How The Sub-Male Lead’s Stepmother Teaches Love Chapter 250

‘I’m a little jealous……’

 

Given his position as someone who might become emperor one day, Julius had always kept a certain distance from his wife’s family.

 

He’d even been taught from a young age that this was the proper way.

 

So the thought of growing close to his in-laws had never even occurred to him.

 

‘If I don’t become emperor… maybe I’ll try getting along with my wife’s family.’

 

Of course, it is questionable whether they would welcome him if he failed to become emperor.

 

‘Honestly… what am I even thinking?’

 

While Julius shook his head at himself, Leonhard, now composed, turned to Duke Khalid to ask after the duchess.

 

“How is the Duchess?”

 

“She’s alright. She didn’t collapse from the poison itself, but from the shock of realizing she’d been poisoned.”

 

The trauma his wife suffered from was greater than expected, as she almost lost not only her own life but also her daughter due to poison.

 

Since many ears were listening, Duke Khalid gave a vague explanation—but Leonhard understood the general situation.

 

“I owe you another favor. Even thanking you a hundred times wouldn’t be enough.”

 

Duke Khalid gave a wry smile, and Leonhard lightly shrugged his shoulders in response.

 

He was also indebted to Rebecca. After all, thanks to Rebecca, Raenel was able to avoid drinking poison.

 

“So, Your Highness, may I ask what happened?”

 

Julius nodded to Leonhard’s question.

 

“Rosaline.”

 

“First, the wine was tested, and it was confirmed that both Duchess and Marquise’s glasses contained poison.”

 

The poison came from a plant-monster called a Nekid Flower.

 

This wasn’t an actual flower but a creature that camouflaged itself in deep forests or near water.

 

When prey drew near, it would spring up from the ground and devour them whole.

 

The poison extracted from this gem-like flower was one of the deadliest in existence—just a single drop could kill instantly.

 

“It’s literally a miracle that she survived after taking this. As far as I know, no one has survived after taking this poison….”

 

Rosaline glanced at Duke Khalid before she could even finish her statement.

 

He had a face that made it impossible to tell what he was thinking, and he was just looking down at the head of the servant kneeling on the floor.

 

That blank look gave her goosebumps even more, and she rubbed her arms uneasily.

 

‘It’s fortunate that it ended like this.’

 

He’d already lost one wife.

 

And now he had a baby daughter— what if he had lost his second wife too?

 

She didn’t even want to imagine it.

 

And on top of it all, last night’s banquet—meant to celebrate the imperial heir—had ended in disaster, earning her the Empress’s wrath until dawn.

 

If the Duchess had died, she’d probably be the one bearing the wrath of Duke Khalid by now.

 

Rosaline continued, glaring at the servant who had almost ruined her career as an aide.

 

“Fortunately, thanks to Sir Alexandre’s cooperation, we were able to quickly capture the culprit who had given the two ladies poisoned drinks. But he claimed that he knew nothing.”

 

“Knew nothing? And yet dared to use my name?”

 

That part was already testified by Alessandre, so others knew it too.

 

Rosalyn explained that she’d focused heavily on that point during interrogation—no, questioning—and gave the kneeling servant a little nudge with her toe.

 

“Your name was Nichols, wasn’t it? Go ahead. Try repeating that story before the Marquis.”

 

The servant finally raised his head and shouted his innocence.

 

Only then did Leonhard realize that Nichols, who was raising his head and crying out in frustration, had been under the spell of a truth-binding and a behavior-restriction spell.

 

“I truly had no idea! Someone claiming to act on your orders gave me that wine. I didn’t know it was poisoned!”

 

“So, who ordered you to do it? You must have seen the face.”

 

“They were dressed like a palace servant—maybe a man… or a woman? I remember a mole on the cheeks? Or maybe not… the eyes were red… or blue?”

 

The servant just kept talking nonsense, changing his words from one thing to another.

 

Leonhard, hearing this testimony for the first time, simply bursts out in laughter, while Rosaline, who had been listening to it for a long time, becomes annoyed.

 

“Earlier you said the eyes were green or black!”

 

“Huh? No—maybe pink? Or orange…?”

 

“You’re not protecting the other person by talking like that?”

 

“It’s the truth! I swear I don’t know anything!”

 

Unlike when he gave inconsistent testimony, his cries seemed sincere.

 

Fed up, Rosaline waved her hand and cast another spell.

 

The servant turned to stone once more—unable to move or speak—but his tears still fell silently, hitting the floor with a soft drop.

 

Rosaline sighed as she looked at the tears soaking the floor.

 

“As you can see, that’s all we could get. We still have no idea what the motive was for targeting both ladies.”

 

At those words, Leonhard and Duke Khalid looked at each other reflexively.

 

Their eye contact lasted only a moment—both of them flinching inwardly.

 

Each of them thought their own wife was the real target, and the other had simply gotten caught in the crossfire.

 

‘Is one of Count Gordon’s men still on the loose…?’

 

‘Could this be Onyx’s doing…? But why would they try to kill Nell? They probably wanted to capture Nell alive.’

 

“If this person is telling the truth, he has probably been affected by a distraction spell. In other words, the person he is dealing with is a wizard.”

 

“Can’t we track down the person who used that magic?”

 

“Impossible. The spell wasn’t cast on him—it was cast by the person who delivered the poison, onto themselves.”

 

So, that meant that it was impossible to catch the real culprit at this stage.

 

As if they had made a promise, the faces of Duke Khalid and Leonhard crumpled at the same time.

 

With two of the continent’s four Lords looking like that, even Rosaline couldn’t pretend to stand her ground.

 

As she quietly backed away, Eric stepped forward with a sigh.

 

Looking at the way she hid behind his broad back, it seemed like she was quite used to hiding behind him when something happened.

 

“One thing is for sure, this guy can’t remember the other person’s face, but he remembers their clothes clearly.”

 

Now receiving the full attention of the room, Eric showed no change in expression as he continued.

 

“The security at Queen Rose Hall was tight that day, so if you tried to sneak in, you would have to wear a servant’s uniform the whole time.”

 

“Is there any possibility that the culprit is a nobleman?”

 

“None of those who attended the banquet yesterday returned home or disappeared before the incident.”

 

Besides, all nobles were thoroughly searched before entering.

 

Of course, they can easily disguise a vial of poison that only requires a few drops with accessories, but no one had any kind of servant’s clothing.

 

And stealing that wouldn’t have been easy either.

 

“Were the palace servants allowed to enter freely?”

 

Leonhardt asked, and Eric looked to Alexandre—since the Red Lion Knights were in charge of security at the time, it was his question to answer.

 

“We didn’t check each servant’s identity. The clothes they were wearing were like identification.”

 

“So… even if a servant not assigned to Queenrose Hall slipped in, no one would have noticed.”

 

Alexandre nodded with a grim face.

 

“Because of this incident, we plan to verify the identity of servants in all positions in the future, at all events.”

 

He had played a key role in catching the suspect, so no one blamed him for not implementing it sooner—though being the Marquise of Ajas’ brother might have helped too.

 

“First, I plan to obtain His Majesty’s cooperation and investigate all the servants who were in the palace last night.”

 

Anything that could serve as evidence, like a vial of poison, would probably have already been thrown away.

 

Honestly, Leonhard didn’t expect to be able to catch the real culprit of this incident.

 

“But, is there anyone in the palace who holds a grudge against the two ladies?”

 

Julius asked, hoping for leads among the imperial servants.

 

But both Leonhard and Duke Khalid immediately shook their heads.

 

“I would ask her just in case, but my wife is not the kind of person who inspires that kind of hatred enough to get murdered.”

 

“My wife is the same.”

 

“Don’t be so quick to judge. A person’s murderous intent doesn’t only blossom for such grand reasons.”

 

Even when told to think about it carefully, Leonhard and Duke Khalid shook their heads.

 

Duke Khalid was really clueless, but Leonhard was not.

 

‘If Onyx really decided to eliminate Nell…’

 

‘Karl and Tommy seemed suspicious.’

 

And yet, even as Leonhard doubted them, he couldn’t shake off his unease.

 

‘According to Young Lady Cloud’s testimony, they were trying to capture Sesto’s bloodline. So why would they change their minds now?’

 

It was something he couldn’t figure out, no matter how much he thought about it.

 

However, given the circumstances, he couldn’t just leave Karl and Tommy alone.

 

After much thought, Leonhard asked Julius for a private meeting.

 

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