How The Sub-Male Lead’s Stepmother Teaches Love

[By the time you receive this letter, you will have heard the news. The Second Princess is to be the crown princess.

 

Alex told me that the imperial palace became so busy that His Majesty postponed all of his meetings. We wouldn’t care about the rejection now, because the second princess had no reason to leave the palace. 

 

So, there was no need to meet Baron Vincent’s daughter, but I visited Baron Vincent’s residence because I sent her a letter saying I would go see her in person. But Baron Vincent’s daughter ran away from home.]

 

“Run away?”

 

[Baron Vincent’s eyes widened, and he asked me to wait a little longer because he would go and get his daughter right away, but if he really caught her, she would get in trouble with Baron Vincent for marriage, so I just said that I didn’t think it was a good idea and left.

 

I suppose my marriage will be delayed a little longer. I think your first niece is to be expected from Lily, Nell.]

 

I don’t really care who my first niece is. If this continues, my eldest brother will really become an old bachelor…

 

I suppressed the urge to sigh and continued reading the letter.

 

[I’m sure you’ve already met your child, who is my first niece, right? I wonder what kind of kid he is.

 

I really want to attend the wedding at Ajas Castle to see how you are doing and to see the face of my first niece, but I am not sure if I will have time. 

 

Still, it would be nice if you could send me an invitation.

 

I will be returning to Howard Territory in a few days, so please send the reply to this letter there as well.

 

It’s only been a few days since you left, but I feel lonely as if years have already passed.

 

I hope you are happy anytime and anywhere, but if you feel lonely and distressed staying there, come back anytime. Howard will always welcome you.]

 

Is it because of my mood? The scent of ripe grapes seemed to pass through my nose.

 

I have now realized that Howard’s spacious vineyards and the smell of ripening wine, which was a daily routine for me, have faded into longing.

 

In an instant, my eyes became watery and I sniffled. I quickly blinked my eyelids to dry my tears and turned the letter back.

 

It was a letter sent from the capital, so it contained letters not only from my older brother, but also from my brother Alex, my sister Lily, and Helen.

 

As I read the letter, I burst out laughing several times without realizing it, but I had to endure tears just as much.

 

When I looked at my face in the mirror after reading the letter, my eyes and the tip of my nose were red. I lowered my head on the desk out of fear of being caught by someone and looked for new stationery.

 

At that time, I heard someone knocking on the door. I rubbed the area around my eyes with the side of my index finger and allowed him to come in. 

 

“This is Peter from the Ajas Messenger. I have successfully completed the errand the Marquise ordered me to do!”

 

Today again, Peter, who was in full military spirit, saluted me with a stiff attitude.

 

The moment I saw his face full of freckles, I remembered what I had asked for and greeted Peter with joy.

 

“Welcome. You came earlier than I expected.”

 

“Oh, no. This was my first personal mission, so I was clumsy and ended up being late a lot. If it were my seniors, it wouldn’t have taken even a day…”

 

“It’s okay, it was perfect timing.”

 

Tomorrow was the meeting with Lady Lamberton, whom I had asked Peter to investigate.

 

‘Of course, it’s okay to conduct an interview without knowing anything, but if I know, isn’t it a complete victory?’

 

I hurriedly accepted the envelope Peter handed me.

 

“How many pages are there in total?… There’s no need to go into this much detail.” 

 

“I don’t have enough experience to guess what information the Marquise wants. I just researched everything, so that’s why I’m late, sorry.”

 

‘In short, he didn’t know what I wanted, so he prepared everything.’

 

I stared at the 20 pages of documents that contained information about which banquets Lady Lamberton had recently attended and with whom she had talked.

 

‘’There was no need to worry because he was young…’

 

‘Indeed, he didn’t belong to the intelligence group for nothing.’

 

“That’s great, that’s more than I expected. Good job, Peter.”

 

“I’m honored to have helped you! If you have anything else to order, please leave it to me!”

 

“Yes, wait a moment. Let me take a look.”

 

What I was most curious about was what happened to Lady Lamberton, or Julia, after she broke off her engagement to my older brother.

 

Sure enough, the twenty pages of papers went into great detail about her. I quickly checked that part.

 

* * * 

 

“When the tragic accident occurred, I unilaterally declared an end to my engagement with Count Howard, and I married another man two months later. I remained close friends with Marquise…It looks like Marquise has a very bad relationship with her family. Normally, it wouldn’t be surprising if they became enemies.”

 

“I hope that’s true because I’m getting tired of the bills from the jewelry shop and clothing stores.”

 

“

You probably haven’t forgotten Count Lemberton’s will, have you? He handed over his title and property to you as a condition for taking care of me. If you neglect that duty I’ll take you to court and sue you.”

 

“Sue me and make me return all my titles and estates to society. Let’s see how long you can wield such trivial threats as a weapon, Lady Lamberton.”

 

That cold gaze, full of contempt and ridicule, as if looking at an insect crawling on the floor, always made Julia feel miserable and evil.

 

‘You thought I stayed in this house because I liked it!’

 

At the very least, if she had given birth to a child, she would have manipulated the will so that the child would inherit the Count. But before she could have her child, her husband was stung by a wasp and died.

 

‘Does this make sense? It would have made sense if he had been attacked by a monster or died from a disease!’

 

If her husband had not revised his will immediately after marriage, the current Count of Lemberton would have kicked her out of the Lemberton family immediately after inheriting the title and property.

 

It was a good thing that he asked for an amendment to the will as a condition of marriage. But Julia knew she would never be called Lady Lamberton.

 

Her husband died. The will, which is just a piece of paper, will not be able to protect her forever. So she needed another man for her.

 

A man who, like her dead husband, would allow her to live the rest of her life as a noble lady.

 

‘I made a mistake. If I didn’t break off my engagement with Liv like that.…’ 

 

Three years ago, she would have believed she had made a very wise and sensible choice.

 

Count Howard had just invested a fortune in a ship heading to the East and joined hands with a merchant who hoped to enter the East

 

However, the ship sank before it could reach the East Coast, and he was left with a huge debt.

 

Julia naturally thought that the Howard family would go bankrupt. So she didn’t care about her reputation, and when she returned her proposal ring to Oliver, she broke off the engagement.

 

Even if she became the world’s greatest evil woman, she didn’t want to live in poverty and squalor.

 

‘I thought it would be better to become the wife of the Count of Lemberton, who was twelve years older than me, and that was actually the case. Because as long as he was alive, I could spend money without being noticed.’

 

But what about now?

 

Now she had to think of her brother-in-law’s face from the moment she went to the dressing room to get her dress.

 

The designer, the fabric to make the clothes, the lace, ribbons, and jeweled buttons to add. In addition, there are hats, shoes, and gloves to wear together.

 

It was only after her husband died that Julia realized how much attention needed to be paid to the purchase of a single piece of clothing.

 

‘Nell received nine jeweled carriages as a proposal of marriage…’

 

The rumor that the Marquise had been presented with a proposal ring made from Odette’s tears had already swept through northern social circles.

 

That was the reason why everyone was waiting for the invitation to come from Castle Aias. They wanted to see the rumored Coral Pearl.

 

Of course, Julia was also curious about coral pearls, but she was more envious of something else.

 

Nine carriages’ worth of jewelry, which would have been Raenel’s private property, and the money that would have been given to her.

 

‘perhaps…if only I hadn’t married the Count of Lamberton, could it be that I could have become the Marquise?’

 

She doesn’t know why the Marquis chose Raenel as his bride. 

 

She guesses that he traveled all the way to the capital because his vassals refused to give him their daughter, and he needed a woman who would register Noah as their son.

 

‘I can also do that.. but It was a waste of time to think about it, it was too late now.’

 

All she could do was stand by Raenel’s side and cite their past friendship.

 

‘If I could become her maid, that would be the best.’

 

An immature girl who grew up without a clue about the world while being loved by her family. Julia knew very well that her older sister and brothers were especially protective of Raenel, especially since she was the youngest and adopted child.

 

Perhaps due to her well-bred upbringing, Raenel easily befriended anyone and generously forgave even the mistakes of her subordinates.

 

There was a time when she felt disgusted with Raenel, who seemed to know nothing about hate and was not affected by the world’s evils.

 

But she was just happy to think that Ranel’s innocence would now be of some help to her.

 

‘She doesn’t know I’m here….I’m sure she’ll take pity on me if I cry a little.’

 

She will say that she had no choice but to break off her engagement with Oliver and marry the Count of Lamberton shortly after that because it was on her father’s orders, and that she still misses Oliver.

 

If she did well, she might be able to build a bridge between herself and the Count of Howard.

 

With the current Count Howard family, she could be satisfied.

 

‘It’s a pity it’s a country estate, but….I could get a house in the capital and stay there.’

 

The capital society must be so glamorous that it can’t even be compared to the northern society.

Julia continued to imagine a pleasant imagination as if she had already become Countess Howard.

 

Little did she know that the Marquise, who was waiting for her at Ajas Castle, was not the innocent girl she remembered.

 

* * *