The Stepmother Keeps Stealing the Male Leads - Chapter 20

“W-what is all this…?”

The three sisters rushed out toward the long-unseen freight wagon standing in front of the mansion gate.

“Godfather Blaine…”

Liliana recognized Blaine immediately.

It was the first time they had seen him since their father’s funeral.

Both Liliana and Jaina found Blaine extremely awkward.

Their father had excitedly introduced Blaine, calling him his sworn brother, but the man had been expressionless, with a cold demeanor, consumed entirely by his business. Approaching him had felt impossible.

When she first met Blaine, young Jaina had cried out of fear and hidden in their father’s arms.

“Uncle Blaine!”

April came running and threw herself into Blaine’s arms.

Though flustered, Blaine awkwardly but warmly embraced April in return.

Strangely, April had always taken to Blaine unilaterally.

Even at the funeral, she had clung to Blaine’s hand and begged him to hold her, to the astonishment of Liliana and Jaina.

Perhaps it was because Blaine had finally mellowed a bit, having found some peace after succeeding in all his ventures.

Now reunited with the three sisters after so long, Blaine didn’t know what to do with himself.

“I ran into Godfather Blaine on the way. I told him we’ve had lots of good news lately, and he sent all this food for a party.”

At Helene’s explanation, the sisters nodded easily.

Though the amount of food was astonishing, they all knew how successful Blaine had become.

“Uncle~ Then you should join us for dinner too!”

April tugged at Blaine’s hand.

What? After spending the entire car ride in awkward silence, now dinner too? Helene looked around, confused by the odd turn of events.

“April, don’t trouble the Godfather. He must be very busy…”

Liliana gently placed a hand on April’s shoulder, urging her not to pester him.

Helene was relieved. Maybe Liliana, despite calling him their godfather, also found Blaine’s cold demeanor uncomfortable.

Just as Helene let out a sigh of relief—

“Still, the Godfather needs to eat too, right? Don’t you think so, Godfather?” Jaina chimed in suddenly.

Betrayed by the unexpected ambush, Helene looked to Blaine’s face.

Blaine seemed just as flustered by the sisters’ sudden invitation.

Surely, he wouldn’t accept… right?

Helene shot him a fierce glare.

‘Refuse!’

‘Refuse!’

‘Refuse!’

Looking into Helene’s eyes, Blaine finally opened his mouth.

“Th-then… I’ll join you.”

April’s face lit up instantly, and she jumped with joy as she pulled Blaine along.

Once counted among the most beautiful homes in the capital city of Lephia, the Emeldia estate now looked like something out of a ghost story. And after nearly a decade, Blaine stepped inside once more.

***

Contrary to Helene’s expectations of an awkward, uncomfortable evening, dinner with Blaine turned out to be enjoyable.

Perhaps it was because the food was so good—it naturally brought smiles to their faces.

Though Blaine wasn’t skilled in social conversation, when it came to business, he was likely the best in the world.

If Blaine had worked at a company in her past life, he would probably have been the one handling every presentation.

At April’s innocent question about the hunk of metal parked out front, Blaine spent the entire meal talking about the car.

Helene and the three sisters found themselves drawn into his explanation without even realizing it.

“An automobile that runs without magic will bring significant change. Without needing to rely on magic, even commoners will be able to travel far freely and easily. It will also greatly benefit trade. This one is still in development, but I plan to build a longer vehicle. With it, we’ll be able to load freight and also transport people.”

He unconsciously drew a long vehicle with his finger on the table.

It resembled a railway from her previous world.

From automobiles to railways.

Helene was dumbfounded.

Blaine seemed like a figure out of a biography from her past life.

Like Edison or Ford.

But unfortunately, in a world where magic was so advanced, such ideas seemed even more preposterous than in Edison or Ford’s time.

As Helene marveled inwardly, the three sisters, unfamiliar with what they were hearing, widened their eyes.

That was when Blaine stopped talking.

No matter how successful a businessman he was, once he started talking about cars, people treated him like a madman.

There were even articles claiming that all his hard work had finally driven him insane.

Not a single person at his company supported the car business.

Just like now, the dinner table had fallen into an awkward silence.

Amused by the odd tension, Helene cut her steak into small bites and popped one into her mouth.

“A carriage without horses or magic is certainly fascinating… but wouldn’t it be far too costly?”

Liliana had nailed the core issue.

In this world, technological development was lacking, and parts were extremely scarce. For Blaine to build a car, he would have to create so many things from scratch.

The amount he spent just today driving the car might exceed the value of the Emeldia estate.

A car that moved at a speed comparable to a low-grade mana stone-powered horse.

No one would invest in it.

Blaine knew that too.

He knew this venture needed to be abandoned.

He was someone with an uncanny instinct for distinguishing profit from loss—yet for some reason, he just couldn’t let go of the automobile.

“Is magic really that convenient? Maybe for mages, sure. But how are commoners, who can’t even afford a carriage, supposed to buy portal magic? Honestly, isn’t it amazing to move around without magic? It would allow people to work farther from home, which would improve employment rates and expand cities. And what about trade? Freight carriages pulled by horses are too slow. Feeding them mana stones costs even more. But with a long automobile, we could transport large amounts of goods, so no region would suffer resource shortages. And if commoners could travel in long automobiles, they’d be able to see and learn more.”

It wasn’t that she was trying to defend Blaine.

But with her past life’s memories, Helene found this magic-centered world quite inconvenient.

Even if magic was the norm, it was only for the privileged few.

The gazes of the three sisters and Blaine landed on Helene, who was still speaking in awe.

Only then did she stop talking.

‘Was I speaking too much like someone not from this world…?’

Liliana said in wonder, “It’s incredible… It’s like you’ve seen the future of another world…”

Helene, wanting to avoid further attention, focused on finishing the rest of her steak.

She thought she might have seen Blaine give a faint, silly smile once or twice.

***

After enjoying dessert and even fruit, Blaine finally looked up at the pitch-black sky and stood up as if suddenly remembering something.

“Thank you for the delightful evening. I’m grateful for the invitation.”

Despite the sisters still being young, Blaine used polite language and fumbled through his words.

Still, with the youngest April, he seemed a bit more at ease. He gently patted her head.

Just as they were finishing their farewells and heading back inside, Blaine called out to Helene.

“If it’s alright with you, may I have a word?”

The three sisters looked curious, but Liliana assumed it was adult business and led Jaina and April away.

‘Blaine wants to talk to me? Did I do something wrong again??’

Helene began to worry that she might have caused another misunderstanding.

But no matter how much she thought about it, she couldn’t recall making any mistakes today.

“Here.”

What Blaine handed her was a business card.

‘What is this? Showing off?’

Helene didn’t understand why he was giving her a business card.

“After seeing the three sisters today, I thought… If you’d be willing, I’d be grateful for the opportunity to invest in your business idea.”

Tonight’s dinner had reminded Blaine what family felt like—for the first time in a long while.

It was late, but now he wanted to do something for the three sisters.

He realized that this might be the only thing he could do for Raul, who was now in the heavens.