How The Sub-Male Lead’s Stepmother Teaches Love Chapter 235

After letting Rake eat as many desserts as she wanted and fall sound asleep, I tucked her into my pocket and left the auction house’s private room.

 

I had just come down the last step of the stairs when—

 

“Mother, I’m sleepy…”

 

“You are? I’m not sleepy yet, though.”

 

I looked at Leonhard with a face that said, “See?” He glanced down at Noah with a slightly puzzled expression.

 

He must have found it odd that Noah was already sleepy.

 

But Noah was only five years old—of course, he’d be sleepy!

 

“Noah, come here. Mother will carry you.”

 

“No, I’ll carry him,” Leonhard said, reaching out to Noah before I could.

 

But Noah clung to me and shook his head firmly.

 

“I want Mother.”

 

Noah looked up at me with tearful eyes.

 

“Can’t I?”

 

“Of course you can!”

 

My child is clingy with me!

 

I was so happy about that simple fact. I shook my head slightly at Leonhard, who looked concerned.

 

“It’s not that far from here to the carriage waiting area. I’ll carry him.”

 

As I picked Noah up with a small “heave-ho,” he wrapped his arms around my neck like he was used to it.

 

This was the moment I loved the most. When I felt like I’d become someone Noah could rely on.

 

“Well then, let’s hurry and—”

 

“Lady Howard—no, Marquise—what a place to run into each other!”

 

‘huh?’

 

When I turned my head to the voice that was both welcoming and elegant, I saw the familiar face of a noble lady standing with a maid and two knights.

 

“Oh my… Teacher!”

 

“It’s been a while. I couldn’t attend the wedding, so I thought I’d never see you again unless I visited the North.”

 

“Me too. I’m really glad I came to the capital.”

 

As I nodded, her gaze naturally shifted toward Leonhard. She was clearly asking for an introduction, so I quickly spoke up.

 

“Darling, remember I told you about my etiquette and dance teacher?”

 

“I am Minerva Conteil. It is a pleasure to meet you, Your Highness the Marquis.”

 

“I’ve heard much about you from my wife. She was quite sad that you couldn’t attend our wedding.”

 

“At that time, I had something to do, so I couldn’t make time. If I had received the invitation earlier, I would have made time.”

 

Her glance subtly reprimanded me, perhaps because her etiquette student had married in an unusual way.

 

“Please don’t blame my wife. The early wedding was due to my own circumstances.”

 

“Oh my, I didn’t even say anything and yet you’re already defending her? It seems Your Highness is quite the devoted husband.”

 

Looking at the smiling teacher, I could barely swallow the questions welling up in me.

 

‘My teacher… she is not the type of person to use words that could be seen as rude to a noble of high rank.’

 

I glanced over and saw Leonhard nodding his head, as if he thought so too.

 

‘Did she do it on purpose?’

 

As I looked around with that thought, I saw that many people were standing nearby and pretending not to notice and glancing at us.

 

‘When on earth did so many people start gathering here?’

 

“By the way, Marquise, the child?”

 

“Huh? Oh, this is my son. It’s late, so he fell asleep.”

 

Honestly, this wasn’t how I should’ve introduced him.

 

But since there was no response, I thought he must have fallen asleep, so I gently patted Noah’s head.

 

“I’d like to introduce him properly when he’s awake. May I send an invitation to wherever you’re staying?”

 

“I’d love to give you my hotel address, but I’m returning to my estate tomorrow. Could we perhaps meet at Lady Brilliana’s wedding instead?”

 

“Of course! I’ll see you there, Teacher.”

 

She smiled warmly as I nodded.

 

“To be honest, I felt so bad for missing your wedding that I thought about sending a gift.”

 

“What? No, that’s really okay. You don’t have to—”

 

“It’s not that I won’t, but that I can’t. The gem I had picked out was taken.”

 

She glanced subtly at Leonhard, then leaned toward me to whisper.

 

“You were in Room 21, weren’t you?”

 

“How did you…?”

 

“Everyone says you bought up every gem in sight. Doesn’t quite match the rumors I heard earlier this year.”

 

She murmured it like a passing thought, then turned to whisper to Leonhard.

 

“But even so, couldn’t you have let the blue diamond go? Surely you knew who wanted it?”

 

‘Huh? What does she mean by that?’

 

Did she notice my puzzled expression? She looked slightly surprised and asked,

 

“Don’t tell me you didn’t know?”

 

“Didn’t know what?”

 

She sighed softly, looked around, and whispered in a low voice.

 

“Her Highness the First Princess had her eye on that gem.”

 

“What…? Really?”

 

“You really didn’t know? The news must have reached those who had the money to buy it.”

 

‘I really hadn’t heard anything about it!’

 

“You didn’t know either, right?”

 

My eyes were practically screaming: ‘You didn’t buy it after knowing that, did you?’

 

Thankfully, Leonhard shook his head.

 

“I didn’t. We decided to come here quite spontaneously, so I suppose there wasn’t time for word to reach us.”

 

“I suppose that makes sense…”

 

What should I do now?

 

Even if it wasn’t on purpose, we ended up humiliating the First Princess.

 

‘The gossips will surely spin this as me stealing the gems from the Princess…’

 

‘Forget it! I didn’t do anything wrong.’

 

Besides, if we’re being fair, she made me a laughingstock first.

 

So The first princess must not say anything to me about this.

 

The wrong she has done to me is much greater!

 

“I guess for the time being….”

 

“Hmm…”

 

As my teacher let out a small sigh and was about to say something to me, Noah in my arms started to move and groaned.

 

“Oh, Noah. Did we wake you? It’s okay, go back to sleep.”

 

While gently patting the child’s small back in case he woke up, Leonhard greeted the teacher politely.

 

“I have to go now because I need to put my son to bed. I’ll see you next time.”

 

My teacher tried to say something, but Leonhard had already said goodbye.

 

Since holding him back would be clearly rude, my teacher simply nodded as if she had no choice.

 

“Okay, then. See you next time.”

 

She bent her knees in a graceful curtsy. Because of Noah in my arms, I could only give her a slight nod in return.

 

My teacher accepted my gesture with a face that said she understood. I told her we’d meet again at my sister’s wedding, then took my leave.

 

As soon as we walked away, the crowd that had gathered around us to watch quickly dispersed.

 

‘The Blue Diamond story… They must’ve all heard it, right?’

 

‘They probably all knew we were at room 21, too.’

 

It was only a matter of time before word reached the First Princess that we were the ones who won the Blue Diamond.

 

As soon as I got into the carriage, I laid Noah down and asked Leonhard to confirm something.

 

“You really didn’t know?”

 

“What are you talking about?”

 

“Blue diamond.”

 

Leonhard blinked once and gave a small nod.

 

“Yes. I really didn’t know.”

 

“Hah… Right? I mean, if you had heard the story, there’s no way you would’ve bid on that jewel.”

 

“That’s not true.”

 

Leonhard firmly denied it in a resolute voice.

 

“What?”

 

“As I said earlier, it’s a gem you said you wanted. So how could I let someone else have it? How could I bear to see you disappointed?”

 

He spoke so confidently, as if nothing else mattered to him but that.

 

His conviction was so strong, that I found myself feeling slightly overwhelmed.

 

“But what if we end up being disliked by the royal family…….”

 

“So be it. Once everything’s over, we’ll just return to the North—what’s the problem? And if the First Princess says anything, just tell her I begged you to buy it for me.”

 

“You’re saying that Marquis Ajas begged his wife to buy him gems?”

 

“Yes.”

 

Leonhard nodded, then added with a soft sigh,

 

“And since his wife gives in to everything he asks for, that’s another problem.”

 

“And my husband is just too shameless, which is the real problem.”

 

“Are you talking about me?”

 

That face he made when asking was the very definition of shameless. I gave him a sideways glance that was more amused than annoyed.

 

“Since you’re already giving me the gift, can’t you buy me a jewelry box too?”

 

“Why? To keep the ring?”

 

Leonhard nodded confidently.

 

“I’ll put in not only the ring, but also the bookmark and ribbon.”

 

I almost asked what kind of husband begs for a jewelry box, but stopped myself, thinking he’d only be delighted to be the first. I just laughed instead.

 

“Since when did you get this cute?”

 

“From the moment I married you, of course.”

 

No, that’s not it. More like, from the moment he married me, he turned shameless.

 

It was a side of him I never would’ve imagined before our marriage. I gave him another amused look—then burst out laughing.

 

* * *

 

“You failed to win the bid?”

 

“I’m terribly sorry… The final bid ended up being twice what we expected.”

 

“No excuses.”

 

Just earlier today, Viscount Gelon had been confident he could get the gem Mariette wanted.

 

But now he was bowing his head in front of Mariette with a bewildered look on his face.

 

“Huh….”

 

The unexpected outcome made her head spin.

 

At her gesture, a maid waiting nearby approached with water and medicine in hand.

 

Mariette swallowed the pill as casually as if it were a snack, then wiped her mouth with the handkerchief the maid gave her.

 

Looking down at the still-bowing Viscount Gelon, she spoke.

 

“That diamond was something His Majesty promised to gift me. I entrusted the matter to you.”

 

At the word ‘His Majesty’, Viscount Gelon’s body trembled. Mariette looked at him and spoke in a cold voice.

 

“I cannot imagine what punishment you will receive for failing to properly carry out the task His Majesty has entrusted to you.”

 

* * *