As My Husband Said, I Brought in a Lover

Edward appeared calm on the outside, but he seemed very angry. It was unusual for him not to hide his killing intent, and he was not someone who would create such a situation in front of Reiad. His gaze slowly moved from her lips back to Luize. He was silently asking for permission to kiss her. It was endearing and amusing how, even in his intense anger, he sought her consent, making Luize bite her lower lip to suppress a laugh. It wasn’t a moment to laugh.

“…

”

Fortunately, Reiad lowered his tail first and walked past them down the stairs. After he disappeared, Edward’s demeanor softened a bit. When Luize closed her eyes to indicate her permission, Edward lightly pressed his lips to hers.

Her eyelashes fluttered, and the corners of her mouth lifted.

“If I startled you, I’m sorry.”

“

.”

This time, he kissed her slightly curled lip.

“Are you angry?”

“About what?” Luize genuinely didn’t understand why he thought like that, so she asked back.

“Upon reflection, I realized that pushing Miss Luize against the wall and acting forcefully might have been troubling.”

“I was a bit startled since it wasn’t like your usual self.”

“I felt overwhelmed thinking he might have behaved rudely towards Miss Luize. I figured if I approached him, it would be hard to let him go peacefully, so I chose a second option.”

“

, hard to let him go peacefully…?”

“I mean, I might have ended up in a physical fight with him at least.”

“So you considered something worse?”

“…Yes.”

Luize briefly imagined the worst-case scenario he might have envisioned. Edward had the power to send someone to the other world with just a snap of his fingers. Even if he didn’t kill, countless ways to inflict pain must have crossed his mind as he had the power to make it happen.

He slowly rested his forehead on Luize’s shoulder. “Do you hate me?”

“Of course not. I like you very much.”

“I will try not to show excessive violence.”

“I didn’t even blame you, so why are you blaming yourself?”

Luize suddenly felt a sense of déjà vu. She had experienced a similar situation before.

When Edward lost his memory and lived as Elliot, Luize had encountered him after he dealt with assassins. The young man, embarrassed by his tears wetting her shoulder, let warm rainfall instead. Of course, the situation and reaction were different now…

“It’s okay. I trust you. So, there’s no reason for me to leave you, Edward.” She patted his back.

Soon, he lifted his head and kissed her again. Their lips pressed together softly and slowly. His tongue lightly licked between her lips.

“…Promise?” His hot breath spread over her lips in a rather pitiful voice.

“Yes. I promise.”

Their lips met deeply.

When Edward had completely relaxed, Luize, who was leaving the building, realized one of her preferences.

Recalling Edward’s dejected posture, briefly kissing her lips and leaning on her shoulder like a puppy that had done something wrong, made Luize blush deeply.

She liked it.

* * *

It was some time later the capital was engulfed in an unprecedented major incident.

[Mass Disappearance of Sleeping Sickness Patients! Was it Abduction?]

People who lost their family members overnight went on hunger strikes, submitted petitions to the emperor, and pleaded for an audience with the emperor, crying and begging.

“Please, grant us mercy and help us retrieve our family members!”

The emperor was silent. Only Edward could pull off something of this scale, but there was no evidence. Strangely, on the day the patients disappeared en masse, his subordinates hadn’t stepped foot outside their mansion.

It was odd that Edward’s subordinates had increased so much in such a short time. Even those who had stayed until the end of his engagement showed no special activity and instead begged him for help. Thinking about it that way, it didn’t seem like Edward had planned it.

The Empress Dowager, upon learning of this, couldn’t act rashly either. The situation had unfolded in a way she hadn’t anticipated at all.

“Deploy the imperial knights to search and monitor the situation for now.”

Since the incident happened three days before the founding festival, it was even more difficult to act hastily.

The mass disappearance of sleeping sickness patients quickly spread by word of mouth through those who visited the same clinics. Within a day, the entire capital knew about the incident. Even though newspapers and gazettes had turned into gossip sheets, it would have been unnatural not to cover this. Knowing this, the empress dowager instructed that appropriate articles be released. However, the articles focused on the heinousness of the kidnappers, not on any fault of the imperial family.

Servenia expressed regret over the incident and issued an official statement.

“Servenia will assist the imperial family in capturing the kidnappers, and to alleviate the emperor’s concerns, we will personally bear all costs and take care of the sleeping sickness patients upon their discovery.”

While everyone was cursing the kidnappers, on the night before the founding festival, the missing patients were found around clinics affiliated with Servenia.

“People are collapsing in front of the clinic!”

“Aren’t those the missing patients?”

“Move them to beds immediately!”

“There are more on that road over there!”

Servenia had far more clinics than those established by the imperial family and the temples. Thanks to this, Servenia’s clinics were able to accommodate the patients stably.

“…All the patients returned last night. And they all went to Servenia’s clinics.”

“Immediately inform their guardians to transfer them to the imperial clinics.”

The emperor said, but the empress dowager shook her head.

“It’s already too late.”

“Pardon?”

“Didn’t you order that patients cannot be discharged immediately for their safety? The period was a week, correct?”

“Yes, that’s right.”

“They will try to prepare something within that time.” The empress dowager finally realized that she had lost this round and twisted her lips into a smile.

“Even so, Mother, that person won’t be able to do anything conspicuous. Isn’t the founding festival period five days long? If a coup were to be staged within that time, a large number of citizens would be swept up. The grand duke is too cautious to kill even the most uncivilized commoner easily.”

“…Uncivilized commoner.” The Empress Dowager’s hand, holding the teacup, paused. Her expression, which had momentarily hardened, soon relaxed. “Emperor, do you remember the day eight years ago when your ascension to the throne was confirmed?”

“Yes. Of course, I remember.”

The day when the previous emperor suddenly died, and a bloodbath ensued. It was a day no citizen of the empire could forget. At the same time, it was a day people hesitated to mention, so they didn’t dare give it a nickname.

“Do you know how to deal with traitors?”

“I was taught to strip them of all titles and kill them to ensure no future threats.”

“That’s correct.” The empress dowager continued, holding the teacup. “We need to find evidence of treason.”

“Pardon? The coup hasn’t even happened yet. How are we supposed to do that?”

She calmly dropped the teacup from her hand.

The cup shattered, and the tea-stained her dress like blood. It was the last piece made by a famous potter a hundred years ago. The startled maids rushed to her side.

“We just need to create it.”

She smiled as she looked at the broken cup.

* * *

Unable to contain her curiosity, Diana visited the grand duchy on an unofficial schedule. She boldly headed to the second-floor office. Coincidentally, the butler had just finished his report and was stepping out of the office.

Edward, lifting his head from his work, saw the door swing open.

“How did you do it?”

“What do you mean?”

“We’re a team, aren’t we? The matter is over now, so tell me. How did you manage to pull it off without stepping outside the grand duchy?” She walked briskly toward Edward and sat in the chair opposite his desk.

“Well, isn’t Your Highness now the fiancée of the emperor’s closest ally? It doesn’t seem appropriate to reveal the details of the plan to you.”

“

, betrayal.” Diana looked at him with disbelief.

Despite her personal motives, Diana had been the one who seduced Reiad and set up the engagement-related scheme at the banquet. She had thought of Edward as his friend and ally, even if their personalities were almost complete opposites. But here Edward was, drawing a clear line between them. Of course, it was within the expected range.

“This is the price for the information.” Diana took out an ebony box and handed it to Edward.