About Becoming My Ex-Husband's Mistress - Chapter 79

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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 79. Subjected to All Manner of Contempt
Eclite rolled his eyes for a moment before asking again.
“You said this woman is favored by the King? Then she must be someone of considerable standing in the Central Society, yes?”
It appeared that Zerox had positioned Melissa Bilsty beside Eclite.
‘Even though his mistress has changed, he doesn’t sever ties cleanly—instead he uses her to entertain foreign dignitaries?’
When I thought about it, that was indeed an important role for one’s position. Moreover, if Melissa Bilsty’s ambitions were what I suspected, the Prince would be just as desirable a target as the King.
At that moment, Eclite’s expression darkened as he glared at Melissa Bilsty and Zerox.
“Surely you haven’t simply attached some provincial nobody to me and claimed she’s someone the King cherishes?”
He seemed to have reached his own conclusion.
His remark was disparaging toward Melissa Bilsty, which wasn’t unfavorable to me, but the immediate atmosphere was somewhat problematic.
Eclite’s fists remained clenched tightly. I wondered if he might, and it wouldn’t have seemed strange if he threw a punch at any moment.
Melissa Bilsty appeared to sense this as well, and with a frightened expression, she glanced nervously at Zerox before answering.
“That’s not possible. I’m truly seeing this woman for the first time.”
At Melissa Bilsty’s denial, Eclite slammed the table.
“Who is lying here, exactly!”
I observed Zerox’s expression.
Zerox was still looking at Eclite and Melissa Bilsty, but his expression had changed somewhat from before. He appeared somewhat flustered by the unexpected situation.
I decided I should help Melissa Bilsty appropriately and resolve Zerox’s discomfort.
I deliberately spoke to Eclite in an even softer tone.
“Gracious sir, Melissa Bilsty, the Count’s daughter, is indeed from a rural background, but she is truly favored by His Majesty. Though I was mistaken for a courtesan because of you, I do hope you might come to understand the young lady.”
“Understand?”
At my unexpected words, one of Eclite’s eyebrows rose sharply. However, the look in his eyes toward me was not unkind.
“Now that I think about it, it makes perfect sense that Melissa Bilsty, the Count’s daughter, wouldn’t recognize me. At that time, I wasn’t wearing a dress like this.”
“At that time?”
“During the Royal Elegance Contest. At that time, I was dressed as a Salon employee.”
Of course, he would have seen me in a different dress at Countess Dora’s house party.
But I chose not to bring up that story in this setting.
Melissa Bilsty’s eyes widened with confusion.
I rose from my seat and stepped beside my chair. Then I offered Eclite a respectful bow.
“I am Priscilla, the head designer of Raber Salon. I competed in the Royal Elegance Contest and won first place.”
Then, looking at Zerox, I smiled broadly for the first time.
“His Majesty the King himself offered his congratulations, and I was honored beyond measure. Isn’t that right, Your Majesty?”
At my question, Zerox blushed and cleared his throat awkwardly.
Sensing his hesitation about how to respond, I added a touch of playfulness to my tone and demeanor.
“You need only speak the truth.”
“That’s true enough.”
With King Zerox’s confirmation, it became immediately clear who had been lying, and Melissa Bilsty’s face flushed crimson.
“Please try to recall your memory more carefully, Miss Melissa Bilsty.”
I decided to give Melissa Bilsty a chance.
“Do you remember me now?”
Only then did Melissa Bilsty catch on to my intention, clapping her hands sharply.
“Oh my goodness! Now that you mention it, you’re that designer from back then! I didn’t recognize you because your appearance is so different.”
I turned my body slightly to show Melissa my current outfit.
“How do I look now?”
‘Come now, shower me with heartfelt praise and adulation with all your soul.’
I lifted the corners of my mouth into a smile, my eyes crinkling with amusement.
‘The answer is already decided—you need only respond.’
Melissa’s pupils trembled violently.
* * *
Ever since Countess Dora’s house party, Melissa Bilsty had felt constantly ignored and isolated.
On top of that, Zerox’s interest had waned, which weighed heavily on her mind.
Melissa racked her brain over how to push Olivia aside and reclaim her place beside Zerox, while simultaneously devising multiple plans to harm Priscilla—whom she knew as “Priscilla”—in the storage shed with Count Veloda Genoma.
In the storage shed, with Count Veloda Genoma.
Yet the plans she’d spent all night crafting kept falling apart. The woman’s movements that she’d obtained in advance never matched reality.
Just as she was exploring other methods, Zerox suddenly issued an order to entertain a prince who had come to visit the Kingdom.
She was to fulfill whatever Eclite desired, but since he was traveling incognito, she was to pretend not to know his identity while accommodating him.
The orders included attending to him at night as well.
Upon hearing those words, Melissa felt betrayed by Zerox, but on the other hand, a greater dream also took root.
Prince Eclite was still unmarried. If she attended to him well and caught his eye, that didn’t seem like a bad prospect.
Melissa adorned herself from head to toe as much as possible and stood before Eclite.
But Eclite, despite claiming to be traveling incognito, was utterly arrogant and acted as he pleased.
Melissa did whatever she could to appease the prince’s temperament. She did everything he asked.
As a result of placating him, she managed to attend to him at night. Though she endured all manner of contempt and heard demeaning words that made her wonder if he was a person of corrupted character.
Moreover, she achieved the accomplishment of being seated alongside him at the Casino where the Territory Conquest Game was taking place.
And yet.
That woman suddenly appeared.
The culprit who had responded to Countess Dora’s invitation and turned the house party she had hosted into a complete disaster.
With divine talent and natural beauty, with uncommon grace that had captivated the hearts of noble ladies in an instant—Priscilla from the Raber Salon.
She wore a mesmerizing gown and arrived at this gathering on the arm of none other than Prince Wintem himself, with Luderne Sellen’s escort.
Melissa understood well how Luderne’s actions influenced high society.
She had felt firsthand how a mere lift of his lips could change someone’s standing.
So she couldn’t help but be deeply shocked.
‘There must have been reporters outside.’
She wondered if those two people had truly escaped the camera’s lens.
If photographs of the two of them were published in the newspapers, the impact would be on an entirely different scale from merely lifting his lips for her.
Suddenly, jealousy surged within her.
And seeing how excessively captivating that woman was, worry also struck her.
If the Grand Duke was like that, what if the King and the Prince also fell for that woman?
Everyone already knew that Zerox had an interest in that woman anyway.
So Melissa deliberately framed her as a courtesan.
Eclite had a despicable character, and since she happened to work at the Raber Salon, it would have been remarkably easy to manipulate her.
Melissa Bilsty had anticipated that she would either whimper in shame or lose her nerve entirely.
Then, at an opportune moment, she’d planned to demean her further by emphasizing her lowborn status—so thoroughly that she wouldn’t dare raise her head again.
But a few words had completely reversed the situation.
Instead, she had turned the tables, deliberately invoking her full name and emphasizing her noble lineage as the young lady of a rural count’s household.
Me, a commoner!
And now she was even subtly angling her body to showcase her attire.
“How do I look now?”
As she flashed a coquettish smile with her eyes, Zerox, Eclite, and even Luderne Sellen’s gazes kindled with interest.
All three men’s attention now focused on Melissa Bilsty, awaiting her response.
‘Ugh! How infuriating!’
Melissa Bilsty screamed inwardly. She wanted nothing more than to tear out every strand of that woman’s hair right then and there.
But the King, the Prince, and the Grand Duke were watching her. Moreover, she had just lied moments ago, claiming not to know her.
To navigate this smoothly, she had no choice but to maintain the pretense of not recognizing her.
Melissa Bilsty lavished praise upon her with a gentle smile.
“My goodness! How can one be so beautiful? Even the goddess of beauty herself would be envious of such loveliness.”
At those words, Olivia let out a soft laugh.
Zerox and Eclite’s lips curved into smirks in turn.
Melissa Bilsty desperately wished this moment would pass. She prayed she would simply accept the compliment and move on.
But then….
“My, do you truly believe that?”
She was pressing further, as if to repay the insult in kind.
Melissa Bilsty sighed inwardly.
‘It seems she’s no ordinary woman.’
Rumors of the Raber Salon’s head designer’s exceptional talent had circulated widely. Still, she had believed that leveraging her noble status would allow her to crush her effortlessly.
She regretted it now. Had she known it would come to this, she never would have provoked her from the start.
Even now, with that realization, Melissa Bilsty had no alternative course of action.
Her answer was predetermined.
She had no choice but to heap praise upon praise—that her appearance was utterly captivating, beautiful, and refined.
Priscilla listened to Melissa Bilsty’s successive compliments with an unruffled expression, and only when the Dealer returned with chips did she smile toward Eclite.
“Gracious gentleman, has the misunderstanding been cleared up somewhat?”
One corner of Eclite’s mouth lifted.
“Indeed. Quite entertaining.”
Having offered an elegant greeting to him, Priscilla then turned her gaze toward Melissa Bilsty with a graceful expression and offered her thanks.
“Thank you, Melissa Bilsty, young lady of Count Bilsty’s household.”
She made sure to append her lineage to the very end.
The Royal Elegance Contest, Countess Dora’s house party, and now the Casino.
Each encounter with her left Melissa Bilsty seething with defeat, nearly bursting with rage.
Which made what happened next all the more strange—her intention to harm her had vanished completely as of today.
If she thought she could win, she might have challenged her again, but alongside the resolve never to clash with her directly again came a different thought.
‘I should draw that woman to my side instead. To do that….’
Melissa Bilsty gazed at Olivia.
Madame Laber had been so protective that she’d been unable to touch her until now, but in her eyes, Olivia seemed far easier to handle.
‘I need to seduce Olivia to my side first.’
* * *
Perhaps because she’d misspoken and couldn’t even recover her losses, Melissa Bilsty focused quietly on the game alone. Since she wasn’t causing any trouble, I found it convenient not to pay her particular attention.
As we enjoyed the game, blue chips and cards exchanged hands countless times.
Each time a round ended, the three men raised their glasses. The atmosphere was one of peaceful enjoyment.
Then, around ten o’clock that night, Zerox made an announcement.
“Let’s begin the Territory Conquest Game.”

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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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