About Becoming My Ex-Husband's Mistress - Chapter 192

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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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Side Story 2. Is He Sir Jester’s Child?
Ever since I had that prophetic dream, I deliberately kept my distance from Luderne Sellen, spacing our encounters more than ten days apart.
There were no cursed ailments or physical suffering whatsoever.
Though Luderne Sellen himself grew restless and tormented by desire.
“I never realized it would be this intense… so this is what you’ve been enduring.”
Luderne Sellen spoke with a rueful expression, clicking his tongue.
“Either way, I’ll manage to bear it.”
Since it wasn’t a curse, it didn’t matter to me.
When Menglow Breeze heard the news and came to check on my condition, he grinned widely.
“The malevolent energy has completely dissipated, so now only good fortune awaits. Hehehehe.”
So we were tremendously hopeful.
We set a date for both the coronation and wedding ceremony. By simple calculation, it seemed we could manage it in about a month.
Since the Imperial Court and Royal Palace were already preparing so that the coronation and wedding could be held at any time without seeming amiss, there was no difficulty.
But before we could even send out invitations, we had to postpone our schedule.
The reason was my severe morning sickness.
Everything in the world made me nauseous. I could barely stomach anything besides water and rice.
Luderne Sellen procured all manner of foods said to be beneficial for pregnant women from across the realm and laid them before me.
Dishes arrived in endless succession. Yet there was almost nothing I could actually eat. Merely catching their scent would make me retch uncontrollably.
Sir Jester attempted to use magic to ease my morning sickness. But strangely, even magic proved ineffective.
In the end, an IV line for nutritional support was inserted into my arm. It was a temporary measure to use only until the nausea subsided.
Because of this, I had to spend a considerable portion of each day lying in bed.
While I lay receiving the IV, Luderne Sellen never left my side. He would converse with me, read aloud, or handle urgent documents.
Then, about two months had passed when it happened. Suddenly, a craving struck me.
Just thinking about it made my mouth water.
“Luderne.”
“Hmm?”
“I really want to eat abalone stone pot rice.”
“Abalone… stone pot rice?”
At his bewildered response, I remembered that such a dish didn’t exist in this world.
Simultaneously, I realized that obtaining a stone pot would be impossible.
I would have to make do with whatever pot was available.
“Just bring me abalone, please.”
“Understood. I’ll procure it as quickly as possible.”
Luderne Sellen left the room.
Alone in the bedroom, gazing toward the window, a question suddenly occurred to me.
‘Wait.’
I’d never seen abalone being sold on Heril Island.
‘Do people in this world even eat abalone?’
No, I didn’t think I’d ever seen it anywhere.
But the fact that Luderne Sellen said he knew where to find it and left so readily suggested that abalone must exist somewhere in this world.
I suddenly felt sorry for Luderne Sellen.
While it’s common for husbands to fetch whatever food their pregnant wives crave, abalone seemed particularly difficult since I had no memory of ever seeing one before.
It felt like being asked to find fresh strawberries in the dead of winter, in the middle of the night.
I found myself offering a silent prayer.
Still, we could use spatial transfer scrolls. So somewhere in this world, there had to be a place where abalone was enjoyed.
* * *
When Luderne Sellen left the house, he headed straight for the Mage Tower.
Ail, who had brought the carriage, widened his eyes at Luderne Sellen’s words.
“Priscilla is looking for abalone stone pot rice?”
“She just asked me to find abalone.”
“Abalone…?”
“Finally, she mentioned something she wanted to eat, but I don’t know what abalone is.”
Luderne Sellen’s brow furrowed slightly as he took an elegant sip of tea.
“It seems to be something she ate before the regression, from wherever she lived. But I came here without asking because I was afraid she’d be disappointed if I admitted I didn’t know what it was.”
Luderne Sellen looked quite serious.
But Ail remained calm.
“Ah, I know what that is.”
Luderne Sellen felt his ears perk up.
“You do?”
“Yes. It was in my habitat. I only thought it looked peculiar, but it seems it was something edible.”
“Your habitat? So abalone was something in the sea? When you were a clownfish?”
“Yes. I wouldn’t have known either if I hadn’t been a clownfish. I learned about it from a compendium after the curse was lifted.”
At Ail’s words, Luderne Sellen leaned forward.
“Where exactly was it? Could it be caught with nets or fishing?”
Ail shook his head.
“It’s a mollusk that lives between rocks and coral reefs. There are many sea anemones there, and it’s comfortable and pleasant to live in. There are also some in the sea in front of Priscilla’s house. Not many, though.”
“I see. A clownfish habitat…”
Luderne Sellen recalled the clownfish he had seen in his prophetic dream.
At the same time, he felt proud of the child whose face he had yet to see.
“The black leopard in the dream must have known beforehand that the mother would suffer, and brought a hint about it as well.”
He then furrowed his brow with a melancholic expression.
“But the father, being ignorant, failed to notice. Honestly, I wondered if that clownfish might be one of your children.”
Luderne Sellen had pondered the prophetic dream many times and discussed it with Priscilla. Perhaps one of Ail’s clownfish children could transform into human form.
Ail was a commoner, but he was born with exceptional talent and earned his title. If one of Ail’s children was born as a clownfish, it seemed possible that they could transform into human form, overflowing with magical power.
But now that he thought about it, the hint that abalone and clownfish shared the same habitat was surely correct.
Ail nodded in agreement.
“It does seem the child is no ordinary being. But there’s still a problem.”
“A problem?”
Ail drew a picture of abalone and showed it to Luderne Sellen.
“This is what abalone looks like. But to obtain it, we’d need someone who can dive, and there’s no one like that on this island, is there?”
Ail was right.
Heril Island had many fishermen, but they typically used fishing rods or nets. No one dove.
‘Where would we find one?’
As silence fell and concern etched itself across Luderne’s face, Ail spoke quickly.
“Among the Eurasia Knights, there should be someone capable of diving.”
“What’s the probability they’d know about abalone?”
“We’d have to bring them and teach them.”
“But there’s also the risk of danger while diving, isn’t there?”
“Well, I should go to the Imperial Court and search for safety-related scrolls, then bring them back.”
“Would they have them at the Imperial Court?”
“Since there’s rarely any need to dive to that depth in the first place, I’d have to search to know. The Mages might have them separately, so if not, we could send an official request.”
At those words, Luderne calculated the time it would take to gather the necessary conditions and obtain the abalone.
No matter how he thought about it, it would take quite a while.
‘Rather than that…’
Luderne rose from his seat.
“Your Highness? Where are you going?”
“Come along.”
Luderne headed straight to the beach in front of the small house where Priscilla was staying. He picked up a trap basket.
“Where exactly in this sea do they inhabit?”
“…Pardon?”
At Ail’s bewildered expression, Luderne’s eyes narrowed.
“Your Highness? Surely you don’t mean to… go yourself?”
“No matter how I think about it, that seems faster. I’ve heard that when a pregnant woman wants something to eat, she wants it immediately.”
“But the danger…”
Ail tried to dissuade him but stopped upon sensing his displeasure.
Once Luderne made up his mind, there was no stopping him. In that case, it was better to quickly show him the terrain and provide support.
Ail pulled out his notebook and sketched the location of the abalone’s habitat for Luderne.
“It’s around here.”
Luderne gauged the distance.
“I could swim there from here.”
“That’s true. However, it’s quite deep for a person to dive into. I know Your Highness’s lung capacity and endurance far exceed that of an ordinary person, but you must still be extremely careful.”
Luderne compared the drawing in the notebook with the surrounding terrain, then removed his shirt.
“I’ll be back.”
Ail simply bowed respectfully.
“I’ll follow behind with the fastest fishing boat.”
“Do that.”
Luderne dove into the sea.
After swimming for a while, he confirmed the location Ail had indicated and immediately dove downward.
The sea was blue and clear. But as Ail had said, it was quite deep, and with coral reefs, sea anemones, and schools of clownfish visible, it wasn’t easy to distinguish the abalone.
Luderne searched about, then felt his breath growing short and headed toward the surface.
After that, I dove five more times and surfaced.
The sea creatures were still visible, but I couldn’t obtain an abalone.
It was hardly surprising—I had never seen one in person before.
I wondered if I had been too hasty.
“Sigh, I suppose I’ll have to wait until Sir Jester arrives.”
That was when it happened.
Small droplets of water splashed across Luderne’s face.
The sensation was different from the spray of waves, so Luderne turned his head.

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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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