How The Sub-Male Lead’s Stepmother Teaches Love

“Silver Frost Tower? Is this it?”

 

“I’d like to bring you some tea and snacks as a welcome, but as you know, I don’t have time for that right now. Wait here for a moment. I’ll send someone over later. Goodbye.”

 

The man clapped his hands again, leaving those words behind, and disappeared like smoke.

 

“Wait!”

 

Because of that, my hand that I stretched out towards him was just cutting through the air in vain.

 

“What on earth is this…”

 

Silver Frost Tower? That means this place is now a white land.

 

Even though the distance was quite far, he was able to teleport with this many people. 

 

I laughed in vain, thinking that the title of Master of the Magic Tower was no empty boast. 

 

“No, wait a minute. I should have delivered the news to the castle!”

 

‘What if they think Noah and I have been kidnapped at the same time and the castle goes into emergency mode?’

 

“In this situation, I guess we have no choice but to trust old man Mallet.”

 

“But can he explain this situation well….?”

 

After Ethan and Leona’s short conversation, a heavy silence fell around us.

 

‘Please… old man Mallet, we’re counting on you.’

 

All I could do now was pray, and that was all I could hope for until someone came to this windowless, doorless room.

 

* * * 

Two Weeks Later 

Exactly two weeks after he left to close the dungeon, Leonhard returned to the Hiyela Gate after successfully closing the dungeon as intended.

 

That was truly amazing. It takes at least a month to close even a normal dungeon, and wasn’t the environment of the dungeon they had just closed under the sea?

 

Moreover, the boss monster, the Kraken, is quite timid despite its large size, and if they attack it even a little, it will quickly run away to its nest.

 

A nest with complex passageways like ant holes, located deep in the ocean valley.

 

The passage is filled with the Kraken’s minions, swirling traps set by the Kraken, and even the Kraken’s legs extending out to hunt for prey.

 

And of course, humans cannot naturally breathe underwater. To do that, they have to rely on magic or magical tools. But since magic power is infinite, they can’t rely on it.

 

If they wander around in the water, they could get into trouble.

 

And that’s not all. Additionally, the buoyancy and pressure of water make it difficult for humans to move freely. If they were to encounter monsters suddenly, they wouldn’t be able to react as quickly as they would on land.

 

Under such disadvantageous conditions, there was only one standard strategy to defeat the Kraken:

 

Sever each of its 13 tentacles, cauterizing the wounds with fire to prevent regeneration. Once all the tentacles were gone, the Kraken’s main body, hiding deep within the ocean, could be found and confronted without being attacked by the Kraken’s legs.

 

Of course, it wasn’t easy to deal with it even though it lost its leg. Still, it was far safer than facing it with all 13 tentacles intact.

 

That’s why Robert initially set the dungeon raid period to one month. In fact, that was shortened because of Leonhard.

 

“No. It’s too long.”

 

“Huh? But there’s nothing we can do about it, Captain. Even with the best of luck, it’ll take at least a week to find our way around the Kraken’s nest.”

 

“Then we’ll force it out of its nest.”

 

“What? Wait, Commander, you don’t mean—”

 

“Collapse its nest. If it doesn’t want to be buried alive in it, it will come out.”

 

It’s hard enough to collapse a monster’s nest on land, so how about collapsing it underwater? It was a story that made no sense.

 

But Leonhard managed to do it. With his immense strength as a descendant of the Ajas bloodline and the power of his Authority, he made the impossible possible.

 

After sweeping away the ghost ships on the sea, he used his mighty power, not only collapsing the nest, but also splitting the sea apart.

 

The resulting gigantic tidal wave defeated numerous monsters in the sea, but it almost took over a ghost ship and annihilated the wizards and the knights stationed there.

 

“Please, Captain! Be careful! At this rate, you’ll kill us first ”

 

“Sorry.”

 

When the wizards and the knights had almost died exactly three times, the Kraken finally emerged from the ruined nest.

 Kyaaaaak-! 

The Kraken called upon his minions to destroy the treacherous humans who had disturbed his peaceful rest.

 

However, the number of subordinates who answered his call was very small.

 

Moreover, the Sirens did not appear either. They had already become multi-attribute magic stones and became Rods.

 

“All, Get to your position!”

 

“Yes, Captain! Please give the order

 

“Just stay out of the way.”

 

“Yes?”

 

What followed after someone’s lament was a one-man show.

 

The wizards and knights could only watch in stunned silence as Leonhard, wielding the Kraken, dodged the Kraken’s massive tentacles and attacked its colossal body.

 

To be honest, there was nothing they could do other than that.

 

How can they help someone who can split the sea and cause tidal waves with one swing of his sword?

 

Unlike the wizards who could at least help Leonhard breathe underwater and use his normal speed, the knights were really helpless.

 

“Let’s just hunt for treasure.”

 

“Good idea. Once the dungeon closes, we won’t have another chance.”

 

Wizards and knights formed three groups: one group stayed by Leonhard’s side to support him, one group dealt with the skeletons appearing beyond the ghost ship’s sails, and one group explored the sunken ship beneath the sea.

 

In one day, Leonhard succeeded in cutting off all of the Kraken’s legs and tearing its body into pieces.

 

“As expected, our Captain is the best! Amazing work!”

 

“Long live Ajas!”

 

The wizards and knights cheered and applauded for their Captain, who had completely ignored the standard strategy and simply destroyed everything in his path.

 

But the festive atmosphere was short-lived, as the tedious process of closing the dungeon remained.

 

Find and destroy the dungeon core. When they defeat a boss, the dungeon core appears within a certain amount of time.

 

If they destroy it, the dungeon will be closed forever.

 

However, the dungeon core’s location was unpredictable, and it sometimes even moved.

 

If they don’t find this quickly, the Kraken will reappear and the dungeon core will disappear again, so they have to find the dungeon core and destroy it somehow.

 

On the 14th day since they had left the Hiyela Gate, the dungeon core was finally discovered—buried deep within the rubble of the collapsed nest.

 

Leonhard smashed the core without hesitation, and the dungeon closed completely. The wizards and knights were promptly expelled from the dungeon, marking the end of the expedition.

 

Thus, the Grave of Shipwrecks, a dungeon near the Hiyela Gate, was completely closed.

 

There were hardly any injuries and it didn’t take as long as expected.

 

With lightened steps, the group returned to the Hiyela Gate.

 

“Thank you for your hard work, my lord. Are you injured?”

 

“I’ve already been treated. Don’t worry about it. What about the barbarians? Any movement?”

 

Leonhard left his powerful army to Iron at the Hiyela Gate in preparation for an emergency.

 

If the barbarians invaded, there had to be a Captain capable of leading the knights and wizards in his place.

 

The time he was away was two weeks. That was a long time.

 

Although Leonhardt had only been gone for two weeks, the barbarians usually attacked every few weeks. It was reasonable to expect two or three invasions in that time.

 

Leonhard thought so, but contrary to his guess, Iron shook his head.

 

“There was no invasion.”

 

“None at all…?”

 

“Yes. It was strangely quiet. I thought it was strange because even the monsters that should have been visible naturally disappeared.”

 

“Hmm…Could they be preparing for a large-scale attack?”

 

“I think it’s possible.”

 

Because of that unusual stillness, they had been maintaining a heightened state of alert, and Iron expressed his relief that Leonhard had returned before any potential invasion.

 

Iron could probably defeat most opponents by commanding his knights and wizards, but if a top-level monster like a Siren appeared, it would be a bit of a headache to deal with them.

 

“Any word from Catherine?”

 

“There wasn’t any.”

 

“A reply too?”

 

Iron nodded heavily. Leonhard frowned as he thought about the date in his mind.

 

‘The messenger bird should have arrived by now.’

 

Two possibilities came to his mind:

 First, the bird carrying Catherine’s reply was intercepted. 

Second, Catherine hadn’t been able to send a reply at all.

 

If it were the first case, Catherine, who had wondered why there was no reply, would have sent another bird. She had been given a flute that could be used to call another messenger.

 

‘Which means the remaining possibility is… she’s unable to use the messenger bird at all.’

 

Leonhardt let out a long sigh as his thoughts settled on that conclusion.

 

“If I successfully complete the mission, I will escort Nell!”

 

‘As expected, I shouldn’t have sent her alone.’

 

He ran his fingers roughly through his hair before instructing Iron to assemble a special force from the army stationed at the Hiyela Gate.

 

Iron nodded silently, as if he knew the purpose of forming a special force.

 

“How many people should I include?”

 

“The goal is rescue, not attack, so There’s no need to move in large numbers. Maybe four to six.”

 

“Yes, I’ll get the list right away. Oh, and…”

 

Iron, who had been nodding, suddenly remembered something and pulled two letters from his pocket.

 

“This is a letter from Castle Ajas while you were away in the dungeon. The Marquise and the young master each wrote one.”

 

“Really?”

 

Leonhardt’s face lit up as he reached for the letters eagerly.

 

Iron, who almost burst into laughter without realizing it, handed the two letters to Leonhard while suppressing his smile.

 

“Then I’ll go and carry out your order.”

 

“Okay.”

 

Leonhard, who had answered dryly, took a paper-knife out of the drawer and opened the letter, regardless of whether Iron went out or not.

 

[To Leonhard Ajas, My one and only Husband] 

 

Leonhard was helplessly excited by that one preface. He quickly tried to read the contents, but then he noticed a small piece of paper folded at the back of the letter and made a puzzled expression.

 

* * *