How The Sub-Male Lead’s Stepmother Teaches Love

“What…What happened then?”

 

My heart was throbbing with anxiety. 

 

I got up, thinking that I should go find Noah myself. But before I could even get out of bed, Leonhard came into the bedroom.

 

“Raenel, are you awake?”

 

Without looking anywhere else, he came straight to the bed where I was sitting and looked at me with eyes full of worry.

 

He must have poured water over himself somewhere, as cold water was dripping from his hair.

 

He must have realized that fact too late because he tried to grab my hand but instead moved away from the bed.

 

“Are you feeling okay?”

 

“I’m okay. I’m not in any pain. What about Noah?”

 

At that question, Leonhard looked at me with a somewhat tense expression on his face.

 

“How much do you remember of what happened before you collapsed?”

 

“How much do I remember…? We went to the greenhouse together to pick up Noah. We were following behind Rake when suddenly there was a flash of light in my eyes and…” 

 

‘I think I smelled something.’

 

As I frowned because I couldn’t quite remember, Leonhard, who had been observing me, said as if to finish.

 

“Noah is okay.”

 

“Really? Where is he now?”

 

“He is asleep now. You’d better go see him when he wakes up later.”

 

“Did he just fall asleep because it was late?”

 

If that’s the case, there’s no reason for Hanna to run away with that kind of face. 

 

“If it’s really okay, I’ll go see Noah now, I’ll just watch him sleep….”

 

“Raenel.”

 

Leonhard, who had been hesitating for a moment, sat down next to me and hugged my waist. 

 

Was it because he was anxious? It felt like his actions were more intended to prevent me from getting up and going to Noah than to comfort me.

 

“What I am going to say from now on…Don’t be so surprised, just listen.”

 

“Why? What’s going on that makes people so anxious?”

 

“First of all, it’s not a lie that Noah is safe. Do you remember the pendant that you gave Noah in the treasure room?”

 

“Yes? Yes. Of course. It wasn’t that long ago.…Could it be that magical tool?” 

 

“Yes. That magical tool activated and protected Noah. It’s all thanks to you, Raenel.” 

 

The voice that told me not to worry was as affectionate as a hand patting my back, but my anxiety didn’t ease up one bit.

 

“Then, the light I saw in the greenhouse…Was that the light?” 

 

“That’s right. It’s not just a simple defensive magic, it’s a magic that reflects attacks received—”

 

“Attack? Someone attacked Noah in the greenhouse?”

 

When Leonhard and I entered the greenhouse, there were only two people inside. Noah and…

 

“What did Mario Polten do to Noah? And you? Are you okay?”

 

I grabbed Leonhard’s arm and felt around his body to see if he was hurt anywhere. Fortunately, there seemed to be no wounds on his body that I felt through his clothes.

 

‘No, you were injured, but you’ve healed?’ 

 

Just in case, I buried my nose in his chest and sniffed, but I didn’t smell any blood. I could only smell a stronger scent of perfume than usual.

 

‘Surely he wasn’t covering up the smell of blood with the scent of perfume?’

 

“As I said before, Noah and I are both safe. However,….”

 

Leonhard moved his lips as if he was about to say something, and made an awkward expression. 

 

Seeing the hesitant look on his face, I grabbed his arm.

 

“Don’t hide it. Tell me. I’m Noah’s guardian too. I have the right to know.” 

 

“What my wife said is right…”

 

Leonhard sighed as if he had given up and began to speak cautiously.

 

He kept closing and opening his mouth several times as if he was picking out the words that wouldn’t shock me, but he told me the important points without hiding anything.

 

The man who tried to harm Noah was Mario Polten, and the man who paid him was Count Hiern.

 

And that Mario Polten wasn’t the only person Count Hiern had paid.

 

“We are still investigating, but for now, it has been revealed that Count Lamberton was also involved in this. You were acquainted with Lady Lamberton in the past.” 

 

“Acquaintance…Yes, we were close. She was My older brother’s ex-fiancee, so we often met.”

 

“Count Howard’s ex-fiancee…I see.” 

 

Leonhard looked convinced by the whole story. 

 

“She told Mario Polten about you. Mario Polten heard the story and made it seem like he was friends with Sir Alex.”

 

“That guy…he really wasn’t Alex’s friend?”

 

Leonhard nodded, and his mind went blank for a moment. 

 

“I suspected that person.….”

 

‘Why didn’t I just take him away from Noah? Maybe because I thought he might be innocent?’

 

That shouldn’t have happened. It wasn’t right to put someone even slightly suspicious next to Noah.

 

I shouldn’t have brought an outsider into the castle in the first place to select them based solely on their skills. If I hadn’t done that, Noah wouldn’t have been hurt.

 

“It’s because of me. Because of me, Noah…”

 

I held back the tears that were about to well up. I had no right to cry. What good did I do to deserve that?

 

“Don’t blame yourself. It’s not your fault, Madam. If you think about it, it’s more my fault for leaving the castle empty.”

 

“But you brought me here so that you could feel safe even when you were away from the castle—”

 

“Don’t say that. Didn’t I tell you? That’s like passing the responsibility on you. I’m more responsible, so you should blame me.”

 

It was clearly meant to be comforting, but I felt more sad than relieved.

 

When I looked up, Leonhard’s face was distorted with pain. His face looked like it was about to burst into tears, and I ended up shedding the tears I had been holding back.

 

“Huh…Huh…”

 

“Raenel…”

 

“I, I’m the one protecting him, I have to protect him, but I did something wrong…”

 

“No, you did nothing wrong. It’s all my fault.” 

 

“But, but…!”

 

I thought I was doing well, but it seems I wasn’t.

 

I was overcome with regret, guilt, sadness and anxiety, and I cried endlessly in Leonhard’s arms.

 

I remember hearing a voice constantly reassuring me that it was okay and that I had done nothing wrong.

 

Eventually, I collapsed from exhaustion. At that point, my memory was cut off again.

 

* * * 

 

The moment he opened his eyes in the darkness, Noah used his senses to check who was in the room. 

 

However, there was no one in the room, as if they had left the room to help him sleep.

 

Noah, who confirmed that fact two or three times, quietly pulled back the blanket and checked his stomach.

 

There was no scar, let alone a wound. That was natural. The magic tool’s defensive magic had been activated, blocking the sword before it could cut him.

 

‘Why hadn’t I thought of that?’

 

He had to take off the pendant separately, but he couldn’t think of taking it off his body.

 

‘My mother had put it on for me.’

 

His mother said it would help the wearer in times of danger.

 

“Don’t remove it from your body. Do you understand?”

 

As a result, her words came true.

 

However, she probably had no idea that the reason the magic tool was activated would be Noah himself.

 

‘Why did you two come in person?’ 

 

The memory of the moment when he and Leonhard met eyes was vivid. 

 

He’d done it in the hopes that his father would hear it, but he hadn’t expected him to see it, much less have his mother there with him.

 

The last thing Noah saw was Raenel, unconscious, in Leonhard’s arms.

 

‘If mother really lost consciousness…Maybe it’s because of my father.’

 

‘Thank goodness I didn’t show her the sight of me getting stabbed by a sword.’ 

 

‘No, even if she saw it, it doesn’t matter. I’m sure my mother would be worried about me.’

 

Wasn’t she the one who stayed by his side and spent a long time with him even when he was ‘fake sick’? If she knew that he was really hurt, she would definitely spend even more time with him.

 

As Noah thought about that, he felt a little disappointed that there were no injuries at all.

 

‘What happened to Mario Polten?’

 

Noah closed his eyes and calmly recalled what he had done. After class, he had taken Mario Polten to the greenhouse because he wanted to limit the number of witnesses to Simon.

 

Even then, he had to take Simon away from him for a while. He didn’t want Simon to see him jump on the sword.

 

‘I was planning to wait for Simon to come back from the dining room…’

 

It was easy to tell that the sound coming in was not Simon’s. The footsteps were heavier than the child’s, and there were two of them. 

 

But that didn’t mean he could give up. Noah said to Mario Polten, who was studying the sword with greedy eyes.

 

“I heard that the jewel embedded in the hilt of that sword is a red diamond.”

 

“A red diamond?”

 

Mario Polten, whose eyes rolled back at those words, laid his sword down so that he could see the wide surface of the handle. At that moment, Noah rushed straight for the sword. He fell down bleeding, and Mario Polten was left holding the bloody sword in his hand.

 

If Simon witnessed that scene, he planned to go outside right away and call someone. But…

 

‘I tried to keep Mario Polten’s mouth shut so he wouldn’t say anything useless.…’ 

 

Without needing to do so, the magic tool was activated and the broken blade was shattered into pieces and embedded in Mario Polten’s body.

 

Leonhard, who witnessed the scene immediately after, asked Noah only one question: ‘How far did you intend to go?’

 

‘How did my father figure out that it was all my own plan? I thought there was no trace left.’

 

When he came out of the armory with the jeweled sword, he deliberately used Mario Polten as an excuse. He said he needed it for class.

 

The guard did not doubt his words and told him to simply return the sword after class.

 

‘Perhaps Father called the guard and heard the story.’

 

There is evidence that Mario Polten used the Heir to steal a sword from the armory, and attempted to harm the Heir with that sword.

 

He will not be able to escape from that trap. Even if it is true that he was falsely accused in this case, he will not dare to slander the Marquise in the future.

 

‘I’m sure my father will praise me too.’ 

 

Even if he had been stabbed by a sword and was on the verge of death, he would have been proud of himself in his dazed state.

 

The fact that he protected his mother with his own hands.

 –Click. 

As Noah closed his eyelids after finishing organizing his thoughts, he heard the door carefully opening.

 

The light that came through the gap illuminated Noah’s face. Because of that, Noah opened his eyes again and was able to make eye contact with Leonhard who had entered the room.

 * * *