ritter, claiming he was speaking nonsense.
But the nature of that criticism was important.
“He argued against supporting a man little better than a scoundrel—the older brother—simply because of personal connections?”
“It says here he was duped by a swindler and nearly gave away part of the Valdemar Territory.”
“Could that actually be true?”
“It’s possible it isn’t.”
“Or perhaps someone used Romanil to engineer such a situation….”
“That’s certainly within the realm of possibility.”
“I know the name Stefan Ritter. His house has considerable prestige, and he managed Valdemar’s finances, if I recall. A man of such standing wouldn’t have made such accusations about the succession lightly.”
She remembered reading about him when she’d researched the Valdemar vassals to teach the children.
It said he had once managed the finances but had stepped down due to health problems.
“Then we need to search for more information about Stefan Ritter.”
They continued searching a while longer, but dawn arrived before they knew it.
The two of them tidied the office and returned to the Mansion as soon as the gates opened.
Just as morning sunlight began filtering into the Mansion, Alfred greeted them warmly.
“The Marquis returned last night.”
“Ah. He did say to come back early.”
“He was looking for miss, in fact, but once he learned you weren’t here, he said he had matters to attend to and didn’t leave his room.”
“I’ll go pay my respects before breakfast. First, though, Alfred—there’s something I’d like you to look into.”
Agnes told Alfred what she and Rupert had investigated yesterday.
She didn’t mention how they’d found out.
If she’d let that slip, Rupert would surely catch all the blame for taking the young lady to a dangerous place.
“Stefan Ritter—yes, I know of him. He was the master’s friend.”
“Really?”
“They studied together at the Academy. He visited the house several times.”
“What sort of man was he?”
“From what I remember, he had a cheerful disposition and treated those beneath him well. I haven’t heard how he’s faring now.”
So Stefan Ritter had been her father’s friend. At the same time, he must have had some connection to the Count of Valdemar’s elder brother.
Agnes watched Alfred carefully while she broached the delicate subject.
“Was Father ever close to the Count of Valdemar’s elder brother?”
Then Agnes caught something she rarely saw—a heaviness settling over Alfred’s features, the sort that came only when something truly disturbed him.
“Where did you hear such a thing…?”

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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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