About Becoming My Ex-Husband's Mistress - Chapter 80

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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 80. A Night All to Myself
The atmosphere of the Casino had transformed entirely.
The games varied from table to table, but each bore one thing in common—a map.
Even as I watched, I could scarcely believe it.
The stakes were not blue chips, but territories marked upon those maps. With each hand won or lost, parcels of land exchanged ownership.
With every game’s conclusion, cheers and sighs alternated from each table.
This continued for roughly two hours.
By then, a considerable portion of the territories wagered in the Casino had become Luderne’s property.
Not because Luderne had won consistently.
Whether from lack of skill or deliberate restraint, Luderne hardly seemed exceptional at the games themselves.
But Egardt and Walter at the other tables had been on a winning streak.
“Ugh.”
After prolonged immersion in the games, Zerox discarded his cards with a gesture and glanced briefly at me.
“I’d like to rest now. I’ve enjoyed myself sufficiently, and I’m tired of wagering land—and even more tired of losing it.”
Zerox drained his wine glass in one long pull, then issued instructions to the Dealers.
“Let’s conclude the Territory Conquest Game here. Have the other tables clear out first.”
His words came with a slight slur.
“And let the men play one final game with the remaining chips before we finish. The other tables’ participants and the women can exchange their chips for currency and leave.”
I hesitated, uncertain whether I should keep chips I hadn’t purchased myself, and glanced toward Luderne.
Luderne nodded readily, his expression suggesting I should think of it as compensation for keeping him company this evening.
“Of course. Let’s play our final round with the remaining chips and call it a night.”
With Eclite’s agreement, the Dealers from the other tables began clearing their stations.
I counted the blue chips before each of us.
Melissa Bilsty and Olivia had lost all their chips, so there was nothing to exchange. I had sixty-five chips remaining—a respectable increase from the fifty I’d started with.
Luderne had eighty-three, Eclite had fifty-five, and Zerox had one hundred twenty-one.
Soon a Dealer approached and asked me an odd question—whether I had someone to help me carry away the exchanged blue chips.
“Blue chips are gold coins, aren’t they?”
“Yes.”
“I’ll carry them myself.”
Sixty-five gold coins seemed manageable enough, even if somewhat heavy.
But the Dealer’s eyes widened.
“…Pardon?”
“Is there a problem?”
Then Luderne called for Walter and spoke to the Dealer.
“Have Walter take Priscilla’s exchanged gold coins.”
He also issued an instruction to Walter, who had approached our table.
“Tomorrow morning, when daylight breaks, deliver the gold coins to Priscilla’s residence.”
Walter bowed respectfully.
“Understood, Your Highness.”
“Is that really necessary? I can carry sixty-five gold coins myself, after all…”
Luderne Sellen cut me off.
“You can’t carry all that.”
“Pardon?”
“One blue chip equals ten gold coins. So that’s 650 total.”
I quickly calculated in my head and was immediately dumbfounded.
The money I was taking amounted to 650 million won in Korean currency. Each blue chip was worth ten million won.
I’d heard that enormous sums exchanged hands, and I’d assumed it was because the Territory Conquest Game had such insane stakes, but to think other games here carried such astronomical amounts as well.
As the Dealer who collected my chips left with Walter, Melissa Bilsty linked arms with Olivia in a friendly manner.
“Olivia, would you like to go to the Powder Room with me and touch up our makeup?”
“Pardon?”
“It’s right up ahead.”
At her remarkably affectionate tone, Olivia nodded almost without thinking.
I felt uneasy watching them leave together. There had been a time when Melissa Bilsty had wanted to harm Olivia.
But the entrance to the Powder Room was visible from here, and upon reflection, I didn’t think I needed to worry just yet.
‘At least she wouldn’t be foolish enough to make her intentions obvious.’
As the two women left, Zerox made a proposal to Luderne Sellen and Eclite.
“For the final game, let’s play poker. First one to win three rounds takes all the stakes. What do you say? The winner gets to enjoy the 5th Floor with everything remaining here.”
Luderne Sellen looked at the chips before him and asked back.
“The chip counts are different—wouldn’t that create an imbalance? Your Highness has the most chips, so you’d seem to be at the greatest disadvantage.”
Zerox laughed lightly.
“That’s exactly why we should bet it all.”
Luderne Sellen still looked confused.
Eclite counted the blue chips with his eyes and nodded.
“I understand what you’re saying.”
Eclite pushed all his chips to the center of the table, and a smile played at his lips.
“The winner takes exclusive enjoyment of all the chips and every female partner at this table—whether that’s one or three of them.”
Zerox’s eyes gleamed brightly.
“You understand perfectly.”
“That does sound entertaining.”
The exchange between Zerox and Eclite, punctuated by their chuckles, was utterly absurd.
Luderne Sellen furrowed his brow and stood up from his seat.
“You’re both intoxicated. I think it’s best we stop here.”
At that, Eclite tapped his finger on the table.
“Sit down, Prince Wintem. We finally have conditions worth my interest—why would you end it on a whim?”
“….”
“You know my nature. But my former wife is dead and gone…. Ah, what about the life of the partner I brought today?”
‘My former wife is dead and gone?’
It was a strange thing to say at this particular moment.
Luderne Sellen lifted one corner of his mouth as if exasperated.
“What concern would the life of a Salon designer be to me?”
His answer was equally strange.
Bewildered, I studied the atmosphere and my eyes met Zerox’s.
He shrugged his shoulders.
“Now that we’re alone, let’s speak freely. The Dealer and the Salon’s designer will keep everything they’ve seen and heard from this moment on strictly confidential.”
“There is no question of that, Your Majesty.”
The Dealer bowed respectfully. I, too, gave a nod of agreement.
Zerox then turned to Eclite.
“Your Majesty, I have no objection to your entertainment, but as King, it seems rather inappropriate to stand idly by while your own subjects’ lives hang in the balance.”
At those words, the Dealer’s breath caught, and I deliberately widened my eyes as if I’d only just noticed.
“Fair point.”
Eclite, convinced, scratched the back of his neck for a moment.
“Then what of Brissel Mohr, who remains loyal to the Grand Duke?”
Luderne Sellen answered with a stern expression.
“Your Majesty has promised to guarantee Brissel Mohr’s safety.”
“Your Majesty has… well, let’s say that’s settled. If not, there’s always Sir Jester.”
“….”
“Or what about Egardt? The old man would breathe his last with just a little… adjustment.”
Malice dripped from Eclite’s words, delivered with a chuckle.
Luderne Sellen looked at Zerox, Eclite, and the Dealer, then sighed through his nose and took his seat.
“No taking back your word. You clearly said whoever wins three rounds first.”
“I promise.”
Just then, Melissa Bilsty and Olivia returned to the table.
“A decision was made while you were away.”
Zerox explained the game’s rules to the two women.
The winner could also choose a partner, and the women had no say in the matter.
It was an infuriatingly arbitrary royal decree.
Melissa Bilsty and Olivia looked startled, but they quickly bowed their heads obediently, agreeing to follow the orders.
“Begin.”
Eclite gestured to the Dealer, who dealt cards to the three men.
“I fold.”
Luderne Sellen revealed his hand and conceded the game. It was a pair of twos and fives.
Eclite won the first round with three of a kind.
“I fold.”
In the second round, Luderne Sellen folded again.
He revealed his hand once more. It was a pair of aces.
Zerox was the victor with a pair of twos.
In the third game, Luderne Sellen had a pair of tens, Zerox had three of a kind, and Eclite won with a straight.
“Ha ha. So I get to entertain three people today?”
Eclite, already having won two rounds, swallowed greedily, his eyes gleaming with desire. He was thoroughly pleased.
While Olivia grew increasingly restless, Melissa remained composed.
And I felt my insides beginning to burn.
Though I couldn’t voice it aloud, every curse imaginable rose to the tip of my tongue.
Soon Eclite’s mouth curved upward into a grin.
“Kha ha ha. It seems I’ll be winning this round as well.”
Zerox laughed with equal confidence.
“With all due respect, I believe victory shall be mine.”
The two men, smiling at each other, turned their gaze toward Luderne Sellen.
“I can no longer afford to concede. Whichever hand I draw, if His Highness wins again, the game ends.”
Soon the Dealer revealed the three men’s hands.
“Straight flush.”
Zerox laughed at Eclite’s hand.
“I have a flush.”
Zerox looked at Luderne Sellen with swagger and confidence.
Luderne Sellen opened his hand with an impassive expression.
Eclite and Zerox’s expressions hardened.
“Four of a kind.”
Luderne Sellen’s victory.
When the fifth game began, Eclite and Zerox simultaneously smacked their lips—their hands were clearly poor.
Meanwhile, Luderne Sellen’s expression remained unchanged.
After a moment of hesitation, Eclite revealed his hand and folded.
“Fold.”
A pair of twos.
Zerox also shook his head, folded, and spoke to Luderne Sellen.
“I have nothing.”
An ace-high card—the best he could muster.
“Let’s see the Grand Duke’s hand.”
Luderne Sellen shrugged and opened his cards.
“I won thanks to both of you folding.”
Immediately, Eclite and Zerox’s expressions became quite amusing.
Luderne Sellen’s hand was a ten-high card at best.
Luderne Sellen spoke to the Dealer with an unruffled face.
“It seems likely this will be our final game.”
The Dealer bowed respectfully and dealt the cards once more.
Eclite and Zerox examined their hands with grave expressions, as though their drunkenness had entirely dissipated.
But when they’d checked their final card, confidence flooded both their faces—all except Luderne Sellen’s.
Zerox smirked first.
“I have a feeling there will be one more game after this.”
At his words, Eclite chuckled.
“No, I believe this hand will end it. What of you, Grand Duke?”
Luderne Sellen said nothing.

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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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