How The Sub-Male Lead’s Stepmother Teaches Love Chapter 158

“Do you want a potion?”

 

“…..No. I have one.”

 

Leonhard let out a short sigh and untied the ribbon tied to his left hand, carefully placing it inside his coat. Then, as if worried he might drop it, he jumped in place a few times to check before finally treating the wound on his right hand.

 

Iron glanced at Leonhard’s chest, or more precisely, at the ribbon he had just put away while watching him roughly pull out the shards of glass embedded in his hand and apply the potion over the wound.

 

‘What on earth is that ribbon?’ 

 

Even Robert, who hadn’t entered the dungeon, knew about it because of how much Leonhard had obsessed over it.

 

After losing one of his two ribbons in the dungeon, Leonhard’s obsession with the remaining ribbon grew stronger.

 

‘He said it happened so quickly that he couldn’t do anything about it.’

 

The ribbon that got swept away was wrapped around the snout of a swordfish-like monster with a sharp, spear-like mouth.

 

Leonhard tried to dive into the pitch-black depths without even a lamp to retrieve it, and they barely managed to stop him.

 

‘Please… as long as we don’t end up clashing with the Silver Frost Tower.’

 

The knights are helpless in front of Leonhard, who possesses the power of steel. Weapons made of metal couldn’t even scratch Leonhard’s body.

 

The only things that could effectively harm him were non-metallic weapons like broken glass shards and magic.

 

Of course, even if a group of wizards attack in a swarm, Leonhard has the wizards and knights of Ajas by his side.

 

Of course, The odds of them losing were low. Iron was worried about something else.

 

‘If we end up in an all-out war with the Silver Frost Tower, other Wizards will come to resent Ajas. That means fewer Wizards will want to join Ajas.’

 

‘Ugh, whatever.’

 

Iron shook his head at the endlessly branching thoughts. He reminded himself that this was Robert’s problem to deal with.

 

All he had to do was open the way for his Lord to go wherever he wanted.

 

* * *

 

{….Since dragons are an exception class, dragon hearts do not follow the general magic stone classification.

 

It is unusual for the Dragon’s Magic Stone to be named ‘Dragon Heart’. As to why the Dragon Heart is different from regular magic stones, simply holding the Dragon Heart can cancel other people’s magic.

 

In other words, no magic can harm someone who has a dragon heart.

 

So what is the principle by which Dragon Heart turns the magic it casts into magical power?

 

The method is very simple. All you have to do is revert it back to the state it was in before the magic was cast.

 

‘It’s reverted.’

 

You need to focus on this word.

 

Reverting something to its state before any change occurred. Erasing the cause of that change. Restoring things as if nothing had ever happened.

 

There is only one way to make all this possible.

 

By reversing time.

 

Of course, there are no documents, samples, or experimental data to prove this hypothesis. This is merely the author’s speculation.

But if the dragon heart truly possesses such a power, then what are the limits of the dragon that owns it?….}

 

“Mother?”

 

“Huh?”

 

‘Ugh, was I too focused on the book?’

 

The moment I lifted my head at Noah’s call, I heard a crack from the back of my neck

 

Even if it wasn’t just because of that, my neck was really sore from being in the same position for a long time.

 

As I closed the book I was reading and rubbed the back of my neck with my hand, Noah came up to me with a worried look on his face and asked me.

 

“Mother, are you okay? That was a really loud sound…”

 

“Y-You could hear that? I’m fine. I was just looking down for too long, so my neck got stiff.”

 

“Do you want me to massage it for you?”

 

“You?”

 

I blinked at Noah, suddenly feeling an odd sense of unease.

 

‘It wasn’t a bad thing. In fact, it was rather endearing…’

 

‘Wait… Am I already at the age where I receive acts of filial piety?’

 

It’s not a bad feeling, but it’s kind of a strange feeling.

 

Still, I didn’t want Noah to feel discouraged, so I quickly nodded.

 

“Then, please do.”

 

“Yes, just trust me.”

 

Noah nodded vigorously, rolled up his sleeves, and walked behind me.

 

I shifted my loosely braided hair forward over my shoulder and sat up straight.

 

A moment later, I felt small, warm hands touch my neck.

 

Was it because he was still a child? His hands moved with careful gentleness, hesitant as they massaged my stiff neck and shoulders.

 

But I held back my laughter, worried that Noah might feel self-conscious if I commented on how light his touch was.

 

“How does it feel? Does it help?”

 

“Of course! Ahh, Noah, your hands are a blessing.”

 

“Mother….”

 

“Hm?….Oh!”

 

‘Right. He can tell when I’m lying.’

 

I felt embarrassed for no reason and coughed slightly. Then, I quickly added my words, worried that Noah might be hurt by my lie.

 

“It may be a little weak, but that’s because Noah, you’re still young. Honestly, I’m just touched by your thoughtfulness—”

 

“Then I’ll do it a little harder.”

 

“Huh?”

 

As soon as he finished speaking, the fingers that were touching the back of my neck began to gain strength little by little.

 

“Is this good enough?”

 

“Hmm…A little bit harder.”

 

“This much?”

 

“Yes! That’s perfect!”

 

‘Wow, this actually feels amazing!’

 

His fingers skillfully pressed into the tight spots, kneading out the tension in my muscles.

 

I completely relaxed, my shoulders slumping as I melted under his touch

 

“Can you touch a little higher?….Yes, right there! Ahh, that’s great. Noah, you’re a natural at this!”

 

“Do you like it?”

 

“Yeah, I really like it, our Noah is the best.”

 

Then, I heard a small sigh from behind me.

 

“If this feels that good, it means Mother’s body is too weak…”

 

“Hm? What did you say?”

 

“How about here?”

 

“Oh, that’s perfect… so relaxing…”

 

Hearing my voice practically melt, Noah chuckled softly.

 

Since he seemed pleased, I felt even happier. At the same time, I realized something.

 

‘It’s not always the best choice to just say nice things and call it a white lie.’

 

Especially to Noah, who can instantly tell when I’m lying—whether it’s a white lie or not, it’s all the same to him.

 

‘I need to be more careful from now on.’

 

As I was making that promise, there was a knock on the door.

 

“Come in!”

 

Beyond the open door stood Leona, Ethan, and Marilyn.

 

Marilyn, after receiving permission from my guards, stepped in and bowed politely.

 

“Excuse me, Marquise, I don’t have an answer as to how you would like to eat. Do you plan to have dinner in a private room as well?”

 

The private room meant this space that Felix gave us.

 

With multiple bedrooms, bathrooms, a living room, a study, and more, the private room was practically a house.

 

And yet, the fact that it was still inside the tower felt surreal.

 

As I glanced around the study, my eyes met Noah’s. He looked downcast as he murmured,

 

“I’m sorry. I said I would go and ask you what you would like to eat, but I forgot, Mother.”

 

“Huh? Oh, no, no. It’s fine! You were busy giving me a massage.”

 

I patted Noah on the head, telling him it was okay, and looked at Marilyn for a moment, thinking.

 

‘If no one specifically mentioned eating separately, meals were usually set together. If I suddenly said I would eat here, it would probably be a hassle for the servants….’

 

“I’ll eat in the dining room.”

 

“Yes! Then I’ll guide you right away!  Master has already arrived at the dining room!”

 

Marilyn’s face lit up, so I guess she wanted me to have dinner with Felix.

 

‘No, to be precise, not me…’

 

I glanced over and saw Noah smiling brightly and extending his hand to me.

 

As if it were the most natural thing in the world, I took Noah’s hand as he escorted me, and got up from my chair.

 

Holding his hand, I followed Marilyn, and naturally, Leona and Ethan followed behind us.

 

Their faces were filled with exhaustion, as they never let their guard down for even a moment.

 

Though they didn’t openly show it, I could tell from the way their nerves were on edge, reacting to even the slightest rustling sounds around them.

 

‘I really should return to the castle for now.’

 

The urgent matter with Catherine had been dealt with. Even if I needed to come back later, I should head back to the castle first.

 

‘When I met Felix later, I would have to ask him to send me home tomorrow no matter what.’

 

With that thought in mind, I turned to Leona and asked,

 

“By the way, what about Sage and Catherine? They haven’t returned yet?”

 

“No. They said from the start that it might take a while.”

 

“Maybe Rake hasn’t woken up yet.”

 

“Yeah…”

 

Rake, who had swallowed the Dragon Heart whole and immediately fallen asleep, showed no signs of waking up.

 

At least its plump little belly rising and falling made it obvious Rake was still breathing—otherwise, I would have been even more worried.

 

Felix said that its body fell asleep because the process of digesting the Dragon Heart was too much.

 

‘That tiny thing swallowed a magic stone bigger than its own body. What if something goes wrong?’

 

Sage took Rake to the vet to see if anything was wrong.

 

“But I still can’t believe it…”

 

“What is it, Mother?”

 

“Do you believe that Rake is a dragon?”

 

Noah frowned slightly at my question, then nodded.

 

“A little bit. I thought Rake was really smart.”

 

“Yeah, Rake was definitely smart.”

 

I may have felt like Rake understood what people were saying, but in fact, it really did.

 

Dragons were often described as wise and intelligent creatures, after all.

 

‘I don’t know why that dragon took the form of a tiny bird that looks like a rice cake…’

 

‘And how did Rake’s Dragon Heart end up in the hands of barbarians?’

 

Even after reading the book Felix gave me, I still couldn’t understand anything about dragons clearly.

 

‘Since it had come to this, I might as well ask Felix everything I was curious about.’

 

‘Where should I start?’

 

* * *