How The Sub-Male Lead’s Stepmother Teaches Love

“I will never do that again! Please, just let me live!”

 

The servant gritted his teeth and mouthed Count Hiern’s name.

 

Since he had been hired on his recommendation in the first place, if he fell out of favor with him, he would be kicked out of the castle. 

 

However, since he was the head of the household, if he were kicked out, the entire family would be thrown out onto the street.

 

Such a heartbreaking story did not inspire anyone. Of course, that included Leonhard.

 

“Take them all to the dungeon!”

 

At his light nod, the knight dragged the four men out of the conference room again.

 

Unlike the unconscious servant, the other three men cried out for forgiveness and their lives, but Leonhard did not even blink.

 

His gaze had been focused solely on Count Hiern from earlier.

 

“Do you still have something to say, Count Hiern?”

 

He was silent. Now he had a gut feeling that everything was wrong. 

 

‘What the hell….Why would Mario Polten do that…?’

 

As for the matter of the Marquise, yes, it was something he had planned. He could admit it all.

 

But he couldn’t understand why Mario Polten would try to hurt Noah. 

 

‘I didn’t even ask him to do something like that, so why did he do it?’

 

“Do you admit your sin?”

 

“I have sinned….?”

 

There is a rough wind and waves in his eyes that blink blankly while looking up at Leonhard.

 

Soon, Count Hiern let out his innermost feelings in a scream that was even more violent than before.

 

“Sin? How can you not know that this is all for Ajas!” 

 

“What?”

 

The other vassals flinched at the cold voice that cut through them. Count Hiern raised his voice with wide eyes as if there was nothing more he could do about it now that things had come to that situation.

 

“Did you really think that we didn’t know that the young master was descended from the barbarian blood?”

 

“My son has the blood of a barbarian?”

 

“It’s no use trying to hide it like that! Everyone here knows it!”

 

“Everyone knows Noah’s origins…?” 

 

His cold, gleaming blue eyes scanned the room.

 

As his eyes scanned each of them, some of them drooled or gulped.

 

“That’s an interesting story. How do you know Noah’s origins when I don’t even know about it?”

 

“Don’t lie. There were more than a few who saw you bring the young master beyond the Hiyela Gate. Do you really think you can silence all the knights and guards guarding the Hiyela Gate?” 

 

“So?”

 

“So that’s it! Beyond the Hiyela Gate, in the White Lands, there are only barbarians! Surely you wouldn’t mention the Silver Frost Tower, for its gates have been closed for a hundred years—!” 

 

“Noah is the son of my sister, Louise Ajas.”

 

The voice rang out in the silence. Everyone looked at Leonhard with surprised eyes.

 

It wasn’t that they didn’t know. No, most had assumed that Noah was Louise’s son.

 

However, the reason why they didn’t support Noah was because the current Marquis was Leonhard, and they didn’t know exactly who Noah’s father was. 

 

“She was in the White Land because she was of Ajas’s bloodline, and to annihilate monsters and defeat barbarians.”

 

Those who remembered Louise nodded at those words. It was certainly something that Louise would do.

 

“I don’t know whose child my sister gave birth to. I’ll ask again. Do you really think that my sister, who spent half her life growing up as Ajas’s successor and who prioritized the honor, responsibility, and duty of her family above all else, harbored the seed of a barbarian? What do you think, Count Christophe?”

 

He, who had not opened his mouth even once since arriving at the conference room, answered the call and put strength into his wrinkled eyes.

 

“She…If she really had the seed of a barbarian, she would have stabbed herself in the stomach.”

 

“Yeah. I think so too.”

 

No one objected to the conversation between the two men, even Count Hiern thought the same as Count Christophe.

 

“Then why! Why didn’t you tell us that?” 

 

“You ask a ridiculous question. If I had told you this earlier, would you have simply nodded? If I had announced that Noah’s biological mother was my sister, then I would have tarnished my dead sister’s reputation because we didn’t know who Noah’s father was!” 

 Bang!  

A deep gash went through the floor where the sword had struck with its scabbard.

 

Behind Leonhard’s body, which was curled up on his back, a thin mist could be seen, rising slowly.

 

The vassals, who knew that this was the anger and murderous intent he was trying to suppress, kept their mouths shut.

 

“You told me, you will not recognize my chosen heir, and will not give your daughters to me as wives if I don’t kick the kid out.”

 

“……”

 

“Do you know why I quietly accepted your will? Because it was your innocent daughter who would suffer if I tried to force you. Not you, who bared your teeth at me!” 

 

The thunderous shouts spread through the conference room with a blazing heat. The overwhelming air weighed heavily on their shoulders.

 

Even though they weren’t threatened with a sword, their arms were shaking. They didn’t dare open their mouths to protest, so they lowered their heads. 

 

“That’s why I went down to the capital and brought the woman who was to be my wife here. But now you don’t like my wife and are going to kick her out? Is that even loyalty? Now, you’re going to kick her out, saying it’s for Ajas’s sake!”

 

“Oh, no! That’s ridiculous!” 

 

“How dare us—”

 

“If anyone wants this seat, come out now!”

 

The scabbard that had been pulled out rolled across the floor like a fallen leaf, and the sharp blade made a crunching sound as it was embedded about a third of the way into the stone floor.

 

Then Leonhard took off the cloak with Ajas’s symbol on it and threw it on the table.

 

Because the cloak was rumpled and falling, the Ajas symbol on it was also distorted.

 

“As a descendant of Ajas, I will bet everything I have: the title, the wealth, the castle, the lofty honor I have built up over hundreds of years. Anyone who desires Ajas, come to me now! If you defeat me, I will hand over everything!”

 

Is he serious about that right now? Before he was even twenty, Leonhard had already defeated numerous strong men in the Colosseum and won the Medal of Nolan.

 

Since then, countless challengers have sought to claim the title of Nolan from him, but not a single one has succeeded, even though he has not borrowed the power of Ajas in any of his duels!

 

His eyes glowed with determination, and the indomitable spirit that radiated from his strong body was already overwhelming.

 

The vassals had already been defeated in a duel they hadn’t even fought. 

 

Looking down at them with their mouths shut, Leonhard warned them in a gloomy voice.

 

“If you don’t dare to do so, bow your head and think back to the time when you swore allegiance to me. Remember clearly who your master is.”

 

Starting with Count Christophe, one by one, all the vassals got down from their chairs, knelt, and put their foreheads on the floor.

 

“I will make sure that something like this never happens again.”

 

“I once again swear my unwavering loyalty to His Excellency the Marquis.”

 

“In the name of Lamberton….”

 

The ritual of the oath of allegiance was repeated once more.

 

All of them, who had pledged their loyalty with their mouths, and who had favored the young master in their hearts, could think of nothing else today. Fear was etched into their bones.

 

“Today is the last day I’ll let you off. Remember that. If you show me your teeth one more time, I’ll pull them all out.”

 

“I will keep that in mind, Your Excellency.” 

 

Leonhard glanced at his vassals who were bowing their heads, then pulled out his sword from the stone floor. 

 

Then he put the sword back into its scabbard and shouted coldly.

 

“Bring the sinner away!”

 

“Your Excellency, Your Excellency! I was wrong! Please forgive me just this once!” 

 

Only then did Count Hiern ask for forgiveness, but it was already too late.

 

The image of him being dragged away viciously while being subdued by the knight was clearly engraved on everyone’s retina.

 

As if he could see their trembling forearms, Leonhard picked up his cloak and left the meeting.

 

“The sinner will be questioned by myself. I will not forgive anyone who has harmed my son and my wife, as well as anyone involved in this!”

 

His frosty shouts soon reached the ears of his vassals in distant lands beyond the castle of Ajas.

 

“They should have climbed properly.”

 

While some people were freaking out, others, including the Marquis of Cloud, clicked their tongues in disbelief.

 

The fools’ claim that a wild beast is tamed because it doesn’t show its teeth was just ridiculous.

 

“I guess the reason why things got this big is because the Marquise was involved.”

 

“He must be really in love. I have to spend a lot of money on a wedding gift.” 

 

“I’ll have to be more thoughtful with the wedding gift.”

 

“I just received a letter from the Marquise a while ago, so I should be more careful about responding.”

 

Letters of greeting, replies, and gifts from all over the Ajas border area pile up in the west palace of the castle, but that is still a story for later. 

 

Not knowing the future, Raenel, who had fainted and collapsed, opened her eyes late at night, close to the boundary between night and dawn.

 

* * * 

 

I think I had a dream.

 

My mind was somehow blank. I slowly blinked my eyes, staring at the familiar ceiling, when I heard a noisy voice right next to me.

 

“Ma’am! Are you awake?”

 

I didn’t have the strength to tilt my head, so all I could do was roll my eyes to the side. I blinked quietly as I saw Amy and Hannah standing at the foot of the bed.

 

“Just a moment, ma’am. I’ll call Dr. Danvers!” 

 

“Does anything hurt?”

 

Amy left the bedroom and Hannah knelt to be at eye level with me.

 

I stared blankly at Hannah’s face and thought about why I was lying here.

 

“Why…?”

 

“Yes?”

 

“Why am I lying here?”

 

‘What was I doing?’

 

‘It was almost time for dinner, but Noah didn’t come, so I went to the greenhouse to get him myself…What was that light?’

 

“Ma’am, you must be very confused. Please wait a moment. The Marquis said he will tell you as soon as you wake up.”

 

“Noah?”

 

It was only after I blurted it out without realizing it that the thought occurred to me. So, what happened to Noah?

 

“That’s…that…I don’t know anything. The Marquis will explain it to you. Please wait!”

 

Hannah hesitated for a moment, looking at my expression, then blurted out the words and ran out of the bedroom.

 

Her anxious face and attitude told me that when she said she didn’t know, she was lying. That she was hiding something from me.

 * * *