I Will Become the Ex-Wife of the Beast - Chapter 27

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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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Getting caught after a pointless run would only leave me with bruises, so I’d be better off sleeping in for a while longer. Since things have turned out this way, I had to force myself to think positively.
If I couldn’t live hidden away like a dead person, I had no intention of living in terror, either. Whether it was a year or two, I’d enjoy every bit of it, and then I could look for a way out when the time came.
“…Not a bad plan.”
Out of habit, I hugged my knees to my chest. Then I bit down on my thumb and squinted my eyes half-open.
Once Cecil showed up, Kiers would leave me, even if I clung to his trouser leg. Either way, the ending was divorce, so I could collect the alimony then. Surely he wouldn’t throw me out with nothing after all we’d shared? If anything, the closer we grew, the more guilty he’d feel, and the more likely he’d be to give me something extra.
Besides, Cecil was a heroine whose character faded next to the male lead Kiers, but she was kind, through and through. She looked after the people around her, and she believed in Kiers to the very end, even though he was cursed. Such a sweet, gentle lady wouldn’t be all that cruel to the former wife. It would be nice if she were a little dim-witted as well, but I shouldn’t be greedy.
Right, right. Let me get things in order.
Nothing much has really changed. I came here to marry him, so I just have to go through with it. Rose’s atmosphere also seems like something I can smooth over. All that’s left is living as an ordinary married couple with him. That would be good for Rose’s upbringing, and I could spend my days splurging on money, and at night, that man’s dazzling skills…
“Okay.”
I made that decision, at least. The trap was that nothing I’d decided so far had actually gone the way I planned, but if I looked at it that way, getting drawn into this place was itself the trap.
When I can’t see an inch ahead, what else is there but to enjoy the situation I’ve been given? If an extra wanted to play the lead, readers would have every right to punish them, but a supporting character who knows her place might be acceptable. If I take what I’m owed when they tell me to leave and make a clean exit, there won’t be any trouble afterward.
Of course, everything in this came down to one premise.
That I must not fall for him.
“…Ugh, seriously.”
Ah, what kind of opening monologue is this, like some heroine in the first chapter? I buried my face in the pillow, unable to hide my troubled heart. Still, it was true that there was nothing I was more confident about. Why on earth would I fall for that guy Kiers?
I’ve always liked men who are warm at heart and warm in their faces. In that sense, I’m not going to fall for Kiers and end up weeping and clutching my chest when I hand him back to Cecil later. Absolutely not. Sure, he’s the male lead in name, but for now he’s just a savage beast, isn’t he? And on top of that, he’s a cold-blooded man who doesn’t even stir when he sees our Rose. What else is there? Let me dig a little deeper.
Ugh, the way he talks is really…

“I find you rather agreeable.”

“Hmm…”
Of course, his voice was quite lovely. You could say it vibrates the air a little when he speaks. Every now and then, when he chuckles, there’s a distinct tremor that comes with it. And I can’t forget his scent when I get close. I nearly pressed my nose right into him without thinking. A wild fragrance of wind that you can hardly catch anywhere else, bursting with the feel of the wilderness.
“…What am I even doing.”
I wrote two lines of insults and four lines of praise!
Feeling like I’d come out on the losing end, I flopped flat onto my back. Rose’s hair brushed against my face and tickled, so I turned onto my side and stroked Rose’s cheek.
“Our Rose, your big sister is going to try to live a little and enjoy herself from now on…”
“….”
“I just don’t know where to start, you see.”
“Mm, hm? Hm?”
“Ah, never mind. Go to sleep! Snore, sleep, sleep!”
Pat-pat, my little puppy! Sleeping so soundly! My little kitty!
As Rose started to stir and open her eyes, I hurriedly patted her shoulder and forced her back into sleep. Then I dozed off myself, but what greeted me in my dream was neither a kitten nor a puppy, but a huge beast.

“You’re here?”
That man let out a soft laugh and lay down right where he stood, propping his head on his arm.
“Then… where shall we start over?”

◇ ◆ ◇

“…Eliya, you seem unusually unwilling to look at me today.”
“No, not at all. It must be your imagination.”
“….”
Kiers, who looked like he was about to say something more, closed his mouth and went back to moving the knife in his hand. He was skilled with a sword, and perhaps because of that, even the way he cut his meat looked elegant, which caught my eyes all over again.
Those hands were all over my legs last night.
“….”
When Kiers suddenly lifted his eyes without warning, I quickly turned my head away. Oh my. I was only staring from behind my mask, yet my heart sank with a jolt.
What’s wrong with me.
He’s so composed, while I can’t even tell whether the food is going into my nose or my mouth. This must all be the aftereffect of last night’s dream, but it still feels unfair. I mean, why would you show up in someone else’s dream uninvited…
Hurriedly, I cut the meat into small pieces, the way I used to at home, and handed it to Rose beside me, but she was so small compared to the table that only her forehead was barely visible.
“…Rose, come over here quickly.”
“Big sis~”
Goodness, a big sister who was so caught up in her dream that she didn’t even notice that. Rose stretched out her arms without hesitation, so I seated her on my lap. Count, sitting across from us, gazed at her with obvious envy, but unfortunately, since she was our only child, giving her up was out of the question.
Still, is it really all right for me to keep behaving like this at the Grand Duke’s Residence? Even having Rose here already feels like sitting on needles, and now I’m breaking table manners too. My cheeks prickled. Just in case, I stole a glance at Kiers from the corner of my eye, and he was moving only his knife, with perfect grace.
“…Big sis, can we eat too?”
“Of course, Rose. Eat this.”
As I cut the meat and brought it to her mouth, Rose shook her head.
“No, you eat first, sister. Who knows when we’ll get to eat meat again?”
“…Rose.”
Come on, why are you making us look so pitiful? Sure, it’s true we don’t have much, but actually showing off how “we’ve been struggling this badly” is a bit…
Feeling awkward in front of Kiers, the lord of the North, I pushed my positive thinking circuits even harder now that they were already running. Right. If you measure it that way, anyone you bring in front of this man is going to look destitute. Of course, we’d still be the most destitute of the lot.
“Hmm…”
Positive thinking circuits: shutdown complete.
Making do, I speared a juicy chunk of meat with my fork. Still, to me, the big sister, nothing is more heartwarming than watching Rose’s meat disappear into her mouth.
“Tasty, right? Chew it well.”
“Mm. You try some too, big sis. It melts right in your mouth. Like cotton candy!”
“…You’ve never even had cotton candy.”
“But Aria said so. She said cotton candy is bigger and tastier than candy.”
Somehow, we’re getting more pathetic by the minute. No matter how quietly we whisper, the old gentleman across from us looks more and more pitiful. At this rate, he’s going to pull out a handkerchief.
I forced my eyes away and focused on Rose’s little mouth, chewing away.
Let’s see… what’s the most money we’ve ever spent? I wanted to say something that might at least sound a little classy, so I could hold my head up here. Ahem. I cleared my throat and raised my whispery voice a notch.
“Oh my, our Rose! Honestly, you’ve had the Flower of Riden and you’re still acting like this.”
“…The Flower of Riden? Ah, it was delicious! It was really sweet!”
“Right? Next time, big sis will take you again.”
“Yay!”
The biggest sum I’d ever spent turned out to be a dessert. That was sad in its own way, but at least it wasn’t a lie. I puffed up my shoulders proudly, like a woman who really knows her desserts.
“It was a pretty decent cake, so when I have time…”
“Ah, pardon me, but by ‘the Flower of Riden,’ do you mean ‘The Melts’ in the New City District?”
“Huh? Oh, yes. That’s right, Sir Lear.”
Sir Lear, seated beside the Count, spoke to me for the first time. His green, vacant eyes had been fixed solely on Rose the whole time, but now he seemed inclined to actually hold a conversation.
“Have you been there too, Sir Lear? It seems to be famous around here.”
“I meant to go the day before yesterday… but it had already closed.”
“Eh? Already?”
Wait, it’s been only a few days since they went. It had been packed with customers that day, so I couldn’t believe it. Even though I was in no position to worry about anyone else’s business, my mouth fell open.
“…Even a place that big can go under.”
“From what I hear, the manager there was a rather troublesome sort.”
“Oh, that doesn’t surprise me. He was so money-grubbing… that sort of person should have his head shaved clean, and… hm, well, anyway, that’s welcome news.”
As I worked up my irritation over that day, I noticed Sir Lear’s stiffened expression and quickly slipped another bite of meat into Rose’s mouth.
Alright, time for hypnosis. As Rose obediently swallowed each bite offered to her, like a dainty little kitten, Sir Lear’s eyes grew hazy.
“Yes… truly adorable, hm. From what I’ve heard, it seems they were attacked by some demon beast, and when His Grace the Grand Duke came here, he hunted the North thoroughly, and probably the ones who clung on to survive that…”
“Sir Lear.”
“Yes, Your Grace!”
Kiers, having finished his meal, picked up his napkin and quietly called Sir Lear’s name. At his low voice, every head at the table turned, mine included, but Kiers lowered his eyes. Honestly, if you were going to call him, then say something already. After all that whispering in my ear in last night’s dream…
“….”
My own mouth, which had been running on with that thought, snapped shut as well. At the center of the table, where the silence had settled for no reason at all, Kiers lifted his gaze.
“It’s mealtime, isn’t it, Sir Lear.”
“F-forgive me, Your Grace. I was saying far too many pointless things…”
“….”
But I was the one who talked more.

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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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