Stepmothers Are Not Always Evil

The Marquis of Melks turned his head to face Helios.“Duke Anthemion, it was nice to meet you!”The Marquis rolled up his arms and raised his voice.However, Helios ignored him and urged the servants.“Who let outsiders into the mansion without my permission?”“So, I’m sorry, Your Excellency. I told him not to come, but he barged in…”Merlin stuttered and made excuses.Before Helios could answer, the Marquis of Melks roared.“Outsider! It’s my grandson’s house, so why am I an outsider!”“Isn’t that relationship already broken?”“Broken, Who wants to cut it off!”“Would you like me to bring you a waiver of custody?”“Cough.”Marquis Melks coughed. But he did not back down easily.“Yeah, well done. Since when did you take Escal like that? You didn’t even look at the child when Charlet was alive, and then you suddenly threatened me to give up custody”“Merlin, take the Marquis in the carriage.”“Tell me honestly! I don’t know that you’ve been harassing a child and pretending to be looking for it!”Marquis Melks muttered as much as he liked.Helios frowned, and Merlin resisted the Marquis.“Marquis, please stop and go back.”“Let go! Who dares a lowly man touch me!”He pushed Merlin roughly. The old butler’s body staggered.Helios, unable to see, approached Marquis Melks’ nose.“Get out now.”“What?”“If you don’t go out, I will take you out.”“How could you do this to me!”Marquis Melks hesitated, backing away from the murderous glare.“Get away and if you have a conscience, never appear in front of Lena again.”“Hah, this….”The Marquis gritted his teeth and stared at me, then flung off his cloak and left the mansion.Helios approached me and looked at me while I was dazed by the sound of nervous shoes.“Lena, are you okay?”“… Helios.”“Ignore that person. You have nothing to worry about him.”He looked worried that I might have been shocked by the words of the Marquis Melks.But contrary to Helios’ concerns, I was okay.As Helios said, there was no time to worry about such a person. Rather, it was to check that my guess was correct.“Helios, find one person for me.”“Person? who?”“A man named Baron Hazel. Maybe he knows where Escal is.”“Baron Hazel?” ****“I’ll be back in a bit, so have fun.”“Yes, sir. Have a good trip.”“Come quickly, grandpa!”“Okay.”Baron Hazel stroked Tiaris’ hair and left the hut.Tiaris clung to the window and waved at Baron Hazel.Only after Baron Hazel completely disappeared from view did Tiaris turn around.“Where is grandpa going?”“To get some medicine for Tia.”“Medicine?”“Hm.”Escal glanced at Tiaris’ arm.For some reason, the scars seemed to have gotten darker over the past few days.“Can I get better if I take that medicine?”“Hm, no. But if I take the medicine, it hurts a little less.”“But not completely healed?”“Even Tia doesn’t know.”Tiaris shook her head.The only thing that can heal the wounds of being bitten by a monster is a magic stone, but it was so expensive that it was difficult to obtain it for Baron Hazel.“It’s okay, I am not going to die.”Tiaris spoke boldly and got up from her seat.“Okay, brother, come here for a second.”“Huh?”“Hurry!”Escal, who got up at Tiaris’ urging, headed out of the hut.Tiaris, who took Escal to the kitchen attached to the back of the hut, pointed to the bottle in the cupboard and asked.“Brother, can you take that one out?”“This?”Escal asked, reaching for it. His hand barely touched the bottle.“Wow, you can reach it!”As Escal took out the bottle with difficulty, Tiaris clapped her hands and smiled.“What is this?”“Candy!”Tiaris opened the candy bottle, put the candy in her mouth, and grumbled.“Brother, have some too.”And she put a candy in Escal’s mouth.“How is it?”“Yes, it’s tasty.”It was so sweet that my tongue was numb.Tia, who ate one candy, took out two more candies and closed the candy bottle.“Now put this back there.”Tiaris put the two candies in her mouth after confirming that Escal had put the candy bottle back in place.The cheeks bulging from the candy were as cute as a squirrel.“Is it that tasty?”“Yes! But grandpa doesn’t let me eat because It will root my teeth.”Tiaris grumbled.‘When I go home, I can eat something more delicious.’If we stayed in the woods like this, we’d never get to eat anything tastier than candy.Escal smiled and stroked Tiaris.“Brother will buy you a lot of candy later.”“Really? when?”“Uh… When this arm is healed.”“Really? Will you promise to Tia?”“Yes. I’ll promise.”When Escal held out her finger, Tiaris took it, and kissed Escal’s cheek.“T, Tia, you….”“Hehe, you promised.”Tiaris laughed playfully and ran away.Escal covered his hot face with both hands.My heart tickled. **** “Sir, I have found Baron Hazel.”“Where is he now?”“He stopped by a jeweler in the capital and went to an inn.”“I’ll go see him right now. Contact Lena as well.”“Yes.” **** Baron Hazel, who spent a full day roaming the jewelers and pawnshops in the capital, returned to the inn with no income.He was worried that Tiaris’s wound was about to flare up, but he couldn’t get the medicine.This was due to the exorbitant price of the magic crystal, a treatment.A wound inflicted by a monster like Tiaris could only be healed by purifying the monsters aura with a pure spirit stone.However, the price of the high-purity magic crystal reached 50,000 gold, so his ability couldn’t afford it.I was thinking of going to the Magic Stone Mine and stealing it, but it was difficult to access because the inside of the mine was full of monsters and the guards guarding the mine.‘Before I die, I’ll have to cure Tia.’Baron Hazel bitterly put an envelope filled with magic stone crumbs in his pocket.He had to go back diligently to provide meals for the children.Just as he was picking up the bag with a worried face, someone knocked on the door.“Excuse me.”“Who are you?”When he opened the door, a strange man and woman were standing in front of the door.It was clear that they were high-ranking nobles, as they were dressed quite elegantly.“Are you Baron Hazel?”A tall-looking man spoke to him. Baron Hazel looked at the man with frown.‘This is the Duke of Anthemion.’The man had a face that looked exactly like Escal.“Yed, but who are you?”“I am Helios Anthemion, the head of the Duke of Anthemion. And this is my wife, Lenia Anthemion.”“Nice to meet you. Baron.”A woman of considerable beauty bowed her head.Baron Hazel, who had guessed the purpose, opened his mouth.“Duke Anthemion, what business does this man have with you?”“I have something urgent to ask, so I came to see you.”The woman answered with an earnest voice and pulled a crumpled piece of paper from her pocket.Drawn on the paper was the face of a young boy.“Have you ever seen this child?”It was Escal.Baron Hazel took off his bag and glanced at Lenia.The fact that the Duke of Anthemion took in a new wife immediately after his wife’s death is a well-known fact.And Duke Anthemion’s son, Escal, had kept his identity a secret.So Baron Hazel could only think of Escal falling off a cliff while being bullied by his stepmother.“Well, I don’t know.”“Look closely. Have you ever seen a child like this?”The woman asked with sullen eyes.Baron Hazel pondered for a moment.The Duke of Anthemion announced that he would pay a bounty of 10,000 gold to anyone who reveals his son’s whereabouts.It was enough money to use it for living expenses even if I couldn’t buy the magic stone. However, ‘I don’t have home….’ He thought there must be a reason for not telling the truth, so he cut it off.“Why would I lie? I really don’t know.”A look of disappointment filled the woman’s face.The Duke of Anthemion continued, comfort his wife.“I heard that the Baron is looking for a magic stone.”“Did you even do a background check on me?”Helios spoke politely to Baron Hazel, who showed a displeased look.“I found out by chance while asking questions to meet the Baron.”“Tsk.”“If you tell me where my son is, I will give you as many Magic Stones as you need in return.”