As My Husband Said, I Brought in a Lover Chapter 74

“If Miss Luize gets hurt because of me during this expedition, I will inflict the same injuries upon myself.”

 

Everyone was shocked by his statement. Robin, who had been eavesdropping on their conversation, grabbed the back of his neck.

 

“That’s ridiculous!”

 

“If Miss Luize is going to blackmail me about her own safety, then I have no choice but to respond in the same way. So, it would be wise for you to be cautious. I didn’t want to bring Miss Luize on this expedition to drag you into danger.”

 

“…”

 

“Regardless of the danger, the premise is that I will be able to protect you.”

 

“I can take care of myself too.”

 

“Maxion was like that too. But some magic can’t be countered with physical strength or skill.”

 

Luize stood speechless, and Maxion, who had been observing their exchange, sighed deeply before speaking.

 

“Luize. Not everyone is just standing around because they can’t jump in instead of Edward.” Maxion glanced at the members, who were looking at them with concern. “It’s about trust and patience.”

 

“…”

 

“So, trust us too.”

 

Luize slowly nodded. “…Okay.” She reluctantly responded and then looked back at Edward. “I’ll do it.”

 

As their eyes met, he relaxed his stern expression and smiled softly. “Thank you.”

 

Edward entered the building while everyone looked at him with worried faces.

 

A week passed like that.

 

“Ben! Ben has come out!”

 

All members, except Edward, were ejected from the building as if thrown out.

 

Luize rushed to the members who had come out to check on them. Fortunately, everyone was unharmed.

 

“What about Edward?”

 

“His Excellency…”

 

The members bowed their heads in despair.

 

“We didn’t see him.”

 

“…That’s impossible. Everyone else came out. Why didn’t Edward?”

 

“Sorry.” The members responded with gloomy expressions, seemingly blaming themselves for failing their mission and putting Edward at risk.

 

“Let’s wait until the tenth day, as he said.”

 

But even as the awaited tenth day came, Edward did not emerge from the building.

 

On the morning of the eleventh day, Maxion visited Luize’s tent.

 

“Luize, leave.” He said with a heavy face.

 

* * *

Contrary to what Maxion expected, Luize quickly packed her belongings without any argument. Her luggage wasn’t much. Considering a slight detour through the village, the cabin in Perils was close enough that she didn’t need to bring much.

 

“When things are resolved, I’ll come to you.”

 

“I don’t believe you’ll come anymore,” Luize said with an expressionless face.

“…You’re angry.”

 

“You not only made me wait in Perils for a long time, but now you’re trying to send me away like this. In the capital and here.”

 

“I want you to be safe, that’s why.”

 

“So it’s okay for you or Edward to get hurt?”

 

“…”

 

“Why do you both pretend to care about me while only thinking about yourselves? Isn’t my concern also in your hearts? Would I be happy left alone after losing everything? Am I supposed to wait alone again?”

 

“Luize.”

 

“Maxion, that’s not caring for me. Why does everyone try to make decisions for me without explaining the situation or giving me a choice?”

 

“…Sorry.”

 

“You don’t need to apologize. I’m sick of waiting without promise.”

 

Luize mounted her horse. As Maxion was about to follow, Luize, already on horseback, charged towards the building at full speed. He followed immediately but could not catch up to the swiftly running Luize.

 

“Luize!” His shout echoed through the forest.

 

Luize didn’t look back, heading straight for the building. A door large enough for her to enter appeared in front of the building.

 

“So, I have to go find him. As long as I don’t get hurt, it should be fine.”

 

As she entered the building, the door closed behind her.

 

* * *

Leaning against the wall, Edward slowly ran his fingers through his hair. As his thick eyelashes lifted, his crimson-red eyes observed the mirror in front of him.

 

In the mirror, he saw himself at twenty years old, right after his father, the previous emperor, had died, sitting somewhere in the Lindeman castle in a disheveled state. When he wiped his mouth with the back of his hand, a trace of blood smeared on it.

 

“It seems something within me is sealed. Maybe memories.”

 

He felt as if he had dreamt something during his unconsciousness but couldn’t recall anything.

 

He remembered the moment he first entered this place ten days ago. The interior was a maze of mirrors. Edward had located the positions of his knights and immediately supplied them with mana while searching for the answer.

 

It was difficult to tell where the paths and mirrors were, and by the time he realized his reflection was somehow unsettling, he was already deep within the maze. The longer he stayed, the more varied his reflections in the mirrors became.

 

Many mirrors showed him in the same posture but in different scenes. Some were from his time in the imperial palace, others from when he stayed in the territory of Servenia. The reflections seemed more like scenes from his past or sometimes painted images of the future he had hoped for.

 

“So, this is the ‘falsehood’ Aiven mentioned.”

 

Am I supposed to find the real one among all these mirrors?  Just as he thought that, he heard faint footsteps from somewhere.

 

As Edward moved towards the sound, the footsteps grew distant. After a game of cat and mouse, he finally came face-to-face with the source of the sound. A child, both strange and familiar, stood before him, looking at Edward.

 

The child, with wary eyes, asked him. “Who are you?”

 

“…This doesn’t seem real.”

 

Edward observed the young version of himself. Certainly, it resembled him from the past. Could this be considered the real thing? After all, it, too, was an illusion created by this place. As he approached, the young Edward hastily backed away and quickly disappeared.

 

“Ahaha. Are you lost?” The reflection spoke to Edward.

 

“I’m more incompetent than I thought.”

 

Days passed. After a search, Edward finally found the real thing in perfect condition. To break the magic, Edward took the real thing in his hand. Thus, he began to breathe heavily as mana surged within him, causing severe pain.

 

“Ugh.”

 

Cough. Blood spurted as he leaned against the wall, his forehead creased. It seemed like the clash of black magic and another magic within him had caused internal injuries. However, something was off.

 

Wasn’t it just a matter of finding the ‘real’ thing?

 

Edward gasped for air and flicked his fingers. He had to hurry and eject all the knights inside while he was still conscious. Though there were several, he could manage with short-range teleportation magic since he knew their coordinates. His body felt as heavy as waterlogged cotton, and his vision faded to black.

 

How much time had passed? When he opened his eyes again, darkness surrounded him.

 

“…This is going to hurt.”

 

Someone identical to him stood before him. Edward stood up, swaying, and stared at the man who looked just like him.

 

“This seems different from the mirror maze.”

 

“It’s a different kind of magic than the black magic raging outside. It’s magic you cast yourself.”

 

“I did?”

 

“That’s right. You sealed me so that I wouldn’t be taken away by the emperor. Well, some inconvenient memories were sealed too.” The figure opposite him, another version of himself, chuckled lightly.

 

Edward looked at his own hands, pondering. “The magic hasn’t been lifted, and I’ve been injured because my true self isn’t complete. With part of my memory sealed, even my current existence can hardly be considered a real thing in perfect condition.

 

“Exactly. Though the magic of this magnitude might not unravel ‘my’ own spell, the situation has changed. ‘I’ have been injured, and soon, this magic will unravel, albeit with some side effects.”

 

“How long will recovery take?”

 

“To wake up here and be able to walk about three days. To use magic properly again, at least another week. If the magic that ‘I’ cast is lifted, it might be able to lift it sooner than that. When it will be lifted is uncertain.”

 

“There must be conditions for the spell to break.”

 

“Yes. ‘When all preparations to return to the imperial palace are complete.’”

 

“…”

 

“It’s getting more and more challenging, isn’t it?”

 

Edward sighed, and the figure across him snapped his fingers, bringing forth two chairs. “Sit down. It’d be better to get along nicely for the next three days.”

 

Edward looked into the endless darkness and muttered, “An excellent environment for going mad.”

 

“At least you’ll forget everything once you wake up from the dream. ‘I’ might notice the blurry parts of my memory were sealed here.”

 

Responding to the sealed version of himself, Edward gave a half-hearted laugh. “Even knowing the answer doesn’t allow me to break the spell. There’s no better prison for me.”

 

“Ahahaha!” The other him laughed enjoyably.

 

“To add, ‘I’ am currently unconscious from injuries inside the black magic, starting to be digested. This building won’t kill ‘me,’ but there will be some aftermath.”

 

“…It keeps getting worse.” Edward sat in the chair, leaning back and gazing into the void.

 

On the third day of unconsciousness, Edward, leaning against a mirror, woke up and staggered to his feet.

 

“If I’m not in a perfect state, I can’t break the spell. I have to wait for someone else to come in and find the solution.”

 

The problem was that even if he encountered someone else, he couldn’t directly convey the answer due to the imminent clash of magics inside him, causing him injuries.

 

“I guess I have no choice but to wait for someone to come in and find the answer for me.”

 

As he prepared to move, a familiar presence entered the building.

 

“Maxion must have sent another knight in.”

 

As he located the source of the presence, Edward’s expression hardened.

 

“…Why are you here?”

 

He hurriedly moved toward the owner of the presence.