How The Sub-Male Lead’s Stepmother Teaches Love Chapter 99

“Captain, the extraction of the magic stone from the corpse of the Enchanted Siren captured earlier has been completed.”

 

With a brief report, Robert placed three transparent glass boxes on Leonhard’s desk.

 

Inside the transparent box, each magic stone the size of an adult’s fist was emitting a mysterious light.

 

Naturally, magic stones usually have specific properties, but sometimes non-attribute magic stones without any properties are discovered.

 

Non-attribute magic stones have the advantage of being able to contain the magic of all attributes. 

 

However, the amplification effect that can be obtained when casting a spell with the correct attribute cannot be obtained.

 

It was a multi-attribute magic stone that had only the advantages without the disadvantages. 

 

This transparent magic stone, which catches the light and sparkles in a brilliant rainbow color, can only be obtained from top-level monsters.

 

They were so precious that you could only get a handful of them a year, and their price was indescribable.

 

So much so that the Coliseum of Closiante offered them as prizes in place of Nolan’s medals.

 

“What are we going to do with these? Should I send it to the Blood Horn Auction House?”

 

“No, leave it alone. I’m going to present it to my wife.”

 

“This…To the Marquise?”

 

Robert swallowed dry saliva once, looked at Leonhardt’s eyes, and opened his mouth.

 

“I don’t think the Marquise needs this…”

 

‘You didn’t even make a magic tool from a rare multi-attribute magic stone.’

 

Of course, if you decide to make it, there’s nothing you can’t make, so if there were someone like that, Robert would laugh at them and call them idiots.

 

The reason why multi-attribute magic stones were precious in the first place was because all wizards, even nobles, wanted rods with multi-attribute magic stones.

 

In fact, a nobleman who wields magic with multiple attributes needs a rod made from a multi-attribute gemstone, so that he doesn’t have to carry a different rod for each type of magic he uses.

 

“My wife likes pretty and shiny things, so I’m sure she’ll put them in a display case.”

 

“Ah, the display case.…”

 

Robert turned his gaze to the ceiling for a moment. It was to dry the tears that were welling up.

 

“Are you planning to give it all as a gift?” 

 

“Then I’m going to give her just one? That would be an unsightly gift.”

 

‘What? Even if you split one in half and then split it again and give only the remaining piece as a gift, it wouldn’t look unsightly.’

 

On the contrary, if he sells just that, all the wizards will flock to him. Robert himself would be standing at the front. 

 

‘If I ask the captain to give the Marquise just one…Well, I’m going to die.’ 

 

His expression was hard and even his sharp jawline was stiff, and Leonhard seemed to be in a bad mood recently that even dull Iron wondered what was wrong with him.

 

Still, I don’t think I’ve ever seen his face like that before.….Could it be that because he separated from his wife?’ 

 

‘Oh, no way.’

 

Leonhard’s gaze fell on Robert, who was shaking his head alone. He handed Robert a stack of signed documents and gestured toward the door.

 

“When you’re done with your business, take this and leave. Because I’m busy.”

 

“Ah yes. Then I’ll see you tomorrow, Captain.”

 

Robert, holding a thick pile of documents, bowed his head to him and left the office. 

 

Robert glanced at the multi-attribute magic stone on Leonhard’s desk with teary eyes due to lingering regret.

 

However, Leonhard, who was distracted by something else, did not notice the look in his subordinate’s eyes.

 

“hah…”

 

Although he picked up a new document, Leonhard’s unfocused eyes could not read even a single word.

 

Leonhard realized that fact only after a few minutes, scolded himself and tried to focus on the documents again.

 

However, even after repeating the action several times, he could not easily complete the task. He still hasn’t finished all the paperwork that piled up while he was away.

 

Leonhard roughly wiped his face and opened a drawer to take care of the most urgent work.

 

He took out dozens of blank sheets of paper from them, placed them on the desk, and took a fountain pen in his hand.

 

And how much time has passed?

 

Just when the crumpled paper was piled up like a hill on top of the trash can, there was a knock on the door.

 

Leonhard, who had continued writing even after hearing the sound, frowned, crumpled the paper again, and threw it into the trash can.

 

Because of this, the paper mountain, which had been maintaining its balance precariously, could not hold on this time and fell to the floor.

 

Leonhard, who was sighing softly, almost threw the fountain pen he was holding, put it down on the desk, and looked at the closed door.

 

“Who are you?”

 

If he heard a knock on the door, then a voice revealed who they were.

 

If you were to visit his office in person, you would of course know that much. 

 

Wondering if someone else was playing a prank on the new recruit as a test of courage, Leonhard took his eyes off the door.

 

“If it’s not urgent, just go back. I don’t have time for you.” 

 

But even though he said that the door creaked open.

 

At that moment, the accumulated fatigue exploded like a volcano, and Leonhard turned to face the open door.

 

“You really don’t have time for me?”

 

However, he jumped up from his seat without even being able to utter a single syllable.

 

The person who carefully peeked through the half-open door was not one of his subordinates, but his only wife who should not be there.

 

* * * 

 

“Nell…?”

 

With so much exaggeration, Leonhard’s jaw was wide open in surprise and looked as if it would hit the floor.

 

I didn’t really come all this way to surprise him, but seeing him so surprised made me feel happy, so I giggled. 

 

“How did you get here…You’re not hurt anywhere?”

 

“Who will hurt me? There are no monsters or barbarians inside the Hiyela Gate. And besides, the escorts my husband gave me are very competent.”

 

“but still…”

 

Before I knew it, he came in front of me, cupped my cheeks with both hands, and lifted my arms from side to side, carefully examining me to see if there were any injuries.

 

I raised my hands and even turned round and round as I stood and I told him to look until he was satisfied.

 

As if he still wasn’t at ease, he wrapped his arms around my shoulders and looked beyond the still-open door.

 

“Leona, Ethan, Sage.”

 

“Yes, Captain.”

 

“What was the mission I entrusted to you?” 

 

“It’s about protecting the Marquise.”

 

“In any situation, the safety of the Marquise should be given priority, but in situations where that is secured, the errands that the Marquise is ordered to be carried out with all sincerity!”

 

So Leona proudly declared with a face that she had done nothing wrong. But did that confidence offend Leonhard?

 

I didn’t miss the twitching of his cheeks. I quickly closed the door, fearing that my escorts would be harmed.

 

“Don’t scold my escorts. I forced them to escort me here.”

 

“The gates of Hiyela are not safe. If by chance monsters or barbarians attack, I may not be able to protect you.”

 

Leonhard weakly scolded me, asking why I had come all the way here. 

 

If he had been angry, I would have raised my voice as well, but his face was full of concern for me.

 

“But I sent you a letter the other day, Leon, and you never replied.” 

 

“Reply…”

 

“That’s right, reply. I have something to ask, but even if I send it by letter, I don’t know when I will get a reply, and I’m also curious why you don’t reply. They say no news is good news, so I’m sure you’re not hurt, so why aren’t you replying? Did you write it? Leon, please give me your hand. Are your fingers still attached? Your arm is still fine, right?”

 

I held Leonhard’s hands and personally felt and confirmed that his ten fingers were fine and that the muscles in his arms were very strong. 

 

‘Wow, his arms are like stones.’

 

I was so curious that I kept fiddling with his arm muscles, but something suddenly caught my eye. I grabbed Leonhard’s wrist and checked the clumsily tied ribbon.

 

“This ribbon…Didn’t I tie it up when you left the castle?” 

 

Leonhard looked at me for a moment and then nodded his head. 

 

“And you’ve been wearing it ever since? And you’ve never untied it?”

 

“I always took it off when I went out to fight. I don’t want my wife’s ribbon to get dirty.”

 

Which meant he had untied it, gone out, come back, and tied it again, not once or twice, but many times, from the day he left the castle until today.

 

I can’t help but laugh out loud when I think of Leonhard tying the ribbon around his left hand, using only his right hand to tie the ribbon around his left hand, and bragging to himself that his wife had tied it.

 

I untied the ribbon that was clumsily tied around his wrist and tied it again meticulously.

 

“It can get dirty, but not with my husband’s blood.”

 

“Would it be possible?”

 

Leonhard smiled slightly as he said that and touched the ribbon tied around his hand with his fingertips.

 

As if to prove it more than once, now that I looked at it, I saw dark traces of hand stains on the edge of the ribbon.

 

I wonder what he was thinking as he played with my ribbon in this quiet office. I didn’t think there was any need to add ‘perhaps’ or ‘perhaps’.

 

‘I don’t know, but his time must have been mine as his hands stained this ribbon.’

 

That thought made me feel better.

 

However, given the circumstances of the moment, I went back to the original topic and raised a voice of reprimand.

 

“Anyway, your hand and arm aren’t hurt and everything is fine. Why didn’t you write a reply?”

 

At those words, Leonhard rolled his eyes with a sour expression on his face.

 

“I was writing.”

 

“How long have you been writing replies and are you still writing them? No way, you postponed it.…huh?”

 

While looking around the office to find out the truth, I found a wad of paper rolling on the floor and went towards it.

 

But Leonhard, who was behind me, suddenly appeared in front of me and blocked my path.

 

“I’m sorry, Nell. I will write a reply within today and send it to the castle tomorrow. So let’s go back—” 

 

“Oh! There’s a rat!”

 

Leonhard’s gaze turned to the right at my scream. 

 

In the meantime, I slipped past Leonhard and picked up a wad of paper that was rolling on the floor.

 

* * *