My Youngest Keeps Bringing Home Male Leads - Chapter 84

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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 84
The Count of Valdemar naturally refused to believe in whatever mysterious object Agnes had brought.
Not only had someone replicated the wax seal without the slightest error, but they’d even enlarged it.
Thus the Count of Valdemar regained his composure and responded coolly.
“Your Highness, I humbly beseech you to exercise wisdom in your judgment. If such a feat is difficult even through Magic, how could a Dark Fairy locked away on an island possibly accomplish it? The judgment rendered by the Marquis of Celesta may well be merely hearsay, influenced by rumors of fever.”
Agnes sighed softly.
Of course.
She’d already considered he might respond precisely this way.
‘He can’t comprehend the technique behind it.’
And worse, he was dismissing even Kesenor’s judgment as nothing more than rumor stemming from Agnes herself.
‘No. The evidence still holds weight. The difference in pressure—anyone with sensitive fingertips could feel it.’
Besides, Agnes still had a third piece of evidence waiting.
It was enough if accumulated plausible evidence made the Crown Prince think this was not something to be dismissed easily.
If she could only render that contract a questionable document, Agnes would have won.
Agnes retrieved another piece of evidence from her bosom and handed it to the court scribe.
“Then I ask that you examine this document. Its contents can be verified by the naked eye alone. This is a portion of a document written by the Countess Valdemar, one year after the date on the renegotiated contract.”
The document Agnes had received days ago was nothing short of decisive proof.
The difference between the two seals, visible to the naked eye without magnification.
“As you can see, the seal on this document is perfectly clean. However, the seal on the contract bears a distinctive flaw. Since the flaw in a seal cannot be mended, unless the seal was switched in the interim, one of them must be false.”
The Crown Prince wordlessly handed the document to the Count of Valdemar.
The Count of Valdemar received it and blinked very slowly.
That was all.
He stared at Agnes standing opposite him in complete silence.
His habitually indifferent expression twisted into a smile.
As though he had finally found a way to settle the matter conclusively.
“Then allow me to ask first, my lady.”
Before Agnes could offer any response, the Count of Valdemar continued immediately.
“If this is genuine, then you’ve stolen our family’s documents. If not, you’ve presented false evidence to His Highness. …So which is it?”
She had anticipated such a question would inevitably come back to her.
Agnes gripped the fabric of her dress tighter.
“Several days ago, I received a book containing this document. It was a book I had used when teaching the children at the Valdemar Mansion.”
“Who sent it?”
“I don’t know.”
“Ha… Then you’re saying the truth cannot be determined. You’re asking me to trust a document from an unknown sender.”
It was at that moment.
A knight approached the Crown Prince and whispered into his ear.
The Crown Prince, who had been listening intently, slowly broke into a smile.
He rose from his seat, turning in succession to regard both the Count of Valdemar and Agnes.
“A surprising guest has arrived. Let him enter.”
With a creak, the courtroom door opened.
Beyond it stood a very small figure.
The appearance was familiar.
The young boy, scarcely yet ten years old, had honey-colored hair and deep brown eyes.
His eye color and distinctive features bore a striking resemblance to the Count of Valdemar.
“Leonard…!”
Agnes called the boy’s name as though crying out.
At that, Leonard startled and looked toward Agnes.
The child’s face twisted, then his body went rigid as he took in the crowd of adults filling every corner of the space.
Though he had come in, he seemed uncertain what to do or how to proceed.
Most of all, the Count of Valdemar standing at the defendant’s bench was glaring at him with a menacing expression.
If not for the Crown Prince’s presence, he might have been harshly scolded for daring to enter such a place.
“Come forward and state who you are.”
At the Crown Prince’s command, Leonard finally made his way down the aisle between the galleries and approached.
Having at last reached the front, Leonard gave a stiff bow to the Crown Prince.
“I, …I am Leonard of Valdemar, Your Highness. Thank you for accepting me as a Witness.”
“A Witness?”
Agnes gasped, clapping her hand over her mouth in surprise at hearing herself question it.
But the Count of Valdemar could not remain silent either, and he hastily spoke.
“Your Highness. I fear that my foolish child’s presence may only cause disruption. I humbly request that you permit me to take him away separately.”
At that, Leonard cried out desperately, as though trapped in a corner.
“No! Please, let me stay here!”
What was he trying to say, coming all this way?
The image of Leonard just moments ago—breaking the Romanil he’d promised to give her—flickered across her mind.
The boy who’d said Agnes was nothing, that everyone ought to listen to him because he was meant to be the Count of Valdemar, was standing in this strange, frightening place, pleading with desperation.
‘For me, this is a place where I have to defeat his father.’
Agnes wanted Leonard sent out just as much as anyone did.
Leonard, standing in the center of the courtroom, looked somehow smaller than ever.
Agnes remembered what Kesenor had told her.
They were enemies of House of Laberose.
So Agnes had no intention of pitying Leonard.
And yet, as an adult, she couldn’t help but feel troubled seeing a child placed in such a difficult, painful position.
Even the Crown Prince showed no sign of pity or willingness to help Leonard.
He seemed only entertained by the situation.
Stroking his chin slowly, the Crown Prince spoke quietly.
“So, whose witness will you be?”
Leonard’s spine straightened as if struck by lightning, his eyes suddenly alert.
“The Lady of House of Laberose.”
“Not your father, but… the Lady of House of Laberose?”
The knights, who had been holding their breath, let out startled coughs, and the Crown Prince himself released a brief sigh.
Agnes stared at Leonard in surprise.
His hands trembled visibly as he tensed, but he nodded his head firmly.
“May I ask why you wish to be a witness for the Lady of House of Laberose?”
“For the past two years, the Lady of House of Laberose has been my tutor. It was a short time, but she was an exceptionally wonderful teacher to me and my brother…!”
Two years amounted to no more than since he’d been seven years old.
The eyes of everyone filling the courtroom fell upon Agnes with unmistakable reproach.
It seemed they all believed Agnes had coerced this child into being her witness.
But Agnes had no time to worry about such things.
‘Why… me?’
She was deeply bewildered.
These were children who had always spoken harshly to her. They’d constantly run away, refusing to study.
She’d had to persuade them, scold them, and whenever she’d forced them into a chair, they would always be angry and sullen.
Sensing her confusion, Leonard glanced back at her before continuing smoothly, as though reciting something he’d memorized.
“You taught us foolish children not only righteousness and propriety, but more than anything else, you showed us that to win hearts, regardless of one’s station……”
Leonard’s eyes reddened as if he were about to cry. He wiped both eyes with his fists, then looked back at the Crown Prince.
“You said we must show sincerity.”
“And what exactly do you mean to testify?”
“Actually, I sent Agnes a book not long ago.”
The formal title with which Leonard had been speaking—the Lady of House of Laberose—had shifted somewhere in his words.
His lips trembled as if he were afraid of something, his head bowed low as he continued.
“I took a document from Mother’s study and… hid it inside that book.”
“Ah. So this document was sent by the young count.”
“And also……”
Leonard withdrew another crumpled document from his pocket.
“I wasn’t certain it arrived safely, so… I brought another one.”
“Ha.”
The Crown Prince, who had been eyeing Leonard with narrowed eyes as though amused, suddenly lowered his voice until it felt almost menacing.
“Young count. Do you understand that what you’re saying now could endanger your own parents?”
At that, Leonard’s body trembled as if struck by lightning.
“Will you still testify? If you wish, I can let you withdraw even now.”
“Agnes is……”
Leonard’s voice, which barely escaped him, had already grown thick with tears.
“The only person who cared for us without being troubled, who treasured us……”
* * *
After Agnes had left.
At first, he couldn’t tell what had changed.
The studying that had been so tedious became optional, and he could run through the forest with Cedric every day, yet somehow it was no longer fun.
‘It must be because Agnes isn’t chasing after me anymore.’
So he’d thought it would be resolved once Agnes returned.
She’d promised she would come back, after all.
“Agnes isn’t coming?”
“Yes.”
Mother repeated the information in her detached tone.
“Why? Why hasn’t she come?”
“She’s quit as a tutor.”
“That can’t be! Agnes has no money! Isn’t she supposed to be teaching us?”
“Not anymore.”
Mother offered no further explanation, but the servants and maids had no such restraint.
They spoke of her sudden wealth, of the Marquis of Celesta and fairies and all manner of men keeping her company.
Fury burned through me.
‘She said she’d come back. She broke her promise……!’

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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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