How The Sub-Male Lead’s Stepmother Teaches Love

“Oh, really? Can I open it right now?”

 “Sure.”

Rebecca, holding a bouquet in one hand, so I opened the box myself.

Rebecca’s eyes widened as she looked at the bracelets neatly placed on the soft cotton wrapped in silk.

“Oh, my God, it’s beautiful.…! Is this a jewel magic stone?” 

“Oh, you know that? I didn’t realize that until you told me.”

“Yes. I’m not good enough to call myself a wizard, but I can see the magic flowing through it. There seems to be quite a powerful magic on it, doesn’t it?”

“I don’t know how strong it is, but it has an antidote magic. It will filter out all the things that are not good for you.”

Especially for pregnant women, isn’t the food that they usually eat well poisoned? 

Perhaps Rebecca’s death in childbirth was due to the weakening of her body by her pregnancy.

I placed the box in Rebecca’s hand, hoping it would help in this way since Duke Khalid would take care of the healing magic.

“I don’t think that will happen, but even if today’s wedding is ruined, Duke Khalid loves Becky and Becky has a lovely child, right? So, don’t be upset for a long time and overcome them with courage. You promised me that you would invite me to the banquet as a socialite.”

And I gave Rebecca another gift, a baby blanket, and a handkerchief, as promised earlier. It was a handkerchief embroidered with my favorite clover. 

“It’s a bit late, but this is a gift because we became friends. By the way, this three-leaf clover is only for the people I like. Becky knows what clover means, right?”

“Yes. It is happiness.”

“That’s right. Even if we don’t see each other often, I’ll pray from afar that Becky is happy. Can Becky wish me happiness too?”

“Of course! Nell, I’m so glad to be friends with you.”

Oops, I made the bride who hadn’t even entered the wedding hall cry. 

It’s a big deal if the makeup wears off like this, so I called the maids who hurriedly left and I fanned Rebecca’s face.

Luckily, their skillful work allowed Rebecca to stand next to Duke Khalid with a beautiful face.

To her smiling brightly under the dazzling sunlight, I gave her a round of congratulatory applause without ceasing.

And the bouquet was also well received. All at once, perfectly!

* * * 

“Leon, did you see that I took the bouquet!” 

“My eyes couldn’t have been anywhere else.”

Leonhard plucked a lily from the bouquet I had presented as if to show it off and he put it through my hair, like when we first met.

“Seeing you with a bouquet makes me excited already. Nel, the day when you stand beside me as my bride.”

“Me too, Leon.”

Many people say that Howard sold his soul because Marquis Ajas couldn’t fall in love with the youngest child.

Since the rumor spread, Leonhard has acted like a man really blinded by love in a place where there are many eyes on him.

Even though I said it was not necessary, he even read a collection of love poems and recited unfamiliar words of love in front of me as if to ask others to listen. 

And the tips of his ears, hidden by his hair, were red as apples.

“Oh my God, I heard rumors that the Marquis Ajas had a crush on young Lady Howard, but I never thought….”

“Was he a man who could say that?”

“Yes, I thought he was as hard as his power, but…” 

Because of the gift of Paul Herbina, 9 carriages of jewels, all people’s attention was on ‘so how crazy is the Marquis of Ajas toward Howard youngest child’.

Maybe that’s why, whenever they see him acting so sweet to me, people often gossip with the people standing next to them, asking if they just heard it. 

Thankfully, my name was never mentioned.

‘It’s ridiculous to bring up scandals from the past when you’re engaged in such a glamorous way.’ 

Unless my scandal was with another man.

“Oh, by the way, Leon’s boutonniere is empty.”

It is said that men and women who have a close relationship beyond engagement show off their affection with the same flower, so I took another lily from the bouquet and put it on Leonhard’s boutonniere.

“Take good care of the flowers so that they don’t fall off. Got it?” 

“I will promise you, in the honor of a knight.”

“No, you don’t have to go that far…”

Unsurprisingly, the whispers around us grew louder. 

I put my hand on Leonhard’s arm and moved to the banquet hall. 

“Actually, I was looking forward to a banquet dinner even before I came today. Everything I ate at the last banquet was delicious.”

“Compared to the chefs in the mansion now, whose skills are better?” 

“That is, of course, the mansion! Aren’t they the people who originally worked at Silver Line restaurants?”

Besides, one of the patissiers was the one who worked where I took Leonhard when we were out on a date.

Even because of his sincerity in hiring and remembering how much I love dessert there, it was a plus point of 5 million.

“Just looking at it, Leon seems to have a really good memory.”

“Why?”

“You remembered everything I said. Same with this ring.” 

I held my left hand wide open so that I could see the ring. Next to the round pink coral pearl, the clover-shaped green jewelry magic stone shone beautifully.

Originally, it was customary to match the proposal ring or engagement ring to the color of your partner’s eyes or the color of the family symbol.

The main jewel of the proposal ring Leonhard gave me was a coral pearl, and the pink color was similar to the color of my eyes, so there was no need to add green jewels. Even so, the reason why they crafted not only regular magic stones but also jewelry magic stones that are several times more expensive than jewels is probably because he remembered what I said.

“You put it together because I like green, right?”

“Yes. Because of that, Heria suffered a bit.” 

“Is she a craftsman who knows how to craft magic stones?”

When I first visited the mansion, she was one of the Heilang Knights introduced by Leonhard.

Possibly because she has a difficult job, she has a muscular body with copper-colored skin.

Contrary to her big size, she couldn’t hide her shyness in front of me, and I felt very cute even though she was 10 years older than me. 

“She said she wanted to see the capital city, so I told her to go with me, but I unintentionally made her work overtime…I still feel sorry for her.”

“hmm…I know.”

That’s understandable, she’s probably busy making wedding rings for me and Leonhard now.

“Come to think of it, many of the knights and wizards have productive hobbies.”

No, after hearing the story, it wasn’t just a hobby.

Isn’t Heria a knight, a blacksmith, and a craftsman? Other knights are also part hunters, part carpenters, part pharmacists, and some also part writers…

“The revised version of Monster’s book. I heard Sir Arthur’s family is revising it from generation to generation. Was the most recent edition the 338th revision? 

“The training of the Knights of Aias to subdue the Monster is based on that guidebook. Therefore, when new facts are revealed, they are immediately revised and published. A person’s life depends on one line of writing.” 

“Is there anything new to be revealed yet?”

“On the contrary, there is more that has not been revealed. Because monsters are killed as soon as they are found.”

“I see.”

The main thing the Monster Book covered was the monster’s appearance and weaknesses. I don’t know about the appearance, but the weaknesses can only be studied with the monster’s corpse.

“There are very few cases where monsters cross the walls of Ajas Castle, right?” 

“Of course. A barrier spreads throughout Ajas Castle. It is a barrier that is managed by the White Hawk wizards. As long as they are not annihilated, the barrier will not be broken.”

While we talked, we arrived at the banquet hall.

In the banquet hall where the banquet was held the other day, countless kinds of food were displayed as it was then. It was buffet style, so I didn’t know what to eat first.

“As expected, a wedding buffet…!” 

“Should we have a buffet at our wedding too?” 

“Hmm, but I won’t be able to eat properly then.”

Leonhard laughed quietly when I replied.

I followed his lead and sat down at an empty table and asked the servant for soup and bread.

There were so many options, so we must have the servants do that work. I barely resisted the desire to carry the plate myself, I eagerly chose only those foods that I never eat. 

It was a very satisfying meal, one that made me realize the worth of the Duke of Khalid’s name and the wealth of the Norman counts.

Even the moment I finished the last dessert, I was happy.

If I could go home with that feeling, it would have been a perfect day, but life is not always that smooth.

The one who ruined my happiness was a drunkard.

* * * 

“Hey, Leon. The ring sparkles.” 

“Yes?”

Leonhard unconsciously raised his left hand, and then, realizing it wasn’t the ring on his left hand, he looked at me for no reason with a shy face and raised his right hand.

“Robert has contacted me…However, it seems that it is difficult to receive magic power because of the barrier.”

Leonhard raised his right hand in the air and moved it around. Watching that scene reminded me a little of me trying to find a Wi-Fi spot in the countryside, and I smiled a little.

“Can I go outside for a while?”

“Yeah, sure. I’ll finish eating my cake in the meantime.” 

“I’ll be right back.”

Leonhard bent down and kissed my fingertips, hesitated a moment, and then walked out of the banquet hall, apparently uncomfortable with the idea of leaving me in a crowded banquet hall.

Then, seeing that people who were only waiting for an opportunity were coming this way, I hurriedly called the servant and asked for a few more dessert plates. 

‘Because it’s not polite to talk while eating.’ 

Leonhard will be back before I finish eating this.

What could possibly happen in the meantime?

“Oh, who is this? Aren’t you the youngest of the Howard family?”

But something happened. in that short time.