My Ex-Husband Came Back Crazy - Chapter 36

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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 36
Chapter 4. Omens (3)
The taste left in her mouth was foul.
After Evandor withdrew, leaving Celia in a disquieted mood, she found herself quietly treading down the grass when Lucius approached.
The thick leather of his gloved hand slipped beneath her chin as she gazed at the earth, tilting her face upward to meet his.
“How did the conversation go?”
In the eyes that had been studying the crushed leaves and damp soil, he filled her entire vision.
“Why that look?”
Celia had always been told by Edmund that her face rarely changed expression.
Perhaps that was why the moments when Lucius grasped emotions she herself didn’t know she possessed felt so startlingly strange.
What had been the most distant person mere days ago had now become the closest, recognizing her and closing the distance in a single breath—this fact in particular struck her as peculiar.
“Celia?”
— Think of me and Liam.
In that same moment, Evandor’s warning echoed back to life.
He had even invoked the name of Liam, their shared twin brother—a voice that reminded her what end awaited the future that would disappoint their father.
“How irritating…….”
The words escaped in a short breath, yet the exhaustion they carried ran deep.
Lucius had been someone not worth placing on a scale mere moments before. Yet now the scale in her mind was wavering.
Unable to tip decisively toward either side.
‘Why does he hold our family’s weak points in his hands, forcing me to agonize over this?’
Just as the spiteful thought began to swell, Lucius brushed her cheek.
It was a tender touch, as though pressing down urgency before it could take hold.
“What upset you, hm?”
She knew.
A single Cargo Consignment Document disappearing would hardly prove fatal to him. It merely meant one fewer card in his hand.
Yet what troubled Celia wasn’t that fact alone. It was simply that disappointing him had begun to matter—just a little, but it did.
“Is it hard to say?”
“……Yes.”
Even now, the warmth in his voice enveloped her. Swallowing her frustration, Celia stepped closer to him.
Very gently, she rested her forehead against his chest.
‘I don’t know. It’s too difficult.’
Lucius’s body went rigid.
Shock appeared first in his shoulders and fingertips. His hands, awkwardly suspended in air, took long moments before they finally embraced her.
“Ha.”
“……What’s funny?”
“Nothing special.”
He moved his hand as though to arrange her disheveled hair, then gently cupped her cheek instead. His reddened knuckles added pressure with careful deliberation as he drew her close.
With a short breath, his lips touched her forehead.
“If you can’t speak of it now, tell me later.”
Would such a moment ever truly come?
Yet contrary to the bleakness in her heart, his voice passing through her ears rippled through her like gentle waves disturbing still water.
“I’ll wait whenever it is.”
The moment those words ended, a whistle announcing the start of the Hunting Competition cut through the forest and plains, resonating far and wide.
***
Once the men departed, a world belonging only to those left behind commenced.
The event brimmed with fervor, each man seeking to claim more prey with bow and blade to offer his lady glory. Undoubtedly, the most striking figure among them all was Celia.
“Surely the winner of this Hunting Competition will be the Young Duke, no?”
“Oh, and which Young Duke might you mean?”
“Ha-ha. With the heirs of Brickwell and Windmere both being so accomplished, I simply cannot fathom which of them shall wear the crown of victory.”
Regardless of which one prevailed, the one to whom they would offer their glory was Celia.
She dismissed the gazes gleaming with curiosity with indifference, sipping her tea in measured fashion.
Society largely consisted of hollow pleasantries, and Celia harbored no interest in such things.
Least of all did she wish to offer commentary to those eager to inquire about her relationship with Lucius.
‘Come to think of it, I didn’t participate in the competitions last year or the year before. To whom did Lucius present his prey then?’
The last time Celia had participated in the Hunting Competition was…….
‘Before my marriage to Lucius.’
Rehashing the past to chew on an unpleasant memory, she flexed her toes.
The very day she had struck his cheek over the matter of his former betrothed.
“My goodness.”
“The young ladies from that side certainly cut quite the figure these days.”
“The young lady of the Orant Count’s family only recently ascended to society, yes? Judging by her striking beauty, she seems to receive rather considerable courtship from the gentlemen.”
While Celia sank into thought, the conversation drifted in an unwelcome direction.
In the distance, among the ladies playing with small creatures in their laps, Diana mingled with the group. She was the “young lady of the Orant Count’s house” of whom they spoke.
It was the result of Edmund having thrust aside his pregnant mistress by marrying her off to the Orant Count’s family.
“One hopes she possesses the grace to respect the society of the Capital.”
Laughter rippled through at a remark cast playfully as a whisper.
Celia pondered quietly in that space.
‘I wish she would simply pass by unnoticed.’
Diana was clever enough in her own way; surely she would know to keep herself humble at such a grand affair. Celia thought vaguely to herself.
She had no inkling that, mere hours hence, that belief would crumble faster than the closing of a tedious philosophy tome.
***
The men who had gone hunting began to return one by one.
Celia, who had monopolized the suspended wicker chair hanging from the tree with leisure, closed her unfinished book and took up a glass to cool the heat.
‘I thought it was cranberry, but it’s wine?’
If she simply lingered a while longer, Lucius should return as well.
Though troublesome, she rose from her seat with the thought of going to meet him, when an unexpected voice pierced her ears.
“Sister.”
Celia turned her head slightly.
Pearl ornaments glimmered as her hair fell away. Through the strands, an unwelcome face intruded.
“Diana.”
The pretty woman with hair as pale as her own and scarlet eyes approached with a neat stride and smiled brightly.
“It’s truly been ages! Oh, should I call you ‘Madam’ here instead of ‘Sister’?”
Celia turned her face away at the brazen pretense of warmth.
Diana had long been willing to pursue any means to become part of Brickwell. The position she had always coveted was Celia’s own, and for that reason, Diana had made a habit of dredging up Celia’s minor flaws and whispering them into their father’s ear.
‘It was Diana who informed on me when I snuck out to play back then.’
All the surveillance and control that followed stemmed from that moment.
Anger long forgotten sparked back to life like kindling.
“What an odd question.”
Celia tilted her glass unhurriedly, scanning Diana with an openly contemptuous gaze.
“You understand you have no right to call me sister, don’t you?”
In a household where illegitimate children were far from singular. Diana was merely one among many.
A young lady raised in an adequately respectable family without legal recognition, unable to bear the Brickwell name.
That inferiority had always been Diana’s weakness. Under normal circumstances, she would have flushed at such words and retreated.
“I’m not so sure.”
But today, she was different.
“Do you know who sent me here, and who brought me this far?”
Diana, who had been looking down at her quietly, now tilted her head, resting her cheek in her pale hand.
“Father sent me, and Elder Brother Evandor brought me here personally.”
Her tone brimmed with self-satisfaction.
At the mention of “Father,” Celia paused briefly, though she showed no sign of it. She blinked with studied indifference.
“How delightful that what was routine for me brings you such joy. Shall I congratulate you, then?”
Watching Celia’s slight smile, Diana’s brows twitched. She clenched her fist behind her back, forcing her eyes wider.
Celia grew bored with others easily. And she made no effort to conceal it. Fleeting interest would swiftly vanish, and the person before her would be discarded.
Diana needed to understand how unpleasant and repugnant that felt.
“By the way, where is he? Lucius Windmere?”
For the first time, Celia’s gaze fixed precisely on Diana.
Diana felt a chill for a moment but crossed her arms as though nothing was amiss. Her voice rose an octave.
“You know why I’m here. I must follow Father’s wishes.”
“Ha……!”
The hand gripping the glass tightened.
“Are you truly attempting to lecture me right now?”
Diana did not retreat despite the low warning in Celia’s voice.
Instead, she stepped closer and tapped the rim of Celia’s glass with the edge of her Fan.
“Why so tense, Sister? Surely you don’t mean to deny Lucius Windmere to me?”
“…….”
“Just give him to me without fuss.”
Pausing briefly, Diana tilted her head as though seized by some profound deliberation.
“It’s rather cowardly of you, don’t you think? Shackling a man so magnificent merely because it happened to be you whom he married by chance?”
Celia fell silent, and Diana felt a thrill that ran from her scalp downward, her lips curving further.
“He’s a captivating man. For someone of the Young Duke’s station, keeping a lover or two is hardly unusual.”
Her scarlet eyes glinted.
“And I’m confident. Confident I can seduce him just as Father desires.”
A face brimming with self-assurance. Around Diana’s back, onlookers were beginning to take notice of the exchange.
“So, may I have that man?”
Diana’s face broke into a satisfied smile.
Celia’s silence stretched. Watching it, Diana’s laughter crystallized into smug certainty.
‘I’ve won.’
The emotion blooming across her face was so blatant that anyone other than Celia would have recognized it at once.
Celia tilted her head back.
Contradictory emotions crossed over her chilled visage. Between her clenched teeth came a short, abrasive sound; a faint metallic breath escaped through the gaps.
“An illegitimate child daring…….”
Diana flinched for a moment, then raised her chin as though nothing had happened.
Though the words were harsh, she was certain Celia would do nothing—she was convinced.
Because all of Brickwell’s children yearned for one and only one thing.
Edmund’s attention and his recognition.
“Don’t be like that. I may be an illegitimate child as you say, but I’m here now, aren’t I? And this is proof that Father chose me instead of you.”
And Celia was no exception to that rule.
It was a law encompassing them all, a shackle binding them to one another.
Mention Edmund’s name and they would all fall silent as though they’d been waiting for the moment. Diana clearly expected as much.
“So then, where is Lucius Windmere? Ah! If I may, could you perhaps help arrange a natural encounter? For instance, an invitation to your home—”
“Diana Orant.”
Celia cut off Diana’s words, her two hands clasped tightly together.
“Know your place. You’ve already fulfilled your worth simply by being here.”
“……Pardon?”
“Did you truly believe Father meant to summon you so I could be replaced?”
For the first time, Diana’s confidence wavered.
“What are you saying—”
Celia brought the glass to her lips and took a sip of wine.
It was bitter. No, wine was simply not to her taste.
“To Father, you are nothing but a tool to provoke me.”
“……Stop making excuses. Father was certainly—!”
“Was he now?”
Celia laughed abruptly.
“Shall we find out right now?”
Without hesitation, she raised the glass high.
The crimson liquid cascaded down from Diana’s crown, flowing over her body like blood.
“Kyaah—! Kyaaaagh!!”
Diana reeled backward with a shriek of shock.
Tumult rippled through the surroundings as a matter of course. She crumpled to the floor, tears clinging to the corners of her eyes. Her shock swiftly transformed into calculation.
‘What is this……! No, actually, this works better. First gather their sympathy, then use this as a pretext to seduce Lucius Windmere—’
As if severing that thought, Celia’s heel struck Diana’s knee.
“Let’s see if people concern themselves with your wellbeing before me, or if Father deigns to look upon you at all…….”
Soon after, the crowd surged toward Celia’s position.
“Let’s take a look at what happened.”
The flow of events diverged entirely from the path Diana had anticipated.

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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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