How The Sub-Male Lead’s Stepmother Teaches Love Chapter 323

“I heard that Estroa’s test was held last night.”

 

“Really? What was the test about?”

 

“The symbol was supposed to remain even after using the medicine Felix developed… Apparently, the only one who passed was His Highness the Second Prince.”

 

Just as recorded in the experiment logs, the symbols borne by the First Prince and the First Princess had been artificially induced.

 

Because of that, in front of the Emperor, the Empress, and all three dukes, the symbols of the First Prince and the First Princess were erased.

 

With his symbol gone and no way left to prove imperial blood, the First Prince was immediately stripped of his title.

 

In fact, it was said that the Emperor intended to depose even his own daughter, the First Princess, on the spot.

 

Surprisingly, the person who stopped them was the empress.

 

“That’s unexpected. I’d heard that the Empress favors the Second Prince…”

 

“The First Princess is the Second Prince’s full sister. If she were punished for treason, the Second Prince wouldn’t be free from suspicion either. Or perhaps… favoring one child less doesn’t mean there’s no affection at all.”

 

An unqualified person gaining succession rights through a false symbol was more than enough to warrant punishment for treason.

 

However, owing to his debt to the Empress over the Marquise Calvin affair, the Emperor ultimately couldn’t kick out the First Princess.

 

Instead, I heard that she would soon leave the palace together with the Empress and go down to the Empress’s family.

 

With the announcement of the Second Prince’s appointment as Crown Prince imminent, it would look natural—like a defeated royal relinquishing her title and exiting the palace after losing the succession struggle.

 

Unlike the deposed First Prince, whose name would be removed, hers would remain in the imperial genealogy, her crimes quietly covered over.

 

But would she really consider that a blessing

 

If it were me, a name left behind as an unfinished princess would feel like a scarlet letter.

 

I guess she thought it would be much more liberating to be dethroned.

 

“Marquise…. As the wife of a Marquis Ajas, you’d better be careful with your tongue if you don’t want to bring shame to your family.”

 

“I will. I have no desire to put an insincere apology in my mouth.”

 

The first princess turned completely towards me with a dumbfounded expression.

 

“Hah. Riding on your husband’s power, have you become blind to everything else? How dare you speak so freely—do you know who you’re addressing?”

 

“It was that same strength that earned me at least a symbolic apology from you. Isn’t it natural that I feel more courageous?”

 

Honestly, if she had even a grain of conscience, she wouldn’t be lecturing me about careless words.

 

“With a single remark from Your Highness, I became a shameless woman who slept around with men at a hotel before marriage, and my family was pointed at by everyone. Your Highness—are you saying that’s what you apologized for?”

 

“You said you didn’t know, but you speak quite fluently now. Sounds like you’ve been bottling this up for a long time. Why didn’t you come and confront me sooner? Why stay silent all this time?”

 

“You’re being this rude even now—to someone backed by her husband’s influence. If a mere count’s daughter had come to you, you’d surely have not welcomed her with open arms.”

 

“Rude? How dare you accuse me of rudeness!”

 

“I, an innocent victim, am doing this to you, the perpetrator, who has not reflected on your actions at all!”

 

Then, around the corner of the hallway, Leonhard appeared behind the First Princess.

 

He looked surprised as if he heard what I said.

 

He looked at the first princess’s back, and then at me.

 

He opened his mouth to say something, but I signaled him with my eyes not to interrupt.

 

As the First Princess herself had said, the strength he’d given me—to speak plainly before her—was more than enough.

 

I wanted to finish this myself.

 

“Are you ashamed to say you’re sorry? It seems only words meant to correct your own wrongdoing embarrass you—while words that wound others do not.”

 

“Hah, seriously. What makes you so confident? You were at the hotel where the Marquis Ajas was staying that day, weren’t you? Anyone listening would think I made the whole thing up.”

 

“Was the Marquis Ajas the only one staying at that hotel? And I didn’t even enter it. Without knowing why I was there, you maliciously spread rumors just to ruin my reputation!”

 

“Then you shouldn’t have done something that invited misunderstanding.”

 

“You keep blaming me until the end.”

 

‘How can a person be so shameless?’

 

I felt my motivation drain away.

 

No matter how much we argued, nothing would really change.

 

It would be better to stop here before this turns into an emotional fight just to hurt each other.

 

In a calmer voice, I said,

 

“As you said earlier, I will pretend I never heard that apology, which was not even a little sincere.”

 

“Then you should’ve done that from the start, instead of stopping a busy person like this—”

 

“I’m happy enough now, so I won’t waste time resenting you. But I won’t forgive you either.”

 

The First Princess snorted, as if my words were laughable.

 

“What a grand threat. As if your forgiveness amounts to anything.”

 

“Exactly. Since you couldn’t even obtain the forgiveness of one insignificant person like me, I suppose you’ll be wearing high-necked clothes for the rest of your life.”

 

I’d heard that royals who lost the succession struggle underwent a symbol-sealing procedure—but that didn’t mean the symbol vanished completely.

 

Which meant the First Princess would never be able to bare her collarbone again.

 

Whether intentionally or not, she’d failed even to acknowledge her sins—let alone earn forgiveness.

 

“So on the rare occasions when your neck feels stifling, I hope you’ll think of me.”

 

She wasn’t entirely free of guilt. If she were, she wouldn’t have offered even that hollow apology.

 

So what I’m saying now will be etched in her mind for quite a long time.

 

“That you failed to even receive that one bit of forgiveness.”

 

I hope she leaves the capital through the eastern gate before the restoration work is completely finished.

 

If the accumulated weight of guilt ever became too heavy to bear, then perhaps she, too, would finally learn how to repent for her mistakes.

 

“Y-You…!”

 

The First Princess trembled as she glared at me, then turned away with an exaggerated sweep of her skirt—as if avoiding something filthy.

 

Only then did she seem to notice Leonhard standing behind her. She flinched when she saw him.

 

But Leonhard didn’t even spare her a glance, just passed by and approached me.

 

“Are you okay?”

 

“I-I think I’m… okay?”

 

The warmth of his tight embrace, without hesitation, suddenly brought a sense of reality to me. I leaned into his embrace, clinging to him.

 

It did feel good to finally say everything I’d bottled up—but only now did my reason, which had just barely returned home, start interrogating me.

 

‘No matter what, wasn’t that way too disrespectful in front of a princess?’

 

‘Still, I don’t regret it.’

 

After a few deep breaths—in, out—I steadied myself, then lifted my heels slightly to peek over Leonhard’s shoulder.

 

Once I confirmed that the First Princess and everyone following her had disappeared, I whispered,

 

“So… how did it look to you? Did I fight well?”

 

“Yes, indeed. You were truly worthy of being Marquise Ajas.”

 

Judging by how pleased that made me feel, Leonhard was probably one of the reasons my legs had gone weak in the first place.

 

If he’d scolded me for being immature, I would’ve shrunk on the spot.

 

‘But there’s no way my husband would do that!’

 

‘If not your family, who else would take your side in a situation like this?’

 

Only after my pounding heart had calmed down did I free myself from Leonhard’s embrace and stand up straight.

 

“By the way—why are you here? Is your meeting already over?”

 

“Yes. I’ve finished my business. Let’s go home.”

 

“Ah, but I’m not done yet… Her Highness said she had something cute to show me.”

 

“Then let’s go together. I’m curious what Her Highness wants to show you.”

 

Hmm. From the way he said that, he really must have finished talking with the Second Prince, right?

 

That assumption was shattered when the Second Prince himself burst in while we were admiring baby dragon tiaras and miniature crowns—royal infant accessories.

 

“Marquis! Don’t think you’re leaving until you keep your promise to lose in a demonstration match!”

 

‘…And just like that, Leonhard was dragged away by the Second Prince.’

 

So what happened to the problematic demonstration that kept us in the palace until the sun went down?

 

* * *

 

—Clang! 

 

With a loud noise, the swords on both sides broke simultaneously.

 

To be precise, Violet’s sword was shattered into pieces as if a bomb had exploded inside, and Leonhard’s sword was neatly snapped in half.

 

The moment the sword blade, which had been floating in the air and spinning around, sank into the ground, the audience, who had forgotten to breathe in the midst of the thrilling duel, suddenly stirred.

 

“Both of their swords—!”

 

What? Then who won?”

 

“His Excellency, isn’t it? Lady Violet’s sword was completely shattered, but His Excellency the Marquis’s sword was simply broken…..”

 

“But technically, they both became unable to fight at the same time.”

 

“So you’re saying it’s a draw? Anyone can see that an ordinary steel sword just couldn’t withstand the Marquis’s strength.”

 

“It’s a swordsmanship duel. He should’ve adjusted his force accordingly.”

 

A draw—no, the Marquis’s victory—

The crowd began arguing among themselves, until the judge’s shout cut through the noise.

 

“Draw!”

 

“A draw…?”

 

“That makes sense. It’s a sword duel, and the swords broke.”

 

“But it looks to anyone like His Excellency the Marquis destroyed Lady Violet’s weapon.”

 

Some nodded, while others tilted their heads at the statement that the match was a draw since both people’s weapons were destroyed at the same time.

 

In any case, the draw wasn’t a completely unacceptable result, so the crowd gave them a warm round of applause instead of booing.

 

“Long live His Highness the Marquis!”

 

“Lady Violet! That was amazing!”

 

Amidst the cheers of the crowd, the two sword masters shook hands.

 

“Thank you for accepting the duel. I will not forget today’s lessons and strive to improve even further in the future.”

 

“You will surely become a stronger knight than you are now.”

 

Even more enthusiastic cheers and applause poured out towards the two people who exchanged warm words of wisdom.

 

This was a success.

 

Julius, who had been watching the demonstration with a nervous heart, finally relaxed and breathed a sigh of relief.

 

* * *