About Becoming My Ex-Husband's Mistress - Chapter 28
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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 28. By His Side, No Matter What
My hands were finally free.
I wrapped my arms around his broad shoulders and thick neck.
He gripped my waist and began moving in a rhythmic motion, lifting and lowering me. After repeating this several times, my mind began to turn white.
As his breathing grew ragged, so did mine. As his steel-like body felt increasingly hot, so did my own.
It was as though I had stepped into a furnace. I wondered if I would simply melt away.
I could feel the curse’s distinctive energy being driven out.
When I felt something intense building within, my entire body erupted in a pleasure so extreme it felt like fireworks exploding.
* * *
When I opened my eyes, a blanket covered my naked form. I was resting my head on a cushion, and the sofa’s backrest loomed directly before my face.
I had slept on the sofa.
It was not the finest location in this mansion, but it was softer than the inn bed, and I felt reasonably well.
At least my body felt at ease.
Last night, I had embraced him three times in succession.
Seated on the sofa, pressed against the wall, bent over the table.
After the final climax, my memory faded.
In any case, the curse’s effects that had tormented me had lifted, and I felt as light as a clear sky after rain.
“How shall I help you? Should I ease that shameless curse of yours and listen to your story, or should I hear your story first and then decide whether to help alleviate the curse?”
Remembering Luderne’s words and the time we spent filling each other with heat, colliding endlessly, I felt nothing but embarrassment, yet I was grateful the curse’s discomfort had vanished.
I lay still and contemplated.
Now all that remained was to calmly explain my curse to Luderne and request his help.
In a world where magic had largely disappeared, there was only one thing I could ask of him.
His body.
There was no help for it, shameless as it might seem.
I needed to be by his side, no matter what, at least once every ten days.
Because only he could satisfy this curse.
I glanced carefully behind me. No one was there. Luderne must have left.
Thinking I needed to wash away the sweat and bodily fluids that had made me a mess, I tried to rise.
“Ugh!”
In that moment, my body became uncomfortable again.
My groin ached, my lower body throbbed with a sharp pain, and my legs trembled weakly.
This was the aftermath of our actions, not the curse.
I sat still for a moment, enduring the soreness, and surveyed my surroundings.
The table before the sofa had been tidied.
There was even water, a small medicine bottle, and a neat meal placed upon it.
Surely at the end, Luderne had bent me over this table, scattering the books I had stacked there across the floor.
Looking at the table, my face grew hot.
I could not tell whether Luderne had cleared everything and brought the food, or if it had been the mansion’s servants.
The latter seemed more logical, but if that were truly the case, it would be terribly embarrassing.
I hoped it was not the latter.
Thinking that far, I grew anxious about who else might enter and rose from the sofa.
‘I need to tidy myself up, even if my body feels sore.’
I dragged my aching body toward the bathroom and checked the wall clock.
It pointed to ten o’clock.
‘Already ten?’
But after the commotion I’d caused at dawn, sleeping in wasn’t unreasonable.
Upon entering the bathroom, the first thing that caught my eye was the state of the bathtub.
A small barrier stood in the gently flowing water, and the water was draining through a different outlet rather than the tub itself.
Steam rose softly from the water’s surface.
Wasn’t the bathtub filled with cold groundwater? Hot water?
Puzzled, I dipped my hand slightly into the tub.
The bathwater was at a perfectly comfortable temperature.
“How is this possible?”
Truly fascinated, I peered inside the bathtub.
A small, paper-like object was affixed to one side of the tub. I could find no other peculiarities.
I wondered if this was some form of magic.
I’d never seen it before, but perhaps for the Grand Duke of the Doerban Empire, it was relatively easy to obtain.
As I speculated about the heated water, I then grew concerned about humidity.
But upon seeing the small wooden window half-open toward the ceiling—not directly connected to the outside, with nothing visible beyond—I was soon reassured.
I looked around at other areas.
On one shelf were items I hadn’t noticed earlier. Soft, thick towels were also prepared.
After confirming everything, it became clear.
Luderne had apparently made his own preparations for me to wash when I woke.
I immersed myself in the hot water.
“Ahh…”
My body, worn from all the strain, seemed to relax in a soothing way.
I felt grateful for his thoughtfulness.
After washing refreshingly and tidying the bathroom, I went to the dressing room.
I combed my hair appropriately, and upon putting on Luderne’s silk shirt again, I grew hungry.
I returned to the sofa and picked up a fork.
The food on the table had lost its warmth. Yet whether from my hunger or the quality of the ingredients, it tasted good even cold.
I was in the midst of chewing through bread and cold meat a couple of times.
The entrance on the opposite side from where I’d entered opened.
“Oh.”
I rose from my seat.
The person who entered was Luderne, carrying a steaming meal tray.
In his shirt, trousers, and vest, he looked impeccably composed—as if we hadn’t done such things just moments ago.
Embarrassed, I unnecessarily smoothed my hair.
On the other hand, I was glad to see him and felt reassured. It seemed Luderne was the only person who had entered this study while I slept.
“You’ve arrived.”
I suppressed the smile threatening to break free and greeted him.
Luderne Sellen glanced at my face, then at the table, and asked with evident displeasure.
“Why are you eating that now?”
“Pardon?”
Luderne Sellen approached and set down the tray he was carrying, then spoke again.
“What have you been doing all this time without eating?”
“Well… I’ve only just woken up.”
One of Luderne Sellen’s eyebrows rose.
“You slept? Until now?”
His gaze shifted toward the wall clock.
“It’s eleven o’clock.”
“I suppose the commotion exhausted me… I overslept a bit.”
Despite finding what seemed like an adequate response, Luderne Sellen’s brow furrowed.
The food he had personally brought had grown cold, and his displeasure was evident.
“It’s a rather late breakfast, but it’s delicious nonetheless. The bathwater was warm too, which was lovely.”
“A rather late breakfast, you say…”
His reaction warmed my heart like a spring breeze. Seeing that he had prepared various things for me, I couldn’t help but think he did care for me after all.
“I’m truly grateful for your consideration.”
Luderne Sellen clicked his tongue.
He pressed a small medicine bottle that had been on the tray into my hand.
“Drink it first.”
“What is this?”
“It would be problematic if you were to bear my child.”
“…”
The spring breeze in my heart withered away, leaving only a hollow emptiness.
When I was at the Sellen Barony, I had calculated dates each month to bear an heir.
Once a month, on days when pregnancy was most likely, I fulfilled my marital duties with him, painful though it was.
Yet I had never succeeded in becoming pregnant.
If this weren’t memory loss, he would surely know that—and yet he spoke as though he didn’t.
It felt cruel.
“I’ve never been able to conceive easily.”
“…”
“So there’s no need to take it.”
As I tried to set the medicine down, Luderne Sellen spoke with finality.
“Drink it regardless.”
“…”
“I cannot entrust the bloodline of the Doerban Empire to just any woman.”
His words struck like a dagger through my chest, and I felt as though ice water had been thrown upon me. I was deeply offended.
Yet no matter how I thought about it, I had no words to refute him.
When all was said and done, he had never embraced me out of love—he had only sought to alleviate my curse.
Because I needed to.
As a result, I also satisfied my carnal desires.
I simply nodded and swallowed the medicine before his eyes.
The contraceptive pill, which I was taking for the first time, carried a fresh strawberry scent.
I used to love strawberries.
Now I would likely despise them.
Luderne Sellen, who had been watching me intently as I took the medicine, picked up the tray containing the cold food and gestured toward the freshly brought dishes.
“I’ll be back shortly. Eat that in the meantime.”
He retraced his steps and departed.
With his presence gone and silence settling around me, only the warm food newly placed on the table remained.
I sat quietly and, as instructed, brought the warm soup to my lips.
Was it coldness, or was it tenderness?
In that moment, tears streamed down my face unbidden. My emotions were hopelessly tangled.
If only it were not for this curse.
I was angry, sorrowful, and my circumstances felt utterly pitiful.
What sin could I possibly have committed?
Though grief and injustice overwhelmed me, I quickly wiped away my tears with my palm.
Luderne Sellen would return soon.
What he set down on the table was another medicine bottle.
“Take this as well.”
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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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