Home/My Youngest Keeps Bringing Me Male Leads/ch 59

Chapter 59

Amy's eyes were drawn especially to the children playing with a ball.

Wiggling her toes inside her soft leather shoes, Amy finally let go of Rupert's hand and approached the children.

"What's that?"

One of the children, startled, immediately answered.

"You kick it and try to get it in there."

An elderly person nearby, flustered, quickly corrected the child's tone.

"Sol, you should speak politely."

"No, it's fine. Just talk normally."

The child named Sol glanced at her grandmother for a moment, then pointed to a corner with her finger.

In the direction she pointed, something like a net was set up.

'Ah, this is like soccer or something.'

Recalling a similar sport from her past life memories, Amy asked cautiously.

"Can I play too?"

"Your clothes will get dirty."

Sol glanced at Amy's particularly fine and pretty dress with a worried expression.

Amy turned to Rupert.

Before she could even ask, Rupert smiled.

"It's fine. Lady Agnes used to come home with dirty clothes every day, so she won't say anything."

Amy beamed and relayed the message.

"He said it's fine!"

"Then let's go!"

The children, awkward at first, soon mingled and played with Amy.

Rolling and falling on the stone ground, her dress got dirty, but no one cared.

Amy played and laughed with the children for a long time.

Then, she and Rupert played at sword fighting with branches.

Even when ten children swarmed him, Rupert easily knocked away their branches.

He didn't forget to pretend to get hit sometimes.

As the sun began to set, adults started gathering in the square one by one.

They all recognized Rupert and were startled, exchanging greetings before taking their hungry children away into the alleys.

Amy sat side by side with Rupert on the edge of the fountain, watching them.

In her hand was a large bowl full of wild strawberries.

Grandma Tymona had given them to her, saying Lady Agnes used to love them too.

'Come to think of it, I don't have a mom or dad.'

Watching the children leave, she thought it strange that she didn't feel lonely at all.

Just then, she saw a familiar figure running toward her from the alley over there.

It was Agnes.

'Ah, that's right.'

The moment she saw her sister, Amy understood why.

'I'm fine because I have my sister.'

Amy smiled brightly, handed the strawberry bowl to Rupert, and jumped down from the fountain edge.

She ran to her sister.

"Sister!"

"When did you get here? Have you been waiting long?"

Catching the running Amy in her arms, Agnes asked.

"Yeah. Rupert said the blacksmith is dangerous, so I couldn't go."

"He's right, though."

Having heard late that Amy was here, Agnes had rushed over, her breath ragged as she smiled.

"Seeing you here makes me even happier."

"I heard everything!"

"What did you hear?"

"When you were little! You climbed trees and played in the water..."

"Oh dear."

Only then did Agnes notice how dirty Amy's clothes were, and she furrowed her delicate brow.

"Marta's going to scold you."

"Did you get scolded too?"

"Of course."

"What should we do?"

"We'll have to sneak and wash it ourselves."

"Oh! Then it's fine!"

Bumping noses, the two sisters laughed together.

Soon, Ignitan and Rapitor also arrived.

On the way back to the mansion.

The sky was already tinged with red.

Walking up the hill path was hard on short legs, so Amy insisted on riding on Ignitan's back this time.

Rupert offered, but she adamantly refused.

'Rupert must be tired too.'

A giant was better than a human, after all.

Ignitan's back was even broader than Rupert's, making it comfortable.

As her eyelids grew heavy, Amy drowsily listened to the four of them talking.

"Then, as I mentioned earlier, let's start by improving the mill and building an automatic water pump."

"Hah, really... I can't believe people are still doing that kind of work by hand! It's all because the empire relies too much on magic!"

"Nobles just order their subordinates to do it, so it's fine for them."

Listening, she could roughly guess what Agnes and Rapitor were trying to make.

'Using leather belts to automatically lift grain at the mill...?'

Like a conveyor belt for deliveries.

The water pump seemed designed to make it easier to draw water from wells or rivers.

"Agnes is a noble too, you know. So how did you know it was inconvenient?"

"I used to visit the village often when I was little. The older girls who played with me were always busy in the evenings—grinding grain, fetching water. So I felt a little left out."

Through her drowsy, blinking vision, she saw Agnes's bright face.

"If we save time on small tasks, people will have free hands to do other things. Things that could generate more income."

Rapitor shrugged, and Agnes smiled with a sidelong glance.

"If you need any materials, just say the word. I'll find a way to get them."

"I don't need anything! We already have everything! The empire really is great. Back home, we used to fight over materials because we didn't have enough."

"You seem to be enjoying yourself."

"Of course! There are plenty of resources to experiment with, and there's a strong helper here too!"

Rapitor patted Ignitan's arm as he said that.

The movement made Amy's eyes flutter open, and Rapitor flinched, raising both hands.

"Oops, sorry, Amy. If you're sleepy, go to sleep. I won't bother you."

"Mmm."

Listening to Agnes's voice explaining how to patent the ideas so no one else could take them, Amy drifted off to sleep.

'Even when I read it in the novel, I thought my sister was amazing.'

She thought her sister was admirable for never giving up no matter how hard things got.

But she liked that Agnes seemed even more vibrant and happy now than then.

Thanks to that, she felt like she'd have good dreams tonight.

---

In just a week, Rapitor had built all the devices he'd discussed with Agnes.

First was the mill.

The tasks of hauling grain sacks, sifting the flour, and separating the coarse bran were all automated.

Somehow, it only produced fine flour, and when bread was baked with it, it came out as white bread fit for nobles.

"Whoa..."

The villagers stared with their mouths hanging open.

The innocent children were the first to take a bite.

"Wow, this is so good!"

"The bread just melts in my mouth!"

Hearing that, everyone eagerly took a bite, overwhelmed by the fluffy texture and happiness.

And that wasn't all.

Before, they had to lower a bucket into a well to draw water.

With Rapitor's water pump, they just had to pour water on top and press the handle up and down.

And the water would gush out.

Rapitor put his hands on his hips and grinned triumphantly at the astonished villagers.

"No more sore arms from hauling water!"

The villagers cheered for him.

Rapitor scratched his nose, a little embarrassed.

It was June, the time for the wheat harvest.

Rapitor, along with the carpenter Parvan and the blacksmith Bric, began building machines to harvest and thresh the grain.

"Aren't you tired?"

She'd asked him to help, but she worried about the continuous workload. Rapitor shrugged.

"With Elixium as payment, I have to work even harder."

Overhearing their conversation, Parvan and Bric, who had been silently working on wood, asked Rapitor.

"Why are you going this far for us?"

"We never really thought it was hard—we've always done it."

Rapitor grinned and replied.

"What did she say? Agnes said she hoped you all could live a little better, with all the hard work you do."

Parvan and Bric let out low gasps and turned to Agnes.

Agnes smiled awkwardly, embarrassed.

She'd asked him to help in exchange for Elixium, but she hadn't expected Rapitor to go to such lengths.

'Ordinary people can barely support themselves, yet they still have to pay taxes. We had to collect them too, but I hope paying taxes doesn't make their lives harder.'

'So what should we do?'

'I want to give them more time—they're already struggling just to farm. Like Elena, who can rest because we reduced her repetitive labor.'

'But just giving them more free time won't create money, will it?'

'That's true. But if they have time to rest, they might want to try other things, and that could lead them to work toward a better life.'

Saying that, Agnes reflected on the past two months.

When she'd had debts to pay, the burden had weighed her down and she couldn't do anything. Now, she wanted to do everything she could for a better life.

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