How The Sub-Male Lead’s Stepmother Teaches Love – Chapter 238

Author: Chewyy

“You both look very tired. What happened?”

“I’m taking classes that I wasn’t even supposed to take..…. Noah, you’ve had a hard time too.”

“No, I had fun.”

After stopping at a restaurant for dinner, Noah showed Leonhard the magic he had learned today in the carriage.

Leonhard was truly amazed as he watched the child create flowers with water.

“It’s really cool. It’s so delicate that it’s hard to believe it’s made of water.”

He clapped enthusiastically, clearly delighted—but the news Logan delivered once we returned to the mansion quickly killed his mood.

“The Marquise Calvin was in the living room just a moment ago?”

“Yes. She brought up not just the First Prince, but even His Majesty the Emperor. I couldn’t just throw her out.”

‘Oh my god.’

My jaw practically dropped open.

“Did you tell her that I went out?”

“Of course I did. But she barged into the living room demanding I call for you immediately and said she’d wait until you returned.”

Logan, who always had a relaxed expression, was sweating profusely this time, as if he had a hard time.

With nothing else to say, I just patted his shoulder and thanked him for enduring the ordeal. Then I turned to Leonhard.

“What should we do? She’ll probably show up again tomorrow.”

“If she comes to the mansion again tomorrow, I’ll deal with him. You can pretend to be sick and stay in bed.”

That wouldn’t be hard, but…

“Is that okay? She’s the one who even mentioned His Majesty the Emperor just to meet me.”

“She may be able to do that in front of the butler, but she can’t act that way in front of me.”

‘What if she does, though…’

I hesitated for a moment, then leaned in to whisper in Leonhard’s ear.

“What if you threatened her a little? Say if she keeps bothering us, you’ll tell His Majesty that she was the late Marquis’s lover.”

“That threat won’t work on the Marquise Calvin.”

“Why not? Was the Emperor really that cool?”

No. From what I’ve heard, he is really mean and petty.

“You must not know… Marquise Calvin also has ties to Duke Kereis.”

“What? You mean… those kinds of ties?”

“Yes, those kinds.”

“Oh my god.”

So, the Marquise of Calvin is not only the Emperor’s mistress, but also Duke Kereis’s mistress?

‘How is that even possible? Would the Emperor really tolerate something like that, with his pride?’

“I don’t know exactly what’s going on between the Emperor and the Duke Kereis,… but… anyway, that’s why the Duke supports the First Prince.”

“Oh my god…”

Marquise Calvin holds the Emperor and the Duke in her hands and makes the most of what she can.

An emperor who lets a woman who has given birth to his child date another man.

And Duke Kereis, who pushed the child born to his own mistress with another man to become emperor.

It was a triangle that I could not possibly understand with my common sense, morality, and conscience.

I gave up thinking about it and hugged Leonhard’s arm.

That wasn’t enough—still uneasy, I hugged his waist too.

I felt a little calmer as I entered the embrace that only Noah and I could hold and felt the warmth.

“The capital… really is a terrifying place.”

“Exactly. I just want to go home as soon as possible.”

Leonhard spoke unusually weakly, and I couldn’t help but laugh.

And I patted his back as he put his arm around my waist, tightening his grip like a child hiding from thunder under a blanket and hugging a teddy bear.

“Anyway, Marquise Calvin is really suspicious.”

‘If this isn’t about the First Prince, then why is she so desperate to see me?’

“Maybe…..”

“You thought of something?”

Leonhard nodded and took me to the bedroom.

I wondered why we had to move just to talk—but sure enough, what he said was something only the two of us knew.

“In the future you saw, didn’t the First Prince join hands with Onyx?”

“Yes. Why is that?”

“Then wouldn’t Marquise Calvin also be connected to them?”

“Oh!”

‘Why didn’t I think of that?’

Yeah, if I think about it, the symbol of Estroa appeared in the First Prince’s body when he was about fifteen.

Rather than him at that age actively joining hands with Onyx, it felt more plausible that Marquise Calvin joined hands with them.

“If Marquise Calvin joined hands with Onyx, then the goal was probably to manifest the symbol on the First Prince’s body, right?”

“That’s the most likely case. If the symbol had appeared naturally, there’d be no reason to ally with them.”

Leonhard thought for a moment and then asked me.

“Do you also know why the First Prince joined hands with Onyx?”

“His goal was to release monsters into the capital and ruin the Second Prince’s reputation.”

I tried to recall the details from the book.

“But things didn’t go well, so he ended up leading a massive number of monsters to the capital… and then he self-destructed when the brainwashing wore off, along with the Onyx.”

“He brought a massive number of monsters to the capital? How?”

“Huh?”

Leonhard explained what part of that was off.

“For monsters like the ones that previously attacked the capital, it’s possible to bring them to the capital without attracting people’s attention. You can load them onto a carriage or smuggle them in through a trade caravan.”

“Ah… but a large horde won’t do.”

“Yes. It’s inevitable that you’ll get caught along the way.”

Now that he said it, he was right. I folded my arms and tried hard to recall the memories.

‘If I’d known this would happen, I would’ve asked Hiyela to let me read that book again…’

Most of the future I saw happens after Noah becomes an adult, so it’s hard to recall things from the current timeline.

“I’m sorry. I don’t remember very well.”

Then Leonhard shook his head.

“There’s no need to apologize. You’ve already given me the most important piece of information.”

“Really?”

“Of course. I’m proud of you more than anyone else in this world.”

As if he’d found the perfect opportunity, he hugged my waist and started planting kisses on my cheek and forehead.

When I pushed him away, saying it tickled, he grabbed my hand and kissed my palm instead.

He’s so affectionate now—I can’t help but feel a little sad imagining how emotionally starved he must have been before we met.

‘Fine, I’ll let you do as you like.’

I tilted my head just a little, and as if he’d been waiting for that signal, his lips met mine.

I wrapped my arms tightly around his waist and let him take my breath away.

“Anyway, please take care of things tomorrow in my place.”

“Just trust me. I’ll make sure that the unwanted guest gets kicked out properly.”

Leonhard rested his forehead against mine and spoke in a voice full of excitement.

His warmth against my skin made my heart flutter, and I couldn’t help but laugh softly.

“You must be tired too. Your wife is too popular for nothing.”

“I was already prepared when I married someone as lovely as you. Don’t worry, I will overcome everything.”

I giggled at his reassuring words.

– I beat up all the barbarians for you!

“Rake?”

From the darkness came the fluttering sound of wings heading toward us.

I instinctively pushed Leonhard’s shoulder away and raised my palm.

Then, somehow, in the darkness, Rake landed on my palm.

Along with the soft weight, I could smell a strong scent of chocolate.

I figured she’d gone to the kitchen again to get a snack, but there was something more important than scolding Rake.

“You beat up the barbarians? What do you mean?”

– Did you forget? I told you last time—I went and punished the bad guys.

“When did you ever…..”

As I reflexively questioned Rake, a vague memory started to resurface.

“When did you even come back? No, more importantly, where have you ever been? If you were going somewhere, you should’ve said something! And if you were coming back, you should’ve let me know!”

-I told you before I left.

“What? When did you!”

-I said I was going to punish the bad guys who dared to go after my heart.

As I struggled to piece together my hazy memory, Leonhard looked at Rake, who had puffed up her chest proudly.

“What exactly do you mean by ‘punish’?”

– Just what it sounds like. I made sure they’d never even think about going after my heart again.

From my palm, Rake mimicked punching with her wings and did some exaggerated kicks with her tiny, thin legs.

It was too ridiculous to even pretend to be scared.

‘How did you manage to punish those barbarians who commanded monsters with these fluffy wings?’

‘Oh, right—she’s a dragon.’

“There are more than one or two barbarians on the White Land. There are at least a few hundred of them scattered here and there, forming tribes. You’re not saying you dealt with all of them, are you?”

– I punished all of them.

“What?”

“All of them?”

‘How far was I supposed to stretch the meaning of this statement? More importantly, what exactly did Rake mean by “punish”?’

“Rake, come here for a moment.”

– Hm? Why? Are you gonna give me something delicious?

Rake, who let out a puzzled voice, flew towards Leonhard who was calling her.

“Where are you going with Rake?”

“We’re just going to have a quick private talk.”

– What? No snacks?

“What do you need to talk about in private? Just do it here.”

“We’ll be right back.”