How The Sub-Male Lead’s Stepmother Teaches Love Chapter 277

“That little rascal, Rake…”

 

What should I do with that bundle of trouble?

 

I was determined to give her a great scolding when I got home, but Rake suddenly appeared right in front of me.

 

– I’m here too!

 

“Rake, you!”

 

I grabbed Rake’s body with both hands. Rake, caught in my grasp with no chance to escape, whined in frustration.

 

– Too tight! Let me go!

 

“You must have something to tell us before that. What do you think you were doing? Why did you touch the teleportation stone?”

 

– But!

 

“Shh, someone is coming.”

 

Just as Lake was about to protest, Leonhard brought his index finger to his lips and looked towards the door.

 

Startled by his warning, I gasped and followed Leonhard’s gesture, moving right next to the door.

 

Rake and I moved to the hinge side; Leonhard took the opposite side.

 

While I was whispering to Rake to be quiet with my index finger on my lips, the sound of footsteps outside gradually grew closer.

 

Then—slam!—the door flew open, momentarily hiding me and Lake behind it.

 

“What the—why are y—ugh!”

 

The young man’s voice was cut off midway, and the sound of him collapsing limply was heard.

 

I peeked my head out the door and saw Leonhard dragging the fallen man to the corner.

 

Leonhard took thick leather straps out of his magic bag and bound the man’s hands and feet, then closed and locked the door and said it was okay now.

 

“It looks like he came in alone without caution, assuming an ally had returned rather than suspecting an intruder.”

 

“Maybe he thought Pan came back? We used the stone Pan gave us, after all.”

 

That means this is indeed Onyx’s hideout.

 

For now, I was fortunate to have successfully infiltrated without being caught. The problem, though, was that I, Leonhard, had no intention of infiltrating.

 

“Well then, explain yourself. What were you thinking, causing this mess?”

 

– It wasn’t a mess!

 

“Oh, it wasn’t? Charging into the enemy’s base without any preparation or backup—how is that not a mess?”

 

At least Leonhard had a magic bag, but all I had was a small handbag in the pocket of my dress seam.

 

It’s a good thing Leonhard came with me. If I had come here alone, I would have been caught the moment that collapsed wizard entered this room.

 

– I came to meet a friend!

 

“A friend? Why would your friend be here?”

 

“Rake, you heard the conversation I had with Felix and Duke Khalid, right?”

 

Then Leonhard came between us with a complicated expression on his face.

 

Then, as if she had gained a strong ally, Rake puffed up her chest and shouted, “Yes!”

 

– I heard everything Leon said! He said there was a dragon in this dungeon! He said it was born here!

 

“I think there is some misunderstanding.… We said dragons were created here, not born. What was created in this dungeon is a chimera, a combination of various monster bodies. Not a true dragon like you.”

 

– What….?

 

“Ah…”

 

Now it made sense—why Rake had suddenly started talking about meeting a long-lived friend. She’d misunderstood what Leonhard said.

 

Rake thought there was another dragon in this world besides herself.

 

“So that’s why you were after the teleportation stone Felix had. You wanted to find it on your own.”

 

After learning the circumstances, my feelings became complicated.

 

‘This poor child, who always feared being abandoned, who believed her own mother had left her the moment she was born…’

 

I gently pulled Lake into a hug. She felt frozen in mid-air, wings still, as if the truth had hit her like a wall.

 

“Rake… According to Hiyela, all dragons besides herself who laid eggs had failed to hatch them.

The rest are either dead or have left this world.”

 

– Lies! That’s a lie! There must be other dragons out there somewhere!

 

Rake, who was struggling and flying in my arms, cried loudly.

 

– I’ll find it!

 

Then, without even being able to catch her, she teleported away.

 

“Rake!”

 

“Nell, let’s leave Rake alone for now.”

 

Leonhard looked at the spot where Rake had disappeared and let out a heavy sigh.

 

Although it was not his intention, he seemed very upset that he had given Rake a reason to misunderstand.

 

“Even if I find her, I don’t know what to say to comfort her… Still, Rake will come back. Let’s give her some time to think.”

 

“You are right.…”

 

How could short-lived beings like us, who barely live a hundred years, possibly soothe Rake’s loneliness?

 

The biggest problem was, even if we wanted to find her, we had no idea where she’d gone.

 

‘She will be back soon, right?’

 

‘What if she doesn’t come back?’

 

I sighed deeply, then a faint groan startled me, and I quickly hugged Leonhard tightly.

 

“Leon, I think that guy is going to wake up!”

 

“I intentionally weakened the force. Since no one else is coming, let’s just interrogate him.”

 

Leonhard knelt down in front of the fallen man, grabbed his opponent’s hair, and then glanced at me.

 

“Um, I don’t think what I’m about to do will be very good for your emotional well-being…”

 

“Don’t worry. I’m not that fragile.”

 

“I really don’t want you to see this. I only want to show you beautiful and gentle things.”

 

Leonhard drooped his shoulders along with his big eyes.

 

Maybe I found his overt dramatics so cute?

 

‘Well, what can I do when my husband wants to show me only his best side?’

 

I nodded in agreement, turned my back to Leonhard, crouched down, covered my ears with both hands, and closed my eyes tightly.

 

“I closed my eyes and covered my ears. Quickly did something that was not good for my emotions.”

 

Thanks to firmly plugging my ears with my index fingers, I didn’t hear Leonhard’s reply.

 

As I sat like that, curiosity started to creep in and I almost turned around for a peek…

 

“Ahh!”

 

The moment I slightly relaxed my grip, I heard a scream and quickly covered my ears again.

 

‘There are a lot of strange-looking things here.’

 

As soon as I opened my eyes, I spent some time looking at the books on the bookshelf and the scales, beakers, and lamps on the desk.

 

When I was getting bored and there was nothing left to see, Leonhard tapped me on the shoulder.

 

“It’s over, Nell.”

 

“Can I look back?”

 

“Yes. I finished it cleanly.”

 

I cautiously turned to look, but there was nothing particularly alarming around the unconscious man.

 

True to his word, it had all been handled cleanly.

 

“What did you ask?”

 

I played with Leonhardt’s hands, checking to make sure he wasn’t hurt, as I asked.

 

“I asked if this place really is inside a dungeon in the Beldaine Mountains, if they were using Sesto’s bloodstone to control monsters and create chimeras… I also asked how many wizards, monsters, and chimeras are here.”

 

‘That’s… a lot!’

 

“Did he answer all of those questions?”

 

“He cooperated quite easily. I guess… he wasn’t resistant to interrogation.”

 

Hmm, that’s right. Actually,… How many people weren’t resistant to interrogation?

 

‘What kind of bloodless and clean interrogation method did he use, anyway?’

 

As I shivered slightly at the thought, Leonhard approached the desk.

 

“He even told me things I didn’t ask. This room, for example, is Karl’s laboratory. Apparently, he was one of the wizards assisting Karl.”

 

“Huh? Really?”

 

“Yes. That’s how he knew someone had teleported into the lab. Pan often helped with Karl’s experiments, so he also came and went freely.”

 

So this was the destination of the teleportation stone?

 

“According to him, Karl’s research materials are hidden somewhere in this room….”

 

“Somewhere in here?”

 

I looked around with a blank expression.

 

Books lining the shelves, scrolls strewn messily across the desk and floor…

 

Even just from what’s visible, there’s a lot to dig through. But would someone really leave crucial data about chimeras and magic Symbol forgery just lying around?

 

‘Ugh, Felix should have come instead of me.’

 

Then Leonhard took something out of his magic bag.

 

“Let’s try to detect the magic power first.”

 

“Magic?”

 

“If you were a wizard, wouldn’t you have hidden important information with magic?”

 

“Couldn’t it be that they hid it using some kind of secret tools, rather than magic? A secret drawer hidden in a desk, or a secret passage behind the fireplace, or something like that?”

 

“That would actually make things easier. We could just tear everything apart.”

 

‘You mean the stone walls and floors?’

 

Leonhard, either oblivious or unconcerned by my blinking in surprise, activated a small magic tool that looked like a miniature weather vane.

 

“How does that thing work?”

 

“It should point to the area in this room with the highest magical power concentration.”

 

“What next?”

 

“Then I’ll break the magic cast over it.”

 

“Break the magic?”

 

“Yes.”

 

‘Not dispel it… but break it?’

 

Even if he is the famed “Ajas of Steel,” is that really possible?

 

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