About Becoming My Ex-Husband's Mistress - Chapter 12

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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 12. Don’t Come Any Closer
Matilda Bilsty and Melissa Bilsty feigned ignorance and treated the Fortune Teller with courtesy, then asked her to read their fortunes while she was there.
The Fortune Teller placed her crystal ball before her and spoke.
She said that Melissa’s marriage prospects had grown difficult because Priscilla had become a widow.
Their eyes widened.
It was as though the heavens themselves were conspiring in their favor.
The two of them had been contemplating remarrying Priscilla and siphoning away her inheritance.
But time had dragged on as they searched for an appropriate nobleman to align with their scheme.
When asked where Priscilla’s match might be found, the Fortune Teller sensed a forsaken destiny in the small city of Roban.
And so they discovered Count Veloda Genoma.
He was presentable in appearance, lonely, in need of funds, and remarkably obedient to Matilda Bilsty and Melissa Bilsty’s every word.
His family was so insignificant that when war erupted between the Doerban Empire and the Arde Kingdom, his house was omitted entirely from the conscription rolls.
He was perfect as Priscilla’s match.
Though his obedience had proven so useful that they’d begun employing him even at night.
Count Veloda Genoma glanced at the magical scroll Melissa Bilsty extended toward him, then nodded once and accepted it.
“How is it to be used?”
“Simply tear it at close range. It affects only the single woman nearest to you, so exercise caution in its application.”
“Understood.”
Count Veloda Genoma carefully tucked the magical scroll into his breast pocket.
“All I need is for Priscilla to be closest to me.”
* * *
The only parties I knew of in this place were gentle ballrooms where waltzes flowed through the air.
So I had assumed a shipboard party would be much the same.
“A toast!”
As the night deepened, mugs of beer and rum collided violently through the air.
It was fortunate they were wooden—had they been glass, they would have shattered instantly.
The tables were piled high like mountains with roasted whole pig, bacon, and fruit.
The melodies of piano keys and violin, the blare of trumpet, mingled chaotically with the thundering footsteps of dancing revelers.
A small dagger was lodged in a dartboard on one side; a sailor performed mime before an audience; a rough arm-wrestling match unfolded in another corner.
I selected an appropriate portion of food from the abundant tables and settled myself in a quiet corner.
The roasted whole pig, accompanied by beer, possessed a rather pleasant flavor.
As I ate, I surveyed my surroundings, wondering if Luderne Sellen might be present.
He had never been a particularly warm person toward me. Yet neither was he the sort to leave money in my account and then pretend not to know me without reason.
There must be some explanation.
If our paths crossed, I would find a way to ask him about it.
But whether due to the sheer number of people or because he had not ventured from his quarters, there was no sign of him anywhere.
It was then.
Just as I finished my plate, a man sat down beside me with an air of familiarity.
“So you were here.”
It was Count Veloda Genoma.
One hand was tucked inside his jacket pocket in a way that suggested he might pull something out at any moment.
I thought it was over, but he had boarded the ship after all.
His sudden appearance caught me off guard, heat rising all the way to the tips of my hair.
I set down my fork and wiped my mouth with a napkin.
“I thought we wouldn’t run into each other again. I had no idea you’d boarded the ship.”
“It didn’t seem right to let you leave carrying such misunderstandings.”
“Misunderstandings? There’s no such thing.”
“Your sister and I have never been like that.”
The shameless way he brushed it off left me speechless, and a scoff escaped my lips before I could stop it.
“But I saw it with my own eyes?”
“You saw it wrong.”
But Count Veloda Genoma continued speaking brazenly, unbothered by my reaction.
“You really did see it wrong, so let’s talk about this.”
“There’s nothing to talk about.”
“There will be. Right now.”
Count Veloda Genoma pulled something from his pocket and tore it open quickly.
‘Surely not…?’
A sinister chill suddenly washed over me, and I shuddered.
In that instant, the memory of when I died in the swamp flashed through my mind.
‘Good heavens! He’s going to use it here?’
I jumped to my feet in panic. As I hurriedly stepped back, my shoulder bumped into a passing woman.
“I’m sorry.”
After I apologized quickly, the woman simply nodded and continued on her way.
“What’s the matter?”
Count Veloda Genoma rose from his seat and followed me.
My heart began to race. Dread descended upon me like a calamity.
It was clear that Count Veloda Genoma had done something insane to me.
‘I never expected he’d use it in a place with so many people.’
I bit my lip and asked again to confirm.
“What have you done to me…?”
“Nothing much. I simply wanted to clear up our misunderstanding.”
Count Veloda Genoma’s lips curled into a meaningful smile as he stepped closer.
Goosebumps erupted across my skin again, and I quickly retreated further.
“Don’t come any closer.”
“Why on earth are you acting like this?”
Count Veloda Genoma suddenly reached out to grab my hand.
“I said don’t come closer!”
I hastily stepped back further in alarm.
In doing so, I collided with a Female Sailor who was passing by, carrying beer glasses stacked precariously high like a tower.
“Whoa!”
With a startled sailor’s brief cry, the distinctive aroma of beer engulfed me.
Both my clothes and the sailor’s were drenched in beer, and the mug clattered loudly across the floor.
Since it was wooden, it didn’t shatter, but it made quite a racket, and several passengers hastily vacated the area.
The loud music cut off, and the noise diminished.
“I’m so sorry!”
Startled, I repeatedly apologized to the sailor who had also received the beer baptism.
“I’m truly sorry.”
I was so mortified I didn’t know what to do.
The sailor examined both me and Count Veloda Genoma from head to toe with a bewildered expression, then bowed first to me.
“I’m fine, passenger. Are you hurt?”
Soon, several burly male sailors approached.
“What happened?”
The sailors frowned at the beer pooling on the floor.
“Oh no, what a waste! How much was that!”
“What a mess.”
“This passenger collided with me. Help me clean this up.”
At her words, all the sailors’ gazes fixed on me.
“Where were your eyes?”
“Don’t you know you need to be especially careful in a place like this?”
“Goodness, when will we ever get this cleaned up?”
The sailors’ loud voices drew the attention of passengers enjoying the party.
My face flushed with heat. I was so embarrassed and ashamed I wished there were a hole to crawl into.
That’s when it happened.
The sailor wringing out her beer-soaked clothes stepped forward.
“No, this woman isn’t the problem. I saw what happened.”
Her finger pointed toward Count Veloda Genoma.
“That man was harassing her, so she got startled and hurried away.”
Immediately, all eyes—sailors and passengers alike—turned to Count Veloda Genoma.
Receiving those hostile gazes, Count Veloda Genoma’s expression darkened.
“No, that’s not it. I’m that woman’s husband.”
Everyone’s attention returned to me.
My breathing grew increasingly shallow, but I couldn’t stay silent. I spoke clearly.
“That man is not my husband.”
One sailor held up both palms toward me and Count Veloda Genoma.
“Both of you, show us your identification cards and boarding passes.”
I readily handed over what the sailor requested.
Meanwhile, my heart began beating faster, and a heat spread through my lower abdomen.
I had suspected as much.
It seemed the curse was indeed real.
I quickly recalled the original story’s contents. I needed to retrace my memories of reading the novel and find a way to break the curse.
‘How on earth am I supposed to break this curse?’
In that moment, I was engulfed by a sensation of being dragged into a swamp.
The original work made no mention whatsoever of how to lift a curse.
In the original work, there had been no need to lift the curse.
Once Priscilla died, the curse ended with her.
‘Good heavens!’
My blood ran cold.
‘I thought I’d barely escaped the clutches of that demon, only to plunge into this living hell again!’
I resolved to return to my cabin the moment I retrieved my identification papers.
“What are you waiting for? Hand them over!”
Urged by the sailor’s impatience, Count Veloda Genoma shrugged and produced his identification papers and boarding pass, handing them over.
“What’s this? The surnames don’t match.”
“To be precise, he’s my soon-to-be husband.”
“Hold on.”
After examining the papers and boarding pass, the sailor’s brow furrowed sharply, and he shoved Count Veloda Genoma’s shoulder.
“The cabin classes are different too? How can a first-class passenger and a third-class passenger be a married couple?”
At those words, the other sailors’ expressions darkened as they rolled up their sleeves.
“Is this bastard insane? How dare you lie to our faces?”
“Are we a joke to you? Huh?”
“Hey, buddy, want to take a swim in the ocean?”
The muscular sailors’ arms were covered in tattoos and scars.
“Y-yes, of course!”
Count Veloda Genoma’s face drained of color as he took a step backward.
The other passengers murmured nervously.
The sailors pressed their advantage, bearing down on Count Veloda Genoma with increasing menace.
“A misunderstanding? You like misunderstandings, do you? Want to swim all the way to the Capital to clear your head?”
Count Veloda Genoma cried out.
“No, truly, it’s a misunderstanding! My wife’s health is poor at the moment. Since she boarded alone, I was worried and rushed after her! I bought third-class passage in haste, and my wife’s family came along as well!”

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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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