About Becoming My Ex-Husband's Mistress - Chapter 170
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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 170. The Saint’s Prayer
I whispered as quietly as Luderne had.
“No. I left it at the barracks.”
“Where in the barracks did you leave it?”
After I told him the location, Luderne nodded and whispered something to Sir Jester.
Sir Jester quietly slipped out of the room.
He didn’t forget to signal the Servant and Mute Maid, whose presence had all but vanished since they’d been called as witnesses.
The Servant and Mute Maid quietly followed in his wake.
As I watched their movements, I observed the state of everyone else more carefully.
All eyes were fixed on Eclite, so no one paid attention to Sir Jester’s departure.
It was less than fifteen minutes before Sir Jester returned.
While Baron Ugly was explaining the paternity verification magical tool at length, Sir Jester secretly handed me two scrolls.
“What is this?”
Sir Jester whispered softly.
“I found them.”
They were the curse scrolls Menglow had given me.
I took the scrolls and looked at Luderne. The corners of his mouth lifted gently.
“Since everyone’s distracted, it seemed like the perfect time to return them.”
“!”
I understood what he meant.
“Just wait a moment and I’ll use them.”
“No.”
I immediately handed one of the two scrolls to Luderne. Then I wrapped the scroll in my hand so it wouldn’t be visible and fixed my gaze on Count Veloda Genoma.
“I’ll do it myself.”
Returning curse with curse.
For now, Count Veloda Genoma was the perfect target. He stood near the Prince, his attention absorbed by Baron Ugly’s explanation of the situation.
Since we were near the tea table, the distance wasn’t far. But after sitting and observing the situation the entire time, it wouldn’t be easy to suddenly stand up and approach him.
‘How do I approach naturally?’
Then Baron Ugly’s explanation ended.
“Good heavens, what a dreadful situation this has become.”
Count Veloda Genoma’s reaction.
But Eclite pulled his lips up cruelly as if to say, what was the problem?
“What, so we’ve got some entertaining spectacle now?”
He chuckled while looking at Melissa Bilsty.
“So that’s why the mother was dragged away while you just sucked your thumb?”
Melissa Bilsty frowned and turned away from Eclite.
At her reaction, Eclite found it even more amusing and spoke to Zerox.
“The King’s contract is binding, so it must be honored.”
Zerox sighed through his nose and issued another command.
“Take her away. See that it’s carried out.”
The knights seized Matilda and the Coachman once more.
Matilda and the Coachman, who had caught their breath for a moment with Eclite’s arrival, erupted into chaos again.
“No! Please! Melissa! Melissa!”
Melissa immediately turned her head away from the struggling Matilda.
At that sight, Matilda’s eyes flooded with blood.
“How dare you do this to me! I spared no effort or means to raise you well!”
But Melissa’s attitude remained unchanged.
Watching her, the Coachman suddenly bellowed.
“You shameless wretch! Now you’re abandoning your parents to live well yourself? I’m your father! I’m your father!”
At those words, Melissa suddenly cried out.
“How dare you slander me! I can’t take this anymore! Zerox!”
Melissa hurried over to Zerox and whispered something in his ear.
Zerox’s eyes widened. But soon he nodded.
What followed was a cruel command.
“I’ve tolerated enough noise since earlier. Cut out both their tongues and gag their mouths at once.”
In an instant, both their tongues were severed, and their mouths were sealed with cloth.
A chill ran down my spine.
Meanwhile, Melissa stood apart from the King, biting her nails.
But her lips continued to move.
Curious about what she was saying, Luderne and I quietly drew closer to her.
“Finally quiet, those mad things. If they’re going to die committing adultery, why drag me into it?”
Melissa then noticed us and flinched, stepping back in surprise.
“What is it? Do you have something to say?”
Luderne answered calmly.
“Since this is their final journey, I thought the Saint’s prayers might be needed.”
It was a good idea.
When Melissa looked at me, I shrugged.
“I never thought it would come to this. Would it be alright if I went and offered a brief prayer?”
“Well, she is still my mother, so it would be better to do at least that much. I’d appreciate it. But only for my mother, not the Coachman.”
“Understood.”
Melissa went to Zerox and relayed the message.
Soon Zerox had only Matilda seated on one side of the deck.
Matilda, bound and with her tongue cut out, cloth stuffed in her mouth, looked truly wretched.
But even as a flicker of pity arose, I remembered my own form as I died at Count Veloda Genoma’s hands before my regression.
‘He had gagged my mouth so I couldn’t even scream for mercy.’
What was happening now was nothing less than a part of my revenge being fulfilled.
“Would you step back a bit so I can focus on my prayer?”
The knights standing nearby stepped back a few paces further.
“Then I’ll begin my prayer.”
I lowered my body before Matilda. And I spoke to her, my voice close to her ear.
Only Matilda could hear it.
“I’m glad I could finally release all this pent-up frustration.”
Matilda turned to look at me.
“Listen carefully to my voice, Matilda. Do you still not know who I am?”
A subtle smile bloomed naturally on my lips.
“I’m relieved I could finally have my revenge.”
Matilda’s eyes, which had been darting about frantically, widened so enormously it seemed they might burst from their sockets.
It was the face of someone who had just realized my identity.
“That’s right. I am Priscilla. I’ll send my daughter and son-in-law to you soon, so if hell exists, go there first and wait for us.”
“!”
After finishing my whisper, I stepped back one pace.
Matilda’s complexion had turned deathly pale. Her frozen state made it abundantly clear she had suffered an enormous shock.
I brought my hands together and placed them over my heart, then closed my eyes and looked heavenward.
“Oh, Divine One.”
After uttering the ceremonial words loud enough for all to hear, I returned to Luderne’s side.
Matilda and the Coachman were dragged away as they were.
As they disappeared, the onlookers began to murmur among themselves.
“The tea time has become unexpectedly ruined.”
Zerox heaved a deep sigh as the number of observers dwindled.
“We shall conclude today’s gathering here. I will complete the hospitality I failed to provide at the next party.”
* * *
Zerox was utterly flabbergasted by several matters.
The most astonishing of all was Luderne’s entourage.
He had given them poisoned tea, yet they showed no reaction whatsoever.
He had heard that imperial bloodlines developed resistance to poison, but it wasn’t just Luderne who remained unaffected.
This meant they had all prepared for assassination by poison together.
He knew they could prepare, but the way they passed through it so effortlessly left him feeling hollow.
Moreover, they even knew about the existence of copies. He absolutely could not let those slip away.
Fortunately, Melissa’s impromptu remark had deflected suspicion. He resolved that if Luderne came searching for it, he would kill him and throw his corpse into the sea.
As for Priscilla that day, he had planned to capture and imprison her.
Zerox despised seeing such a beautiful and elegant woman as the Grand Duchess consort to Prince Wintem.
He would kill Luderne, and Priscilla would simply disappear.
He had received a count’s title, but without Luderne, he would never have obtained it. In that case, the Doerban Empire would pay no attention to her, whether she was visible or not.
Even more so after the Emperor’s death.
‘I’ll keep her locked away and shower her with affection as I please.’
Breaking her spirit beforehand was also an effective method for easy manipulation.
That was why he had agreed to Melissa’s request—to attend to her grooming.
But he never expected matters to escalate like this.
Moreover, Luderne had not overlooked Melissa’s outrageous behavior toward Priscilla.
Thanks to that, it was fortunate he had learned Melissa’s exact origins, and it was satisfying that he had eliminated one of her key subordinates through her own miscalculation.
Zerox deliberately feigned distress, amplifying the situation further.
Even as onlookers gathered around them, he allowed it intentionally—gathering justification for why Melissa could never become queen.
For these reasons, despite the tea party ending in disaster, he announced that the shipboard party scheduled for two weeks hence would proceed as planned.
Zerox claimed he needed solitude to clear his mind and dismissed everyone from his presence.
Among those who departed at a respectful distance was Melissa herself.
Count Veloda Genoma followed behind her, with Eclite at his side dressed indistinguishably from any other knight.
Luderne Sellen and Priscilla came next, followed by Sir Jester and Madame Laber.
Zerox’s gaze naturally fell upon Priscilla from the Raber Salon.
It was then that Priscilla approached Count Veloda Genoma from behind, clutching something in her hand.
Though the distance was considerable, Zerox was startled by what he witnessed—a motion as if tearing something asunder.
It was unmistakably a magical scroll.
That was when it happened.
“Are you all right, Melissa!”
Count Veloda Genoma suddenly stepped forward. Melissa, drained of all vigor, had stumbled.
The magical scroll in Priscilla’s hands had already been torn.
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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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