How The Sub-Male Lead’s Stepmother Teaches Love

“I don’t know where to begin. Originally, Ajas’ successor was not me, but my sister. However, before my sister manifested the pattern of Ajas, the pattern appeared on my back first.…Everyone waited for the pattern to appear on my sister, but in the end, the pattern didn’t appear on my sister.”

“In the end, my sister left Ajas Castle when she was 20 years old. Leaving a short letter saying that there is no need to find her.”

“Nyaang!”

“As a child, my sister’s dream was to win the Colosseum and win Nolan’s Medal. She will defeat the warriors of the Colosseum with her own strength before the pattern of Ajas manifests and claims the title. In fact, my sister had a great talent for swordsmanship, and the person who taught me the sword was also my sister. Until we parted….”

“Hmm, Marquess?”

“The reason I went to the Colosseum was to find my sister. It was the only place I could think of for her to go after leaving her hometown, and when I had to go to the Colosseum, it was because of my sister that I dared to win Nolan’s medal. As long as I have that medal, my sister will have no choice but to come to find me if she still wants it.…In the end, the reunion took place in a different form.”

“Nell!”

“Oh, my god.”

Surprised by Catherine, who was shouting right next to me, I almost threw the embroidery frame and needle in my hand on the floor of the carriage.

Fortunately, I was able to hold on to them with strength in my hands, but Ruby, who was curled up on my thighs, landed in surprise as if he were rolling to the floor.

He’s got wings and since he’s a monster, it wouldn’t hurt to fall from just this height, but feeling sorry, I put down the embroidery frame and picked up Ruby with both hands.

“Sorry, Ruby. Did I scare you?”

“Meow, Meow.”

“I’m sorry too. Are you very surprised?”

“It’s okay. But why did you suddenly call me?”

“I didn’t know what you were thinking. Besides, is this really how you do it?”

“huh?”

At Catherine’s point, I picked up the embroidery frame I had set aside and looked at the white fabric I was embroidering.

“Why did this happen?” 

“As expected, it wasn’t supposed to be like that.”

Next to Catherine who nodded, I laughed awkwardly. 

Apparently, at first, I started with the idea of embroidering two small dandelion flowers.

Before I knew it, more than half of the handkerchief was filled with yellow thread. A dandelion was no longer a dandelion, it was just a color filled with thread.

I looked down at the embroidery frame in despair, unable to untangle the threads and embroider it again.

“Hmm, Lady, do you have any concerns in mind?” 

The one who asked me with a small cough was Leona, who was sitting across from me. I smiled at her and shook my head.

“Not exactly. Just thinking about this and that…I should just throw this away. I can’t even use it as a handkerchief.”

“Meow!”

I took out the white cloth from the embroidery frame and separated it, but Ruby, who had sat on my thigh again, stood up with his hind legs for balance and put his two front legs out to me.

“Yes? Do you want to have this?” 

“Meow.”

Ruby flapped the wings on his back as if nodding his head. It was so cute, I wrapped the cloth around Ruby’s neck like a cape. 

“Okay, There you go.”

“Meow, meow!”

As if he liked the embroidered cloth I tied, Ruby rolled over on my thigh.

Would it be too exaggerated to say that it looked like a cat drunk on catnip? 

TL: When eating catnip, it tends to have the opposite effect and the cat mellows out. Most cats react to catnip by rolling, flipping, rubbing, and eventually zoning out. They may meow or growl at the same time.

Anyway, seeing that she likes it makes me feel better, so I gently stroke Ruby’s round head with my index finger, and Leona, who had been watching me, hummed and rubbed her chin.

“Ruby seems to like anything that’s touched by your hand.” 

“My hand?”

“Yes. At that time, That bookmark you made with that clover, that letter, that…” 

“That’s right. This one, he tried to bite it too.”

“And even now, he’s clinging to Marquess and won’t let go, so I guess he’s like you.”

“Yeah, because Nell is a good person.”

“Ah, it’s a bit embarrassing when you keep praising me like that.” 

I laughed and hugged Ruby for no reason and rubbed his cheek. 

“My Ruby, do you like me so much, huh?”

“Meow!”

Ruby didn’t protest too much and let his body be held by my hand, his tail waving gently in the air.

‘Come to think of it, it’s amazing.’ 

Now that we’ve seen each other often at Paul Hervina, we’ve become very close.…

Come to think of it, Ruby came to me for the first time and acted cute even when he was chased by the first prince.

At the time, I thought Ruby was hiding in my dress to escape from the first prince. Was it because he liked me?

‘How can Raenel in the book brutally kill a monster like Ruby?’ 

“nyang–”

I stopped my hand in a state of confusion, and Ruby seemed unhappy with that.

Seeing Ruby tapping my thighs with his tail, as if asking for more, I grabbed her small body with both hands and said seriously.

“Ruby, you shouldn’t be so defenseless towards anyone. It’s very dangerous to just follow someone you don’t know.”

However, some people disregarded my sincere advice. 

“Ruby follows anyone he doesn’t know…?” 

“isn’t it?”

“Not at all, absolutely not, Marquess.”

“You don’t have to worry about it.”

Beside Leona, who shook her head resolutely, Sage added a word. Sage, who had been lowering his head the whole time on the carriage, made a loud noise as he bent his stiff neck left and right.

He removed the glasses from the bridge of his nose and put them down, leaning his upper body toward me.

“Ruby, come here.”

Sage stretched out his hand and made a clicking sound from his round lips, but Ruby only coldly turned his head away.

Still, Sage didn’t give up until the end and tried to touch Ruby’s head, but Ruby, who had popped her tail straight up, gave a hiss and then opened a small mouth and let out a small breath like a candle. 

“Ruby! It’s dangerous!”

“Meow, Meow!”

What if it sticks to our clothes or the floor!

But Ruby’s eyes narrowed and he burrowed into the inside of my arm as if he didn’t deserve my scolding.

Then, as if it was Sage and not me who did the wrong thing, he looked at Sage and screamed again.

Sage leaned back in the chair and shrugged his shoulders as if that was enough, saying, “Did you see it?”

“He’s a monster, he Is not a kid who follows people well.”

“But you are the wizard of Ajas.” 

“Well, that’s true, too.”

As if he didn’t want to see Sage, who was smirking at me, Ruby turned his body towards me.

He must have done something to Ruby in the past.

Somehow feeling a little pity for Ruby, I stroked the inside of the cat’s wings and changed the subject.

“Rather than that, Sage, have you checked the bracelets? how is it?”

“I am very sorry to tell you this, Marquess.” 

Sage shook his head with a face of humiliation as if he was about to declare defeat as his magic power ran out after a fierce duel.

“I have no idea.”

He glanced again at the pure white bracelet in his other hand.

But there was not the slightest hint of hope on his face that he would be able to find out something now.

“All I can figure out is that this bracelet has the same amount of magic as the number of magic stones.”

“Magic stones?”

“Yes. It’s a rare magic stone that can only be found in ruins now. I’ve only seen it once as a learning material at the academy, but it’s the first time I’ve seen it in the form of a bracelet like this.”

And Sage continued his explanation with a face that did not know if he was a little tired or admired.

“One of the magics on this bracelet is the hidden magic circle. So there is no way to find out what magic is inscribed on these magic stones.” 

“Was this such an amazing bracelet?”

“It’s a very, very great bracelet. You said you didn’t hear any explanation from the bracelet owner, right?”

“Yes. The owner just said it would protect me.”

“Then it’s probably a bracelet made for that purpose. I recommend you to wear it. At least there will be no loss.”

“I see…Thank you.”

“I didn’t help much…”

Sage, who said so, seemed his pride was hurt.

Well, it’s understandable since he asked me to leave it to him, but he didn’t find anything out in the end.

“Ugh…I really hate to say this, but Clary might find out something.”

“Clary?”

“She is also a wizard too. She majored in magic tool-making at the academy and now she is making attack magic scrolls used by knights. Her hobby is making magical tools and her specialty is collecting magic circles, so she must have over 300 magic circles.”

“She majored in magic tool making at the academy? so she must be a classmate of my sister!”

“Yes, well… Because she’s my colleague…”

Sage made a face as if his pride had been hurt once again. Were they rivals in the academy?

“By the way, is collecting magic circles a specialty or a hobby?”

“It is a specialty. Usually, if magic circles are not listed in the textbooks distributed by the academy, you can only learn them from your direct teacher, obtain old books by luck, or acquire them by disassembling magic tools that are available on the market.”

“wow….All of them are difficult.”

“But she’s lucky to be born with it, and sometimes when there’s an old book auction in Hermen, I go with her, and the old book she picks always has a magic circle drawn on it, and the one I pick always sucks, how could that be!”

‘Hmmm, yeah, in my previous life, I got pissed off when we were playing the same instant lottery and she keeps winning and I keep losing.’

“She is always like that. No matter how hard someone tries, he or she will not get good grades, but she always gets the part on the test that she crammed for, so she gets a good grade even though she didn’t study much…!”

Sage’s voice gradually rises. It seemed that resentment had accumulated for quite some time.

“Do you know why I had to come to Ajas after graduating from the academy? I didn’t want to see her! But when I finally passed the test and joined the team, she passed the examination with a special recruitment!”

Sage poured out a lot of complaints as if he was about to spit out a fire. 

Leona and Catherine listened in one ear and wondered if they were familiar with such sage.

But I couldn’t do that either, so I had to nod my head the whole time, giving a soulless response until the carriage stopped.

“Nell, you look very tired.”

“I’m not tired, I’ve had a comfortable carriage ride.”

The corners of my mouth ached, not from physical fatigue, but from the effort it took to keep a smiling face.

While the meal is being prepared, I sit in front of a warm campfire and press the corners of my mouth with the index fingers of both hands. Leonhard gave me a cup of warm chocolate and spoke in a soothing voice.

“At least you’ll be able to relax tomorrow at Cloud Castle.”

“Ah, from there, you said it was the Ajas territory, right?”

“Yes. To be precise, after passing through Anild Gorge.”

As if to explain again, Leonhard sat down next to me and took out a map from his chest.