How The Sub-Male Lead’s Stepmother Teaches Love – Chapter 314

Author: Chewyy

“Becky, you didn’t get to tell the Duke what you wanted to say, did you?”

“Yes?”

Rebecca blinked for a moment and then shook her head.

“He didn’t cheat. And my husband had no idea a child existed either. So what am I supposed to say? What could I possibly accuse him of?”

“But it still hurts. You burst into tears the moment you saw me—that means there’s a lot you’ve been holding in.”

This issue needed to be addressed early. If not, Rebecca would keep swallowing her feelings until they became poison.

“Tell him everything. Tell him you’re upset. Tell him you’re anxious. Tell him you’re scared you won’t be able to raise that child properly—say all of it.”

“B-but… what if he thinks I’m already trying to discriminate against the child? What if he gets disappointed in me?”

“It’s not about whether the child is biological or not. Becky, before you had April, didn’t you ever think something like—‘Can I really be a good parent?’ Weren’t you scared?”

Rebecca nodded.

“Of course I was. I’d never had a child before, never raised one…”

“Right. So how could April—whom you prepared yourself for—and Kana, who suddenly fell from the sky, ever be the same? And honestly, I think the duke must’ve been just as shocked.”

I thought of Kana, who had only been sent back home a week after joining us, and said to Rebecca.

“A child is raised by both parents. So, please be sure to talk it over with the Duke. Perhaps the Duke is also struggling alone.”

“You really think so…?”

“Yes. And if you talk to him and he says something ridiculous—”

I almost said grab him by the hair, but no. Violence solves nothing.

After thinking, I finished firmly:

“Take April and come to my house. I won’t open the door until he’s kneeling outside begging.”

“Really? You’d really take my side?”

“It’s not taking your side. I’m already on your side.”

To me, Rebecca didn’t seem like someone who could hate an innocent child.

She just didn’t have the room yet to accept not just the child—but everything surrounding that child.

‘Especially when she’d nearly been killed by Count Gordon, the former duchess’s brother.’

“If something upsets you again, call me. We’ll complain about our husbands, eat tasty food, look at cute things, and have fun until you feel better.”

“If I call you, will you come? Even if I’m annoying? You won’t hate me for it?”

“Of course. We’re friends.”

“Nell….!”

Finally, Rebecca hugged me again and burst into tears for what I don’t know how many times.

But this time, I could feel something different mixed in her crying, so I gently soothed her back, relieved.

* * *

The first person to greet Leonhard as he entered Duke Khalid’s study was none other than Kana.

“Oh, it’s my uncle!”

“Uncle?”

Kana jumped down from Duke Khalid’s lap, who raised an eyebrow as if surprised by the title.

Kana ran towards Leonhard and immediately extended both her hands to him.

“Kana?”

Under Duke Khalid’s puzzled gaze, asking what Kana was doing, Leonhard took out a candy jar from his magic bag as if he were familiar with it.

“Today it’s apple flavored!”

“Apple… We’re out of apples. How about lemon instead?”

“I don’t like lemons because they taste sour.”

“You don’t like it?”

At Leonhard’s light remark, Kana pouted at his light scolding, then held out her hands again.

“Then give me strawberry flavor!”

“Strawberry… Ah, there’s a strawberry.”

When Leonhard took out a strawberry-flavored candy and placed it on her palm, Kana quickly put the candy in her mouth.

“Kana, say thank you.”

“Thank you for the candy!”

She bowed politely and was led out by her nanny so the adults could talk.

“Uncle! Next time, for sure! Apple flavor!”

Seeing how confidently she made demands without hesitation, it seemed she had adjusted well to the Duke’s residence.

Or so Leonhard thought—until he noticed Duke Khalid looked noticeably thinner than last time.

That’s unmistakably the face of someone mentally exhausted.

‘Had things become strained between him and the duchess because of Kana?’

As Leonhard sipped the tea a servant brought, the duke finally asked the question clearly weighing on his mind:

“Uncle? Why does she call you that?”

“My wife told Kana to call her Auntie. So naturally, I became Uncle.”

In a noble society, an aunt was typically used for blood relatives on a woman’s family side. Even among actual family, it wasn’t a common term once a woman married—contact with one’s birth family usually faded.

It was also rare for ties to continue after marriage.

So, it was natural that Duke Khalid would find it strange that Kana called Leonhard “uncle” even though they were not related by blood.

“I knew that my wife was close enough to ask Marquise to be April’s godmother.… But were they even sisters?”

“It’s because my wife looks after both the duchess and Kana.”

It was not common for noble ladies to become sisters.

And Raenel wasn’t even a noble-born daughter—she was adopted.

In a society where rumors spread like wildfire, if Kana called Raenel “aunt,” rumors might spread that Raenel and Rebecca were biological sisters.

So Leonhard had warned Raenel to be cautious.

“Kana doesn’t know anything right now, If she grows up a little more, she will understand her situation…”

“And what does that have to do with her calling you ‘aunt’?”

“If she ever feels unwelcome in the duke’s household, having an adult outside she can rely on makes all the difference.”

Raenel planned to stay in contact with the child.

“Then wouldn’t it be better to simply become her godmother?”

“Without Becky asking? She’d be hurt. She only asked me to be April’s godmother because she wanted to. If I did it for Kana unprompted, she’d think I pitied her.”

Being called aunt simply showed she and Rebecca were close, with no other implications attached—so that title was fine.

But a godparent… that was a promise. A vow that if something ever happened to the child’s parents, the godparent would raise the child as their own until adulthood.

So it was not a position one offered—or accepted—lightly.

“I feel bad for Kana and want to take care of her, but I also care about Becky. People will probably watch how Becky raises Kana and April, and criticize her for even the slightest flaw.”

Raenel spoke with certainty.

It was only natural — she herself had heard all sorts of rumors the moment she arrived in the capital.

“I want to be an adult Kana can rely on—and a friend Rebecca can lean on. And if the balance between those roles ever breaks… then I will side with Rebecca for the sake of both of them. When that happens, you take care of Kana.”

Raenel had once said that she saw herself reflected in Kana — the version of herself who might have grown up locked away in the tower if things had gone differently.

And because she was the one who took Kana out of that tower, she felt a responsibility far heavier than necessary.

Honestly, Leonhard thought that returning the child safely to her biological father meant the rest should be handled by the duke and duchess.

He felt Raenel was carrying an unnecessary burden. But he was glad she was willing to share it with him, so he promised to do so.

“So, things didn’t go well with the Duchess?”

“Rather than ‘didn’t go well’… I didn’t get to talk to her at all. Ever since I revealed Kana’s existence.”

“Hold on — you mean you told the duchess about the child and then immediately took Kana away? There’s a rumor spreading in the capital right now that the duke’s daughter has returned to the duchy.”

Duke Khalid slumped his shoulders as Leonhard asked indirectly, “Could it be that you didn’t ask the Duchess for her consent?”

“I thought that clarifying Kana’s birth would be good for both the child and my wife.….”

If he tried to hide it and word later spread that Kana was illegitimate, it would stain both the child’s future and the duchess’s dignity.

His intentions had been good.

“I think… I acted too hastily. She refuses to meet me — what am I supposed to do?”

Duke Khalid’s eyes were desperate, seeking an answer.

Leonhard blinked, slightly taken aback.

“Why are you asking me that?”

“You’re married, too. Haven’t you ever fought with your wife? Especially about children?”

“About children….”

He wouldn’t exactly call it a fight, but something did come to mind.

“I did once receive a letter saying that she was going to run away with Noah….”