My Ex-Husband Came Back Crazy - Chapter 83

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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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Episode 83
Chapter 9. Remnants (3)
The Foundation Festival had ended without incident.
Now came the next obligation that fell to nobility: the Evening Banquet Ceremony.
Ordinarily, Celia should have stood at the centre of that tiresome attention once more. But this time was different. A sudden betrothal announcement, and thanks to Evandor and Chloe, she could finally catch her breath.
Yet not all of her displeasure had departed with them.
She gripped the thin stem of her glass tightly.
The applause continued to ring out, the praise flowed, the sequence unfolded exactly as prescribed, and glances crossed at precisely the right moments. It was all choreographed, turning like gears without the slightest hitch—and yet.
‘Damn it.’
She couldn’t concentrate at all.
Celia brought the glass to her lips but didn’t drink; instead, she pressed her teeth against the rim. The thin crystal made a small, sharp sound.
She didn’t dislike the sensation. The feeling of something scraping her raw suited her current mood perfectly.
‘So I’m supposed to just trust Lucius, am I? Should I go to Father and tell him myself?’
Chloe was becoming one of House of Brickwell.
The thought made her skin crawl just as much as when she’d taken the name of House of Windmere.
Celia’s eyes narrowed to slits.
‘No, but more than that…’
Perhaps the real problem lay elsewhere.
After divorcing her, Lucius had decided to marry Chloe.
The moment Chloe’s bright, laughing face flashed through her mind, the red liquid in the glass seemed to deepen. The slowly tilting wine swirled beneath her gaze.
Like a reflection of anger pressing to break free.
‘Insane bastard.’
If that were true, he’d already chosen his next wife.
And of all people—Chloe. That insane woman.
‘Remarry? With the woman we never got along with? So it’s all fine, is it?’
It had happened during the time she’d despised him anyway. Celia attached no meaning to such things.
So this feeling was certainly not mere, petty jealousy.
Not some trivial emotion born of love, but something far simpler and more direct: a profound insult.
‘He dares put Chloe in the seat I occupied?’
The vicious displeasure of being compared to Chloe consumed her.
‘Was that man really insane?’
Yet despite her irritation, the banquet continued.
Chloe delighted in the attention as befitted a woman who loved it, while Evandor played the perfect puppet, obedient to his father’s commands.
Celia felt nothing at all.
“It is pleasant to receive such warm attention…”
Her mind was entirely elsewhere.
“Celia.”
Lucius Windmere, from a seat not far away.
Impeccable posture, a sharp jawline, a face so excessively model-perfect it was almost infuriating.
“Why do you look so displeased, hmm?”
To her persistent gaze, Lucius—who had been smiling and agreeing with others’ remarks—finally approached her.
His tone was gentle.
Whenever her mood twisted even slightly, he would address her with that face and that voice.
As if unaware that such an attitude only made her more uncomfortable.
“I’m fine.”
“Are you?”
She cut her reply short, and he lowered his head slightly.
“But you haven’t said a word since earlier.”
“That’s… hardly important.”
“It matters to me.”
Celia looked up at the man speaking such embarrassing words with an odd expression. His face gleamed white beneath the chandelier, and his eyes still held warmth even after the flicker of various emotions.
‘So this is the man who planned to divorce me and remarry Chloe.’
Celia bit her lip.
“It’s bothersome, so don’t concern yourself with me.”
As Lucius’s eyes drifted to her lip, words suddenly shot out like spider silk. He flinched, as if bitten by a venomous spider.
Realizing she might have been too harsh on someone trying to show concern, Celia was about to reconsider when—
“Ha ha, you two are such a lovely sight together still.”
Someone had wedged themselves between them.
Was he in his right mind?
That absurd remark about their “still” being good together made Celia snap her head around, and Lucius turned to follow.
“Count Soaddin.”
She didn’t even remember his name, yet the elderly nobleman seemed delighted to see her.
“Ah, you do remember me. It has been far too long, Your Grace.”
“Indeed it has.”
Lucius began his performance as he always did. It was the moment when the memories his adjutant had implanted in him shone brightest.
“Having watched you both since childhood, seeing you together like this… well, I nearly weep with joy.”
“Ha ha.”
“I remember when you two quarreled over a single toy. It seems like yesterday, yet I suppose I’ve grown old myself.”
Ah, now she remembered.
Had Count Soaddin possessed the ability to peer into Celia’s mind, he would surely have been horrified.
He was the former chief chamberlain to the Emperor, and because Celia and Lucius quarreled so relentlessly, he had wept rivers before retiring voluntarily.
“They say all things change with time… Oh dear, what a thing this is.”
“Your Grace, please don’t cry again…”
As someone who had frequently made his eyes water in the past, Celia felt a faint twinge of guilt and fumbled for a handkerchief.
Unfortunately, not having brought one, it was Lucius who offered her his own instead.
“To witness this before I die… what a blessing. When I heard of your marriage, I thought my ears must have failed me…”
“…”
At his earnest words, Celia too found herself lost in remembrance.
Only Lucius turned his gaze away, looking somewhat strained.
Perhaps to change the mood, Soaddin soon shifted the topic.
“Speaking of which, I’ve been hearing much lately about the Eastern Trade Route and the Northern supplies.”
Like a man from a bygone age, speaking of business even at such a gathering. Celia turned away, pretending not to listen. Only Lucius, ever courteous to his interlocutors, answered earnestly.
“If the Eastern Trade Route and Northern roads were connected, logistics would become far more stable.”
“Quite right. At present, roads freeze each winter, grain prices spike, and steel cannot reach the North on schedule.”
Why must tedious topics arise at a merry party.
Of course, calling the party merry was itself contradictory, but still.
“You speak of a public works project directed by the Imperial Court? Yet I wonder whether it’s actually feasible. How is it proceeding?”
A young lady lingering nearby posed the question. A cluster of ladies gazed up at Lucius with bright eyes. Already unsettled by the Chloe situation, Celia’s eyes sharpened to points.
Yet she merely rubbed the red fruit wine staining the rim of her glass with her thumb.
“Does the Imperial Court bear the entire cost?”
Since Celia showed no reaction, the ladies grew more animated.
Lucius glanced back at her, but she simply folded her arms, pretending not to notice. His lips moved slightly before he answered the question directed at him.
“Hardly. Even the Imperial Court finds it difficult to bear the entire expense.”
“Then how is it managed?”
“The Imperial Court guarantees Trade Route Licenses for major roads and Military Supply Contracts, while the actual funding is divided among the nobles participating in the project.”
“In such a situation, how would the invested capital be recovered?”
The woman questioning Lucius was a face Celia recognized.
She was known as a lady of refined accomplishment, following in her scholar father’s footsteps.
‘But why does she feel compelled to flaunt that education now?’
The lady adjusted her glasses nervously, her cheeks flushing pink as she awaited his response. He answered the pointed question with ease.
“Over a set period, recovery is most likely through Transportation Fees and warehouse storage charges, as well as priority shipping rights for military supplies.”
“That’s rather promising in the long term. Of course, not only for the nobles’ benefit but for the prosperity of the Empire itself!”
“Yes. However, opening the route does not solve all problems. A ship reaching the port is entirely different from supplies arriving at a Northern warehouse. Especially in winter, movement becomes impossible.”
He accepted a fresh glass from a passing attendant.
Replacing the Champagne whose bubbles had already gone flat, he held Fruit Wine identical to hers.
“I see… but wouldn’t proper road maintenance solve that?”
“It’s not so simple. The North’s difficulty lies not in widening roads but in keeping them dry. Once snow melts, earthen roads become mud, and a single cart can block the entire way.”
“There’s no way to resolve that?”
“Drainage systems and stone chip paving… reinforced bridges could help—”
Click. Before Lucius finished, Celia set down her glass.
“Drainage systems and stone chip paving.”
At her voice, Lucius set down his own glass and straightened his posture. Already displeased, Celia tilted her head, regarding him directly.
“And who keeps maintaining that road? Won’t the yearly cost of repairs exceed both the initial paving expense and the losses the North currently suffers?”
The air between them grew taut.

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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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