About Becoming My Ex-Husband's Mistress - Chapter 1

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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Chapter 1. What She Desires: A Body and Vast Wealth
Priscilla barely made it through the path between the Dark Swamp’s murky waters, her ragged breathing rising all the way to her throat.
A burning sensation coursed rapidly through every vein in her body.
Her heart pounded as though it might burst, and her belly, consumed by carnal hunger, burned with an intensity that threatened to consume her.
“Haah!”
Eventually, strength abandoned her legs entirely, and Priscilla collapsed where she stood.
Soft moss brushed against her palms.
In that moment, the lantern she’d been holding slipped from her grasp and tumbled into the swamp nearby.
“No!”
Priscilla reached out desperately to retrieve the lantern, but it lay far beyond the reach of human hands.
The lantern’s light wavered and sank into the fathomless depths of the swamp before gradually vanishing altogether.
Darkness descended upon the wetland.
As Priscilla surveyed her surroundings, she bit her lip.
There was no path to be found anywhere.
When the cloud-shrouded moon briefly revealed itself, only the grotesque shadows of gnarled branches became visible against the gloom.
Priscilla clutched tightly the key to the necklace her ex-husband had given her before his deployment.
‘What do I do? How can I escape this?’
Priscilla’s mind raced, searching desperately for a way out of her predicament.
But such thoughts lasted only a moment.
“Hah….”
The intense hunger of her desire made her body burn even hotter.
If someone were to kiss her, she would want to pull them close, to fill the hollow emptiness within her with their intense warmth.
She didn’t care who it was—she simply wanted to be used without restraint.
A servant, a slave.
Anyone capable of being a man would suffice.
Yet in the end, only one man remained in her thoughts.
Hair as black as pitch, eyes the color of blood.
Luderne Sellen.
Five years ago, her ex-husband who had marched to war against the Doerban Empire for the sake of the Arde Kingdom.
Now dead and gone—her only man.
Remembering him, Priscilla felt utterly wretched.
Tears welled up uncontrollably.
She lowered herself onto her knees, curling her body inward as she clenched her teeth.
‘I shouldn’t have trusted the contract with the Count.’
When the Count, claiming to have something to discuss, summoned her and tore something in his hand, an ominous smoke had risen up, enveloped her, and her body had begun to change.
It was truly bizarre.
That was when it happened.
“There you are, madam.”
At the gentle voice from behind, Priscilla lifted her head.
Neatly combed reddish-brown hair came into view.
A young, handsome man with impeccable manners and an air of utmost purity.
My vision kept blurring from the heat, but I could clearly see Count Veloda Genoma approaching along the narrow path between the small marshes, lantern in hand.
‘Get a grip on yourself.’
I forced strength into my eyes. My unusually heavy eyelids trembled slightly.
Seeing me like this, Count Genoma’s lips curved upward gently.
“You’ll need me today of all days—so why do you keep trying to run away?”
I clenched my teeth.
“What exactly have you done to me?”
Count Genoma, who had knelt on one knee before me, shrugged his shoulders.
“Sigh… We’ve been husband and wife for two years already. We can’t keep living like strangers forever, can we? We need to have children… And haven’t I told you that I love you?”
Count Genoma raised the lantern and slowly surveyed the swamp at night, filled with dead trees.
“By anyone’s judgment, this is your fault. Even though your husband desperately sought your affection, you wouldn’t give me a second glance, so I simply used a magical scroll that happened to come into my hands. That scroll was truly rare.”
He looked at the moss-covered ground and lifted his lips with satisfaction.
“The location turned out a bit different from what I expected, but is that really a problem? The moss is quite soft, after all.”
Feeling uneasy, I fumbled across the ground.
A small stone came into my grasp.
“Besides, it’s just the two of us here anyway, so let’s become true husband and wife first, then we can talk, my dear.”
Count Genoma grabbed my shoulders and roughly pushed me down.
My vision spun so dizzily that it was hard to maintain consciousness.
“Stop. This is… a breach of contract.”
I twisted my body, trying to escape.
“The law takes precedence over any contract. We are legally husband and wife.”
Despite my clear refusal, Count Genoma calmly asserted his rights and moved over me.
“Relax. Since this is your first time with me, once your heated body is filled with marital affection, your heart will open as well.”
He wrapped my beautiful golden hair around his hand and spoke as he brought his lips to mine.
“After a day like this, any contract will become meaningless, and you’ll want to give me anything—even the key.”
Count Genoma lowered himself further, attempting to kiss me.
Each time I felt his weight, my entire body tingled with desire, but I clenched my teeth, thinking of my ex-husband Luderne Sellen.
As I deliberately turned my head away, the count’s lips landed on my neck.
“Ah…”
It was merely a touch, yet intensely stimulating. Against my will, ragged breathing escaped reflexively.
Count Genoma chuckled softly.
“That’s quite different from what you said just now. Be honest with your body’s reaction.”
Count Genoma nibbled my earlobe and whispered in a honeyed voice.
“Actually, you’re in a state of welcoming me, aren’t y—ugh!”
The groaning count’s head snapped to the side as he clutched it with one hand and collapsed.
At the same moment, the stone I’d been holding slipped from my grasp and rolled away.
Clinging desperately to my reason, I rolled my body hard to the side. I was determined to escape by any means.
Squelch!
The thick, sucking sensation of the swamp enveloped my entire body.
Priscilla struggled to push herself upright, but the more she thrashed, the more the swamp gulped her down with a sickening squelch.
Realizing her feet couldn’t touch bottom, she flailed desperately toward the surface.
“P-please… save me…!”
It was then that Count Veloda Genoma, who had been cradling his head, staggered to his feet.
He held up the lantern and examined his blood-stained palm with a frown, then turned the light toward Priscilla to assess the situation.
“How troublesome.”
Count Veloda Genoma withdrew a handkerchief from his pocket and leisurely wiped the blood from his head and hands, then extended his hand to the struggling Priscilla.
Since survival came first, Priscilla quickly grasped his hand.
She was now so filthy from the swamp that she reasoned she needn’t fear what had nearly happened before—the Count would hardly push her away now. Besides, if she lunged at him, he might simply shove her back into the mire.
Count Veloda Genoma pulled her with all the strength of one arm. It seemed she would escape if he pulled just a bit harder.
That was when it happened.
“Ah, so the necklace was here all along. The lamp at the base of the lamp is dark, as they say.”
With his free hand, Count Veloda Genoma seized the necklace and yanked with such force that the chain snapped violently.
“I’ve been searching for this all along. You didn’t know, did you? That Luderne Sellen had left behind a hidden inheritance.”
As Priscilla’s eyes widened in bewilderment, Count Veloda Genoma grinned broadly at the key in his hand.
“In fact, I received documents from the Kingdom Bank addressed to you, madam. With this key and you alone, the inheritance can be claimed immediately.”
Count Veloda Genoma brought the key to his lips, then tucked it carefully into his pocket. Next, he unfastened his belt and bound Priscilla’s wrists with it.
Finally, he crumpled the handkerchief he’d used to wipe his blood and shoved it into her mouth.
Priscilla’s eyes flew wide as she swallowed a sharp cry. Count Veloda Genoma had shoved her with brutal force.
So her hands couldn’t touch ground.
Priscilla thrashed to escape the swamp, but the more she struggled, the deeper it consumed her.
The Count watched her submersion with perfect composure, then tilted his head thoughtfully.
“But thinking about it more carefully, things will work out exactly as I wish anyway. Under kingdom law, two years of disappearance is declared death, and all rights transfer to the spouse.”
He was actually delighted by this turn of events.
“Truth be told, I love Melissa. I did want to toy with her delicate, beautiful body at least once.”
Melissa Bilsty.
Priscilla’s half-sister.
Count Veloda Genoma shook his head slowly.
“What I truly desired was the vast fortune that Luderne Sellen left to you.”
He set the lantern down beside him and crouched low. Then, still speaking in that gentle tone, he addressed Priscilla.
“Since I was your husband on paper, I’ll at least ensure you have a proper send-off.”
Count Veloda Genoma watched until Priscilla sank completely into the swamp.
Soon the mire had swallowed even the last strand of her golden hair.
“How foolish. If you’d only obeyed to the end and surrendered the fortune, you might have at least lived to see the sun.”
Count Veloda Genoma turned away with a delighted laugh.
His plan to claim the inheritance immediately had fallen through, but in two years he could open the Kingdom Bank’s vault with this key alone.
He intended to use that fortune to give his beloved Melissa even greater power.
* * *
The Men of Saint Melissa—a notorious reverse harem novel famous for its ending where everyone except the male lead, female lead, and secondary male lead lives a destitute life.
My hands trembled as I read through the contents in shock.
Her real name is Han Jung-yeon, but she works as a makeup artist, hair stylist, and coordinator under the stage name “Pree”—perhaps because it resembles her actual name.
While reading the novel, I found myself emotionally invested not in the charming heroine Melissa, but in Priscilla, who appeared only occasionally throughout the story.
There was something uncannily familiar about it all—I couldn’t put the book down.
Then it all came rushing back to me at once.
My past life.
Not just the moment of my death, but every agonizing moment after losing my husband Luderne Sellen.
Tears streamed down my face as I realized truths the book had never recorded.
Yet I couldn’t stop turning the pages.
Even though I didn’t want to see what came next, I couldn’t stop.
I had to know what became of this murderer after my death, and how my husband Luderne Sellen’s fortune was used.

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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