As My Husband Said, I Brought in a Lover

“

.” [Because a dragon’s parents are nature itself. Do you know that dragons always remain in pairs? Sometimes, there’s an overlap in generations, or one is left alone for a while, but mostly, there are always two. That’s the law of nature.]

Ren raised two short fingers and continued.

“

” [So, even if dragons lay eggs, they won’t hatch until one of the parents dies. Moreover, they don’t consider their progenitors as parents, so laying eggs is pointless.]

“Did Run lay an egg despite knowing that?”

[Run probably wanted to leave a trace of Ron, no matter what. More precisely, she needed something to replace him.]

“Then, Ren, you should be a white dragon.”

“

” [Normally, yes. But Run died, so I had a choice. I originally wanted to be born as a black dragon anyway.]

The baby dragon proudly lifted its chin.

“

!

” [And I can choose my gender too. So if you don’t treat Luize well, I’ll become a handsome guy and take her away!]

“…Ren. Do you know how Run died?” Edward ignored Ren’s last remark and asked.

“

” [I know.]

“Then you should hate humans.”

Ren looked puzzled as Edward spoke with a stern expression. “

?” [Why? Run took her own life.]

“…Run’s death was a suicide?”

Everyone in the room visibly reacted to Edward’s interpretation. Ren continued nonchalantly.

[Run chose to die using humans. Dragons can’t die by their own power. Their lifespan is 10,000 years, and Run has 5,000 years left. Run couldn’t bear the long time without Ron and chose to go into eternal rest with him.]

“Even though you were there?”

“

” [Run quickly realized that I, who was in the egg, was different from Ron. Whether Run laid the egg or not, I was going to be born. As I mentioned earlier, nature is the true parent of dragons. Just because they laid me doesn’t mean I consider them my parents. Maybe as predecessors or comrades, but not as parents.]

“…I see. That’s why the dragon was subdued so quickly.”

It was indeed an odd situation. Several subjugation teams had headed to Perils only to be mercilessly killed by the dragon’s domain. The beasts in the dragon’s domain were powerful, and the dragon itself was far stronger than those beasts. The disparity in power between dragons and humans was so vast that no number of humans could make up for it.

Lensia was the first to reach a dragon. She was the pioneer who defeated the dragon’s domain and killed the dragon, becoming a hero.

“

” [Yes. But not just any human can easily subdue a dragon’s domain and slay a dragon. At that time, half of the previous domain’s beasts were already dead.]

“About this domain thing. Why do you call both the dragon’s territory and the beasts in it the domain? Usually, the beasts in the domain are called vassals.”

“

?” [Do you know why Perils is considered a dragon’s domain, human Edward?]

“Because it’s originally their territory.”

“

” [Wrong. To be precise, where the beasts, or vassals, of Perils are, that’s the dragon’s domain. The reason I could bring the vassals into Kavan by setting a barrier is that where they are becomes my domain. Perils is just a place name. When the dragon dies, the domain dies and disappears with it.]

“So that’s why the northern wilderness, which was Ron’s domain, is in such a state.”

“

” [Exactly. When Run died, Perils died with her. The beasts of Perils, which should have died with the previous generation, suffered because they couldn’t die. Everything got messed up because of the egg inheriting Run’s blood.]

Ren lifted its chin again and pounded its chest.

“

” [In the end, they couldn’t die or live properly until I was born. Now, they are gradually becoming part of my domain.]

“…I see.”

“

” [In that sense, Luize is the most significant domain for me. It’s not something inherited from the previous generation, but it was my first domain that was with me in the egg. The first domain born in my territory.]

Ren looked at Luize as it continued. [So wherever Luize is, that’s also my domain. Even though it’s an incomplete domain, Luize is a precious being who can’t live far from me.]

Edward looked at Ren in surprise. “What? Why can’t Miss Luize…?”

At that moment, Edward sees his comrades through his eyes and focuses on Ren’s words. There were too many people listening, including the concerned party. When he trailed off, Ren realized he had made a slip and covered its mouth with its front paws.

“

!

[

. That’s a secret! I won’t say any more!]

Startled, Ren jumped out of Edward’s arms and ran to Maxion.

“

!”

“It’s dangerous to jump out like that.”

As Ren climbed Maxion’s clothes, he familiarly held the baby dragon.

“…There’s something going on,” Edward muttered as he looked at Ren.

* * *

Snow had quietly fallen during the night, piling up to an adult man’s knee height. Fortunately, there was a large stable at the mansion—someone remarked in admiration that it seemed to be where the dragon stayed in its true form—so the horses were safe, but traveling was difficult.

“

, everything is white. I didn’t realize so much snow fell overnight because it was so quiet.”

“It looks like it’s piled up everywhere from the top floor. Traveling is going to be tough for now.”

“If we lose Ren, we won’t find it buried in the snow.”

At Maxion’s concerned voice, the baby dragon in his arms bristled.

“

!” [I’m not that small!] Ren snorted and tapped Maxion’s arm.

“You want to get down?”

“

!” [Yes!]

“You’ll get buried.”

“

!” [Just let me down!]

Ren’s forehead creased stubbornly.

With a small sigh, Maxion placed Ren on the snow, making a baby dragon-shaped hole.

“

—!

” [Save me

!]

“See, I told you you’d get buried…”

Just as Maxion reached to pick up Len again, the baby dragon moved swiftly through the snow. The ground bulged as if a mole was tunneling beneath it, following Ren’s path.

Ren poked its head out of the snow after circling the clearing.

“

!” [Gotcha!]

“…Having fun, aren’t you?”

“Indeed. We won’t lose sight of Ren.”

“

!” Ren snorted, still peeking out of the snow.

“Still, it’s not good weather for traveling, so let’s stay another night here. A slight delay is acceptable.”

“Yeeeeeees?”

“Sounds good.”

“Agree. Then, should we clear the path before the snow freezes?”

“

!” [Get to work, you burly humans!]

“A-Are we really staying another day?” Robin asked with a pale face. He recalled the previous night.

Luize asked, and Ren answered.

Edward calmly translated.

“

Robin, pale and standing in the corner, clasped his hands and quickly recited a scripture. Hendrik and Aiven exchanged glances and approached Robin, linking their arms with his.

“W-What’s this?”

“

! Dark energy is always expelled by bright energy.”

“And so?!”

“…Go, Robin.”

Aiven and Hendrik simultaneously tossed Robin into the snow. The noisy fall left an imprint in the snow in Robin’s shape.

“Uup! I ate snow, snow! You guys are really too much!”

“

!”

The laughter of the members filled the mansion.

While some members started shoveling a path, Ren played in the snow, rolling around with Maxion watching over him.

Edward looked around and spoke to Luize. “We should go inside and enjoy this unexpected vacation.”

“I’ll want to help with the shoveling too.”

“The members will refuse. Us staying inside is helping.”

“Really? Well, if I move, those who want to rest will start working too.”

Edward, who was about to turn and go inside the mansion, suddenly froze and stopped his tracks. Luize, who was walking ahead, turned back.

“Elliot? What’s wrong?”