How The Sub-Male Lead’s Stepmother Teaches Love Chapter 291

‘I wish I could have seen for myself how she grew up.’

 

‘No. That would have only made me cling to her more. I wouldn’t have wanted to die and leave her behind.’

 

In fact, it was still like that even now.

 

Before meeting Rake, he thought he would be satisfied just knowing that Raenel was alive.

 

‘But the moment he heard she was, he wanted to see her.

 

Not just see her…

 

He wanted to be by her side.

 

He wanted to talk to her.

 

He wanted her to call him “Dad.”

 

He wanted to call out the name they had chosen so carefully together and see her turn to look at him.

 

“Asta… Our daughter is alive. Your sacrifice was not in vain.”

 

‘How nice it would have been if we had met normally and gotten married normally…’

 

‘Just as I once dreamed, in a peaceful countryside village, I’d plow the fields, you’d read, and our daughter, covered in dirt, would run around the neighborhood.’

 

‘If she complained about food, I’d gladly eat what she didn’t like.

Before bed, I’d pat her tummy and read her storybooks.’

 

‘On sunny days, we’d pack lunches for picnics, and on her birthday, bake her favorite cake.’

 

The daughter he has never seen is infinitely young in his imagination, but she already has a husband and a child.

 

She’s built the warm, happy family he once dreamed of.

 

‘That’s enough. That’s… enough.’

 

‘Twenty years… I held out longer than I thought I would. In all those years, I’d done nothing for my daughter….’

 

‘If anything, I’d only put her in danger by letting her be born as the daughter of someone like me.’

 

Even just a while ago.

 

“Sorry, but I’ll have to draw quite a lot of blood this time. Pan took almost all the bloodstones that were in the Tower. If you’re going to resent someone, resent him.”

 

“He took a ton of chimeras too, didn’t he? At this rate, he might actually succeed in assassinating the Emperor.”

 

“Not just assassination. The whole Empire might fall. Who do you think made those chimeras?”

 

The wizards there haven’t treated Pel like a human for a long time.

 

They would chat about anything with the needle still stuck in his arm.

 

Because of that, Pel learned that Karl was aiming for the Emperor’s throne with a forged symbol of Estroa, and that Pan had left for the capital with bloodstones and chimeras to help him.

 

From that moment, he had already made up his mind— only, the deep-rooted attachment in his heart had kept him from committing to it.

 

But now, even that attachment was gone.

 

If anything, his resolve was stronger.

 

‘I must destroy all the bloodstones made from my blood.’

 

The only way to instantly destroy all the bloodstones that have already been created.

 

The owner of that blood must die.

 

Then all the bloodstones will turn to dust and scatter, and the monsters controlled by those bloodstones will go berserk.

 

And the first they would attack would be the wizards who had been controlling them.

 

‘Did Nell manifest the pattern? I should have asked Rake.’

 

If Raenel had manifested the symbol, then after his death, the authority of Sesto would naturally be inherited by her.

 

‘If she hadn’t… What happens in that case?’

 

Will the power be inherited by force through the manifestation of the symbol, or will the power be extinguished because there is no candidate with the symbol?

 

Either way, since Raenel carried Sesto’s blood, the rampaging monsters would not attack her.

 

Besides, Raenel has Marquis Ajas and a dragon by her side.

 

‘Nell is safe. Nothing can harm her.’

 

So he can die with peace of mind.

 

Pel felt truly relieved.

 

“Asta, I’ll go see you soon.”

 

He was glad he would be able to tell her the story of Raenel when they met again in death.

 

Pel closed his eyes with a faint smile on his lips.

 

And, with all the strength he had left…

 

* * *

 

“Karl, Tommy! You are under arrest for rebellion!”

 

The soldiers came so suddenly and unexpectedly that Karl couldn’t even run away.

 

Karl, who was dragged to the underground prison in an instant, was able to roughly figure out what had happened through the interrogation that followed.

 

‘Marquise Calvin, that woman is causing trouble.…!’

 

The Second Prince, accused of colluding with them, was an actual member of the royal family.

 

Because of that, the prison guards, unlike Julius, whom they dared not touch, did not show mercy to Karl.

 

“Is it true you colluded with His Highness the Second Prince? What did you promise him, and what did he promise you?”

 

“You were behind the monster attack last winter, weren’t you?”

 

“Tell us how you forged the Estroa symbol!”

 

Their coercive and violent interrogations were practically torture.

 

Shackles bound his hands and feet, and a magic-suppressing collar was locked around his neck, leaving him unable to resist.

 

“I heard you planned to lead the monsters and attack the capital. Where are the monsters?”

 

It was hard to endure the torture that became more intense as time went on, but Karl gritted his teeth and endured it.

 

‘Just one day, just one day. Then I can kill all these bastards!’

 

And finally.

 

The prison he was locked in shook as if it were about to collapse at any moment, accompanied by a loud noise that was so loud it hurt his eardrums.

 

‘It’s Pan! That guy came!’

 

What else could cause the underground prison to shake so violently? This was the Imperial Palace!

 

Karl chuckled and waited for the good news to arrive soon.

 

‘Pan will come for me first. Just wait a little longer, and I’ll be out of here.’

 

His heart pounded with equal parts anticipation and impatience.

 

How much time had passed like that?

 

From far outside the bars, the sound of urgent footsteps was heard.

 

“Damn it, you and you! Out, now!”

 

“Kuh… heh-heh-heh! I knew it!”

 

The ones who were picked up by the royal knight who personally came down to the prison were Carl and Tommy.

 

Tommy, too, had suffered severe torture, his face haggard. But his expression was not bad.

 

“Looks like Pan showed up right on time.”

 

“Didn’t I tell you? That guy could never betray us.”

 

“Stop talking nonsense! Keep your mouth shut and walk!”

 

The knight released them from the prison but didn’t remove the shackles on their wrists and ankles.

 

It made it hard to walk, but they could bear it to that extent.

 

Pan would free them soon.

 

“What’s going on outside? Don’t tell me the monsters reached the palace?”

 

As they ascended to the surface, they heard the voice of a man—presumably the Second Prince—coming from another corridor of the underground prison.

 

The obligatory reply—“We know nothing, Your Highness”—followed immediately after.

 

The fact that they were being freed while the prince remained locked up gave Karl a delicious sense of superiority.

 

‘Don’t worry, I’ll get you out too.’

Of course, by then, the Second Prince would already be a corpse.

 

“Huh, hehehe….”

 

“What the hell’s wrong with you? That’s creepy.”

 

“Are you sure we should even be letting this guy out?”

 

“There’s nothing I can do. It’s His Majesty the Emperor’s order.”

 

‘His Majesty the Emperor’s orders?’

 

‘What on earth did Pan do to get the Emperor to release us?’

 

When Karl saw it with his own eyes, he burst out laughing.

 

In front of the Emperor, Pan was holding Marquise Calvin hostage, whom he had captured with the tentacles of a giant wyvern, and was threatening the Emperor.

 

“Hahaha! Pan, you’re really the best! I didn’t know you’d even bring a dragon! How did you convince Ran?”

 

“Kal’s here! Now release me!”

 

Marquise Calvin, bound by tentacles, struggled frantically to make eye contact with Pan.

 

Knowing exactly why, Pan avoided looking in her direction.

 

Instead, he looked down at Karl and Tommy.

 

“You… you’re hurt. I… heard you were in prison. Did they… torture you?”

 

“Don’t even start. If they’d caught me just one day earlier, I would’ve spilled everything. How I made this symbol, for one.”

 

Now that it didn’t matter anymore, Karl bragged about his accomplishments loud enough for everyone to hear.

 

“So that symbol is really fake?”

 

“I saw him use power with my own eyes. Doesn’t that mean that symbol can also pass down authority?”

 

“I thought that power was only passed down through bloodlines.…”

 

A whisper spread among the knights surrounding the giant wyvern from a distance.

 

For a family where succession was granted solely by the presence or absence of the symbol, the revelation that one could artificially create such a symbol was a scandal in itself.

 

It raised the suspicion that impurities might have tainted a bloodline they had believed to be purely passed down for generations.

 

If it were the former Emperor, he would never have endured a situation that blemished the honor and dignity of the imperial family.

 

But no matter what was going on around him, he only looked at Marquise Calvin, who was being held captive by a giant wyvern.

 

“I brought you those traitors you wanted! Now put Marquise Calvin down and get out of this palace immediately!”

 

“Pfft! You’re not that old, but you’re already losing your mind. If I planned to leave quietly, do you think I’d have brought such a huge monster all the way to the capital? Don’t you think so?”

 

Karl, openly mocking the Emperor, jerked his chin at the knight standing beside him.

 

“Hey, untie this.”

 

“What…?”

 

“I said untie me. Otherwise, the life of the Marquise Calvin, whom Your Majesty cherishes so much, will be in danger.”

 

Still smiling, Karl turned his gaze to Pan.

 

“Isn’t that right, Pa—”

 

Just then, something shot through the air like lightning, grazing Karl’s cheek.

 

It was so fast that he couldn’t even tell what exactly was flying at him.

 

All he knew was the burning pain across his cheek, followed by the hot trickle of blood streaming from that thin, stinging line.

 

And then, from behind, a terrible scream came out that made the hair on the back of his neck stand on end.

 

* * *