About Becoming My Ex-Husband's Mistress - Chapter 173

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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 173. The Cursed Count Genoma
Count Veloda Genoma’s mouth fell open as a scream tore from his throat unbidden.
Until moments ago, he had feared death.
But not now. He was gripped by such terror that unconsciousness in death seemed preferable.
Priscilla, her form bloated and drowned in the swamp, stared at him with eyes wide open, her gaze piercing through the darkness.
* * *
“Ugh! Aaaaaahhh! Aaaaaahhh!”
Count Veloda Genoma’s body, rigid as stone, suddenly convulsed.
Seized by spasms, he thrashed wildly before finally kicking away the blankets.
His body shot upright. Cold sweat poured down like rain.
“Gasp! Gasp! Gasp! Gasp!”
Count Veloda Genoma’s mouth gaped wide as he sucked in air desperately. He looked around, then released a shuddering sigh of relief.
He was in a cabin aboard the Royal Fleet.
“Ah….”
Thank the heavens. The horrifying, vivid nightmare had only been a dream.
Count Veloda Genoma hastily drank a cup of water from the nightstand and steadied his breathing. Then he climbed out of bed.
His heart still raced wildly. The terror of death clung to him, refusing to fade.
‘Perhaps some night air will calm my nerves.’
* * *
Eclite had known for a long time that he had an older brother—one who never appeared in the Imperial Palace.
But he had thought little of it.
If the bloodline posed any real threat, the Emperor would have mentioned it frequently.
And surely he would have been summoned to court long ago as a prince.
‘It seems he went on a secret excursion and couldn’t resist embracing a commoner.’
That was the easiest conclusion to draw.
But when Eclite came of age, the Emperor consolidated several state lands to create the Wintem Territory.
Eclite already possessed lands far more extensive, yet he coveted the Wintem Territory and expected it would become his.
But the lord of Wintem never appeared.
No matter how he looked at it, something was wrong.
A territory of such excessive size couldn’t be a reward for some minor service.
Only someone like Eclite himself would be worthy of receiving it.
Then he recalled that the Emperor had a hidden son.
Could the Emperor grant such a territory to an unqualified older brother?
The mere thought of this brother infuriated him beyond measure.
So Eclite pursued various channels to investigate, and finally uncovered a shocking truth.
His brother’s mother was Hilda Arde, the King of Arde.
Simultaneously, he understood why he had never been named Crown Prince. Why Zerox was not the heir apparent.
It was unforgivable.
They had to be eliminated before the truth became public.
So Eclite conspired with Zerox and started a war.
To naturally kill the Emperor’s hidden first son.
War proved remarkably simple.
Zerox learned of my hidden older brother first and orchestrated an accident.
He despised the thought that the throne might pass to some unknown brother, so he murdered my mother, Hilda Arde.
Eclite then subtly leaked this circumstance to the Emperor.
Naturally, the Emperor erupted in fury.
He sent diplomatic envoys, determined to uncover the truth.
War followed as a matter of course.
Zerox, as if he’d been waiting, confronted the Doorban Empire with prepared forces.
In doing so, he also succeeded in identifying Luderne Sellen’s true identity.
At last, the opportunity had arrived.
A perfect chance to naturally eliminate my older brother.
Yet despite even an assassination attempt, I failed to kill Luderne Sellen.
Soon the war ended with neither victor nor vanquished.
No—it was my defeat.
The Emperor personally took the field, brought Luderne Sellen back, and granted him the Wintem Territory as if he’d been waiting to do so all along.
The Emperor always spoke with stern formality, but I could see through it immediately—he loved Luderne Sellen dearly.
Of course, the Emperor cherished me without discrimination as well. But by my measure, his affection was worthless.
He never appointed me Crown Prince, nor did he grant me the Wintem Territory.
It was then that I discovered the Emperor did not favor Luderne Sellen’s beloved wife, Priscilla.
The reason was a severe disparity in status.
Having found the only leverage with which to pressure Luderne Sellen, I felt a ray of hope descend upon me.
I resolved to use Priscilla’s safety as a weakness to completely break Luderne Sellen’s spirit.
So thoroughly that he would never dare reach for the throne itself.
So I threatened and hurled abuse at him whenever the opportunity arose.
Lest anyone mistake this for mere words, I even assigned a spy to monitor Priscilla’s actual whereabouts.
I heard she had returned to the Bilsty Estate.
His stepmother and half-sister had taken her in after hearing of Luderne Sellen’s death.
As Luderne Sellen’s status changed, his stepmother naturally grew covetous of the inheritance left behind.
Then a brilliant idea occurred to me.
I quickly searched for a young nobleman who possessed a respectable title but nothing else of value.
I found Count Veloda Genoma.
With only a polished exterior, he truly had nothing—not even the basic credit anyone with any accomplishment would possess.
Moreover, he had a hidden history of marriage fraud.
When his money ran out, he seduced a commoner woman—one with little wealth and no other connections.
Though there was no official marriage registration, the commoner woman, completely smitten with Count Veloda Genoma, entered his mansion with her meager savings, and vanished from sight thereafter.
At that moment, I became inwardly certain.
If I merely dangled the scent of money before him, Count Veloda Genoma would stop at nothing.
Sending Priscilla to him would be perfect.
So I dispatched a con artist disguised as a fortune teller to the Bilsty Viscounty.
After slipping the conman a few coins, he proceeded with the scenario that Eclite had orchestrated with remarkable authenticity.
He had provided Matilda with hints about Count Veloda Genoma.
Everything was going according to plan.
Eclite had disposed of Priscilla in that manner, and I had savored every moment of watching Luderne suffer in quiet anguish.
In that state, he would never dare entertain thoughts of the throne.
As expected, Melissa Bilsty pushed Priscilla overboard and killed her.
Soon after, Priscilla became one of the dead.
Eclite eagerly delivered this joyful news to Luderne.
Whether from shock or some other cause, Luderne had secluded himself on Heril Island for years, engaging in nothing but the bare minimum of necessary external activities.
It had been a truly satisfying progression of events.
But then….
“Idiots.”
Why were newspapers running articles stating that Priscilla of the Bilsty Estate was alive, had filed lawsuits against Matilda and Count Veloda Genoma, and had even become a viscount?
After doing so much for them, they couldn’t even properly dispose of one Priscilla.
Eclite, consumed with rage, crumpled the newspaper in my fist.
‘That woman Priscilla was clearly timid and weak?’
Even knowing all the facts, she should have spent her days cowering in some corner, weeping helplessly until death claimed her.
What on earth had happened to her after falling into the sea?
Eclite could not fathom how Priscilla had transformed so completely.
Meanwhile, a sense of unease crept in.
I had never expected their crimes to be exposed this far.
I began to fear that my own deeds might soon be laid bare before the world.
That was terrifying.
The ignorant and lowborn commoners could be suppressed through tyranny, but the problem lay in not knowing how the support of certain nobles who fancied themselves enlightened might shift.
It was then that Melissa came to me, scratching at my nerves with precisely the concerns I harbored.
My entire body went rigid with dread.
The Emperor, whom I had believed would lie helpless and never wake, had been quietly accumulating irrefutable evidence against me, concluding I was the culprit, and had even resolved to eliminate me discreetly.
The only saving grace was that he had lost consciousness and would not awaken.
The last time I saw him, the Judge, the High Priest, and the Secretary were in constant attendance, so the news I would soon hear would be of the Emperor’s passing.
It was a blessing beyond measure. All I needed to do was eliminate the copy Melissa held and Luderne.
If I managed that much, the throne would naturally become mine.
‘Good. I’ll kill them myself.’
That was why I had boarded Zerox’s fleet.
Eclite had altered my hairstyle, changed my skin tone slightly through makeup, and even added a beauty mark beneath my eye.
I wore the same uniform as the other knights and moved among them.
After all, it would be difficult for anyone to even conceive that a Prince of the Empire would be mingling among the knights of a foreign nation.
From there, I would seize an opportunity to assassinate Luderne, then use a spatial transfer scroll to escape the scene.
The culprit would then be identified as one of the Arde Kingdom’s knights.
On the surface, a conflict between the two nations would arise, but once I became Emperor, I could easily suppress it, so it mattered little.
Then a commotion broke out at the tea party, and I went to observe.
“No, why is the Prince of the great Doorban Empire serving as a Knight of the Arde Kingdom? And Count Veloda Genoma is here too.”
At Luderne’s words, Eclite felt his mood darken considerably.
At the same time, doubt crept in.
‘How did he know?’
I had thought it impossible to discover, given the logical trap I’d constructed.
Only then did he realize that Luderne had placed his own spy within this fleet.
There was no other way he could have pinpointed my presence here so effortlessly.
It was infuriating.
Of course, Eclite had often embedded his own agents aboard Luderne’s Quindel Ship.
But that was a civilian vessel. This was the Royal Fleet.
I never expected the Arde Kingdom’s fleet to be so poorly secured.
At the same time, Eclite regretted his disguise as a Knight.
Had I known I’d be discovered so easily, I should have simply traveled in my true form.
Then I could have attended the tea party on the stern and tormented Luderne and Priscilla alongside Zerox.
In any case, watching Melissa’s parents meet their cruel end was thoroughly delightful.
The series of situation reports from Baron Ugly had also yielded valuable insights into facts I’d previously overlooked.
The story that the Emperor had briefly awakened and granted Priscilla a title before closing his eyes again was not only unbelievable but also unwelcome.
No matter how much I thought about it, something didn’t add up.
As the tea party concluded and everyone dispersed, Eclite found himself lost in thought as he walked.
‘The Emperor, who despised Priscilla for her low status, suddenly granted a peerage to the commoner Priscilla?’
It made no sense. Priscilla was alive. Even Luderne knew this perfectly well.
Yet Luderne, who had been devoted to Priscilla, was now casually strolling about with Priscilla from the Raber Salon as if nothing were amiss.
Priscilla had clearly become a Countess and was even residing in her own territory, yet…
Just then, Melissa ahead stumbled slightly.
The moment Count Veloda Genoma stepped forward,
Eclite, who had paused briefly, glanced back over his shoulder.
“?”
A few paces behind, Priscilla and Luderne faced each other, speaking in hushed tones. Only Priscilla’s back was visible, her expression hidden.
Yet in that moment, he understood something.
‘Ah.’
Eclite was dumbfounded.

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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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