As My Husband Said, I Brought in a Lover

“The temple. The chief mentioned it during the day. The villages around Perils are deeply devout. The residents of Servenia, mostly healers or patients, also have close ties with the temple. It would have been easy for the priests to approach them.”

Maxion nodded gravely.

“It was suspicious how suddenly they became friendly with the imperial family. Why would the temple do something like this?”

“I’m not sure. But if they wanted to seize the empire, joining hands with the current emperor would have been much easier.”

“After all, they have the ability to hear oracles, and their devotion has spread throughout the continent. They could have easily incited the imperial citizens without resorting to black magic. There must be another reason they chose to ally with black magic.”

“I don’t know the details. But only a few among the priests possess divine power, and their abilities are limited to healing others and receiving oracles. Perhaps they needed physical force.”

“…And with the white dragon gone, they had no one to fear.”

The temple worshiped Ron, the white dragon who ruled the forest leading to the north, as the messenger of God and made it the symbol of the temple. Ron saved countless lives with its immense divine power before losing its life to the black dragon, Run.

People on the continent believed that those who achieved the greatest deeds in life were reborn as dragons. Those who saved many lives with medicine and divine power became the white dragon, Ron, and those who saved numerous lives with the sword and magic became the black dragon, Run. The temple worshiped Ron as their symbol and messenger of God, while the imperial family revered Run as their symbol.

One day, the black dragon Run went crazy, killed Ron, and laid waste to the empire. The imperial family was forced to assemble a punitive force to slay Run, their symbol. After several punitive forces were annihilated, the force, including Luize’s mother, Lensia, and Allen di Servenia, finally defeated the mad dragon.

“Perhaps they went astray because they lost their guide. It’s a regrettable matter.” Edward murmured solemnly in the darkness.

* * *

This destination was excessively peaceful. But Luize found it strangely hard to sleep today. Perhaps it was a habit formed from sharing a tent with Edward for the past few days. It felt oddly empty without anyone else in the room.

Luize tossed and turned in bed before sitting up abruptly. “What’s with the noise? I’m much more comfortable being alone.” Even saying it out loud, the emptiness in her chest remained.

Thanks to Maxion assigning the rooms as before, Edward naturally stayed in the room next to hers, as he had said he would stay in the room on the right throughout the journey. It was strange because nothing had really changed except for a wall between them. Moreover, such inns don’t usually have good soundproofing, do they? So, it was as if they were in the same room, but it didn’t feel that way.

“…I wonder if Elliot is sleeping well. I think I heard the sound of a window opening earlier.”

In the last few days, unlike his claim of severe insomnia, he seemed to have slept well except for the first night they stayed up together.

Luize nodded to herself.

“Maybe I’ll feel better if I move my body a bit.”

It seemed like she couldn’t sleep because she hadn’t been moving much lately. Apart from physical training and occasional sparring, there hadn’t been much need to exert herself on this journey. Moreover, having been used to sleeping rough for a long time, the comfort of the beds felt oddly inconvenient.

“Come to think of it, there was an open space nearby earlier. I should go stretch there.”

Luize got out of bed, changed her clothes, and took her sword. She moved to a deserted place to exercise under the moonlight, thinking it might help her sleep.

After finishing her preparations, Luize stretched pleasantly and headed to the nearby open space. Exercising alone had been a daily routine when she lived in Perils, so it wouldn’t be difficult. She was a bit excited about doing night training after a long time.

Luize thought today had ended peacefully, too, for an expedition.

“

…”

Until she came across him, standing alone among seven corpses soaked in blood and sweat, breathing heavily. His presence was so strong through the dense scent of roses.

The man’s black hair was damp with sweat. His red eyes slowly moved towards her.

* * *

Was it because the village they had surveyed during the day seemed overly peaceful? Or was it that the journey so far had been suspiciously leisurely? Even after seven years, the emperor still seemed to be troubled by him.

“I expected it, but the fact that the tail has only now appeared means they were thinking of dealing with me if I had not died and returned from the previous village.”

Having escaped alive, it seemed they now intended to send someone to kill him directly. If not, they might be trying to steal important information using orbs that store memories, just like seven years ago.

From regaining his memories to finding a village with memory-storing orbs and now the arrival of an assassin. Everything fits together like a well-planned board.

It seemed the emperor had noticed that he had sealed some of his memories seven years ago. All this couldn’t possibly have originated from that obtuse emperor’s mind.

For the safety of the continent and the people of the empire, as well as their relationship with the temple, the imperial family had taken drastic measures to kill their symbol, the black dragon Run. However, the rift between the temple and the imperial family did not easily disappear even after the imperial forces killed the dragon.

The fact that the temple had attended an event hosted by the imperial family soon after a new emperor took the throne and officially chose to join hands with the imperial family was suspicious.

Maxion had thought it suspicious from the moment he received the details, and it was clear that the temple had influenced the planning of this expedition. The degree of meticulousness was different from the emperor’s past decision to blindly send them to dangerous Perils.

A huge organization possessing enough capital to buy many magic stones. Only two places within the empire could do this, excluding large trade guilds and mercenary groups.

The imperial family and the temple. If these two had joined hands, nothing was difficult.

Edward felt the approaching presence and got up to open the window. Judging by the number of presences, it seemed they were targeting him specifically, not the entire group. He jumped out of the window and boldly stood in the center of the street.

“It’s been a while since I had nocturnal visitors.”

Seven assassins surrounded him. He twisted one corner of his mouth into a smile.

Edward had slept deeply for the first time in days. The threat of assassins, the threat of losing his memories, those peaceful days were rather awkward. To him, who is now twenty years old, such situations were familiar.

“Seven of them. Emperor, I hope you’ve gathered some useful ones this time.”

Edward flicked his fingers, and in an instant, he disappeared. He reappeared on the rooftop of the inn.

Edward looked for a suitable place to fend off the assassins as he dodged them. To him, accustomed to being attacked, spotting a place to deal with assassins as soon as he entered the village was routine. The open space he had seen on his way to the inn earlier seemed most suitable.

Edward reached the open space, and the moment he set foot on the ground, golden threads shimmered around his body. It was a binding magic.

“Did you think we wouldn’t expect this?”

“That voice sounds familiar.”

“I’ve had a hard time recovering from the injury Your Excellency left me seven years ago.”

A man walked out of the darkness. He was dressed in black clothes, and his face was covered with a black cloth.

“Shadow Light, you guys seem to be living well. I was curious about you, so it’s good timing.”

Edward raised his hand. “I’ve missed this tension these past few days.”

“It’s rumored you’ve become kinder, but it’s flattering to hear you’ve missed us. You’ll regret it if you don’t act like before.”

He charged at Edward.

“Regret. Yes, I did regret sending you away back then.”

Edward calmly raised both arms. The binding magic enveloping him dispersed into the air like dust.

“My goodness, the magic!”

“Vice-captain!”

Sighs flowed from all around.

Edward flicked his thumb and middle finger, and the vice-captain, who had reached right in front of him, froze in mid-air.

Edward casually removed the black cloth covering the opponent’s face. Wrinkled features and sharp hazel eyes were revealed.

“Count Eperante. You’ve become the vice-captain, I see.”

“…It’s all thanks to Your Excellency for dealing with all those who came before me. If you plan to kill me, please do it right away.”

“Can I do that? It’s nice to see a familiar face. Aren’t you curious? What regrets I had after sending you away.”