How The Sub-Male Lead’s Stepmother Teaches Love Chapter 262

“B-but, it doesn’t make sense. If she really thought of me as family…”

 

At that moment, drops of water fell from his chin, visible beneath the hood.

Pan, already trembling, began to shake even more as he covered his wet face with both hands.

 

“She… she left me behind… hiks… alone… That, that wasn’t right… hiks she should’ve taken me with her… Wh-why…?”

 

The sound of sobbing mixed with the words made it impossible to understand.

 

At that moment, Noah, who was sitting next to me, hugged my waist.

 

The child’s face was distorted as if he were about to cry, as if he had become absorbed in the emotions of Pan.

 

I didn’t know what to say to Pan, so instead, I just hugged Noah, who was clinging to me.

 

Pan cried for a long time after that.

 

When he finally stopped crying and apologized to me, his voice was a mess, mixed with hiccups.

 

“S-sorry. I-it was so sudden…”

 

“It’s okay. Um… Actually, I’m the one who should be apologizing.”

 

“A-apologizing?”

 

The eyes revealed from under the hood were as clear as water. That transparent gaze seemed to ask, “Why would you?”

 

I smiled helplessly and finally forced my lips to move.

 

“If it weren’t for me, your sister—my birth mother—wouldn’t have had to leave you behind.”

 

“N-no! D-don’t apologize… S-sister… she… she said she was happy to have you….”

 

“Really?”

 

In response to my question, Pan nodded vigorously.

 

“S-sister said… i-if she ever met you, she wanted… You have to smile.”

 

Pan, who had lowered his head deeply and rubbed his eyes hard with his arms, pulled back his hood.

 

His face, now fully exposed, was almost entirely covered in burn scars—but what caught my eye more were his eyes, red and swollen from crying.

 

“A-are you smiling…?”

 

I nodded without hesitation.

 

“Of course. I’m happy. I’ve always been happy. I’ve had so many people who loved me and cherished me.”

 

“Th-then… that’s enough… Th-that’s all Sister Asta wanted…”

 

Pan’s face twisted into an unrecognizable expression.

 

But the warmth in his eyes told me exactly what it was—he was smiling.

 

“A-and, I’ll give you this too.”

 

As if everything had been settled, Pan pulled his hood back on and rummaged through his sleeve, taking something out.

 

It was a fist-sized magic stone with some kind of pattern engraved on it.

 

“What is this?”

 

“I-it’s a teleportation stone. B-break it, and you’ll be transported… to a set location.”

 

“Oh? Where to?”

 

“Th-that… I can’t say.”

 

There was a faint sense of guilt in Pan’s voice as he shook his head from side to side.

 

Perhaps it took a great deal of courage for him to hand me this magic stone.

 

“I-it transports two people. The one who breaks the stone… and the one that person is holding hands with.”

 

“What if I’m holding hands with more than one person?”

 

“I-it’ll choose… the person with the most contact.”

 

“Ah… I see.”

 

The slightly misshapen, blue gemstone had neatly engraved letters all over it.

 

I couldn’t even control my magical powers, let alone learn magic, so I couldn’t interpret what was written in these words.

 

“Mother, can I see it too?”

 

“Yes, be careful with it.”

 

“D-don’t… d-drop it or anything….”

 

“Yes.”

 

Noah nodded obediently and began to examine the magic stone in detail, holding it with both hands and tracing each pattern with his thumb as if trying to figure out the formula written on its surface.

 

His face looked so serious, but since he’d only just started learning magic, he probably didn’t understand it any more than I did.

 

“S-soon… y-you’ll find out where it leads. Wh-when the time comes… if you need to go… u-use it with someone who can protect you.”

 

“With my husband?”

 

The first name that came to mind slipped out, and Pan tilted his head.

 

“I-it should be someone… strong in magic…”

 

When he says that, the person who comes to mind is Felix.

 

‘Why? With that guy?’

 

A tinge of emotion appeared on my face. Pan spoke with difficulty as if this was truly the last time.

 

“Y-you don’t have to go… but… I-I hope you will… at least once.”

 

“Um, okay. I’ll do that.”

 

‘Where can I go with this magic stone? Could it be my mother’s hometown?’

 

While I was thinking about such things, Pan got up from his seat and said he had to go.

 

“Already? Can’t you stay and eat dinner with us?”

 

“N-no. I… have something I need to do…”

 

Shaking his head, Pan stood tall and looked at me silently.

 

Then, in a soft voice, he said:

 

“S-soon… the capital might… be in danger.”

 

“The capital? Why?”

 

“S-something’s going to happen. Wh-when that time comes… if you’re in danger… j-just wish for it.”

 

“Wish for what?”

 

But Pan said no more.

 

He kept his silence, as if he couldn’t tell me anything else. Then, with a faint smile, he finally said:

 

“Th-thank you… I thought I’d never get to… talk about my sister again….”

 

“I am the one who should be grateful. If it weren’t for Pan, I wouldn’t have been able to hear my real mother’s story.… Oh!”

 

Suddenly, something flashed through my mind.

 

I earnestly asked Pan to wait a moment and headed to my dressing room.

 

‘The jewel box brought from Ajas… Ah, I found it.’

 

As expected, it was here.

 

I picked up the locket pendant from the jewelry box, took out the camera that my older sister Lily had given me, and took a close-up picture of my biological mother’s portrait.

 

After confirming that my biological mother’s face was captured well in the photo, I returned to the living room holding the pendant in my hand.

 

“Here. This is for you.”

 

“H-huh?”

 

Worried he might refuse it, I placed the pendant directly into his hand.

 

I opened the locket cap of the pendant in his slightly trembling hand.

 

“O-oh…!”

 

“My family drew this for me when I was little. …What do you think? Does she look like my mother?”

 

“She… she does… I-it’s the same…”

 

Pan’s voice was soaked with tears again.

 

He put his hand inside his hood and wiped his face vigorously, then carefully looked at the portrait in the pendant.

 

“Ah, Sister Asta….”

 

“I can have the artist redraw it. I’ll give this to Pan.”

 

“R-really…? I-is that okay?”

 

“Of course. Pan is our family.”

 

Pan bit his lips so hard that his front teeth were visible.

 

Then, clutching the pendant tightly in his hands, he began to cry again—murmuring words of thanks.

 

* * *

 

“Can we meet again later?”

 

Raenel followed Pan to the main gate of the mansion and asked him.

 

Would they see each other again?

 

Pan hesitated, unable to nod or shake his head.

 

Seeing that, Raenel seemed to guess the answer already and smiled brightly as she said:

 

“If you ever feel like talking about your sister again, come visit anytime. I’ll probably be at Ajas Castle!”

 

That bright smile was just like Asta’s.

 

It was as if Asta’s shadow were cast behind Raenel—so much so that Pan, momentarily dazed, instinctively tugged on his hood and gave a slight nod.

 

Pan left the Paul Herbina mansion at a brisk pace and entered a crowded, bustling street.

 

In this hot summer, wearing a long robe and hood pulled down low, he certainly stood out.

 

However, the crowd was so crowded that it was difficult to attract anyone’s attention once he got mixed up in the crowd.

 

He took advantage of that moment and recited the teleportation spell.

 

He disappeared in an instant like a flash of light, and when he reappeared, he was in a back alley in the capital covered in dark shadows.

Ever since the accident, both fire and light terrified him. He could only feel safe in the darkness.

Only after cloaking himself in an invisibility spell did Pan allow himself to relax and slump down on the ground.

 

He opened the locket pendant Raenel had given him and gazed once more at the portrait inside.

 

Shining platinum blonde hair. Beautiful lavender eyes like violets.

 

Her face, which had become blurred in his memories like water-stained paper, now came back to him in perfect clarity.

 

How could he even describe this feeling? It was like meeting her again after she’d come back to life.

 

He had never dared hope to see her face again—not even like this—so the joy was overwhelming.

 

Now it wasn’t memory but the tears welling up in his eyes that made her face blur again.

 

His eyes ached and stung from crying so much, but Pan rubbed them vigorously with his arms to clear his vision and looked again at Asta inside the pendant.

 

“Hey, sister…. R-Raenel… she has the same pink hair and eyes as your f-father, just like you wanted…”

 

She must know, too. She gave birth to the child safely. She must have held the child at least once.

 

“J-just like you wanted… She’s living well, happily. She doesn’t even need me to make her smile…”

 

It seemed as if Asta’s voice was coming from somewhere, like the wind brushing past his ears.

 

Clutching the pendant tightly, Pan curled up and buried his face in his arms. He couldn’t hold back the tears anymore.

 

“S-Sister….. ngh… Sister A-Asta….”

 

When he first heard that she’d died, he couldn’t even cry at the tower.

 

Everyone hated her—because she was accused of stealing Pel Sesto’s child.

 

“That stupid thing! If Pel Sesto dies, how will we mine the magic stones in the future?!”

 

Even Master and Carl weren’t exceptions.

 

They knew she had saved Pan’s life. They knew how much Pan adored her—yet they still couldn’t hold back their anger.

 

They ranted that if she hadn’t died, they would’ve killed her themselves.

 

Pan couldn’t say anything in front of them.

 

All he could manage was to say that a witch’s first daughter usually looked just like her mother.

 

perhaps… If any of them had mourned Asta’s death, even if it was a lie, he would have told the truth.

 

Aside from Asta’s appearance, which everyone already knows, the child that was born may have pink hair and violet eyes, just like Asta’s father.

 

And that Asta had already chosen a name for her daughter.

 

* * *