About Becoming My Ex-Husband's Mistress - Chapter 62

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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 62. Just the Two of Us—How About It?
“I am deeply honored, Your Majesty.”
Madame Laber was exceedingly gracious. Yet unlike her usual demeanor, her voice rang bright, suffused with genuine joy.
Applause erupted immediately.
Having received the trophy, Madame Laber offered formal courtesies in turn to the king and the assembled nobility of the banquet hall before stepping aside.
The Master of Ceremonies announced the next recipient’s name in a booming voice.
“Salon Raber’s contestant, Olivia Heser.”
Zerox presented the golden trophy to Olivia among the two contestants.
“Your entrance was most impressive. I have never witnessed such exquisite styling before. Truly remarkable.”
“I am deeply honored, Your Majesty.”
“Look at me directly.”
Zerox’s Adam’s apple bobbed as he regarded Olivia, then he cleared his throat lightly.
“The Heser family does not appear to be nobility.”
Olivia answered his interested inquiry with courtesy.
“That is correct. My father operates a modest trading company, and I perform opera with Troupe Laverre.”
Olivia’s voice trembled. She seemed to regard this very moment of conversing with Zerox as profoundly glorious.
Zerox’s lips curved upward softly.
“After the awards ceremony concludes, I should like to hear you sing once more here.”
“It would be my greatest honor, Your Majesty.”
Zerox cleared his throat again, lightly.
“I wish to hear you sing separately as well.”
“…I beg your pardon?”
Zerox took one of Olivia’s hands. Lowering his voice, he brought his lips to the back of her hand.
“Just the two of us. How about it?”
The banquet hall stirred at once.
What Zerox had just spoken would not have carried to those below. Yet his gesture left no ambiguity for anyone to witness.
I had not expected the reaction to come so swiftly.
“I am grateful for this opportunity to sing privately for one of such humble station as myself. Your Majesty, I shall serve with all my heart.”
Olivia bowed with elegant grace.
I glanced sideways to gauge Melissa’s reaction.
Melissa’s pupils trembled with profound shock. Her tightly clenched fists betrayed her emotions, quivering uncontrollably.
She could not possibly have missed the significance of a hand kiss.
‘That makes the second blow.’
Melissa’s probability of becoming queen had just diminished considerably.
‘Which means Luderne’s chances of survival have increased accordingly.’
Olivia, holding the trophy, and her partner took their place beside Madame Laber.
Olivia’s cheeks flushed a vivid crimson. Her sparkling eyes painted the unmistakable portrait of a woman moved by unexpected favor.
The Master of Ceremonies announced the next recipient’s name in a booming voice once more.
“Salon Raber’s designer, Priscilla.”
Zerox lifted the final trophy in his hands.
Now it was my turn to receive the golden trophy.
I stepped forward one pace as I had rehearsed beforehand, and offered a respectful bow.
“It is you who orchestrated Olivia Heser’s faction and drew forth such an unprecedented, dramatic, and overwhelming voting result.”
“You are too kind, Your Majesty.”
“Raise your head and look at me.”
I lifted my gaze as instructed and met Zerox’s green eyes directly.
In that moment, Zerox fell silent, his eyes seeming to glaze over.
‘What is this?’
It was an unexpected reaction—as though he had fallen for me at first sight.
‘Had he not just been moved by Olivia?’
Witnessing such fickleness, I recalled what sort of character Zerox had been in the novel.
‘Hmm?’
Yet the memory eluded me.
The novel had certainly ended with King Zerox and the Saint Melissa married and living happily ever after.
But I had no recollection of reading scenes where Zerox yearned for Melissa’s love or fixated on her obsessively.
‘Perhaps it was because the work was so poorly written and melodramatic? The reverse harem was the main keyword, but was there a harem element too?’
The belated realization left me speechless.
A philandering male lead, no less.
I imagined the story after the ending—how happily could a king and queen, each with multiple lovers, truly have lived?
‘Now that I think about it, that was a desolate ending.’
With that conclusion, Melissa suddenly seemed pathetic to me.
She had killed Luderne and me merely to secure such a wretched life.
But it had worked out well. I had found the leverage to easily topple both Melissa and Count Veloda Genoma.
‘If I use this wisely, I can repay all the humiliation I have endured.’
When Zerox did not move, still holding the trophy, the Minister of the Royal Household regarded him with puzzlement.
“Your Majesty?”
“Ah.”
Only then did Zerox seem to come to his senses, his ears flushing crimson.
“You have no family name? From which noble house do you hail?”
I bowed gracefully once more.
“I am called Priscilla, from the Necari Territory. As I am a commoner, I possess neither surname nor title.”
“No family name at all…”
Zerox murmured softly to himself, his eyes rolling to one side.
I divined his thoughts.
Judging by his reaction just now, if I were to wait for the king’s next words, there was one proposal he would almost certainly make.
He would offer to give me a surname if I would become his consort.
‘Not a chance.’
Before he could continue, I lowered myself further and spoke in a voice loud enough for the nobles below the steps to hear.
“All the glory of this trophy belongs solely to Your Majesty. Had you not permitted anyone, regardless of station, to compete in this grand contest for the advancement of high society’s culture, I would not be standing here today. As Priscilla, designer of Salon Raber, I offer my infinite gratitude to Your Majesty, and I pledge to continue cultivating the flowers of high society.”
“All the glory of this trophy belongs solely to His Majesty the King. Without His Majesty’s gracious permission allowing anyone, regardless of social status, to compete in major competitions for the advancement of culture in high society, I would not be here today. As Priscilla, designer of Salon Raber, I offer my deepest gratitude to His Majesty the King, and I will continue to strive to make the flowers of high society bloom.”
Zerox’s eyes widened in surprise.
If I spoke first like this, it would be difficult for him to say things like “just the two of us” as he had before.
Sure enough, Zerox’s lips merely twitched. He seemed to be deliberating over something.
Clap.
At that moment, the sound of applause rang out.
It was Princess Cherni, standing behind Zerox.
Zerox turned around and let out a small sigh through his nose. Then he began to clap.
Soon, the nobles standing in the Banquet Hall also began clapping with bright smiles.
With the awards ceremony concluded, Zerox led the Minister of the Royal Household and Princess Cherni toward the staircase on the Third Floor.
Princess Cherni, following behind Zerox, brushed past me and smiled softly.
“That was an impressive competition.”
“Thank you, Your Highness.”
She turned her head and asked Madame Laber.
“Do you have any available time slots for me?”
Madame Laber displayed the warmest of smiles.
“It would be our greatest honor. Please let us know whenever you wish. Our ladies would gladly step aside for Your Highness.”
Princess Cherni nodded and ascended to the Third Floor.
As the orchestra’s music began to flow once more, Madame Laber and I stepped to the side, allowing Olivia to take the stage.
Olivia, having handed her trophy to her partner, positioned herself before the Banquet Hall.
The king’s instruction to perform once more after the awards ceremony still remained.
“Ahhh, dark Sea, frozen abyss―”
Once again, her voice, laden with poignant emotion, filled the Banquet Hall.
“Thrust down I was, cursed most terribly, thrust down I was.”
The people in the Banquet Hall held their breath, listening to Olivia’s song.
Only then could I see the changed expressions on Melissa and Count Veloda Genoma’s faces. Both had turned deathly pale.
Melissa, heedless of those around her, gnawed at her fingernails.
“Sinking deeper I go, my breath stolen away, sinking ever deeper. When I opened my eyes, I understood. That I could not find my name. That I must not find it.”
As the song ended, thunderous applause erupted throughout the Banquet Hall.
As the applause subsided, Melissa pressed her forehead with her hand. She even swayed, prompting Count Veloda Genoma to hastily support her.
This was likely the third blow.
‘To others, it would appear she simply failed to win.’
Watching her crumble under successive shocks, my lips curved upward of their own accord.
‘Can this be called revenge?’
It seemed so. No matter how elaborate my revenge schemes, I could not kill them.
But given their nature—casually pushing a person into the Sea—they seemed capable of anything.
‘I’ve made my own preparations for whatever may come, but I cannot afford to let my guard down.’
Having thought this far, I looked toward where Luderne Sellen was.
He remained in that same spot. On the velvet Sofa near the Balcony where he had first sat after entering the Banquet Hall.
Though he was looking in my direction, his expression remained unchanged.
As if he had little interest in who won.
* * *
In the deep of night, an owl’s cry echoed through the darkness.
Behind the mansion where Melissa resided, a wall of tall deciduous trees rose up, and beneath them stood a stable and a small storage shed.
From within that shed came the harsh creaking of wood and the stifled moans of a woman, as though gritting her teeth.
“Ugh… ah, ahh.”
A single lamp hung inside the shed, and on the floor lay nothing but a solitary blanket.
Upon it, Melissa and Count Veloda Genoma were entwined together, bare and breathless. Melissa’s chestnut hair was seized in one of the Count’s hands.
With his other hand braced against the floor, Count Veloda Genoma thrust his hips with relentless intensity.

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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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