As My Husband Said, I Brought in a Lover

As the question formed in Edward’s mind, Ren suddenly popped its head beside him.

“

?

!” [What are you looking at?

, graffiti. I want to leave a mark too!]

Ren scratched a line on the wall with its claw, then looked disappointed and lowered its hand.

“

!

.” [I can’t write! Human Edward, write it for me.]

“What do you want to write?”

“

!” [The great, mighty, and dignified Black Dragon Ren was here!]

Edward chuckled and used magic to inscribe the graffiti below the original phrase.

「

Ren was here.

」

“

!” [You left out the adjectives!]

“You can’t write, but you can read well.”

“

!

?” [Translation magic is basic!

?]

Ren moved closer to examine the writing on the wall.

“

.”

[The handwriting looks similar.]

Edward’s gaze shifted to the writing on the wall. He then realized why the handwriting on the portrait seemed familiar. It closely resembled the handwriting of a dragon he had encountered long ago.

* * *

The knights were busy loading their belongings onto horses and wagons. Luize also secured her belongings with her white horse for the long journey.

“Luize, need some help?”

Maxion approached Luize, having finished loading his own gear. She greeted him with a bright smile.

“Maxion, I was having trouble securing this box.”

“Let me see.”

Just as Luize let go of the box to let Maxion handle it, the poorly secured box tilted and fell to the ground. The impact caused the lock to break open, spilling its contents.

“Maxion, are you alright? Did anything hit you?”

“I’m fine. But the box is open now.”

“Looks like it. Books and papers? And there’s a key.” Luize picked up a scroll, a book, and a key from the ground. “

, it’s not a book. It’s a journal with a storage compartment.”

“Given the lock, this key must be used to open it.”

“Yes. My mother once told me that journals used to have storage compartments for keeping letters and such. But whose journal is this…?” Luize examined the cover of the journal.

「

Lensia.

」

It bore her mother’s name in a rough script.

Maxion, who was looking over her shoulder, spoke up. “Come to think of it, master used to threaten to write in the diary if Allen asked to buy eggplants for dinner. I didn’t know master was actually keeping a diary.”

“Right. She especially hated it, saying it tasted like a slug when cooked.” Luize looked at the old journal with a nostalgic smile.

“What’s the scroll?”

“Let’s see.”

Luize untied and unrolled the scroll, her eyes widening in surprise. Her hands trembled slightly as she held it.

“…

”

Maxion also fell silent, overwhelmed with emotion.

The scroll contained a portrait of familiar faces. Lensia, with an awkward expression, Allen standing naturally, and a small child in his arms.

Luize, unable to hide her emotions, spoke with a choked voice. “It’s been a long time, hasn’t it?”

“…Yes.”

Hendrik called out to them.

“

, Vice-Captain! We’re ready over here!”

“Where’s Lord Edward?”

“

!” [Here!] Ren answered, emerging from the mansion in Edward’s arms.

Luize quickly wiped her tears.

“

? Lady Luize, are you crying? Your Excellency, vice-captain made Lady Luize cry!”

“…What?”

Edward strode over to Luize with a stern face. “Miss Luize, is something wrong?”

“

?” [Luize, are you crying?]

Ren stretched out its short, chubby arms as if to wipe her tears. Edward, holding Ren with one hand, cupped Luize’s cheek with the other, wiping her tears with his thumb.

“

, it’s not that. I was just happy to see my parents after such a long time.”

Edward paused.

“…Your parents?”

“Here. I found their portrait.” Luize showed the unrolled scroll to Edward. “You can probably tell, but the silver-haired one is my mother, and the blond one is my father.”

“I see.”

Edward’s grip on Ren tightened. Noticing the tension in Edward’s body, Ren looked at him curiously.

“I probably wouldn’t recognize my father, given how young I was, but I learned swordsmanship from my mother. Do you remember?”

“…Yes, I do.”

Edward smiled his usual smile, but his body remained stiff. Ren tilted his head, puzzled.

* * *

That evening, the knights, excited about camping out again, surrounded Edward. Hendrik distributed small cups of non-alcoholic dark beer, and they clinked their glasses, shoulders shaking with joy.

“Cheers to the return of His Excellency’s memories!”

“You guys sure find any excuse to celebrate for days.”

“We don’t get many chances to celebrate. We plan to keep this up for a week!”

“Speaking of Ren, doesn’t it make the perfect mascot and lucky charm for the Silver Hawk Knights? Only good things will come now!”

“That’s right. It even matches the prophecy!”

Everyone looked at Robin in confusion.

“Prophecy?”

“What prophecy?”

“What, did you all forget?” Robin cleared his throat and spoke. “‘A dragon awakened from a long slumber will vanquish the darkness lurking in the empire.’”

“…!”

Everyone looked at Robin in shock.

“Usually, we hear things like that and let them go in one ear and out the other.”

“Typical of someone from the temple to remember prophecies.”

Robin continued. “Anyway, think about it! Forget the interpretation by those old fools. The dragon awakened from a long slumber clearly refers to the newborn Ren. What if Ren, who is with us, seizes the throne?”

“We’ll vanquish the darkness lurking in the empire?”

“Exactly!”

Everyone’s expressions brightened. Someone stood up and looked around.

“Ren, our little lucky charm! Where are you?”

“

.

?” [

What?]

Ren, munching on a roasted marshmallow, was suddenly lifted by a knight. The knights cheered and tossed Ren into the air.

Having achieved their mission, they only needed to return to the capital and complete their original goal. Seizing the throne might be more complex and challenging than fighting black magic. The number of deaths and resistance they’d face was unknown. Knowing this, the knights tried to maintain a cheerful atmosphere to ease their tension.

As the campsite buzzed with activity, Luize, holding a cup of non-alcoholic dark beer, laughed with the knights. Edward, who had been watching her for a long time, slipped away during the commotion. The knights, still excited, didn’t notice Edward leaving.

Having finished his last marshmallow, Ren followed Edward out of the party. “

.” [Human Edward, where are you going?]

Ren waddled after Edward, who picked him up.

“I need to think.”

“

?” [About what?]

“Ren, what do you think honor is?”

“

!” [That’s obviously when everyone praises you!]

“Is that so? My view is similar but different.”

“

?” Ren tilted its head.

Edward gazed at the distant forest with somber eyes. “True honor is maintaining one’s dignity and pride without anyone’s praise. Social honor comes from others’ recognition.”

“

.” [You overthink. Humans are all the same. Even the most honorable ones look like just humans to me.]

“Well, I suppose it could look that way to you.”

“

?” [So why bring this up?]

“The current nobility and royalty lack the grace and honor of old. They cling to superficial honor derived from others.”

“

?” [

, thinking about returning makes you uneasy?]

Edward patted Ren’s head. “I believe true honor should be given to those who selflessly save and love others, like Miss Luize.”

“

!

!” [Agreed! Give the honor to Luize!]

Ren perked up his ears and looked at Edward with bright eyes. Edward smiled and met Ren’s gaze.

“Ren, I have a favor to ask.”

“

?” [What favor?]