How The Sub-Male Lead’s Stepmother Teaches Love Chapter 151

A moment later, when the smoke from the explosion of the magic bombs had completely dispersed, Gray, who had been hiding behind the tree trunk, was no longer visible.

 

It wasn’t teleportation. He was still in the same place. He had just torn a stealth magic scroll.

 

‘Surely, they won’t bother using detection magic in such a hurry.’

 

Just as he expected, the pursuers ran past the tree Gray was hiding behind, chasing a decoy doll running ahead in the same posture as Gray.

 

‘One, two… four? There were at least four people chasing me?’

 

At least four, but there could be more he hadn’t spotted yet. And surely, a similar number of pursuers were likely chasing his other teammates.

 

‘I hope this is the maximum number that came this way… I’m not worried about the others, but I wonder if Sophia can shake off her pursuers.’

 

The important thing was that it was Sophia who ran away with the item.

 

Since stealth magic was Sophia’s second-best skill after healing magic, they had entrusted her with it, thinking she could avoid the pursuers.

 

‘In that case, wouldn’t it have been better to run away together rather than scattering?’

 

‘No, if we did that, we would all have been caught.’

 

Gray was confident that dispersing their pursuers was the best choice. Thanks to this, he now had a chance to shake them off.

 

‘Please… please, decoy doll, hold on for as long as you can!’

 

But Gray knew the decoy doll wouldn’t last more than ten minutes. It would keep running as instructed until it was destroyed.

 

Before then, he needed to ensure the pursuers couldn’t track him. Carefully moving his body to keep the stealth magic from breaking, Gray reached into his magic bag.

 

‘This is my ultimate emergency tool.’ 

 

The job of a mercenary is to be safe today but not know if you will die tomorrow.

 

Even if he survived today, tomorrow could bring death—that was the life of a mercenary. But if he were to die, he wouldn’t die alone. With the money he had scraped together, he had acquired a magical artifact to take revenge on his enemy.

 

‘Please, Goddess of Fortune, grant me luck and misfortune upon them.’

 

After a short prayer, Gray pulled the cork out of the vial, put it in his mouth, and placed the vial on the floor.

 

The purple smoke that had been trapped in the closed space began to rise into the air like a snake and disperse in all directions.

 

The smoke was very ominous, but Gray could not smell anything. It had no effect.

 

It was natural. It was a scent that did not harm humans or any other species.

 

Instead, it was the opposite. The monsters nearby would soon be drawn to this place, attracted by its sweet scent. 

 

And they will mistake these smoke-covered people for food.

 

The only one safe from that scent was Gray, who had the cap of the bottle in his mouth.

 

– Boom!

 

A loud explosion could be heard from quite a distance, and he heard a crack of wood splitting.

 

His decoy doll, modeled after his physique, had been destroyed.

 

‘Damn it, couldn’t it have lasted just a bit longer?’

 

“It was a decoy doll! Get back! Use detection magic!”

 

“I’m sure he didn’t go far!”

 

Abandoning his cautious movements between the trees, Gray pushed off the ground and bolted forward.

 

“There he is!”

 

The stealth magic on his body was quickly broken by his violent movements, and the wizards were able to quickly locate him.

 

‘Please, please!’

 

“Wind Cutter!”

 

A blade of wind flew in from quite close by and brushed his shoulder.

 

Fortunately, he was not injured, but the leather shoulder pad fell off. Gray instinctively grabbed his shoulder and prayed again, ‘Please, please.’

 

And perhaps his prayers were answered.

 

“Groaar!”

 

“What, what is that?”

 

“Why is a giant bear here…. Who called it!”

 

“Not me!”

 

“Me neither. I didn’t know about the bloodstone in the first place… Argh!”

 

The air was tingled with the sound of the monster’s roar, accompanied by its terrible final words.

 

“Is it a local monster? Let’s handle it quickly and then—what, what is this?!”

 

“Argh! It’s poison!”

 

“First, use purification magic—Aaaah!”

 

“My leg! It bit my leg.”

 

It seemed like the giant bear wasn’t the only monster that appeared.

 

Gray ran as fast as he could, thinking that he really was lucky.

 

‘Once I’ve completely shaken them off, I’ll go find Sophia. Please, let her be safe…’

 

Saliva filled his mouth from biting down on the cork. He couldn’t let it drop, not even by accident, or he’d end up as monster food along with the pursuers. 

 

Even if he looked ridiculous drooling, it was better than the alternative. As he ran, Gray resolved to demand hazard pay from Marquis Ajas upon his safe return.

 

* * * 

 

“Uh, hm….”

 

“Mother! Are you awake?”

 

‘Noah…?’

 

I slowly regained consciousness, as if I was floating out of water. I struggled to lift my heavy eyelids and blinked blankly, staring at the unfamiliar ceiling.

 

“Nell, are you awake?”

 

“Marquise, are you okay?”

 

“Please, say you’re okay!”

 

Catherine’s voice followed Ethan’s voice, then Marilyn’s voice, one after another.

 

Only then did I remember where I was and what my situation was, so I raised my hands and stared blankly at my empty hands before getting up.

 

“What about Rake?”

 

“Rake is…..”

 

“Rake is fine, so don’t worry about it.”

 

It wasn’t Sage, who appeared troubled and hesitant, that answered. Instead, the response came from a voice I didn’t expect to hear in this place.

 

I sat on the bed with Leona’s support and turned my head in the direction from which the sound came.

 

There was Felix. He was sitting relaxedly in his comfortable chair, holding a glass of wine.

 

Not only that, but there was a bottle of wine and snacks laid out on the table beside him.

 

‘While I had been lying unconscious, he’d been drinking?’

 

It was absurd. Yet, I couldn’t express any complaints.

 

It was because of Rake, who was lying on a table with food laid out, with its wings and legs spread out like a bed, breathing colorfully.

 

“Why is Rake lying like that over there?”

 

‘And more importantly, do birds normally sleep like that? Don’t they usually perch somewhere and nod off?’

 

“Um, well… I’m not sure how to explain it—”

 

“Marquise, Since you’re awake now, could you please write the letter?”

 

Interrupting Sage, Marilyn stepped forward, clasped her hands together, and asked me with an earnest look on her face. No, she pleaded.

 

“I really, no, not only I, but the wizards of the Silver Frost Tower have no desire to be enemies with Ajas. Rather, we want to be friends. An alliance! Yes, if we can form an alliance, then we want to form one!”

 

“Uh… well, of course, we’d prefer to get along if we can…”

 

‘But before that, shouldn’t we focus on proving our innocence in the incident that had just occurred?’

 

Perhaps sensing my thoughts through my hesitant gaze, Felix put down his wine glass and nodded.

 

“You don’t need to do anything else to prove Ajas’s innocence. It has already been proven.”

 

“Proven? Already?”

 

“Yes. I admit that today’s incident was an unavoidable accident. However, even though it wasn’t intentional, your knight caused significant damage, so compensation will be expected. You promised Marilyn, didn’t you?”

 

Since the issue seemed to be resolved amicably, there was no reason to object. I nodded obediently.

 

“Okay. I’ll make sure to take responsibility for compensating the damages later along with a formal apology.”

 

Catherine apologized to me with a very depressed look on her face.

 

“Nell….sorry.”

 

“You don’t need to apologize to me. Just make sure to report everything to Leonhardt later and accept whatever punishment he deems fit.”

 

“The captain is scary….”

 

But Catherine nodded quietly, knowing that she had made quite a big mistake.

 

“Then a letter! Now write a letter!”

 

Marilyn held out a quill and a piece of paper to me as if she was being chased by something.

 

I wrote a letter telling them not to worry, that I was there at Felix’s invitation to the tower, and that it wasn’t like I was kidnapped or anything.

 

“But if I’m going to send this letter, I think I need to write when I’ll be back…”

 

Since this tower was built on white Land, it would be impossible to return by land.

 

I thought about the world map in my head for a moment and then asked Felix.

 

“If I say I want to go back, will you send me to the castle anytime?”

 

“Yes, anytime.”

 

“Really? Without any conditions?”

 

“Without any conditions.”

 

Felix nodded coolly. I wasn’t the only one who questioned that reaction.

 

“What’s gotten into you, Master, for you to be so obedient…? Marquise, did you perhaps discover some weakness of our master?”

 

“Weakness? No, not at all….”

 

‘Could it be because of that?’

 

‘Now that I think about it, where did it go?’

 

Sage noticed why I was looking around and took a box out of his magic bag and handed it to me.

 

“It’s here, Marquise.”

 

“Yeah, thanks.”

 

I put down the quill and paper and opened the wooden box.

 

Inside the box were three wands, buried in red velvet fabric and held together by gold metal pins. 

 

I stared at the three wands, then took out the one on the far right and held it out to Sage.

 

“Here, a gift.”

 

* * *