How The Sub-Male Lead’s Stepmother Teaches Love

The first vague thought I had in my dimly surfaced consciousness was that my feet were cramped.

 

At the same time, the sound of Rake whining with all his might shook my consciousness.

 

“Ugh…Rake, it’s noisy…”

 

“Peep! Peep!”

 

“Stop that….”

 

Even when I lay down and buried my head in the pillow, the sound of Rake did not stop. Eventually, I gave up on falling asleep again and forced my eyelids up.

 

“What is this in the middle of the night?…huh?”

 

I lifted my head towards Rake’s cage, wondering what the fuss was about for the normally calm child, and I felt something in the dark room.

 

As I blinked a few times, I saw a shadow with some sort of volume standing in the dark.…Oh, my God!

 

“Don—!”

 

“Nell, it’s me.”

 

Before I could shout, a familiar voice was heard from the darkness.

 

As soon as I realized that it was Leonhard’s voice, he moved out of the darkness and turned on the lamp.

 

Only when I saw the face illuminated by that light did I realize that he was my husband and let out a sigh of relief.

 

“What is it all of a sudden? Why are you here? Are you back in the castle now?”

 

“No. I think I’ll have to stay at the Hiyela Gate for a while longer. Didn’t my wife stop by Hiyela before?” 

 

“That’s because you didn’t reply.…Hoamm.”

 

Is it because the tension was relieved for a moment? I woke up in the middle of the night and started to fall asleep again.

 

As I was dozing off again while sitting on the bed, Rake flew over and sat on my head, flapping its wings.

 

“peep, peep!”

 

“Ugh, it’s okay. That person is my husband. You don’t have to be so guarded.” 

 

“What is that bird anyway, Nell?”

 

“It’s my pet bird. I went into the treasure room a while ago.…By the way, there were no dragon eggs!”

 

The sleep I was trying to get was instantly taken away by a thought that suddenly occurred to me. I crawled over the bed, sat down on the edge, and tapped my side with my hand. 

 

Only then did Leonhard, who had been standing at a distance like an uninvited guest, sit down next to me. 

 

Although this room was my bedroom, he was the owner of the castle, but he straightened his back awkwardly as if he were a guest.

 

I tapped him playfully on the elbow, wondering what was the point of coming in now.

 

“You said I would know it when I see it. But there was nothing that looked like a dragon egg.”

 

“Really? but…It’s a bit in the corner. “Maybe you didn’t see it.”

 

“You have to show it to me next time. I was so excited about that.” 

 

“Yes. I will definitely do that.”

 

At that time, Rake above my head spread its wings and flew up.

 

A bird smaller than Leonhard’s fist was flapping Its wings vigorously and hovering in front of his face for a long time.

 

It looked like Rake was looking into Leonhard’s face, so I burst out laughing.

 

“I guess Rake liked Leon’s face too.”

 

“Peep? Peep?”

 

“Now that I think about it, I don’t know if it’s a female or a male. Who should I ask this about?”

 

‘Is there a veterinarian in our castle too? Since there are so many animals raised, of course there are, right?’

 

Rake was looking at Leonhard’s face intently, and when I saw Rake settle down on Leonhard’s palm as if Rake liked it, I wondered if it was a female. Because that’s exactly what Rake did with Noah.

 

“peep, peep.”

 

“This bird…Why are you doing this now?” 

 

“Rake asking you to pat its head.”

 

“The head? How…? It’s so small?”

 

“Put your index finger upright, like this.”

 

I grabbed Leonhard’s index finger and guided him to stroke Rake’s small head.

 

He hesitated, as if it was very difficult to touch a bird smaller than his own hand, and then gently touched the bird’s head.

 

Rake let out a dissatisfied noise, as if the bird didn’t like that, so Leonhard put his hands back as if running away.

 

“Have you ever raised a bird?”

 

“No. What about you?”

 

“No, neither do I. But it wasn’t that difficult. I guess Rake has already been loved by people because Rake is so good at acting cute.”

 

Unlike Ruby, who had a particularly high frequency of accidents, such as ruining dried laundry or making a mess of a room that had been cleaned, Rake was said to be popular among maids simply because Rake was cute.

 

‘Who wouldn’t like a bird who looks so round and cute and is so good at acting cute?’

 

I touched Rake’s head with my index finger and told Leonhard what had happened in the castle.

 

“Then they sent me a letter of resignation saying they were quitting. So I fired them right away and then posted a notice to the castle. I would select tutors based solely on ability. Until then, Sir Fleet, my guards, and I will teach Noah.”

 

“You?”

 

“Ys. I’m going to teach art and music.…But more than that, I heard you told Noah to play the Spring Hymn at his birthday banquet. Did you make that promise because you knew what the song Hymn of Spring was?”

 

“Yes. It was my sister’s favorite song.” 

 

“Is that all…?”

 

Leonhard blinked once at my words. 

 

He then rolled his eyes as if he didn’t know what answer to give, licked his dry lips lightly with his tongue, and then carefully parted his lips.

 

“Is there anything wrong with that song?” 

 

“Yes, there is! Ugh, Wake up.”

 

I woke up and put Luke back in his cage.

 

And as I was about to take Leonhard’s hand and go out, he suddenly grabbed me and threw the gown and cloak hanging on the wall over my shoulders.

 

Even when I told him that I didn’t need this since I was going to the musical instrument room right next door, he was stubborn.

 

“Even if you’re only going out for a short time, a cloak is essential in Ajas, ma’am.” 

 

“Didn’t you install the magic stone of fire so I wouldn’t have to?”

 

“You never know when the magic stone will run out of magic, right?”

 

It was a sound that made the wizards who inspected the magic stone every morning pound their chests and hit the ground in frustration when they heard it.

 

I glanced at Leonhard for no reason, then held his hand and went outside. 

Ethan, who was on duty today, saw me and Leonhard and quickly saluted. 

 

Judging from the lack of surprise on his face, it seemed like he already knew Leonhard was here.

 

‘Well, I’m sure this man wouldn’t have entered my bedroom through the window that was nailed up.’

 

“Did you ever learn piano when you were young?”

 

“I have learned….I quit right away because I wasn’t good at it.” 

 

These words reminded me of someone who would be diligently protecting the security of the capital by now.

 

‘At least this guy didn’t smash the pedals, unlike my brother, right?’

 

‘…No, when I imagined it, it seemed like if my brother had done it on purpose, this guy could have done it by mistake.’

 

I opened the piano’s lid and sat down on the chair, remembering Noah opening the lid of a heavy treasure chest.

 

“Then have you ever played the Hymn of Spring yourself?”

 

“I’ve tried to play it, but I’ve never finished it.”

 

“Good, then I’ll play it for you, and you can put your hand on top of mine.”

 

“yes?”

 

“Your hand!”

 

As I shouted, Leonhard, who hesitated for a moment, came up behind me and placed his hands on top of my hands. And of course, his arms and mine were pressed together.

 

I could feel his chest against my back with the brushing of our clothes, my hair against his chin, and the nape of his neck.

 

At first, I thought I could feel the cold breeze from his clothes on my body, but I felt his much hotter body temperature more intensely.

 

As it got a little warmer, I wanted to take off the cloak he had placed over my shoulders.

 

However, in the position where I was hugged back by him, and even my hands and arms were covered by him, I had no freedom.

 

However, the reason I am not anxious or scared of this situation is probably because it’s him.

 

Suddenly, I had the urge to turn my head, hug his thick neck, and kiss him. 

 

It was only at this moment, when our body temperatures met, that I finally felt that he was next to me.

 

Is it an illusion? I felt his shoulders tighten around mine as if he was hugging me. His skin touched my ear. 

 

“Are you okay?”

 

Ah, it was his lips.

 

I swallowed my saliva several times at the sudden dry feeling in my mouth, trying not to think about him behind me, and spoke.

 

“I’m…. going to play the Spring Hymn from now on. A little slower than the original speed. I want you to feel my fingers moving, okay?”

 

“Yes, ma’am.”

 

“First note…What was the first note? It’s a song I clearly know.” 

 

After barely remembering the first note, I stretched my right hand to the side and pressed the white key in the middle of the two black keys.

 

I pressed the next key, feeling his index finger exert strength along with mine.

 

A tune that praises how beautiful the spring that has finally arrived after the frozen winter is, the budding buds, the sunlight melting the snow, and a girl’s hair flowing softly in the breeze.

 

The Spring Hymn was an active song, like children running out energetically after staying indoors all winter.

 

Because of that, the tempo itself is a bit fast, but that’s not a problem with this song. This song expresses the cold, dark winter in a low octave, and the spring with bright sunlight shining through the window in a high octave, moving between winter and spring.

 

In other words, while hitting a low octave key, you have to jump several octaves at once and send your hand to the right. That’s why it’s difficult for beginners to hit.

 

“End…”

 

Leonhard’s hand stayed gently on top of mine until I finished playing. 

 

Even at this moment, I swallowed nervously as I looked down at his hand, which was overlapped with my ten fingers.

 

“You saw it, right? Imagine Noah doing that movement just now. It’s such a crazy song for a beginner to play, but you’re asking a 5-year-old to play it in front of everyone else.….”

 

I tried to pull my hand out from underneath his palm, but my hand didn’t move at all, as if it had no chance. 

 

Instead, only the softly descending keys of the piano cut through the silence that had fallen between us like a cacophony.

 

It’s strange. Even though he wasn’t holding me tightly, I couldn’t get away from him with just a little bit of force.

 

I felt like I could feel the rapidly pulsating pulse of his wrist, which overlapped with mine.

 

‘No, maybe it was actually my heartbeat…’

 

I continued what I had forgotten to say for a moment.

 

“That’s too much—”

 

However, before I could even utter that single sentence, a black shadow suddenly approached my eyes.

 

As I paused in surprise, the back of my head was grabbed by a firm hand and our lips pressed together.

 

What happened in the blink of an eye made me freeze and I couldn’t even breathe.

 * * *