As My Husband Said, I Brought in a Lover

The box was completely empty, as if there had never been anything in it. Luize looked at Edward with a bewildered expression. She wanted to discuss what to do, but it seemed he was not in a good situation either. Edward’s expression was tense.

“…

.” He let out a bitter laugh and rubbed his forehead with his palm. Someone was stealing his mana as if it were their own. 

“Elliot, what’s going on? It smells like roses around here…” 

“My mana is being stolen. It seems the magic stone we brought wasn’t enough. It has been absorbed and vanished.”

“Are you okay?” 

“Aside from feeling a bit unpleasant, my body seems fine. We don’t need to carry the box anymore.” 

“Then we should leave here…” Luize trailed off as she locked eyes with a pair of gleaming black eyes in the darkness. What she saw was a massive black bear, scarred all over, known as the most ferocious creature in the Peril Forest. 

“Why is Blackie here?”

Luize assumed a defensive stance, ready to scare the bear away if necessary. The monstrous bear was the least sane animal in the forest, suffering from bouts of madness more often than not. 

“

.” The bear let out a low growl and lumbered towards them with heavy steps.

Edward instinctively cast a spell with his remaining mana. Streaks of snow flew towards the bear but lost their power and fell harmlessly as regular snow before reaching it. Magic had no effect on the bear. 

“

.” The bear bared its teeth at Edward. 

“I’ll handle it.” 

Luize reached for her sword handle when the bear, having reached them, suddenly lay down flat. 

“

?” Luize, puzzled, saw the bear gesture towards its back with its head. “It seems like it’s saying something is on its back.”

Edward gently grabbed Luize’s arm as she approached the bear. “It’s dangerous.” 

“It’s okay. As long as it’s not in a frenzy, it won’t attack first.”

She confidently approached the bear and checked its back, finding nothing. As she stretched out her arm to inspect the other side, the bear suddenly stood up.

“That surprised me.” Luize stepped back in surprise.

The bear blinked its black eyes a couple of times as if puzzled, then lay back down, pointing to its back again. 

“What? There’s nothing there. Do you want us to get on your back?” 

The bear nodded.

Luize, still in disbelief, climbed onto the bear’s back, and it stood up. It turned to look at Edward, snorted, and began walking slowly. 

“It seems it wants to take us somewhere, Elliot. Let’s go together.” 

“…Alright.” Edward walked beside the bear, which matched its pace to his.

It was a strange sight. Edward remembered hearing stories about the monstrous bear in the Perils Forest. A survivor had drawn its portrait and reported it to the imperial palace. A beast covered in scars, more like a giant monster than a bear. This beast was the one Luize was riding.

It was then that he fully realized Luize was part of this forest, a human belonging to a dragon’s territory.

* * *

The bear brought Luize to a large clearing surrounded by giant black trees. The trees stretched their branches towards the center, creating a dome-like ceiling. There was a round hole in the ceiling through which midday sunlight poured, illuminating the center of the clearing.

“That…” 

Luize trailed off as she approached the center. There lay a massive egg, visible even from afar. The egg, covered in black scales, was almost as tall as her legs. 

“It’s an egg.” 

“…I can smell a faint scent of roses from this egg.” 

“I can also sense my mana from this place. And the mana from the magic stone we brought.”

Luize reached out and touched the smooth scales covering the egg. 

“It’s warm. It must be alive.” 

“If our guess is correct, this is…”

The egg shook slightly, and Luize pulled back her hand in surprise. 

“Did you see that? It moved without me doing anything.” 

“I saw. It might be dangerous. Step back.”   Edward pulled Luize away as the egg shook more violently.

Rumble. Somewhere, the sound of clouds gathering could be heard, and the light that had been streaming in through a hole disappeared.

Edward and Luize stepped back a few steps, moving away from the egg. They instinctively sensed that they shouldn’t be near.

The forest ground trembled, and the trees shook in the strong wind, making the leaves rustle.

Edward summoned a light orb to illuminate the surroundings, and their vision flickered white.

A thunderous sound was heard, and a lightning bolt struck through the hole in the ceiling, piercing the egg.

At that moment, the egg’s movement completely ceased.

Soon, the clouds cleared, and sunlight streamed back in.

“The weather is strange. Suddenly, there’s lightning and….” Luize murmured softly.

The egg, pierced by lightning, began to crack from the top, forming a large vertical fissure.

Watching with bated breath, Luize spoke with a worried expression.

“If the resurrected dragon knows we broke the egg, it will think we did it.”

“As expected, Miss Luize also realized the identity of this egg.”

“Yes. This is definitely a dragon’s egg. We need to run aw—”

The top of the egg broke, and a snout covered in black scales poked out.

The two of them froze in place.

The rounded snout withdrew and began to break the egg little by little around the broken spot.

Two small horns and perked black ears moved busily on the broken surface. As if making a door, the snout that was breaking the top became quiet for a moment, and then there was a thud, like something kicking from below.

The egg shook violently from side to side as if struggling to break free.

Soon, it tipped over heavily.

It fell and hit the ground, and at the same time, something rolled out from the hole at the top.

A small, black sphere rolled and stopped on one side of the black grass.

“…It seems to be born.”

“If that black sphere is the dragon, then it seems so.”

Ears first popped out of the black sphere, revealing the hidden horns.

Soon, small, cute wings flapped, and the folded limbs extended.

The completely revealed pitch-black dragon stretched in a cat-like pose, placing its short, chubby four legs on the ground.

The baby dragon turned its head and stared intently at Luize and Edward with its black eyes.

“…

”

Finally, the dragon opened its mouth and made a small cry.

“

”

But something seemed wrong, as it frowned and soon opened its mouth wide, as if making a big decision, and shouted. “

!”

“…”

“…”

Edward and Luize looked at each other and then back at the dragon.

“

!”

A small puff of black fire, the size of a bird’s feather, puffed out and disappeared from its open mouth.

“

!

!”

The dragon, seemingly satisfied, sparkled its eyes and smiled brightly, jumping and spinning around in place. Then, it suddenly stopped and looked at Luize again.

“

!”

“…

?”

As she looked puzzled, the baby dragon stomped its feet in frustration, furrowing its brows, and opened its mouth again.

“

!”

A brief burst of flames came from the dragon’s mouth.

“

…?”

“

!”

This time, the flame was bigger, about the size of an eagle’s feather.

The baby dragon stood on its hind legs, puffed out its chest, put its front legs on its waist, and closed its eyes with a proud face. Its rounded belly stuck out, and the corners of its mouth lifted slightly.

“

.”

Luize tilted her head with a puzzled look.

The dragon’s forehead veins bulged. “

!!”

Watching the dragon, Luize seemed to realize something and clapped her hands. “Great job. Well done.”

“

-!”

The baby dragon opened its eyes and looked at Luize, its round eyes sparkling as it smiled brightly, then ran on all fours towards Luize.

“

-!”

Just as the dragon leaped to hug Luize.

“It’s really a dragon.”

The dragon landed in Edward’s arms, who had stepped in front of her.

“

?”

The baby dragon’s expression twisted into a comical and annoyed frown when it realized it was in Edward’s embrace.