About Becoming My Ex-Husband's Mistress - Chapter 139

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

Chapter 139. Bear My Child
I caught my breath, startled by such a momentous declaration.
Yet I couldn’t bring myself to question his sincerity. He was not a man given to careless words.
As I searched for what to say, he pulled the blanket away. Drawing closer still, he wrapped his arm around my waist and laid me back upon the bed.
In one fluid motion, he positioned himself above me, his fingers threading through my hair before his lips found mine.
“You will not die. You will bear a child.”
I could scarcely believe my ears.
“Bear a child?”
Luderne Sellen lowered himself, his lips brushing against my ear as he whispered.
“Bear my child.”
His voice carried absolute conviction—that he would break my curse and save my life.
My heart raced.
Yet this demanded a response.
“But our stations don’t align. That’s why I’ve never had a child until now….”
“Bear one. I will protect you.”
“I cannot hide and raise a child in secret.”
“Who said anything about hiding? I will ascend the throne.”
“But the other nobles….”
“I don’t care.”
Luderne began to kiss me everywhere, his lips tracing across my skin.
Each touch of his mouth sent waves of heat coursing through me. My breath came in ragged gasps.
“Wait, Your Majesty, please.”
“I dislike being addressed that way now. Call me something else.”
“Something else?”
“My dear works, as does my name.”
At the same moment, his hand began to venture toward my most intimate place.
“Wait. We haven’t finished talking yet….”
“We can talk while we do this. Now that I’ve laid everything bare, I can’t hold back any longer. I won’t touch where you’re injured.”
“No, Your Majesty. I don’t wish to right now.”
I attempted to dissuade him with a lie, but Luderne already knew the truth. Undeterred, he buried his face between my thighs.
“A lie. Your scent betrays you.”
Warmth and tenderness soon followed.
The sensation that began below traveled up my spine to the crown of my head. My body twisted involuntarily.
“Ah, what you’re saying isn’t exactly ordinary conversation.”
I managed to ask through barely suppressed moans, and Luderne’s voice grew more intense.
“I will place you in the most exalted position in the world. You will live there for all your days.”
His words meant Empress, and my heart sank as I immediately understood I was not suited for such a role.
The moment he spoke such weighty words aloud, fear gripped me as I recalled the circumstances of the Doerban Empire and the Arde Kingdom.
The Empire had not yet designated a Crown Prince. A political struggle with Eclite over the throne could very well ensue.
Victory or defeat would depend upon the support of the nobility.
They naturally supported different imperial princes based on their own interests.
In this structure, my existence became a definite obstacle to Luderne Sellen.
Since Eclite was such a wreck, if I didn’t get in the way, Luderne Sellen might actually have a chance at victory.
The situation in Arde Kingdom was dangerous even to contemplate.
Whether Zerox had legitimately claimed the throne or engaged in covert struggles remained unknown.
But regardless, he was already king.
If Luderne Sellen attempted anything in this state, it would be outright treason.
Of course, Luderne Sellen could still win. Now Melissa Bilsty wouldn’t be able to kill him as she did in the original story.
But for me, it meant Luderne Sellen had acquired a new and dangerous factor that could lead to his death—a very significant one.
Looking back at everything discussed so far, his weakness had been me from beginning to end.
He couldn’t overcome that weakness, and only after years had he finally steeled his resolve. Only when I officially became dead.
But now I am Count Bilsty.
It wouldn’t take long for the world to learn that I was alive.
Eclite came to mind again.
The vile and filthy imperial prince of the Doerban Empire.
If he set his mind to capturing me, he could do it.
What if I were caught in his hands while pregnant?
Could Luderne Sellen overcome blackmail?
He who had desperately pretended not to know for fear I might die—if Eclite seized the lifelines of me and my child to coerce him….
Given Eclite’s nature, the demands he would make then were likely to be severe.
And Luderne Sellen might readily accept even a demand for self-destruction.
‘Am I even worth such a sacrifice?’
The moment I questioned myself, the answer came.
No matter how I thought about it, it was dangerous. I couldn’t put Luderne Sellen in jeopardy because of me.
In other words, not starting at all was the safest option.
“W-wait, I told you already.”
I suppressed the desire to surrender to the intoxicating sensation he offered and pushed him away with all my strength.
Luderne Sellen, recognizing my genuine change of heart, rose and looked at me.
I deliberately hardened my gaze and spoke coldly.
“Fine. I understand why I must be Priscilla outside the fiefdom.”
I descended from the bed and found my clothes placed to one side, putting them on. They were torn, but this wasn’t the time to worry about that.
“…Priscilla?”
I ignored his call and searched for a hairbrush. Then, sitting before the vanity, I tidied my disheveled hair and continued speaking rapidly.
“I’m also very grateful that you’re trying to help develop the fiefdom. But there’s an error in what you said.”
I brushed my hair while observing the mirror.
Luderne Sellen sat perched on the edge of the bed. His expression appeared grave.
I steeled my resolve to keep my eyes from wavering and turned to face him.
“Outside the fiefdom, I will live thoroughly as Priscilla of Raber Salon. Even if not much time remains, I want to live beautifully and gracefully.”
One of Luderne Sellen’s eyebrows rose uncomfortably.
“What are you talking about? I’m telling you that you can live.”
I steadied my voice further, making it even colder.
“No. Don’t you remember? The reason why it’s impossible. I told you that the reason I die doesn’t change.”
At my slightly stinging tone, Luderne Sellen’s pupils trembled visibly. He seemed to remember.
“Because I have no one to love.”
The lie I had told.
Now it was time to add plausibility to that falsehood. The reason I had accepted him despite not loving him.
“Your Majesty is a magnificent man. The pleasure you give me is truly maddening, absolutely intoxicating.”
Darling, I love you.
Your kiss, your scent, your whispers. Everything is a blessing to me.
“But that’s all there is.”
I would gladly die to keep you alive.
“I cannot live even if I bear your child. Before, I suppose you forgot because I spoke around it indirectly. Let me be clear now.”
Confusion flickered across Luderne’s face.
“No, I don’t want to hear this.”
“No. Listen. I cannot allow unnecessary danger to arise from your misunderstanding. What you’re saying now won’t end with just one or two lives, will it?”
Don’t throw yourself into danger because of me. I cannot save myself by dragging you and so many others into the jaws of death.
“You don’t love me.”
I spoke loudly enough that there could be no misunderstanding, then rose from the vanity and looked down at Luderne.
He sat on the bed, looking up at me.
His eyes had grown wide and vacant, his lips slightly parted.
The face of someone deeply shocked.
I couldn’t waver.
I spoke slowly, each word crisp and deliberate.
“It’s good that Your Majesty becomes Emperor.”
I will never be your weakness again. Walk the path of enlightenment. Don’t lose to Eclite or anyone like him.
“For that, you’ll need to take a noblewoman of high rank as your consort to secure a strong backing. So find such a match.”
Imagining Luderne spending his life with another woman made my heart ache.
But I had to step back.
Even if it’s painful now, once he finds a woman of appropriate station, he’ll be able to forget me.
“I’ll take my leave now.”
I turned away from him.
The moment I opened the door to leave, my wrist was seized and I was pulled back.
“That’s a lie!”
It was a shout I’d never heard from him before.
The hand gripping my wrist trembled violently.
“That can’t be true. You love me. That’s why you said you wanted a child.”
His voice, breaking through as if he were grinding his teeth in anguish, tore through my chest.
“That’s ancient history. No matter how much you clung to me, I’ve already let go of those feelings from when you wouldn’t even blink an eye.”
“You expect me to believe that?”
“Is there any reason you shouldn’t?”
“…!”
Moisture glistened in his eyes, and his voice trembled.
“Even after we met again, whenever I held you, my entire body responded.”
Tears streamed down Luderne Sellen’s cheeks.
“You were happy.”
Watching him weep, my eyes stung and my throat tightened.
But I couldn’t afford to falter here.
“I love you, Priscilla. Don’t leave me.”
His voice resonated from the depths of his chest, raw and aching.

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