About Becoming My Ex-Husband's Mistress - Chapter 33

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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 33. A Portrait of Priscilla
Sir Jester pointed toward the bare wall.
“Ah, a large painting would look wonderful on that wall, wouldn’t it?”
Egardt nodded in agreement.
“An excellent idea. If you tell me what sort of painting you’d like, I can make inquiries on your behalf.”
“Really? I can do that?”
I found myself asking in surprise.
Yesterday’s Egardt had been courteous enough, but the kindness I sensed today felt different. Perhaps familiarity was beginning to bridge the distance between us.
“Of course. Please tell me. The mansion has several paintings we don’t use. What do you think of a landscape?”
“I like that. What about a painting with sunflowers and water?”
They say hanging such images in one’s home brings good fortune.
That was when Sir Jester spoke up suddenly.
“No, I think a portrait of Priscilla would be better.”
“Pardon?”
His utterly unexpected suggestion made me turn to look at him.
Egardt’s eyes narrowed slightly as well.
“What do you mean by that, sir?”
At Egardt’s question, Sir Jester shook his head.
“I just remembered something.”
With his arms crossed, he stood gazing at the wall and continued.
“There’s a portrait of her wearing a crimson gown and a tiara.”
“?”
“Her golden hair is half-pinned and cascades down, and she wears a serene smile. Beneath long, luxuriant lashes, emerald-green eyes shine with a light that meets the gaze of whoever beholds the portrait. There’s something melancholic about it, yet beautiful—so captivating that once you look upon it, you cannot tear your eyes away.”
Egardt asked with a bewildered expression.
“Do you mean you’d like Priscilla’s portrait painted in that manner? But adding a tiara—an ornament only royalty may wear—seems rather excessive for a portrait.”
He was right. Tiaras could not be worn by just anyone, nor could they be depicted in a portrait.
So I tried to support Egardt’s objection, but I fell silent at the absurdity that had just spilled from Sir Jester’s lips.
“No, it exists. A portrait of Priscilla. As for where it is…”
This was nonsense. Such a portrait could not possibly exist.
Yet there was something strange about the certainty in his voice.
Egardt and I exchanged glances and fixed our attention on Sir Jester.
The excitement that had animated him as he showed us the newly refurbished house had vanished like a lie. His eyes, focused on the wall, had lost their clarity.
No—he was looking at something beyond, somewhere unknowable.
“If you draw back the crimson curtains somewhere in the castle, it’s there behind them. When I discovered it, I was left alone to gaze upon that hidden portrait, and I simply could not bear it… Ugh!”
Sir Jester suddenly clutched his head, his face contorting in pain, and he collapsed as though he might lose consciousness at any moment.
“Good heavens, Sir Jester!”
“Are you all right?”
Egardt and I were startled and rushed to check on his condition.
“My… my head feels like it’s splitting apart.”
Sir Jester, still clutching his head, writhed in agony for a long while, and yet even as he groaned, he muttered something under his breath.
“I… I think I’m starting to remember something… Wait, what was it? Something very important… Ugh!”
His face had turned ashen. Cold sweat dripped down like rain.
As I examined his condition with great concern, I recalled that Luderne Sellen had spoken to him earlier.
He had definitely asked about his headaches at that time.
I suspected Sir Jester might have a chronic condition.
“Sir Jester, if you’re in pain, don’t think about anything else. Come over here first.”
Egardt and I supported him together and laid him on the bed. Then I hastily pulled out his handkerchief and wiped the sweat from his face.
“Come to your senses, Sir Jester.”
“I’ll fetch the Doctor.”
Egardt, who had been fidgeting nervously, rushed out the door in a panic.
Soon I heard the sound of a horse neighing and a carriage rolling away rapidly outside.
Sir Jester had grown quiet in the meantime.
My heart sank, and I quickly checked his pulse and breathing.
His pulse was beating steadily. His breathing was also stable.
Shortly after, the Doctor who had come running with Egardt examined Sir Jester’s condition and tilted his head in confusion.
“It’s difficult to say. If he was speaking nonsense, could it be transient dementia?”
There was nothing physically wrong with him.
“If he’s a mage, it could be a condition that’s difficult for a doctor to diagnose. Magic-related illnesses are hard to treat, but medication should ease the symptoms somewhat.”
The Doctor provided antipyretics, painkillers, and various other medicines as precautions, instructing me to administer them according to the symptoms.
“Keeping him at rest until he awakens is probably the best course of action. Let him have complete rest, and call me immediately if anything happens.”
The Doctor left right away.
As I stood to see him off, Egardt beside me cleared his throat.
“If you’ll wait a moment, I’ll bring people to move Sir Jester to the Mansion.”
I shook my head.
“The Doctor said keeping him at rest is the best approach.”
“That’s true, but… it doesn’t look good to have a patient in a freshly decorated house…”
He seemed concerned that I might dislike it.
“This person helped decorate this house. I’ll keep him here and care for him myself.”
I checked the wall clock. Evening would arrive soon.
“When he awakens, I should prepare soup for him, so would you stay here just while I go buy some groceries?”
Egardt bowed respectfully.
“Then please allow me to handle that part. I’ll send a Mute Maid to assist.”
* * *
Anne, the head Mute Maid of Wintem Villa on Heril Island.
Born into a middle-class family in the fertile and expansive Wintem Territory, she had a neat appearance, a calm and quiet demeanor, and meticulous, capable hands.
Having worked as a maid in the Grand Duke’s House and earned high recognition for her service skills, she was able to volunteer for Luderne Sellen’s special attendant duties.
The competition was quite fierce, and the reason the maids eagerly volunteered—including their fantasies—came down to two main points.
First. High wages befitting special duty work.
This was certain.
Second. A romance between the handsome and impressive Grand Duke and a maid.
I thought that if I stayed close to Luderne Sellen for long enough, eventually I would catch his eye, and perhaps history would be made.
Ideally, I would sit in the position of his legitimate wife. But even bearing a bastard child from a brief affair would be acceptable.
Even if I appeared suddenly after the war between the Doerban Empire and the Arde Kingdom, Luderne Sellen was still imperial blood.
When the Emperor of Doerban himself recognized him as a prince and granted him the title of Grand Duke along with his territory, the nobility lacking information was rife with gossip.
They called him a bastard of unknown origins.
It was talk that arose because no one knew who his mother was. Normally, she would have appeared as an empress or concubine, but she did not.
They even spread such rumors at parties hosted by the Grand Duke’s House.
But to the common maidservants who were not nobility, it mattered not whether he was the son of a courtesan who had once shared a bed with the Emperor.
After all, half of his blood was genuine imperial lineage.
Then his son would naturally become imperial blood as well. No matter where he was born.
The maidservants dreamed of using this method to ascend into the royal family in one swift stroke.
Of course, they had no intention of becoming entangled in political intrigue for power. They simply wished to live quietly, spending money as effortlessly as breathing, without lifting a finger.
How romantic it all seemed!
Anne, who was quite confident in her own appearance, thought exactly the same as the other maidservants.
So when she was selected as a special attendant alongside Egardt, she was overjoyed.
When she later learned that Luderne Sellen’s mother was the Queen of Arde, she felt her heart swell at the thought that a great opportunity had come her way.
And so I came to Heril Island.
Unlike the bustling Wintem Territory, the island was quiet and beautiful. The small number of islanders and the mansion’s servants were also of an agreeable temperament.
As such, placing the mansion’s servants under my command alongside Egardt was hardly any effort at all.
It was peaceful.
But though I did not show it, stress accumulated within me as the days passed. Luderne Sellen showed me no interest whatsoever, not even a glance.
My dream seemed far from realization.
And I despised the islanders.
There was no particular reason. It was simply that they were people who lived in such a place.
After taking a ten-day leave and traveling through the Capital of Arde Kingdom, such feelings only grew stronger.
The capital was vibrant and elegant. Refined people walked its streets, and the avenues overflowed with sights to see and delicacies to taste.
Moreover, Luderne Sellen’s town house was far grander and more magnificent than the mansion on the island.
‘It would be so much better to live here than on the island.’
With such thoughts, I enjoyed those ten days to the fullest before returning.
Of course, the island’s scenery and mansion possessed a charm different from the capital. It was a very pleasant place for the master to rest.
But aside from that, it reeked of provincial rusticity.
Especially the women of the island.
Their skin left carelessly tanned by the sun and their hair merely pinned up haphazardly—their maintenance of beauty was, in my view, utterly lamentable.
‘Could they not cultivate themselves with more refinement?’
I was even embarrassed to be seen walking alongside the island-born maidservants.
What consoled me was the generous salary.
Perhaps my long-held dream might yet come to pass, but for now, I changed my objective.
Someday, Luderne Sellen would return to his main territory.
There, a very exacting and dignified head maid and senior maid already existed, so my position would disappear, but there would still be some form of advancement for me.
Moreover, if I saved my salary carefully, I could naturally live quite comfortably.
So Anne decided to endure without revealing her circumstances, managing the islanders well until then.
That is, until the pressing need for labor drove her to temporarily hire Priscilla from the tavern for a single day’s work.

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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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