How The Sub-Male Lead’s Stepmother Teaches Love – Chapter 194

Author: Chewyy

“What’s your name?”

“Anne… Diana…”

“Where are you from?”

“The Duchy of Kereis…. Feldin Port….”

Leonhard asked Diana a few more questions about her background, and each time she answered in a weak voice.

Since the investigation on her wasn’t yet complete, there was no way to confirm whether what she said was true.

After the investigation was over, Leonhard instructed Lucius to write down everything Diana answered, so that they could compare them later.

And now it was time to ask the important questions.

“Who gave you the orders?”

“Carl……”

“Carl?”

He was about to ask who that was, but Diana kept speaking.

“But… After that… Ugh, ugh!”

“This could be dangerous.”

“Stop it, don’t answer.”

“Huh, huh…”

Diana’s body, groaning and writhing as if she was about to vomit something out, slumped over onto the chair.

Through repeated questioning, Leonhard determined that the magical binding had been placed by a very specific person.

“Putting it all together… This woman belongs to an organization. Its leader gave orders through a man named Karl.”

In truth, they had learned nothing of true value—not the man’s identity, nor the group’s headquarters.

It was doubtful whether he would be able to find out such a thing from this woman who was under a strict magical seal, but Leonhard first brought up a question that required confirmation.

“Is your organization’s name Onyx?”

“Yes…”

Lucius looked back at Leonhard with a slightly surprised expression as Diana nodded.

“Did you know about that group?”

“Only fragments.”

‘So her story was true…’

That meant—

“The wizards’ group called Onyx had joined hands with the First Prince.”

“They were planning a rebellion, but before they could carry it out, their monsters went berserk and destroyed themselves…”

Raenel said she didn’t know why the monsters had gone berserk, but Leonhard had a guess.

‘If all the bloodstones used to brainwash the monsters shattered at once, there’s only one reason that could happen—The owner of that blood, the one who made the stones, must have died.’

‘Any action of Raenel will become a variable that will change the future.’

‘But one thing was certain: the bloodstone confiscated from Diana was still intact, which meant the blood’s owner was still alive.’

‘Fel Sesto… Nell’s biological father… Just who is that man?’

Leonhard hesitated for a moment and then asked Diana the most critical question.

“Is it Fel Sesto who gave you the orders?”

“No… Fel Sesto is… ”

“He is?”

“He, he is… Urgh, urgh!”

“That’s enough. Stop!”

But this time, it was too late. Maybe the accumulated damage had reached its limit.

“Urgh, uwaaagh!”

Diana convulsed, vomiting out a massive lump of blood.

The huge lump of blood that was so large it was hard to believe it was vomited out by a person—dissolved into red mist and vanished.

And Diana, who had vomited it out…

“She’s dead.”

“I’ve never seen a seal like this before.”

Diana’s body was so lifeless it was hard to believe she’d just passed moments ago.

Leonhard examined the corpse, which had lost even its warmth, and then gave instructions to Lucius.

“First, bring Robert in and have him examine the body for any traces of magic. If he finds nothing, have Dr. Danvers perform an autopsy.”

“Yes, Master.”

There was nothing more he could do.

He ascended from the underground prison, taking the towel handed to him by his attendant and thoroughly wiping his hands.

He checked himself—no blood on his clothes or skin—and slid his ring back onto his finger.

“Where is my wife?”

“A guest arrived a little while ago. She’s in the living room.”

“Who?”

“A messenger from Duke Khalid. He brought a gift in place of attending the wedding.”

“I see.”

‘By the way, I was planning to send someone to Duke Khalid.’

Leonhard walked into the living room, thinking that he could just deliver the letter to Duke Khalid’s messenger without having to send his subordinate.

“Is Noah taking magic lessons now?”

“Yes. Before that, he was taking a walk in the greenhouse with Count Howard.”

“The greenhouse? Just the two of them?”

“Yes. They were searching for four-leaf clovers together.”

“Really?”

Four-leaf clovers. He’d never looked for one with Noah before.

“How did they get so close so fast….?”

“Yes.”

“No, nothing.”

Leonhard sighed softly and tapped his arm with his index finger, signaling the maid at the living room door.

“Madam, the Marquis is here.”

“Leon?”

The natural, unconscious way she said his name made his heart flutter.

He couldn’t wait for permission—Leonhard stepped in immediately.

“Ma’am.”

– Oh my, it’s been a while, Marquis

But the voice greeting him wasn’t Raenel’s.

Leonhard paused in surprise and scanned the living room—only Raenel and her guard were present.

Then he heard a voice call out, “Over here,” and turned his eyes to Raenel’s side.

“Duchess…?”

– Yes. I’m Rebecca Khalid. And this is April Khalid.

A voice that felt more unfamiliar than familiar was coming from the crystal ball in front of Raenel.

Leonhard stood next to Raenel, unable to hide his surprised expression.

Then, Rebecca inside the crystal ball showed him a newborn baby who looked to be about a month old.

– It’s your first time seeing her, right? The swaddle was made by Nell.

“That’s right, I gave it to her as a gift.”

Raenel added with a satisfied smile.

Leonhard resisted the urge to kiss her rosy cheek and looked into the crystal ball instead.

“It seems you gave birth safely. Congratulations.”

– It’s all thanks to Nell. If it weren’t for Nell, neither I nor this child would have been safe.

“What do you mean by that?”

Raenel explained:

“Cassie once gave me a magical tool with a detoxification spell, I thought I wouldn’t need it, so I gave it to Becky.”

– Someone at the duchy, under Count Gordon’s orders, poisoned my food with the root of the Tausen flower. If not for the tool Nell gave me, I wouldn’t have noticed I’d been poisoned.

“Tausen flower root…..”

In small doses, the body could detoxify it on its own, making it harmless. But for a pregnant woman, it was different.

The undeveloped fetus couldn’t detoxify the poison, leading to buildup. The mother’s body would recognize the fetus as poisoned and try to expel it. If lucky, premature birth. If not, miscarriage.

– Luckily, my husband noticed it early and was able to get evidence to sue Count Gordon.

“What happened to Count Gordon?”

-He was imprisoned. A 30-year sentence. He’ll never harm me or my child again. Thank goodness…

“That must have been hard on you.”

– It’s alright. My daughter and I are both safe now, right?

– Aww…

The baby, still unable to open her eyes, scrunched her nose from inside the swaddle. Rebecca read her signs perfectly.

– Sleepy, huh? Shall we nap now?

– Wooh.…

– I’m sorry, Nell. I think I should go put the baby to a nap.

“No need to apologize. We can talk again after the nap. The messenger isn’t leaving right away anyway.”

– Oh, of course. I’ll call again later then.

“If you don’t mind, Duchess, may I ask you a favor?”

– Yes? What is it?

Clearly eager to go, Rebecca still paused to listen.

Leonhard got straight to the point.

“I have urgent matters to discuss with Duke Khalid. I was going to send a messenger, but if it’s possible, could I speak with the Duke through this crystal ball?”

– Oh, of course. But my husband isn’t home right now. He’ll probably come home at night.

“Anytime is fine. Please tell him I’d like to speak with him.”

– Okay, I’ll do that. See you later, Nell!

The light from the crystal ball disappeared as Rebecca rose from her seat while holding April.

Raenel, who had been fiddling with the crystal ball with a slightly curious expression, belatedly turned to look at Leonhard and made an “Ah” sound.

“Oh, right. You haven’t heard the news yet, have you?”

“What news?”

“The capital. It’s in chaos right now.”

“Chaos?”

Leonhard raised an eyebrow in confusion.

Raenel leaned in to explain, closing the distance between them.

At that moment, Leonhard’s body trembled as he remembered what he had been doing just a moment ago.