My Ex-Husband Came Back Crazy - Chapter 67

—————
This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
—————

Episode 67
Chapter 7. The Source (7)
Like a beggar, Lucius tried to stop her first.
“There’s nothing pleasant to see out there. Wouldn’t it be better to stay here?”
Celia ignored Lucius’s persuasive words and went out anyway.
Of course, she had her reasons.
‘Father asked me to keep an eye on what’s happening with the Albion Bridge.’
Rather than pass along major information, it was easier to report the small details that would eventually reach her father’s ears anyway.
Besides, she was quite capable of following along at construction sites.
Before Evandor had grown so tall, it was Celia who used to follow at Edmund’s side.
Lucius, who had done something wrong, ultimately could not win against Celia.
That was why they were now standing on the riverbank.
“Aren’t you cold?”
“No.”
“If there’s anything you need, just tell me.”
“Mm.”
“……Celia.”
Celia hesitated, glancing once at Lucius as he draped his arms around her waist, then returned her attention to the landscape before them.
A thin mist lay across the river.
Temporary wooden scaffolding and iron structures tangled complexly along the water’s edge. Sharp sounds of hammering and metal striking metal rang out in places.
The dust and smell of river mud went without saying.
“Let’s step back a bit more. You’ll get splattered with mud.”
“How much farther back?”
“Just a couple more steps.”
Celia picked her way carefully across the mud-splattered ground, holding her skirts up with one hand, and gazed toward the pier.
It was the complete opposite of the ballroom scene she’d seen just yesterday.
And the bridge was so large that even she was taken aback a little.
‘Ugh, such a strange smell.’
Though she knew all construction sites were like this, Celia couldn’t help but frown.
Just then, someone who recognized them approached.
“Young Master!”
From the opposite side of the dusty site, a portly middle-aged man came rushing over with his coat tails in hand.
“My apologies! I should have shown you to a better place, but I’m afraid we have no resources at the moment……!”
The man hurriedly removed his hat, his head gleaming.
“It’s fine. You needn’t be so concerned.”
Before him, Lucius tilted his head slightly, committing the audacity of flaunting his lustrous hair without a single strand out of place.
“But the Young Mistress has come as well. This rough place is hardly where she should set foot. Had I known beforehand, I would have laid new flooring for her.”
As he spoke, he pulled out a handkerchief and made a show of wiping the surrounding railing. He continued rubbing frantically, though the already-rusted iron railing had no chance of shining. It was the kind of obsequious posturing that would make sycophants green with envy.
“There’s no need to lay new flooring, but… do you happen to have a temporary tent we could use? I’d like to show the lady over there.”
“Oh, then this way—”
Celia tugged at Lucius’s sleeve.
“That’s enough. I want to look around a bit more. You go do what you need to do. I didn’t come here to get in the way.”
She pulled on her gloves again and straightened her shoulders.
Lucius opened and closed his lips several times as if he had much to say, then instead of stopping her, he offered a proposal.
“Then stay with me instead.”
“……With you?”
“Yes. As you know, construction sites aren’t safe. Being with me is the better option.”
Was it?
Lucius pointed to several places as if driving the point home. Precariously hanging timber, greasy ropes, slippery wooden platforms, and the like.
Celia kicked at the gravel with her toe for a moment. A small stone rolled along before catching in the gap between pieces of timber.
“Celia?”
At his pleading tone, Celia, who had been wearing a sullen expression, finally opened her mouth.
***
Kabel, Lucius’s milk brother and long-time aide, straightened his posture.
And from half a step behind him, he glanced back at Celia, who tapped along the dusty platforms in her own pace. The thin line of his lips held barely concealed displeasure.
‘The nerve. Taking advantage of the Young Master’s lost memory to slip into his side, and now following him to such an important place?’
Kabel’s thoughts were not his alone.
On the outside, people were merely curious and alarmed by the change in the two of them, but those on the inside who knew the circumstances all harbored similar suspicions.
‘The Young Master may have lost his memory, but Celia Brickwell clearly has other intentions. That woman wouldn’t move without reason.’
Kabel tilted his head slightly to observe Celia’s expression.
She was touching the railing’s rust absently, looking bored.
Honestly, he couldn’t fathom why she was even touching that filth.
“Kabel. What’s the situation roughly?”
“Ah, yes. I’ll report on it.”
Kabel quickly collected himself and returned to the matter at hand.
The bridge construction was proceeding steadily. However, that was not to say everything was going smoothly.
The report continued.
“……The issue appears to be that the iron used for the pier piles is not uniform in quality. The supplier your lordship used to deal with has recently suffered significant craftsman losses, making it difficult to maintain consistent length and strength.”
Kabel handed the documents to Lucius.
Lucius looked down at the blueprints and asked tersely.
“Is there insufficient time to source a new foundry?”
“Yes. It would be more realistic to request supply from someone who has already handled wrought iron for bridge work, rather than search for an entirely new foundry. We simply lack the time and resources.”
That was when Celia suddenly interjected.
She shook the dust from her skirts once and flexed her fingers lightly.
“Why not contact the Sheffield Family?”
Several gazes turned toward her simultaneously.
“The Nosheim Bridge—surely you all know it? It held even during last year’s great flood.”
Lucius steadied himself against the railing and straightened his posture.
Listening intently, Kabel unconsciously followed his gaze to focus on Celia’s voice.
“The Sheffield Family led that bridge’s construction. These days, places that work with wrought iron, let alone those with actual bridge-building experience, are few and far between.”
It was an astute observation. Kabel hesitated.
“You are… well-informed.”
“It’s common knowledge.”
“…….”
Celia yawned faintly, twisting her hair between her fingers.
Meanwhile, Lucius fell silent in thought. He quickly reached a conclusion.
“The problem is connections.”
“Exactly. But neither you nor I have any ties to the Sheffield Family, do we?”
Celia shrugged.
Still puzzled by Celia, Kabel hastily offered advice.
“Ah, as for the Sheffield Family… I hear they recently joined the Orient Club.”
The Orient Club was a prestigious gathering of distinguished gentlemen in society. Their primary focus was horsemanship, and they bred thoroughbred horses and held races, if he recalled correctly.
“Lucius shouldn’t lack in horsemanship himself. How convenient—their methods are surely unique, but will they willingly hand them over to us?”
“Mm.”
“Go there and persuade them well.”
It was an instruction to coax the other party and propose a deal.
And Lucius boasted excellent results in such endeavors. Confident in himself, he soon began conferring with Kabel.
In the meantime, Celia’s gaze stopped at a single point.
Below, a carpenter who had been working on timber looked up and seemed to meet her eyes. The man, after a brief exchange of glances, quickly lowered his head.
‘Just now…?’
It was a face she thought she’d seen somewhere before.
What was it. A mistake, or not?
Celia, who did not retain faces well, simply tilted her head in puzzlement.
“The wind is strong. Wouldn’t you like to go inside and finish our discussion?”
But she could not follow the thought further.
A sudden gust of sand-laden wind swept in. And as if to shield her from it, she found her mind utterly captivated by Lucius draping his overcoat over her head.
“Take my hand.”
Celia batted away the hand he extended before her, gathered her skirts up briskly, and moved forward.
Lucius followed in her wake.
***
The site was, as always, bustling.
Someone shouted while hammering, another frowned while checking the framework.
Then a bundle of papers caught the wind and skidded toward a worker’s feet.
A man in thick gloves bent down and picked up the papers.
A blueprint drawn on parchment.
“Oh my, what’s this. Isn’t this the blueprint the Young Master was carrying?”
Wondering if the wind had made the master drop it, the man hurried to collect the papers and started moving, when he caught sight of the young master and his lady in the distance.
The young master had another blueprint in hand, the lady wrapped snugly in his overcoat.
“Then what’s this?”
The man scratched the back of his neck as he examined the blueprint.
“But… was the blueprint originally like this?”
It looked entirely different from the instruction materials they’d been given before work began.
But the man soon had no choice but to set the blueprint on top of the material pile and pick up his hammer.
“Hey! Hurry up!”
“All right, coming!”
As people went about their respective tasks,
the wind blew once more, and the blueprint flipped over. Someone caught it just as it was about to flutter away.
It was the carpenter who had met Celia’s eyes earlier.

—————
This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
—————