How The Sub-Male Lead’s Stepmother Teaches Love

“If you want to do something, you don’t have to hold back. Just be honest about anything. If it’s okay, I’ll let you do it, and if it’s not okay, I’ll explain it until you understand. Don’t be afraid to tell me what you want to do. Okay?”

 

In fact, Noah didn’t even know what that meant.

 

From the moment he began to think for himself, everyone around him had told him so.

 

Some are solemn, while others are sarcastic. 

 

‘You were lucky enough to be here, so don’t act rashly and always be humble.’

 

So Noah never said anything. He did what he was told to do and didn’t do what he was told not to do.

 

Sometimes the demands were at odds with his own will, but he never shook his head, because he would only be told to behave like the heir to a great lord.

 

‘If I tell Mother that I came because I missed her, will she be happy?’

 

Never for a moment did he imagine that the day would come when his own desires would bring someone else’s joy. Because he couldn’t even imagine the possibility of that happening.

 

Noah walked down the hallway with Simon, remembering Raenel’s smiling face. 

 

He was not even aware of the fact that the more he walked, the faster his feet became.

 

Simon, who was walking with Noah, was a little confused by the pace getting faster and made noises like, uh, uh.

 

“Young Master…!”

 

Simon was struggling to keep up with his steps and almost dropped the notebook he was holding.

 

He was about to ask Noah to walk a little more slowly, but Noah stopped walking as if he heard his heart.

 

Simon sighed and quickly stood next to Noah. Only then did he realize why Noah had stopped. Lucius was standing beyond the corner of the hallway.

 

“Young master.”

 

Lucius looked at Noah and bowed his head.

 

Noah stared at him for a moment in disbelief, then realized something and asked.

 

“Do I have something to do?”

 

“yes. The new teacher is here to introduce himself to you, and since Marquise is currently interviewing him, she thought it would be a good idea for you to greet each other before heading to class.”

 

“It’s a new teacher…I heard over 40 people applied in just a few days?”

 

“Yes. This person passed the written test with a perfect score and received the highest score in the interview. I think we can trust him in terms of his skills.”

 

Lucius lowered himself to one knee in front of Noah and examined Noah carefully.

 

Noah recalled the not-so-distant past when he saw him adjusting his clothes. The cool eyes that told another servant to dress Noah up.

 

“Young master.”

 

It wasn’t exactly the same as what Noah came up with. 

 

Lucius’ eyes sank deeply. After a short hesitation, his mouth opened.

 

“Can I apologize for my rudeness so far?” 

 

“Rudeness?”

 

“I am—”

 

Lucious, who was about to say something, looked sideways at Simon and paused for a moment. 

 

Instinctively, Simon realized that what Lucius was about to say was not the kind of thing he needed to hear.

 

However, because he was still young, he did not have much experience to act wisely. 

 

Simon, whose mind went blank, was confused and didn’t know what to do, so he looked at Lucius and Noah alternately.

 

Lucius let out a small sigh at that sight and was just about to speak.

 

“It’s okay.”

 

“Yes?”

 

“I have a good idea of what you’re trying to say. But you don’t have to apologize to me for that.”

 

Since it happened in the not-so-distant past, Noah still remembers it clearly.

 

‘Did he feel there was no need to hide it, or did he not realize that his emotions were leaking through the cracks, the colors of his emotions were so vivid beyond the gaze…’

 

Therefore, Noah realized early on that Lucius was not happy with him, and that fact was nothing new to Noah. There must be at least one person in this castle who hates him.

 

So Noah didn’t have much of a problem with Lucius. No, quite the opposite.

 

“At least you’ve never lied to me.”

 

“Yes?”

 

“It doesn’t matter how you feel about me. I don’t want false loyalty, so just don’t lie to me in the future.”

 

At those words, Lucius’ expression became strangely distorted. Then, he belatedly adjusted his expression and asked in a confused voice.

 

“How do you know I didn’t lie to you?” 

 

“How do I know? I’ve had more than a few people lie to me.” 

 

If people hadn’t lied to him, he wouldn’t have known the meaning of the ‘tremor’ he felt.

 

Lucious, who had no way of knowing the truth, seemed to have interpreted Noah’s words differently.

 

Noah passed by him without feeling any emotion, even as he looked at Lucius’ eyes shaking as if they were overflowing with water.

 

“Is my mother in the reception room?”

 

“Yes. You can go to the reception room….I will take you there.”

 

When he turned around and walked with his back straight, he no longer showed any signs of agitation or similar emotions.

 

Noah didn’t pay any more attention to him and walked away with his eyes slightly lowered.

 

Noah could feel Simon, who was following him a step away, panicking and not knowing what to do.

 

Noah kept his mouth shut until he reached the reception room.

 

“Is that really true?”

 

Raenel’s voice came through the wide open door of the reception room. 

 

Even though it wasn’t said to him, he was happy just to hear that voice. The mere sound of Raenel’s voice brought a smile to his lips.

 

“We lost contact after graduating from the military academy, but we were quite close friends during our school days. I also heard a lot about the Marquise back then@@” 

 

A clear tremor that could not be mistaken for a mishearing.

 

The tremor was even mixed with a creepy noise as if someone had scratched a chalkboard with their fingernails.

 

“Me?”

 

“@@Yes. He said he had a sister who didn’t have a fiancé yet and that he would introduce me if I was interested. If I had known that you would be such a beautiful person, I would have accepted that offer, but it’s such a pity. @@” 

 

Every word he says is a lie.

 

It was certain. The man who was newly chosen as his teacher is a terrible liar.

 

He also had bad intentions towards his mother.

 

* * * 

 

“This is our second meeting, so let me formally introduce myself, I’m Mario Folten.”

 

Noah’s new teacher, Mario Folten, who bent gracefully with his hand on his chest, was a handsome man.

 

Lightly pigmented silver hair and blue eyes. The glasses on the bridge of the nose, combined with the long, loosely tied hair, give off an intellectual vibe. His thin body, seems to be far from exercise.

 

‘I’m worried that he might collapse.’

 

“Nice to meet you again. Let’s take a seat first.”

 

As I offered him a seat, I briefly looked him up and down, feeling somewhat uncomfortable.

 

‘He’s not going to collapse like that, is he…?’

 

In fact, even on the day of the interview, I thought about dropping him because his body looked so bad.

 

If he hadn’t gotten a perfect score on the first test, if the other interviewers hadn’t given him such a high score, I might have dropped him.

 

Or at least, if there were other good candidates besides him.

 

‘It’s funny when I think about it. Did I say I only look at skills, but how could less than ten people pass the first round?’

 

It was Sage and Leona who created the question paper. To be precise, they created it while reviewing military history and monster ecology with Noah, so I can say Noah also helped.

 

Noah didn’t expect so many people to fail the test even though it was a test with questions he already knew.

 

‘At this point, I got really curious. Is it really that other people’s level is low, or is Noah’s level of knowledge high?’

 

‘He played the piano pretty well too…he’s also good at drawing, not to mention sports.’

 

No matter how I thought about it, it seemed like Noah must be a genius.

 

‘If that’s the case, how should I educate that child in the future? Is there such a thing as gifted education in this world?’

 

With those questions in mind, I asked a question to Mario, who was elegantly enjoying the scent of tea.

 

“You said you were from the South, right?”

 

“Yes. To be exact, I am from the Duke Daphnen’ territory. to be exact. I’m from a small country town in the southwestern part of the duke.”

 

“If it’s southwest of the duchy, it’s close to the border. Have you ever seen the Grand Canal?”

 

“I’ve seen it. I’ve crossed it myself on one of the 13 bridges and I’ve also been on a boat.”

 

“Really? I heard that both the bridge and boat are quite expensive.”

 

“Because of that, I became a poor person. I came to the northern part of the country to look for work, and by chance, I found an open job and applied.”

 

This was the story I heard on the day of the interview. He added in a confident voice that he was from a military academy and could protect himself.

 

‘Actually, I still don’t really believe what he said, but…The copy of the military academy diploma he submitted was not forged.’

 

Thanks to my brother, I knew well that they couldn’t graduate from the military academy with just such skills. So even if his body looks weak, he will actually be able to use the sword.

 

‘Because you shouldn’t judge people just by looking at the outside.’ 

 

If he had been chosen as Noah’s swordsmanship teacher, I would have looked into it more closely, but this man will only teach theory classes focusing on military science and monster ecology.

 

‘Yes, he just needs to be smart.’ 

 

I was drinking tea when a thought suddenly occurred to me and I hastily put down my teacup. 

 

“Sir Mario, how old did you say you were this year?”

 

“Please call me Mario. I turned twenty-six this year.” 

 

“I won’t give you any more bonuses if you become friends with me, so there’s no need to be nice to me. If you’re twenty-six, what year did you graduate from the military academy?”

 

I managed to swallow down the question I was planning to ask if he knew my younger brother. I thought it was too personal a question to ask a teacher selected through a test.

 

But Mario smiled as if he had heard the question I had swallowed. It was as if he had been waiting.

 

“If you are asking me whether I know Sir Alexander, that is correct. I know him very well.”

 

“Is that really true?”

 

“Yes.”

 

Mario nodded and smiled again, tucking his half-loose hair behind his ear due to the hair tie falling down.

 

The straight index and middle fingers and the slightly bent little finger strangely caught my eye.

 

“We lost contact after graduating from the military academy, but we were quite close friends during our school days. I also heard a lot about the Marquise back then.” 

 

“Me?”

 

“Yes. He said he had a sister who didn’t have a fiancé yet and that he would introduce me if I was interested. If I had known that you would be such a beautiful person, I would have accepted that offer, but it’s such a pity.”

 

What is this guy saying to a married woman? If he’s trying to win my favor by flattering me, he’s in the wrong place.

 

“Alex made that suggestion?”

 

“He also said that he was worried about who would take Howard’s tomboy.”

 

“What?”

 

‘My brother told him about something we talked about between us? Is he out of his mind?!’

 

“Mother.”

 

“Oh, Noah.”

 

If Noah hadn’t come in through the open door of the reception room at that time, I might not have been able to control my anger.

 

Feeling fortunate that Noah came in at the right time, I stood up and stretched out my hand to Noah.

 

I hugged Noah as he approached me and looked at Mario who got up from his seat after me.

 * * *