About Becoming My Ex-Husband's Mistress - Chapter 41

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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 41. I Love You
Priscilla, I wanted to surprise you, but this sudden downpour has left me feeling rather drained. I find myself craving your signature dish—would it be too much trouble to ask?
Ail Jester.
It seemed his research wasn’t progressing well.
Still, it was fortunate that his message arrived at just the right moment.
I’ll prepare it for dinner.
Priscilla.
I tied the note to a messenger bird and sent it off, then grabbed my basket and stepped outside once more.
I collected four fresh eggs from the chicken coop into my basket first, then plucked crisp lettuce and cabbage along with a tomato from the flourishing corner of the Yard, adding them to my basket before returning inside.
Next, I opened the shelf and retrieved the rice.
Rice wasn’t originally a grain grown in this region, but at some point, ships began bringing small quantities that eventually found their way to the General Store.
Of course, since bread was the staple of this world, the Island’s residents paid rice no mind whatsoever.
But I was different, having lived in Korea.
‘A proper meal of rice is essential.’
I had prepared rice as a dish and once served it to Sir Jester when he visited.
From that day forward, rice became my signature dish.
I placed the washed rice into a pot.
I put the octopus together with turnips into a broth pot and hung both pots side by side over the hearth, while I grilled two fish over the bonfire.
I washed the tomato and lettuce in water and cut them into small pieces, stir-fried the cabbage with garlic and bacon, and rolled the beaten eggs into a thin omelet.
Then I packed all the finished dishes into prepared lunch containers.
White steamed rice, octopus broth, grilled fish, stir-fried cabbage, lettuce and tomato salad, and rolled egg.
Two complete Korean-style lunch boxes that made one’s mouth water just looking at them were finished.
I carefully packed the lunch boxes and left my home.
In the distance, the towering blue Mage Tower rose majestically into view.
“Good day, Soldier.”
“Good day to you, Priscilla.”
Upon arriving at the Mage Tower, the Soldier standing guard at the entrance smiled warmly at my greeting and opened the door for me.
I climbed to the twelfth floor of the Mage Tower where Sir Jester’s laboratory was located.
The spiraling staircase that wound upward had been daunting at first, but I’d grown accustomed to it by now.
“Sir Jester, I’m coming in.”
Upon reaching the top of the stairs, I knocked and opened the door to find Sir Jester removing his glasses and breaking into a broad smile amid towering stacks of books and experimental apparatus.
“Welcome, Priscilla.”
His eyes were deeply shadowed.
“You haven’t been sleeping?”
“I managed some brief rest. There was something requiring my full concentration. Now I’m famished.”
“Then you should eat right away.”
I sat on the sofa placed to one side and set the lunch boxes on the table.
As I opened the lunch box lids, Sir Jester rubbed his hands together eagerly and settled onto the sofa across from me.
“I’m grateful for this meal! Today I truly wanted to eat this signature dish of yours. The reason is….”
Sir Jester paused for a moment, then grasped his fork and smiled warmly.
“First, let’s restore your strength with some food.”
The bento box was emptied in an instant.
Soon, Sir Jester’s Assistant brought black tea and cake as dessert.
“That was truly delicious.”
Sir Jester patted his belly and lifted his teacup.
“You said you wanted to surprise me, didn’t you?”
I suspected he’d wanted to, but lacked the energy to do so.
“Not long after we met, I traveled throughout the Empire gathering related information, remember?”
I nodded silently at Sir Jester’s words.
“At that time, I submitted multiple requests to the relevant institutions regarding the scroll curse mage Menglow Breeze.”
Menglow Breeze.
The name of the mage who had created this curse magic.
“I received their response a year ago.”
Sir Jester took a sip of black tea before continuing.
“I wanted to tell you immediately, but I was cautious until I could verify everything. It would be troublesome if I got your hopes up only for the conclusions to be completely wrong. Fortunately, it didn’t seem like the kind of curse where life hangs in the balance.”
My ears perked up. It sounded like the verification had been completed.
“What happened?”
“There’s good news and bad news. First, the good news.”
Sir Jester paused to swallow before speaking.
“It was difficult since it’s outside my field, but I did manage to solve the curse magic formula.”
“Does that mean you can break the curse placed on me?”
Sir Jester shook his head.
“It would be easy if the magic still existed, but most of it has disappeared by now, so solving this formula is pointless….”
Good news, he said.
Sir Jester, observing my expression, raised one corner of his mouth.
“Don’t be disappointed yet. I continued verifying the materials, and as a result, I did find a way to delay the curse’s symptoms and eventually eliminate them.”
My eyes widened.
Sir Jester, meeting my gaze, smiled broadly.
“I managed to obtain it by insisting it was for research purposes. First, the method to delay the symptoms. This is the good news.”
Sir Jester produced a small scroll from his breast pocket.
“It’s a Dispel Scroll that remained in the Empire. With this, I can suppress the curse’s symptoms. Since it wasn’t made by Menglow himself, a perfect curse removal will be difficult. But the performance is quite good, so it should work for about a year and a half.”
“Really? Is that truly possible?”
“If it’s a curse made by that Old Woman, you surely wouldn’t have been fine all this time. So let’s use this first.”
Sir Jester tore the scroll before me.
A subtle energy washed over my body, followed by goosebumps erupting across my skin and a wave of dizziness.
But it was brief—my mind became clear.
Since I wasn’t currently suffering from the curse, I couldn’t tell how effective it truly was.
“Ah, the distinctive curse aura has become murky. Now we can apply the method to eliminate the curse magic itself. The difficulty level… will depend on the circumstances.”
Hope kindled within me at Sir Jester’s words.
“What’s the method to eliminate it? Is it perhaps very difficult?”
Sir Jester rolled his eyes for a moment, then shrugged his shoulders.
“Difficult yet simple? In a way, it’s rather like a fairy tale method.”
“A fairy tale method….”
One method came to mind at the mention of fairy tales.
“Could it be… receiving a kiss from someone who truly loves me?”
“There is some overlap in the word ‘love,’ certainly.”
Sir Jester smiled broadly.
“If a kiss would do it, I’d have already broken it.”
My face grew hot.
Because of my wrong answer and his unexpected confession.
I covered my burning cheeks with my hands. And I evaded his confession.
“Then, what is it?”
“That is….”
Sir Jester fiddled with his earlobe before carefully opening his mouth.
“I’ll tell you. The bad news too.”
* * *
Suppressing the curse for a year and a half was truly good news.
But after hearing what Sir Jester said next, I couldn’t quite remember how I’d made it home.
Once I sat on the sofa, the conversation between us came back to me.
｢Menglow Breeze’s curse magic was originally applied to a single target, so the theory is that it will disappear if that target splits into two bodies.｣
｢Then….｣
｢You need to bear a child between a man you love and a man who loves you. The curse will stop once you become pregnant, and it will disappear completely once you give birth safely.｣
I have someone I love. But the part about needing to be the child of a man who loves me was the problem.
A child between Luderne Sellen and me.
Just thinking about it made my heart swell.
‘But could such a thing ever happen.’
I was taking contraceptive pills regularly. It was a promise, after all.
Thinking about it, it was impossible.
And one more piece of news delivered. The curse magic had a time limit.
｢If you don’t break it by then….｣
From that point on, even as I listened, I had no countermeasure and my mind grew distant.
Sir Jester, seeing my dazed expression, showed a bitter smile as if his efforts would be insufficient.
It was just as I was trying to organize my thoughts a bit more.
Knock, knock.
The sound of knocking from outside the door brought me back to my senses.
Looking out the window, it was already deep night.
When I opened the door, Luderne Sellen strode in.
He handed me his robe and, unbuttoning his shirt sleeves as if it were natural, headed toward the bedroom.
I hung his robe on a coat rack and brought water into the bedroom.
As I faced Luderne Sellen, he handed me medicine.
Birth control pills.
Now it was my turn to take them in front of him.
But as I stared at the medicine he’d handed me, hesitation crept in.
‘Should I ask?’
He’d borne my curse alongside me for nearly four years now—surely that meant he’d at least grown fond of me, hadn’t it?
That some affection for me must have blossomed in his heart.
This curse was a spell that consumed my life force until it vanished entirely.
Sir Jester had told me the curse’s duration was seven years in total.
It was a fact never before revealed, but he said that if it was Menglow Breeze’s curse, all seven years would apply without exception.
The reason it remained unknown was that most cursed individuals died before completing the seven years.
Sir Jester had discovered this while maintaining contact with the Empire’s Mage Tower and excavating related records, eventually uncovering additional magical research notes from Menglow Breeze.
“When I looked into it, I realized it was a miracle that Priscilla endured this long.”
Nearly four years had passed, so roughly three years remained for me.
But I didn’t want to die.
I lifted my gaze and met his eyes steadily—his beautiful, expressionless face.
Whether he had no memory of me now, or simply pretended not to know me despite remembering.
‘Even as his mistress, I want to be by his side.’
Might he change his mind and grant me even one child to save my life?
My lips trembled, but the words wouldn’t come easily. There was a contract between us, after all.
I looked down at the pills in my palm again, wavering.
Then a low voice emerged from between Luderne’s lips.
“It seems you have something to say to me.”
I clenched the medicine tightly in my fist.
‘Find your courage.’
Carefully, step by step, let me first speak my heart and then confirm his.
“I… you see. I…”
I bit my lip briefly before finally forcing the words out.
“…love you.”
His pupils dilated in an instant.

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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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