My Ex-Husband Came Back Crazy - Chapter 88

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

Chapter 88
Chapter 9. Remnants (8)
The carriage lurched as it moved.
The interior, arranged to Celia’s taste, was dominated by dark tones. Thick navy curtains swayed half-drawn across the windows, and each time the heavy fabric rippled, the sunset’s glow spread like waves.
Yet the carriage felt far from comfortable.
Perhaps it was the scent of lilies from the Salon, still clinging somewhere to Chloe’s dress.
Sweet. Cloying.
Celia resented that the fragrance had followed them into the carriage.
“I never imagined a day would come when I’d ride in the same carriage as you.”
It wasn’t merely the scent, though.
The real culprit was that woman herself.
“It’s proving to be a far rarer experience than I expected.”
Red light seeping through the curtain’s gap painted Chloe’s cheek. With each flicker, her eyes held a peculiar gleam of heat.
Excitement? Anticipation?
‘That’s a face that’s already held a wedding ceremony in my mind.’
Her expression was oddly animated.
Celia turned her gaze away.
Fine. Good.
Humoring this woman to extract information? It wasn’t difficult.
Chloe was intelligent, despite appearances. But strangely, whenever Lucius was involved, her judgment became remarkably clouded.
“So, what exactly do you want to do?”
Celia asked, resting her chin on the armrest.
The question was what came next now that she’d used remarriage documents to pressure Chloe’s divorce. Chloe had swallowed her response readily enough.
“Once I marry Lucius, I plan to live quietly.”
Chloe’s eyes brightened at the single question.
“I want to have an heir as quickly as possible! Once the child is grown, we can retire and escape to the countryside, just the two of us, don’t you think?”
What strange feeling was this?
Celia listened to her words in silence for a time.
The carriage jolted over a winding road, and red light poured through the curtain gaps, washing over Chloe’s face. Those animated eyes, her lips parting softly, her tongue drawing out Lucius’s name without hesitation.
Her loosened tongue opened her interior, sharing much information with Celia.
But what was this…?
“He’s kind to everyone. But his eyes are different when he looks at me.”
At first it was mere displeasure.
“As if only the two of us were left in the world.”
Then irritation.
“Please think of it as just a fleeting dream, Miss Celia. The one who lost his memory—he’s not truly himself anymore, is he? Of course, he’s still magnificent, but… I can’t say in any genuine sense that I’ve shared love with him.”
And then, quickly, an emotion without name surged to the crown of her head.
“His memories will likely return soon. I’ve examined some historical records, and cases of permanent memory loss are quite rare—”
“Shut your mouth.”
As Chloe’s words cut off, she reached out.
There was nowhere to run in the narrow carriage. Chloe’s back struck the seat at once, and Celia’s fingers covered the thin flesh beneath her chin where her neck began.
Her hand pressed down with brutal force where speech passed through.
“My ears are rotting from listening.
I won’t let his name crawl from that mouth again. All the lies and delusions and the rot-pink dreams will go down your throat at once.”
“Spouting nonsense like you know your place, just babbling on and on…”
“Choke—agh!”
Chloe’s hands seized Celia’s wrist. Pale, slender fingers strained with desperate force, but Celia didn’t budge.
Celia considered, for a moment, the consequences of what she’d already done. But there was no regret.
Because even in that dog-like fantasy, Lucius had to be hers.
“Chloe Larendel.”
Celia cast her shadow coldly across that face.
“Whatever you say—he’s mine.”
You think you’ll take that wretched man away?
Yes, when his memory returns, he’ll certainly make a scene. He might mock her for wavering before me, or he might find every moment they’ve shared repulsive.
So what?
“If you hated it, then why did you stupidly get a hole punched through your skull and stay gone so long?”
Celia’s lips twisted into a grin, never releasing the pressure of her fingers.
“That bastard deceived me first with his nonsensical lies about love.”
An emotion thick as blood spread through her.
Chloe gasped, barely breathing.
“You think I’d let that asshole run now? If he deceived me in the name of love, then at least he’ll pay the price.”
“Ugh, ahhh!”
“I’m never letting you go now.”
“You’re… insane.”
Celia looked down at her for a moment.
Darkness and sunset mixed in the carriage, casting a strange light beneath her blue eyes. Celia laughed quietly.
“Want to watch me go more insane?”
Chloe’s contorted face was worth seeing.
“Keep your mouth shut today, and I’ll keep quiet about what happened. So stay silent yourself.”
Watching white hair fall across her face, Chloe—gasping like a goldfish deprived of oxygen—nodded frantically.
***
When the carriage stopped at the place where Chloe was to be let out, she fled as if escaping.
The elegance from moments before had vanished entirely. She didn’t even look properly at Celia as she retreated several steps. Then, suddenly, she stopped.
“But did you know?”
Celia, turning to leave, furrowed her brow.
“Your carriage is broken too.”
“…What?”
Click. The door slammed shut. And in that same instant, the carriage lurched forward and began to race.
Celia’s face went white. She raised her voice.
“Stop the carriage immediately!!”
But no answer came.
A dread crawled up her spine, and Celia immediately threw open the window. Through the bite of cold wind against her face, she saw the Carriage Driver slouched in his seat with white foam at his lips.
“Damn.”
This road happened to be a single path winding along the mountain.
One side: a steep slope.
The other: a sheer cliff face.
The guards following behind noticed the disturbance and rode desperately to catch up, but they were powerless.
“My lady! Perhaps it’s better to throw yourself out—”
A roar erupted from somewhere.
Crash-rumble!
Celia’s eyes darted frantically.
Massive boulders tumbled down from the cliff face, crashing onto the road and cascading toward her.
***
Something was wrong.
Lucius blinked slowly as he observed the Bridge Construction Site progressing smoothly.
“This morning’s contract concluded without issue, and with investors flooding in, it would be helpful if you’d review things.”
Where exactly was this unease coming from?
The numbers checked out. The schedule wasn’t falling behind. Yet his mind found no peace.
“Everything is proceeding smoothly. It’s all thanks to you, sir.”
Yet this Design Blueprint seems odd somehow.
As Lucius lifted the plan he’d been studying with raised brows, a Carpenter with an unfamiliar face happened to pass by.
It was natural not to remember every face among the hundreds moving through a construction site. Yet he suddenly lifted his head and held his breath.
“Sir, please continue to oversee this section as well.”
Was it simply exhaustion?
He hadn’t slept properly these past few days.
“…Let’s just look at this and head home early today. I feel like I haven’t been inside in too long.”
“Well, that may be true. But you’ve camped in tents and bivouacs for over two months before.”
Kabel added it as routine, though the past he mentioned likely predated the marriage. A man with a wife and home lingering outside for long periods chafed against Lucius’s values, and the thought gnawed at him.
‘I can’t even wear the Ring I matched with Celia at the construction site.’
And it was then that Lucius suddenly realized something and his eyes widened.
That Carpenter from before.
“Wait. Where did that Carpenter go just now?”
Only then did he recognize the sense of wrongness he’d felt watching that man.
The man was wearing a Ring. Those were not the hands of someone who worked wood with a plane.
“The Carpenter?”
“Find that Carpenter who just passed! Now!”
“If you describe his appearance, I’ll search for him.”
“He was wearing ordinary ready-made clothes and his face was—no, I think I’d better search myself.”
He was just groping for an unremarkable face, about to snatch his outer coat and dash off, when—
“Sir!!”
A knight pushed through the crowd and came running.
“Unless it’s urgent, I’ll handle it later—”
“The lady has fallen from a cliff and gone missing!”
The words rang out loudly over the noise of the construction site.

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