How The Sub-Male Lead’s Stepmother Teaches Love Chapter 278

Was it a metaphor, or should it be taken literally?

 

While I was looking at Leonhard’s face and arms, the goldfish-shaped arrow that had been spinning around stopped pointing at the fireplace.

 

When Leonhard stepped closer to the fireplace, a golden glow began to shimmer from the goldfish’s tail.

 

“It’s here.”

 

Then Leonhard took out a silver gauntlet from his magic bag and put it on his right hand.

 

The gauntlets, with large magic stones embedded in the back of the hands, looked brand new—like they had never been used before.

 

“What is that?”

 

“It’s a magical tool that helps break invisible magic barriers by force.”

 

‘Ah, so he meant he was going to smash through it with that!’

 

“They said it would take several gold bars just to make one of these…”

 

Leonhard sighed, tapping the air near the fireplace. Apparently, he’d asked Felix to make it.

 

‘That person doesn’t look like that, so I don’t know why he’s so obsessed with money.’

 

The moment Leonhard knocked on the floor inside the fireplace, where black ash had piled up, a magic circle appeared in the air with a pop!

 

The complexly shaped magic circle with various overlapping patterns began to spin around, spraying dark purple smoke.

 

“Mom!”

 

Thinking he had accidentally triggered something dangerous, I instinctively clung to Leonhardt’s back—just as he slammed his fist into the edge of the magic circle.

 

Then the shape of the magic circle was distorted, and some of the formulas and letters flew away.

 

“W-What? Is that supposed to happen like that…? Ah, it must be thanks to the gauntlet!”

 

“Yes. It seems the high price is justified.”

 

As soon as he landed that punch, the spinning magic circle lost its light and came to a stop.

 

However, Leonhard did not let his guard down and continued swinging his fists, destroying the entire magic circle.

 

With a clicking sound, the floor of the fireplace opened up, and the pile of black ash poured out into it.

 

“Let’s see… There’s a notebook and a box.”

 

After thoroughly checking the area with his gauntlet, Leonhard finally reached into the hole and pulled out several notebooks.

 

He took out a handkerchief, wiped the ashes off the note, and showed it to me.

 

“Take a look. I’ll open the box.”

 

“I’m not sure I’ll understand anything in it…”

 

Just as I thought.

 

The first notebook I opened was filled with all sorts of magical formulas and equations that I couldn’t understand.

 

‘If I had known this would happen, I should’ve learned magic alongside Sister Lily back then.’

 

‘But there’s probably no need to understand this immediately. I could just take it home and toss it at Felix later…’

 

As I was flipping through the pages of the notebook with such thoughts in mind, I finally found some words I could read.

 

[Side Effects of the Symbol Manifestation Experiments.]

 

“This is it! Leon, this is it—!”

 

I called out to Leonhard, but the words that followed stopped me in my tracks.

 

[The following cases are side effects observed in test subjects who successfully manifested the symbol. Side effects in subjects who failed and died during the experiment were not recorded.]

 

[1. Subject A received continuous transfusions of Estroa’s blood. As a result, the charm power he held as a quarter-blood barbarian disappeared, possibly due to dilution.

 

This occurred simultaneously with the manifestation of the Estroa symbol in Subject A’s body.

 

→Did Estroa’s blood erase the barbarian power? Or was it the power of the Symbol itself?

 

If it was the former, we must observe further to determine whether Estroa’s blood causes other side effects.]

 

[2. Subject B successfully manifested the symbol one month after receiving Khalid’s blood.

 

No notable side effects have been observed so far, but since the subject is physically young, likely, some effects haven’t appeared yet. Continued observation required.]

 

[3. Subject C claimed to have no history of anemia, but one month after symbol manifestation, began showing signs of anemia.

 

→Monitor the subject’s health more closely to avoid “cutting open the goose that lays golden eggs.”

 

→Despite increasing the frequency of blood draws and decreasing the amount, the anemia seems to be getting worse.

 

[It may be a side effect of the experiment rather than a problem with the blood collection, so further observation is needed.]

 

These “Subjects” A, B, and C—they were all people.

 

And the way the notes described them, it was as emotionless as if they were just objects.

 

Leonhard seemed equally shocked, and after reading the note, he remained speechless for a long time.

 

“I think… Subject C might be the First Princess.”

 

“How do you know?”

 

“His Highness the Second Prince told me. He said she’s suffering from severe anemia. Felix suspected it might be a side effect of artificially inducing a symbol, and after reading this, it seems he was right.”

 

“So… this confirms it, doesn’t it?”

 

The First Princess—or rather, the Second Princess—had artificially manifested her symbol.

 

“Subject B is probably the Duke of Khalid’s child… which only leaves Subject A.”

 

Leonhard frowned and ran his index finger over the words “barbarian” and “charm power.”

 

“This must refer to the First Prince… Wait, the First Prince is a barbarian?”

 

“A barbarian? The First Prince? Then that means… even Marquise Calvin is a barbarian… right…?”

 

Leonhard’s wide eyes were filled with disbelief as he looked at me.

 

I could guarantee that my eyes right now wouldn’t be much different from Leonhard’s.

 

“Hold on, hold on…! Oh my god, now that I think about it—there was something I’d wondered about before!”

 

Hiyela had definitely told me: the former Marquis Ajas had given a dragon heart to his mistress.

 

But I wondered how that mistress managed the Dragon Heart so that it ended up in the hands of the barbarians!

 

I had brushed it off, thinking there was no way the mistress could have been a barbarian. But that was it—that was the answer!

 

“Charm power… That explains everything.”

 

Why did the Emperor treasure the reckless First Prince so dearly?

 

Why did he tolerate his mistress running around with other men, including Duke Kereis, despite his immense pride?

 

And most of all—

 

“Last night, the reason the Second Prince was detained without evidence was because Marquise Calvin was the one who accused him, right?”

 

“Oh my god… but even so, he’s the Emperor. Can he really be swayed that easily by barbarian magic?”

 

“That’s right. I guess even the power of authority couldn’t stop it.”

 

“Not even the power of Authority… Wait a minute!”

 

As I recalled the shocking truth, the strength in my hands gave out, and the notebook fell to the floor.

 

“Nell?”

 

‘My husband… had crossed paths with Marquise Calvin several times in the past.’

 

‘She even barged in, demanding to meet me, and ended up having a private audience with him!’

 

I held Leonhardt’s cheeks with both hands, looked straight into his eyes, and asked,

 

“Who’s your wife? It’s me, right? You love me, don’t you?”

 

“Why all of a sudden—”

 

“Answer me! Don’t you love me?”

 

I shook Leonhard’s head, telling him to answer quickly.

 

Leonhard, swaying as I shook him, wrapped his hands around mine—still holding his face—and spoke firmly,

 

“I love you. Nell, I love you. Didn’t I tell you I fell in love at first sight?”

 

“That’s how you feel now! But what if your answer changes in front of Marquise Calvin!”

 

“Me? With that woman? The woman who used to be my father’s mistress?”

 

Just the thought seemed to disgust him, and Leonhard’s face twisted like he had just bitten into something bitter.

 

But if this were something that could be solved with logic, then why was the Emperor so helplessly under her influence?

 

“Anyway… let’s keep searching. Maybe we’ll find more related information.”

 

We split the stack of notebooks and searched through them diligently.

 

“Wait a second—here’s a ledger of Marquise Calvin’s corrupt dealings? I think he’s organized it separately to use it as a weakness.”

 

But that wasn’t what we needed right now.

 

Thankfully, near the end of an old notebook, we found a passage related to the power of charm.

 

[How to destroy the power of charm?

 

It is highly likely that the power of charm possessed by the Marquise of Calvin came from a succubus.

 

There is only one known way to resist this power: to have someone you love more than yourself.

 

Other methods are unknown, but perhaps we can find a clue in the side effects observed in Subject A.

 

Is Estroa’s blood special? Or is it the blood of those who bear the symbol that holds the key?

 

If it’s the latter, then perhaps the blood of someone who possesses both a crest and a divine Authority could more effectively erase the barbarian’s power.

 

Let’s try experimenting with Pel’s blood. Maybe we can create an antidote.]

 

‘You can resist the power of charm… if there’s someone you love more than yourself?’

 

‘What kind of standard is that supposed to be?’

 

‘How am I supposed to compare how much I love myself to how much I love someone else?’

 

I was struggling because I couldn’t understand it at all, when suddenly Leonhard spoke to me in a confident voice.

 

“This means we don’t have to worry.”

 

“Huh? How can you be sure of that?”

 

Leonhard was about to say something, but then closed his mouth, thought for a moment, and then answered me.

 

“It’s true that I like myself more than before, but that only happened because you told me you loved me more than anything in the world.”

 

Leonhard continued, the tips of his ears slightly red, as if he were embarrassed to say the exact words.

 

“So…. there’s no way that the ‘me’ who started liking myself because of you could love myself more than I love you.”

 

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