As My Husband Said, I Brought in a Lover Chapter 222

Ellena quickly looked around. However, no one came to attend to her, so she couldn’t determine the exact time. She headed straight for the mirror. The reflection she saw was of herself at the same age as when she had met Terion.

 

Her wish had been to return to the time before Terion died. So, Ellena immediately went to the window to check the garden. There, nearby, she saw Terion’s back.

 

The magic had succeeded!

 

Still in her nightgown, Ellena hurried through the hallway to the garden. She had thought she had lost all emotions, but this was the first time her heart had felt so full. Tears of joy welled up in her eyes.

 

“Terion, Terion! I’ve missed you. Terion!”

 

Terion slowly turned around.

 

“…Ellena? No. Don’t come!”

 

Thunk. Someone’s sword pierced straight through Terion’s heart. As the sword was withdrawn from his chest, his body staggered greatly. Ellena’s face quickly hardened.

 

“Terion?”

 

“…Ellena.”

 

With trembling hands, Ellena supported him and laid him down. She collapsed on the spot, her body covered in blood.

 

“Is anyone there? Call a healer. Hurry, bring a healer!” She shouted loudly, but no one heeded her cries.

 

Ellena tried to stop the bleeding with her hands, but the blood kept pouring out, and the light in Terion’s eyes quickly faded.

 

“No, no… Terion, no! Terion… No… I love you. Do you hear me? Terion. I love you. Get up. We were supposed to leave together. It’s my fault. I’ve committed such a great sin. I’ll atone, so please. Terion is innocent. He’s innocent!”

 

“Innocent?”

 

Ellena raised her head to find the source of the voice that had coldly echoed around her. The person holding the bloodied sword was her father, Baron Dayelon.

 

“A commoner who impregnated the only daughter of a noble family raised with care—he’s a sinner destined for hell.”

 

“Ah…” Ellena’s lips trembled.

 

“Tsk. You should have stayed quietly asleep. Mixing with a commoner has given you the bad habit of running around in your nightgown.” The baron dusted off his hands and sheathed his sword.

 

“No! This can’t be real. This is a dream! No, this must be hell! Yes, this is hell… Ahaha… I’ve fallen into hell! I’ve fallen into hell!”

 

Ellena lost her mind. She laughed hysterically and began to self-harm. Scratching her arms with her nails, she then opened her eyes wide and lunged to grab the sword from the baron’s waist. But she was easily thrown to the ground by the baron.

 

“…She’s lost her mind.”

 

She tried to bash her head against a stone or wrap rose thorns around her neck to die. However, she was soon stopped by the knights, who confined her in a room where a healer force-fed her sedatives, putting her to sleep.

 

The baron treated the wounds on her body with holy water and then summoned a wizard. “Erase all her memories of the past day. It seems the shock of seeing that death was too much for her.”

 

“Yes.”

 

“Tsk. As long as she doesn’t see it firsthand, it should serve as a lesson.”

 

It had not yet been a full day since Ellena had regressed. Her memories from before the regression were the same as the memories that began after the regression.

 

When the wizard cast the spell, all memories of the day—the exact memories of what she saw after the regression—were completely erased from her mind. Although it was just a day’s worth of memories in the past, because of this, she also lost all her memories before her regression.

 

The next day, Ellena woke up with a smile and got out of bed. “Did I sleep all day yesterday? Does that mean a day has already passed?”

 

She placed a hand on her lower abdomen. They say pregnancy makes you sleepy, and it seems to be true. With the estate in such disarray, she hadn’t gone to see Terion, and she thought he must be very worried.

 

Ellena immediately went outside and headed for the rose garden.

 

* * *

Ellena’s body, which had been pierced by the sword, turned to dust and disappeared. The onlookers were confused, but Edward explained that the fate of a corrupt dark wizard was that even their corpse would not remain, thus calming the situation.

 

Luize stared anxiously at the spot where Ellena’s body had disappeared. “…Is this really the right thing? She might have cast a spell to swap her body with something else.”

 

“It’s best to do what we can within our means. The power was already part of her, and killing her before she did anything reckless was the right choice. There were no signs of any other actions just before, so she likely cast the spell she had prepared.”

 

“Then do you think she went to the past?”

 

“Probably. But…” Edward looked calmly at Luize. “Miss Luize, do you remember when I said that dark magic is a fair power?”

 

“Yes, I remember.”

 

“That’s not just because it takes a physical toll when casting the spell.”

 

“Then what is it?”

 

Edward’s gaze shifted to the discarded clothes of Ellena and Eligos, which were now covered by stones and various debris thrown by the crowd. “In truth, there’s also a price that the caster must pay. Although it may seem that nothing is taken from the caster outwardly, something will inevitably be taken. So, magic that openly demands a price from the caster is actually easier to handle.”

 

“Ah…”

 

“If the magic required the sacrifice of ten thousand lives, then she likely had to pay an equivalent price. That’s why dark magic is fair and difficult.”

 

“I see…”

 

Luize’s gaze followed Edward’s to the place he was looking. By then, the clothes of Ellena and Eligos were buried under the many stones and debris.

 

* * *

Edward was extremely busy. Before the coronation, he had already completed most of the personnel arrangements, with Maxion assisting him and Luize naturally learning the emperor’s duties while guarding him.

 

A week before the coronation, Edward stayed in the audience room to finish the remaining work.

 

“Miss Luize, Ren has been insisting that it wants to see you after a long time. Since there’s nothing else for today, why don’t you go and see Ren first?”

 

“I’m Edward’s guard.”

 

“I plan to have Maxion take over your guard duties. You could think of it as a temporary change of roles.”

 

“All right. Maxion is capable enough to handle it.” Relieved, Luize comfortably handed over the guard duty to Maxion.

 

“Glory to the continent and the sun of the empire. Greetings to Your Majesty the Emperor.”

 

A handsome man with blond hair bowed to Edward.

 

“Count Cloette. You must have some idea why I summoned you.”

 

“…Yes.”

 

Most of those associated with the emperor had been stripped of their titles or demoted. Many had also been imprisoned. Yet, so far, only Reiad, a staunch imperialist, had been hiding quietly in his mansion without any repercussions.

 

“You have three choices. The first is to live as a commoner after losing both your title and estate. The second is to end your life honorably and die as Count Cloette. Your lineage will end with you, but the Cloette family will remain known as one that upheld honor, even if they made a wrong choice.”

 

“…I am grateful.” Reiad bowed his head deeply. His body trembled slightly.

 

“The last option is the same as the princess’s proposal. You can go to Pendel with her. If you do, I’ll allow you to retain the title of baron.”

 

“…”

 

“It seems you’ve already made your decision.”

 

Reiad slowly raised his head. The one he had looked down upon was now looking at him with indifferent eyes.

 

“Yes. I….” Reiad replied immediately.

 

* * *

Finally, the day of the coronation arrived. With emissaries from neighboring kingdoms in attendance, Reiad watched Edward don the emperor’s crown while standing next to Diana. His gaze turned to Luize, who was guarding Edward by his side. At that moment, their eyes met briefly. They exchanged no words, but Reiad was reminded that their relationship was now completely over.

 

After the coronation, he began to pack his belongings to carry out his choice. Though he would leave the next day, there wasn’t much to take.

 

Chirp, tweet-tweet-tweet. Chirp!

 

“Birdkeeper. Proceed.”

 

At Reiad’s instruction, the hired birdkeeper opened the golden birdcage adorned with blue jewels and took out a male canary.

 

“I mention this out of caution, but once clipped, it can never be undone. It will become a fully domesticated bird that can no longer fly far.”

 

“I know. Clip it.”

 

The birdkeeper used a magical tool to render the canary unconscious before clipping the bird’s wing tendons. He immediately treated the wound so it would heal, but the bird would never leave its cage again.

 

“But that pretty bird can’t come with us. If the cage door accidentally opens, won’t it escape?”

 

Reiad quietly spoke as he looked at the unconscious bird.