About Becoming My Ex-Husband's Mistress - Chapter 158

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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 158. My Eyes Were Playing Tricks
Zerox recalled the harsh treatment Matilda had endured in the empty Count’s Residence.
The moment Matilda saw Zerox and Melissa, she appealed that Priscilla was extremely cunning.
She claimed Priscilla had planted agents beforehand, imprisoned her, and even brought a man presumed to be her lover, who tortured her and the Coachman.
She alleged the man extracted information about everything that had transpired, severing her fingers in the process.
Indeed, Matilda’s fingers were cut off, and the Coachman had lost his hands entirely.
Yet Zerox had no intention of listening further to Matilda’s words.
Ill rumors about Matilda reached even the Capital with disturbing frequency.
At the time, he had dismissed it as gossip from those envious of Melissa’s position as his mistress, but now Zerox’s perspective had shifted.
His instinct told him that Matilda’s current state was karmic retribution.
As for that woman wielding his weaknesses against him—whether she lived or died was of no consequence.
Melissa, on the other hand, was in absolute turmoil.
Upon seeing her mother rendered crippled, she hurled curses upon Priscilla.
She lamented that she should have killed her decisively then.
And she pressed Zerox to capture and execute Priscilla.
How dare she.
His mistress, making demands of the King.
He wanted to stone her and place her on the executioner’s block.
But such fantasies could only exist in his imagination.
There was no choice.
‘Whether Count Bilsty is guilty or not, I have no choice but to fulfill Melissa’s wishes.’
Having reached this conclusion, he issued a warrant for Priscilla’s arrest.
Soon, testimony emerged that she had boarded a ship at Bilsty Harbor.
Priscilla and the servants of the Count’s Residence had fled the territory upon learning of his arrival.
Zerox gave several knights Priscilla’s composite sketch and a list of the Residence’s servants, ordering them to pursue her.
He instructed the remaining knights to investigate the people’s opinions of Priscilla.
It was a matter requiring the execution of a lord.
No matter how minor the provincial lord, it was obvious that executing her would provoke noble resistance and undermine faith in the King—unless it were an act of rebellion.
He needed to gather as much damning evidence as possible. To make the execution seem natural.
Yet the information compiled through the knights painted Matilda in a far worse light. Priscilla’s support among the people and expectations for her governance were far higher than anticipated.
In fact, they were better than most fiefdoms.
Honestly, it felt as though she received more support than he did as King.
As he listened, several reasons became apparent.
First, her noble character.
Whether she was cold only to Matilda and the Coachman, Count Bilsty was a warm lord to her subjects.
From what he heard, she was not the sort to commit cruelty toward anyone.
Even mentioning her mother’s name, which was known in the Capital’s educational circles.
They even brought up my mother’s name, which is known in the Capital’s educational circles.
“My mother taught exclusively at the Capital Academy, focusing on exceptionally talented noble students. After her retirement, she settled in the countryside, and the last student she taught was Priscilla, the current Count Bilsty. She often praised her for having an upright character and keen intellect.”
Upon hearing this account, Zerox thought he might know who the teacher the woman had mentioned was.
Zerox had never seen her in person. Yet whenever educational policies were discussed, her name invariably surfaced.
‘They said she was the mentor of Count Dora and Baron Ugly. And who else mentioned her…’
As Zerox tried to recall methodically, a headache began to form.
The nobles she had taught at the Academy were all at least ten years his senior, and they currently wielded considerable influence in state affairs.
‘Even if I seized upon every flaw I could find, it wouldn’t be enough.’
He couldn’t even imagine it.
‘If those old fossils learned that Count Bilsty was her final disciple, what kind of pressure would they bring to bear.’
Given the circumstances, I couldn’t simply execute Priscilla.
And amid all this, I heard an absurd rumor.
It concerned Melissa’s origins.
That Melissa was not Count Bilsty’s daughter but born from an affair with the Coachman—a rumor that was truly exasperating, infuriating, and deeply wounding to my pride.
To think I was being swayed by such vulgar bloodline.
But the irritation soon dissipated.
Once I learned how extraordinarily beautiful Priscilla was.
Zerox had never seen Priscilla in person. The wanted posters I had hastily distributed were merely composite sketches.
But there was a portrait of the Count that had just been completed hanging in the Government Office.
Zerox immediately ordered the knight reporting to him to bring the portrait, and he also summoned the Chief Administrator of the Government Office.
The Chief Administrator willingly handed over Priscilla’s portrait to Zerox. And he answered immediately to all of Zerox’s questions.
From him, Zerox was able to obtain considerable information.
Particularly regarding why the territorial residents held such high support for her.
Luderne Sellen had traveled with Count Bilsty for some time. Though they parted ways within days upon Luderne’s notification.
Had I only heard that much, it would have seemed utterly absurd, but upon seeing the portrait, Zerox quickly understood the reason.
She was indeed extraordinarily beautiful.
The rumor that she was not Melissa’s sister seemed remarkably convincing.
Recalling the events that had transpired, Zerox looked again at Melissa, who was humming a tune while lying in bed.
After recalling Priscilla’s portrait, Melissa seemed utterly devoid of charm.
Zerox tilted his head back and covered his eyes with his hand.
‘Sigh, my eyes must have been off. Were there no such captivating women in the Capital? Among all those women, why of all people…’
Zerox sighed inwardly, questioning himself alone, then suddenly let out a soft laugh.
A captivating woman.
There was one.
Priscilla from Raber Salon.
A commoner who should have received my selection as an honor, yet she possessed a strange pride and built an impenetrable wall.
It was odd that she would do so when she couldn’t possibly dislike me, the King, but it seemed certain she felt political burden given that she was Luderne’s mistress.
Then what of Count Bilsty, who has parted ways with Luderne?
Zerox felt a heaviness settle in his lower abdomen. His mouth went dry.
“….”
He barely suppressed a curse from escaping.
‘That bastard seemed completely uninterested in women.’
How could Luderne be so fortunate as to monopolize such peerless beauties.
‘I’m with a woman who might be a commoner.’
Sighing at my own misfortune, I suddenly understood.
Why such a supported lord would be cruel to Matilda Bilsty.
‘Could this be revenge?’
Zerox licked his lips, imagining Priscilla, who would be captured soon enough now that a bounty had been placed on her head.
Zerox’s gaze shifted back to Melissa Bilsty.
‘My path to the throne is secure if I simply kill this woman and silence her.’
Yet the reason I kept her alive.
None other than Priscilla’s vast fortune, which I needed to erase my debts to Eclite.
Suddenly, Zerox’s mind brightened.
‘Wait, Count Bilsty holds the fortune…’
A smile crept across my lips.
‘Then I just need to pretend to understand Count Bilsty and manipulate him skillfully, don’t I?’
She was a woman abandoned by Luderne Sellen.
In such circumstances, if the King extended his hand? And if he promised to punish Luderne Sellen alongside her, the very man who had crushed her pride?
She would likely accept the proposal eagerly.
‘Yes. Rather, I should cooperate with Count Bilsty to settle the debt.’
Zerox imagined it.
Beautiful, noble Priscilla becoming queen.
Of course, the nobles of the Central Social Circle might oppose it due to her status.
But I had obtained the key to that in this investigation. It would all end once I revealed who her teacher was.
If she were the final disciple taught by such a revered teacher, even the most austere noble might show leniency.
Zerox licked his lips.
The more I thought about it, the queen’s position suited Priscilla far better than Melissa Bilsty.
At this point, it seemed better to deceive her while pretending to cooperate.
Once I secured complete evidence, then I would hold her accountable without mercy.
‘In any case, I must be careful.’
Zerox brought his cup to his lips while watching Melissa Bilsty.
‘Yes. It wouldn’t hurt to confirm once. From now on, she’ll try to hide what I ask, but…’
Zerox drained his drink in one gulp and opened his mouth.
“Young Lady, listening to that song made me wonder something.”
“Yes?”
“Could those lyrics perhaps be connected to your sister, Count Bilsty?”
Melissa Bilsty laughed lightly as if it were nothing.
“Yes, that’s right. I threw her into the sea.”
“Threw her into the sea? Who did?”
“I did.”
Zerox was momentarily at a loss for words.
Meanwhile, Melissa Bilsty, who had admitted it so readily, rose to her feet and laughed brazenly.
“That ridiculous woman tried her hand at revenge by writing lyrics and giving them to a courtesan at Raber Salon. The courtesan then gave them to Olivia.”
I asked just to be sure, but her answer was so brazenly absurd that it left me speechless.
Melissa spoke with such casual confidence about pushing her own sister overboard that Zerox couldn’t help but wonder if she’d lost her mind entirely.
Meanwhile, Melissa genuinely lamented the missed opportunity, muttering softly to herself.
“If only I’d known about the key back then. Your Majesty and I wouldn’t have wasted all this time in this godforsaken countryside.”
“I see.”
Zerox lifted the bottle and filled his glass as he spoke.
“Isn’t that a confession to a crime?”

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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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