How The Sub-Male Lead’s Stepmother Teaches Love Chapter 331

“Who is she?”

 

At this rate, it looked like I was the one who’d have to grab a glove and chase someone down in the middle of the night—not my husband.

 

No matter how you look at it, my husband is not the kind of person who would imagine kissing a woman who doesn’t even exist in real life.

 

‘The woman in his imagination must have been a real person!’

 

“I won’t do anything, so tell me honestly. What kind of woman is she? Where and how did you meet her?”

 

“At the ball. I saw her dancing and I was instantly captivated.”

 

“And then? Did you ask her to dance too?”

 

“I did. Thankfully, she accepted.”

 

‘Thankfully? He’s talking about dancing with another woman in front of his wife and he says thankfully?’

 

“Well then, why didn’t you just go ahead and propose to her while you were at it?”

 

Leonhard burst out laughing as he watched me pout.

 

“I did. That’s why I’m hugging her like this now.”

 

‘…Oh, you were talking about me?’

 

The sudden surge of emotion subsided. I cleared my throat and glanced at Leonhard.

 

“Well, I mean… if you wanted to do it, you could’ve just done it. Why bother imagining it?”

 

“This was when I was staying at the gate. My wife wasn’t with me then.”

 

“Then it’s my fault for not being there for my husband?”

 

“Yes. It’s my wife’s fault, so please compensate me quickly.”

 

Leonhard closed his eyes and kissed me.

 

We kissed a lot today, but it still feels like it’s not enough.

 

‘When I wake up tomorrow morning, won’t my lips be swollen?’

 

Well, I had no choice. If my husband had spent sleepless nights imagining kissing me because he missed me so terribly, the least I could do was indulge him.

 

As I raised my head and kissed him several times, a laugh slipped from Leonhard’s lips as he kept his eyes tightly shut.

 

“What’s got you so happy?”

 

“I thought lemon pie was tastier than I expected.”

 

“Lemon pie?”

 

Ah.

 

I reflexively covered my mouth, then shamelessly said,

 

“Since it tastes good thanks to me, you should give all the lemon pie to me from now on.”

 

“Yes. I will only eat what you give me.”

 

Leonhard’s lips landed on the back of my hand, which was still covering my mouth.

 

For my husband, who’d discovered that lemon pie was surprisingly delicious, I pulled him into my arms and kissed him once more.

 

* * *

 

“Noah, are you wearing your gloves properly?”

 

“Yes!”

 

“Did you wear your hat properly?”

 

“Yes!”

 

Beside Noah, who was answering energetically, Leonhard knelt on one knee and firmly tied the laces of the boots the child was wearing.

 

We all, including Noah, came out wearing hats, gloves, and boots. We were here to gather chestnuts from chestnut burrs.

 

“Here, these are the tongs. But just in case, Noah, if you find a chestnut burr, call Mom or Dad first. Okay?”

 

“Yes!”

 

As Noah nodded vigorously, Rake patted her puffed-out chest with her wings as if to say leave it to me.

 

– I’ll handle finding the chestnut burrs!

 

“Good. Then, let’s go, Rake!”

 

– Let’s go!

 

Under the clear blue sky, the forest welcomed autumn and fallen leaves were strewn everywhere you stepped.

 

The crunching sound beneath his feet must have felt good—Noah’s cheeks flushed as he deliberately walked where the leaves were thickest, eventually even breaking into a light run.

 

As I was thinking about whether I should just throw myself into the fallen leaves and gather them, I heard Rake’s cheerful shout.

 

– Chestnut burr found! Chestnut burr found!

 

The first to respond to that was Noah.

 

“Rake, where are you?”

 

– Here! Here!

 

Rake, who had landed on a large oak branch, gripped the branch tightly with both feet and shook her body with all her might.

 

Chestnut burrs that had still been hanging from the branches rained down all at once, and we hurriedly covered our heads and retreated in surprise.

 

“Rake! The chestnut burrs! They’re falling!”

 

– Then isn’t that a good thing? You have to pick up a lot of chestnuts to eat a lot!

 

“You can’t drop them while we’re nearby!”

 

We waited until Rake had shaken down all the burrs before approaching the tree.

 

Holding open a split chestnut burr with the tongs, I showed Noah how to open it.

 

“Now, look. Be careful not to get pricked by the thorns, step on the edge gently to open it and then… like this, just pop the chestnut out. Can you do it?”

 

“Yes, I’ll give it a try.”

 

“Don’t forget to be careful not to get pricked by the thorns.”

 

With Leonhard and me watching, Noah carefully used the small tongs and successfully stepped on the burr to pull out a chestnut.

 

“Wow… I’ve never seen an unpeeled chestnut before. So that’s what it looks like.”

 

“Isn’t it round and cute?”

 

“Yes. And it’s bigger than I think.”

 

“If you look carefully, you might find even bigger ones.”

 

“Really? I’ll look for them!”

 

After carefully placing his very first chestnut into his pocket, Noah—now completely excited—began enthusiastically opening burrs and gathering chestnuts around his feet.

 

Leonhard stayed close by his side, holding down burrs with the tongs whenever one looked too difficult for Noah to handle alone.

 

‘Hmm, I guess I can leave those two alone.’

 

In that case, it was time for a true Howard to step in.

 

“Then I’ll crack them over here. Call me if anything happens!”

 

“Yes. I will be watching Noah closely.”

 

With a large basket strapped to my back, I moved around diligently cracking chestnut burrs.

 

How much time has passed?

 

‘Phew, did I get all the chestnuts around here?’

 

I moved around, looking only at the fallen chestnuts on the ground, and before I knew it, I was far away from the mat.

 

‘They’ll be shocked when they see how much I collected.’

 

I walked back to where everyone was, carrying a heavy basket and walking confidently.

 

But before the three of them could be surprised by my basket, I was surprised by Noah and Leonhard’s baskets.

 

“Oh my god, did you two do all this?”

 

If I had filled a basket of the same size halfway, the two of them would have filled one basket completely and left the overflowing items piled up on the floor like a stone tower.

 

“How did you manage to do all this? No matter how I look at it, it’s beyond the capabilities of a beginner.”

 

Had Leonhard been cracking chestnuts too instead of leaving it all to Noah?

 

Otherwise, there was just no way this made sense.

 

“Well, um… it started feeling a bit frustrating halfway through…”

 

“I broke it by hand using the power of the symbol.”

 

‘Wait—that was an option?’

 

Now that I looked closely, the gloves were gone from both of their hands.

 

Surely if we could make our hands as hard as steel, we wouldn’t need gloves.

 

“But is it really okay to use the power of your symbol for something as trivial as cracking chestnuts?”

 

– Cracking chestnuts is important! It’s not trivial at all!

 

“So she says.”

 

Noah chuckled as Rake, who had been flapping her wings and protesting.

 

Well, if that’s what they said, what could I do? In the end, I laughed along too.

 

‘I failed to become a chestnut-cracking hero…’

 

But the main event was only just beginning.

 

I took out neatly cleaned potatoes and sweet potatoes from the lunch bag.

 

“Now let’s light a bonfire and roast some food!”

 

While Noah sorted through the chestnuts to pick out the prettiest, bug-free ones, and Leonhard prepared the chestnuts with a small knife, I took Rake with me to gather fallen leaves nearby.

 

“Rake, can you use wind magic to gather all the fallen leaves here into one place?”

 

– Easy as eating a whole cake!

 

With just one flap of Rake’s wings, a very tall mountain of fallen leaves appeared in front of the mat we had laid out.

 

‘…If we set fire here, the whole forest will burn down.’

 

I piled up enough fallen leaves to light a decent bonfire, then gathered some dry branches and tucked them in.

 

Since I wasn’t yet able to use my magical tools, Leonhard lit the fire.

 

“Noah, watch carefully. You have to prepare chestnuts like this before roasting them. Otherwise, they’ll pop and explode.”

 

“If you get hit by a popping chestnut, it can leave a bruise. It’s dangerous, so be careful.”

 

“Yes, I will be careful.”

 

I glanced at Leonhard while Noah nodded politely.

 

There was no way he hadn’t noticed—but he calmly pretended not to, briskly setting up a stand around the fire.

 

He placed a cast-iron pan on top and poured in the prepared chestnuts.

 

The sweet potatoes and potatoes also went into the fire.

 

Now all that was left was to wait.

 

“While everything is baking, should we go pick up maple and ginkgo leaves?”

 

“Yes!”

 

“I’ll be here watching the fire.”

 

– Me too, me too!

 

Unlike Leonhard, who genuinely intended to make sure the fire didn’t spread or die out, Rake looked absolutely determined to be the first one to eat the chestnuts or sweet potatoes once they were done.

 

“Alright then. Does that mean it’s just Mom and Noah on a little date?”

 

Noah nodded with a blushing face, then opened his eyes wide and said,

 

“Oh! There are three of us, Mother. Titi too.”

 

“Yeah. I almost forgot about Titi.”

 

He already knows how to take care of his younger sibling.

 

Our Noah is such a good boy.

 

“Since we’re picking them anyway, should we gather some ginkgo and maple leaves to give to Titi?”

 

“Yes!”

 

Thanks to Rake piling up a mountain of fallen leaves, we didn’t have to go far.

 

Noah and I sat down in front of a tall mountain of fallen leaves and busily picked out the pretty ginkgo and maple leaves.

 

“Mother, look at this ginkgo leaf. It’s really small—it’s a baby ginkgo leaf.”

 

“You’re right. Should we dry this one nicely and give it to Titi as a present later?”

 

“And this one too! This maple leaf is bright red, like a perfectly ripe apple.”

 

This one was cute because it was small, that one fascinating because it was big.

 

For Noah, who loved drawing, not all reds were the same red, and not all yellows were the same yellow.

 

He carefully gathered maple leaves the color of apples, sunsets, and flames, and ginkgo leaves the color of lemons, dandelions, and his father’s hair.

 

* * *