As My Husband Said, I Brought in a Lover Chapter 130

“It’s a flower made in the image of my heart.”

 

“Your heart… It’s really as red and beautiful as a heart.”

 

“It’s called a rose. I placed thorns on the stem so humans can’t easily harm it. Someday, the entire continent will grow this flower. My heart will always be with you.”

 

“What’s the flower’s meaning?”

 

“Passionate love.”

 

Run took the bright red rose. She inhaled its subtle fragrance and smiled.

 

“It smells like you.”

 

“Are you feeling better?”

 

“Yes.”

 

“Then… OOO, OOO, now dinner…”

 

As Ron’s words trailed off, the projection flickered and became blurry. The expression on Run’s face, which had been looking at Ron, soon turned sad. She turned and stared directly at Luize and Edward.

 

“…You are humans from the future.”

 

Her calm tone was entirely different from the teary, pouting Run of moments ago. Her jet-black eyes lost their vitality, filled only with an endless darkness.

 

“It’s a strange inevitability.”

 

The rose on Run’s palm withered instantly. Her figure began to shine from her feet upward and dispersed into countless snow bugs.

 

“What should I call you?”

 

“My name is Luize. This is Elliot.”

 

At Luize’s response, the dragon’s gaze turned to Edward.

 

“Elliot. That’s not your real name.”

 

“…Yes.”

 

“Your memories are facts, but not the truth. The truth will reveal itself naturally, so don’t torment yourself too much. And Luize.”

 

“Yes.”

 

“You don’t need to feel guilty about the dragon that shares my blood. You’ll soon understand why.”

 

“…Okay,” Luize answered with an uneasy expression.

 

If the woman before her was indeed Run, it meant her mother, Lensia, had killed her. It seemed Run was pointing out that fact.

 

“Do your best to be happy when you can be.”

 

Run’s gaze turned to the nearly vanished image of Ron.

 

“If you realize how beautiful those fleeting moments were only after they’ve passed, all that remains is regret.”

 

With those words, Run’s figure vanished.

 

The room lights flickered in the darkness, and the candles flared back to life. The thick silence settled over the room as if nothing had happened. As Edward and Luize simultaneously opened their mouths to speak, a scream echoed through the mansion.

 

“Uaaaaaah—!”

 

Robin’s scream echoed through the mansion.

 

* * *

Robin noticed something strange while Edward and Luize were seeing the dragon’s projection in another room.

 

“Vice-captain, did you open the window without telling me? Is it because of the magic stone on my uniform that I can’t feel the cold or wind? Ha. Ha. Ha.” Robin’s pupils trembled violently. A nervous smile tugged at his mouth.

 

“I didn’t,” Maxion replied in a flat tone.

 

Robin’s finger, pointing at the candle on the wall, trembled uncontrollably. “T-T-Then why is the candle flickering without any wind? Is it dancing for fun?”

 

“Who knows. Maybe it’s bored.”

 

“That’s ridiculous…!”

 

Pop. The candles illuminating the room all went out at once.

 

Maxion and Robin had chosen the room with the baby’s crib because they often stayed with Ren. When choosing the room, it didn’t seem like a big deal, but now Robin regretted his choice for the first time.

 

“T-T-There must be a baby ghost! It must be angry because we entered the room and used the crib without permission. Ren, come here! Escape from the crib!”

 

Robin rushed to the crib, reaching out his hands to Ren. At that moment, Ren, who was curled up like a ball, raised its head. In the darkness, its sleek black eyes gleamed.

 

The jar filled with snow bugs in Ren’s arms glowed with a pale light. The pale light cast a spooky glow on its face. It smirked mischievously.

 

“Ppii— Hihihihi!”

 

“Uaaaaaah—!” Robin screamed and fell backward. He crawled on the floor and reached the opposite wall in no time.

 

Seeing Robin on the verge of tears and snot, Maxion, who had been smiling, returned to his usual stoic expression and said, “Ren, it’s not nice to scare a coward.”

 

“Ppipppi!” [It’s fun!]

 

“I-I’m not a coward! And you should teach it not to scare people!”

 

“It’s the same thing.”

 

“Ppi.” Hugging the jar tightly with his little paws, Len nodded.

 

The room lights flickered and returned to normal.

 

“Maybe there was a malfunction with the magic in this old mansion,” Maxion muttered nonchalantly.

 

Knock, knock. Someone knocked on the door.

 

“Is everything alright? I heard Robin scream.”

 

Edward’s voice came from outside the door. Robin, who had backed away to the door, stood up, cleared his throat, and opened it.

 

“Your Excellency, good evening. We’re fine. Nothing hap—”

 

“The lights went out for a moment, and Robin thought a ghost appeared and screamed.” Cutting off Robin’s words, Maxion explained the truth.

 

“… Vice-captain, that’s too much! I have my pride, you know! Keep that a secret!”

 

“Did something like that happen? We also encountered something similar.”

 

“Really? I knew it! This is definitely a haunted mansion!”

 

At Robin’s words, Ren, holding onto the crib’s railing, spoke up. “Ppippi!’ [This sloppy human is a complete coward for a knight!]

 

“…Mmm,” Edward answered with a chuckle, indicating agreement.

 

“Ppipppippippi. Ppi!” [The reason this happened was because a powerful being with great mana entered the mansion after a long time. It caused a temporary clash of magic. It’s all thanks to this great dragon!]

 

“Ren says it’s because a powerful being with great mana entered the mansion, which caused the temporary magic clash. So, it’s probably my fault. It’s just a temporary glitch, so don’t worry.”

 

“Ah, Is that so?” Robin scratched the back of his head, embarrassed.

 

Ren, dissatisfied, banged the crib’s railing. “Ppiik? …Ppik. Ppi!” [It’s because of me! Well, maybe you had a little bit of an effect. But it’s mainly because of me!]

 

Ren muttered irritably, knowing full well that it couldn’t use much power beyond protecting its territory with a barrier or teleporting due to its young age. The amount of mana it could store was less than Edward’s, so the one who influenced it was mostly Edward.

 

“So, everything’s okay?” Luize peeked out from behind Edward.

 

“Ah. Miss Luize, you were here too? Really…” Embarrassment washed over Robin, and he covered his face with both hands.

 

While everyone laughed at him, Ren climbed onto the crib’s railing and struck a pose. Just as it was about to jump to the floor, its foot slipped from the railing.

 

“Ppik?”

 

“Ren!”

 

Edward shouted, and Maxion, who was right beside the crib, quickly caught Ren.

 

“Mii, ppik!” [Good job, human Maxion!]

 

Maxion said, holding Ren in his arms, “Ren, you’ll get hurt if you keep doing that. Call me if you want to jump from high places.”

 

“Ppi.” Ren nodded at Maxion.

 

As soon as Maxion put him down, Ren ran to Edward. “Ppiik! Ppi!” [Human Edward! You smell like a dragon!]

 

Sniff, sniff. Ren circled Edward, sniffing around. Its nose twitched, and its ears perked up.

 

Edward naturally picked Ren up with both hands. “Smell like a dragon? Now that you mention it, we did encounter the projections of Ron and Run in the room. Contrary to popular belief, they seemed very close.”

 

“Ppik! Ppiii.” [Of course! They were great lovers.]

 

“…Lovers?” Edward looked puzzled.

 

“Ppiippiik, ppii ppi.” [Yes, lovers. Ron and Run were deeply in love. It was tragic that Ron’s life ended when they were in the midst of their love.] Ren casually shared the story of the previous dragons.

 

It was a moment when the mysteries that Edward had been hesitant to ask Ren about began to unravel.

 

“What I know is different. Ron’s death was due to his lifespan ending?”

 

“Ppii. Ppi. Ppii, ppii ppi.” [Yes. That’s why they founded the empire and left you, their descendants, and me.]

 

The baby dragon comfortably crossed its short legs in Edward’s arms.

 

[From what I heard in the egg, dragons didn’t always fall in love with each other just because there were only two of them. Sometimes they were like friends or family. Ron and Run were the first to have such a passionate love and have dragon offspring.]

 

“You talk about your parents like they’re someone else.”