How The Sub-Male Lead’s Stepmother Teaches Love Chapter 265

Scene Transition

“Hmm, but still…”

“Nell? Is something worrying you?”

 

I hesitated for a moment before answering Leonhard’s question.

 

“Am I really okay? I’m not going to get summoned by the Second Prince later for suspicious activity or something?”

 

Felix said everything went well with Leonhard, but still…

 

“You don’t need to worry about that. Whether it’s the Second Prince or Duke Khalid, there’s no way they’d suspect you.”

 

“Why not? With the mirror, and Pan too… Honestly, from an outsider’s point of view, I look pretty suspicious, right?”

 

“Objectively, you are the victim. Have you already forgotten what happened at the palace a while ago?”

 

Oh, come to think of it, I almost got poisoned if I made one mistake.

 

Leonhard must have noticed that I had suddenly remembered, because he pulled me into a comforting embrace.

 

“Right about now, the Second Prince is probably hearing about the Onyx from Duke Khalid.”

 

“Really? So all suspicions toward the Second Prince are gone now?”

 

“Yes. We’ve concluded he can be trusted. Though, of course, your lineage still remains a secret.”

 

Leonhard then told me that he had also left Peter behind at Duke Khalid’s mansion.

 

“Duke Khalid was completely unaware of the existence of a dungeon near Rehimbon. We decided to send knights and wizards there as soon as possible to investigate the dungeon. Ah.”

 

Leonhard looked at Felix and asked.

 

“If I could give you the coordinates for the dungeon entrance and the nearby area, could you check whether it’s the same location as where this magic stone connects to?”

 

Felix nodded slightly, as if it wouldn’t be too difficult.

 

“If you give me the general location, I’ll go check it myself. But if the place connected to this magic stone is inside the dungeon, I’ll have to go inside to confirm it.”

 

Dungeons are separate spaces that don’t follow the usual coordinate system of this continent—or something like that.

 

Felix, who had made my head spin with these complicated explanations, took the name of the mountain range from Leonhardt and disappeared with the magic stone, saying he’d check right away.

 

“If the place connected to that magic stone is inside a dungeon, things will get a little more complicated, right?”

 

“Yes. We have to break the barrier at the dungeon entrance.…”

 

Breaking the barrier at the dungeon entrance itself wasn’t difficult, but the problem came after that.

 

If they set up a barrier to keep anyone out, they would have naturally prepared a countermeasure in case the barrier is broken.

 

There may be a battle right away without any time to figure out the coordinates or anything.

 

There is no way to guess what kind of wizards and monsters will be inside the dungeon.

 

“For now, we have to wait until Duke Khalid and Felix finish their investigation. And then…. Maybe something will happen in the palace sooner or later.”

 

“In the palace? Why?”

 

Leonhardt spoke to me in a small voice as if telling a secret.

 

“That’s..…”

 

* * *

 

Karl, buried in the chair, gritted his teeth and took a deep breath.

 

He was trying to calm his anger—but in the end, he couldn’t hold it in and exploded.

 

“Disappeared without a trace? No way to contact him? Do you even realize what you’re saying?!”

 

“I’m sorry, Your Highness.”

 

Tommy’s face, which answered with a gloomy expression, was a mess to the point where there was no place to be hurt.

 

But Karl didn’t seem to notice his injuries at all—he was too furious.

 

“Pan disappeared with the mirror. If things go wrong, Pan will be captured by the Marquis.”

 

‘Wait, is he actually worried about Pan?’

 

Tommy’s thoughts were suddenly broken.

 

“If Pan gets caught, who’s going to bring the chimera and monsters from Count Gordon’s territory into the capital, huh?!”

 

‘Of course.’

 

Tommy let out a dry laugh inside.

 

‘There’s no way this man would worry about other people.’

 

“Besides, that bastard took the teleportation stone too! How the hell are we supposed to get rid of the Marquis’s wife in the capital now?”

 

The assassination attempt had already failed, so trying again would be difficult.

 

The safest and most successful way was to use the teleportation stone to send her to the tower.

 

“Why on earth did he take that back?”

 

“Maybe… revenge?”

 

“Revenge? What revenge?”

 

As Tommy shut his mouth tightly, Karl suddenly yelled, as if a thought had struck him.

 

“You insulted him again, didn’t you?! I told you to stop doing that!”

 

“But…”

 

‘I didn’t hit him or anything.’

 

‘All I did was say a few harsh words. And yet, he held a grudge over that and disappeared with an important item.’

 

‘Clearly, he was doing this on purpose to spite me.’

If Pan showed up now, Tommy felt like he could strangle him.

 

“Ugh, my head… Still, it’s probably not revenge. He was startled when I told him to leave the mirror behind and just ran off with it.”

 

“How can you be sure of that?”

 

“I’ve lived with Pan for a year or two. That guy’s the most timid person I’ve ever met.”

 

No matter how troublesome a request, if you asked him nicely, he’d do it. He even ended up handing over that mirror he cherished like his life.

 

The thought of Pan betraying him never crossed Karl’s mind.

 

It wasn’t trust— it was another form of ignorance.

 

“There are more than one or two problems that need to be solved. Why is there never a clear answer to anything?”

 

Why did he need to get rid of Marquis Ajas’s wife?

So he could lead chimeras and monsters into the capital, kill off the other imperial heirs and the emperor, and seize the throne.

 

But now the man assigned to that task had disappeared—with both the bloodstone and the teleportation stone.

 

‘There is a way to contact him, but…’

 

The problem was that the Second Prince’s knights were lurking around that detached palace.

 

If there is a wizard among them, his conversation with Pan using a magical communication tool may be eavesdropped on.

 

‘If only this idiot hadn’t messed everything up…’

 

Karl, who had been looking at Tommy with displeasure, finally let out a long sigh as he buried himself in the chair.

 

‘There’s nothing I can do.’

 

No matter how hard he tried to think, there was nothing he could do for now.

 

He had no choice but to wait until the poisoning incident was resolved and the Second Prince’s knights were gone.

 

‘Or maybe pin it all on someone else…?’

 

Just as Karl was turning over names in his head—Marquise Calvin, the First Prince, and the First Princess—

 

—Tok–Tok

 

“Excuse me. A message has arrived from the Emperor’s Palace.”

 

“From the Emperor’s Palace? What message?”

 

“I’m not sure of the details, but it seems important—the head attendant himself has come to deliver it.”

 

“The head attendant…?”

Not just an attendant, but the head attendant himself had come.

He had a bad feeling about that.

And sure enough—

 

[Originally, the ceremony of appointing a prince is a joyous event, meant to be celebrated with the blessings of many, as it brings prosperity to the royal family of Estroa.

 

However, with the First Princess gravely ill, countless nobles, including myself and the Empress, are plagued with worry.

 

If guests at the ceremony cannot even smile for fear their laughter might drift toward Rosequartz Palace, would that not turn a joyful event into a tragic one instead?

 

Thus, once the First Princess recovers, we shall hold the ceremony again in a properly celebratory atmosphere…]

 

“What….?”

 

The ceremony was just around the corner. The clothing and jewelry to be worn that day had already been completed, and the rehearsal had only taken place yesterday.

 

And now they’re postponing it? Using the First Princess’s illness as an excuse?

 

“These bastards—what kind of nonsense is this?!”

 

“Ugh!”

 

Hot flames shot out from Karl’s body, following his surging anger.

 

It was only natural that the letter from the emperor he was holding in his hand would burn in an instant.

 

Tommy jumped back, startled by the scorching heat burning his skin, and looked around nervously at the black ash flying through the air.

 

To burn a letter written in the Emperor’s own hand, stamped with his personal seal!

 

If anyone else had witnessed this scene—especially the head attendant who had delivered the letter—there would have been a serious uproar.

 

“Y-Your Highness! Please compose yourself! You’ll burn down the entire palace at this rate!”

 

“Compose myself? Do I look like someone who can compose myself right now? The First Princess’s illness, huh? What if she doesn’t recover? What if she stays bedridden for one, two years… Wait a second. Was she even sick?”

 

The question that suddenly came to mind became a fact in Karl’s mind.

 

A sly smile escaped from his lips.

 

“Of course. She planned this. That damned woman is pretending to be sick on purpose. She became a princess thanks to me, and now she dares—!”

 

Karl could no longer control his emotions. The fire swirling above his head flared up so fiercely it nearly reached the ceiling.

 

Finally, Tommy used magic to pour water on him, and prepared to get hit later.

 

“What’s going on!”

 

Two knights rushed into the room, after catching a faint scent of something burning from behind the closed door.

 

They didn’t express concern—only sharp suspicion as their eyes scanned Karl and Tommy.

 

“His Highness was so shocked by the news of the First Princess that he lost control of his power for a moment. Thankfully, he’s calmed the symbol’s power now, so there’s no need to worry.”

 

The symbol peeking from his partially burned sleeve had glowed a furious red, but now its color was fading.

 

Though they still held suspicion, the knights—having confirmed that Karl’s power was true—couldn’t press further.

 

“Understood. If you need anything, please call us at any time.”

 

After the knights quietly went out, Tommy let out a sigh of relief.

 

He had been nervous that they would ask about the letter from His Majesty the Emperor.

 

“Your Highness, please be careful from now on.….”

 

“Tom.”

 

At the low voice, Tommy almost instinctively knelt down in front of Karl.

 

“Your Highness, I was wrong.….”

 

“No, thanks to you I came to my senses, so just get up.”

 

Karl waved his hand lightly, looked at Tommy, and spoke in a gloomy voice.

 

“There’s something you need to do right now.”

 

* * *