How The Sub-Male Lead’s Stepmother Teaches Love Chapter 252

He didn’t know how the Marquis Ajas had found out about the mirror or how he had taken it. But one thing was certain — it was now in his hands.

 

‘Then why would he deliberately leak that information?’

 

Unable to understand the Marquis’s true intentions, Karl was furious.

 

It was fortunate that Tommy was able to finish the interrogation safely without arousing suspicion from the other knights.

 

But the rage surging inside him was unbearable.

 

As soon as the knights left, Karl sent all his servants away and took out all his frustrations on Tommy.

 

Of course, he didn’t forget to cast the Silence spell.

 

“How the hell did the Marquis Ajas find out and take the mirror? How could you be so careless with it?!”

 

“I-I hid it well. I don’t know how he found it and— Argh!”

 

“Are you using that as an excuse now?”

 

Karl kicked Tommy’s body with his foot.

 

Tommy curled up, covering his head with his arms, and let out a small groan, enduring the abuse.

 

“By the way, what do they mean the Marquise took poison? Did you do it?”

 

“…….”

 

“I asked you if you did it!”

 

With another harsh kick, Tommy’s body flipped over. Karl glared down at him, panting heavily like a beast.

 

“Not going to answer?”

 

“It was for Your Highness’s sake….”

 

“What?”

 

A faint voice leaks out from the body curled up like a shrimp.

 

Tommy turned his head with difficulty and looked up at Karl.

 

His eyes, bloodshot from burst vessels, were filled with tears that looked like blood.

 

“If the Marquise Ajas remains in the capital… Your Highness’s grand cause… might be at risk.”

 

Karl knew immediately what Tommy was talking about.

 

If a symbol appears on the body of the Marquise, the plan to attack the Imperial Palace with monsters would be ruined.

 

‘I didn’t think of that.’

 

Though he was still furious, Karl’s heart softened slightly at the idea that Tommy had done it for him.

 

But he was too angry with him.

 

“If you’re going to do it, do it right. This will just end up poking a hornet’s nest!”

 

“…..”

 

To be honest, Tommy didn’t know things would turn out that way.

 

Thanks to his servant’s uniform, he was able to sneak into Queen Rose Hall without much difficulty. He waited for his chance, then quietly moved when he saw the Marquis Ajas leave.

 

As soon as he saw the Marquise and the Duchess enter the terrace, he put poison into the wine.

 

Not knowing which glass the Marquise would take, he poisoned both glasses.

 

He didn’t care if the duchess died — as long as the Marquis died.

 

He even sold the name of the Marquis, Worried they might suspect the drink.

 

Thanks to that, his plan succeeded. Or so he thought.

 

Tommy handed over the drink and left Queen Rose Hall right away.

 

He quickly returned to his room, changed his clothes, and went to sleep.

 

Thanks to a decoy doll he had placed under the covers, the other servants in the shared room thought he’d gone to sleep early.

 

Thanks to that, he was able to finish the interrogation with the knight without any suspicion, but what good was that now?

 

He hadn’t even succeeded in killing the Marquise of Ajas.

 

“Now that we’ve failed once, their guard will be up. Stop targeting the Marquise Ajas.”

 

“But…..”

 

“Didn’t Pan bring ‘that’ here? It’ll be easier to kidnap her than kill her.”

 

Pan personally brought the item that he had said he would deliver by sending a monster from the tower to the palace.

 

If they could just get close to the Marquise, they could kidnap her and take her to the Tower.

 

So now, they had more pressing matters to worry about than her.

 

“That mirror — can it be used to track Pan’s location from the Marquis’s side?”

 

Karl’s voice was much softer than before.

 

Still cautious not to provoke him again, Tommy knelt and cleared his throat before replying.

 

“If both mirrors are connected at the same moment, it might be possible.”

 

“It’s fortunate that Pan is here now….”

 

The problem was, they couldn’t tell him to just leave it behind in case they were being tracked.

 

The mirror originally belonged to Pan. They’d borrowed it instead of a crystal ball, thinking its ordinary appearance wouldn’t attract attention.

 

But if Pan is tracked after he returns with the mirror, the tower’s location may be exposed.

 

Karl didn’t care what happened to the mages in the Tower, but his laboratory was there.

 

The lab where he had hidden the data from his experiments on symbol manifestation using the blood of Khalid and Estroa.

 

“Ha, what should I do with this?”

 

Pan hated removing his mask in front of others — he even ate alone because of it.

 

And that mirror, he treasured more than his mask. Maybe even more than anything else.

 

Why else would he have come all the way here to command the monsters in the dungeon of Count Gordon’s territory while the tower was closed?

 

He couldn’t pass the mirror to someone else in charge of communication with Karl.

 

‘I can’t afford to upset Pan right now.’

 

It was the case that a timid person would cause the biggest trouble the moment he became crooked.

 

And now, they’d basically stolen the mirror from him, promising they’d return it in perfect condition. But then they lost it?

 

And now they were going to tell him to leave even his other mirror here because the Tower’s location might get revealed?

 

No matter how much he thought about it, Karl knew Pan would never agree.

 

Groaning in frustration, Karl finally spoke to Tommy, who was still kneeling.

 

“You lost the mirror, so it’s your responsibility. Tell Pan to leave the mirror behind.”

 

“Yes, I understand, Your Highness.”

 

Here, Karl made two critical mistakes.

 

First — he didn’t know that Tommy secretly looked down on Pan, calling him a stuttering weakling.

 

Second — he never told Tommy just how much Pan cherished that mirror.

 

Because of that, the next morning.

 

Pan disappeared without leaving even a note.

 

And of course, he took the mirror with him.

 

* * *

 

I didn’t actually drink the poison, but maybe it’s just the shock of almost doing it that has affected me.

 

I spent the entire day in bed after returning from the palace, utterly drained.

 

Of course, I didn’t just sleep all day.

 

I woke up occasionally to ask where Leonhard had gone, to complain to my older sister Lily who was taking care of me, and to comfort Noah who was crying.

 

But perhaps because I kept falling asleep and waking up, I couldn’t tell what was real and what was a dream.

 

I had simply slept too much, but when I told Leonhard I wasn’t sure if I had eaten yesterday, he immediately called for a doctor, which made the atmosphere chaotic.

 

The problem was that the doctor, swayed by that atmosphere, diagnosed that I had to rest in bed for a few days.

 

“And…….”

 

“And?”

 

The doctor seemed like he was about to say something, but then shook his head.

 

“No, it’s nothing. In any case, please avoid exerting yourself and get plenty of rest. Your body and mind are likely still in shock.”

 

“I’m really okay…”

 

But the doctor shook his head with a stern expression.

 

“Health is something that patients rarely understand objectively. Please listen to this old man’s words.”

 

“Hmm….”

 

“If you’ve ever experienced something like that, it’s natural to be shocked. Even if you seem okay, there is a high chance that your body is still tense.”

 

Leonhard nodded with a very serious expression at the doctor’s words.

 

“It would be best to follow the doctor’s advice. I’ll have your meals brought up to your room.”

 

He summoned the head chef and gave specific instructions: the soup should be light but filled with nourishing herbs, fruits and vegetables should be blended into smooth juices, and not a single drop of alcohol should be used in the cooking process.

 

“Anyone would think I was bedridden from alcohol poisoning at this rate!”

 

“Isn’t it? You practically collapsed from shock after seeing that poisoned alcohol.”

 

“Who calls that alcohol poisoning?!”

 

Leonhard ignored my protest.

 

As I was eating the soup, which had no flavor and was full of bitterness, I began to recall the events of yesterday that had been vague.

 

I woke up yesterday and had a bowl of this soup. That’s all I had.

 

In other words, I had basically gone a whole day without eating.

 

‘But then again, I have to fill my stomach with this kind of soup!’

 

“I want to eat meat…”

 

Then Leonhard called the chef and had him boil a soup with a broth made from beef bones.

 

Naturally, there was no meat in it.

 

After eating nothing but clear soup and juice for breakfast and lunch, I was desperate to chew something.

 

Just as I was about to jump out of bed in defiance, Layla walked into my room with an embroidery frame and quietly gave me a hint.

 

“Don’t you remember? Yesterday..…”

 

“Did I do that…?”

 

According to Layla, after I had a bowl of soup and fell asleep yesterday, I suddenly woke up and vomited everything.

 

The entire mansion was thrown into chaos. Noah, upon hearing the news, cried so hard he couldn’t even bring himself to come into my room.

 

“Are you feeling better today?”

 

“Hm… Actually, I felt a little bit uneasy.”

 

I thought it was because the soup was so bitter. After all, it was made with so many herbs. But is it really because my body was so shocked that it couldn’t even digest the soup properly, like the doctor said?

 

Anyway, I think I know why Leonhard was so overprotective.

 

I ate soup and got sick and vomited while sleeping, so of course I wasn’t allowed to eat meat.

 

“Still, wouldn’t something like a meatball be okay?”

 

“I’ll ask His Highness when he returns and let the head chef know.”

 

“I’m the one eating it, and yet my husband’s opinion comes before mine?”

 

“His Highness gave me very strict instructions before he went out.”

 

If it hadn’t been for what happened yesterday, I would have protested about how ridiculous that was.

 

Instead, I simply made a firm resolve: I would get through soup tonight, but come tomorrow morning, I would eat a meatball.

 

And if not that, then at least some potatoes or bread.

 

* * *