As My Husband Said, I Brought in a Lover

“In that case, I will end your life myself. Then the curse will fall on me.”

“Allen, what kind of crazy talk is that!” Lensia exclaimed in shock.

Allen extended his hand toward Lensia with a determined look on his face. “Lensia, lend me your sword. I will pierce the dragon’s heart.”

“No. Killing is my job. Your job is to save lives.”

“What’s important to you is the reputation of being a dragon slayer. You killed the dragon, Lensia. I can just be recorded as another fallen comrade during the subjugation.”

“Are you telling me to let you die and live on my own? After I have the baby, it’ll be just me and the child?”

“His Majesty will bestow a great reward. A title and territory will be prepared, too. If you hire a nanny, raising the child won’t be difficult. I’ll die, so you can live as the hero of the empire, as you always wanted.”

“

”

“I’d rather die than send you off first and be left alone. After all, I love you much more, and you only have a moderate interest in me. Even if I die first, you won’t have a hard time.”

“I’ve thought this before, but Allen, your exterior is so polished while your insides are really twisted.” Lensia was amazed by Allen’s objective and honest assessment.

[…Allen, was it? That’s a good idea. Both of you will die eventually, but this way, you’ll buy some time.]

“…Even if we do that, we’ll both die?”

At Allen’s question, the dragon Run blinked slowly.  [Humans who physically assisted in a dragon’s death are all cursed. However, the curse will be divided and weakened. The one who delivers the final blow will bear the strongest curse, though.]

“So, even if I kill you, Lensia will eventually die?”

[Yes. But at least you’ll both get to see the child grow to some extent. If you’re lucky, Lensia might even see the child reach adulthood. The problem is that the child will be born under the curse.]

Lensia spoke with a firm expression. “…The child is innocent. I’m still considering it, but if I do give birth, I want the child to live well. Is there no way?”

Run squinted her eyes and stared at Lensia’s lower abdomen. [

… I don’t know if you should be grateful for this. Because you conceived the child within the dragon’s domain, the child falls under the domain’s protection. If raised in the forest until adulthood, the child can grow like a normal human under the dragon’s blessing.]

The dragon took a laborious breath as if nearing death. [It will take over twenty years for the next generation of dragons to be born and for the forest to stabilize. After that, the child can live outside the forest for about five hundred years without any issues.]

“What happens after five hundred days?”

[The child will gradually succumb to the curse and die a thousand days later. If the child stays with the dragon’s bloodline outside the Perils, they can live normally. Otherwise, the time they can endure outside will shorten, and eventually, they will have to return to survive. The curse will stop when they return.]

“So, the child has to stay with a dragon.”

[Not only a dragon has the dragon’s blood.]

After a moment of silence, Lensia responded with a dark expression. “…The imperial family.”

[Yes.]

Lensia shook her head firmly. “No. The child will be exploited. Being a child with my and Servenia’s direct bloodline, many will drool and come after them. Besides, if the child can’t survive without the imperial bloodline, it sets the perfect conditions for becoming a puppet.”

[Just being near the imperial family won’t endanger their life. It would be good to meet face-to-face once every hundred days, but with direct contact, the child could endure a year.]

“…By the time the child can leave this place, we might not be around.”

[If Allen kills me, he’ll die first, and you might live just until then. This is the first case, so nothing can be guaranteed.]

“We have no one to entrust the child to after we die. And before that, there would be no chance to properly teach the child about the world. Humans can become utterly terrible depending on the circumstances, so it would be better for the child to live with the beasts here than to send them to the capital.”

Lensia fell into deep thought. She had no significant connections, and Allen’s Servenia was close to the imperial family. The more people who knew, the greater the risk to the child.

Soon, the dragon closed her eyes. [Lensia. Time is running out. So, what do you want to do?]

With a resolute expression, Lensia threw her sword at Allen’s feet. “Allen, kill Run. The child came through such a slim chance. Let’s raise it.”

“…Alright.” Allen picked up the silver sword.

[…Thank you, Lensia.]

“Me too. Farewell, Run. Live well in your next life.”

[Okay.] The dragon closed her eyes and faintly smiled.

Standing on the dragon’s back, Allen accurately plunged the sword into the dragon’s heart. Thus, the black dragon Run returned to the embrace of nature.

* * *

Edward’s expression remained dark after hearing the story. He recalled the cursed books he saw in Luize’s cabin. Those must have been Allen’s efforts to find a way to break the dragon’s curse.

Since losing his seven years of memories in Mirror Village, he had lived without knowing that Luize’s mother was Lensia. Even before losing his memory, it was such an obvious fact that neither Maxion nor Luize felt the need to tell him. However, in his sealed memories, there was a disgraceful secret of the imperial family that had driven the hero Lensia to her death.

The emperor had sacrificed his friend for the safety of the empire and the imperial family, knowing that Lensia would die one way or another. While hypocritically praising her as a hero on the surface.

“…Miss Luize didn’t suffer because she coincidentally met me at every banquet?”

“

.” [Probably.] Ren nodded.

If Edward had known that Lensia was Luize’s mother when he regained his sealed memories, he wouldn’t have loved Luize in that way. No, he wouldn’t have fallen in love with her from the beginning if his memories hadn’t been sealed. Even if he had loved her, he would have kept a thorough distance.

Everything was a mess. Edward felt he didn’t deserve to love Luize.

“Allen di Servenia also died from that curse.”

“

.” [That’s right.]

“…

.” Edward sneered at himself.

“…

.” [… What’s wrong?]

Edward finally realized why Ren had been so wary of him. Ren was worried that he might force Luize to stay by his side by threatening her life. Just as Lensia had worried about him and kept Luize from leaving Perils.

“His Majesty sent Lensia to the subjugation squad, knowing she would die whether by the dragon or the curse. I am his bloodline. My father made Luize’s parents die.”

Ren’s eyes widened. “

?

.” [Did you really have to say that? Just be happy together. It’s your parents’ fault, not yours.]

“For humans, it’s not that simple.”

“

” [So complicated.]

“…Edward.”

Edward’s movements stopped at the voice calling his name. He slowly turned around.

“What do you mean by all that?”

The well-roasted marshmallow fell from Luize’s hand to the ground.

* * *

The small party in the forest was about to end. Luize proudly looked at the marshmallow she had roasted, the best she had ever done. Ever since Edward had taught her how to roast marshmallows deliciously, she had been practicing to do it just like him.

“This one should be for Edward.”

Only then did Luize realize that Edward had disappeared. She looked around. Since Ren was also missing, it seemed they were taking a walk nearby.

“…Edward has been acting strange lately. Is he troubled by regaining his memory?”

Luize looked around with the marshmallow in her hand. They couldn’t have gone far, but she couldn’t find them.

“Are you looking for His Excellency? I saw him heading that way with Ren earlier.”

“

, thank you.”

Following the guidance of one of the members, Luize found Edward standing there.  Just as Luize approached him with a delighted face, she overheard his words.

It took her a long time to comprehend his words. At first, she doubted her ears, thinking she had heard wrong. Then she wondered if he might be rehearsing some absurd play with Ren. After that, she searched for scenarios where what Edward said wouldn’t be a problem for their relationship, considering if he was at fault.

Lensia and Allen had joined the subjugation squad of their own accord. It meant they were prepared to die if they failed to defeat the dragon. But even if they succeeded, they were destined to die.

However, did the subjugation squad know this, a fact unknown to anyone in the world?