The Stepmother Keeps Stealing the Male Leads - Chapter 15

“Lady Liliana Emeldia has arrived.”

At the butler’s words, Sieghardt’s pacing finally stopped.

Today, Sieghardt planned to ask Liliana if she would become Angelina’s chief lady-in-waiting.

Soon, Liliana appeared.

Seeing her, so beautifully grown from the girl vividly etched in his childhood memories, Sieghardt found it quite astonishing.

Her face was both familiar and unfamiliar, and it almost made him smile.

“You called for me, Your Grace.”

Liliana knelt and greeted him.

Sieghardt guided her to the reception sofa.

Now then, how should he begin?

Sieghardt was not good with words.

His mother, the Grand Duchess, often scolded him for his bluntness and habit of diving straight into the main point.

But it felt terribly rude to speak that way when making a request. And small talk? Only trivial topics came to mind.

“……”

Sieghardt couldn’t bring himself to speak.

Seeing his unease, Liliana began to feel strangely tense as well.

“His Grace the Grand Duke wishes to make a request of Lady Liliana.”

Perhaps worried that the Grand Duke might lose his dignity at this rate, the chief aide stepped in to speak for him.

‘A request?’

Liliana’s green eyes widened.

Then came a quiet sigh of relief and one of disappointment.

She had expected this.

When she was summoned by Grand Duke Sieghardt, her heart had nearly stopped, but miracles only went so far.

There was no way her stepmother’s claim of arranging a match with the Grand Duke could truly come to pass.

Still, it made her happy just to know that someone had recognized her long-held feelings.

She wouldn’t lie—she had hoped. But even just receiving a request from him made her incredibly happy.

“…Lady Liliana, do you have any plans for your future?”

He had meant to ease into the topic gently, with a proper introduction and buildup, but as soon as Sieghardt spoke, he realized something was off.

Liliana didn’t know how to respond.

She had no such thing as a future plan.

She liked living close to the Sun God and visiting the temple, but she didn’t even have enough money to make regular offerings.

And she was already twenty-two.

A noble lady remaining unmarried at twenty-two was rare.

She had two younger sisters.

She had lost her mother, and then her father.

Talking about losing wealth and status no longer fazed her, but she wanted to deny the fact that she had lost her future too.

“I-I… I don’t have any plans.”

Liliana misunderstood.

Nobles often made their desires known by first asserting dominance over the other party, and then making their ‘request.’

It was more like coercion than asking.

Sieghardt must be about to ask her something difficult.

As long as it wasn’t illegal, she had already decided she would do anything for him.

When Liliana lowered her head and answered, Sieghardt realized that something was very wrong.

He went straight to the point.

“Ah—what would you think about becoming Lady Angelina’s chief lady-in-waiting?”

With the Empress gone, the woman with the highest authority in the Empire after the Grand Duchess of Revladian was Lady Angelina of Herbyante.

Even someone as unfamiliar with the social world as Liliana knew of Lady Angelina.

She was called the ‘Angel of the Empire,’ and men admired her for her beauty, wisdom, and charm.

“M-me?”

Becoming her chief lady-in-waiting was an honor for any noble family.

All the noble ladies of the capital longed for the position, and behind the scenes, all sorts of bribes and favors were being exchanged.

And yet, a fallen noble lady with no ties and no money, like her, as chief lady-in-waiting…

“How could I possibly…”

Liliana lacked confidence.

She had never served anyone before…

She didn’t know the latest trends…

Lately, she hadn’t even been reading much, using chores as an excuse.

How could someone as unqualified as her serve such a noble person…?

Liliana began to wonder if this was all some cruel joke.

“Liliana, aren’t you my longtime friend? If it’s you, I can entrust the Lady to you.”

As Liliana’s hands trembled in confusion, Sieghardt took them in his own.

He couldn’t understand why Liliana was so anxious.

He had no doubt that having someone as kind and wise as Liliana serve as chief lady-in-waiting would be an honor for Angelina as well.

“A friend… Your Grace, I may be lacking, but I will do my best!”

Liliana was overjoyed.

Even if he didn’t share her feelings, just the fact that he considered her a friend made her feel as if she had the whole world.

She vowed to live up to his trust no matter what.

Her green eyes sparkled even more with the tears welling up.

Realizing they had been holding hands far too tightly, both quickly pulled away like lightning.

‘Unbelievable.’

Though he normally respected the Grand Duke, the chief aide could not stop himself from thinking this.

He too had had a long-time female friend, but he had never said such corny lines, nor did he ever intend to.

Holding hands? It gave him goosebumps.

‘Those two are definitely not just friends!’

It seemed like everyone but those two understood the true nature of their relationship.

‘Could it be… the Grand Duke’s heart toward Lady Angelina is wavering?’

The sudden thought made the chief aide shake his head.

No matter what, there was no way the Grand Duke’s feelings for Lady Angelina would change.

That was an undeniable truth.

***

Sweat poured down Jaina’s forehead as she swung her wooden sword.

The training hall annexed to the Count’s estate was filled with memories of her father.

He used to say that even girls should know how to defend themselves, and so he had taught the three sisters swordsmanship here.

The one who had trained the hardest was, of course, the athletic Jaina.

Jaina, who resembled their father the most in appearance, had also inherited his exceptional swordsmanship—he had once been one of the top knights before his injury.

Back then, the training hall had overflowed with her father, his knights, and squires. Now, unused for so long, it was buried in dust and cobwebs.

Still, some of the dummies and equipment were in decent condition.

Jaina swung her wooden sword at the dummy.

Horizontal slash. Vertical slash. Her movements were so skilled, it was hard to believe she had trained alone since her father’s death.

…Clap, clap, clap!

While internally praising herself for the form she just executed, she suddenly heard the sound of clapping.

Jaina quickly turned to locate the source.

‘Helene…!!’

How long had she been there?

Helene was seated in the gallery, watching her.

Why was Helene here?

As far as Jaina knew, Helene didn’t even know there was a training hall in the mansion.

Last time it was the mountain, and now the training grounds?

‘Is she following me or something?’

She was so shocked she couldn’t even speak.

“You’ve finished the horizontal and vertical slashes, so next is the thrust, right?”

With a flat voice, Helene mimicked the sequence clumsily.

Jaina realized this wasn’t the first time Helene had watched her train.

What could possibly be her intention?

Could it be that having arranged a marriage for her older sister wasn’t enough—was she now planning to marry her off to some rich noble too?

Jaina’s eyes narrowed suspiciously.

“What are you even doing here?”

Jaina questioned Helene as if confronting her.

She was someone Jaina didn’t even want to be near, and this place was precious to her.

Now it felt like Helene had seen through even her buried longing for the father she had once resented and blamed.

“Have you ever thought about becoming an imperial knight?”

“…What?”