How The Sub-Male Lead’s Stepmother Teaches Love

At that time, the eastern part of Ajas. “Did you see it?” “I saw it.” “I saw it too.” The members each nodded their heads to the question of Gray, the master of the mercenary group. They each hid behind large wooden pillars or collapsed stone walls and kept a reasonable distance apart in case they were discovered. Nevertheless, communication was possible without difficulty thanks to a magic tool in the form of an earring. Similarly, Sophia, who wore a small ring earring in her ear, rubbed her fingers together in the cold wind and glanced at the abandoned house beyond the stone wall. Was it a village in the distant past? Now, in this place, there was only a collapsed abandoned house, but there was one building that still maintained the form of a house. It was right in the middle. A crack flickering with blue light. If she had to describe the shape, which looked like it had been torn apart at will, it would be more like a large lightning bolt. It was thick and twiggy, too. That crack, just big enough for two tall adults to pass through side by side, was the entrance to the dungeon. A door that led to the other world. All dungeons are managed by the lord because dungeon breaks occur if they are not cleaned regularly. As a result, dungeons are usually reported to the lord upon discovery and placed under his control. The dungeon in front of him was not recorded on the map. The map Gray currently had was lent to him by Leonhard to use in his search, so he had no reason to doubt its accuracy. “How can there be a dungeon that the Lord doesn’t know about? Just by looking at it, it doesn’t look like it’s been a day or two.” “I guess the Lord didn’t receive the report because everyone who was supposed to report it died.” Sophia nodded her head, remembering her nearby geography. Even the nearest village was a three-day walk from here. But there was already another dungeon around here. Even if a monster was wandering nearby, people would probably have thought it was a monster from that dungeon. Or maybe no monsters have ever popped out of this dungeon. ‘If there are no slayers, there will be breaks….’ Conversely, dungeon breaks don’t happen when there are people slaying. The people who just crossed the rift are the ones responsible. ‘If it was done in good faith, I’m glad.…but If you were truly subduing monsters with good intentions, you would have reported the existence of this dungeon to the lord a long time ago…’ The intentions of those who discovered the dungeon but did not report it to the lord are obvious: To monopolize the ancient magic tools and monster materials found in the dungeon. ‘But I don’t think that’s their only goal.’ He had lived as a mercenary for half his life, and his instincts, which had allowed him to live as a mercenary, were screaming at him. There’s definitely something in there. And that something must be a trace of those he has been tracking down so far. “What are we going to do, master?” “What are we going to do? We stay around here and collect clues.” First, in order to report this fact to the client, Gray took out a piece of paper from his bag. He completed the message by writing only a few simple words so that only Leonhard could recognize it and then blew on the small flute around his neck. After a while. A small pigeon flew silently through the air and landed on his arm, clucking as if complaining. “I’m sorry to overwork you all the time. When this job is over, I’ll let you eat wheat and dried fruits, too.” The pigeon cooed, as if it had understood what was being said, and tapped Gray’s fingertips with its beak several times. Then, as if frustrated by the letterbox tied to its ankle, it pawed at Gray’s arm with one foot, then spread its wings wide. The distance from there to the Hiyela Gate was quite far. It will probably be at least a few days before Marquis Ajas receives the letter. ‘We’ll rush in before that. No matter how skilled a member is at this task, traces will inevitably remain over time.’ You have to shoot your bow first before the prey senses your presence and quickly runs away. Assessing when the best time would be, Gray began scanning the dungeon to see if anyone had spilled anything nearby. * * * If you love me, please call me by my name. Hiyela’s weary sighing stopped, and spring finally came to Ajas. The change was so obvious that I could see it with my own eyes. Spring cleaning was just the beginning. All of the castle’s hired workers came together to wipe away the traces of Hiyela’s wind. They remove icicles from each roof of the building and scrape away the thick frost that has settled on the walls. All the snow was removed along with the broken and falling tree branches that could not overcome the weight of the accumulated snow. The same goes for inside the castle. The wooden boards on the windows were removed and all the windows were replaced. Then the tapestries and windows on the walls and the carpets on the floor were replaced with lighter, fresher ones. After that, it would have been nice if the snow had melted and green buds had sprouted, but since it was a very cold neighborhood, the snow did not all melt immediately even though spring had arrived. Of course, there was no sprouting. In the first place, all the trees that can be seen in Ajas are conifers, so there is no chance for them to sprout. Of course, that didn’t mean there were no opportunities to see spring flowers. This was because Leonhard had neatly repaired a broken greenhouse that had been closed for decades for me. “Wow, this is so good! I think I can believe it even if they say they built something new instead of repairing the old one.” “I’m glad you like it, the workers will be proud to hear that.” “I don’t just like it, I could live here if you asked me to.” The soil, which was rich in nutrients, was soft and moist, and magic tools similar to sprinklers were installed in the middle to make watering easy. On one side of the wall near the entrance, gardening tools and seeds of my favorite flowers were laid out for each type. Even the flower pots stacked on top of each other were organized by color, which was really pretty to see. What I liked most of all was the small pond in the middle of this large greenhouse. In the pond where a large lotus flower was floating, there was even a real-looking duck doll floating around. Rake even enjoyed boating on the pond using the duck as a boat. “Peep, Peep, Peep.…” It was very cute to see a small bird riding a duck and going boating. As if I wasn’t the only one who thought that way, the old gardener who introduced his name as Brown also looked at Rake with a smile. “Looking at that, I think it was a good idea to have a duck doll.” “You put it in there?” “Yes. It’s because it’s empty. Since it’s like that, should I bring some other dolls?” It is said that since it is a greenhouse artificially managed using magic, butterflies, bees, and other insects that can be found naturally in an ordinary garden are prevented from entering. Especially in the case of bees, stinging can be dangerous. ‘I heard that a nobleman died recently from a wasp sting.’ Still, it felt so empty not to hear the sounds of birds and insects in a garden full of flowers and trees. So I gave Brown permission to bring in as many noise-making dolls as he could. “Now then, let me introduce you to the flowers and trees. Let’s go this way.” “Okay. Let Rake play there some more.” Brown was sixty-three years old, but he seemed as energetic as any young man. No, it wasn’t just that he was in good spirits, he seemed excited, and I found out after the tour of the greenhouse that I was right. “To be honest, more than half of the flowers and trees here are people I can’t even dream of on my salary, just considering the cost of the seeds.” “Really? Is it that expensive?” “There are many who came across the water.” When saying ‘crossed the water’ in the Empire, ‘water’ refers to the western Canel Kingdom or the eastern sea that must be crossed to reach the eastern continent. Of course, compared to the East Continent, traveling to the Kingdom of Canel was very easy, but the 13 bridges that must be crossed to enter the Kingdom of Canel were very expensive. Furthermore, if you’re carrying luggage over a certain weight, you can’t use the bridges. Those with heavy luggage would have to travel by boat, which could only carry so many people, so the fare was proportional to the weight of the luggage. Hence the high price of imports from the Kingdom of Canel. The heavier it is, especially. “This Princess flower here got its name because its rounded skin wrapped in layers of flesh looks like the skirt of a princess, but it is also said that it was given that name because the flowers are so beautiful.” “Oh…I’ve heard of it, but this is my first time seeing it.” “Haha. Even within the Canel Kingdom, the seedlings are quite expensive, so this is the first time I’ve actually seen one, too. I can’t wait to see it bloom.” “I can’t believe it’s not just one tree and flower that’s so precious…. It looks like Marquis has put quite a bit of care into this greenhouse.” “Oh, care, is that all? He told me to fill this greenhouse with beautiful flowers, no matter how much it cost. If I didn’t have the hobby of gardening, only the other half would be filled with precious flowers.” “Really? It must have been quite disappointing.” Brown was startled by the joke-like remark and waved his hands. “It’s been fifty years since I’ve already started this job, but I’ve never seen such precious flowers and trees. I wouldn’t mind If die right now.” “You should see the flowers Princess bloom before that.” “Haha, that’s right.” After touring the greenhouse, I told Brown that the first thing I wanted to do was make a clover field. He wondered why I wanted to plant clover among so many flowers, but he nodded as if he understood when I told him that the symbol of my father’s family was clover. “Clovers are low-maintenance, but we may have to remove weeds from time to time.” “I have no intention of removing the weeds. That’s a taste of its own. I think I’ll also sow other flower seeds one by one.” “That’s good too. Let me recommend some flowers.” Brown explained the appearance of flowers with his words and gestures, then brought a flower picture book and enthusiastically recommended flowers to me. I picked some flower seeds he recommended and asked him to prepare them by the day after tomorrow morning. “Do you mean the morning after tomorrow?” “Yes, I promised to plant flowers with my son on Sunday.” So to speak, it was my first field trip with Noah. Brown nodded and said that he would definitely prepare the flower seeds by then. That’s how my first greenhouse visit ended. After lunch, I met a tailor who came to the castle and finally decided on the design of my dress and Leonhard’s robe to wear on the wedding day. I entrusted the tailor with choosing the matching accessories according to the budget. There was too much to decide before then. “I didn’t like spring.…” Three times a year, Marquis gives out gifts to vassals. At New Year’s, in the spring, and at harvest time in the fall. Until now, Lucius had taken care of sending the gifts, but now it was my job. Even if I still left everything else to the butler, I had to do this. Because it is a matter of sincerity. ‘Greetings letter…When will I finish this?’ It would be nice to have a typewriter, but such a thing has not yet been invented in this world. I worked hard with my hands, feeling like I used to use my hands when I was in school. * * *