About Becoming My Ex-Husband's Mistress - Chapter 25

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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 25. An Honest Impulse
After dinner concluded, everyone retired for the night.
Luderne Sellen listened to his butler Egardt’s report in his bedroom.
“…That is all. And regarding that woman.”
Egardt informed him that Priscilla had entered the Underground Library the moment dinner ended.
“Once the key is confirmed to have arrived in the mailbox on the First Floor Lobby, I shall report after tidying the library’s condition.”
“I see.”
“Then sleep well, sir.”
After Egardt withdrew, Luderne lay upon his bed and closed his eyes.
“….”
Yet sleep eluded him, and his eyes opened almost immediately.
“I cannot seem to fall asleep.”
Eventually, he rose from bed and made his way to the Study.
Still dressed in his nightgown.
By the time I finished handling tomorrow’s affairs in advance, the night had grown considerably deep.
Two o’clock in the morning.
“Has she left, I wonder.”
Luderne murmured softly as he descended to the First Floor Lobby and opened the mailbox.
Yet the key to the Underground Library that he expected to find was not there.
“Surely not… Still?”
Returning to the Study, Luderne opened a desk drawer and retrieved a key. Then he pushed aside what appeared to be a rather substantial decorative cabinet.
As the wheels installed at its base rolled, the cabinet slid with surprising ease despite its appearance.
A staircase descending into darkness was revealed.
Luderne took up a lamp and stepped inside, not forgetting to move the cabinet back to conceal the wall once more.
* * *
After thoroughly examining the books, I discovered that curse magic’s foremost authority was indeed, as Sir Jester had said, a person named Menglow Breeze.
The Imperial Palace’s court mage of the Doorban Empire.
Sir Jester’s own writings contained this information. ―In the author’s biography, it stated that Jester, though of common birth, was called a genius and currently operated the Tower Research Institute.
Hoping there might be some clue, I searched diligently for anything regarding Menglow Breeze, the authority on curse magic.
As time passed, the curse’s heat rose through my body, yet with no alternative but to search the books, I gritted my teeth and persevered.
If only some method to alleviate this agony would appear….
Yet the more I sifted through the accumulated volumes, the more despair consumed me.
My greatest despair stemmed from content Sir Jester had written in one particular book.
It was the most recently published work, appearing to be an internal document.
The first page began with a warning.
Only authorized individuals may possess and retain this tome; should you discover this book in public places or elsewhere, report it to the authorities.
A reward shall be granted for doing so.
The book stated that most magic had vanished. Even with magical formulas, spells would not activate, and incantations produced no response.
The majority of mages had lost their magical power; only high-ranking mages could barely cast minor magic, if at all.
Even simple magic had become a high-tier art that few could perform. Truly difficult magic had transcended into the realm of the divine.
The priests’ sacred power had diminished in the same way.
The one silver lining was that the scroll spellbooks created by mages and Temple priests before that time retained their functionality.
However, scroll magic was a consumable resource, and since no new ones could be generated, their value naturally skyrocketed with each passing day.
It wasn’t long before the kings of various nations secretly decided to gather all existing scroll spellbooks and manage them directly.
That had been approximately a year ago.
After reading that far, I was left speechless.
The scroll Count Veloda Genoma had written appeared to have been created before magic disappeared.
I also recalled what Sir Jester had said in the garden banquet hall.
“A scroll curse spell… In this age where most magic has vanished, I wonder if anything that powerful still exists, but if it’s a curse scroll created by Menglow Breeze, there might still be one remaining…”
“But that shouldn’t be obtainable by ordinary civilians, would it? It’s an incredibly advanced form of magic.”
I combined the book’s contents with his words.
The mage who created this curse was likely Menglow Breeze. If so, there was a high probability it was an extraordinarily advanced spell.
I was dumbfounded by this unbelievable conclusion.
‘In a world that has changed this much, how on earth did Melissa Bilsty obtain a magic scroll?’
Regardless, if the caster of this curse was Menglow Breeze, I had to find her. She would know the exact details of this curse.
That was when it happened.
The curse’s aura coiled around my body.
Even stronger than yesterday.
“Ugh…”
As I rubbed both arms with my hands, a sudden doubt struck me.
‘Reading about her, she seems like such a remarkable person—can I really meet someone like that?’
I didn’t even know where to go to find her.
Even if I were fortunate enough to meet her and obtain a scroll to break the curse, could I really endure this curse until then?
That wasn’t all.
According to the book, most magic no longer exists in this world.
If magic has truly nearly vanished, there was a possibility I would gain nothing even if I found her.
In the original work I had read, quite a lot of magic appeared, so I wondered why the world had changed so drastically.
Because I survived instead of dying? Or because I made different choices?
No, I couldn’t be important enough to have such an influence on this world…
I was confused.
But there was one thing I was certain of.
This curse would not be easily broken.
Overwhelmed by despair, tears burst forth and I wept uncontrollably.
Even as I did, the curse rampaged through my body as if to mock me.
* * *
At the end of the staircase was a door leading to the Underground Library.
Luderne Sellen inserted the key and opened the door.
A lamp was lit inside the library. It meant someone was still there.
I could hear breathing.
Likely Priscilla’s breathing.
Luderne’s brow furrowed as he listened to that sound.
He remembered hearing something similar—no, something far more ragged than this.
Priscilla was breathing in shallow, uneven gasps.
It was not the breath of someone at peace.
A curse, she had called it.
Luderne murmured something barely audible and moved toward the center of the Underground Library.
Books were stacked upon the table.
Looking closer, every significant keyword in them concerned curses and scrolls.
When Luderne’s gaze finally lowered to the sofa, his lips pressed firmly shut.
Priscilla lay upon it.
She slept in a curled position, wearing nothing but a single white silk shirt.
A blanket had slipped beneath the sofa, leaving her form entirely visible.
The shirt covered only to her thighs—precariously so. Her long, smooth legs lay completely exposed.
The soft silk clung to every curve of her body.
Luderne studied Priscilla’s face.
Her cheeks were flushed, marked with the tracks of tears as though she had wept. Her breathing was somewhat ragged and sensual, her delicate shoulders trembling slightly with each breath.
He swallowed hard.
It was an honest impulse—raw desire.
Recognizing his own unbidden response, Luderne exhaled softly and set the lamp upon the table. Then he retrieved the blanket that had fallen beneath the sofa.
To cover her.
* * *
A fragrance that penetrated deep into my lungs made my heart race and flutter. The sudden surge of heat through my body jolted me awake.
I must have fallen asleep without realizing it.
Then I sensed a presence, and a blanket was drawn over me.
I opened my eyes.
I could not believe what I saw.
Those beautiful crimson eyes. The source of the fragrance that had set my heart aflutter.
He stood before me, leaning down.
I quickly sat up.
“Luderne?”
His eyes narrowed.
“…I don’t recall granting you permission to use my name.”
I quickly covered my mouth.
Even during our time as husband and wife, I had never called him by his name. Half-asleep, I had carelessly spoken it aloud.
“I-I’m sorry.”
The moment those words left my lips, a wave of heat rose from deep within me.
“Hah…”
Luderne released the edge of the blanket he had been holding and stepped back deliberately.
“Your face is quite flushed, and your breathing seems rather rapid. It appears you’ve been crying as well.”
He paused there, his lips closing. His eyes shifted away—as though he were carefully choosing his next words.
After a moment, he turned away from me and spoke.
“If you’re in such poor condition that you’re crying from pain, wouldn’t it be better to see a Doctor rather than remain in the Underground Library?”
“Seeing a Doctor won’t help.”
I scrambled to my feet in a flurry.
“It’s the curse. It’s because of that curse.”
Without time to think, I grasped the hem of his garment.
“I know it sounds strange, but I need you!”
“You?”
Luderne Sellen turned to face me, his arms crossed. Displeasure clouded his features.
“Has the pain addled your mind so thoroughly that you’ve forgotten your station, or were you never taught proper decorum? Or perhaps you’re simply scheming to avoid departure?”
“I was trying to leave. But a problem arose, and I haven’t been able to—”
Luderne Sellen didn’t let me finish.
“You were a passenger aboard the Quindel. I’ve been remarkably patient given the accident. Do you truly not consider what punishment such behavior might bring upon you?”
His stern rebuke silenced me. I bit my lip, swallowing my words.
He was right.
In my desperation, I had overlooked a crucial fact—that he was now a Grand Duke of the Doerban Empire.
Regardless of our past, he inhabited an entirely different world now.
Unless we remained husband and wife, I could guarantee myself only the barest safety in this world through proper etiquette and respect.
I grasped at reason with all my strength.
I stepped back and bowed to him with utmost formality.
Only as my gaze lowered did I realize that my legs were completely exposed.
I wore nothing but his shirt.

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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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