As My Husband Said, I Brought in a Lover

“Newspaper and gossip column reporters are everywhere. They’re excited as if they’re fish in water, saying that one side was once married and the other was rumored to be engaged.”

“…Rumored engagement. It’s a horrible rumor no matter how many times I hear it.”

“On my side too.” Diana snorted.

“The emperor will be coming too. He’s been acting like he can’t wait to boast to the world about his friendly relationship with Pendel. Judging by the absurd gift sent as an engagement present, he must have been quite shocked to learn that I’m still close with Grand Duke.”

“What did he send?”

“A pair of swan ornaments carved from a magic stone. Isn’t that a treasure?”

“…Yes, it is.”

What Diana received was a sculpture of two swans carved from a fist-sized magic stone created by one of the previous emperors who possessed immense mana. It was one of the rarest treasures of the imperial family. Even when he offered Lensia’s sword as a prize for the swordsmanship tournament, it was clear that he was shortsighted for an emperor.

“I have no intention of returning it, so good luck. Find your place before he causes any more trouble.”

“I will.”

The two moved to their seats. The emperor arrived just before the engagement ceremony started. Though it was Diana’s engagement, he made a protagonist-like entrance.

A strange tension filled the room. Those who couldn’t attend Edward’s engagement the previous day watched Edward closely, while those who did attend observed the emperor. Diana had tried to attend despite it being the day before her own engagement, but Edward had stopped her.

Diana, who had intended to act freely, immediately accepted his advice upon seeing the emperor’s gift. She knew that if she didn’t cater to the emotional emperor after receiving the imperial treasure, there could be unpredictable consequences.

Diana’s engagement ceremony took place at the first mansion she had prepared in Eldran. Though she was staying in the imperial capital, it was odd to hold an engagement ceremony there as a foreign princess not marrying into the imperial family.

Fortunately, the seats for the emperor and Edward were quite far apart, even though they were in the place of honor. It was better to avoid direct confrontation with the emperor until the plan was in place. However, the problem arose after the main ceremony ended.

“Oh no.”

“

! I’m so sorry, I’m really sorry. I-I’ll clean it up right away…”

While Edward was greeting someone else, a young servant bumped into Luize, spilling a glass of red wine on her dress. Normally, Luize would have avoided it easily, but her attention was focused on the emperor and the other nobles, leading to the accident.

“It’s okay. The mansion isn’t far, so don’t worry about it.” Luize reassured the servant.

Diana, noticing the commotion, approached her. “Oh dear, your dress is ruined. It will feel unpleasant if you ride the carriage like this. Tell me your size, and I’ll get you something to change into right away.”

“Thank you for your concern. I’ll excuse myself then. Edward is currently greeting other guests. I’ll be right back.”

“Since you might not be familiar with the mansion, I’ll accompany you.” Edward, who had assumed Luize would avoid the servant due to her stealthy and sure presence, showed a hint of surprise.

Luize shook her head at Edward’s offer.

“You should take care of the people who stayed until the end of our engagement ceremony.”

“The person I need to take care of first is my fiancée.”

“I’m uncomfortable. If anything happens, I’ll call you. You trust me, right?” Luize pointed to the magic stone necklace hidden under her dress.

“…Alright.” Edward backed down willingly.

Not long after, someone watching them from a distance quietly left the after-party and headed towards the mansion.

* * *

Luize wiped the wine off her legs and changed into a new dress. Diana had quickly found a dress that fit her within half an hour. Feeling overwhelmed by the excessive attention and fuss from the servants, Luize sent them away immediately.

“Maybe it’s because she runs a trading company, but she has a good eye for things,” Luize said, coming out of the room in her new dress.

.

The hallway was empty. With the mansion’s simple structure, Luize quickly found her way back to the banquet hall.

“…Luize.”

Someone called her name from the darkness at the end of the hall. She knew who it was without turning around. Taking a deep breath, Luize turned her body.

“Reiad, we meet again. Congratulations on your engagement.”

“…”

“It’s a good day. Why the long face? Now we can both live the lives we want and be happy.”

“I’ve never thought of it as a good thing.” He stepped out of the darkness.

Just the day before, Luize had gotten engaged to Edward, and today, Reiad, her ex-husband, was getting engaged. It wasn’t good to be seen together by others.

“I’ll be going now.”

Just as Luize turned to leave, Reiad quickly approached her from behind and reached out his arm.

“…!”

Startled, Luize bent her upper body to avoid his move.

“What’s the matter?”

“No, that, I didn’t expect you to dodge like that.” He ended up flailing his arms in the air, intending to hug her from behind.

Luize stood up with a calm expression. “We’re not in a position to hug each other like that anymore. We didn’t even do it before.”

Her final words stabbed his heart like a dagger. It was his karma after all.

“Luize, you loved me, didn’t you?”

“…”

“You loved me, Luize.”

Reiad looked her in the eyes. His blue eyes turned red and soon filled with tears. Transparent teardrops rolled down his face.

“Luize, I—”

Luize interrupted him. “Somehow, I thought there were too few people in the building, even though I sent the servants away. So it was you who sent them away.”

“…What?”

“Your lover once asked me if I’d ever seen you cry. When I said no, she told me that you looked so handsome when you cried.”

“…”

“I was curious, but seeing it now, I don’t feel much. Maybe because my tastes differ from hers or because my feelings have changed. Anyway, please don’t create such uncomfortable situations again.”

“So…”

“To think you would dismiss the servants and risk being discovered by others just to have a conversation with me in this situation.”

“Of course, because I love you. I can do that much.”

Luize looked at Reiad with a stern expression. “Then…” She slowly began to speak. “During our marriage, you must not have loved me.”

“What?”

“If you had invested half the effort in creating such opportunities when I still loved you, we wouldn’t have divorced.”

“…”

“So, treat the princess well. Don’t regret it later.”

“No, Luize. Wait…!”

Reiad reached out to her. Just as Luize was about to brush him off, footsteps were heard coming up the stairs from below. She recognized the owner of those footsteps.

“Miss Luize, are you upstairs?”

Edward seemed to have sensed the situation above even without seeing it. His tone was extremely gentle, but both of them felt a chill down their spines. He didn’t bother hiding his killing intent to warn Reiad.

“Yes, Edward.”

Edward came up the stairs and approached Luize with a calm expression. “So you were here.”

Reiad didn’t avoid Edward’s gaze but couldn’t open his mouth recklessly due to his presence.

“Were you having an important conversation?”

“We just happened to run into each other. There’s nothing for you to misunderstand.”

“You don’t need to add such words. I don’t have any reason to doubt you, Miss Luize. I’m not like your promiscuous ex-husband, so I don’t even have the premise in my mind that such a situation would arise.”

“…!” Reiad looked incredulous.

“I was just worried because you were a bit late. The half-hour without you felt like an eternity.” Edward took Luize’s hand and kissed the back of it. He continued talking, completely ignoring Reiad. “Since it’s just the two of us, I’ll say it. There’s a rumor that the princess’s new fiancé is a promiscuous man. Since he was away, I was worried he might do something inappropriate to Miss Luize.”

“Nothing happened.”

“Good to hear. Come to think of it, the hallway is empty. It’s as if someone deliberately cleared it.”

Edward pressed closer to her, cornering Luize against the wall. Three steps back, and there was the wall. Luize looked into Edward’s eyes. He leaned his upper body slowly towards her with his strong arm propped against the wall. Their faces were so close they could feel each other’s breath.

“It seems they wanted to give us newly engaged lovers a pleasant place to spend time.”

His long, black eyelashes lifted, and his vivid red eyes shone brightly at her.

“How considerate of them.”

Luize clearly noticed him clenching his teeth for a moment.