As My Husband Said, I Brought in a Lover Chapter 75

* * *

She clearly came in riding a horse, but only Luize entered. The moment she closed and reopened her eyes, she found herself sitting on the ground in the same riding posture. Standing up, she widened her eyes upon discovering her reflection in the mirror. The reflections, looking exactly like her yet dressed differently, stared back at her with the same expression.

 

“You’ve noticed.”

 

“Clueless Luize, foolish Luize.”

 

Her own voice echoed from various directions.

 

As the maze deepened, the reflections became more detailed. Initially, only the attire and appearance were slightly different, but soon, places she remembered and people she had been with started to appear. The reflection mimicked Luize’s movements and sometimes showed scenes that were exactly from her memory.

 

“Wait, this is…!”

 

Luize’s face flushed red. She was embarrassed by the sight of herself sleeping in Edward’s arms reflected in the mirror. Seeing it from a third person’s perspective made it even more embarrassing. She stepped back with a flushed face until her back touched the opposite mirror.

 

“…Reiad, are you here?”

 

She turned her head towards the voice from the mirror behind. There stood she, smiling brightly in front of Reiad.

 

A shadow fell over Luize’s face. She slowly raised her palm and stroked her reflection in the mirror. “Is this how people watching me felt?”

 

It felt as if a piece of her heart was torn out, leaving emptiness.

 

“I guess I have to find the real me among these countless mirrors.”

 

It was uncertain if she could find the real one within a week, given the vast space. Edward’s delay might have been due to inspecting every mirror.

 

“Should I have waited for Edward there?”

 

Luize shook her head. “No, if I had, Maxion would have tried to drag me out of here. I would have left without my memories.”

 

After examining the mirrors for a while, Luize sat down tiredly. Having been inside, she lost track of time. She was hungry, but not severely.

 

“Let’s take a brief rest before getting up.”

 

Luize rolled a magic stone around in her hand while looking at the opposite mirror. The reflection showed a memory from her childhood. The scent of living grass next to a plain forest starkly contrasted by a dying forest. Between them, a small cabin and a silver-haired child sitting in front, alternating her gaze between the two forests.

 

Luize de Servenia was born in Perils.

 

* * *

In the forest, left to die without its master, a rotten smell lingered. When looking at the black forest starting just a short distance from the vibrant forest full of sunlight, grass, and animals, Luize often felt sad without knowing why.

 

“Luize, try not to enter the forest.”

 

Lensia had been telling her this since she was young. The fact that it was always a ‘try’ suggested Lensia vaguely guessed that Luize was somehow drawn to it like fate.

 

One day, a giant deer with intertwined antlers looked at Luize at the entrance of the forest.

 

“Hello.” As Luize greeted, the deer nodded its head as if understanding human language.

 

Another day, a black rabbit with an injured leg approached her. Luize treated the rabbit’s wounds with medicinal herbs learned from Allen.

 

The animals of the forest were friendly towards her, though larger ones suffered from severe madness and sometimes attacked her without recognition.

 

Any animal from Perils seemed to attack people coming from outside the forest on sight. This led Luize to frequently see dead bodies or injured people from a young age. It was natural for her to become desensitized to such sights.

 

“Mother, today I played with a huge bear. I even named it Blackie. But it seems to lose its mind often. It regains consciousness if it gets hurt, though.”

 

“What? A bear? I’ve seen them. They hurry away just by seeing me.”

 

“They seem to be scared of you and father.”

 

“…Well, that makes sense. They must think I killed their leader.” Lensia smiled and stroked Luize’s head.

 

Gradually, Luize began to roam freely in the forest of Perils. The animals seemed to understand human speech to some extent and easily figured out what she wanted. Smaller animals were especially gentle with her.

 

“Squirrel, see you tomorrow.” Luize greeted a black squirrel before standing up.

 

In the early morning, she wandered the dark forest like night, and when it was bright, she climbed a nearby high hill. From the hill, she could see the lively village glowing in brilliant light. Looking at it, Luize learned the feelings of loneliness and solitude, yet she couldn’t take her eyes off them.

 

As the season of ripe raspberries on the hillside approached, she felt disturbances near the forest. It seemed like a rare visit to the forest after a long time.

 

“Oh, it’s Blackie’s usual time.”

 

The strangers were mostly rugged men with fierce faces. They seemed strong enough to avoid it on their own.

 

Luize quickly lost interest and continued picking raspberries. It was when her basket was finally full.

 

“Uaaargh!”

 

A sharp scream was followed by several people running out of the forest in panic. It seemed they encountered the giant bear Blackie. It was a bear that only meant to scare them enough to see some blood.

 

Luize headed straight for the forest. It was a day when the stench of decay in the forest was particularly strong. Although the mad bear was quickly driven away, she sprained her ankle in the process.

 

Luize was more concerned about the bear’s sad howling as it moved away than her injured ankle. Blackie seemed more hurt by the emotional pain than the physical wounds inflicted by her sword.

 

“You’re alive. Thank god. Are you hurt anywhere?”

 

There, Luize met a boy with dark skin and ash-grey hair, Maxion. He offered himself as her mount, perhaps because he had witnessed his companions being brutally killed.

 

He seemed a bit disturbed for a while, but fortunately, he returned to normal over time. Maxion became a good friend and family to her. Luize’s world expanded a bit because of him.

 

“Have you seen anything interesting lately?”

 

“Nothing much special.”

 

“Even this village shines so brightly, I wonder how beautiful other places are.”  Luize often said such things before abruptly closing her lips as if she had misspoken.

 

Leaving the forest was unthinkable. Her parents said it was for her to stay here. So, Luize was supposed to live happily with her parents here.

 

“…If only the forest of Perils shone like that, the children wouldn’t have been heartbroken.”

 

Like the animals living peacefully across the small forest. For a moment, Luize imagined a peaceful, light-filled Perils.

 

* * *

Noticing Luize’s growing restlessness with age, Lensia promised to take her and Maxion to a festival in a nearby village to celebrate her turning ten.

 

The Winter Festival in Kavan was one of the larger regional festivals. It was held in the first month of the new year and lasted for quite some time.

 

Luize, layered in thick clothes, looked around busily. Fortune tellers were laying out cards in front of mysterious orbs, merchants selling unfamiliar foods, arms dealers offering flashy but low-quality weapons, and even small theatrical troupes. The place was filled with sights she had never seen before.

 

“If you get lost, ask people to guide you to the central square. Be alert so that doesn’t happen.”

 

“Yes!” Luize nodded vigorously and followed Lensia and Maxion, closely trailing behind them.

 

As they wandered around, dusk began to fall, and they sat on street chairs to listen to a storyteller.

 

“Long ago, there lived two dragons. One was the White Dragon of the North, Ron, and the other? Well, you know! The Dread Dragon Run, vanquished by Dragon Slayer Lensia. You might have guessed by now. Yes, this story is about those two dragons…”

 

While Lensia and Maxion are engrossed in the story, Luize’s attention is drawn by a presence somewhere else. Men in black cloaks entered a dark alley next to the storyteller’s stage. They were all large, resembling the northerners from the strength show.

 

Luize’s gaze was fixed on a boy they were dragging along, trying to hide. The boy had skin as white as snow and eyes as red as jewels. He too was dressed in a cloak, but strands of his hair, peeking out from under his hat, were as dark as the night sky. Even a brief glance revealed his handsome features. It was odd that their gazes met amidst such a large crowd.

 

“…Pretty.”

 

The warmth in the boy’s red gaze seemed either burning hot or icy cold, like looking at the most beautiful rose with the brightest red, dangerously beautiful with sharp thorns. At that moment, Luize felt as if she could smell roses, even though it was the middle of winter when roses should not bloom.

 

After the boy disappeared and some time had passed, Luize stood up with a determined face.