As My Husband Said, I Brought in a Lover

[I’m taking my lover.

– Edward E. von Lindeman]

Someone who had been staring intently at the letter suddenly mumbled with a shocked expression. “But she never told us she had a lover. That’s disappointing.”

“Exactly. She didn’t seem to have anyone even remotely close.”

“That’s a shame. Andre from the bookstore seemed to have feelings for our master.”

“No wonder she never gave him any chance…”

“Well, our master was a remarkable person.”

“True. There were many rumors, but someone like Grand Duke seems to fit the bill. He’s the only one who has consistently supported our academy.”

“That’s right.”

“So, starting today, we follow the training routine she left for us, right?”

“Yes. If we keep at it, we’ll eventually get in touch with her.”

The vigilantes cleaned up after their meal and cheerfully headed to the training ground.

* * *

In the audience chamber of the imperial palace, Emperor Eligos von Bellord sat on the throne with a bored expression. To avoid the constant requests for an audience, he invented tasks to make himself seem busy.

“That’s an interesting story. Continue.”

“Yes, Your Majesty.”

This involved spending the entire audience time chatting one-on-one with Reiad. As a result, Reiad had to recount in detail all his past espionage activities to entertain the emperor. Those stories mostly consisted of scandalous situations and romantic tales involving various young ladies.

“

, why didn’t I think of listening to the details of your assignments before? You’ve lived quite an amusing life. Meanwhile, my life is so boring.”

“It’s all thanks to Your Majesty’s grace.”

“

! Indeed.”

Reiad’s expression hardened momentarily as he bowed. Pleasing the emperor was one thing, but recently, it has become too frequent. Of course it is natural to be bored when one is doing nothing.

Reiad remembered the emperor’s casual remark the day after struggling with a problem in a certain village.

What happened to that village afterward was unknown, but Reiad was certain it met an unfortunate end.

This happened multiple times. There were limits to this approach unless the emperor erased the entire empire from the map. The emperor’s actions were like a massive dam holding back the problems and complaints from all over the empire. The dam was starting to overflow as it reached its limit.

The media was filled with praises for the emperor, stories from high society, and various gossip. Officially, nothing significant was known, but more and more citizens with no powerful backing or funds started coming to the capital to request an audience. It was unclear how those people, without significant backing or funds, managed to sway public opinion.

The situation became so severe that the token audiences with the commoners had to be stopped. Until a new solution was found, Reiad was there to spend the audience time with the emperor.

“Come to think of it, how are things going with the princess? I heard the engagement was decided, but there’s no guarantee it will lead to marriage. It would be a waste for you to marry such a wild one, so it might be better for you to focus on diplomacy for me. There’s no alliance as strong as marriage.”

“…I will follow Your Majesty’s wishes.”

“Good. And considering the lack of progress in gathering information so far, marriage seems to be the best option. After marriage, you might be able to obtain more intimate information. If we’re lucky, we might even get the key to taking Pendel.”

“Your Majesty’s insight is indeed profound.”

“This is nothing. Well, our time is up, so I’ll head to the library. Another tedious stretch. You mentioned you were invited to the empress dowager’s tea time, right?”

“Yes.”

“

, enjoy it.”

The emperor left the audience chamber first. Reiad’s face hardened as soon as the emperor was out of sight. He loosened his cravat but stopped when a servant approached to guide him to the empress dowager. Straightening up, he forced a smile.

“The empress dowager is expecting you.”

“Let’s go.”

Despite being exhausted from the three-hour audience, facing the emperor was preferable. It was easy to fill the time with meaningless chatter. However, time with the empress dowager required constant vigilance.

Reiad entered the garden and headed for the tea table in the center, where the empress dowager, with her neatly tied blonde hair, was already sipping tea.

“You’ve arrived.”

“Yes. It’s been a while since Your Majesty called me. I was worried Your Majesty had forgotten about me.”

“I called you because I heard good news. Please, have a seat.”

Reiad took a seat across from the empress dowager. As always, she appeared timid, but he knew her true nature.

“Count Cloette, I heard your engagement was decided. Congratulations.”

“Thank you. It’s all thanks to Your Majesty’s grace.”

“I always believed you would do well.” Empress Dowager continued in a gentle voice. “Did you love your former wife?”

“No.”

“Good. Count shouldn’t get caught up in such emotions.” She gazed at the small bug crawling on the table with a pitiful expression. “…like me.” Then, without a moment’s hesitation, she crushed it with her gloved finger.

* * *

Luize and Edward headed straight to the capital as soon as they finished their preparations. Luize, dressed in one of her old capital dresses, stood in a meadow at the foot of the hill. The white horse Edward summoned shook its head at the sight of Luize.

“Pur, how have you been?” She stroked the horse’s mane with a joyful expression and looked at Edward. “So, I just need to ride the horse in this dress and go to Central Square, right?”

“Yes. I’ll come to pick you up there.”

“I’ve wrapped my mother’s sword in bandages to hide it well… But I’m no longer Luize di Cloette. I’m Servenia now. Won’t it help you if I head to your mansion? Our scandal is so old that it doesn’t seem to attract much attention in social circles anymore.”

“That’s the important part. Because Servenia is coming to me.”

“My identity as the daughter of the former Marquis Servenia isn’t widely known yet.”

Luize had decided to live as Luize de Servenia, daughter of Lensia and Allen di Servenia. This decision wasn’t just about using a name but also a commitment to not hide her true lineage. Her parents had worried she would be exploited by the imperial family and nobles, but Edward loved her, and even Dragon Ren liked her. So, no one would oppress Luize’s freedom. She no longer needed to hide her parentage or origins.

“Marquis Servenia and Lorein di Servenia recently registered Miss Luize into the family. She was preparing to introduce Miss Luize as her niece to the social circles if you wanted to return.”

“So, you plan to show me first and then announce it.”

“Exactly.”

The plan starts by revealing that Edward and Luize are still lovers. A noblewoman riding a white horse into the capital square would immediately attract attention, while Edward would arrive in a carriage bearing his family’s crest.

“We’ll return to the mansion together, right?”

“Yes.”

“Good. See you soon.”

“I’ll see you shortly.” Edward smiled elegantly and kissed her hand. Luize blushed and nodded.

In conclusion, their planned reunion scene was successful. As a woman in a luxurious dress, the kind nobles might wear, entered the capital on a white horse from the outskirts, all eyes were on her.

“Isn’t that Madam Luize di Cloette? I’ve seen her in the news.”