How The Sub-Male Lead’s Stepmother Teaches Love Chapter 166

“Raenel!”

 

“Mother!”

 

To the left was Noah’s face, and to the right was Leonhard’s face.

 

‘I could understand Noah being here, but how did Leonhard end up here?’

 

For a brief moment, I wondered, but then I smiled brightly at the sight of my husband’s face, which seemed like it had been a long time since I had seen him.

 

“I…..Uhuk, ugh….”

 

My voice was hoarse, like I had the terrible flu, and I couldn’t speak clearly.

 

As I coughed a few times, holding my throat, Noah immediately handed me a glass of water. At the same time, Leonhard, who was next to me, supported my back and helped me sit up.

 

“Take it slowly…..”

 

As the water entered my dry throat, I felt like I could breathe again.

 

While I was drinking the water with Leonhard’s support, Noah, who was beside me, asked in an anxious voice,

 

“Are you in pain anywhere?”

 

I made a sound, “Ah, ah,” and realized that my voice wasn’t fully back to normal, but it was a little better. I answered aloud,

 

“I’m fine. Did I sleep a little too long?”

 

“Not a little…!”

 

Noah suddenly burst into tears and buried his face in my chest.

 

My body, which was swaying under the force, was still supported by Leonhard.

 

Thanks to that, I was able to receive Noah, so I looked back at Leonhard while patting the child’s back.

 

“I really slept for three days—oh?”

 

Leonhard was crying.

 

I blinked several times, thinking I must have seen things wrong, but the tears streaming down Leonhard’s cheeks did not disappear.

 

Seeing my shocked face, he seemed to realize he was crying too.

 

He bit his lip, covered his face with his hand, and then pulled both Noah and me into his arms.

 

“Really, making me worry like this….”

 

“Ah,…. I’m sorry. I didn’t do it on purpose…”

 

“It’s okay. I’m glad you opened your eyes safely…”

 

Noah’s sobbing could be heard behind Leonhard’s trembling voice.

 

For a moment, I felt a sting from the moisture soaking my shoulders and chest. I felt suffocated by the strength of the two men hugging me, and it became difficult for me to breathe.

 

But how could I ask them to let me go in this situation?

 

After hesitating for a long time, I gave up on trying to get away and hugged them both.

 

“I apologize for making you worry. I will make sure this doesn’t happen again…”

 

But it seemed that such words weren’t enough to calm them down.

 

‘What on earth could be done to make these crybabies stop crying?’

 

As I thought about it, I ended up laughing without realizing it.

 

I wasn’t really hurt, I just slept a bit longer, yet here I was, surrounded by a husband and son who were so worried and crying for me. They’re my family.

 

‘Thank you for choosing me, Hiyela…’

 

I quietly closed my eyes, expressing my gratitude to my benefactor who no longer exists in this world.

 

In the arms of my husband and son, who held me tightly as if they would never let me go.

 

* * *

 

[The Master of the Silver Frost Tower appears and kidnaps the Marquise and the successor. There is a rumor that the successor of Marquis Ajas is his biological son.

 

The truth is still unconfirmed, but once the Marquise of Ajas returns, we will try to verify it.]

 

Pan paced the hallway while repeatedly pondering the message Anne had sent.

 

As if to represent his troubled mind, the wooden mask he was fiddling with with both hands made a constant clicking sound.

 

‘It has not yet been confirmed whether Marquise of Ajas is Asta’s daughter.…but I’m sure she had pink hair and pink eyes.…’

 

“When I have a daughter later, I hope she will resemble my late father. My father looked like a bandit, but his hair and eyes were a beautiful pink. Just like spring flowers.” 

 

That was something Asta had said before even meeting Fell, back when Asta decided to have Fell’s child.

 

Pan had never shared that story with anyone.

 

‘If I had told that story to Master or Carl or someone else earlier, Marquise Ajas would have been within the search range even if she didn’t have magic power.’

 

But Pan kept his mouth shut. He didn’t want to tell anyone else what Asta had shared with him.

 

Now, it was a secret he could no longer reveal, even if he wanted to.

 

‘If I tell them now, they’ll definitely get angry… They’ll wonder why I didn’t say anything earlier…’

 

It was natural for others to be angry and reluctant toward him. But apart from that fact, Pan could never get used to their angry voices and distorted faces.

 

That was why he wore a mask using his facial scar as an excuse. He didn’t want to show his frightened face to anyone.

 

Only Asta greeted him with a smiling face and a bright voice. Only Asta.

 

‘If she’s her daughter, maybe she’s like her…’

 

Pan’s steps stopped at the end of the hallway.

 

Taking his hands off the mask, he pulled out the wand hanging from his waist.

 

He whispered a short incantation while pressing the red stone at the end of the wand against the wall.

 

Then the magic stone flashed and a door appeared, matching Pan’s height perfectly.

 

Pan entered the room, pushing the door with the head of the wand.

 

Inside, there was a large space filled with towers of books, and he began searching for Carl.

 

 

“Carl, Carl—”

 

 

“Haha, hahaha! Hahaha!”

 

 

A burst of laughter came from the inside of the lab, causing Pan to freeze in his tracks.

 

Pan’s shoulders trembled like an aspen tree.

 

As Pan barely swallowed his dry saliva, the sound of Carl’s laughter continued to reach Pan’s ears, his body instinctively stiffening.

 

The voice filled with exhilaration followed soon after.

 

“I did it! Finally, finally!”

 

Behind the voice, a roaring flame could be heard. The hot air surged through the mask’s holes, suddenly sweeping across Pan’s eyes.

 

Reacting instinctively, he blinked, gripping his wooden mask tightly as he carefully continued forward.

 

“Carl, Carl…”

 

His legs were shaking with the urge to turn around and run away.

 

Pan forced himself to ignore the feeling and took one step, then another, until he finally saw Carl.

 

Carl was engulfed by a massive, fiery red flame, his body expanding in size as the fire licked at him.

 

“Ca–Carl!”

 

No, looking closely, the flames hadn’t actually engulfed Carl.

 

The hair on his head, the clothes he was wearing, and the skin exposed outside his sleeves.

 

Even though the heat was clearly blazing in the flames, nothing was burning.

 

Carl himself showed no signs of pain.

 

“Hahaha! Pan, look! I did it! I succeeded!”

 

As if he was already aware of the existence of Pan, he turned back and stood facing forward, raising both arms high as if showing off.

 

As if responding to his increasingly loud laughter, the red flames swelled and expanded.

 

Pan, overwhelmed by the huge flames that seemed to reach the ceiling, staggered backward, tripping over a book and falling to the ground.

 

Nevertheless, his eyes remained fixed on one spot—Carl’s wrist.

 

Through his slipping sleeve, a magical circle—glowing red—could be seen on Carl’s forearm, where once there had only been scars.

 

Something that any citizen of the Estroa Empire would know, something that cannot be ignored.

 

The symbol of Estroa.

 

* * *

 

“I slept for four days?”

 

After waking up from a long sleep, I was so tired that I fell asleep again and could barely wake up the next morning.

 

Counting that, it was a total of four days. Four days of pure sleep.

 

‘Hiyela…! You never said I slept this long!’

 

But what use is it to resent something that no longer exists in this world?

 

Unable to leave my bed due to the concern of those around me, I had to eat my first meal in four days while lying in bed with a makeshift table set up.

 

Not only that, Leonhard wouldn’t even let me hold a spoon.

 

“Mother, please open your mouth.”

 

“….Ah.”

 

As Noah gently spooned the soup into my mouth, I was filled with a strange feeling.

 

‘I feel like I’m receiving a kind of filial piety… This is already the second time.’

 

“How’s the taste? Does it suit your taste, Mother?”

 

“Yeah, it’s delicious. Noah, do you want to try it too?”

 

“I already ate. You should eat more, Mother.”

 

Noah carefully spooned more soup, blowing on it to cool it down before bringing it to my mouth.

 

After swallowing that, Leonhard next to me scooped up a soft steam egg–like pudding and put it in my mouth.

 

Soup, egg, soup, egg, soup, egg…

 

As I turned my head back and forth between the two, my neck started to ache.

 

Finally finishing the meal, I drank some warm honey milk to wash it down as a refreshment and I suddenly asked Leonhard.

 

“But how did you get here? How did you know we were here?”

 

“I heard from Lucius that you and Noah were kidnapped by the master of the Silver Frost Tower.”

 

“What? No, I came here on my own. Marie said she sent a letter to the castle. Did you not receive it?”

 

“I heard about the letter. However, considering the situation, it seemed suspicious, and my patience is not that strong.”

 

Since they didn’t officially send a delegation or invitation, and they didn’t even properly inform the castle, Leonhard explained that their invitation, and that Noah and I were accompanied by only a few guards, without servants or maids, was almost like a kidnapping.

 

“I’ve heard some of the reasons why you came here. If you hadn’t taken action, the relationship between the Silver Frost Tower and Ajas could have worsened.”

 

It wasn’t the kind of situation where I could ask, ‘I did well, didn’t I?’

 

As I kept my mouth shut, observing the situation, the words I had expected came out of Leonhard’s mouth.

 

* * *