How The Sub-Male Lead’s Stepmother Teaches Love

“Whoa, what a man…”

“Nell, this way.”

The people dressed in the same black uniforms as the Heilang knights she saw earlier, and those in white uniforms, the people wearing the same design uniforms stood in a row.

Slightly intimidated by the number of people, which seemed to be a hundred by my estimation, I stood beside Leonhardt, hiding in his shadow.

Seeing the people lined up, whether they knew me or not, Leonhard introduced me to them in a voice that was a little lower than usual, but with power.

“This lady is my fiancée, who will become the future Marquess you will serve and the owner of this Paul Herbina.”

Wherever it is, at any time, her will will be the will of me. If you disobey her will,  you will be regarded as disobeying me and will be punished accordingly. Do you understand?”

“Heilang knight accepts the will of the lord.” 

“The wizards accept the will of the lord.” 

“Meet the new owner of Paul Herbina.”

A huge number of people knelt in front of me and bowed.

It was the first time I had stood in front of so many people and received their loyalty, so I looked at Leonhard, not knowing what to do.

But he just smiled at me as if it was okay. I rolled my eyes nervously and then I spread out the hem of my skirt 

 to the sides.

“Raenel Howard…From now on, it will be Raenel Ajas. I’ll try to be a lady and a Marquess worthy of your service. Please take good care of me from now on.”

“I’ll try to make sure there’s no shortage, Lady.” 

“I will serve you without shortage, my lord.”

Eight knights of Heilang, excluding the two who were introduced in advance, and ten wizards including Sage, who said he would be my escort.

And there were a total of ninety-eight servants employed by Paul Herbina, including the butler, the head maid, the servant, the maid, the stable keeper, and the gardener. There were too many people, so I couldn’t introduce them all. 

I was only introduced to the butler and the lady’s maid who would serve me, and Leonhard personally showed me around Paul Herbina’s mansion.

I was so tired from being introduced to people that I decided to just see the main building today.

“There are three entrances to this building. The West Porch, the East Porch, and the Central Porch. The west entrance leads to the long gallery, the east entrance to the banquet hall, and the central entrance to the lobby with a central staircase leading to the upper floors.”

Stairs installed in a curved shape of the wide lobby were connected by a railing on the second floor.

As I climbed the stairs and looked down from the railing of the second floor, I saw a large wooden door with a wide open space on either side of it. That must be the Gallery Leonhard was talking about, and the doors leading to the banquet hall.

“What is on display in the Long Gallery?” 

“From now on, Nell will fill it.”

“yes?”

“Now the owner of this mansion is Nell. Speaking of which, would you like to take a look at the Long Gallery as well? I don’t think it’ll look good if it’s too empty, so I bought a few paintings and hung them up, but I don’t know if they will suit Nell’s taste.”

The long gallery was really long. It was excruciatingly long. To the point of confusion about whether this is a mansion or an art gallery.

Contrary to the word ‘a few’, the paintings Leonhard bought and hung were more than double digits, but there were still too many empty spaces, so it was understandable that he expressed it as a few paintings.

‘This is why Count Todd will give up managing the mansion…’ 

Usually, when a banquet is held at the mansion, a long gallery like this is open to invited guests and to show off the exhibits inside, but it would take a billion gold to decorate a long gallery this large in a convincing way.

Honestly, the red carpet on the floor and the oil burning in the lamps on the walls were a waste of money.

Spending an amount of money for a banquet that might happen or might not be held, for the purpose to show off the exhibits inside to others?

The Howard family’s tomboy, whose motto is frugality, that was a story that she couldn’t understand.

After looking around the long gallery, I said to Leonhard as if declaring.

“Can I really decide what to put in this place?” 

“Of course. Do you have any pictures or sculptures that you have in mind?”

“Well, if the budget is set aside for this long gallery.… I want to Sponsor poor artists with that money.”

“Sponsor?”

“Yes. It would be nice to display the artworks created by that artist here and hold an exhibition around the time this long gallery is full. Oh, and I think it would be great to sponsor a musician or a designer, too. And on the day of the exhibition, I’d like to have a ball, too. Is that okay?”

“You don’t have to ask me for permission. As I said before, you are the owner of this mansion now.”

“Uhm, but the cost of maintaining this mansion is all coming out of Leon’s pocket.”

“It comes out of Ajas’s pocket. And Nel, you will soon become the Marquees of Ajas.”

Leonhard took my hand on his arm and gently brought my hand to his mouth as gently as water flowed.

Unlike always kissing my fingertips, the place where his lips landed was on the back of my hand.

“What’s wrong with a wife spending her husband’s money?”

“But wouldn’t it be a problem if I spent it recklessly?” 

“Try it.”

“What?”

There was a nuance in his tone that said, “Try It.” Does he really underestimate my spending, or is his wealth huge enough to fill the bottomless pit?

“Speaking of which, Nell, there’s something I need you to do. Shall we move to the study room for now?”

“Study room?”

The study room on the third floor of the main building had a large wooden desk against a large sunny window.

A drawer with a key, a soft chair, and a secret space that opens when you press the buttons inside the drawer in order.

In addition, the space was separated by a blackout divider for books that should not be exposed to sunlight, so it seemed like I could put all my favorite books in.

While looking around the study room with exclamations, I realized something and looked back at Leonhard.

“Is it my job to fill the empty shelves in this study room with books?”

“Of course, you have to do that too, but there are important things that need to be dealt with first. Logan.”

“I will greet you again, my lord. I am Logan, who has earned the position of a general butler.”

Logan, with his long black hair neatly tied down at the back of his neck, had a fairly young appearance to be the general butler of this mansion.

He looked older than me, probably in his late thirties at most. However, I nodded my head, thinking about why he became the general butler of the mansion, beating numerous candidates.

“Yes…hmm But what do I have to deal with ?” 

I’m not used to greeting people I’ve never met, so I cleared my throat awkwardly and looked at Logan from the side of my eye.

But regardless of my awkward tone, he just politely set the paper down on my desk.

“There are 21 papers that only need your final approval, and 17 that have been shortlisted, leaving only your choice.”

“Wait, wait, wait! What is it all about? What are all these papers?” 

He said 21 and 17, but the papers on the desk were almost as thick as a thin book.

As I flipped through the papers, my jaw dropped in disbelief at the feast of numbers in front of me.

“Oh, my God, what is this…”

“The mansion is being renovated as much as possible, but there’s still a lot of work to be done before we can host a wedding. First of all, I brought only the most urgent things, please today… No, if you finish the approval tomorrow, I will proceed with the work immediately.”

Curtains to the windows of the mansion and rugs to be laid on the floor. Types of flowers and shrubs to be planted around the carriageway from the main entrance to the main building.

The boats to be placed on the lake and the overall garden design. What kind of furniture to put in the room. The type and number of alcohol to be stored in the underground cellar.

The number of documents was proportional to the number of the garden and the number of rooms in the manor. 

For the garden design alone, I had to go through dozens of sheets, from the overall bird’s eye view to the types and shapes of shrubs.

But that wasn’t the end of it. Leonhard and I would soon be getting married in the mansion. The preparations for us were equally daunting.

From head to toe, it was needless to say that accessories had to be matched based on hats, dresses, and shoes.

The most important thing was to invite guests to this wedding. Of course, nobles.

Of course, the banquet hall had to be decorated splendidly so we Would not be ridiculed by them, and at least the entrance and garden had to be cleaned up perfectly.

A musician to play music, a silver tableware set for guests, a crystal glass, a white pottery tea set, from appetizers to desserts, a meal menu to serve guests, and a return present to be placed in their hands.

“In addition, we have to decorate the common room so that guests can relax…” 

“We need to prepare clothes for guests to change into, and a bedroom for overnight stays, just in case. and the paperwork for that is down here too.”

I was afraid to look at it, so I swallowed my dry saliva, but Logan made an “Oh.” sound as if he’d forgotten something.

“Do you have the guest list? I think we should probably start working on the invitations since we’re on a tight deadline.”

“invitations…”

The list of guests to be invited by Howard’s family was currently being Compiled by my older brother. When the list comes out, I have to write the invitation myself. That was manners.

‘There are so many papers to look at…and hand write the invitations…?’

My eyes glazed over. I reflexively looked back at Leonhard. 

“Well, can I not be the owner of this mansion…?”

“The only time you return the wedding gift is when you refuse the proposal. This is something my subordinates often say, ‘Taking back what was given is a very terrible, nasty, mean thing that only scoundrels in the world do.’ ”

“But Leon gave me this. You are not taking it away, but I’m giving it back to you, so wouldn’t it be okay?”

“I’m talking about the ring, not the mansion.”

On the ring finger of Leonhard’s left hand, the ring I had given him was still shining brightly. He asked me with a soft but very determined smile as he carefully adjusted the ring.

“I don’t think you’re going to try to do something cheesy, sneaky, and despicable to me, Nell…”

“Yes….. I’m not going to do something as cheap, cheesy, and mean as that.”

I thought while smiling.

‘I’m screwed.’

It looked like I was going to be stuck in this mansion for a while. For a very, very wholesome reason.