About Becoming My Ex-Husband's Mistress - Chapter 159

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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 159. Like a Seductress
“If she were dead, perhaps. But she’s not dead, is she?”
Melissa tilted her head as if wondering what the problem was.
“Priscilla doesn’t seem to take issue with it either. If she had, she would have filed suit alongside you this time.”
Zerox felt his head throb.
He immediately grasped why Priscilla had not sued Melissa.
For someone with nothing to bring suit against the King’s mistress was itself an enormous burden.
Defeat would be the inevitable outcome.
In that case, it was better to avoid litigation against Melissa for now.
What one must gain swiftly through litigation is title and wealth. Revenge comes later, once one has power. Or after one has completely cast Melissa aside.
His frustration was so complete that he struggled to know where to begin, when Melissa smiled broadly and touched upon his weakness.
“What does it matter? You were far more reckless than I am, weren’t you? Toward your own parents, no less. That’s precisely why you and I are like this now.”
“!”
Zerox gripped his wine glass tightly, his brow furrowing.
“Young Lady, did I not tell you to mind your words?”
Melissa’s eyes widened in feigned innocence.
“Oh my, my dear Zerox, please don’t misunderstand what I’m saying.”
Rising from the bed, Melissa settled onto Zerox’s lap and wrapped both arms around his neck, speaking with calculated sweetness.
“I was merely saying that we are kindred spirits. That heaven itself has bound our fates together.”
Melissa breathed softly against Zerox’s ear.
“….”
Moments before, he had been so irritated and enraged that he felt he might burst, but with Melissa’s touch, his attention shifted entirely elsewhere.
His trousers were already straining, his thoughts having drifted to Priscilla.
Melissa’s hand descended naturally, caressing him with practiced ease.
“You see? You’re already falling under my spell? My goodness, you beast. Even a tiger would pale in comparison to this.”
As she skillfully stroked him with words of praise, Zerox’s anger melted away like snow.
‘Tch, what a seductress.’
His body aflame, Zerox set down his wine glass and buried his face in Melissa’s bosom, pulling her hips toward him.
He had decided to indulge first and think later.
“Oh, Zerox.”
Her coquettish laughter echoed through the cabin.
That was when it happened.
“Your Highness! I have a report!”
A commanding voice rang out from beyond the cabin door.
A Knight entered quietly, opening the door and standing at attention before Zerox.
Zerox bristled at the interruption of their intimate moment. However, he had issued orders to enter immediately if the report was important, so he answered with a sharp glare instead.
The Knight flinched, speaking with visible tension.
“Prince Wintem arrived at the Harbor just moments ago, and the designer Priscilla from Raber Salon was at his side.”
“Who arrived?”
“The designer Priscilla from Raber Salon, Your Highness.”
Just hearing her name seemed to brighten my vision.
The Knight, relieved by the King’s brightened expression, reported everything he had witnessed.
“However, Prince Wintem’s behavior was different from before.”
The conclusion was that Prince Wintem seemed so utterly captivated by Priscilla that he had lost his senses.
The pet name he had used was something Zerox found almost impossible to believe.
“Chocolate…? Prince Wintem, who was as stiff and rigid as a wooden plank?”
“Yes, sir.”
The Knight, whose eyes had been darting about for a moment, blushed slightly, embarrassed.
“Though it was nighttime, the marks left on Priscilla’s neck were visible in the firelight. And he locked himself away in a temporary lodging the moment he arrived.”
Moreover, Madame Laber had even asked the nearby Knights to keep their distance so the Grand Duke wouldn’t be disturbed during his rest.
At those words, one corner of Zerox’s mouth lifted of its own accord.
“They say a thief who learns late never knows when dawn breaks.”
That was precisely the case.
Zerox’s mind began to race rapidly.
‘If Luderne, who was always rational, has lost his senses….’
I felt the urge to kill Luderne at the first opportunity.
And likewise ―aside from appearing at the Royal Elegance Contest― the princess, who lived quietly like the dead in the Royal Palace.
If that were the case, even if I fell out with Melissa and my crimes were exposed to the world, there would be no one to inherit the throne, so it would be unavoidable.
At that moment, Melissa, who had her arms wrapped around Zerox’s neck, laughed as if she had been waiting for this.
“Zerox, come to think of it, I’ve never received a styling from Priscilla at the Raber Salon?”
Zerox, understanding Melissa’s intention, opened his eyes slowly.
“…Really?”
“Yes. Whenever I tried to make a reservation, noble ladies would always rush ahead and push me out, so I was told it wasn’t possible.”
Melissa gently poked Zerox’s chest with her finger.
“Now that she’s here, she won’t be busy with reservations, will she?”
“That’s true.”
“Then could you have her come and let me have her do my styling? If possible, I think it would be nice to have a dedicated maid attend to me.”
It was an excellent proposal. I could use it as a pretext to summon them.
Bringing both of them here, assessing the situation, and then killing Luderne while making it look like an accident would be perfect.
However, Zerox deliberately kept his mouth shut, appearing to deliberate.
Then he instructed the Knight to summon Baron Ugly.
The Knight bowed respectfully and left.
In the meantime, Zerox led Melissa toward the bed.
Leaning against the headboard and pulling the blanket over himself, Zerox exposed his intimate area beneath the covers and pointed inside the blanket, commanding Melissa.
“While I have the salon designer brought here, do this.”
Melissa disappeared beneath the blanket.
Soon, a warm, moist sensation was felt repeatedly in the lower half of my body.
“Hah….”
As the hot breath gradually rose, Baron Ugly entered.
Baron Ugly showed no disturbance at the situation before his eyes, merely bowing his head respectfully.
“I heard you summoned me.”
Zerox swallowed the breath catching in his throat and issued his orders.
“I’m told Prince Wintem and Priscilla from Raber Salon are here. Therefore, I intend to hold an afternoon tea party and a ball aboard ship to invite them. Prepare accordingly, and be especially careful to ensure no accidents occur.”
Be especially careful to ensure no accidents occur—what an ominous phrasing.
It sounded as though he intended to dispose of Luderne Sellen while disguising it as an accident, so Baron Ugly rolled his eyes thoughtfully before opening his mouth with caution.
“What sort of accident are you concerned about, Your Highness?”
“There could be several, wouldn’t you say?”
“Then the meaning behind inviting Prince Wintem—I understand it correctly, do I not?”
Zerox nodded.
The tea party would serve as preliminary reconnaissance; the ball would be the venue for disposing of him while disguising it as an accident.
“Since we’re not in the Capital, there are fewer eyes watching. You seem well-suited for this. I trust you understand my intentions.”
Zerox paused in thought before adding to the schedule.
“Ah, let the tea party be tomorrow, and the ball two weeks hence.”
“It shall be done, Your Highness.”
Baron Ugly bowed respectfully to Zerox before stepping out of the cabin.
The moment the door closed, a bestial groan escaped from within.
He would have proceeded directly to the study as usual, had he not spotted Jeanne leaning against the railing on the deck, gazing out at the night sea.
Though he could have ignored her and continued to the study, Baron Ugly found himself drawn toward Jeanne instead.
“This is His Highness’s cabin quarters. What are you doing here?”
Jeanne turned in alarm and quickly bowed to Baron Ugly.
“I-I’m terribly sorry. The night sea was so beautiful that I found myself wandering here without realizing it.”
Jeanne nodded repeatedly and turned to leave.
“I’ll go right away!”
At her behavior, Baron Ugly felt a powerful sense of déjà vu.
He soon realized where that sensation came from, and a dry chuckle escaped him—his previous suspicion now felt like certainty.
Jeanne’s mannerisms were uncannily like his own when he was young. The way she feigned surprise and turned away, even the flustered act—
It all resembled me.
Because that was a deliberate act he performed whenever he was caught spying on someone.
Jeanne, too, seemed to be in the midst of spying on someone here. Though whose orders she followed remained unknown.
If she were suspected of being a spy, he should immediately summon a Knight, have her taken away, and interrogate her.
But Baron Ugly felt no inclination to do so. There was something that felt far more pressing.
He could always uncover who was behind Jeanne if he set his mind to it.
‘And I’ve already made the preparations anyway.’
So now was the perfect moment.
“Stop right there.”
Jeanne flinched and turned around.
“Y-yes?”
“I have something to confirm discreetly. Come with me.”
“D-discreetly? But I’m the Mute Maid of Young Lady Bilsty…”
“Hold your tongue and follow obediently. Be grateful I haven’t thrashed you for lingering here.”
Intimidated by Baron Ugly’s threatening tone, Jeanne followed him with her shoulders hunched.
Back in his study, Baron Ugly turned to observe Jeanne. In the brighter light, her made-up face became even more visible.
Though Jeanne stood there hesitantly, perhaps it was my inner conviction that made her appear beautiful in Baron Ugly’s eyes.
A warm, fuzzy sensation bloomed in one corner of my heart.
“Wait a moment.”
Baron Ugly retrieved a thin slate-like magical tool from his drawer. It was an item he had taken from the fleet’s storage shed.
“Place your hand here.”

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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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