Home/My Youngest Keeps Bringing Me Male Leads/ch 13

Chapter 13

The next morning.

Alfred was seeing Agnes off in front of the carriage heading to the city.

"It doesn't sit well with me that you're leaving again so soon after arriving."

"We stayed a night, didn't we? Now I have to go do what needs to be done."

"Actually, that's my job."

"I'm going to build up some credit first, so I'll leave the rest to you after that."

"Of course. I'll do just that."

"Don't overwork yourself cleaning the house while I'm away."

"I know your heart well, my lady. I'll wait to take on the big tasks until after we hire people, so don't worry."

"Yeah." With a sigh, Agnes was about to board the carriage when she paused and glanced at Alfred's face.

Alfred simply smiled wryly.

"Are you worried about Lady Elizabeth and Master Edmund?"

"Are they still the same?"

Alfred silently nodded.

"Both have difficult tempers, so they're hard to deal with."

"No, they'll get better soon."

"I wonder."

After sighing, Agnes quickly changed the subject.

"Did you tell them about Amy?"

"Yes."

"Was there any particular reaction?"

"They just said they were relieved."

"That can't be. They must have grumbled about me."

Alfred neither confirmed nor denied it. Seeing that, Agnes gave a bitter smile.

A complex feeling clung to the corners of her lips.

"Anyway, take care of things."

"Don't worry about things here. Just travel safely."

"Yeah."

After saying her goodbyes and boarding the carriage, Cesenor and Silmare were already seated inside.

"Did you sleep well last night?"

Agnes was still full of apologies, and the two men nodded in response.

Even though she had helped clean up, Agnes kept lamenting that she hadn't treated them well enough.

No words would likely be able to soothe Agnes's heart.

Already knowing that, the two men remained silent and made room for Agnes to sit comfortably.

"I'm sorry. You came all this way, and now you have to leave so soon."

"It's fine."

"It takes about two hours to reach Calben. You must be tired, so I'll take you straight to the inn first."

As they chatted about this and that, a massive city wall soon appeared in the distance.

Calben City.

Located at the junction of the southern territories of Waldemar and Laenheim, it was the largest city in the region.

Passing through the city wall, smooth, flat roads stretched out neatly, and large and small buildings lined both sides tightly.

It was a stark contrast to the backwater Laverose territory. Silmare had been frowning ever since they entered the city.

"What a desolate place."

"Do you think so? I find it beautiful."

"Isn't it all just dead things? I see neither trees nor grass."

"That's because it's a city, and not all of it is like this. It's fascinating—this is your first time seeing such things."

"We've been separated for so long."

Reflecting on it, it had already been a thousand years, so it made sense.

Agnes's eyes sparkled with curiosity as she asked.

"So elves don't cut down trees to build houses?"

"Of course not. The wide fields and great trees are our homes."

"If you sleep in a place like that, there must be animals and insects flying around—don't they bite?"

"We are friends with all living things."

"Goodness!"

It was probably not a metaphor but the truth.

Somehow, it seemed like a dreamlike story, and Cesenor silently glanced at the excited Agnes.

Soon, the carriage stopped in front of an inn.

It was a high-class inn where nobles and wealthy merchants stayed. Agnes remembered staying there with her father whenever they visited the city when she was young.

There was no time to dwell on the complex nostalgia that came with recalling happy memories.

After a light meal, the three of them visited the city's employment office.

"The Laverose family?"

When Agnes stated her purpose, the administrator made a very disrespectful expression, though he didn't say anything to her face.

Seeing that, Cesenor took out his family seal.

The administrator turned pale, flustered, and even trembled.

"I-I had no idea you were the Marquis of Celesta in person! I-I apologize for my rudeness! Please forgive me graciously!"

Usually, when hiring servants, one would send an agent—it was unheard of for someone to come in person like this.

The administrator, facing a high noble for the first time in his life, hurriedly began sending word. When they arrived at the employment office at the agreed interview time, several people were waiting.

"Fewer than I expected."

Thinking it was insufficient compared to the name of Celesta, Cesenor frowned. But Agnes smiled contentedly.

"Is that so? I'm just grateful that there are people willing to come to our house."

However, the problem was that many of them weren't exactly suitable.

"Hehe, my lord. I don't need anything else as long as you keep me well supplied with alcohol—will you be generous with each meal?"

"Next."

"Cooking? I've never done it before, but how hard can it be? Just wing it and..."

"Next."

"I'd like you to advance me a year's salary. I have an urgent need for money. I can't tell you what it's for..."

"Next."

"I have dependents—young children and a wife in poor health. If you could allow us to live together..."

"No."

When Cesenor coldly cut off the last applicant, Silmare, who had been listening silently, protested.

"Wait, that one seemed decent—did you have to cut him off like that?"

"We're not running a charity. We need people who can work right away."

"You can't even take care of his family?"

"We're not hiring serfs right now. We need labor that can work in the mansion immediately."

"Does having a family make that difficult?"

"The Marquis is right, Sir Silmare. We don't have enough rooms, and there's a lot of work to be done right away. We need to hire people with families separately."

When even Agnes took Cesenor's side with a firm expression, Silmare had no choice but to close his mouth.

After screening and narrowing down, they managed to hire only four people.

"We are Pavel and Ben! We used to be soldiers in Calben City."

"My name is Lilia. I'll work hard at whatever you assign me."

"My name is Oliver. I'd like to apply as a gardener."

Silmare, who had been glumly silent, finally spoke after Oliver's interview.

"Please hire that man, Agnes."

"Yes, he seems diligent, so I think he'll be fine. But is there a particular reason?"

Silmare smiled lightly and nodded.

"The wind recommended him. It says he is a person who dearly loves trees."

"Pardon?"

It was an unexpected remark, but recalling what he had said earlier, Agnes nodded.

"Do living things include the wind?"

"Not just the wind—everything in this world."

Silmare looked proudly at Agnes, whose eyes sparkled with admiration.

And so, they decided to hire the four people, secured a carriage for them, and Agnes even gave them travel expenses. They would depart for the Laverose estate as soon as they were ready.

She also told the employment office to send any agricultural workers for the territory as they found them.

By the time everything was done, the sky was tinged with red.

Agnes and the two men found a nearby restaurant for dinner.

After ordering, Agnes asked Silmare something she'd been curious about all along.

"Can you truly hear what the wind says?"

She asked half-doubtfully, but Silmare answered surprisingly readily.

"Yes. Any elf can do it."

"An elf-only magic!"

Seeing Agnes exclaim in admiration, Silmare smiled proudly and elaborated a little more.

"To put it more precisely, it's like hearing the stories of plants and animals carried on the wind."

Records about the elf race were old and scarce.

Cesenor, also curious about the new information, quietly interjected.

"Is distance not a factor? Can you hear stories from very far away?"

With a perfect stage to show off, Silmare shrugged as if it were nothing, but he couldn't quite hide his excitement.

"Naturally, long distances are difficult. It's just being passed along. It's similar to how rumors spread."

"If the wind carries it, then there's practically no limit to what you can hear, isn't there?"

"The wind has no intelligence. Just as sound fades with distance, so it is with my case."

"How fascinating! It sounds like something out of a fairy tale!"

"Then perhaps human fairy tales were based on elves?"

As if pouring cold water on the two lost in romantic imagination, Cesenor pointed out a realistic problem.

"You can't just marvel at it as something fascinating, Lady Agnes. If you can also hear the stories of rats and birds that roam every corner of human habitation, that means you could uncover any dangerous secret."

Thinking about it, that was true. Agnes's eyes widened as she asked.

"Really? Can you know everything?"

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