How The Sub-Male Lead’s Stepmother Teaches Love Chapter 255

“It’s a pleasure to meet you. I am Count Dillas.”

 

“It would have been nice if we hadn’t met like this. Please have a seat.”

 

Leonhard, still seated, gestured toward the chair with a tilt of his chin.

 

Count Dillas clenched his teeth at the blatant rudeness.

 

“Then… Excuse me.”

 

Would the man who has the power to change the subject act like this without knowing manners?

 

In high society, it was an unspoken rule that uninvited guests could be treated coldly.

 

It’s good if you feel discouraged by the host’s rude treatment, but it’s even better if you go away angry.

 

That was probably what the Marquis Ajas was hoping for. But Dillas had already resolved to change his mind—even if it meant getting on his knees.

 

‘At least he offered a drink.’

 

Not offering tea or alcohol meant to tell them to just say what they wanted to say and leave quickly.

 

So maybe he could stay a while. With that in mind, Count Dillas politely accepted the drink with both hands.

 

“Oh, by the way, I almost forgot. I have prepared a gift for the Marquise, Your Highness.”

 

“Gift?”

 

“This is something I bought when I visited the Kingdom of Canel on business. I saw it at an auction house and fell in love with it at first sight, but somehow it didn’t seem to belong to my wife. I had a strange feeling I’d be giving it to someone else. Perhaps fate was pulling me here. Bring it here!”

 

Count Dilas, who had been giving a long and rambling explanation, had his servant bring the box.

 

“It is not as good as Odette’s tears that became the wedding ring of the Marquise,… but… isn’t it just as beautiful?”

 

Inside the box were two coral pearls.

 

The pearls, with their faint pink hue, were certainly similar in color to Odette’s tears.

 

Though smaller and oddly shaped in comparison.

 

“If they were well crafted and made into earrings for Marquise, wouldn’t they match well with Odette’s tears?”

 

“indeed… The color is exactly like my wife’s eyes.”

 

Leonhard lifted the box and examined the coral pearls carefully.

 

Then, as if he had decided to like it, he nodded and put the box down.

 

“I will accept it gratefully.”

 

“Ha ha! It’s truly an honor!”

 

‘Done!’

 

Count Dilas clenched his fists under the table.

 

In truth, he had originally bought those coral pearls to sell at a high price to a wealthy noblewoman.

 

Of course, among those candidates was Marquise Ajas. She was quickly eliminated because she went up to the North.

 

‘A huge loss…. But any financial loss can be recovered to some extent.’

 

‘On the contrary, if the Marquis Ajas refused the gift, it would’ve been a headache. After all, nothing in this world is free.’

 

‘If he has any conscience, he won’t take such expensive pearls for nothing.’

 

Count Dilas, who had moistened his tongue with a sip of alcohol, pondered how to bring up the subject.

 

“There’s no need to worry so much about bringing it up. I already know what the Count wants to say.”

 

“Eh? Oh… I, uh…”

 

Count Dilas was trying to change the topic to another topic with ease, but his mind went completely blank.

 

Still, maybe this was for the best. He could get straight to the point.

 

“I completely understand your feelings. If someone had said something ridiculous about me and my wife, I wouldn’t have been able to forgive them easily. But—”

 

“Yes, then you understand. I cannot forgive your wife for what she said about my wife.”

 

“W-what? But…”

 

‘If you can’t forgive her, then you shouldn’t have accepted the pearls—do you know how expensive they are?!’

 

While Count Dilas barely swallowed the words that came to his mind, Leonhard moistened his lips with the cold wine.

 

“Your wife crossed the line. Saying my wife is just a puppet who took money to marry me, or that she returned to the capital because she didn’t get paid enough, and wants a divorce… That’s what reached my ears. Do you think that’s all there is, Count?”

 

“That, that….”

 

Each word was a dagger.

 

And to hear them from the Marquis himself made Count Dilas go dizzy.

 

“Do you know who else heard that rumor besides me? My son heard it.”

 

His son had come to him in tears, asking if he and his mother were going to divorce. The memory made him feel as if the sky were falling.

 

‘How on earth do I fix this?’

 

He couldn’t see the answer at all.

 

Count Dilas wrapped his head in endless despair.

 

Meanwhile, Leonhard ordered the empty glass replaced and dropped ice into the new one.

 

The clinking of ice hitting the glass sounded like a death knell to Count Dilas.

 

“It’s… all my fault. I was busy with work outside and couldn’t control my wife’s mouth properly.….”

 

The Count now looked ten years older than when he first sat down.

 

One might have thought such a pitiful sight would inspire mercy, but Leonhard didn’t even blink.

 

“You say it’s your fault for not being able to control your wife’s mouth properly? Aren’t husband and wife one heart? Your words are your wife’s words, and your wife’s words are your words.”

 

“…..”

 

Count Dilas had never been accused of poor speech, yet he couldn’t think of anything to say in response to that.

 

‘So this is the end of my merchant.’

 

He could hardly believe it had been only two months since he celebrated securing a deal with the Duke of Kereis.

 

‘What will I do when the guild collapses? Should I go back to the countryside and farm?’

 

He even pictured himself barefoot in the soil, holding a hoe in her hand.

 

“That’s why I’ve decided to let my wife handle this matter.”

 

“Yes…?”

 

A glimmer of hope pierced his despair.

 

He waited for Leonhard to continue speaking, calming his excited and pounding heart.

 

“If my wife forgives your wife, I will forgive you, but if my wife does not forgive your wife,….”

 

Suddenly, the large piece of ice caught in the tongs crumbled like a cookie.

 

The broken pieces of ice fell onto the table and melted into drops of water.

 

As Count Dilas stared blankly at the water droplets, Leonhard’s whisper reached his ears:

 

“I also cannot forgive you.”

 

And Count Dillas prayed.

 

That his wife would throw herself at the Marquise’s feet.

 

* * *

 

After exchanging greetings and sitting down, the Countess took a sip of the freshly served tea.

 

“Have we met before?”

 

The Marquise Ajas, peering over her teacup with a serene face, asked casually.

 

Countess Dilas rolled her eyes, trying to figure out the hidden intentions behind it.

 

‘Did she see me at the Imperial banquet?’

 

‘Is she trying to mock me by saying, I saw you being excluded back then?’

 

Countess Dilas put down her teacup and opened the fan she had placed on her lap.

 

Hiding the faint curl at the corner of her lips, she spoke in a gentle voice.

 

“Well… high society is such a small world. We may have brushed past each other here and there. But I can say with confidence that this is my first time meeting you properly, Marquise.”

 

“That matches my memory as well. But then, Countess—how did you speak so confidently about someone you’ve never met before?”

 

The hand of Countess Dilas, who had been swinging her fan, suddenly stopped.

 

‘Ah, look at that. I let my guard down because of her gentle-looking appearance, but she actually knows how to be sharp.’

 

Countess Dilas folded the fan she had been holding and softened her eyes.

 

“Marquise, I believe there’s been a misunderstanding. I’ve also heard those awful rumors circulating in the capital… But I certainly wasn’t the one who—”

 

“Don’t say you weren’t. Countess, do you think I’m deaf?”

 

“That….”

 

Countess Dilas made a pitiful face.

 

“Marquise, you may not know much since you don’t frequent social circles often, but no matter what you hear from someone, it’s best not to believe it unless you see it for yourself. There are many people who make up stories.”

 

“Like you, for instance?”

 

For a moment, Countess Dilas was speechless and just took a deep breath.

 

“Marquise, I think there is some misunderstanding—”

 

“Countess, I think you’re the one who’s misunderstood something. I didn’t come here to listen to excuses. Do you think that in that narrow social circle you speak of, no one will speak to me?”

 

The teacup Marquise set down with a clanking sound revealed her discomfort.

 

The eyes that now met hers were steady and unshaken.

 

It was then that Countess Dillas realized—No matter what she said, that woman wouldn’t waver.

 

“Besides, you chose the wrong person to make excuses to. Countess, why did you come here?”

 

“That’s….”

 

To beg for the Marquise’s mercy.

 

Because if not, the family of Dilas might suffer a blow from which it couldn’t recover.

 

“With just a few words from the duchess, my husband has become a bastard who has fathered an illegitimate child before marriage and a swindler who has toyed with the sacred ceremony of marriage for the sake of some money. Isn’t it only natural that my husband should be more angry than I am?”

 

“No, but….”

 

A scandal like that wasn’t even considered a scandal for men.

 

When a man behaved promiscuously, it wasn’t a fault—it was a brag.

 

Meanwhile, the engagement gifts and dowry offered to the bride’s family were a matter of male pride.

 

And the existence of a bastard didn’t tarnish the husband’s dignity, but the wife’s.

 

That’s why Countess Dilas didn’t think the Marquis would be angry if she spread the rumor.

 

If the Marquis is angry because of that, there is only one reason.

 

Because he cherishes his wife so much that he thinks of her honor and dignity as his own.

 

He was furious because someone had turned his wife into a laughingstock.

 

In that moment, Countess Dilas had a sudden realization:

 

‘The one I need to beg for mercy…’

 

Isn’t the Marquis. It’s the Marquise.

 

* * *