How The Sub-Male Lead’s Stepmother Teaches Love Chapter 315

“If you live in the same house, why can’t you see her? Even if she doesn’t want to, go find her. Kneel and beg.”

 

“Beg? Saying what?”

 

“If nothing comes to mind, just apologize. Once. She’ll say something after that — even if it’s to blame you. Then you apologize again.”

 

“Will that work…?”

 

“What if it doesn’t work? She’s the one refusing to see you. You’re the one dying to see her. So you have to beg. What else can you do?”

 

“…….”

 

“Do it while she’s still in the house. What if she decides to leave with April and return to her family?”

 

Duke Khalid’s face immediately turned pale, as if he hadn’t thought of that.

 

Leonhard shook his head at the sight and changed the subject as if he had nothing more to say.

 

“Anyway—what about the thing I asked you?”

 

That was also the reason he came to Duke Khalid’s residence today.

 

“Couldn’t you at least give me a bit more advice first…?”

 

“…….”

 

“Okay, okay.”

 

Duke Khalid sighed briefly and handed Leonhard the box he had prepared in advance.

 

“Here. Take it.”

 

Leonhard carefully took the box with both hands, checked its contents, and nodded.

 

“Thank you.”

 

“Can I… ask what this is about?”

 

“I’m sorry. It’s hard to explain.”

 

A shadow passed over Leonhard’s face, and his voice turned subdued.

 

Duke Khalid, who didn’t necessarily want to hear the answer, nodded once.

 

“Then I can’t help it.”

 

“There’s one more thing… Could you also keep this request between us?”

 

“It seems like there really is a story behind this.”

 

Duke Khalid looked at Leonhard with a strange look, but soon nodded.

 

“Okay. But please grant me one favor.”

 

“What favor?”

 

Duke Khalid answered with a serious and earnest face.

 

“Stay for dinner. With the Marquise.”

 

“…….”

 

Leonhard was about to say something, but ended up sighing and nodding.

 

* * *

 

When I came out of the Duke’s residence after dinner, the sun had set behind the mountain, and the sky had turned dark.

 

Considering it’s late summer, it’s quite late.

 

The full-course dinner—from appetizer to dessert—had taken nearly two hours.

 

“Oh my, I’m full… The meal seemed to end, but never really did. I think I thought, ‘Oh, this must be the last one,’ at least five times.”

 

“It must be the result of the Duke’s own efforts.”

 

“What?”

 

Leonhard explained to me, who was puzzled.

 

“The Duke and Duchess looked… tense. Did the Duchess not mention anything?”

 

“She did. She said she wasn’t confident she could smile naturally in front of him…”

 

That explained everything—why the duke kept stealing glances at Rebecca, and Rebecca avoided looking his way entirely.

 

“So that’s why our meal times are longer.…”

 

“For the time being, it would be best not to accept any invitations from the Duke or the Duchess.”

 

“Right… otherwise we’ll end up like a shrimp caught between fighting whales…”

 

Before I knew any of this, dinner was just dinner—good food, nothing more.

 

But now that I understood the situation, I could already feel the awkward tension clinging to my skin.

 

‘But I told Becky to call me anytime.’

 

‘I really hope the two of them can have an open conversation tonight.’

 

“But what are you holding?”

 

Inside the carriage, which started to move away slowly.

 

Leonhard, sitting next to me, had a box on his lap.

 

‘It didn’t look decorative enough to be a gift.’

 

Leonhard, who had been silently fiddling with the corners of the box in response to my question, carefully placed the box on my lap.

 

“It’s… your father’s remains.”

 

“What?”

 

Before the dungeon was sealed, I asked Duke Khalid to search the area around the tower. I heard the approximate location from Rake, but when I went myself, I couldn’t find anything.”

 

“Fortunately, it was discovered before the dungeon was closed,”

 

Leonhard added in a soft voice.

 

I didn’t know what to say to the completely unexpected answer, so I just looked down at the box on my lap.

 

‘It’s light.’

 

It was so light that it was hard to believe it belonged to a living person just a short time ago.

 

I didn’t dare to open the box, so I just blinked my tearful eyes and tightened my grip on the box.

 

I couldn’t even bring myself to ask.

 

In that chaotic dungeon—filled with rampaging monsters—I had wondered about my biological father.

Where he had fallen.

Whether he suffered.

Whether anything remained.

 

I thought that if I said anything, it would only make people worry, so I was going to keep it to myself and suffer inside.

 

“Can I… ask how he looked at the end?”

 

“I didn’t hear that far.”

 

His answer was immediate. Too immediate.

 

‘I knew it. Leonhard was lying now.’

 

‘If he’s lying, then it must be something I shouldn’t hear.’

 

My eyes, which had been stinging, finally grew hot. I bit my lip and tried to hold back tears, but ultimately failed.

 

“Hhk… uhuu….”

 

My vision suddenly became blurry, and I couldn’t see anything.

 

I leaned into the arms that held me and burst into tears.

 

While I was crying out loud and incessantly, Leonhard just rubbed my back without saying a word.

 

By the time I stopped crying, the lid of the box was damp with tears.

 

Still leaning against him, clutching his sleeve, I whispered:

 

“Can I… bury him in the garden?”

 

“You don’t have to ask me. Paul Herbina’s master is you.”

 

“You are paying all the maintenance costs.…”

 

“That was part of the gift as well.”

 

The hands that patted my back were so affectionate. I couldn’t stop crying even as the carriage circled the mansion twice without meaning to.

 

And the next afternoon.

 

I walked around the garden with Leonhard and Noah, choosing a sunny spot to bury my biological father’s remains.

 

With a photo of my biological mother’s portrait pendant.

 

Come to think of it, I have four parents who loved me, but I was only able to collect the remains of one.

 

All four of them died because of me.

 

‘There is no other unfilial daughter in the world like me….’

 

In the end, as I was shedding tears again, Leonhard and Noah hugged me.

 

I was fortunate that my new family was such loving and warm people.

 

I held Noah in my arms, and I cried so much that I was exhausted.

 

That night, I couldn’t sleep at all, so I sneaked out of the bedroom, leaving Leonhard asleep in bed.

 

* * *

 

The late-summer night air felt simply cool and pleasant.

 

So even though I only had a robe over my pajamas and a thin shawl wrapped around that, I didn’t feel cold at all.

 

I sat down in front of the temporary stone cairn—stacked there until the gravestone was finished—pulling my knees close and hugging them.

 

Perhaps because I’d cried so much, the tears had stopped flowing.

 

My feelings, however, felt as if there was a lead weight tied to them, constantly sinking with no bottom in sight.

 

‘Just today. I’ll let myself be sad only until today…’

 

Thinking about Noah crying just because I cried so much, I made a quiet promise to myself.

 

‘But can I really do that?’

 

Everyone who sees me cry today will be worried about me. I don’t know if I’ll be able to pretend that nothing happened in front of them.

 

While absentmindedly tugging at the corner of my lips, practicing a clumsy fake smile, I heard a familiar flapping sound.

 

– Nell? What are you doing here?

 

As expected, it was Rake, perched on top of the stone tower and flapping her feathers.

 

“I couldn’t sleep… What about you? Why aren’t you in bed? Did you sneak out for snacks again?”

 

– Sneak? Excuse me! I was doing them a favor! I graciously ate the snacks they prepared for the great Rake!

 

Rake flapped her wings and squeaked as if to ask how I could say such harsh words.

 

Well, considering that people were walking around with snacks to give to Rake, both in Ajas and here, Rake wasn’t entirely wrong.

 

Resting my chin on my knees, I laughed softly and asked,

 

“So what did you eat?”

 

– Walnut pie. It was richer and tastier than I expected! And chocolate-covered sticks and apple-flavored candies and….

 

I thought she’d just eaten the special snacks the chefs secretly set aside for her, but no — from the way she listed things off, it sounded like she practically raided an entire kitchen.

 

‘I guess we should give the kitchen workers some bonuses.’

 

If Rake had done mukbang videos in my previous world, she probably would’ve hit a million subscribers in a month.

 

– What about Nell?

 

“Huh?”

 

– Nell, you haven’t eaten anything? Eating yummy stuff when you can’t sleep helps you fall asleep!

 

“That’s not it. I…”

 

I was debating whether to tell this story or not.

 

I whispered very softly, feeling like a child hiding under the covers and telling secrets to a teddy bear.

 

“I can’t sleep because I miss my parents.”

 

– Parents?

 

Rake, who had been tilting her round head, flapped her wings and made an “Ah!” sound as if she had forgotten.

 

– Right! I was supposed to tell you something for them!

 

* * *