How The Sub-Male Lead’s Stepmother Teaches Love Chapter 169

The reason the icy ground was stained red wasn’t just the twilight descending from the western sky, but more so because of the fallen barbarians.

 

When the barbarians first brought monsters and surrounded the tower, even Marilyn was terrified. But now, neither the barbarians nor the monsters scared her anymore.

 

“If the Marquise hadn’t woken up, the Marquis of Ajas would have declared war on our tower, right…? And we all would’ve been dead….”

 

Marilyn, trembling, seemed genuinely frightened. 

 

Felix glanced at her before shifting his gaze beyond the balcony.

 

Below, Leonhard was flying between monsters, swinging a greatsword larger than his body.

 

Neither the soft skin that repelled magic nor the steel-like skin that ordinary blades couldn’t scratch were of any use against him.

 

Whether barbarians or monsters, wherever he passed, all enemies fell like fallen autumn leaves.

 

Whether it was a sword or an arrow flying toward him, he deflected them all, and If that wasn’t enough, he could activate the power of steel to take it with his body. 

 

His punches and kicks have more destructive power than most blunt weapons.

 

Felix muttered to himself, “As expected of Ajas,” but still scolded Marilyn.

 

“No matter how strong Ajas is, he’s not invincible against magic. There’s a master here who could incapacitate him if he wanted to. So why are you so afraid?”

 

“Oh, so you could neutralize him? Then why did you just watch while Lady Louise nearly tore down half the tower….”

 

Felix’s face twitched at his student’s timid sarcasm.

 

He set his bottle down on the railing and looked at her.

 

“And what? You expect me to use magic against a woman carrying my child?”

 

“You could’ve at least used a sleep spell. Or, you tried calming her down.”

 

“Calm her down? The woman who looked at me like she wanted to kill me just for being a barbarian?”

 

“Well, uh…..”

 

Marilyn mumbled but couldn’t come up with an argument. Instead, she changed the subject. 

 

“Wow, the barbarians are getting completely wiped out.”

 

Felix clicked his tongue, as if he expected that response, then picked up the bottle and brought it back to his mouth.

 

The battle outside was already in its final stages.

 

Of course, Ajas had the upper hand.

 

With their repeated training and real combat experience, the combination of wizards and knights has become a good match.

 

It was a natural result, as the barbarians were not in a good condition to begin with.

 

‘More than anything, they simply cannot stop Marquis Ajas. Unless they had a Grand shaman with a Dragon Heart…’

 

Perhaps because of the loss of the Dragon Heart, most of the monsters brought by the barbarians were only intermediate-level.

 

‘What makes them think that they can defeat Marquis Ajas, who can even defeat top-tier monsters?’

 

And they made the shameless demand to take the Marquise as a hostage.

 

‘Were they trying to provoke him?’

 

If that were true, it would be the stupidest provocation in the world. 

 

‘Family is not something you can mess with.’

 

“What do you think?”

 

“Huh? About what?”

 

Marilyn, who had been lost in thought looking out the window, was startled by Felix’s question and asked back.

 

“What do you think will happen if the Marquis finds out Noah has barbarian blood?”

 

“Uh….”

 

‘That was indeed a problem.’

 

Marilyn felt a cold sweat run down her back as she watched Leonhard slashing the barbarians without mercy.

 

“Surely he won’t kick him out, right? But he might strip him of his position as successor…..”

 

Was it because she saw how much Louise hated the barbarians?

 

No matter how much she tried to think positively, her thoughts wouldn’t flow in that direction.

 

Eventually, Marilyn gave up on positive thinking and let out a groan.

 

“If something like that happens, we’ll have to take the young master into the tower, right?”

 

And there is a very high probability that she will become his nanny.

 

‘Oh, that actually sounds kind of nice.’

 

Felix gulped down his bottle of alcohol next to Marilyn, who was recalling whether there were any books on parenting in the tower.

 

The moment he threw the empty bottle into the air, it turned into small glass beads.

 

“Go out. I’m tired. I’ll sleep.”

 

“Huh? But, Master, shouldn’t we prepare for—”

 

In the blink of an eye, Marilyn found herself outside the lab’s door.

 

Marilyn, who did not realize what had happened to her at the time, realized it later and threw the glass bead in her hand to the floor.

 

* * * 

 

“Huh…..”

 

A heavy sigh sank to the ground. 

 

Leonhard covered his face with his large hand and remained silent for a moment. 

 

No, he couldn’t say anything.

 

Yesterday had been much easier—fighting the barbarians and dealing with the aftermath had been far less stressful than that.

 

Even though it had only been a few hours since he woke up from a deep sleep, Leonhard felt his head throbbing with fatigue.

 

“Really….Have you broken all the magic barriers on this tower?”

 

“I swear, Captain, I didn’t do it! It was Rake.”

 

“But it only happened because you stole the grand shaman’s wand and came here, didn’t it? Tell me I’m wrong.”

 

“Uh….” 

 

Catherine’s eyes darted around before she quietly looked away.

 

She was playing with her short hair and acting strange. However, when she stole a glance at Leonhard’s stern face, she finally gave in.

 

“I was wrong.”

 

“What did I order you to do?”

 

“Stay put.”

 

“Exactly. But instead, you not only disobeyed but caused a big incident on top of that?”

 

If Raenel had not come to save Catherine, she might have died a long time ago. 

 

And Ajas wouldn’t have even been able to complain about it.

 

No, there was a high probability that he didn’t even know that Catherine had died there in the first place.

 

The Silver Frost Tower would not have noticed that the barbarian Catherine was a knight belonging to Ajas.

 

“I told you clearly. You could return with no results. I want you to prioritize your safety first.”

 

“…….”

 

“But you not only put yourself in danger, but you also put my wife and my son, whom you so desperately wanted to protect, in danger.”

 

“That….”

 

Catherine’s mouth, which was about to protest, shut tightly the moment she met Leonhard’s stern eyes.

 

She knew. She knew why Raenel had come there.

 

If she hadn’t caused that mess, Raenel wouldn’t have needed to be there at all.

 

Catherine, who quickly became gloomy, nodded with a miserable expression.

 

“It was all my fault. Please punish me.”

 

“Your punishment will be decided after we return to the castle. Until then, you will be under arrest.”

 

“Yes, Captain…”

 

A knight under arrest cannot call themselves a knight, nor could they wield a sword.

 

They were even restricted from meeting people.

 

Normally, that would mean Catherine wouldn’t be able to see Raenel or the other knights, but because of the current location, Leonhard did not place restrictions to that extent.

 

“And when we return, I want you to write down at least five things you did wrong and submit it to Iron.”

 

“Five? Did I make that many mistakes?”

 

Catherine’s startled reaction was met with nothing but Leonhard’s cold stare.

 

Feeling guilty, she quickly nodded.

 

‘She’s still got a long way to go.’

 

Leonhard sighed as he watched Catherine walk out with her shoulders hunched.

 

Catherine had faced a lot of prejudice because of her origins, so he had been lenient with her. 

 

Perhaps that leniency had contributed to her reckless actions.

 

Besides, if Catherine isn’t punished properly for causing such an accident, there will be talk among the other knights.

 

Even if her actions had greatly weakened the barbarians, he should officially punish her so that there will be no criticism.

 

‘So that’s why the barbarians were in such bad condition…’

 

The other shamans had been handling monsters above their level, thanks to the grand shaman’s power.

 

But once the grand shaman lost that power, chaos broke out.

 

The remaining forces had been sent to chase Catherine, only to be counterattacked by the Silver Frost Tower.

 

Then, when they attempted to regroup and attack again, they were wiped out last night.

 

Whether the Grand Shaman had been present was unknown.

 

However, even if he had survived, Leonhard wasn’t too worried.

 

After all, the Dragon Heart that made him the Grand Shaman was already inside Rake’s stomach.

 

‘Now we can return to the castle without concern.’

 

On his way to the Silver Frost Tower, he had already eliminated a significant number of enemies.

 

For at least the next few years, the barbarians wouldn’t be a threat again.

 

But something still bothered him.

 

‘Why, of all things, did they suddenly demand my wife…?

 

Just as he was lost in thought, trying to think of the reason behind his lingering unease—

 

—Tok, Tok.

 

“Ahem, Your Highness the Marquis. Excuse me for a moment.”

 

“What is it?”

 

It was Marilyn who entered the room with a tense face.

 

She stood a distance away from Leonhard and swallowed dry saliva.

 

“It’s nothing major…I just have something to say about the knights stationed outside….”

 

“Ah.”

 

‘It’s come.’

 

Leonhard clicked his tongue in slight frustration.

 

* * *