Home/My Youngest Keeps Bringing Me Male Leads/ch 80

Chapter 80

After that, Heather laced Agnes's tea with Romanil twice more.

Each time, Rupert had to suffer the effects, but as he'd said, he recovered after about ten minutes of rest.

To make her symptoms seem worse, Agnes stopped leaving her room entirely.

She didn't let anyone in except Marta and Rupert.

A week later.

As if they'd been waiting, a representative from Waldemar arrived at the Laverose estate.

They brought a promissory note claiming that debts to Waldemar still remained unpaid.

The next day.

To avoid raising unnecessary suspicion, Heather was sent to Calben City with Lilia on an errand.

For the first time in a while, Agnes, Rupert, and the guests of the Laverose family gathered together.

"So this is a forged promissory note?"

Rapitor, with his delicate hands, examined the document first, then passed it to Cesenor.

He didn't even look at it closely, as if he'd already suspected.

"It's probably made of special paper that distorts mana to prevent magical detection. It's commonly used in powerful noble families, so this alone won't prove it's a forgery."

"It was originally created to prevent magical forgery."

"Yes. Since magic makes forgery and verification easy, families often make their own."

Rapitor perked up and leaned in.

"Does that mean the mage is useless this time? Then I get to shine! Ignitan, do you know any way to prove it's forged?"

Ignitan and Rapitor had been helping with the village work together, so they'd grown quite close.

Usually, Rapitor did all the talking and Ignitan just gave short responses, but their comfortable dynamic said it all.

Naturally, Ignitan, who had no particular skills, just shook his head.

"I suppose giants are all brawn and no brains—not a delicate bone in their bodies."

Even hearing such a critical remark, Ignitan just chuckled.

He didn't seem bothered by Rapitor's chatter at all.

The promissory note passed through the three men and returned to Agnes.

Agnes examined the contents again, lost in thought.

The date was two years ago.

The day she'd re-contracted with the creditors, agreeing to increase the interest each year in exchange for extending the repayment period.

The contents were naturally the same, and at the bottom, the Countess of Waldemar's signature and seal were affixed as guardian.

There was nothing particularly unusual, but she was certain it was forged for one reason.

Her memory.

"At the time, the Countess signed as my guardian, but I didn't re-contract with Waldemar. She didn't mention it, so I was just grateful. I thought it was fortunate she was being generous."

"Are you certain?"

At Cesenor's confirmation, Agnes nodded deeply.

"I managed the promissory notes carefully in case anything came up. If we'd signed a contract, we would have each kept a copy, but I've already settled all debt-related documents—there are none left on our side."

"They'll say you lost it."

"Or that I hid it."

"Either way, the amount is practically usurious."

"Yes. If it weren't for the money Amy brought, even selling our territory and estate wouldn't have covered it. That's why I know I couldn't have re-contracted. If Waldemar had presented such a document, I would have given up and sold everything from the start."

Looking back now, she even wondered if her father's debts had been real.

Perhaps they'd been fabricated like this.

Thinking that they might have secretly swindled her father, who was addicted to Romanil, made her feel sick.

'Waldemar must have thought we'd collapse within five years.'

So perhaps it was fortunate they'd held on this long.

At the time, she was only fifteen, so they might have thought she couldn't handle such a situation.

Thinking that made the painful years with Alfred and Rupert feel somewhat worthwhile.

In any case, according to this document, Waldemar was essentially declaring that Agnes must either hand over the wealth Amy had earned or surrender the Laverose territory.

"If I were truly addicted to Romanil right now, there would be no one here to respond."

"That's not true. I'm here. If I claim we're engaged, I'd have every right to speak on your behalf."

"Can you do that when we haven't done anything?"

"Wouldn't my prolonged stay here be proof enough?"

"Really, Marquis..."

Agnes just laughed, unfazed, and Cesenor treated it like a light joke, but the expressions of the other men around them cooled.

Of course, since Agnes had told them not to fight, they couldn't openly criticize.

—Isn't that too shameless? Trying to wriggle his way into Agnes's favor...

—Quiet. He'll hear.

Anyway, not wanting to see the two of them exchanging glances so amiably, Rapitor deliberately spoke up.

"For now, I think I might be able to find a way to confirm it."

"Really, Rapitor?"

"It will take some time, though. If I can prove it's forged, what will you do?"

"We'll go to trial. The Count of Waldemar will think I can't think straight, so he'll expect an easy victory. We'll catch him off guard."

If she could prove the document was forged and expose Waldemar's misdeeds.

Imagining that future made her fingertips tremble faintly.

"Let's go to trial right away."

Rapitor said with a confident voice.

"I'll make the evidence for you."

---

Another week passed.

Rapitor, who had been conducting various experiments in an empty house on the edge of the village, came to Agnes's room looking tired.

He had dark circles under his eyes, but his gaze shone with confidence.

"I told you, didn't I? I thought I could do it."

Saying that, Rapitor spread out what he'd brought on the table.

Two large sheets of paper bore copies of Agnes's seal and Waldemar's seal, along with reproductions of signatures.

Among them, the signature reproduction was particularly unique—a rubber-like block with the raised and indented contours of the writing.

"What is this?"

"Let me explain this first."

He said, spreading out the paper with the copied seals.

"This is the promissory note we received. And this is the recent receipt for full payment. See? They're identical, aren't they?"

"Yes... exactly identical."

Looking at them enlarged, even the tiny cracks matched remarkably.

"They probably copied your seal from the full payment receipt. I can't say exactly how they did it, but they might have made a replica from the impression."

"If they're this identical, wouldn't that actually prove the document is genuine?"

"No. Because this contract is dated two years ago. Now, look at the seal Agnes used two years ago."

The seal from two years ago was replicated from one kept at the estate.

It was also reproduced in the same way, matching Agnes's seal remarkably well, but—

Looking through a magnifying glass at the parts Rapitor had marked in red, slight differences were visible.

"Materials wear down over time. Even sturdy stone gets worn or scratched with use. So seals also develop tiny cracks and wear."

Understanding at last, Agnes let out a silent gasp of admiration.

In other words, being perfectly identical was actually proof it was a forgery.

"And it wasn't copied perfectly either. Since it was copied by sight, the lines are somewhat blunt—more like a lack of delicacy rather than wear."

"Yes, I see that."

"And this is a three-dimensional reproduction of the paper's indentations to compare writing pressure. People have habits—when they write certain letters, they press down in similar ways. But look at this letter... it's different, right? That proves it wasn't written by Agnes."

The three-dimensional model of the writing clearly showed that certain letters had different depths.

Tracing the contract and the full payment receipt with her fingertips, she could feel the difference in pressure.

After finishing his explanation, Rapitor met Agnes's eyes and smiled.

"So? Do I look a bit cooler now?"

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