How The Sub-Male Lead’s Stepmother Teaches Love Chapter 363

Just as Noah drew in a breath to speak, tears suddenly welled up in his eyes.

 

As if trying to hide them, he lowered his head and stayed silent for a long while.

 

Pretending not to notice, I waited patiently until he was ready to speak.

 

“I… was wrong. I’m sorry.”

 

“Then can you promise me you won’t do something like that again?”

 

“Yes. At the very least, I won’t neglect my own safety anymore so I won’t make you and Father worry.”

 

“You should take care of yourself even if no one is worrying about you. Though, of course, we’ll always worry about you.”

 

“Yes. I’ll remember that.”

 

Watching Noah nod with a serious expression, I quietly let out a sigh of relief.

 

As long as he understood what he’d done wrong today, that was enough for me.

 

I opened my arms toward him.

 

“Come give Mom a hug, Noah.”

 

Without hesitating, Noah climbed down from his chair and threw himself into my arms.

 

“Let’s not tell Titi that you deliberately provoked the monster, okay?”

 

“…Okay.”

 

Burying his face against me, Noah sniffled softly.

 

“Do you think Titi’s still crying?”

 

“Don’t worry. Dad probably comforted her.”

 

“I want to apologize to Titi.”

 

“It’s late. She’s probably asleep by now. Let’s go see her tomorrow.”

 

“Okay.”

 

Noah continued sniffling for quite some time.

 

Compared to when we’d first met, he’d grown so much taller.

 

But moments like this reminded me that he was still just a child.

 

‘I need to do better.’

 

I wanted to become the kind of parent my children could always lean on without hesitation, no matter what happened.

 

Thinking that, I gently stroked Noah’s hair.

 

* * *

 

 

“Titi, when Ruby called herself Choco, it wasn’t because she was a nice monster. It was because she was already part of our family.”

 

“Maybe there are other monsters out there who could become part of our family too, just like Ruby.”

 

“But you can’t tell which ones they are on your own.”

 

“You’re a very special child, Titi. Every monster becomes gentle around you.”

 

“But around other people… they might suddenly turn violent and hurt them.”

 

Leonhard explained everything as simply and carefully as he could so Titiana would understand.

 

But she couldn’t understand all of it.

 

She only understood one thing.

 

Because of her… her Brother had almost gotten hurt.

 

“Hic…”

 

Her father, mother, and brother all came to see her one after another.

 

But Titiana stayed curled up inside her blanket cave and refused to come out.

 

“You still have to eat. If you don’t want to come out, should I just bring your food inside?”

 

“Mhm… Titi eat here…”

 

After nibbling away at the bread and cookies her mother had handed into the blanket, crumbs ended up scattered everywhere inside.

 

Raenel had expected exactly that.

 

Titiana liked everything clean and tidy.

 

She figured that once the blanket cave became messy, Titiana would naturally crawl back out.

 

Instead…

 

Still wrapped completely inside the blanket, Titiana simply rolled herself across the bed until she reached the corner.

 

“Titi, aren’t you getting uncomfortable in there?”

 

“Titi okay…”

 

She didn’t sound okay at all.

 

Why was she so determined to stay hidden under the blanket?

 

As Raenel brushed the crumbs off the bed, she asked gently,

 

“Titi, your brother wasn’t hurt at all, so you don’t have to feel guilty. None of this was your fault.”

 

“Mhm…”

 

“So are you never going to look at Mommy again? Or Daddy? Or Big Brother?”

 

A long silence followed before the answer finally came.

 

“Titi… sleepy…”

 

Raenel let out a small sigh.

 

“Okay. But you have to come out before dinner, all right?”

 

Footsteps grew fainter.

 

Then the door opened…

 

…and closed again.

 

After listening carefully until everything was quiet, Titiana slowly poked her head out from beneath the blanket.

 

No one was in the room.

 

Confirming that, she let out a huge breath.

 

“Phew! That was hard.”

 

It had been so difficult breathing with the blanket wrapped tightly over her head.

 

She flopped onto the bed like a starfish, taking several deep breaths until her little belly puffed up.

 

Then she suddenly sat upright.

 

“Hic…”

 

Lifting her shirt, she looked down at her stomach and rubbed it with watery eyes.

 

Just then—

 

–Titi!

 

*Pop!*

 

Rake suddenly teleported into the room.

 

“Eek!”

 

Startled, Titiana hurriedly pulled her shirt back down.

 

But Rake had already seen it.

 

“Huh? That’s…”

 

“Waaah! It’s not Titi! Titi washed really, really clean!”

 

At first, Titiana had hidden inside the blanket because she felt guilty about what had happened to Noah.

 

But after Noah had come to comfort her—hugging her even through the blanket—that sadness had gone away.

 

The real reason she still hadn’t come out…

 

…was because the mark on her stomach wouldn’t wash off.

 

“Waaah… it won’t come off! Titi washed really good! Titi scrubbed and scrubbed!”

 

As Titiana hugged her stomach and burst into tears, Rake hurriedly explained.

 

—H-Huh? That’s your symbol! It doesn’t wash off. Nell has one too.

 

“Waaah… huh?”

 

–Leon and Noah have them too. They just look different.

 

“…Really?”

 

Immediately stopping her tears, Titiana hesitantly lifted her shirt again, revealing her slightly round little tummy.

 

“So… it’s not dirt? Titi still clean?”

 

–Of course!

 

“Phew.”

 

Still sniffling, Titiana finally smiled.

 

Rake summoned a handkerchief with magic and gently wiped the tears from her face.

 

–Now you’re really clean!

 

“Hehe. Thank you, Big Sis.”

 

The moment Rake heard the words *Big Sis*, her beak lifted proudly.

 

–That’s right! I’m your big sister! Taking care of my little sister is only natural!

 

“Big Sis is the best!”

 

–Ahaha! Of course! Big Sis is the best! Since I’m in such a good mood, I’ll cheer you up!

 

“Hmm?”

 

–I heard you’ve been moping around in your room! Big Sis will make you feel better. Come on!

 

“How?”

 

–You’ve never seen my real form before, right?

 

Landing gracefully on the windowsill, Rake pointed dramatically toward her own back with one wing.

 

–Come on! Big Sis will give you a ride!

 

* * *

 

“What if Titi refuses to come out of her room?”

 

Noah’s shoulders drooped as he spoke gloomily.

 

I smiled reassuringly.

 

“If she’d really been that traumatized, she wouldn’t have been able to eat anything.”

 

“She finished three pieces of bread and three cookies. I’m sure she’ll be out soon—”

 

“Ahhh!”

 

**BOOOOM!**

 

A deafening crash, like a mountain collapsing, shook the entire castle.

 

The floor lurched violently beneath us.

 

“Mother!”

 

Throwing himself in front of me, Noah activated the power of his symbol and raised walls of steel around us.

 

I had been about to pull Noah under the table with me, but seeing the sturdy steel barrier surrounding us, I finally let out a relieved breath.

 

“An earthquake? Was that an earthquake?”

 

Fortunately, the shaking stopped almost immediately.

 

Neither the ceiling nor the walls collapsed.

 

Only a flower vase toppled off the table, spilling water across the floor.

 

“Nell! Are you okay?”

 

“Young Master, are you all right?”

 

Catherine and Jennet, who had been waiting outside, rushed into the room.

 

“I’m fine.”

 

“Mother?”

 

“I’m okay too.”

 

“I think you can take this down now.”

 

As Noah dismissed the steel barrier, the sound of a warning horn echoed from outside.

 

By now, I recognized the castle’s horn signals immediately.

 

That one meant…

 

“An attack? Ajas Castle is under attack?”

 

‘With Leonhard here… Who would dare?’

 

“Nell, you and the Young Master stay here. I’ll find out what’s happening.”

 

“No, come to Titi’s room instead.”

 

“She’s alone right now.”

 

“Let’s go together, Mother.”

 

When we hurried to Titiana’s room…

 

The first person to greet us was her personal maid, whose face had turned completely pale.

 

“My Lady! Young Miss isn’t in her room!”

 

“What?”

 

“She was definitely inside earlier, but she’s disappeared! The older maid and Sir Leona went to look for her, but I don’t know what happened!”

 

“Oh no…”

 

It wasn’t exactly unusual for Titiana to wander off the moment someone looked away.

 

‘But… Of all times… Why now?’

 

“My Lady!”

 

Just as panic began clouding my thoughts, Catherine returned with Lucius.

 

“Young Master, you’re here as well. Are either of you injured?”

 

“We’re fine.”

 

“But Titi’s gone.”

 

“We need to send people to find her immediately.”

 

“The Young Miss disappeared again…”

 

“Understood.”

 

“I’ll dispatch the search parties at once.”

 

Lucius immediately ordered a servant to relay the command to every castle guard to search for Titiana.

 

Then he explained what had happened.

 

“First, regarding the damage…”

 

“The northwestern tower of the main castle has collapsed.”

 

“According to the report, a wyvern-like monster rammed into it with its body.”

 

“A wyvern hit the tower… and collapsed it?”

 

‘Is that even possible?’

 

‘Just how monstrously strong would a wyvern have to be to do something like that?’

 

* * *