As My Husband Said, I Brought in a Lover

“…”

“None of them came back to you.”

“…”

“And I’m no longer the naive girl who just arrived in the capital from the countryside.”

Reiad’s eyes lost focus and blurred. None of this felt real to him.

“Congratulations on your engagement. Even if roses bloom in your mansion, I will never return there. Don’t wait for me any longer.” Luize ended with a firm period as she stared at Reiad standing blankly. “Take care.” Without any regrets, she turned around and disappeared out of the alley.

“…It can’t be. If you don’t come back… does that mean the mansion will stay like that forever? No, it can’t be. It just can’t be…” Reiad muttered as he collapsed to the ground, a step too late.

As Luize emerged from the alley, she suddenly recalled the day she first met Reiad. A bucket had fallen over, and amidst the flopping fish, his hand had been extended to her. Could that be called salvation?

“…At least it seems like one step.”

One step she had taken towards salvation. Those steps accumulated, leading her to reunite with Edward and Maxion and meet the Silver Hawk Knights. She also came to know her aunt and cousin in Servenia and spent joyful days outside the world with Ren. Through these experiences, Luize realized what she truly wanted and what made her happy. If all of this had been a process for now, then perhaps it was all part of salvation too.

Only then did Luize understand why Edward had said that to her on a day when the lavender was in full bloom. He was right. Luize had made mistakes, but she wasn’t wrong.

“So my choice wasn’t completely wrong. It was just that luck wasn’t on my side.”

In any case, Reiad had loved her in an incomprehensible way, and she had also once kept him in her heart. It had hurt so much back then. But knowing that he had actually loved her, Luize could think that her marriage wasn’t a scam disguised as love, which was a greater comfort than anything she had received from Reiad so far. It meant that there was a moment when they were truly sincere to each other, not just using each other as tools.

“Everything was just a process for the present.”

Even Reiad, who seemed most adept at love in the world, was so immature. After all, no one can be perfect in front of love. At best, they can strive for happiness.

Fortunately, striving for the best was something Luize was best at. Now, she had found something truly precious.

“If I am happy today, that’s all that matters.”

Luize headed towards Edward. It was almost when she reached the square.

“Miss Luize, I came out to meet you, worried something might have happened on your way.” Edward walked towards her, proudly holding up a cake box with a smile.

She smiled joyfully. “Edward.”

“Yes.”

“I love you.”

Edward’s eyes widened slightly and then softened into a gentle arc. “… That’s a generous reward. At this rate, it seems worth standing in line every day.”

“Come to think of it, Edward, have you ever lined up for something like that before?”

“Today was my first time. Everyone was staring.”

“… I’m sorry. I just said it in a hurry.”

“It was a good experience. So, did you find the lost button?”

At Edward’s question, Luize thought for a moment and shook her head. “I’ll just leave it lost. Let’s say I left it there on purpose.”

“You made a good decision.”

Luize naturally placed her hand on his arm and headed for the carriage. In front of it, Leo was waiting proudly with a box of macarons for Luize.

“…”

“

, you really got the Earl Grey flavor. I heard it’s the hardest to find. Let’s go to the mansion and eat together. By the way, is Leo always this quiet?”

Leo shook his head and replied in a small voice. “No.”

“Then let’s chat together.”

Leo looked at Edward with a face asking if it was okay, and Edward nodded shortly. With permission given, Leo nodded vigorously up and down at Luize.

When they arrived at the mansion, Luize got off the carriage and checked the sky with a puzzled expression. The sky was still clear.

“Tonight…”

“Is something the matter?” Edward asked, blocking the garden path leading to the proposal site. During the expedition, he often cast a barrier around Luize’s room to block outside disturbances so she could sleep well. He knew his magic worked flawlessly, yet he was uneasy.

Since Luize is a human with the dragon’s domain, she often has sharp instincts in ways he couldn’t predict. Edward had intentionally left some everyday noises to prevent her from noticing any excessive quietness, but had something gone wrong?

“…No, it’s nothing. There’s no external schedule tonight, right?”

“No, we won’t leave the mansion.”

“Then it’s okay. Let’s go inside.”

Fortunately, she didn’t seem to notice.

Edward glanced at the busy people inside the barrier and smiled as he entered the mansion.

* * *

With a grim expression, Reiad strode into the garden with pruning shears in hand. His cravat was completely untied, and his usually neat hair was disheveled. His blue eyes, trembling with anger, looked like they might cry at any moment.

“Damn roses.”

He had disliked them ever since they were said to resemble the grand duke’s eye color. If Luize wasn’t coming back anyway, the roses were better gone.

“…Luize said she liked them.”

The gardener had told him so. Luize seemed to particularly cherish the new roses. She must have immersed herself in gardening because of his absence. After all, he spent more time outside than he did at the mansion.

Reiad stood in the middle of the garden, looking around. “Were there always this many flowers in the mansion garden?” Various spring flowers bloomed everywhere.

Reiad remembered Luize smiling brightly in the warm sunlight. When she first entered the mansion, she said it was the most beautiful place in the world despite it being a prison to him. With a flushed face, she eagerly wanted to decorate it more beautifully.

Had he answered too offhandedly back then?

“There was originally nothing here.”

This place had been like that. The cold mansion that never once matched with warm light or flowers from his very first memory. A place he had always wanted to escape from but could never leave. In such a mansion, the one who held warmth was Luize.

“…Luize. The flowers have bloomed.”

He realized it too late.

Reiad dropped the shears helplessly. He couldn’t bring himself to trample on the warmth she left behind.

Luize came to the capital following the light, but did she know she herself resembled the warmest sunlight more than anything else?

* * *

Reiad di Cloette was born in the Cloette mansion. It was known to the public that the frail Madam Cloette gave birth to a child a month before her death as her condition worsened, leading to her passing, but the truth was different.

“You know, that person. The young master’s nanny. They say she was a maid who got beaten instead of the master when he was young.”

“Isn’t that usually a man’s job? His taste is peculiar.”

“She can’t speak, right?”

“Really? No wonder. I always thought they were unusually hard on her.”

“But how did someone like that end up taking care of the young master?”

“I heard she had just given birth too. They said they’d use her as a wet nurse.”

“Master really doesn’t know what he’s doing. Babies need someone who talks to them a lot to learn to speak quickly.”

“True. By the way, did you hear that all the kitchen staff have been replaced?”

“Exactly. We might be next. Why does he keep changing the servants so often?”

The servants sighed.

A commoner who grew up almost like a sibling to the late Count Cloette, a maid who couldn’t speak. That was Reiad di Cloette’s mother. Thanks to inheriting his father’s fine blond hair and blue eyes, no one doubted that Reiad was Count Cloette’s son.

There were always people who found it strange that the bedridden countess had given birth to a child. The count continuously replaced the servants to prevent rumors from spreading inside and outside the mansion.