The Stepmother Keeps Stealing the Male Leads - Chapter 16

Helene hadn’t expected Jaina’s swordsmanship—what she had assumed to be just a bit of athletic ability—to be this impressive.

The sound that had drawn her led to the Count’s annex training hall, and there, Jaina was training every day.

Had she received proper training at an academy, her skills would be even better, but even now, she had more than enough to be called a knight.

Jaina wasn’t meant to be a hunter. She was meant to be a knight.

“A-a knight…? What are you…”

Jaina tried to brush it off awkwardly, but she couldn’t.

Because her dream really was to become a knight.

As a child, her father, clad in armor and helmet on the battlefield, had looked so cool.

She used to run around the training hall wearing her father’s oversized helmet.

After he became disabled due to a fall in battle, and her mother grew more anxious, she kept it a secret—but she had pinky-promised with him to become a great knight.

But the Imperial Palace rarely recruited female knights, and as the daughter of a fallen count, she wasn’t sure she could blend in with the closed-off, traditional imperial knights.

Becoming an imperial knight had always felt like a distant dream.

“You’ve heard, haven’t you? That the Imperial Palace is recruiting new knights.”

Of course Jaina had. Whenever she saw the posters in the plaza, the fortress walls, or along the roads, she would stand and stare at them for a long time.

Helene, who had been secretly following Jaina, knew this well.

“The documents are already prepared. All that’s left is to submit them and pass the test.”

Helene showed Jaina the completed application documents.

Though she hadn’t attended an academy, they were written to show that she had received private lessons from her father, who had once served as a knight commander. There was even a required letter of recommendation.

It was six full pages long, handwritten by none other than the Marchioness of Lausenne—also the aunt of the current imperial general.

Looking through the documents carefully, Jaina asked with a suspicious look, “What do you get out of this, Stepmother?”

Helene wanted Jaina to become an imperial knight. She wanted to help Jaina achieve her dream.

And she wanted Jaina to meet the perfect male lead.

The imperial knights were filled with handsome male lead candidates.

Those handsome knights would later become the ‘Angel Guardians,’ a cringeworthy name for the order formed to protect Saintess Angelina.

Among them, perhaps the one who matched Jaina best was the captain, Andre—one of the top fan-favorite male leads.

Andre had it all: looks, personality, and a noble family.

His family, renowned for generations of knights, became incredibly wealthy after a diamond mine was discovered on their land granted by a previous emperor.

Even after that, Andre continued to pursue the honor of knighthood, and eventually, he would become the captain of the Angel Guardians who gave his life for Angelina.

Sorry, Angelina, but you’ve got more than enough male leads to go around.

And Sieghardt was currently the commander of the Hersen Empire.

If Jaina became a knight, it would create a new connection between Liliana and the Grand Duke.

Though she had failed to join the Sun Fellowship and hadn’t grown closer to the Grand Duchess, there were still ways to approach the Grand Duke.

If one door doesn’t open, you just find another.

That’s why she decided not to explain too much to Jaina.

“The family’s broke, so it’d be nice if someone made money. Just think how happy Liliana and April would be if you got a job,” Helene said.

She figured Jaina would believe it more if she said it was for money.

And by bringing up Liliana and April, Jaina wouldn’t be able to refuse easily.

As Helene predicted, Jaina thought about how happy Liliana and April would be if she became a knight.

Besides, she couldn’t keep hiding her identity and earning money through hunting forever.

She was already getting annoyed with the butcher who always tried to pry into her background whenever she brought in game.

Jaina began reading through the documents.

She still didn’t fully trust Helene, but the application was perfect.

And the handwritten recommendation letter from the Marchioness of Lausenne—who was the aunt of the current general—was basically a guaranteed pass for the document screening.

“…I’ll give it a try.”

Jaina finally said after some thought. It felt a bit fishy, but she couldn’t help wanting to become an imperial knight.

Seeing Jaina gather up the documents, Helene felt relieved.

Jaina would definitely become a great knight.

And Helene planned to find her the perfect male lead.

As she imagined Jaina’s first encounter with Andre, Helene’s lips curled into a wide grin.

***

“…T-this is strange.”

Andre suddenly felt an unbearable itch in his ear.

“Why? What’s going on?” Crown Prince Louihart asked.

“No, I think someone must be speaking ill of me. My ear just started itching all of a sudden,” Andre said while rubbing his ear.

“It’s probably just the knights gossiping about you again. Don’t tell me you’re planning to dig your ear right now?”

“If it bothers you to see me clean my ears in my office, Your Highness is free to leave.”

Andre replied to Louihart, who was lounging around on the sofa in his office.

Who would believe that the Crown Prince of the Empire looked like this?

Andre, though a longtime friend, clicked his tongue inwardly at the prince who remained as immature as ever.

“I told you, I’m a patient suffering from love. You’re supposed to be comforting me!”

As Louihart spoke, he clutched a crimson velvet cushion tightly.

He had been suffering from a terrible case of lovesickness for three years now.

Three years ago, Louihart had gone to study abroad at the prestigious academy in Herbyante.

He had thrown quite a fit about going at the time, but once there, he met Angelina and instantly fell in love.

Though only a month had passed since returning to the capital, Lephia, he already felt like he was going mad with longing.

After the death of the Empress he loved, the Emperor had returned to his old ways, spending his nights with dancers. Louihart, showing early signs of being a womanizer like his father, was now head over heels for Lady Angelina of Herbyante and wasting away in longing.

To make matters worse, his rival for the throne—second in line—had now also become his rival in love.

His rival and now romantic competitor, Sieghardt, was the older brother he admired most. He was the kind of man even other men found impressive.

Not only was he handsome like a sculpture, but he had broad shoulders and the charisma to command all the forces of the Hersen Empire.

Although Louihart was the Crown Prince, he felt like Sieghardt surpassed him in everything else.

He hadn’t read many books, but this felt like the tragic plot of a romance novel.

“Even I think His Grace the Grand Duke is handsome…”

Andre, as expected, was of no help.

Realizing this too late, Louihart abruptly jumped up from the couch that felt like a pit of despair.

Curious about what Andre was so focused on, he walked over.

Andre was reviewing the applications for the Imperial Knights.

Among them, one document caught Louihart’s eye.

“…There’s a girl?”

Louihart was surprised to see the face of a woman drawn on the application.

She had brown hair and green eyes, with strikingly refined features.

Even knowing portraits usually made one look twice as good, she was beautiful enough that Louihart would have followed her on sight without realizing it.

Though he was currently smitten with Angelina, Louihart had inherited the Emperor’s taste for beautiful women.

A female applicant to the Imperial Knights was rare, and being around his age made her all the more interesting to him.

Angelina disliked violence.

She hated even being touched by a flower.

“…It’s been a while since we’ve had a female applicant. There’s an exam this afternoon—I’m personally looking forward to her,” Andre said as he took the application back from Louihart and returned it to the envelope.

“I’m coming too.”

“What? Your Highness wants to come?”

Andre’s displeasure was clear.

The entrance exam for the Imperial Knights was a serious duty.

He could already imagine the prince meddling in everything.

But there was no one who could stop the spoiled Crown Prince.

“Is there a problem with me wanting to meet my future soldiers?”

The Crown Prince was shameless and had a silver tongue.

Andre didn’t like it, but he couldn’t think of a solid reason to say no.

‘The Imperial Knight entrance exam… Normally I wouldn’t even give it a glance, but…’

Louihart gave a bitter smile.

If it could distract him from thoughts of Angelina and Sieghardt, he was willing to try anything.