My Youngest Keeps Bringing Home Male Leads - Chapter 9

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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 9
The Countess of Valdemar’s private reception room.
A light dessert and tea sat on the table, but Agnes found herself unable to touch them.
Both Kesenor and Silmare were her guests, and while she knew the sensible thing was to return to the Laberose Mansion, requesting leave felt far from simple.
‘The debt between us has grown so deep, after all.’
Without the Countess of Valdemar’s help, she could never have endured these past years.
‘How could I possibly ask her?’
The Countess had always been so formidable, so difficult to approach.
Yet thinking that all the burdens she now carried might finally be lifted sent a flutter of relief through her chest.
She longed to tell the Countess everything with a glad heart—
that Amy would return safely, that Kesenor had promised to bring back money equal to the Empire’s annual budget, so there was nothing to worry about.
But Agnes was not so foolish as to speak of such things carelessly.
‘And besides… after I leave, who will tutor Leonard and Cedric? Word of this must have spread all over the estate.’
The Countess was always threatening to send the children to boarding school if they didn’t attend their lessons properly.
But that, Agnes was certain, was not what the Countess truly meant.
She understood that the children were still young, and the Countess wished to keep them close, to raise them herself.
‘They’re already difficult children even at home—at boarding school, their flaws would be laid bare for everyone to see.’
Which made it all the harder to speak.
Though they had not been easy charges, the Countess had taken a chance on Agnes, hiring her with no experience as a governess.
‘And she even renegotiated the contract for me.’
Two years ago.
Agnes had been forced to accept that she must give up everything.
She had let go of the household servants and sold off the mansion’s furnishings to survive, but
she could no longer bear the weight of monthly interest and principal payments.
She had been on the verge of surrendering her title and all her family’s assets to the Crown, preparing to ask only that they look after Amy, when
a letter arrived from the Countess of Valdemar.
And the letter she sent was remarkably kind, which had bewildered Agnes completely.
‘Why would she reach out now, when House of Valdemar is owed the most?’
Thinking of her father only made her sigh.
House of Valdemar had always been close to her family, and there were ancient bonds between the two houses.
So they had lent money willingly—and her father had squandered every coin on drink and gambling.
‘What little remains, nearly all of our territory and holdings will belong to House of Valdemar.’
It was inevitable.
Agnes and her younger siblings, not yet of age, would be scattered to the winds, and the Crown would distribute the seized assets among the creditors.
Most of it would naturally go to House of Valdemar.
With a heavy heart, she had gone to the Count’s house, and the Countess had made an offer she had never expected.
‘I hear that the young lady cares for her younger siblings with great devotion. And as for how accomplished the young lady is, I learned of it long ago from my friend, the Baroness.’
‘Our children are so headstrong that finding a governess has proven difficult. Might the young lady consider it? The children are still small, and I think even just playing with them would be enough.’
Beyond that, the Countess had drawn up a new contract so that Agnes need not repay the debt immediately.
Of course, it was an agreement that would grow heavier once Agnes came of age, but at that time, simply being granted time had felt like a blessing.
‘I didn’t have to be separated from my siblings.’
If that were possible, she could do anything.
At the time, Amy had been only four years old.
She could never send a child who had barely begun to speak to some unknown place.
‘My mistake was thinking that once I turned twenty and came of age, there would be more ways to earn besides teaching.’
Then she lost Amy, reached twenty and her majority, and the debt grew heavier, and there was no way to earn money save as a governess.
The bleak, endless hardship of the past now felt like a distant dream.
The struggle with no end in sight—it was finally over.
‘I wonder if Leonard and Cedric will be all right.’
She was troubled by thoughts of the two children, but then Kesenor’s words from not long ago came back to her.
‘This morning, the Countess showed me the lessons the children had completed.’
‘She seemed quite anxious—asking me such things. She said the children lack discipline and don’t listen well, that Miss Agnes is struggling with them greatly, and above all, she wanted to know their level of studies.’
Perhaps the Countess had been troubled too.
‘She may have brought me in as a playmate at first, but now the children are at an age where real learning must begin.’
With that thought, at last she found the courage to speak.
“Forgive me, madam, but I would like to request a leave of absence for a time.”
“A leave of absence, you say?”
“Yes. I have guests—the Marquis and the one who arrived today—and it hardly seems proper to remain here while they stay.”
“Oh my, I have no objection. Did the two of them say something to make you feel unwelcome?”
“Not at all! It is rather that I feel I owe you an apology. And I wish to check on my home before Amy returns.”
“That’s true. You haven’t been home in quite some time.”
As the words flowed out naturally, Agnes realized her longing ran deeper than she’d admitted.
She wanted to go home.
More than half a year had already passed since she’d left.
She sent living expenses each month, but she worried about how her siblings were managing, and whether anything had gone wrong at the estate.
‘Above all, I hope the house is at least presentable when Amy returns.’
It was already in such poor condition, practically ruins for lack of upkeep—if her six-year-old sister was trying so hard, shouldn’t she as the older sister show her something decent?
‘I should go home right now and fix up the garden, clean Amy’s room, and……’
As she organized all the things she needed to do, she noticed something off about the Countess’s reaction.
She sat silent, eyes lowered, as though lost in thought.
Only after the Countess had sipped her tea several times did she finally speak.
“Truth be told, I had something I wanted to ask of you, and the children are still at such a critical stage in their studies. So it’s rather difficult, I’m afraid.”
It was a polite refusal.
Agnes hadn’t expected it, and she was taken aback.
When Amy was here, the Countess used to encourage her to take leave first.
‘Your sister must miss you terribly—please, feel free to visit whenever you wish.’
The Countess had spoken so kindly then that Agnes had naturally assumed she would agree this time too.
She decided to probe the Countess’s intentions directly.
“Might I ask what favor you had in mind?”
“It’s not something I can easily put into words.”
“But you have guests staying, and it’s been such a long time since I’ve been home. If you’re worried about Leonard and Cedric, I can leave assignments for them to work on.”
Yet the Countess shook her head with finality.
“Don’t worry about the guests. Valdemar doesn’t discriminate against your visitors—we’ll treat them generously. You needn’t be concerned.”
That much was true.
Staying at the Valdemar Mansion was far more comfortable than in her own home, which was practically in ruins.
‘Is she thinking of sending them to boarding school?’
They would have to pass entrance examinations, but both children would manage it easily.
‘I’ve taught them so diligently all this time.’
So she decided to ask more directly.
“Actually, I heard that the Marquis had doubts about my teaching methods.”
The Countess’s eyes widened in apparent surprise.
“How could that be? I know how hard you work for our children.”
“But you showed him what the children were studying, and he seemed curious about their level.”
“Well, I just wanted to confirm they were learning properly.”
“Yes, I understand. Truthfully, I think it would be better for both of them to study under someone with more expertise than I possess.”
“Is that so?”
At that, the Countess raised an eyebrow slightly, but quickly lifted her teacup to her face.
“I was actually thinking of adding more advanced instruction. I’d planned to ask the Marquis to arrange it for us.”
“I’m aware you’ve been considerate of my circumstances. If that’s the case, then for the children’s sake, I ought to step aside now. So they can study under a more accomplished teacher.”
If the Countess had hesitated to speak because she was thinking of Agnes, then Agnes was truly at ease now.
It would all work out.
‘I’ve found a way to repay my debt, so it’s right that I leave now.’
The Countess must have wanted Agnes to go all along, but had held back out of consideration for her circumstances.
‘I shouldn’t have tactlessly asked for leave.’
With that realization, her heart felt lighter.
“I understand. You hesitated out of sympathy for me. Fortunately, I should have good news to share with you very soon.”
“I don’t know what you mean. I don’t want you to stop being our children’s tutor.”
“I understand. The children will need time to adjust, and you’ll need to find a new teacher. Could I ask for just a week’s leave for now?”
In any case, the pity directed at me will change once people see the estate being rebuilt.
They’ll realize there’s no need to pity me anymore.
After Agnes left the reception room with barely more than permission granted, the Countess hastily summoned the butler.
“Send a letter to my husband at once. Tell him it’s urgent.”
“What should the message contain?”
“That girl is trying to run away. Just tell him that—he’ll understand.”
After the butler left, the Countess remained alone, staring down at her teacup grown lukewarm and muttering to herself.
“I never should have agreed to entrust our precious children to someone like that in the first place. Handing them over to some obscure minor house—as if we didn’t have enough trouble already.”
The Countess eventually rose and gazed out the window.
Servants were loading luggage into a carriage—probably the Marquis Celesta’s, judging by the quantity. That little girl had merely one bag, after all.
“If she’d at least formed some useful connection with House Celesta, that would have been worth something……”
In any case, as mistress of this house, she had to see them off.
Suppressing her irritation beneath a careful composure, the Countess of Valdemar composed her features into an impenetrable mask and left the room.

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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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