How The Sub-Male Lead’s Stepmother Teaches Love Chapter 349

“Congratulations on your pregnancy, Lady of Ajas, and I will do my best so that the child to be born can grow up healthy, and so that I can build a peaceful North together with my husband.”

 

Holding the hem of her skirt gracefully, the Marquise slightly lowered her head in greeting. Her greeting was short, but most people were satisfied with it.

 

What they had worried about the most—their fear that the Marquise, who was not from the North, might abandon her proper responsibilities and duties and leave the North—was now gone.

 

“Then, let us begin the banquet.”

 

Without dragging things out, the Marquis raised his hand, and the waiting orchestra began to play a full dance piece.

 

The first dance of the grand banquet.

 

Originally, the host of the banquet should take it. However, the Marquis and his wife gave the first dance to the young ladies and young lords making their debut in Northern high society today.

 

Since it was a grand banquet being held for the first time in a while, well over ten pairs of young ladies and young lords came out hand in hand into the wide crystal hall.

 

Facing each other politely, the young men and women held hands affectionately and began to dance while embracing each other.

 

In the arms of gentlemen dressed in formal wear that showed the lines of their well-trained bodies, the dresses of the finely dressed ladies spread out gracefully like flower petals.

 

As rich harmonies piled up and blended with light footsteps, pleasant smiles bloomed across the faces of many people.

 

It was a scene no one could deny—the grand banquet hosted for the first time by the new Marquise had begun successfully.

 

* * *

 

“Marquise, congratulations on your pregnancy!”

 

“Lala, congratulations to you too, on becoming an adult this year.”

 

In the capital, a blessing drink is given to young ladies and young lords who come of age that year, but in the North, there was no such custom.

 

Instead, for this grand banquet, I prepared gifts for the young ladies and young lords making their debut in Northern high society.

 

Bracelets for the young ladies, brooches for the young lords.

 

And a small bouquet for everyone. I trimmed the flowers myself from those grown in the greenhouse.

 

“Here, for our Lala—a lilac bouquet.”

 

Leonhard handed the same bouquet to the young man who was escorting Layla.

 

“Congratulations on your debut as well.”

 

“Th-thank you.”

 

As if he had never expected to receive a bouquet from Leonhard, the son of Claude accepted it without hiding his flustered feelings.

 

Watching that, I held back a laugh.

 

Originally, I was supposed to give bouquets to the young lords too, but according to Leonhard, he didn’t like the idea of me giving flowers to other men.

 

“Hahaha! To think I would live to see His Excellency the Marquis give my son a bouquet.”

 

“If you want one too, just say so. There are plenty of bouquets.”

 

“How could I take what belongs to the young people? More importantly, Marquise, please accept this. It is a pregnancy gift from House Claude.”

 

The attendant standing behind Marquise Claude handed the box he was holding to Lucius. Just by looking at it, it seemed quite heavy, giving a rough idea of what was inside.

 

Leonhard raised one eyebrow and asked Marquise Claude,

 

“It’s not mead, is it?”

 

“Oh my, I’m not so senile as to give alcohol to a pregnant lady. It’s honey, honey. It seemed that the Marquise liked the honey from our estate.”

 

Then Marquise Claude winked at Noah.

 

“I’m sure the young master will like it too.”

 

“Uh… Ah!”

 

At first, Noah didn’t understand, but then as if he remembered something, he nodded and thanked her.

 

Then he gently stroked the head of Rake, who was sitting on his shoulder.

 

Seeing Rake shake its small body and chirp, it was easy to guess what had happened.

 

‘Looks like Rake ate a lot when we visited the Claude estate.’

 

Marquise Claude probably didn’t imagine that Rake ate those desserts, and must have thought Noah ate them all.

 

“There are many people waiting behind us, so we’ll take our leave now. Once again, congratulations on your pregnancy.”

 

“Mm, thank you. I hope this year is filled with peace and happiness for House Claude.”

 

Starting with Marquise Claude, many nobles lined up to greet us and offer their congratulations on the pregnancy.

 

Among them were nobles we had already met at the wedding, and some we were seeing for the first time.

 

There were also many noble ladies inviting me to social gatherings, but rather than truly expecting me to attend, it felt more like they were introducing the existence of such gatherings.

 

Among them, I only expressed my intention to attend the ones I had heard about beforehand from Count Rangifer and Layla when I had time later.

 

Of course, Baroness Rachel, the host of the wine gathering, was not among them.

 

With Leonhard standing beside me with sharp eyes, no one would dare invite me to a gathering meant for flirting with lovers.

 

‘Besides, I’m pregnant now.’

 

By the time all the nobles had finished greeting us, more than three hours had already passed since the banquet began.

 

Even though I had only been sitting and receiving greetings, my energy was completely drained. I drank the juice Leonhardt handed me and asked Noah, who was sitting next to me,

 

“Noah, aren’t you tired?”

 

“I’m fine. Rake, how about you?”

 

– Hungry! Something tasty!

 

Since there were so many people, it wasn’t possible to secretly do anything, so Rake had to sit still on Noah’s shoulder for three hours.

 

But now, as if it couldn’t endure any longer, Rake flapped its wings, emphasizing its hunger. Noah gently held it in both hands and comforted it.

 

“Let’s go eat something delicious now. Father, Mother, I’ll take Rake back to the room now.”

 

“Alright. You’ve worked hard today.”

 

Leonhard gently stroked Noah’s head.

 

Noah simply smiled brightly, as if he understood exactly why he had to be here today.

 

“Lucius. Take Noah to the bedroom.”

 

“Yes, understood. This way, young master.”

 

“Wait. Let’s grab some food before going to the room.”

 

With Rake sitting on his shoulder, Noah headed toward the table full of food with Lucius, Simon, and Jennet, who had practically become his personal guard.

 

Without caring at all about the many eyes on him, Noah piled cakes and cookies onto a plate, following Rake’s wing flutters.

 

As I watched Noah fondly, Leonhard, perhaps misunderstanding my gaze, whispered in my ear,

 

“Shall I bring you something?”

 

“I’m not really hungry…”

 

But maybe I should eat a little for Titi’s sake?

 

As if noticing my thoughts, Leonhard stood up.

 

“I’ll bring some light finger foods.”

 

“Then strawberry cake too.”

 

“Understood.”

 

As usual, Leonhard kissed my cheek before going to get food. In the meantime, I sat in my chair and looked around at the people enjoying the banquet.

 

Although I received help from many people, in the end, I am the host of this banquet. That means I’m the one who gets praised if it succeeds, and the one who gets blamed if it fails.

 

‘Let’s see….’

 

For now, the overall atmosphere wasn’t bad.

 

Most people looked satisfied with the banquet, and even while talking with people they knew, they were being careful with their words and actions, as if watching themselves.

 

‘They say people even speak badly of His Majesty the Emperor when he’s not around, right? What matters is not being disrespected to your face.’

 

Count Rangifer and Layla had told me that. How the former Marquis’s mistresses, backed by his favor, had completely messed up Northern high society.

 

Even after “Lovely Cozette” stirred up the Northern social scene and was driven out, the former Marquis still didn’t come to his senses and continued living with his mistresses.

 

Because of that, the status of the former Marchioness, which had fallen to rock bottom, was never restored, and it is said that she lived in seclusion—whether by her own will or not—until her death.

 

In other words, from that time on, no banquets were held at Ajas Castle.

 

No matter how much favor they received from the former Marquis, a mistress is still a mistress. Unless she is the lady of the house, she cannot host a banquet in the castle.

 

As if determined never to allow such a thing, the former Marchioness did not give up her authority as the lady of the house until the day she d

ied.

 

And so, except for privately hosted gatherings and banquets, Northern high society fell into a long stagnation without any official grand debut banquets.

 

* * *