Selected as the New Stepmother (Completed Main Story) - Chapter 14
My Lord, do you have a moment?
Rublion’s small head popped out between the study door.
Ascal pointed to the sofa with his finger.
“I have something serious to discuss.”
Ascal watched Rublion for a moment, who cut straight to the point before even touching the sofa. His unusually serious and worried expression made Ascal feel a flicker of unease.
“What is it?”
“I’ve entrusted a task to Ino.”
“I know.”
“So you knew already.”
He’d heard about it while out at the office. He hadn’t asked why, but assumed there was a good reason.
“My Lord, when someone precious comes into your life, how do you protect them?”
“You must become strong.”
It was a clear answer, but it didn’t reach Rublion.
“But… I’m still too young to become strong.”
“That’s true.”
“Won’t you at least protect me?”
“….”
Ascal silently lifted his teacup. Rublion’s golden eyes trembled pitifully.
“Mama might marry someone else. She might become someone I can never see again.”
“I see.”
“I don’t need to become your wife. I just want Mama to stay beside me.”
Watching the boy speak with such firmness, Ascal let out a deep sigh.
“What exactly do you find so appealing about her?”
Was it her slightly wild hair color? Or perhaps her stubborn determination to survive at all costs?
He had watched this child for ten years, yet he simply could not understand this.
“I’ve tried hard to ensure you never felt the absence of a guardian. I provided you with a warm home, everything you needed, and never withheld support for your healthy growth. I still do.”
“That’s exactly why.”
Rublion’s eyes began to glisten.
“My Lord… no, Uncle, you’ve tried so hard to be a perfect guardian. But I don’t need a guardian—I need parents.”
Ascal’s heart sank.
“I know how much you’ve sacrificed for me. But… I’m lonely. Others have money they can’t even imagine, fine clothes, exquisite food—and still, they’re lonely.”
Finally, a single tear fell from Rublion’s eye. Ascal’s hand, still holding the teacup, sank downward.
“You asked why I like her?”
The boy looked into eyes identical to his own.
“At first, it was simple curiosity. She was the only person who didn’t flinch when faced with great wealth.”
Rublion, ignoring the cookie he loved, continued with heartfelt earnestness.
“As I watched her, I realized suddenly—Mama is just as lonely as I am.”
“….”
“That’s why I was drawn to her. She isn’t the perfect mother I dreamed of, but if she’s Mama, I think I could be happy. I could be the family that fills her loneliness.”
Ascal set down his teacup and clasped his hands together. Then he spoke seriously.
“I’m sorry. I made you lonely.”
Rublion held a piece of cookie, fiddling with it. Then he broke off the part covered in chocolate and offered it to Ascal.
“As I said before, I’m still not strong enough. So, please protect me until I become strong.”
He stared blankly at the broken cookie. Ascal knew well that Rublion loved the chocolate-covered half—and it broke his heart.
“What do you want me to do?”
As Ascal took the cookie, the boy’s face lit up with a smile—satisfied that the deal was sealed.
Rublion answered with hopeful anticipation.
“I want to bring Mama to the manor. Please help me.”
—
Ascal escorted Rublion to his bedroom this time, unlike before. He tucked him in and even stroked his hair as he wished him good night.
After putting the boy to sleep, Ascal returned alone to his room and could not sleep. He tossed and turned, then finally rose, groggy. Outside the window, the dawn was dark and still.
“It’s difficult.”
He had thought he had raised the boy with all his effort, yet one simple word—lonely—crumbled his world.
Lost in the gloom of the night, Ascal remembered the events of ten years ago.
At the time, Ascal’s brother, Duke Artenbach, had loved someone he should never have loved. The tragic end of that love fell upon Rublion, who had not yet reached his first month.
[Damn it, I never wanted a child.]That had been his brother’s final words before leaving the manor. He abandoned Rublion there as if he were nothing. His mother, too, vanished without a trace, claiming she had her reasons, leaving only a name.
Ascal became Rublion’s father at seventeen, having never even undergone his coming-of-age ceremony, stepping in for parents who had left for new lives.
‘…Has he already reached an age where he feels the absence of a mother?’
When Rublion was playing his ‘find a mother’ game, Ascal had casually asked a guard in the escort unit who raised his own child alone. A few years ago, children had often asked why their mother was gone; now, they were silent.
‘Come to think of it, Rublion has never once asked about his biological mother.’
Perhaps he already knows. That she abandoned him.
Ascal’s mind grew tangled. Taking in a noble youngae to the manor was not difficult at all.
But living together was entirely different from merely knowing each other—he feared Rublion might be hurt.
These thoughts spiraled endlessly, prolonging the time he lay awake.
Dawn had broken. Ascal gazed briefly at the reddening window, then slowly rose from his bed.
It was already too late to return to sleep.
—
As I prepared to leave for Blackswan early in the morning, my father approached me cautiously.
“Schmidt, I have something to say.”
My heart dropped instantly. Was I about to hear about another misdeed?
My father left ahead, saying he would wait for me in the study. Anna and I exchanged glances, trembling.
“Have you heard Father go to any gambling dens lately?”
“No.”
“Have you heard rumors of him visiting other places?”
“Yes. He rarely leaves the manor. It seemed like he was deeply troubled.”
“Really? I noticed it too.”
With Anna’s words, I rose from the vanity with a solemn motion.
I vowed I would not panic, no matter what shocking thing my father might say.
Yet I did.
“Schmidt… what if I enlisted?”
It was a declaration impossible to ignore. My handbag slipped from my fingers and fell to the floor.
“Suddenly?”
“It’s not sudden. Duke Artenbach has repeatedly urged me to enlist, but I’ve refused.”
These days, lower nobility are being overshadowed by wealthy bourgeoisie. An era has come where possessions and honor define class, and former titles have become either a means to receive imperial pensions or a refined amusement for bourgeoisie who dream of noble society.
In this situation, if Viscount Dely becomes a soldier defending the empire and protecting his lands, no one will ever try to buy the Dely family with money.
“They’re forming a rifle unit soon. If I enlist, I’ll be appointed as a company commander.”
“You’ll commute?”
At my question, a shadow fell across my father’s face.
“For the first year after the unit is formed, I’ll be granted two days of leave each month.”
“Oh…”
So that’s why he was troubled.
He’d be leaving me alone in this manor.
“That’s why I want to hear your opinion.”
I picked up my fallen handbag and answered firmly.
“Enlist, Father.”
“You’ll be alone for an entire year. Are you sure that’s all right?”
“A company commander is not a position anyone can hold.”
“That’s true, but…”
It would be lonely. With only two days a month together, we’d barely see each other’s faces. But this was an opportunity—for him and for me.
An opportunity for the Dely family to thrive.
An opportunity to nurture Blackswan, which Mother poured her entire soul into.
“Father.”
“Yes?”
Looking at my father, still unable to make his decision, I smiled brightly.
“I’m happy just knowing you’ve lifted a burden from your shoulders.”
“Y-You are?”
My father still wore a worried expression. I murmured softly, turning doubt into conviction.
“Keep an eye out for a decent match in the unit. Not someone like Johnston.”
—
After giving my father confidence, I arrived at Blackswan and gently tapped Anna’s shoulder as she stared in disbelief.
“I still can’t believe it. The Viscount has taken such a position.”
“I’m a little worried too, but I must believe he’ll do well.”
Anna recalled, speaking slowly.
“Wasn’t the Viscount once in the Royal Knight Order?”
“Yes. He left after meeting your mother.”
“I’ve heard rumors he had no equal in marksmanship.”
“That’s right. Back then, hardly anyone handled firearms.”
A childhood memory surfaced: my father laughing as he threw darts and popped every balloon at some unnamed festival.
“It’s fortunate the Viscount has found something good… but I worry about you staying alone in the manor.”
“We can’t afford a knight. We may need to hire mercenaries. But we can decide that later. For now, let’s focus on what we must do.”
“Yes, Miss!”
Anna replied cheerfully. I exhaled sharply and spread out newspaper clippings and the noble directory.
Male lead is a Love-Obsessed Merman
When he discovers she has gone, he risks everything to pursue her on land, enduring agonizing pain to transform his tail into human legs…
One-line summary: Male lead chases female lead. The male lead’s love is a bit sick, an invincible love brain.
Synopsis
During a voyage at sea, Jiang Yang accidentally captures a merman.
Servant: I heard that mermen are fierce and brutal.
Jiang Yang looks at the merman obediently rubbing her palm like a puppy: “You call this fierce and brutal?”
Servant: I heard that mermen have no human nature.
Jiang Yang looks at the merman with wet puppy eyes, obsessively calling her ‘A Yang’ like a childish infant: “You call this having no human nature?”
With great difficulty, she releases the merman back into the sea and returns to shore.
Who would have thought that in less than half a month, the merman, who should have been freely wandering in the South China Sea, would shed his scales, endure the pain of losing his tail, transform into human legs, and come ashore to find her?
He kneels at her feet, rubbing her palm, with merman tears rolling down: “A Yang, don’t abandon me.”
_____
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