About Becoming My Ex-Husband's Mistress - Chapter 122

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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 122. I’ve Returned
Matilda soon found him—Wood, bound to a chair with a gag shoved into his mouth.
“Mmph! Mm! Ugh, ugh, ugh!”
Matilda was startled to see Wood desperately trying to say something as he looked at her.
“Why are you tied up? What… what happened to your face?”
His eye sockets were swollen as if he’d taken a heavy blow, and his eyes were reddened from crying.
Wood looked absolutely wretched.
Just as I was thinking the atmosphere felt distinctly odd, I sensed movement behind me.
The moment I turned around, Muscleman grinned wickedly.
“I’ll explain why he looks like that shortly.”
* * *
The next morning, I traveled to Count’s Residence with Sir Jester. We were stopping by briefly before the Hunting Festival began.
Servants who had been notified in advance stood in formation at the entrance of Count’s Residence.
The household’s finances seemed dire—only about ten servants were visible, more than half fewer than before.
The moment I stepped down from the carriage, they bowed respectfully and spoke in unison.
“We sincerely welcome the return of our Count!”
Among them were the two people I had strategically placed beforehand.
“It’s been far too long. Have you all been well?”
As I examined each face and clasped their hands in greeting, tears welled in the servants’ eyes.
“You’ve all endured much in my absence. We have so much to discuss, but we’ll do that once things settle down.”
Once the servants, their eyes glistening with tears, returned to their posts, Muscleman and the Mute Maid approached me.
Muscleman cracked his knuckles with a loud pop and grinned wickedly.
“Those two are in the Stable.”
“The Stable?”
“Both of them are gagged. The man has already confessed, but the woman doesn’t know that yet.”
The Mute Maid and Muscleman laid out the information they’d gathered for me.
When I returned to the Territory and saw the man who resembled Melissa Bilsty, I hadn’t failed to recognize the possibility.
But hearing it confirmed felt entirely different.
Melissa Bilsty’s biological father wasn’t my father—it was a Coachman named Wood. It had been a con orchestrated by the Mute Maid and the Coachman against the Bilsty Viscounty.
‘How could…’
As I listened, my fists clenched involuntarily. An indescribable rage surged through me, followed by a heavy vertigo.
“Priscilla!”
With Sir Jester’s voice, darkness consumed my vision.
* * *
In the darkness, my father’s form appeared vividly before me.
Furious, my father gripped his riding crop and strode purposefully from the Mansion.
He mounted his horse and spurred it forward.
I understood immediately. It was the day my father fell from his horse.
In the void, Matilda laughed shrilly as she shoved my father with all her might. Pushed by that hand, my father fell from his horse, his head striking the hard ground below, and he moved no more.
In the darkness, lantern light illuminated Count Veloda Genoma’s demonic smile.
‘Since he was my husband on paper, I’ll make sure he goes down a certain path.’
I thrashed about in terror. I tried to scream, but no sound came out. The bottomless swamp continued to drag me down.
I could hear Melissa’s chilling voice as well.
‘There’s only one way to die, you fool.’
Hands pushed against my flailing body. I toppled backward. The sensation of impact against my shoulders was vivid and real.
Whether in the swamp or the sea.
A heavy, alien sensation enveloped my entire body. No matter how much I struggled, my body refused to obey.
My breath caught in my throat.
Clenching my teeth, I thought I was going to die like this.
‘I’m sorry. It’s all my fault.’
Then someone apologized and interlaced their fingers with mine.
Large, warm hands.
‘Don’t go. Hold on just a little longer.’
The voice was low, as if grinding through clenched teeth.
Following that familiar voice came hot breath against my lips and a familiar scent.
Luderne.
In an instant, warmth flooded through my entire body and my airways opened wide.
I wanted to see his face. Even if swamp mud filled my eyes, I wanted to open them.
The moment I forced my heavy eyelids open, I saw Luderne.
It was truly hard to believe.
“…Husband?”
As I called out to him, the one holding my hand nodded once.
At his gesture, tears and a smile came simultaneously. And I realized.
“Ah, it’s a dream….”
It truly was a dream.
Because Luderne would never look at me with such profound sorrow, tears glistening in his eyes.
Because he would never nod at my words calling him “husband.”
Perhaps because of that, I wanted to tell him everything.
“Husband.”
My voice didn’t come out properly, but Luderne nodded for me.
“I… regressed. I’ve tried to change this life. I’m still cursed, living in the gutter….”
As I struggled to speak with lips that barely cooperated, suddenly I became furious. What had I done wrong to deserve such a cruel existence?
At the same time, I understood my true feelings.
“Now that I think about it, I was too greedy. I was foolish.”
I truly felt that way. My resolve crystallized clearly in my heart.
Luderne’s jaw tightened as if his throat were closing, and he gently wiped my face and tears.
A hollow laugh escaped me.
Such tenderness in his touch. A gentleness I could only receive in dreams.
And so I could speak my sharply honed resolve.
“In this life, I don’t need any of it. I’ll have my revenge no matter what. I’ll drag those who made me this way through the gutter in utter degradation….”
I needed to finish speaking, but my voice grew increasingly faint.
* * *
When I opened my eyes, I saw the ceiling above me.
“Oh, Priscilla, are you awake?”
At the sight of Sir Jester’s haggard face, I rolled my eyes slowly and pushed myself upright.
“Ugh….”
A faint dizziness washed over me again, and Sir Jester quickly stopped me.
“Don’t get up yet!”
“It’s fine. I’m just a little dizzy.”
“Then lean back here. Let me check your condition for a moment.”
He had me rest against the headboard of the bed.
I closed my eyes.
After the brief dizziness subsided and I opened my eyes again, Sir Jester was leaning down, looking up at me.
His gaze was filled with concern.
“Are you really all right?”
“Yes, I’m fine.”
I brushed my disheveled hair back into place with my hand, recalling my last memory and the vivid dream.
“I must have lost consciousness for a moment…. I’m sorry for the trouble.”
“A moment? You lost consciousness then, and it’s been three days since.”
“What?”
“You’ve been terribly ill since you collapsed. Your breathing was so shallow that….”
Sir Jester bit his lip and pressed a hand to his chest.
“There was even talk that you might never wake up. Then, miraculously, your breathing, which had nearly stopped, returned….”
He wiped his eyes with his palm and straightened up. Moisture glistened at the corners of his eyes.
“I’m so relieved. I’ll call the Doctor.”
Sir Jester stepped out briefly and returned with the Doctor.
The Doctor examined me and released a breath of relief.
“Your breathing has completely normalized. As long as your condition remains stable, you should be able to move about. There’s also a meal waiting outside—please eat.”
Once the Doctor left, the Head Maid immediately wheeled in a tray. Upon it sat a steaming bowl of soup and bread.
“How difficult these days must have been for you.”
The Head Maid, her eyes red-rimmed, placed the bed tray before me and set down the soup bowl.
Then she sat in the chair beside the bed where Sir Jester had been sitting and began to spoon the soup, attempting to feed me directly.
“Please eat this first and regain your strength.”
“…I’ll eat it myself. Thank you.”
I accepted the spoon from her.
In truth, I had no appetite. But I needed to reassure the Head Maid.
The Head Maid nodded obediently and stood. She rolled up her sleeves as she spoke.
“We’ve come to hear something.”
“…?”
“Once you’ve regained your strength, steel yourself and come to the Underground Storage. We’ll have everything prepared so our Count won’t have to strain himself.”
After the Head Maid left, Sir Jester sat back down.
I set down my spoon and asked him.
“What did the Head Maid mean by that?”
Sir Jester smacked his lips.
“The servants who came with Priscilla leaked the details to the Count’s Residence servants. When they heard the story, they say you collapsed.”
Sir Jester explained that at the time, his attention had been entirely focused on me, so he hadn’t known how the Barony’s servants were moving.
After I survived the mortal crisis, it turned out they had already flown into a rage, immediately seized cudgels, and stormed into the Stable.
“They gave them a proper beating and locked them in the Underground Storage.”
Sir Jester gestured for me to eat the soup.
“Eat even if you have no appetite. The Head Maid and the Butler took turns waiting for you to wake. As the soup cooled, they kept replacing it with fresh bowls.”
I could hardly believe my ears.
“They kept… replacing the soup?”
“So you could eat it right away once you came to.”
….
“Weren’t you talking about getting revenge no matter what?”
「I don’t need anything in this life. I’ll get my revenge no matter what. I’ll make those who did this to me crawl through the gutters in utter degradation…」
“Even in your delirium, you wrung out those words. So you need to regain your strength.”
It seemed I had muttered that sharp vow from my dreams even in my sleep.
My face burned hot, but I nodded. The vow I had made in my dreams hadn’t wavered one bit.
Now it wasn’t enough for Luderne to live and for me to merely survive.
Even if someone had to bleed, even if I died in the pursuit of vengeance….
I had to punish Matilda Bilsty and Melissa Bilsty and Count Veloda Genoma—those who had deceived and betrayed me and my father—with cruelty.
Even that wouldn’t feel like enough to satisfy the rage within me.
‘Yes. I need to regain my strength.’
With that grim resolve, I brought the soup to my lips.
As the warm soup slid smoothly down my throat, I realized something.
During all the time I lived in this Mansion, even under Matilda’s abuse, I had never eaten cold soup.
There were people who had secretly cared for me while watching Matilda’s moods—people I had forgotten about, overwhelmed by my own circumstances.
‘Ah, I had no idea.’
The moment that warmth reached my heart deeply, tears came pouring down.
Another resolve took shape within me.
Even if I die, I must keep these people alive and die protecting them.
I didn’t stop eating the soup. Tears streamed down my face as I continued to bring spoonful after spoonful to my lips.
When my heart grew too full and I set down the spoon, Sir Jester handed me a handkerchief.
He spoke in a quiet voice.

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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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