As My Husband Said, I Brought in a Lover

* * *

Edward, as always, sat in a chair leaning back with a bored expression, gazing at the arena. His red eyes were dark with deep fatigue. Next to him, Maxion handed Edward a cup of strong black tea.

“Are you alright?”

“Yes,” Edward replied while scanning through documents about today’s match.

During his time away from Luize, he had been focused on preparing for the swordsmanship tournament. He had been training and managing his condition perfectly, but he couldn’t sleep at all the night before.

Carlo. He was the famous leader of the mercenary group ‘Dawn Wolves,’ near the capital and had a fencing style completely opposite to Luize’s. Everything about him, from his red hair and tanned skin to his scandalous personal life and disagreeable personality, was the opposite of Luize’s.

On the other hand, there was hardly anything about his opponent, a rising star in this swordsmanship tournament known as ‘Sword Reaper’ for winning by breaking their opponents’ swords. So far, they had easily won against knights using swords of similar sizes, but this time, it seemed more challenging. After all, Carlo’s sword was five times thicker and bigger than a regular one.

“Benny? A common name.”

“Ah, yes, it seems like an alias.”

No sooner had Maxion answered than a cheer came from the direction of the arena. Both their eyes focused on Benny, who was slowly walking out.

“If not for the brown hair, one could mistake him for Miss Luize.”

“I thought so too. It’s like seeing Luize wearing Lord Edward’s mask during your first swordsmanship training.”

“Speaking of Miss Luize. Do I really have to wait a month to apologize?”

“Yes. It usually takes her a long time to cool off.”

“Alright… Time passes so slowly.”

Maxion had told Edward two ways to reconcile with Luize: First, give her a month to think, and second, apologize sincerely and make his intentions clear.

“I thought solving it quickly would save me some trouble. Well, you know Miss Luize better than I do.”

“I think so for now.”

Another cheer erupted. This time, Carlo slowly walked out from the opposite side. Edward’s mouth curled up slightly as he saw him, and he crumpled the papers in his hand.

“Maxion.”

“Yes?”

“I’m rooting for that Benny guy today.”

“…Yes?”

“Do you know how notorious Carlo is? He deserves to be taken down. I’d rather have the Sword Reaper become a real reaper today. Or, if Carlo makes it to the finals, I wouldn’t mind trampling him myself.” A dark aura began to seep around Edward.

“That… Lord Edward, did you have a bad encounter with him?”

“No.”

“Then why…”

“

. The match is starting.”

Edward leaned back in his chair and snapped his fingers, producing black flames that appeared and vanished in the air. Every time he snapped his fingers, black flames appeared and disappeared in the air. Since only two people were in the box, Edward used magic without hesitation. He then stared intently at Carlo, deep in thought.

“…”

“You look like you’re contemplating whether to apply a debuff or not.”

“Should I?”

“Yes?”

“Just kidding.”

“

, as expected.”

“It’s cleaner and less noticeable to just cut off his air supply instead of applying a debuff.”

“…”

“What do you think?”

Maxion slowly swallowed, wondering why Edward hated Carlo so much. He remembered researching Benny and found no particular interest from Edward. The one who is more suspicious and has greater skills seems to be Benny, who wears a mask. So, it was puzzling why Edward was so fixated on Carlo.

Maxion turned his attention to the arena. The match had intensified. As expected, Benny was evenly matched with Carlo but hadn’t broken his sword yet. However, the fact that Benny is a person of considerable skill is clearly highlighted.

“I didn’t know there was another such skilled person in the empire. If that person had silver hair, I would have thought it was Luize.”

“I agree. There are many formidable people in the world.” Engrossed in the match, Edward responded.

Benny changed his stance, seeming to realize he couldn’t win the same way as before.

“

?” Maxion blinked in surprise at Benny’s posture.

“What’s wrong?”

“

, nothing.”

“I guess you don’t like Carlo either.”

“Yes.”

Maxion returned his focus to Benny’s movements. The distance between Benny and Carlo closed.

As the duel shifted to close combat, their swords moved so fast they were barely visible. Just as a power struggle seemed imminent. Benny, who appeared at a disadvantage, lightly spun and leaped up. He then stood on Carlo’s thick, long sword and placed his thin blade against Carlo’s throat.

A short conversation took place between the two. Then Carlo conceded defeat, laying down his sword. It was Benny’s victory.

“It’s a shame. I won’t get to meet him in the finals.” Edward murmured softly.

Maxion responded meaningfully. “It seems you’ll meet someone else instead.”

“Benny?”

“Yes.”

Maxion looked at Benny in the arena, who was staring directly at their box.

* * *

Luize, too, is expected to be followed today. They would surely come looking for her if they had seen the match. She turned around in a deserted alley to face her pursuer.

“Benny.”

“…”

“Luize di Servenia.”

She stopped and slowly removed her mask.

“Maxion.”

Servenia was her maiden name. During the tournament, she avoided using her recent swordsmanship techniques to conceal her identity, ending matches as quickly as possible. The technique she used today was something she never used when training with Edward, but it was something she often used during sparring with Maxion during her time in Perils.

She looked at Maxion awkwardly. “I knew you’d figure it out.”

“You participated in the tournament?”

“Yes. Didn’t Edward tell you?”

“I didn’t know he was aware. I knew things weren’t great between you two.”

“We had a disagreement related to that.” She nodded awkwardly.

Maxion gave a puzzled look. It wasn’t like Edward to argue with Luize over such a matter. He would have been surprised or troubled at first but wouldn’t have stayed upset after hearing her reasons, especially since the sword belonged to her mother. Moreover, she spoke as if he was the one who had wronged her, not a disagreement.

“The winning prize is the Master’s sword.”

“Right. I participated because of that. It was the sword my mother had given to the imperial family in exchange for leaving the imperial palace. You know how much she cherished that sword.”

Maxion nodded. He too was familiar with that sword.

“Did Lord Edward want to get it back because it was an imperial treasure? Is that why you two argued?’

“No. Edward dismissed my swordsmanship skills.”

“…What?”

“He asserted that I would definitely get hurt by Carlo and questioned why I participated in the tournament when he was there.”

“Lord Edward?” Maxion asked incredulously.

“Yes.”

Luize explained everything. The more she spoke, the more question marks appeared above Maxion’s head.

“What was the first thing you said?”

“What was it again?

, right, I said we had a physical conversation similar to Edward’s. I also added that it was more like an exercise. I hoped he would misunderstand it as just exercising together, but…”

She sighed softly and continued. “Anyway, it wasn’t a lie since it also meant we were sparring. I added ‘similar to Edward’s way’ to avoid any other misunderstanding, but I think that made him realize I was participating in the tournament. I guess I’m not good at lying.”

“…”

“I already expected Edward to be against it but never thought he would see me that way.”

Maxion recalled.  Edward’s hostile attitude towards Carlo didn’t seem like he was worried about Luize’s skills. And ‘physical conversation’ often refers to something else. Even if Luize added more, saying ‘similar to Edward’s way’ would naturally bring to mind a lover.

“Luize.”

“

?”

“I think there’s a misunderstanding. Lord Edward doesn’t seem to know you’re participating in the tournament.”

“…That can’t be. He definitely confirmed the schedule with me.”

That schedule wasn’t Luize’s but likely the official lover she was presumed to be meeting. That explained why Edward hated Carlo so much.

“About that ‘physical conversation’…” Maxion hesitated, then cautiously continued. “It usually means spending the night together, like on a wedding night.”

“Right.”

“If you say ‘similar to Lord Edward’s way,’ it might be interpreted as referring to your supposed lover. He might have thought you meant the other side is your official lover.”

Luize’s eyes widened in shock, and she opened her mouth silently. Her purple eyes trembled mercilessly.

“If I were in the same situation, I’d want to stop you too. Carlo is known for his complicated relationships and cruel nature.”

“

… it was a misunderstanding.”

“Perhaps.”

“Edward must be really upset, right?”

“He was sorry for meddling in your personal life.”

“I need to apologize right away.”

As Luize hurriedly moved, she stopped before passing Maxion. She raised her head and faced Maxion, who was following her movements with his eyes.

“If you’re right, Edward doesn’t know I’m in the tournament. Will he be disappointed when he finds out?”