“What? Husband? Are you married?”

None of the professors gathered here seemed to know I was married.

They said things among themselves like, “Did you know?” and “Why didn’t we get a wedding invitation?”

Cedar asked with a stern look and a blunt tone.

“The whole world knows. You all seem to be out of touch with the news.”

“We-we’re not really interested in imperial affairs…”

If I had been alone, I would have made a fuss about why they weren’t invited to the wedding, but in front of Cedar, I shrank.

‘Professor, you’re so good at shrinking like that. Why was I so afraid of you all this time?’

I chuckled inwardly.

While we were in this strange standoff, the dean of the academy I had been waiting for came running out.

“Grand Magician Periway!”

And as if to show that it’s not just about academic achievements, the dean greeted Cedar with perfect etiquette.

“Welcome to the academy. Seeing you come with Grand Magician Periway, you must be Sir Cedar Granite. I am the dean of the academy.”

“Pleased to meet you.”

While he had been so blunt with the professors who surrounded us like they were watching monkeys at a zoo, Cedar also greeted the dean who properly introduced himself with courtesy.

The professors, who belatedly realized Cedar’s identity, clung to him, drooling.

“Ce-Cedar Granite? The descendant of dragons?”

“Um, can we just see your heart? No, no, just a little detection of your magical power…”

“No.”

At Cedar’s flat refusal, the professors whined like puppies needing to pee and circled around Cedar.

Sensing Cedar’s mood worsening, the dean guided us with a kind smile.

“This way, please.”

As we followed the dean into the building, the professors tried to follow us in a crowd.

The dean drove them away with threats of withholding research funds and materials.

But faced with Cedar, the dean was just the same as any other magician. He exclaimed in admiration as he looked Cedar over as if mesmerized.

“I’d heard rumors, but they don’t do you justice. I’ve never seen such pure magical power. You seem less like a descendant of dragons and more like a dragon itself…”

Though he didn’t say he wanted to keep Cedar for research like the professors, the desire burning in his eyes was the same.

Cedar frowned and whispered to me.

“Are all magicians like this?”

“Well, you do have quite a unique heart.”

“Still, I don’t appreciate everyone coveting my heart.”

I’m sorry, but I’m one of those magicians too.

“Don’t keep getting so close. It makes me want to kiss you.”

“…You woman.”

Cedar sighed but quickly straightened his posture.

It was as if he feared I might kiss him if he delayed even a little.

I felt hurt, but knowing my past sins, I meekly bowed my head.

‘It’s true that I’ve been blatantly aiming for his lips all this time.’

This must be karma. But I’m not sure if I could resist saying “let me see those lips” if I faced Cedar again.

The place the dean guided us to was deep underground in the academy building.

Usually, when you enter an old building’s basement storage, you expect to find treasure, but the academy’s basement was filled with all sorts of junk.

Still, they must have applied some magical treatment, as there was fortunately no musty smell.

‘Cedar wants to clean.’

Throughout our walk in the basement, the eyebrows of Cedar, who likes things tidy, twitched greatly.

Just as I was about to flash a mischievous smile to tease Cedar, the dean stopped.

“Nelly Periway, your ancestor must have seen this future and returned. It’s clear from the legacy left to you.”

Where he stopped was the only place in this basement where light entered.

A thin beam of light coming through a small hole in the ceiling illuminated the surface of a round object. The dean introduced the object to me with an excited face.

“This is the legacy left by your distant ancestor, a grand magician, spanning many years.”

It was completely different from the gold and silver treasures I had vaguely expected.

First of all, its surface didn’t sparkle like that. The slightly rough surface had patterns that looked like a world map embedded in it.

After rubbing my eyes with the back of my hand a few times, I cautiously voiced the identity of the object.

“…An egg?”

That round object was the egg of some creature.

‘I thought it would be some jewel or bond.’

Though it had the same shape as a chicken egg, its size was much larger. It looked like it would need to be carried with both arms.

‘What kind of egg could this be?’

What creature is of similar size to that? As I tilted my head in wonder, the dean placed his hand on a drawer near the egg to unlock it.

And from that drawer, he took out a small envelope the size of his palm and held it out to me.

“Here is a letter left for you as well.”

A letter that transcended 100 years of time.

I thought a letter from a distant ancestor might be written on parchment or tree bark, but what I received was ordinary paper.

On the surface of the envelope, my name was written in very elegant handwriting.

‘It knows my name!’

There’s only one way a magician could know the name of a distant future descendant. My eyes sparkled.

‘They must have researched space-time magic like me! And not just turning time once, but going back and forth several times to be able to glimpse the future.’

Even if we’re lumped together as grand magicians, what an incredibly high level this is.

I lost all my magical power just by turning back time once.

‘Then there must be a reason for the three-year grace period for receiving the inheritance.’

I took a deep breath to suppress my excitement. Then I slowly opened the envelope.

‘A dragon’s egg!’

Were dragons born from eggs? Now it’s really just passed down orally that such creatures existed, but nothing is known about their ecology.

‘But to leave behind a dragon’s egg!’

This is an incredible treasure. A subject for research. I quickly read the next part of the letter.

The contents of the letter were extremely brief.

“…That’s it?”

I rounded my lips in astonishment. At that moment, the letter I was holding caught fire.

“Eek!”

“Oh, no! The grand magician’s legacy!”

The dean hurriedly tried to put out the fire, but in an instant, the letter turned to ash and disappeared.

It was clearly intentional magic set to burn and vanish on its own after I finished reading.

“Are you alright?”

“I-I’m fine, but…”

That legacy is not fine! How can they just drop the fact that it’s a dragon’s egg and leave it at that?

‘Shouldn’t they at least write how to take care of it?’

But the one remaining letter had turned to ash and disappeared, and caring for the egg was left entirely up to me.

As Cedar carefully dusted off the ash on my hands, the dean asked with shining eyes.

“So what kind of egg is that? It’s from a great magical beast, right? Right?”

“Well…”

“I don’t know.”

I was about to answer reflexively but quickly recalled the last line of the letter and changed my response. The dean’s face contorted.

“You don’t know? Really?”

“Yes. It wasn’t written in the letter. They said to try and guess what creature it’s from.”

“I’ve heard they were a person full of mischief, but…”

The dean didn’t seem to believe me, but with the letter already burned, he couldn’t simply dismiss it as a lie.

I quickly went over and hugged the egg.

I felt a heavy weight as if I was hugging a boulder. It didn’t feel like a living creature.

‘Is it just a fossil?’

I’d believe it if someone said it was a stone. Cedar, a descendant of dragons, was just as clueless about what it was.

Cedar frowned and tapped the surface of the egg with his index finger.

“It’s a unique inheritance.”

“I guess my ancestor was a unique person too.”

That was the only way to think about it. After touching various parts of the egg, Cedar shrugged.

“Your sister would cry if she knew the identity of this inheritance. She thought you’d inherit a gold mine or something.”

“That’s true.”

Because of Diana, I also thought the inheritance would naturally be something valuable.

Come to think of it, if it were such an item, there would be no need to entrust it to the academy.

‘He left a will to pass this egg on not right after I became a grand magician, but three years later. That means there must be a reason why it had to be three years later.’

And the difference between me three years ago and now is…

‘Is Cedar needed to take care of this egg?’

I glanced at Cedar. Cedar tilted his head as if asking if I had something to say. I shook my head.

‘Cedar probably doesn’t know either.’

We’ll naturally come to understand as we live as a married couple.

The reason why a distant ancestor left this egg to me, and how to hatch this egg.

‘It said to take good care of it. But how is this egg supposed to solve all my worries?’

Not a single mystery has been solved yet.

Cedar and I left the academy carrying the egg. The professors tried to detain us.

“Won’t you consider staying at the academy a bit longer?”

“We’ll just go.”

Because I only had bitter feelings towards the academy, I cut off the professors’ words and left.