How The Sub-Male Lead’s Stepmother Teaches Love Chapter 210

– A more delicious dessert….?

 

“Yes! There are a lot of dessert shops selling dozens of different kinds of cakes, tarts, chocolates, ice cream, and pudding.”

 

– Dozens of different types?

 

“There are lots of shops that sell desserts you haven’t even tried yet. Crème brulee, mille-feuille, canelé…”

 

-What? I’ve never heard of those! There are that many desserts? Why were you hiding them from me?!

 

“I wasn’t hiding anything. We’re in Ajas, and to eat things like that, you have to go to the capital.”

 

Of course, that was a lie. If I asked our castle’s head chef to make them, they totally could.

 

Noah looked up at me, as if he realized I was lying.

 

I smiled at Noah and gently stroked his black hair.

 

– I want to go to the capital too!

 

“Can you go alone? And even if you did, you wouldn’t know where to buy those desserts. You wouldn’t know how to buy them either.”

 

– I’ll just tell them to give them to me. I’m a mighty dragon!

 

“Then everyone will run away. Even the people who make the desserts you eat will run away. Because you’re too mighty.”

 

– That’s…… true.

 

“Even if you somehow manage to catch the people who ran away, their hands will be shaking so much that they won’t be able to make a delicious dessert.”

 

– Then how can I eat it?

 

Got caught.

 

‘Oh, my sweet, innocent Rake.’

 

I smiled and pointed at Leonhard.

 

“Leon will be going to the capital soon.”

 

– Really?

 

“Absolutely. He’s busy with lots of work, but if you help him out a little and free up his time, he’ll buy you loads of desserts from the capital. Right, Leon?”

 

“Nell.”

 

Leonhard sighs slightly, as if he noticed what I was thinking.

 

He looked pretty put off by the idea of taking this walking disaster to the capital. But Rake was excited.

 

– Really? What should I do to help?

 

Before he knew it, Rake had flown to Leonhard and was flapping her wings and asking him a question.

 

Every time she flapped her wings, a little bit of whipped cream flew out and landed on Leonhard’s cheek and collar.

 

I handed Leonhard a handkerchief and motioned for Rake to come back.

 

“Nothing big. Just stick close to Leon and cast a protection spell if things get dangerous.”

 

But Leonhard still sounded reluctant.

 

“Honestly, I was only planning to go to the capital because Rake was here with you and Noah, so I could feel at ease…”

 

“What kind of danger is there in the castle? If anything’s dangerous, it’s where you’re going. You’re facing a group of wizards.”

 

If Leonhard had said he was going to fight the Gryphon Knights of the Imperial Palace, I wouldn’t have worried.

 

With his power of steel, no weapon forged from metal—sword, spear, or arrow—could harm him.

 

But magic is different.

 

Even someone like Leonhard would be in danger when facing a group of wizards.

 

“Rake, if any wizard attacks Leon, gives them a real scare. If you do, I’ll make you lots of cake when you get back to Ajas.”

 

– Really? Then I want that seven-layer cake from last time!

 

“You mean the one you ate at the wedding? Okay. I’ll make one just like that.”

 

– No, all seven layers! All of them!

 

“The whole seven layers?”

 

I thought back to the cake we’d sliced for every wedding guest and still had leftovers, and I felt a bit overwhelmed.

 

“That… Can you eat it all?”

 

– Of course. It’s not even half of my body

 

“I see….”

 

Well, if it meant keeping my husband safe, a seven-layer cake was a small price to pay.

 

“Alright. But you have to protect my husband in the capital. Promise?”

 

– promise!

 

Rake pressed his soft, fluffy wing against my outstretched pinky.

 

At that moment, I felt something thrilling flowing through Rake’s wing that was touching.

 

‘This feeling…’

 

It wasn’t the first time I felt this way.

 

Long ago, in the very distant past,…

 

‘Ah. When I signed a contract with Hiyela!’

 

Then… don’t tell me, did I just form a contract with Rake?

 

– Leon! You’ll buy me all those desserts Nell mentioned, right?

 

“If I have time. But… I can’t remember everything she mentioned…..”

 

– Don’t worry! I remember everything. Crème Brulee, mille-feuille, canelés… and dozens of cakes, tarts, chocolates, puddings, and ice creams!

 

“You’re going to eat all of that?”

 

– Of course! I won’t come back until I finish eating!

 

Watching Rake chirp happily, I realized I’d said something I probably shouldn’t have.

 

Leonhard looked at me with clear irritation—it was now his job to take Rake on a dessert tour of the capital.

 

I slowly avoided his gaze and stroked Noah’s head in my arms.

 

“With Rake going with him, there’s nothing to worry about, right?”

 

“Yes, Mother.”

 

I should make a dessert shop map for Leonhard later.

 

‘He’s going to have a rough time getting through them all.’

 

‘But… If it meant staying safe from any unknown danger, it was a small price to pay.’

 

* * *

 

That night, Leonhard read a whole storybook to Noah as he lay in bed.

 

He covered the child with a blanket and asked in a quiet voice.

 

“Noah. Do you remember what I showed you earlier today?”

 

“Earlier…? Ah, do you mean that potion?”

 

Although his eyelids were heavy as sleep crept in, Noah tried to recall memories from that afternoon.

 

A potion that purifies the blood. If he had it, he would no longer be a barbarian.

 

“When are you going to give me that potion?”

 

There was no particular hint of fear in that voice.

 

It was Leonhard who was more agitated by Noah’s words as if it were something that should be done.

 

“I think you’ve misunderstood something. I have no intention of using that potion on you right now.”

 

“Then when?”

 

“When you want to use it. Because it’s you who’ll have to go through the change. Your will is what matters most.”

 

“My will….”

 

But wouldn’t the consequences of being exposed as a barbarian matter more than his own will?

 

When Leonhard first explained the potion, Noah assumed it was meant to be used on him, no question.

 

He hadn’t been scared by that.

 

If anything, he’d felt relieved that the barbarian blood might be erased.

 

Because his previous private tutors had been constantly drilling into him the duties and responsibilities of Ajas, Noah couldn’t help but know what it meant that he, as the successor of Ajas, has barbarian blood.

 

“What if I say I want to live like this? You wouldn’t give me the potion?”

 

“Yes.”

 

Noah couldn’t believe that Leonhard’s voice wasn’t shaking.

 

“Why? If my bloodline is revealed to other people, it would be a big problem.”

 

“Who can prove that?”

 

“Yes?”

 

“To prove that, Felix would have to be exposed as a barbarian. People in the capital already know Felix is your biological father.”

 

“Ah…”

 

“But who could dare to say that the owner of the Silver Frost Tower is a barbarian? That would turn the entire Silver Frost Tower into an enemy.”

 

Whether they spoke in ignorance or full awareness, anyone who called Noah a barbarian now must be prepared to turn not only Ajas but also the Silver Frost Tower into their enemies.

 

Only five of the original nine towers remained.

 

Regardless of their attributes, each tower was a treasure trove of knowledge that had accumulated a long history.

 

The masters of those towers—each bearing the title of Sage—were respected by all mages, regardless of their class.

 

In short, turning the master of the Silver Frost Tower into an enemy was no different from turning all wizards into enemies.

 

“Besides, both my wife and I have acknowledged you as our successor and the vassals and nobles have once again pledged their loyalty. No one in this Ajas, nor beyond the Empire, would dare speak nonsense about you now.”

 

With those words, Leonhard gently patted Noah’s head, saying that what he chose to do with the potion was entirely up to him.

 

Noah, having forgotten all traces of sleep, simply stared blankly up at Leonhard.

 

A complex light was reflected in the amber eyes that appeared and disappeared repeatedly behind the slowly blinking eyelids.

 

“What do you want me to do, Father?”

 

“I want you to choose of your own free will. Not by asking what someone else wants.”

 

Noah’s cheeks were noticeably flushed even in the darkness.

 

Leonhard, realizing that the child had taken his words as a reprimand, made a bewildered voice and said that he did not mean it that way.

 

“Surely your bloodline could become a weakness that holds you back someday. But at least as long as I’m here, I’ll protect you so that weakness will never be used against you.”

 

Leonhard now knew how much the five-year-old had to watch over the eyes of many people in this large castle.

 

Now, he hoped that Noah would put his own will first when making choices, without worrying about his surroundings or what other people thought.

 

“So…. if anything happens, you can rely on me.”

 

After saying a short sentence with difficulty, Leonhard smiled with a relieved expression.

 

“I’m always on your side.”

 

That’s what he wanted to say.

 

Words he’d kept bottled up for so long, too ashamed to say aloud.

 

Why hadn’t he been able to say such a simple thing even once in the past five years?

 

Leonhard stroked Noah’s head, chewing on old regrets.

 

* * *