How The Sub-Male Lead’s Stepmother Teaches Love

“Ugh…I’ll have to schedule a day here later and sort it out.” 

 

“Let me help you, Mother.”

 

“Then I am grateful. When your father comes back later, the three of us will organize it together.”

 

However, I saw Noah’s face stiffen slightly at the word ‘father’. I was glad that it didn’t seem to be a feeling of fear, but the fact that my son was having a hard time with his father, whether it was nervousness or awkwardness, was not a good thing.

 

‘Well, the father is having a hard time with the son, so how can the son feel comfortable with the father?’ 

 

Clicking my tongue lightly, I tried to divert Noah’s attention by pointing to the boxes stacked side by side on one side of the wall.

 

“Wow, there’s a treasure chest over there! “Would you like to open it and see what’s inside?” 

 

“Yes, mother.”

 

Noah’s eyes shone with interest, curiosity, and anticipation. I wonder if I look in the mirror, maybe I have eyes like that too?

 

‘Everything else is just a big pile of stuff, but what’s in the box must be precious, right?’’

 

There would be plenty of time, so we decided to open the boxes one by one, starting with the one in front.

 

“Ugh…What, why is this so heavy?” 

 

“I’ll try, Mom.”

 

“No, even if you do—”

 

Before I could finish speaking, Noah lifted the lid of the large box with his fern-like hands.

 

I was momentarily speechless as he looked so effortless, as if he were opening a bottle.

 

“It’s open, Mom!”

 

“Wow….That’s amazing.”

 

‘That’s right, he was Ajas.’

 

Suddenly a thought occurred to me. 

 

‘Wasn’t this what it meant that only Ajas’s direct descendants could enter this treasure room? Without the power of Ajas, you can’t open the box.’

 

‘Then what’s inside the box is the real treasure…?’ 

 

Contrary to my expectations, what was inside the wide open box was an old book. A very worn-out book that looks like it will crumble if you don’t touch it properly.

 

“What kind of book is this that they kept in the box?” Shall we unfold it?”

 

“Hmm…No, I think it’s better not to touch it.” 

 

“Yes. Then I’ll close it again.”

 

Noah immediately nodded to me and closed the lid of the box. I was a little concerned about Noah’s obedient reaction, so I asked cautiously.

 

“No. I don’t know any ancient languages anyway.”

 

“It was written in an ancient language?”

 

“Yes. It’s on the cover.”

 

‘That… Was it an ancient word, not a pattern? I didn’t know it at all.’

 

“Wow, that’s amazing. How do you know it’s an ancient word?”

 

“I saw it briefly in history class. I didn’t learn it properly, so I don’t know what it means….”

 

“But you are good! I didn’t even know it was an ancient language.”

 

I reached over to the box next to me and tried to lift the lid.

 

But this time, the lid didn’t budge, and Noah opened the box as effortlessly as if he were opening a book.

 

‘Really, did they make the box like this on purpose, so that no outsider would even think of stealing it?’

 

‘At this point, I was convinced. At least I was sure that no one would be able to open the chests inside this treasure room.’

 

“Wow…It’s a really big necklace. I’ve never seen anything this big.” 

 

“Me neither. Can you put this around a person’s neck….?”

 

I don’t know much about gems, but the large tear-shaped blue gem in the center seemed to be at least tens of carats. No, it might be over a hundred carats.

 

At the center, diamonds and blue gems the size of thumbnails were woven like a net in dozens, if not hundreds, in the shape of a bird with its two wings spread.

 

There were so many jewels, each reflecting light brilliantly from various angles, that it hurt my eyes.

 

Thinking that this was definitely not something meant to be worn around a person’s neck, I motioned for Noah to close the lid.

 

“I’m pretty sure I’d break my neck if I wore that thing.”

 

“But I think it will suit you well, Mother.”

 

“What?”

 

“To support my mother’s dazzling beauty, wouldn’t it need to shine like this?”

 

Noah was looking up at me with bright eyes.

 

With eyes that are pure and untainted by dirt, with eyes that are clear and clean as if they have never told a lie in their life.

 

Kids don’t lie, and because Noah is a good boy, he won’t lie even more. So when he says her mother is dazzlingly beautiful, he means it. 

 

The corner of my mouth twitched nervously.

 

“Hmm, hmmm! Of course, your mother’s beauty is pretty! This is a secret, but your father also asked me to marry him because he fell in love with me at a glance.”

 

Noah’s eyes widened at my playful words. Then, as if in disbelief, he mumbled, ‘That can’t be true.…’

 

I was very shocked by the reaction. 

No, of course it was a lie, but I never thought Noah would react like that.

 

‘Does this mean that although I have dazzling beauty, I’m not enough for his father to fall in love with me at first sight?’ 

 

Leonhard didn’t sit Noah down and tell him that he has very high standards.

 

‘Ha, But why do I want to cry?’

 

I was afraid that Noah would notice me like this, so I quickly told him to look at another box.

 

We opened all the boxes and looked at what was inside. Aside from the weapons scattered throughout, the most common items were jewelry made of large jewels, like the necklace we saw earlier. 

 

The next most common items were old books, magic books, and magic tools written in the ancient language.

 

Among them, the ones most suitable for a treasure room were none other than gold coins that were in circulation in the Old Kingdom.

 

It has high historical value, so even if you put just one piece up for auction, everyone will rush to buy it.

 

I wondered where all the coins that were used like coins in the past had gone, and I found three chests stuffed here.

 

‘This is why he isn’t even hesitant when he gives me Paul Herbina as a marriage proposal gift.

 

“Ah, I found it! It was here!”

 

“What is this, Mother?”

 

“It’s a magic tool. hmm…It seems like it’s running out of magic now and isn’t working.”

 

It was in a flat box, so I almost passed it by without seeing it. Still, I took out the pendant from the box, thinking I was glad I found it tonight.

 

An octahedral lapis-gold magic stone pendant on a thin gold chain.

 

I saw a lot of fancy necklaces, so the design seemed superficially poor.

 

However, the lapel-gold magic stone, with gold dust sparkling like the night sky with the Milky Way spread out, was now a rare item that could only be found in dungeons.

 

There are plenty of other magic tools in this treasure room, but this is the one I picked out.

 

With this, you can tell at a glance that it was taken out of a treasure room.

 

“I don’t know exactly what magic is being used, but it will help the wearer in times of danger. Noah, I’ll give it to you.”

 

“What? To me?”

 

Noah looked very surprised, but I didn’t care. I knelt in front of him and hung the pendant around his neck.

 

Since he was wearing a white shirt, the sparkling lapel-gold magic stone stood out especially. I liked that and smiled happily.

 

Noah asked me, not knowing what to do. 

 

“Can I have this?”

 

“Well, of course. Anyway, when you grow up, everything here will be yours. Think of having one of them in advance.”

 

“Ha, but—”

 

“You can’t take it off your body. Understand?”

 

I looked into Noah’s amber eyes and asked.

 

Noah, who hesitated for a moment while holding the pendant in his hand, whether he knew why I had given him this necklace or not, slowly nodded.

 

“Yes…I will cherish it, Mother.” 

 

“You will. You promise.”

 

‘I hadn’t even been at the castle for a month, and I felt like I’d made a lot of promises with this kid.’

 

I patted the head of the child who nodded kindly and then stood up.

 

“Then the business is done now.…Oh right! I almost forgot! You know what? There is a dragon’s egg in this treasure room.” 

 

“Dragon eggs? really?”

 

“Yeah. I heard it from your father. He said that as soon as we saw it, we would know that it was a dragon’s egg.”

 

However, until now, we have not seen anything believed to be dragon eggs. Is it really supposed to be in the box too?

 

There were still dozens of boxes left that had not been opened. As I looked down at the boxes piled up with a somewhat lost feeling, I suddenly heard a strange sound from somewhere.

 

“Huh? What was that sound?”

 

“yes? What?”

 

“Didn’t you hear? There was something over there…” 

 

“Peep!”

 

“Yeah,….. Peep?”

 

I couldn’t believe my ears and looked down at Noah. Then Noah looked up at me with a puzzled face. It seemed like he heard that too.

 

At that time, the creaking sound was heard clearly again. I reflexively squeezed Noah’s hand. Then, I relaxed my body, wondering if there was anything to be scared of by something like the sound of a chick crying. 

 

“Where did the bird come in?”

 

“I heard there is no other entrance other than the door.…Or did he come in when we came in?”

 

“That makes sense.”

 

I took Noah, who nodded, and headed toward the direction the sound came from. 

 

I kept hearing the creaking sound so I couldn’t get lost. Finally, we were able to find a small bird pecking at a piece of ice on a thick cushion.

 

“Oh my, dear. What are you eating?”

 

“Peep?”

 

I was surprised and started talking to him as if he were a human being, but he tilted his head and opened his beak and cried as if a small bird understood what I was saying.

 

The piece of ice that fell down turned into white cold air, like water vapor, and was absorbed by the bird. I opened my eyes wide in surprise.

 

“What, what is this…?”

 

“Mother! It’s a monster!”

 

“What?”

 

While I was shocked at the word monster, Noah blocked my path as if he was trying to protect me.

 

‘A monster is a monster. If we let our guard down due to its cute appearance, we will end up with a big injury.’

 

I held Noah’s hand, remembering the precautions written in the Monster Encyclopedia. 

 

“Noah, get out of here for now—” 

 

“Peep, peep!”

 

At that time, the small bird stepped on the cushion with its thin feet, as if in protest. As he did so, he flapped his two short wings back and forth and made a croaking noise…It also looks like he wants to say something.

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