Home/My Youngest Keeps Bringing Me Male Leads/ch 39

Chapter 39

With that thought, Elizabeth bought plain clothes and found a modest, worn-down place to stay.

It was the kind of place no noble would ever set foot in.

But for Elizabeth, who had been living in the Laverose estate—practically a ruin—it was no big deal.

When insects occasionally appeared and crawled across the floor, she would call her brother in the next room, just as she had done at the estate.

Bang, bang, bang.

"Edmund! There's a bug!"

Then Edmund would shuffle over and kill it with his shoe.

The very next day, Elizabeth asked the innkeeper.

"Excuse me, I'm from another village—how do I find work?"

The innkeeper gave her a suspicious once-over, but soon answered.

"You're looking for an employment agency? Take the widest alley from the square and you'll find it."

She understood why the innkeeper had reacted strangely when she actually went to the agency.

It was like a battlefield.

People desperate for work swarmed like clouds, shouting and pointing fingers.

The atmosphere made it hard for young ones like Elizabeth and Edmund to even squeeze in.

As she later learned, frequent Cracks in the north had driven many people south.

That meant there were far too many people looking for work.

Naturally, no one wanted to entrust jobs to two greenhorns.

"What, you're sixteen?"

"This one's fourteen?"

"Have you ever done any real work? You look too clean to be any good."

"Your parents must have raised you well—why are you in a rough place like this?"

"If you've got parents to rely on, you should stick close to your mother. Right?"

For the first two days, they just stood there dumbly and came back.

But from the third day, Elizabeth tried to push in and raise her voice.

No one took her seriously.

"Sister, is it because we're too young?"

"That can't be—there are kids younger than us working out there."

Out on the streets, children even younger than Elizabeth and Edmund were working hard.

Some were learning trades at workshops, others helping with tasks at the forge.

There were even children working as shop clerks.

It looked exhausting, but she envied them for earning money on their own.

"Is it our hands that are the problem...?"

Elizabeth stared at her own hands. Compared to the children working everywhere, her hands were far too smooth.

About a week passed with nothing to show for it.

When she returned to their lodging, the gold coins she'd hidden away were gone. Elizabeth, pale-faced, confronted the innkeeper.

"The money in my room is gone!"

"Why are you asking me?"

"Didn't you take it? There was no sign of anyone else coming in!"

"Do you have proof?! You're accusing me without any evidence over some pocket change?"

It was absurd.

It was more money than the people in this shabby street could earn in a lifetime.

'Who do these people think they are, looking down on me...'

She was furious, but there was nothing she could do.

Even if she revealed her status, the Laverose name had already fallen so low that it would only bring more shame.

Leaving the inn, Elizabeth checked the gold coins she'd kept in her pocket with Edmund.

She was glad she'd split the money in case something like this happened.

But if this continued, she'd end up penniless and have to go home.

The thought made her even more desperate.

The next day, Elizabeth went to the employment agency and acted differently than before.

"My mother and father are both dead! I need to earn money! I'll do anything—please give me work!"

She didn't know where the strength came from.

Grabbing and clinging to the people pushing past her, Elizabeth shouted until her face was red.

Thanks to that, the two of them finally got their first job.

It was only cleaning lodgings and carrying luggage, but they worked hard.

However, their employer seemed to have a different opinion.

Both of them were let go after just three days, deemed too clumsy.

Their first earnings were barely enough to buy a single fairy tale book.

"Sob, sniff... waaaaah."

Huddled under the blanket in an even shabbier room, Elizabeth sobbed.

'Am I really that useless?'

Was earning money really this hard?

After their mother died, her sister had always told her to stay home.

She'd followed her sister's words, but every day Elizabeth had thought:

'I could do it too—how hard could making money be?'

She'd thought that both she and Edmund could earn plenty if they just went outside.

How foolish she'd been.

'I can't even do odd jobs!'

It had always been like this since she was young.

No matter how hard she tried, she could never catch up to her sister.

Holding back sobs so Edmund in the next room wouldn't hear, Elizabeth pressed her lips together.

Childhood memories came flooding back.

When Elizabeth was just learning to walk, Agnes was already seven.

'Oh my, Agnes, did you do this?'

'Yes! I did!'

'Amazing, my darling! How can you be so smart? Solving such a difficult problem!'

'That's not all, my lady—her manners are so proper and elegant. Lady Agnes will be the treasure of Laverose.'

'You flatter her, teacher.'

Her sister was always praised by everyone around her.

At first, she admired her, but later, she grew jealous.

'Mother, what about Bess? What about me?'

'Our Bess is doing well too!'

'Who's better, me or sister?'

'Bess will be able to do just as well when she's as big as your sister!'

'Really?'

'Of course!'

But even when she turned seven, she couldn't do as much as her sister.

'Am I just a dumb idiot? Is that why I can't do it?'

When Elizabeth asked that, her mother would scold her with a stern face.

'Don't say such bad things, Elizabeth. You are a precious child just by existing.'

'But Mother only praises sister!'

Agnes, her clever and elegant sister.

Edmund, who was frail but equally bright.

Her father and mother were both wise, but she alone was different.

At first, it hurt, but she thought it was okay.

Because both her mother and father loved her.

Whenever she clung to them, feeling left out, they would hold her tight and whisper that they loved her.

'Someday, I'll find something I'm good at too.'

But then, one day, her mother died.

Her father stopped coming home, and Elizabeth spent more and more days alone with Edmund.

'Sister, are you busy?'

When she went to find her sister out of boredom, Agnes was always busy.

Either handling the estate's affairs in their father's place, or taking care of the newborn Amy.

'Sister, should I take care of Amy for you?'

'It's okay, Bess. You focus on your own things.'

'I don't have anything to do.'

'You need to study. Marta and Rupert are helping me, so it's fine.'

But soon, even the tutor's visits stopped.

It had been so long that she couldn't remember the last time she'd had a proper conversation with her sister.

Apart from when she was working, Agnes was always attached to Amy.

As if the newborn youngest sibling was Agnes's entire family.

Even though Elizabeth and Edmund's only family they could rely on was also Agnes.

'I hate her.'

One day, when Agnes was away and Elizabeth had to watch Amy.

Lying there, babbling so carefree, Amy looked like she had no worries, and Elizabeth hit her once or twice.

It felt like she'd taken both her mother and her sister away.

All that little thing did was eat, sleep, and play.

'It's your fault, Amy.'

Rocking the old cradle, Elizabeth muttered sourly.

'Everything's been hard for all of us since you were born. Sister, us, everyone in this house.'

She'd said it out of habit.

Even when Amy started crawling, walking, running, and talking.

'Because of you, sister is struggling.'

If she'd grown up differently, she could have become a fine lady too.

Capable, kind, elegant—the daughter of the Viscount.

Elizabeth Laverose.

But now, she had learned nothing and could only watch the passing time idly.

'Because of you, everything fell apart.'

When she said that, Amy would look up at her with clear eyes, as if understanding or not.

Seeing that expression, without even a hint of tears, made her angry for no reason.

That was probably why she'd said such harsh things—things she shouldn't have said.

And yet that little girl had survived a Crack and brought back a fortune for their family.

"I'm such worthless trash..."

The fact that she was less capable than Amy made her feel so resentful, hurt, and miserable.

Elizabeth cried herself to sleep.

For the next few days, she completely lost her confidence and shut herself in her room.

Then one day, someone knocked on the door.

When she opened it, the dazzling man she'd seen before was standing there.

She remembered his name—Silmare—her sister's guest.

"Wh-what brings you here...?"

"If you don't mind, could I speak with your younger brother as well?"

"F-for what purpose...?"

"I won't take up much of your time."

She was flustered at first, but seeing his warm gaze, she found herself nodding.

"Edmund is in the next room. I'll go get him...!"

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