How The Sub-Male Lead’s Stepmother Teaches Love Chapter 260

“Thank god.…”

 

– What on earth is going on?

 

“I should be the one asking that, Marquise.”

 

– Huh?

 

It was Julius who picked up the mirror that Leonhard had dropped.

 

He lifted the mirror to his eye level and looked at Raenel through it.

 

“It’s been a long time, Marquise.”

 

– Oh my! I-I greet Your Highness the Second Prince. May the radiance of the sun be upon you

 

– I greet Your Highness the Second Prince.

 

“Enough with the greetings. First, would you answer my question? How do you have this mirror?”

 

– A mirror? I just got it from someone.

 

“What kind of person is that? Who is that?”

 

– Umm, who is that…

 

Just how had she ended up with this mirror?

 

Raenel began to explain what had happened two hours ago, after Felix and Leonhard had left the mansion.

 

* * *

 

– Ice cream!

 

A fluffy bird rolls around on the table.

 

I sighed as I thought about what to do with this bunch of rascals.

 

“I told you to wait a little bit, the chef will make it for you.”

 

– No! I’ll go to the shop and choose them myself! I’ll eat them all!

 

“You do realize that you’re a bird, right?”

 

– Then this will do!

 

The bird that had been rolling around on the table suddenly jumped up from its seat and jumped down to the floor.

 

When Rake’s tiny feet touched the ground, she was no longer a bird.

 

“Ta-da! How’s this?”

 

A short-haired girl with white hair tinged with light blue at the ends. About the same height as Noah—I’d seen that form once before.

 

“That’s your human form?”

 

“It’s not fixed or anything. But I like this one best.”

 

Rake took Noah’s hand and helped him to his feet. Then she held up her hand to compare their heights and grinned.

 

“Hehe, I’m taller.”

 

Noah seemed shocked by those words, and his mouth opened wide.

 

“You can change your appearance….”

 

“But this is my basic form! That means you’re shorter than me!”

 

‘She didn’t seem to be teasing, but… Wait—was she?’

 

Either way, Noah, slightly upset, turned to me.

 

“Mother, I’m going to drink a lot of milk from today.”

 

“Huh?”

 

“I read in a book that if you drink a lot of milk, you will grow taller.”

 

“In that sense, let’s go eat ice cream. Ice cream is made from milk.”

 

At Rake’s suggestion, a flash of realization crossed Noah’s face.

 

Watching the two small children face each other and chat so seriously, I clenched my fists.

 

‘So cute!’

 

“Mother, I want to go eat some ice cream.”

 

“See? Noah wants it too! Let’s go!”

 

But then I thought—wait.

 

‘Did she bring up the height thing just to talk him into this?’

 

I narrowed my eyes and looked at Rake, feeling somewhat suspicious, but the cute girl just smiled and looked at me.

 

‘Ugh, why was I born weak to cuteness?’

 

I’m helpless against handsome people and cute kids alike.

 

In the end, I could only raise the white flag.

 

“Fine, let’s go, let’s go.”

 

“You’re going out yourself, Ma’am?”

 

At that moment, Sage—who had been standing guard inside the room—asked carefully.

 

Since I returned from the palace after collapsing, it wasn’t just Leonhard who had started to overprotect me.

 

“It should be fine, right? We’re just heading to the shopping district for a bit. And Rake will be with us too.”

 

“Yeah! If anything happens, I’ll take care of it. Just trust me!” Rake said, pounding her chest with her small fist.

 

‘Where’d she learn to act like that.’

 

To me, it was just adorable—but my guards clearly weren’t so relaxed.

 

The four of them, including Jennet, gathered together, put their heads together, had a brief conversation, and then nodded with determined faces.

 

“Then we’ll accompany you, Ma’am.”

 

“I’ll personally guard the young master.”

 

“I told you there’s no need to worry.”

 

Rake hummed a tune as if she was satisfied with just being able to eat ice cream, and climbed into the carriage with me.

 

But the carriage we were in did not pass the main gate of Paul Herbina, for a small commotion near the gate caused the carriage to stop.

 

“What! Why did you stop!”

 

“What’s going on?”

 

“Just a moment. I’ll check.”

 

Sitting across from me, Sage turned and opened the small outer window in the carriage wall.

 

It was built for speaking to the driver, so we couldn’t see through it.

 

“What’s happening?”

 

“Ah, it looks like someone came to the mansion.…”

 

“Again?”

 

‘Could it be that Countess Dillas has already come to visit? It hasn’t even been a week yet.’

 

“Ah!”

 

“What is it? What’s going on?”

 

“Well, uh…”

 

He made a sound as if he had clearly realized something.

 

But when I asked what the matter was, the coachman hesitated and didn’t give a straight answer. I pressed him impatiently.

 

“Do you happen to know that person?”

 

“That’s….”

 

The coachman hesitated for a long time, only to speak up after Ethan gave him a scolding.

 

“Actually, the last time I went out with His Highness the Marquis, there was someone in the crowd who got pushed into the carriage road.”

 

“Wait, don’t tell me they were hit?”

 

“No, no! I stopped the carriage just in time! That person wasn’t hurt, so we just let it go, but…”

 

“Is that person in front of the mansion right now?”

 

“Yes, it seems so….”

 

The coachman replied in a resigned voice.

 

Even if it wasn’t on purpose, it must have been hard to admit he nearly caused an accident.

 

‘It seems like Leon also forgave the coachman after considering the circumstances.’

 

Since I wasn’t there at the time, I didn’t think it was my place to say much. For now, I decided to get out of the carriage.

 

“Marquise?”

 

“Isn’t it someone who nearly got hit by our carriage? Maybe some aftereffects are showing up now.”

 

“B-but that person got up and walked off just fine that day. If that person says otherwise now, that’s a scammer!”

 

“So we need to check whether that person is a scammer or not.”

 

I opened the carriage door myself and winked at Noah. He nodded confidently, as if telling me to leave it to him.

 

“My ice cream…!”

 

The only one truly upset about the delay in going to the ice cream shop was none other than Rake, the dragon.

 

I got out of the carriage with my guards, holding Noah’s hand, and headed for the front gate.

 

“What’s going on?”

 

“Salute to the Marquise!”

 

The guards who had been arguing with someone in front of the still-closed gate quickly stood at attention when they saw me.

 

After giving a respectful nod to Noah as well, they glanced back at the carriage behind us with uneasy expressions.

 

“We’re sorry. We knew the carriage was coming, but there’s someone who insists on seeing the Marquise….”

 

The guard’s gaze glanced to the side.

 

There stood a figure dressed in a jet-black robe with a deep hood covering the head.

 

That person was hunched over, so it was hard to tell the height, but that person looked rather small.

 

“We’ll kick out this person right away. Apologies.”

 

“No, wait. I want to speak with that person myself. Open the gate.”

 

The guards looked flustered by my words, but they couldn’t disobey my repeated orders and opened the gate.

 

Thanks to that, I was able to talk to the person wearing the robe.

 

“The coachman said someone nearly got hit by our carriage not too long ago….”

 

“Y-yes, th-that’s r-right…”

 

Before I could even finish, the robed figure hurriedly nodded.

 

The movement caused the edge of the hood to shift, briefly revealing part of the face. It was covered in burn scars.

 

Noah must’ve seen it too—he inhaled sharply in surprise. I squeezed his hand to let him know it was okay.

 

“I, I, almost got hit by a carriage….”

 

The man nervously grabbed the edge of his hood and stammered as he tried to explain.

 

I looked at Noah to see if what he was saying was true.

 

Noah, who noticed my intentions, nodded.

 

It meant that it wasn’t a lie.

 

“I see. I’m sorry about that. Are you feeling unwell because of that and came here?”

 

“N-no, I-I’m not hurt, but… I just… I wanted to ask… something….”

 

“Ask something? To whom?”

 

‘But didn’t the guard say earlier, “Someone wants to see the Marquise”?’

 

At that time, a strong wind blew and my hair flew wildly.

 

As I closed my eyes tightly and raised my hand to fix my hair, I heard a voice beside me—damp and trembling:

 

“Sister….”

 

‘Sister?’

 

Surprised by the unexpected word, I turned my head and saw a single teardrop hanging from the chin visible beneath the hood.

 

At the same time, I realized that his gaze was on my left hand, or more precisely, the bracelet on my wrist.

 

‘How? Rake put a spell on it.’

 

-By the way, the magic doesn’t work on people who know you’re wearing a white bracelet…

 

That’s right—Rake had told me that.

 

Not people who’ve seen it, but those who know about it would be able to see through the illusion.

 

‘People who know about this bracelet….’

 

Me, Noah, Leonhard, my guards, and also my older brother, who gave me this bracelet.

 

Anyone else who could possibly know…

 

“It’s a gift your birth mother left for you.”

 

“I’m not sure exactly what kind of bracelet it is, but it’s said to be a family heirloom.”

 

Before I could even fully process it, the words slipped out of my mouth on their own.

 

“Do you… know my birth mother?”

 

The robed man flinched violently, as if startled.

 

“N-no, no, I-I… I should go…”

 

“That’s a lie.”

 

Noah, who was next to me, spoke quickly.

 

As I turned to him, wondering what part was a lie, he clarified without hesitation.

 

“Saying no—that’s the lie. That person knows about your mother, mother.”

 

* * *