How The Sub-Male Lead’s Stepmother Teaches Love Chapter 312

The tenth day since the capital was attacked.

 

In short, last night.

 

A public execution took place in the capital square.

 

I hadn’t bothered to go and hear the official announcement, but judging from the screams and shouting loud enough to cross Paul Herbina’s walls, things must have gone smoothly.

 

‘They said nine people were hanging from the gallows, right?’

 

I heard that one of them was the Marquise of Calvin, and the rest were all wizards of Onyx.

 

Not all surviving Onyx wizards were executed—only those whose crimes were severe and showed no signs of repentance. Those were put to death on the spot.

 

‘Shouldn’t those who commit truly evil crimes be kept alive and punished for a long time?’

 

But then again, if I remember the saying better to roll in dog shit than enter the afterlife, maybe executing them without a shred of mercy was the cruelest punishment of all.

 

“Madam, what are you thinking about?”

 

Had I been staring out the carriage window too blankly?

 

Leonhard, sitting across from me, carefully asked me while taking my hand on his lap.

 

The worry in his gaze as he examined me was probably because the carriage was moving slowly and was passing the capital square.

 

Despite nearly ten people dying there yesterday, it now looked ordinary, peaceful even, bustling with people.

 

No, it wasn’t entirely peaceful, was it? Traces of the monster attack were clearly visible everywhere.

 

“Nell?”

 

Leonhard gently grabbed my hand, perhaps concerned that I had no answer to his question.

 

I felt like if I kept my mouth shut, Leonhard would change the carriage’s destination back to home, so I gently raised the corners of my mouth.

 

“I just thought it was fortunate that our house was in the north.”

 

“What do you—ah.”

 

Leonhard clicked his tongue briefly, as if he realized what I meant.

 

‘The corpses of the executed were hung on the eastern wall, right.’

 

The very wall that had collapsed under the monster attack—now displaying the ones responsible. There couldn’t have been a more perfectly symbolic location.

 

Leon said someone even suggested hanging Marquise Calvin’s body in front of the palace.

 

That idea was rejected in the end—perhaps because of the palace location, or because he was once the Emperor’s mistress and mother of the First Prince… or maybe both. Who knows.

 

“Nell.”

 

At that moment, Leonhard, who was sitting across from me, moved to sit next to me.

 

He hugged my waist with his right arm and held my right hand with his left, then looked me in the eye.

 

“Do the deaths of those people trouble you?”

 

“Not exactly… is my expression that bad?”

 

Even as I touched my cheek, Leonhard’s blue eyes remained at a distance.

 

“Yes. Very.”

 

‘It’s strange. I don’t really care about dead people.’

 

‘If I had to express how I feel right now,…’

 

“To be honest, it doesn’t feel real.”

 

“You mean the fact that they’re dead?”

 

“Yes. My parents died because of those people.”

 

And they had targeted me as well—though thankfully, I only learned that recently.

 

“I don’t know… In my head, they were these enormous, terrifying villains. But now they’ve all been caught and executed… it just doesn’t feel real.”

 

Perhaps it doesn’t feel real because I didn’t see them being caught or hanged.

 

Part of me wondered whether I should’ve gone yesterday just to confirm it with my own eyes—but what kind of entertainment is watching someone die?

 

‘No, good thing I didn’t. If I had, it would’ve haunted me forever.’

 

There are already too many beautiful things in the world I haven’t seen—why waste my eyes on death?

 

And speaking of beautiful things, the man in front of me was top-tier eye luxury.

 

“Don’t worry. Most of them are either dead or captured, so they can never harm you. Even if some other men try to harm you, I’ll protect you.”

 

“Like the time we were transported to the tower together?’

 

“Yes, just like back then. Nell, you just have to hide behind my back.”

 

“Well, I’m excellent at hide-and-seek.”

 

I giggled, kissed his handsome cheek, and hugged his waist tightly.

 

Then I leaned against him, head resting comfortably as I looked out the window again.

 

Leonhard, who had tilted his body so that I could lean against him and offered his chest and shoulders, played with the ribbon decoration on the waist of my dress.

 

At some point, our breaths had synchronized.

Peaceful.

I felt like I could sit in this carriage until sunset and never get bored.

 

But as if mocking my wishes, the voices of people chatting flowed in through the carriage window, breaking the silence between us.

 

“In short, are you saying that the monsters that attacked the capital were controlled by the guys who died yesterday?”

 

“Control? They created them!”

 

“Did you hear? The Marquise of Calvin was a barbarian!”

 

“If she were a barbarian, then doesn’t that mean the First Prince is too—”

 

“Hah! No wonder he was called a loser!”

 

“And it turns out that, just like the random impostor who pretended to be the Third Prince, the First Prince is also not a descendant of His Highness? His title has been revoked!”

 

“There was already a lot of talk about his bloodlines. Could he be the son of the late Marquis Calvin?”

 

“And last winter’s attack was also their doing! And they tried to frame the Second Prince—imagine how unfair that must have felt.”

 

“See? I told you! I always believed in the Second Prince!”

 

The owners of the voices, so loud that they were almost ear-piercing, were arguing over the story announced yesterday, along with the public execution.

 

“It’s noisy. I’ll close the window.”

 

At that moment, Leonhard tried to reach out to the carriage window.

 

I held his hand and told him it was okay.

 

“I want to hear more stories from people.”

 

Maybe if I listened long enough, it would finally feel real.

 

“I heard even the First Princess was gravely injured and will be sent away to recover.”

 

“I heard Duke Kereis was also badly injured. Isn’t that a bit funny? No one saw the Duke’s face in all that chaos, so what on earth did he fight to get injured?”

 

“His pride must have been hurt. His alleged affair with Marquise Calvin was quite the scandal.”

 

“Even if his pride was recently injured, why did someone with such power stay home the day the monsters invaded? If it weren’t for His Excellency Marquis Ajas, everyone in the capital would have died.”

 

“Oh, come on—wasn’t Duke Khalid there too?”

 

“No one can compare to the Marquis Ajas when it comes to monsters.”

 

“And if he hadn’t opened the mansion gates, the fleeing citizens from the east and square would’ve been slaughtered.”

 

“I was there—I escaped to Paul Herbina too! The monsters slammed into the barrier, trying to break it. I nearly fainted.”

 

“By the way, did you hear that story? I heard it wasn’t His Excellency the Marquis who opened the mansion, but the Young Marquis.”

 

“What? Really?”

 

“Yes. At that time, His Highness the Marquis and his wife were away from the mansion on urgent business. Seeing the chaos in the capital, the young master personally opened the door.”

 

“No way—he’s only five.”

 

“Well, he’s not ordinary. His birth father’s a Sage, and his adoptive father’s the Marquis.”

 

“I heard he is incredibly smart. He learned magic from his father and is already a low-level wizard.”

 

‘Ah—Noah is smart, yes. But he’s not quite at that level yet.’

 

“Magic? The Young Master? So he isn’t learning swordsmanship?”

 

“Of course he is! Didn’t you hear? He’s the one who killed the monster that chased people all the way to Paul Herbina!”

 

“They say it’s only a matter of time before he manifests sword aura!”

 

‘No, that’s not it!’

 

“Being that skilled in both magic and swordsmanship at his age… the Marquis of Ajas must feel full without even eating.”

 

That comment was a little funny.

I let out a small laugh and turned my head to look at Leonhard.

 

“Is that true?”

 

“Of course. Every day feels like eating ten meals, so if I ever stop training, I might end up gaining weight.”

 

“I think it would be okay if you gained weight.”

 

Right now, his body was packed with muscle, so he wasn’t the most pleasant to touch. No matter where I poked or squeezed, it felt stiff and not soft.

 

‘At least the chest?’

 

But I couldn’t openly caress my husband’s chest in broad daylight, so I quietly rested my head on it, and then suddenly a young man’s voice came from beyond the window.

 

“Hey, did you hear about that story? The pirate incident from four years ago?”

 

“Oh… you mean the one where the former count and countess Horward and also the duchess of Khalid died?”

 

Leonhard’s shoulders shook once. Perhaps he felt something wasn’t right, so he reached out again to close the window.

 

I held his hand and told him it was okay.

 

“That pirate incident was also theirs. Come to think of it, it was strange, wasn’t it? For people demanding ransom, they killed the hostages way too quickly.”

 

“Did you hear why they did it? The former duchess was pregnant at the time…”

 

“Really? Are you saying the duchess actually gave birth before she died?”

 

“Yes, and…”

 

Somehow, I felt like I knew a little bit.

 

Those people who are talking loudly as if they are chatting with someone they know are probably people released by Duke Khalid.

 

“I heard that the Duke’s daughter survived and returned to the Duke’s residence not long ago.”

 

To spread that story far and wide, to let people know that he had another daughter.

 

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