How The Sub-Male Lead’s Stepmother Teaches Love Chapter 161

– I, too, was going to return to nature. But then, one of my kin made a very interesting attempt.

 

“What kind of attempt?”

 

– Laying an egg. Just like every other species in this world, they attempted reproduction.”

 

“So, before that, no dragon had ever laid an egg?”

 

– No, never. That’s why I became intrigued for the first time in ages and decided not to return to nature.

 

“And then you laid an egg?”

 

– Yes. But my kin and I had overlooked something crucial. We could lay eggs to create a vessel called a body… but we could not create a dragon heart. That was beyond our power.

 

A drop, then another, of magic outside the world’s natural flow accumulated over time, eventually forming a pure magical crystal. From that, dragons were born.

 

So it was only natural that Dragon Heart had such a ridiculous amount of power.

 

Because it is a crystal created by compressing an incredible amount of pure magical power, so pure that it could be described as absolute white.

 

– A dragon without a dragon heart cannot be a dragon. That’s why all the offspring of my kin suffered and died.

 

“What? All of them?”

 

– Yes. Luckily, I was late in preparing, so I laid the egg late. I immediately sealed the egg so that it would not hatch, and I watched as my kin and their offspring eventually perished.

 

“Did all of them die? Not a single one survived?”

 

– If one had, dragons would have already appeared in this world again, wouldn’t they?

 

Hiyela looked at me with questioning eyes. Instinctively, I nod my head.

 

– Among them, there was one who pulled out its own dragon heart and gave it to its offspring. However, the offspring was unable to withstand the power of the dragon heart and died quickly.

 

“ah….”

 

– That’s when I realized something. If I wanted to save my offspring, I needed to create a new Dragon Heart that matched its fragile body.

 

“But you said you couldn’t make a Dragon Heart.”

 

– Yes. But I knew where the Dragon Heart was created.

 

“A dragon heart is created…?”

 

The little bird nodded as if my realization was correct.

 

– Yes, that’s where I was born. A place where the magic that escapes the flow gathers like a spring. It was the Hiyela Mountains. But there was a problem.

 

“What’s the problem?”

 

I had become completely absorbed in the story, urging Hiyela on as if I were listening to a grandmother’s tale.

 

– By the time I was born, a significant amount of magic had already accumulated there. Left untouched, it would have eventually formed a new egg.

 

Hiyela’s voice was low, as if reminiscing about the past.

 

– I touched it and changed it into a dragon heart shape suitable for my egg. To do so, I used half of my own Dragon Heart, reducing my lifespan.

 

Hiyela paused for a moment before continuing.

 

– Perhaps because I tampered with it on my own whim… Well, if that mass of magic was an egg, then the magic that shaped it was akin to its parent. It must have sensed danger when I interfered. That’s why it likely created something to protect the remaining eggs—a dungeon.

 

“W-wait a moment. What made what?”

 

– Magic created the dungeon. I found out later that something strange had appeared in the place where my kin were born.

 

‘Correction: The birth of Rake was the most surprising. This was the most surprising thing!’

 

– It was probably meant to hide the magic crystals from outsiders. But by separating space and summoning guardians, it unintentionally caused an even greater problem.

 

“You mean how humans came to destroy the dungeon to close it?… Then, could it be that the dungeon’s core, the thing humans destroy to close it, is actually…a dragon egg?”

 

– That’s right. If a dungeon is left alone for too long, a dragon will be born. The earliest one would hatch in about ten thousand years.

 

“Ten thousand years…”

 

It really takes a long time for a dragon to be born.

 

‘I don’t know if it will happen in a few hundred years, but since it will happen after ten thousand years, I wasn’t particularly worried about my descendants.’

 

‘By then, humanity might have already gone extinct for some other reason. Even if not, how could I possibly warn them?’

 

“That’s why the dungeon closes when we destroy the dungeon core. The dungeon core, that is, the magic crystal that will become the egg, is gone.…”

 

– Yes. Without the need to separate space anymore, the dungeon collapses.

 

That was something I never could have imagined.

 

“So that’s how dungeons were created…”

 

– It took a thousand years for the magic crystal I touched to complete into my baby’s dragon heart. But my remaining lifespan was shorter than that.

 

“How much shorter?”

 

– Eight hundred years.

 

“Eight hundred years…”

 

From a human perspective, that was still a long time.

 

But from Hiyela’s point of view, it was far too short. It needed a thousand years to see its child safely born, but it only had eight hundred left.

 

“Wait, but eight hundred years have already passed, Right? And yet, you’re still alive.”

 

– No. My physical body has already perished. The one speaking with you now is merely a remnant of my consciousness.

 

“A remnant?”

 

– That’s why we’re talking in your dreams.

 

“Dream? Am I in a dream right now?”

 

‘Now that I thought about it, maybe that’s why pinching my cheek earlier hadn’t hurt much… But I could still taste food.’

 

– Time flows a little faster here than outside. Those guarding you are worried because you haven’t woken up.…But this is our last chance to talk. So stay with me a little longer.

 

‘I did have a lot of questions, but I wasn’t sure if it was worth making others worry just to get them answered…’

 

But as if it had read my thoughts, Hiyela immediately opened its mouth and spoke.

 

– Then let’s talk about the contract we made.

 

Everything had started when Hiyela glimpsed into the future to confirm whether its child had been safely born.

 

* * * 

Meanwhile…

 

“Captain! We’ve received a report from the Third Reconnaissance Unit.”

 

“What does it say?”

 

“They’ve spotted a group of wounded barbarians on the move. After observing, they determined that fewer than ten of them were still combat-ready. The unit believes they have enough strength to engage and is requesting permission to attack.”

 

“Okay, I permit it.”

 

As soon as Leonhard gave the order, the wizard sent a signal approving the attack to the Third Reconnaissance Unit’s leader.

 

That was already the second time today. If they counted since they crossed the White Land, it was the fifth.

 

When they had crossed Hiyela’s Gate and entered the White Land, they had anticipated encountering barbarians.

 

But they hadn’t expected that half of them would already be injured.

 

“What on earth is going on…? Could there have been internal conflict among the barbarians?”

 

“Well….If what Catherine said is true, that seems unlikely.”

 

If the barbarian shamans and the increasing number of monsters under their control were truly thanks to the Great Shaman, then the barbarians wouldn’t dare oppose him.

 

For the balance of power that the Great Shaman stands at the top to be broken, he must fall from the top.

 

“Could Catherine have succeeded?”

 

Perhaps she had broken the monsters’ control, causing them to go berserk and turn on the barbarians.

 

“She still hasn’t contacted us, has she?”

 

“Yes.”

 

“A lot of people are worried… Why did she have to take such a reckless risk alone?”

 

Leonhard also felt uncomfortable as Robert let out a deep sigh.

 

Although Catherine was the one who insisted that she could do it on her own, he was the one who ended up not stopping her.

 

If something happened to her, it would be his fault.

 

“Don’t worry too much. She’ll be fine.”

 

“I hope so.…”

 

Robert, who had been sighing deeply, slapped his lips with his hand as he realized that he had made an unlucky remark.

 

Then, to lighten the mood, he changed the topic.

 

“By the way, White Land isn’t as bad as I thought. I thought there’d be scary monsters swarming around here.”

 

“Even if it’s notorious, this place is still a place where people live.”

 

“Well, that’s true… Though finding food here seems almost impossible.”

 

The reason why the land was named ‘White Land’ is because most of it was a polar desert.

 

A vast snowfield stretched endlessly, without a single tree or even a blade of grass in sight. The only things visible were the sky and the snow-covered ice

 

Who in the world could be satisfied with that and survive their entire life?

 

It is perhaps natural that the barbarians would cross the Hiyela Mountains in search of other food and to avoid the pure white snowfields that would drive one mad if one continued to look at it.

 

As these thoughts ran through his mind, Robert suddenly snapped out of it and shook his head.

 

‘No, that’s not right. Just how much damage have we suffered because of these barbarians? If I’m going to sympathize with someone, it should be with the right people.’

 

If the empire had originally taken what was theirs, then the resentment of the barbarians could be understood.

 

But that is not the case. From the beginning, barbarians were invaders and raiders. They chose plunder and robbery rather than exchange or trade.

 

How much of Ajas’s people’s blood was scattered across the snowfield because of them?

 

Robert immediately thought of his comrades who had died because of the barbarians and suppressed his sympathy for them. It was quite easy since there were more than a few dead.

 

‘But what really happened here?’

 

‘For so many barbarians to be injured…Did another dungeon break occur somewhere?’

 

‘It was unlikely that Catherine alone could have injured so many barbarians.’

 

Robert’s thoughts were already tilting in that direction when—

 

“Captain! Urgent report! The Second Reconnaissance Unit has discovered the Silver Frost Tower!”

 

* * *