How The Sub-Male Lead’s Stepmother Teaches Love

“It was ordered by Count Gordon?”

Nodding at my question, Leonhard put the cream directly into the warm chocolate, stirred it with a spoon, and handed it to me. The cup was warmed to just the right temperature to wrap my hands around.

After taking a sip of chocolate, which is perfect for drinking in this cold weather, I came back to my senses and asked him again.

“Why Count Gordon?…is he trying to ruin the wedding?”

“yes. It seems that any way is fine, so as long as it ruins the atmosphere, his debt will be reduced.”

“Debt? Did he even have a debt to that person?”

“It looks like that.”

Leonhard’s eyebrows wrinkled as if that wasn’t a debt he owed for a good reason.

For making his face like that, after all, I should have given that guy a hard slap on the cheek.

To cheer him up, I gave him a mini choux containing chocolate.

“So you’re saying it was Viscount Skella’s choice to ruin the atmosphere by insulting me?”

“Viscount Skella’s family said he would send him to the prayer place, so I said yes, but if you don’t like it, I’ll throw the glove over his face once more.”

“No, that’s enough.”

In a word, the prayer place here was like a temple. No, Should I say it’s a harder place than that?

All you take in a day is a glass of water and a handful of grains. All you do is pray.

So, just pray. Wake up early in the morning until late at night. Kneel down in front of the statue.

‘Of course, he can’t even think about drinking. He has made a fool of himself. He is going to heaven.’ 

I happily put the mini choux in my mouth. The moment I pressed the thin choux with my molars, the sweet chocolate spreading warmly inside it made me feel better.

“By the way, Count Gordon is also very bad. How could he think of paying someone to ruin someone else’s wedding?”

“The method he chose is certainly cowardly and despicable… I don’t know what to say.”

I’m about to say something, but Leonhard, who had been thinking for a long time, asked me carefully.

“Nell, don’t you hate Duke Khalid?”

“Me? Well, if you ask me if I ever hate him, yes…. But he is also a victim.”

What if Duke Khalid had complied with the pirate’s request? If so, did the pirates obediently free the other hostages, including Duchess Khalid? In the first place, they were bad guys who held people’s lives hostage and demanded money.

If Duke Khalid had given them the colossal hostage release money they demanded, they would have asked for that amount again.

“Moreover, Duke Khalid has not missed any pirates in the Pendient Islands for the past three years and has tracked them to the end. I’m satisfied that he kept his promise to make the pirates pay for their sins.” 

The coast of Aljour, where pirates hijacked the ferry, and the Pendient Islands, their home base, belong to the empire’s territorial waters, but the emperor awarded the empire’s largest port city, Endulas, to Duke Kereis.

In short, for Duke Khalid to drive his warship to the Pendient island, the permission of Duke Kereis was absolutely necessary. 

But which aristocrat is crazy and will allow another aristocrat, or a warship of a duke, to enter the territorial waters?

Duke Kereis, who stubbornly refused at first, opened up the sea as if he couldn’t refuse when the emperor, who was asked by Duke Khalid, intervened in the middle.

In the process, Duke Khalid just donated an amount of gold to the poor relief project promoted by the emperor and transferred a resort island located on the coastal border between Khalid and Kereis.

He even gave half of the spoils obtained from defeating the pirates to Kereis.

Even so, all things whose owner was clear were returned to the original owner, so Duke Khalid got nothing.

All he got was the honor of eradicating the pirates of Pendient.

“Rather than that, can I protest this to Count Gordon?”

“The protest itself is not difficult, but since there is no physical evidence, I doubt whether he will readily admit it. There is a high probability that he will make a fuss in the process.”

“Ah, it could be. Then it would be better to just bury it.”

It would be a big deal if Count Gordon dragged pregnant Rebecca in his mouth. It’s best to keep pregnant women from stressing out.

And for Count Gordon, it would be a bit burdensome to openly ridicule Duke Khalid.

However, rats in the corner may bite cats, so you should also keep in mind the possibility of suicide if you make a mistake.

“I plan to tell Duke Khalid separately. The man who held a grudge and tried to ruin the wedding, so I can’t imagine what more he’ll do.”

“hmm…Yes.”

‘The man later kidnaps the newborn baby.’

“Then can you also deliver my letter?”

“A letter?”

“Yes. I have something I want to tell  him about Becky’s safety.” 

Realizing that this was about Rebecca’s safety, Leonhard nodded without asking further.

“If you write a separate letter, I will send it to the mansion of Duke Khalid.” 

“Yes, thank you, Leon.”

I don’t know how seriously Duke Khalid will listen to me, but if I tell him that he might have a grudge against the newborn child and harm the child, Duke Khalid would pay more attention to her.

‘Maybe I should talk to Becky too…?No, how could I say something like that to someone who’s already stressed out?’ 

Oh, my head hurts. Sweets are the best at times like this. I shook off the thoughts that were cluttering my head and pricked the strawberry on the whipped cream cake with a fork and put it in my mouth. 

Mmm, delicious!

“Rather than that, Nell, I have something important to tell you.”

“What is it?”

“Do you remember when Robert contacted me at Duke Khalid’s wedding?”

“Ah yes. Come to think of it, what is that?” 

I had completely forgotten about it because of Viscount Skella.

When I asked about the matter that had just come to mind, Leonhard carefully opened his lips with a puzzled face, as if he didn’t know what to say.

“It is said that the movements of the barbarians beyond the wall are unusual.” 

“What?”

“Usually, by the time a Dungeon Break occurred, the barbarians were on the run. But this year, for some reason, they were seen with the monsters by the wall. They don’t retreat when we fire warning shots, and they’ve even attacked several times.”

“Isn’t that dangerous?”

“It will be fine right now. but there’s a big difference between me being in the castle and not being there…”

Leonhard said carefully, looking at me with regret for saying such a thing.

“I think I should go back as soon as the wedding is over.”

* * * 

Our original schedule was like this.

To have a wedding at the end of this month, spend the rest of winter, and leave the capital in the spring.

Along the way, my family suggested to Leonhard that we stop by Howard Country if possible.

We will give Leonhard and his party a tour of our country, show my husband’s face that I was married, and also take care of some things.

But it would require a bit of a detour.

Leonhard was troubled by the fact that he had been away from Ajas for so long, but he nodded his head in agreement saying that the way back wouldn’t be in the opposite direction at all.

He kindly accepted the offer, so my family and I were very happy. I was happy…And then this happened.

“It is impossible. The barbarians are out of control.”

“Defending the border is the greatest duty of Marquis Ajas.” 

Unlike my older brother, who expressed regret over his face by saying that he understood with his mouth, my younger brother nodded with a natural face.

I was a little relieved at the sight.

Among my sister and older brothers, my younger brother was the one who opposed my marriage the most, so I was worried that he would be angry with Leonhard for suddenly changing his mind after Leonhard told them that he was going to visit Howard’s country.

“Still, it seems that the situation is not urgent enough to return immediately. Seeing the wedding ceremony going on.”

“I was worried about that, but the Heilang knight and Wizards weren’t so weak that they can’t defend a castle without a commander, so there’s no need to worry.”

“Well, the knights and Wizards of Ajas are famous even in the capital.” 

“As good as the red lion?”

“Yes.”

In response to my question, my younger brother nodded calmly.

“But they’re different. Where the Red Lion values origins, the Heilang only sees skill.”

“That’s because they deal with monsters and barbarians.”

The main duties of the Griffon Knights were to escort the royal family and protect the palace, and the main duties of the Red Lion Knights were to protect the capital. 

Although, when there is a banquet in the imperial palace, the knights of the Red Lion are called in to stand guard. 

Since they rarely leave the capital anyway, knights of the capital, regardless of their skill or training, rarely see blood.

But Heilang is different. 

Protecting the Ajas Castle and fighting monsters and barbarians at the same time is no easy task, and the blood never dries on their swords.

So the knights in the capital and the border didn’t have a good perception of each other.

“If you don’t accept people based on their origins, but only on their skills, what’s the difference between them and mercenaries?”

There are a lot of talkative knights and condescending, but all they do is be a lady escort.

‘Actually, even in the original novel story, there was a fierce battle between Noah’s Heilang knight and the Crown Prince’s Griffon knight.’ 

“Rather than that, if Nell leaves right after the wedding, it’s going to be a bit of a rush, and I’m not sure she will be able to handle it. I’d rather Marquis Ajas go first and Nell follow later.”

“It’s not like I haven’t thought of that… But that would require Leon to come to get me, and he has been away from the Ajas for so long that if he went back now, he wouldn’t be able to leave Ajas for at least a year because of the problems with monsters and barbarians.”

“Then you can go after a year.”

“I’m married, and you want me to go to my husband’s castle after a year? I don’t want that.”

Besides, Noah will be six years old in a year. 

I had promised Leon that I would fulfill my duties as a mother, and I wanted to take care of Noah while he was a year younger.

I am afraid that the child would be bad if I miss the time.