How The Sub-Male Lead’s Stepmother Teaches Love Chapter 258

And Felix said,

 

“At this rate, the sun will set.”

 

“I get it, stop rushing me already… I’m going!”

 

Raenel’s two hands were directed toward the lake.

 

“Water!”

 

That was a very basic water attribute magic that even Leonhard knew.

 

A magic that transforms magical power into water, and is the basis for all water-attribute magic.

 

If one couldn’t cast this, they couldn’t use water magic at all.

 

The amount of water produced from this spell was often seen as a measure of one’s talent in water magic…

 

“Nell! Noah!”

 

The mass of water floating in the air was larger than the lake. It seemed to be almost twice as large, and it was growing larger in real time.

 

Seeing the massive shadow of water engulfing Raenel and Noah, Leonhard was horrified. He kicked off the ground and rushed toward them.

 

“Ehh!”

 

“Father!”

 

Leonhard, holding Raenel in one hand and Noah in the other, quickly moved away from that place.

 

The sudden movement caused Raenel to lose control of the magic she was casting.

 

The water mass grew larger and fell, threatening to swallow up the Paul Hervina mansion.

 

Fortunately, the disaster never happened. Just before it touched the lake’s surface, the entire mass of water vanished.

 

– As expected, you still can’t use magic.

 

Rake, who had turned the water mass back into magic and swallowed it like nothing, fluttered down onto the table by the lakeside.

 

While Rake was pecking at the cookies on the plate with her beak, Felix, who had been concentrating his magic in advance just in case, looked at Leonhard with protesting eyes.

 

“Didn’t you see me?”

 

“I didn’t see you.”

 

Realizing that the situation had safely ended, Leonhard set Noah and Raenel down from his arms.

 

“Father, you were so fast!”

 

Noah’s cheeks were flushed with excitement, clearly in awe.

 

As Leonhard was stroking the child’s head, Raenel raised her voice as if protesting.

 

“You scared me! I told you not to lift me like that all of a sudden!”

 

“Don’t you think I was even more scared?”

 

“Well… I mean, I was surprised too…”

 

Raenel’s gaze drifted toward the air.

 

Leonhard asked her in a stern voice,

 

“Didn’t the doctor tell you not to overdo it for the time being?”

 

“I didn’t…..”

 

Seeing Leonhard’s scolding about to get longer, Raenel abruptly linked arms with him.

 

Leonhard narrowed his eyes, clearly saying, “Do you think I’ll fall for that?”—but he didn’t pull away.

 

Leonhard ended up falling for it because Raenel’s face, which was smiling playfully as if telling him to look at it, was so cute.

 

“So you really didn’t see me, huh.”

 

At those words, Raenel’s arm falls out of Leonhard’s arm.

 

Leonhard held his wife’s hand and looked at Felix with cold eyes.

 

“Was it you who told my wife to try using magic?”

 

“She assured me she could do it well.”

 

Felix gestured with his chin, directing Leonhard’s gaze back to Raenel.

 

She avoided his gaze with a somewhat awkward expression.

 

“Well, it was a success up until the ball.…”

 

Leonhard didn’t understand what she meant, but Felix sighed and issued a warning.

 

“Don’t use magic until the wedding.”

 

“What? That means I have to wait till the last day, to see the lord’s daughter and the prince get married!”

 

“Yeah, I’m telling you not to use magic until you’re skilled enough in controlling your magical power to see that. That was something even I couldn’t stop just now. If it weren’t for that bird, this mansion would’ve flooded.”

 

– But it was just a piece of cake for me! Because I’m great!

 

Rake’s chirpy squawk spread peacefully over the lake.

 

Raenel let out a sigh of resignation and, as if remembering something, turned to Leonhard and asked,

 

“Didn’t you call this guy because something urgent was going on?”

 

“It is urgent…”

 

Leonhard had already told Peter to inform Duke Khalid that Felix had arrived in the capital.

 

Soon the duke would hear the news—and so would the second prince.

 

Leonhard, who had reluctantly agreed to work with Felix but still didn’t trust him, suddenly asked the question that came to mind:

 

“So, did you bring the medicine?”

 

Felix nodded.

 

Leonhard continued,

 

“How many?”

 

* * *

 

There are four bottles that Felix put down on the table.

 

This count didn’t include the one Leonhard already had.

 

“This is all that’s left for now. To make more, I’ll need multi-attribute magic stones.”

 

“Multi-attribute magic stone?”

 

Duke Khalid, who already knew about the blood-purifying medicine but not its ingredients, looked shocked.

 

Then Julius picked up a bottle with a curious look on his face and examined its surface carefully as he asked.

 

“Does it have to be a multi-attribute stone? How about putting in one of each type of magic stone of each attribute?”

 

“If that were possible, I wouldn’t have gone through so much trouble to obtain all the multi-attribute magic stones.”

 

Felix, who had already dropped formal speech in front of the border lord, showed no hesitation even in front of the second prince of the empire.

 

Rosaline, Eric, and Kane, who were standing behind Julius, flinched at the same time.

 

Luckily, the second prince resolved it with a simple hand wave.

 

Originally, the Magic Tower was an independent organization that did not belong to any country, not even the Empire. It would be absurd to demand courtly manners from the head of such a place.

 

“Anyway,”

 

Felix took an envelope out of his pocket and handed it to Leonhard.

 

Leonhardt received the envelope with a puzzled look on his face, but his face crumpled as soon as he read the contents.

 

“What on earth is that?”

 

Felix added shortly as the Duke approached Leonhard.

 

“It’s not free. No negotiation, either.”

 

Duke Khalid’s mouth dropped open. The sheer number of numbers in the document had made him do it.

 

“This… the price is…”

 

“How much is it?”

 

The Marquis of Ajas and Duke Khalid—neither of whom had ever worried about money—were both frozen.

 

Seeing them speechless, Julius was naturally shocked.

 

“Ah…”

 

Leonhardt put down the paper and looked up at the ceiling, as if trying to calm his thoughts for a moment.

 

Then he handed the document to Julius.

 

“Your Highness.”

 

“Oh, right. I was curious anyway.”

 

At Julius’s delighted voice, Kane quickly stepped in and handed him the paper.

 

“Let’s see how expensive it is……”

 

Julius’s face stiffened as he read it.

 

Rosaline and Eric, peeking over his shoulder, gasped in disbelief.

 

“Isn’t this for the prosperity of the royal family? I think it’s right for the royal family to handle it.”

 

“What? This? The Imperial Family?”

 

Leonhard just shrugged, as if asking, “Is that a problem?”

 

A dumbfounded laugh escaped from Julius, but to be honest, Leonhard was right.

 

This medicine will be used to erase the false symbol of Estroa.

 

So it made sense for the Estroa imperial family to pay for it. It did make sense.

 

“Is this… really… the actual price?”

 

As if expecting that reaction, Felix, who had been leisurely sipping his drink alone, casually glanced around the room.

 

“Is there a wizard here?”

 

“That would be me.”

 

When Rosaline raised her hand, Felix motioned with his chin for her to come closer.

 

She exchanged a glance with Eric before approaching Felix.

 

And then, out of the blue, the magic potion class began.

 

“There’s no need to explain multi-attribute magic stones. The base of this potion is water drawn from the Sea Spring in the Eldwarf Forest—”

 

“What? The Sea Spring? Can humans access that place?”

 

“They can’t. I bought it from the elves. And…”

 

As Felix listed the ingredients that went into the potion one by one, Rosaline’s face, which had been growing increasingly pale, suddenly lit up with admiration.

 

And when she heard the methods he used to combine the ingredients, she finally admitted:

 

“Your Highness, if I may say so as a wizard who’s staking her career—this price is… completely fair. It’s not expensive at all.”

 

“It’s a good thing we have a wizard.”

 

Felix shook his head, saying that if not, it would have taken a long time to make them understand.

 

The faces of the non-wizards in the room twisted with offense at being brushed aside so casually.

 

Eric asked Rosaline again if she truly meant what she said, and she nodded firmly.

 

Watching the whole process, Julius silently folded the paper in front of him and slipped it into an envelope.

 

“Duke Khalid, take it.”

 

“Y-Yes?”

 

Before he could respond, Kane quickly moved and placed an envelope in Duke Khalid’s hands.

 

Duke Khalid trembled as if having a seizure and almost crumpled the envelope in the process.

 

“Why are you giving this to me?”

 

“Aren’t you the one who has the authority to investigate this? Go and request it directly from His Majesty.”

 

“But Your Highness… you’re part of the imperial family, too.”

 

“Strictly speaking, I am also a subject of investigation. If I were to make a request to His Majesty regarding this, he might doubt whether the investigation was conducted fairly. Wouldn’t that be a problem for you, Duke Khalid?”

 

“Your Highness is right…. I am always grateful for your kindness in looking after my subjects’ circumstances,” He said through clenched teeth.

 

Rosaline and Kane nodded simultaneously.

 

The opposing party was clearly the Second Prince and his close aides, yet why did this whole thing feel like he was being conned by a swindler?

 

Duke Khalid turned to Leonhard, who was sure to be on his side.

 

But he had already started another conversation with Julius.

 

* * *