My Youngest Keeps Bringing Home Male Leads - Chapter 75

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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 75
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“A fall? That’s how he died?”
It was a tragic end, though not the one Agnes had anticipated.
Most troubling was that she sensed no trace of Count Valdemar’s hand in it.
Agnes bit her lip, troubled by a nagging sense of incompleteness.
“People at the time apparently found it suspicious. Lehardt held his liquor well, they said—his gait remained steady even when drunk. He was a broad-shouldered man, quite robust. How could such a person have stumbled like that? Though some attributed it to illness.”
“In any case, there’s no concrete evidence.”
“None, I’m afraid.”
Kesenor stroked his chin thoughtfully.
As matters stood, they had suspicion but nothing conclusive.
There was Romaril in the Valdemar Mansion.
It existed nowhere else in the empire.
Yet if they accused Count Valdemar merely by invoking Romaril—something only Silmare could verify—no one would believe them.
Dark clouds seemed to gather overhead, blotting out the clear sky.
“You said there was plenty of interesting information, but we haven’t actually discovered anything worthwhile.”
As Kesenor turned back with a disgruntled expression, Aser shrugged.
“Valdemar is such a cunning man, you know. His face is absolutely expressionless—without even a blink, he looks just like a statue.”
As Aser mimicked Count Valdemar, Agnes found herself laughing aloud.
It struck her as remarkable that Aser spoke so freely of Count Valdemar, a man whose mere presence inspired awe from a distance.
“But the interesting information I mentioned isn’t about that.”
“What is it, then?”
“The Crown Prince is indeed preparing for war, just as you suspected… mph!”
Kesenor hastily conjured a spell to seal her mouth.
Aser struggled against the magical gag, but Agnes and Rupert were already frozen in shock.
Kesenor pressed his fingers to his throbbing temples, groaning softly.
“Think nothing of it.”
“War with whom, exactly? Does the empire even have an enemy capable of war?”
The Cadius Empire had held dominion over the Astanium Continent for a thousand years.
The Three Kingdoms to the north, south, and east maintained a facade of sovereignty, but in truth they held their breath beneath the empire’s shadow.
Each time a new emperor ascended, they sent grand delegations—a ritual that amounted to a reaffirmation of their vassalage.
“Surely you don’t mean the Crown Prince intends to attack the Three Kingdoms?”
Kesenor’s eyes fixed on Aser with sharp suspicion.
To speak of such critical military secrets so carelessly before unrelated parties.
“What are you really after?”
The Aser he knew was not reckless enough to divulge such grave matters.
When Aser, her mouth still sealed, protested with furious eye signals, Kesenor found himself unable to withstand Agnes’s sympathetic gaze and reluctantly released the spell.
“Hah…”
Aser gasped roughly for breath, seemingly unconcerned about her recent ordeal, and her eyes gleamed as she looked at all three of them.
It was as though everything leading to this moment had been deliberate—building toward this single, crucial revelation.
“This is where the connecting thread appears: the Crown Prince has entrusted the very design of this war to Count Valdemar himself.”
“What?”
“Of course, Valdemar won’t set foot on the actual battlefield. But it seems the Crown Prince has granted him full authority to oversee this war.”
Agnes recalled a conversation she’d had with Kesenor not long ago.
‘Because he’s allied with a rather tiresome man.’
‘It’s more of a political matter, but I myself am troubled by the path he’s chosen. And it concerns not only myself, but the very security of this empire.’
Aser must have confirmed Kesenor’s suspicions and come to report them.
As if resigned, Kesenor leaned back against the sofa with a weary expression and began to explain.
“Aser speaks the truth. The Crown Prince is indeed planning war against the Three Kingdoms.”
“But why? Is there any genuine need for this?”
“On the surface, yes—the Three Kingdoms are his stated target. But I suspect the Crown Prince harbors a different purpose altogether.”
“A different purpose?”
“As you yourself noted, the Three Kingdoms are already as good as imperial territory. But there are places on the Astanium Continent that lie beyond imperial borders.”
Kesenor smiled bitterly, rubbing the bridge of his nose.
It was information he truly wished not to discuss, yet he found he could not bring himself to lie.
He studied her expression carefully before speaking in a low voice.
“The Non-Human Races who dwell beyond those borders.”
“Why would he do such a thing? They don’t even venture beyond their own territory!”
Moreover, if they did cross into the empire’s lands, magical tracking would render them easily pursued.
And it was precisely that fact which had allowed them to find Silmare and reach her.
They even had a curse placed upon them—one that could cost them their lives if they spoke a careless word.
‘It must have started back in Roberto Cardium’s time.’
Agnes was certain as she pieced together the sequence of events.
The era when conflicts between races were frequent, and the Non-Aggression Pact was enacted.
The empire’s histories painted it as a peaceful accord, but if it had been forced upon them instead…
If Celesta had played a hand in that process, it would explain the resentment all three races harbored toward Kesenor.
Fairies who could commune with flora and fauna, giants possessed of tremendous strength, and dark elves bearing remarkable knowledge—
She had wondered why they were all driven to the periphery, but perhaps it had nothing to do with magic at all.
It was a theory she’d formed while spending time with the four men.
“But what advantage could come from doing such a thing? And surely people on the empire’s side would shed blood in the process as well…….”
“There are several reasons, but first is that the Rift is advancing southward, and second is that we judged a broader territory necessary as a result, yet the greatest cause is that the man, owing to his arrogance, cannot rest easy unless he has the entire world beneath his feet.”
“Your Grace!”
No matter how fearful the tale being told, Agnes was so startled by Kesenor’s audacity in referring to the Crown Prince as ‘that man’ that she clapped a hand over her own mouth.
Yet Kesenor remained unmoved. Aser even nodded along beside him.
Kesenor continued his explanation.
“What truly galls him is the mere existence of someone who need not kneel before him.”
“You wage war for such a petty reason……?”
“The Mage Tower’s master calls me rash, but that cannot be. I offered this account because I have given it thought.”
Aser took up the thread again.
Glancing sidelong at Kesenor, who belatedly covered his own mouth, Aser leaned toward Agnes.
“Orders were issued at once to prepare military supplies under Valdemar’s command, but the enemy is Non-Human Races. It must have been difficult to even conceive how to prepare. Yet then they appeared, quite conveniently.”
Agnes’s face drained of color at those words.
“Surely you haven’t been observing our household…….”
“Precisely. No matter how carelessly we report, the Crown Prince has many ears to hear with. Everything that surfaces will reach him.”
“Then he would have learned that Non-Human Races are far from easy prey.”
“Which is why his preparations expanded. They too have come to understand that Non-Human Races are formidable beyond expectation.”
Ignitan alone had uprooted dozens of trees single-handedly and extinguished flames that might have consumed the entire village.
If such power were unleashed in war…
“If it truly comes to conflict, losses on this side would be unavoidable.”
“Precisely. The Crown Prince would never wish to risk defeat by recklessly throwing himself into battle.”
Aser took a sip of tea, moistening her parched lips.
“Lately, commissions coming to the Mage Tower have increased, and their difficulty has risen as well. That is how we noticed. It will likely become more apparent as time goes on.”
“Once many people learn of it, it can only be harmful. Those who oppose it will emerge.”
“Ah, exactly right. You are indeed sharp, Miss Agnes. Even the shady types in the Imperial Capital will come to suspect that the Crown Prince is scheming something. That is precisely why it is important now that we create an opening for Count Valdemar.”
Aser turned her gaze toward Kesenor, who sat beside her.
“So stop trying merely to protect Miss Agnes, and tell her plainly—ask for her help.”

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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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