About Becoming My Ex-Husband's Mistress - Chapter 6

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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 6. An Unwanted Marriage
His black hair, neatly combed back, possessed an exquisite texture—like the dark curtain of night scattered with countless stars.
Passionate crimson eyes, a straight and broad shoulders and back, powerful musculature contrasting with long, slender limbs.
His every movement carried such dignity and grace.
I would never forget the peculiar feeling of that time, not in all my years.
My despair had vanished without trace, replaced by the sensation that all the world’s fortune was beckoning toward me.
‘I had never encountered anyone so remarkable before.’
His only shortcomings were his taciturn nature, his cold expression, and his blunt demeanor.
He rarely displayed emotion, and our intimate moments felt like nothing more than a duty to produce an heir.
Yet still, I loved him. For no person can be perfect.
My life at Sellen Manor was tolerable.
I harbored regret that there had been no war, but what could be done about it?
Still, hope remained within me now.
Because I had finished reading the novel.
I did not know before, but now I understand. Though officially he fell in battle, Luderne yet lives somewhere in this world.
‘Where could he be?’
I stood by the window, gazing outward.
As I admired the harbor streets in the gathering dusk, my gaze shifted to the streetlamps illuminating one by one.
The lamplighters were methodically kindling each lamp.
When the sky had grown completely dark and all the lamps were lit, I swallowed a sigh and seated myself at the table.
I took up my pen and wrote upon the paper the events and dates I could recall.
First, the passing of Hilda Arde, the late Queen of Arde.
The cause of her death was sudden.
Hilda Arde had borne Prince Zerox and Princess Cherni, and it was Zerox who inherited the throne.
Then, roughly half a year later, a great war erupted with the Doerban Empire.
By law, all adult male heads of noble houses were required to participate in the campaign.
Baron Sellen ceded his title to his son Luderne upon the latter’s marriage, and departed with his wife to another estate.
Thus, Luderne became the head of the household at that time.
And Luderne, who had departed for war leaving me at Sellen Manor, returned a year later as news of his death.
‘We buried an empty coffin, bereft even of his remains, and completed the funeral rites….’
That was one year ago from now.
When Matilda heard of Luderne’s death, she came to Sellen Manor at once with Melissa.
Matilda, offering to manage the household in my grief-stricken stead, settled herself firmly in place.
The servants began departing one by one not long after Matilda and Melissa entered the manor.
In retrospect, the problem lay in how harshly Matilda drove them.
Yet rather than reflecting upon her own conduct, Matilda reproached me, saying the servants lacked fortitude.
“How have you managed the household all this time, that the servants cannot even endure this much and simply abandon their posts?”
At that time, I could only bow my head apologetically before Matilda.
There was my father’s dying wish that I obey my stepmother, and Matilda had long used education as a pretext for her abuse.
Speaking my true thoughts to Matilda was something I could not have imagined doing in those days.
Matilda had pestered me relentlessly.
“This manor is inconvenient without servants now. Let’s go live at Bilsty Mansion.”
When she said Sellen Manor would only need a caretaker, I had no choice but to be dragged by her hand back to my family home.
‘That was half a year after the funeral ended….’
I spent the next half year living at Bilsty Mansion, doing household chores like cleaning and washing dishes alongside the other servants.
Work I had never done when I lived at Sellen Manor.
“If you laze about like that, you’ll only grow fat and sink into melancholy over that dead man. Look in the mirror—see how pathetic you’ve become.”
I couldn’t help but move under Matilda’s constant nagging.
And then recently, I received an invitation to Count Genoma’s Estate.
“Heavens, be grateful to the Count. He’s trying to save a widow who ruined her life.”
Recalling Matilda’s exclamation, I remembered my behavior at that time and let out a hollow laugh.
Though I was obedient, that was the one time I had voiced my opinion to Matilda.
That I didn’t want to remarry.
“So you’re trying to ruin your sister’s future?”
Matilda had raised her voice and rebuked me as if utterly exasperated.
“Just do as I say. Don’t you know how precious the position of Countess is?”
Unable to withstand her reproach, I had signed the marriage covenant.
After I became Countess Genoma, all rights to my property transferred to my husband, Count Genoma.
As a result, I couldn’t even know how much my late husband Luderne had left me.
“Why would you boast about such a pittance?”
Matilda monopolized all the documents, claiming she would manage the household at Count Genoma’s Estate, and never told me anything.
‘But the account she told me to use in emergencies contains three thousand gold coins….’
Luderne’s inheritance must have been considerably more than that.
Count Genoma, learning there was hidden wealth, even tried to kill me to obtain it.
That incident would happen two years from now, when I was twenty-six.
‘Once I die and two years pass, by law Count Genoma will claim that wealth as well.’
After calculating even the timing of the coming tragedy, I found myself shaking my head involuntarily.
“Sigh, I was truly foolish.”
Luderne, who would become Duke Wintum, would reappear in the world half a year after all my property passed to Count Genoma.
After Melissa became a saint—far too late for him to reclaim his wealth.
‘Ah, come to think of it, this decision also prevents Melissa from purchasing the Temple.’
I set down the pen and gripped the key hanging around my neck tightly.
“Thank goodness.”
I haven’t lost a single coin yet.
And the future seems like it will change.
Four and a half years remain until Duke Wintum appears in the world.
I have no idea what state my husband is in now, where he is, or when he becomes Duke Wintum.
But I could speculate on why he had no presence for so long despite being alive.
Perhaps he was immobilized by severe injuries.
“It’s alright.”
Now that I have money, things should improve considerably.
‘This time, I’ll search for him myself.’
If I can prove Luderne’s survival, his death will be corrected and his title restored. Then naturally, I’ll return to being his wife.
Since remarriage becomes impossible, Count Veloda Genoma and Melissa’s scheme to seize my inheritance will crumble to nothing.
I bit my lower lip firmly.
The demons who killed me before my regression, who still seek to harm me now.
When I read the novel, I thought it was Count Veloda Genoma who killed Priscilla.
But looking back, they were all accomplices.
Melissa and even Matilda.
‘Matilda never loved me—she only abused me and imposed obligations.’
A hollow laugh escaped me.
Matilda must have been meticulously calculating when the inheritance would transfer, and I realized how weak I had been before my regression, allowing myself to be manipulated by her so completely.
No matter what Father’s will said, why had I let myself be swayed by Matilda to such an extent?
For a moment, the desire for revenge stirred within me.
After my regression, I narrowly avoided sabotage and prevented my assets from being stolen, but what they did was truly unforgivable.
Yet as I contemplated revenge, I quickly changed my mind.
I’m genuinely furious about what I endured. But I know myself well. I’m not ruthless enough to repay others for what they’ve done to me.
More than anything, I couldn’t waste time on revenge. It was better to focus that time on finding Luderne.
‘Revenge isn’t just about destroying someone. Living well and thriving right before their eyes is revenge too.’
After achieving a clean mental victory, I went to the hotel front desk and called for a staff member.
“Could you recommend a trustworthy and skilled escort mercenary? I’d like to hire one starting tomorrow morning for about four days.”
If I boarded the ship tomorrow, it would take about four days to reach the Capital.
The hotel staff readily agreed to check with the Mercenary Guild and briefly stepped away.
I retrieved a small atlas kept nearby.
As I opened it, I could see Roban Harbor where I currently was and the sea beyond, and when I turned the page, the Oselia Archipelago appeared.
Once I passed through here, I would arrive at the Arde Kingdom.
‘Once I reach the Capital, I’ll need to find lodging first. Then I’ll commission a Detective Agency to search for Luderne….’
After completing those tasks, I planned to verify exactly how much of my remaining assets were real.
‘And then….’
I tapped the map with my finger and made my decision.
I would enter the Central Social Circle.

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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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