The Stepmother Keeps Stealing the Male Leads - Chapter 3

In The Perfect Lady Angelina, the three sisters of House Emeldia were even more of an afterthought than the lowest-tier villain, Helene. Their names were barely even mentioned.

Because they had the misfortune of having the worst stepmother, they never had a chance to flourish and simply vanished from high society—mere extras whose only purpose was to highlight Angelina’s perfection.

House Emeldia had once been a wealthy family that owned all the emerald mines in Herzen.

Strangely enough, the three Emeldia sisters all had striking emerald-green eyes, as if reflecting the family’s legacy.

The eldest, Liliana Emeldia, was twenty-two years old this year. She was a classical beauty with light hazel hair, resembling her late mother.

She was elegant and noble to the core—so much so that only families of considerable standing would dare propose a marriage to her.

Among the high-ranking nobility, Liliana was an ideal candidate for marriage, yet no suitor came forward. The reason? The disgrace of the empire, the Red Witch, Helene, was simply too appalling to accept as an in-law.

After the mansion’s servants left due to Helene’s debts, all household chores fell to Liliana.

No matter how exhausting the work was, she always prayed to the Sun God every night before bed.

The second sister, Jaina, was seventeen, with deep brown hair inherited from their father. She had striking features that were both beautiful and handsome.

Unlike her refined older sister, Jaina was an untamed troublemaker. Taking after their father, who had been a knight, she had incredible athletic ability.

She was already 175 centimeters tall, taller than most men, and far stronger too.

That was how she had been able to subdue Helene in an instant when she threatened to set the mansion on fire.

For the record, Jaina absolutely hated Helene.

The youngest, April, was ten years old—quite a gap from her eldest sister. Despite being the youngest, she was far from sweet and endearing.

She was more mature than her age suggested, or perhaps just secretive. She spent most of her time locked away in her room, doing who-knows-what.

Her hair was red, just like Helene’s. But, of course, she was not Helene’s daughter. Apparently, red hair had appeared in the Emeldia bloodline before.

She had the typical Emeldia beauty—big, round eyes and an adorable face—but her personality left nothing to be doted on.

Was it because of Han Yena’s past life memories?

Strangely, Helene no longer resented the three sisters.

Perhaps it was because she had lived a similar life to them. Instead, she felt a sense of kinship—and guilt.

‘If I follow The Perfect Lady Angelina, then I really am the worst parent in the world…’

But no matter how she felt, the situation had not changed.

Three pairs of furious emerald-green eyes bore into Helene.

“…So?”

Helene crossed her arms and lifted her chin.

She had blurted out those words in desperation to avoid losing her fingers, but it was clear the sisters had completely misunderstood.

Just because she had regained her past life’s memories didn’t mean she had become a different person overnight.

This wasn’t something she could hide forever, and she had been wondering how to explain it to the sisters. In a way, this situation had worked in her favor.

Jaina, utterly dumbfounded, grabbed the back of her neck as if she had a headache.

“There’s a limit to shamelessness…”

Jaina was so enraged she could barely form words, and in her stead, Liliana stepped forward.

Liliana was never one to lose her composure. Even now, she remained calm.

But she could not completely hide her anger. Her voice trembled ever so slightly.

“You plan to marry me off and use the money to pay your debts? What right do you have, Stepmother?”

Unlike Jaina and April, who refused to acknowledge Helene at all, Liliana always addressed her as Stepmother.

She questioned Helene with flawless logic.

“Why? I’m your mother.”

Helene shrugged.

She did feel some guilt, but admitting that she had no right to do so would ruin her entire plan.

After Count Emeldia’s death, their relatives had abandoned the now-bankrupt House Emeldia without a second thought.

Even their so-called godfather had been too busy making money to care about them. Right now, their only legal guardian was Helene.

This world was unjust—household heads had absolute authority.

And the head of House Emeldia was Helene.

Even Liliana, normally so composed, rubbed her forehead in frustration when she realized reasoning with Helene was impossible.

“Why would you be our mother? I have never once considered you my mother!”

April stepped forward and shouted.

‘Why are your eyes so wide?’

Her already round green eyes widened even more as she glared fiercely at Helene, then shoved her hard.

The strength of a ten-year-old wasn’t much, but the sheer hostility in her gaze, far too intense for a child, made Helene flinch for a moment.

Helene quickly composed herself, grabbed April’s wrist, and met her eyes as she spoke firmly.

“April, no matter how angry you are, you shouldn’t push people. Someone could get hurt.”

April had never been scolded before.

She lost her mother at the age of two, and her father and older sisters, burdened by guilt, had never once reprimanded her. They couldn’t bring themselves to scold a child who had grown up without a mother.

“W-what? Are you insane??”

But Helene had always been hot-tempered—if she was criticized even slightly, she would lash out with insults and throw anything within reach.

This was the first time they had seen her respond rationally while being angry.

Jaina, furious at Helene for scolding April, grabbed her hand to stop her.

Helene let out a scream at the sheer strength of the seventeen-year-old girl.

“Oww!”

“What do you think you’re doing to April?!”

Helene barely managed to shake off Jaina’s grip and spoke, “From now on, I want both Jaina and April to call me ‘Stepmother,’ just like Liliana does.”

“What?”

Jaina’s expression twisted in disbelief. If there was ever a limit to shamelessness, this had to be it.

Helene, rubbing her reddened wrist from Jaina’s grip, continued, “It’s not for my sake. No matter how much you despise me, I won’t be insulted any more than I already have been. If anything, you’ll just be lowering yourselves to my level.”

In truth, Liliana probably hated Helene the most.

If not for Helene, she would have become the rightful head of the family.

Yet, despite this, Liliana always referred to Helene as ‘Stepmother.’

It was her way of making it clear that Helene had no influence over her.

No matter how much filth one dealt with, getting involved with it would only leave one dirty.

“I’m not telling you not to insult me. Just do it privately, when the three of you are alone in your rooms.”

Helene turned to April, who was still frozen from being scolded for the first time in her life.

“And April, no matter how much you hate me, I am bigger and an adult. You are just a child. You shouldn’t recklessly challenge someone you can’t win against. What would you have done if I really had lost my mind and attacked you?”

Helene wasn’t scolding her for standing up to her, nor was she saying that children should obey adults unconditionally. She was teaching her not to pick a fight she had no chance of winning. It was a valuable lesson, learned at a cheap price.

In this world, understanding the difference between the strong and the weak mattered more than understanding good and evil.

“You’ve never cared about us before. And now you’re suddenly pretending to be a parent? Just because you want to pay off your debt?”

Liliana, now composed again, asked coldly.

She was right. Helene had never acted like a parent to the three sisters.

Instead, she had gambled away their entire fortune, ensuring they had no future to dream of.

On days when she lost a lot of money, she would curse at them just for making eye contact.

“Yes. I will pay it back.”

Han Yena’s adoptive parents had been just like Helene.

As powerless members of society, they treated Han Yena not as a daughter, but as someone even weaker than themselves.

They would always say that she was incapable of achieving anything.

Han Yena had suffered greatly trying to prove them wrong.

And while she had ultimately died before proving anything, she had at least never lived owing others a debt.

“That includes you three as well.”

Even if Helene deserved her fate, the three sisters had not.

Just because they had the misfortune of an evil stepmother, their lives had been utterly ruined.

Liliana had died of illness at just twenty-two.

If they had managed to keep the mansion, if Jaina and April had been there for her, she might have survived. Or at the very least, she wouldn’t have died alone.

‘I will never live like that…’

A memory of Han Yena’s final thoughts before death flashed through Helene’s mind.

“I’m sorry, but you have to be happy for my sake.”

Helene declared to the three sisters.