How The Sub-Male Lead’s Stepmother Teaches Love Chapter 310

“I heard that Pan’s body hasn’t been found yet.”

 

“I heard that too.”

 

The person who told the two of them the news from inside the palace was the second prince.

 

Because the three of them investigated Karl together.

 

“Surely he didn’t survive, right?”

 

“It’s not impossible. Even Marquise Calvin survived all that chaos, didn’t he?”

 

Since they could only judge based on secondhand reports, it was hard to draw any firm conclusions about what had happened there.

 

Besides, Pan was a wizard.

 

“The palace is still in the middle of recovery and clean-up… they’ll find some kind of clue eventually.”

 

“I guess so.”

 

Leonhard nodded and glanced at Duke Khalid.

 

Fortunately, he was looking around the inside of the tower with serious eyes, as if he had no intention of digging up any more information about Pan.

 

Leonhard pretended to examine the inside as well, quietly letting out a sigh of relief

 

‘He’s not suspecting Nell.’

 

The day after they defeated the chimera dragon, Leonhard had met Julius separately—and upon hearing that the one who had dragged the monster into the capital was Pan, his vision had gone blank.

 

In that light, it wouldn’t have been strange if Julius had said he intended to summon the Marquise to question her.

 

If that were the case, Leonhard had already decided he would use the merit of subduing the chimera dragon as leverage in negotiations.

 

But then Julius said, “Pan apparently killed Tommy.”

 

“Yes?… Weren’t those two on the same side?”

 

“That’s what I thought too… but one of the knights who was there said this: ‘He tried to kill the child.’ That’s why he killed him. Someone Tommy tried to kill—doesn’t anyone come to mind?”

 

“Well, I mean… ah.”

 

“Looks like you’ve thought of it. Right. Your wife was nearly poisoned to death in the palace, wasn’t she?”

 

“Are you saying that Pan killed Tommy because he tried to kill my wife…?”

 

“I’m not sure. But it seems Pan tried to kill Karl too. He failed when the Chimera went berserk.”

 

“……”

 

“I still haven’t found Pan’s body. If he’s alive, I really want to ask him. What exactly was his true purpose?”

 

This made Leonhard very curious about Pan’s true intentions.

 

Did he kill Tommy because he really was trying to protect Raenel? Did he try to kill Karl for the same reason?

 

Was his ultimate goal in attacking the capital with monsters simply to kill those two?

 

Did countless other lives mean nothing, as long as he could save Raenel?

 

“Pan considered my biological mother as family.”

 

“By the way, can I ask you something?”

 

“What…?”

 

Leonhard was inwardly nervous at Duke Khalid’s somewhat sudden question.

 

‘Is he going to ask about Pan?’

 

But contrary to Leonhard’s assumption, the duke’s question was completely unrelated.

 

“I’m talking about the dragon that appeared when you caught the chimera, the one said to be the spirit dwelling in Rayenbert.”

 

“…Ah. Well.”

 

“That dragon—was that Hiyella, the one said to have made its nest in the Hiyella mountain range?”

 

Beside them, Felix let out a short snort of laughter.

 

Leonhard resisted the urge to glare at him and answered calmly.

 

“It’s not Hiyela, it’s like a clone of Hiyela.”

 

Since Rake was Hiyella’s child, calling him that wasn’t exactly wrong.

 

“So that was the proof of contract the dragon had personally bestowed… that’s truly amazing. Can you summon it again?”

 

“No. You can only call it once in a lifetime. There’s no way I could summon such a massive creature whenever I want.”

 

“Well, that’s true.”

 

The snickering beside them wouldn’t stop.

 

Unable to hold back, Leonhard finally shot Felix a glare and lightly—lightly, by his standards—smacked Felix’s trembling shoulder before changing the subject.

 

“More importantly—have you told the duchess about Kana?”

 

“…….”

 

At Leonhard’s question, Duke Khalid’s mouth snapped shut like a clam.

 

A face that darkened for a moment became the answer.

 

Understanding his feelings, Leonhard let out a short sigh.

 

“I know it’s difficult, but you can’t hide it forever.”

 

After defeating the Chimera, Leonhard encountered Duke Khalid on his way home and told him that he was protecting Cana.

 

Until then, Leonhard had intended to send Cana straight to Duke Khalid’s residence.

 

He believed it was only natural for the child to return to her biological father.

 

But Raenel stopped him. She first asked whether Duke Khalid had even told Rebecca about the child’s existence.

 

“If Kana suddenly appears in front of Becky, who knows nothing, both of them will be deeply hurt by each other.”

 

Raenel had been firm—Kana would only be sent once Rebecca, as an adult, was able to accept the child with composure.

 

Leonhard was convinced by her opinion, so Kana was still staying at Paul Herbina.

 

“I don’t even know how to bring it up… If only Kana didn’t have that symbol.”

 

“I can remove the symbol.”

 

“What?”

 

Duke Khalid opened his eyes wide in surprise at Felix’s words that suddenly interrupted him.

 

“Karl’s dead. So we’ve got one dose of potion left—the one that was originally meant for him.”

 

“Potion? That means, the symbol that Kana has…..”

 

“Oh, you haven’t read this place’s wizard’s experiment log, huh. Kana’s mark is artificially manifested. Considering that side effects may appear later, it’d be better for her health to erase it.”

 

With half a dazed face, Duke Khalid muttered

 

“They artificially manifested the symbol? On that little child’s body?”

 

“Do you expect those who have committed all kinds of unethical acts to have even a shred of conscience left for a child?”

 

“Felix, that’s enough.”

 

Leonhard shot him a look as if to say, You’re a father too—how can you not understand another father’s heart?

 

Felix, whose shoulder was still sore from being smacked earlier, scowled.

 

“Says the guy who also has no sense of consideration for a child.”

 

“Hey.”

 

“If you truly care about your child, you should consider taking her in and protecting her, regardless of whether your wife asks for a divorce or not. What, are you going to just leave her to be treated like a burden in someone else’s house?”

 

Strictly speaking, he wasn’t wrong—and Duke Khalid’s face turned ashen.

 

On the other hand, Leonhard, who was watching from the side, had a dumbfounded expression.

 

“Are you seriously saying that right now?”

 

“I checked with my own eyes that my kid’s doing fine.”

 

Felix said it like that alone, fulfilled his duty. Leonhardt clicked his tongue.

 

“I used to be disqualified as a father too… but you’re way worse than I was.”

 

“That’s why I’m not saying I’ll take him.”

 

“Even if you say you’ll take him, I won’t let him go. Noah is mine, our son.”

 

Felix shrugged once with a sullen look, as if to say Then why are we having this pointless argument?

 

Then added briefly,

 

“We’re here.”

 

“What?”

 

“This room right in front of you is where the magic circle is.”

 

“Ah.”

 

They’d talked so much that they momentarily forgot their original purpose.

 

Duke Khalid also seemed to snap back to reality.

 

“Let’s talk about this later.”

 

“Sure. …By the way, Kana’s doing well, so you don’t need to worry.”

 

Just in case, Leonhard added that, and Duke Khalid smiled and waved his hand.

 

“How could I doubt you?”

 

There was a hint of regret on the duke’s face—but also strong determination. It seemed he had finally decided to tell his wife about Kana.

 

Leonhardt was relieved at that—until a rotten stench rushed up his nose.

 

“What is that?”

 

The source of the smell was beyond the open door.

 

Even Felix, the one who opened the door, seemed to have not expected that, as he covered his nose and mouth with his hand and stepped back with a frown.

 

“There’s poison in the air… Hold on.”

 

Felix recited a spell to purify the room of the poisonous smoke leaking out.

 

Even after confirming that all the poison had disappeared, he repeated the purification spell two or three times.

 

But the pungent smell didn’t go away.

 

But the stench remained. Realizing it was useless unless he went in and eliminated the source directly, Felix retreated further.

 

“I’ll stay here.”

 

“You want us to check? You think we don’t have noses?”

 

“I have a weak stomach. If I go in there, I’ll throw up immediately.”

 

Whether that was a statement of fact or a threat was unclear. Clicking his tongue, Leonhard held his breath and gestured lightly.

 

“I’m going in.”

 

Leonhard, who had been through all kinds of hardships and seen all kinds of things, could roughly guess what the room would look like.

 

He stepped in confidently, but even for him, the scene in the dark room was hard to endure.

 

‘Four corpses…. No, five?’

 

The corpses lying on the floor were so badly decomposed and damaged that it was impossible to guess their gender, age, or other appearance during life.

 

Only one still vaguely resembled a human being—likely the last survivor, who eventually died from the poison.

 

‘Wait a minute, this face…’

 

More than half of it was damaged, but somehow it was recognizable.

 

It was the female wizard who had turned Kana into a doll and lured him and Raenel into the canyon trap.

 

‘I heard she wasn’t among the captured wizards. Did she try to escape and die here instead?’

 

As that thought crossed his mind, another question followed.

 

‘Why did these wizards die here?’

 

There was no sign of another monster in the room. Which meant they were killing each other for some reason.

 

With monsters running wild and Khalid’s knights surrounding the dungeon entrance, their top priority should’ve been escape. So why…?

 

“Hmm…?”

 

Something clattered at his toe. Leonhard reflexively looked down and found a wooden mask, blackened with dried blood.

 

‘Wooden mask…?’

 

The moment he picked it up, his gaze was drawn—almost pulled—to a certain spot.

The opposite wall.

 

There was a huge magic circle engraved there.

 

It was broken in places as if stabbed by a blade, and the magic stone embedded in the center was broken in half.

 

‘So that’s why they couldn’t escape.’

 

Who on earth could have damaged the teleportation magic circle in such an urgent situation?

 

Leonhard looked down at the wooden mask in his hand, thinking he could somehow guess the answer.

 

Was it his imagination?

 

Although the face painted on the mask had a gloomy expression, the dark stains of blood across it made it look like it was smiling in satisfaction.

 

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