How The Sub-Male Lead’s Stepmother Teaches Love Chapter 173

At one point, Leonhard’s hand, which had been stroking Raenel’s hair, stopped completely.

 

However, Raenel’s story continued.

 

Since he already knew that Rake was a dragon, the fact that Hiyela was Rake’s mother was surprising but still easy to accept.

 

What truly unsettled Leonhard was the revelation that Raenel was Hiyela’s contractor.

 

“I had completely forgotten that I made such a contract with Hyella. But I knew to some extent what the future held. I even knew that you would propose to me because of Noah.”

 

At that moment, memories rushed through Leonhard’s mind—flashing from the day he first met Raenel to the moment she proposed to him.

 

And finally, he realized why Raenel had promised to be a good mother when he proposed.

 

“In the future I read about, everyone became unhappy. So at first, I had no intention of accepting your proposal. I thought I could avoid that future if I never went to Ajas.”

 

“Everyone became unhappy? Could it be….”

 

‘I think I was afraid of being rejected by you.’

 

Leonhard swallowed his dry saliva with difficulty.

 

“In that future…. Did I reject your feelings?”

 

‘How could that be possible?’

 

Leonhard truly could not understand. How could he not love someone as precious as her?

 

“Honestly, it was understandable. The original Raenel was incredibly mean to Noah.”

 

“The original Raenel?”

 

“Well,….. I wasn’t originally Raenel.”

 

Leonhard didn’t understand what she was saying.

 

Before he could even try to understand, Raenel continued speaking.

 

“To change the future, Hiyela contacted the soul that was supposed to be born as ‘Raenel’. However, that soul rejected its own destiny, So Hiyela chose me instead to take on that destiny.”

 

She was never meant to be Raenel.

 

That fact stabbed Leonhard in the heart like a sharp knife.

 

The voice of Raenel speaking right next to him seemed distant and dreamlike.

 

“I don’t know why I was chosen, but Hiyela promised to grant me one wish in exchange for helping Rake find the Dragon Heart. So I accepted the contract and was born as Raenel.”

 

“But along the way, something went wrong, and I completely forgot about Hiyela’s existence and our contract… Still, since Rake successfully found the Dragon Heart, it seems Hiyela made the right choice.”

 

Her joking tone seemed to invite laughter, but Leonhard couldn’t laugh at all.

 

No, he wasn’t just unable to laugh—he was completely dazed, barely processing half of what Raenel was saying.

 

Realizing his silence, Raenel called out to him with a worried expression.

 

“Leon? What’s wrong?”

 

“…..So, now that your task is complete, are you saying you have to go back?”

 

“Yes?”

 

“Where… Where is the place you originally came from? Your name? Your age? Over there… Are you going to leave Noah and me behind…..”

 

His throat tightened with emotion, making it impossible to say the last words out loud.

 

He clenched his throat to swallow the lump of sorrow lodged there, while Raenel’s surprised face turned to panic.

 

Feeling an unexplainable heartache, Leonhardt bit his lip hard. Then, Raenel jumped up from her seat and shouted.

 

“No! That’s not it! I am Raenel now! I’m going to live as Raenel until I die!”

 

“What wish did you make to Hiyela? Is it something I cannot grant you?”

 

“You can’t grant it… No, not just you. It’s something no human can do. I wished for the soul originally meant to be Raenel to live a happy life. So that I wouldn’t feel guilty for taking her place.”

 

Raenel reached out and gently wiped his eyes. Only then did Leonhard realize that he was crying.

 

As he felt her soft fingers wiping away his tears, Leonhard finally realized that she was still there, right beside him.

 

Without thinking, he grabbed her elbow, suddenly terrified at the thought of her leaving.

 

“Don’t cry. I never planned on going back to where I came from.

 

If I had, I wouldn’t have made a contract with Hiyela in the first place.”

 

“Then why did you make a contract with Hiyela? Why did you come here? What were you hoping for?”

 

Leonhard was desperate for an answer, because he needed to know, so that if Raenel ever changed her mind and tried to leave, he could hold onto her.

 

At that moment, Leonhard felt the strongest sense of helplessness he had ever experienced in his life.

 

If what she wanted was something he could never provide… If only a being as powerful as Hiyela could grant her wish…

 

How could he possibly hope to keep her by his side?

 

“I didn’t ask for something grand… I just asked to be born into a family that loved me. I was so lucky, wasn’t I? ‘Raenel’ was originally meant to be loved by her family.”

 

Raenel said that and smiled very lovingly.

 

Just like when he first saw her, when she was dancing with her brother and smiled brightly.

 

“And now, I am loved by you too. And by Noah.”

 

She looked just like a flower in full bloom on a spring day.

 

‘Back then, why had she smiled like that?’

 

He couldn’t quite remember the reason, but right now, she was smiling because of him. Because of his words—because he had told her that he fell in love at first sight.

 

“Does my love really have the power to make you smile…?”

 

‘I’ve never once thought that I could make someone smile.’

 

“Of course. If you couldn’t do it, no one in this world could.”

 

“But you love so many people besides me—Noah, Count Howard, Lady Howard, and Sir Alex…..”

 

“And out of all of them, you are my number one.”

 

Normally, these things shouldn’t be compared, but today is special.

 

The voice that whispered into his ear, cupping her hands around his mouth as if sharing a secret, tickled like dandelion fluff.

 

His chest ached as if the seed had taken root and sprouted in it.

 

“I love you the most in the world.”

 

Her confession, like a secret letter secretly delivered to him, turned him back into an eighteen-year-old boy.

 

No, perhaps even younger—seventeen or sixteen. A young boy far from maturity.

 

What if they had met back then, when they had nothing to worry about?

 

Not because they needed to marry, but simply because being together made them laugh. Because their hearts fluttered.

 

If they met purely out of longing to see and hear each other, without any other motive.

 

Looking back, everything had been a mess. He hadn’t even proposed properly, nor had he ever confessed his love.

 

No matter how Leonhard thought about it, he didn’t feel like he had done anything right.

 

He didn’t feel worthy of being the most important person to someone as beautiful and precious as Raenel.

 

And yet… shamelessly, his heart trembled.

 

His eyes felt sore and his fingertips were trembling.

 

His throat was so tight with emotion that Leonhard barely managed to swallow.

 

“Nell, I love you…. I love you more than anyone else.”

 

His heart was so full that his throat was choked up.

 

Unable to control his feelings that were spreading out of control, Leonhard helplessly hugged Raenel’s body tightly.

 

Their touching hearts beat violently with a heartbeat that they couldn’t tell whose heart it was.

 

At that moment, Leonhard finally understood—why, in the future that Hiyela had shown Raenel, he had never loved her.

 

Because it wasn’t the person in his arms now.

 

“I love you, Nell. You are the only one for me. I will always love only you.”

 

“Oh, come on, you shouldn’t make such bold promises.”

 

“How can I love anyone other than you?”

 

The sun rises in the east, water flows from high to low, and he loves her.

 

One could question why the sun does not rise in the west.

 

But even if that question were asked a hundred times, the sun would never rise in the west.

 

That’s just how it was.

 

In other words, he was certain he would love Raenel no matter what.

 

Even when they grew older, even when she became a grandmother, she would still be just as lovely.

 

He would fall for her over and over again, hundreds, thousands of times.

 

And knowing that he would be by her side even after all that time made Leonhard’s heart race madly.

 

“We should have the wedding ceremony right away when we return to the castle.”

 

“No. The invitations have already been sent. We can’t change the date now.”

 

“Is it really impossible?”

 

“It is. Why are you acting like you don’t know this?”

 

Raenel glanced briefly at Leonhard and then whispered.

 

“But… the fifth-floor bedroom could be prepared in just one day.”

 

“Then we leave this place tomorrow.”

 

“What?”

 

Raenel’s eyes widened, as if she hadn’t expected Leonhard to say something like that.

 

But instead of backing down, Leonhard shamelessly asked,

 

“Is there anything left to do here?”

 

“Well… I still need to wrap things up with Felix, the owner of this tower, and Noah. We can’t just leave, only for him to turn around later and say, ‘Noah is my son, so I’ll take him’.”

 

“That won’t happen.”

 

“You keep making these bold statements. You’re not Hiyela, how can you know the future?”

 

“You don’t need to worry about that. I’ve already heard it from someone.”

 

“Really?”

 

“Yes. I didn’t hear it from him, but…. She said she speaks on behalf of her master, so we can trust her words.”

 

Leonhard thought back to his conversation with Marilyn before arriving here and spoke firmly,

 

“Unless I give up raising Noah, Felix has no intention of taking him or claiming to be his father.”

 

“Why?”

 

Leonhard shook his head slightly at Raenel’s question.

 

He hadn’t spoken to Felix directly, so he couldn’t truly understand the man’s thoughts.

 

But one thing was certain.

 

“Marriage? No… Until the day she left, Lady Louise was just a guest of the tower. Still, I believe the two of them were in some kind of romantic relationship…Even though they both insisted otherwise.”

 

Felix didn’t love Louise.

 

Unlike Louise.

 

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