About Becoming My Ex-Husband's Mistress - Chapter 123
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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 123. Did I… Do That?
“I apologize for approaching you while you’re still unwell, but something’s come up that I need to confirm as quickly as possible.”
Sir Jester’s demeanor was far from ordinary.
The moment my eyes widened, he took a deep breath and swallowed several pills. Then he checked his watch.
“Once the medication takes effect, I’ll ask you something. It’s a truly important question, so I’d appreciate it if you could answer without even the slightest hint of a lie.”
His words struck me as strange.
“What medication did you take, sir?”
Sir Jester smiled bitterly and shrugged his shoulders.
“My headache medication—the cause of which remains unknown.”
I was familiar with his headaches from what I’d witnessed on the Island.
I’d seen him collapse from the severity of it once, though milder episodes appeared frequently.
“Now that I think I might finally understand the cause, I’m trying to at least dull the pain.”
What he said next was even stranger.
“The questions you’re about to ask will trigger your headaches?”
“It seems that way.”
He wiped the cold sweat beading on his forehead with a handkerchief.
“Does it hurt already?”
“No, but thinking about the pain to come frightens me.”
….
“I was there beside you when you grabbed the Grand Duke’s hand and spoke.”
“…What?”
“I was there beside you.”
“No, that’s not what I meant. Whose hand did I grab while speaking?”
Sir Jester smiled bitterly.
“The Grand Duke’s.”
“What?”
I doubted my own ears.
At my reaction, Sir Jester’s eyes widened this time.
“You know—Luderne Wintem Grand Duke.”
My confused response only filled my mind with questions.
“Are you joking?”
“Why would I joke?”
“No, how could the Grand Duke possibly be here? That makes no sense.”
Even as I asked, my heart began to race. The memory of seeing Luderne in my dream and mentioning revenge surfaced.
“I… regressed. In this life, I tried to change things. I’m still cursed and living in the gutter, but…”
“Thinking about it now, my greed was too great. I was foolish.”
What if that hadn’t been a dream?
My vision blurred.
I had grabbed him—someone who knew nothing—and laid bare my fury. And I’d even told him about my regression.
If Luderne had truly come here as Sir Jester claimed, my words would have sounded like the ravings of a madwoman.
How utterly exasperating it must have been.
At that moment, Sir Jester let out a sigh and drove the final nail home.
“Since you came here directly and left, I can speak freely now. The truth is, the room directly above your lodging belonged to the Grand Duke himself.”
I was left utterly dumbfounded. Then, seized by a sudden suspicion, I asked.
“Could you be referring to the person who wanted to invest in Bilsty Estate…?”
Sir Jester nodded.
As I sighed, caught in a tangle of conflicting emotions, Sir Jester clasped his hands together.
“It seems your memory is hazy since you were ill at the time.”
“I do remember seeing his face. But it seemed so impossible that I thought I’d dreamed it.”
Sir Jester regarded me with an expression of understanding.
“What I’m about to ask is also connected to something you said back then.”
I had no choice but to nod.
“Please, go ahead.”
“While Priscilla was ill, she spoke of having regressed…. Ugh!”
Sir Jester clutched his head.
“Argh, it’s happening again. When I broach the subject with the thought that I might have regressed, ugh, my condition becomes like this, gah! That… is it real?”
He appeared to be in such agony that I was startled.
Seeing my confusion, Sir Jester raised his voice sharply.
“Just mentioning it directly causes me severe headaches, so don’t waste time! Tell me quickly! Just the truth!”
“Yes, yes! That’s right!”
“Did I do it?”
“What?”
“Is it a regression spell I cast! Aaugh!”
“I don’t know that!”
“Do you remember the entire regression?”
“W, well, yes, I do!”
That was when it happened.
“Cough! Cough!”
Sir Jester, who had been questioning me harshly through his pain, suddenly coughed up black blood.
Alarmed by this horrifying turn of events, I quickly pulled the bell cord beside the bed.
“Doctor! Call the doctor!”
The Mute Maid who rushed through the door cried out in shock.
“Ahhh! What is happening! I, I’ll bring the physician right away!”
The Mute Maid, seeing Sir Jester’s condition, gasped in horror and bolted from the room.
I rose from the bed and supported Sir Jester.
“Sir Jester!”
Sir Jester coughed up blood several more times before managing to catch his breath.
“Haa…. Medicine is utterly useless. You mentioned something before… didn’t you. Now I see it clearly.”
Covered in blood, he smiled weakly at my anxious face.
“It’s a curse activation. It seems Priscilla’s regression and my condition are connected. Aaugh!”
His insides twisted, and he clutched at his chest.
“…I’m going mad. Damn it, what happened before the regression? *Cough!*”
Muttering curses, he coughed up blood again and let out a bitter laugh.
“Even if I survive, I’ll never mention this directly myself. Priscilla will…ugh….”
Even if I survive—those words were ominous.
His voice faded rapidly, and the light in his eyes was dimming.
I suddenly panicked at the thought of Sir Jester dying like this.
“No! Stay with me, Sir Jester!”
My cry fell on deaf ears as Sir Jester’s body went limp, and I couldn’t support his weight—we both collapsed together.
Soon after, the Doctor rushed in with the Mute Maid.
Even the Doctor was startled by the sight before him.
“What on earth has happened here?”
“I’m not entirely sure, but it seems to be due to a magical curse seal.”
Tears welled up in my eyes, and I bit my lip for a moment before hastily wiping them away.
Now was not the time to cry.
“Magic in the fiefdom….”
I was about to ask the Mute Maid if there was a Mage, but then I remembered that most magic had disappeared. So I couldn’t just search for a Mage.
“…Including that, please urgently search for anyone who knows about holy power or shamanism—especially anyone who understands magical curse seals.”
“I’m not certain about all of that, but there are people nearby who might know something related! I’ll hurry and bring them! I’ll tell others to come as well on my way out!”
The Mute Maid nodded urgently and rushed out in a flurry.
Shortly after, the Head Maid, Butler, and Servants who had received word of the situation from the Mute Maid as she left the Mansion entered.
They helped the Doctor remove Sir Jester’s shirt and moved him to a bed in the adjacent room.
The Doctor examined Sir Jester for a long while, then exhaled deeply.
“Phew…. The amount of blood he coughed up was tremendous, but it’s rather remarkable.”
It seemed there would be no danger to his life.
It was an immense relief.
By the time the Servants had tidied the room, which was a mess from the blood, the Mute Maid who had rushed out earlier returned with two people wearing robes with their hoods pulled very low.
The Old Woman, a shaman from a small cottage nearby who read minor fortunes, was quite diminutive with a hunched back, and she walked with a pronounced limp, leaning heavily on a cane.
Yet something felt strange about her. There was an odd sense of dignity.
The Mage was a portly middle-aged man.
After lowering his hood and examining Sir Jester first, he tilted his head in confusion, scratched his head, and stepped back.
“Ah, perhaps because there’s no more magical power, I can’t quite tell. I was never strong in that area to begin with…. My apologies.”
Now it was the Old Woman’s turn to examine him.
The Old Woman spoke.
“Leave only the two of us. Understand? My shamanism requires only the subject and the client present.”
The Mute Maid who had brought the Old Woman quickly nodded and led everyone out, including the Doctor and the Mage.
Only I, Sir Jester, and the Old Woman remained in the room.
Without removing her deeply pulled hood, she examined Sir Jester for a long time, then clicked her tongue.
“Tsk, the curse seal has activated. So you don’t remember using magic and pried into it, only to be cursed…. If left alone, you’ll die.”
Her voice was so quiet from her advanced age that it was barely audible unless one listened carefully, yet she spoke with an air of knowing something well.
“What? If I leave him alone, he’ll die? But the Doctor said there was no threat to his life….”
“Ah, what would that quack Doctor know about sorcery?”
The Old Woman’s voice rose sharply.
She muttered to herself for a moment before turning her head toward me.
“What’s this young man’s name?”
“Pardon?”
Wrinkled lips visible beneath the hood twitched with irritation.
“He’s used magic potent enough to trigger a curse seal. If I hear his name, I should recognize him. Why would I help without knowing who this fellow is?”
“…Yes?”
“Come on, speak up. I need to know his name before I decide whether to save him or let him perish, don’t I?”
When I hesitated, the Old Woman cut in sharply.
“If you won’t tell me, I’m letting him die. Do you have any idea how expensive my sor…. No, my witchcraft is?”
Left with no choice, I spoke his name.
“Ail Jester… Sir.”
“Hmm?”
The Old Woman leaned her face forward as if to hear better.
“Sir Ail Jester.”
The Old Woman closed her mouth briefly, then clicked her tongue loudly and drew close to Sir Jester.
“Tsk! So it’s that one. The regression mage who’s always rewinding time.”
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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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