How The Sub-Male Lead’s Stepmother Teaches Love – Chapter 187

Author: Chewyy

“Go! I’ll shake them off!”

“This is our mercenary group’s last request. You know? Don’t leave us as failures. Everything depends on you.”

“Make sure you get a huge sum from the Marquis of the Border. This is something worth that much.”

“If, by any chance, I survive…”

“Gray!”

When Sophia opened her eyes with a scream, the first thing she felt was a sharp pain and the pressure on that area.

She unconsciously held her injured shoulder and realized that there was a bandage wrapped around it.

At the same time, the bitter scent of medicine and the faint scent of flowers can be felt through the tip of the nose.

Recognizing these, she slowly began to survey her surroundings.

A bed, a nightstand, a table and chairs. Thick curtains blocked the window, a wooden partition dividing the space, and a wardrobe visible beyond.

Looking at the minimal amount of furniture and design that was not too shabby, this room seemed like a guest room somewhere.

Sophia fiddled with her clothes that were revealed above the flowing blanket and recalled her last memory before losing consciousness.

‘I was definitely… being chased by those wizards.’

The wizards’ pursuit was more persistent than one might imagine.

All of her companions had scattered, and while running away, she had reunited with Gray, thinking they had finally lost their pursuers.

But, as if they were just waiting for her to let her guard down, the wizards attacked again.

Gray, who had been protecting her, was gravely injured, and as he sacrificed himself as bait, Sophia ran away again.

However, despite Gray’s sacrifice, she could not fully shake off the wizards.

With her magic running out and all her prepared scrolls and magical tools she had prepared in advance were gone, she thought she was going to die.

‘Right, the knights showed up….’

She couldn’t confirm which noble family they were from, but they were escorting a carriage, and since they were passing through the Ajas border, they probably weren’t enemies of Marquis Ajas.

“P-please help me, save me!”

In a panic, she ran to the knights who drew their swords, clinging to their feet and begging. She begged them to help.

“I am… from Marquis Ajas……”

At that moment, Sophia thought she would survive. With so many knights and guards around, she didn’t think the wizards would dare attack.

But they attacked anyway, even with all the knights and guards present.

Sophia lost consciousness in a state of extreme despair after feeling the hot heat shooting fiercely behind her back.

And then, she woke up.

‘The knights must have won. There must have been significant damage…’

It must have been a disaster for them, especially considering it was so sudden.

Yet, instead of abandoning the woman who brought trouble upon them, they treated her.

Apparently, death wasn’t always a certainty.

Letting out a sigh of relief, Sophia then thought of the other members of her group and bit her lip tightly.

‘I hope everyone is safe.’

But she knew very well that the chances of that happening were slim.

Struggling to hold back her tears, she absentmindedly patted her waist, only to be startled when she realized something was wrong and quickly looked around.

“My bag!”

Sophia jumped out of bed and sighed in relief when she saw her bag on the nightstand.

For a moment, her legs gave out.

She sat back down on the bed, trying to calm her shocked heart, then grabbed her bag and reached inside.

“There it is.”

A stone with an ominous red hue, as if made of blood. A stone created through everyone’s sacrifice.

Sophia bit her lip hard in sadness and emptiness at the thought of a perfectly good mercenary group being destroyed for just this one stone.

—Tok, Tok

At the knock on the door, Sophia was startled and put the stone she was holding back into her bag.

And then, as she hurriedly hid the bag by shoving it under the blanket, after a while, the closed door opened carefully and the maid came inside.

“Oh, you’re awake. You lost a lot of blood, so don’t you get dizzy when you sit down?”

“I’m fine. Um… where is this?”

Fortunately, the answer she was expecting came out of the maid’s mouth.

“This is Ajas Castle. Your wounds have been treated with magic, but you’re still weak and exhausted, so you’ll need to rest for a while.”

“Oh, yes.”

The maid smiled at Sophia, who nodded, and placed the tray in her hand on the table.

“It’s a good thing I brought the soup just in case. Eat the soup first, then take this medicine. If you need anything else, just pull the rope.”

“Yes, thank you for your kindness.”

“It’s no problem. By the way, Marquis Ajas would like to speak with you. Would it be okay if you met him tomorrow?”

Marquis Ajas.

Hearing this, Sophia finally felt the reality that she was indeed at Ajas Castle.

‘Wait, is the Marquis really here?’

Sophia accepted the spoon from the maid, looked at the red soup, and opened her mouth.

“Is there any chance I could meet him right now?”

“Right now? Hmm… I’ll ask. But in the meantime, make sure you finish your soup!”

“Yes, thank you.”

Fortunately, it seems that Sophia wasn’t the only one who wanted to meet him.

After she ate the soup and took the medicine and some time had passed, Leonhard came to see her in person.

“How are you feeling?”

“I’m fine. Thanks for your care, Your Excellency. And this.”

Sophia took out the bloodstone from her bag and handed it to Leonhard.

Her gesture seemed like she was passing off an unwanted problem, as if the stone would bring misfortune.

Leonhard, who had accepted the bloodstone without thinking, looked surprised, and only then did Sophia realize her mistake.

She hastily added an explanation.

“We… We took this from the wizards’ hideout. We didn’t intend to steal it at first.”

Sophia swallowed dryly as she recalled the incident.

“We tried to look for clues about their identity or purpose, but then we saw them preparing to retreat. It was like they suddenly got the order to retreat.”

“Retreat? Suddenly?”

“Yes. It seemed like they had received orders from above. But they seemed to treat this stone as incredibly important.”

There were a few other stones that looked similar, but only this one was carefully placed in a separate box.

“They chased us so relentlessly to get this stone back… it must be something very important.”

“Could you tell me more about the wizards you saw in that hideout?”

“Yes. So they……”

Sophia then described in detail the wizards she had encountered at the hideout.

Leonhard nodded and listened to her words, then carefully took care of the bloodstone.

“You’ve been very helpful. It was much more successful than I had thought, so I’ll fulfill the reward for your request….”

“Your Excellency! I have a favor to ask!”

At that moment, Sophia, who had been sitting on the bed, suddenly knelt on the floor.

Leonhard stepped back, surprised by her sudden action.

“Please, stand up. You shouldn’t be doing this in your current condition…”

“I know it’s impossible to change the reward after the contract has been written. But if I truly helped you, Marquis, would it be possible to receive a different reward?”

“What do you want?”

In return for that mission, Leonhard was to pay a considerable amount of gold. If she took it all for herself, it would be enough to buy a small house in the capital.

Yet, she was rejecting the gold in favor of something else?

“Please find my members. They were scattered due to the pursuing wizards, but they may still be alive somewhere. Please save my members.”

“You don’t have to worry about that.”

“Yes?”

Leonhard, who had planned to explain earlier, now told her,

“Lady Vincent has lost consciousness and will likely not remember anything. As soon as I received the letter from Gray, I sent the Knights of Ajas to search for them.”

“The Knights of Ajas….?”

“Because their paths were misaligned, they only joined up with Count Howard’s group two days ago. They rescued Gray and some other members of the Blue Thorn mercenary…”

“Rescued? They’re… alive?”

“They were seriously injured, but…”

Leonhard nodded.

“The doctor said it would be at least a week before they could receive visitors. The remaining mercenaries who haven’t been found yet are still being searched for.”

“Ah… thank goodness. Thank goodness.”

Tears flowed from her weakened eyes. Sophia didn’t even think to wipe the tears running down her cheeks, only bowing repeatedly to Leonhard in gratitude.

“Thank you. Thank you so much….”

“There’s no need to thank me. Wasn’t it because of my request that the mercenary group got into trouble?”

“But you have no obligation to do so.… huh?”

Was it because she had regained some composure after hearing the news of her colleagues’ survival?

Sophia suddenly realized—Leonhard’s way of speaking.

‘Come to think of it, what did he call me earlier?’

Lady Vincent. He had called her exactly that.

“My identity… how did you know?”

“Do you remember who you called for help just before you collapsed?”

“Ah, that…”

‘I saw the knights, but I didn’t have time to check which family’s emblem was engraved on their armor.’

Sophia, who was about to answer like that, realized it again belatedly.