The Problem Is, My Ex-Boyfriend and I Are Both Dating Other People - Chapter 15

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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 15

“Count. Ten years ago, I already knew that Sir Asta went north with the Count. Don’t bother lying.”
Despite my accusation, Rihardeu didn’t so much as blink.
“It’s true he traveled with me for a time, but we parted ways soon after. He said he had other matters to attend to—something about not being able to leave behind a certain person, I believe…….”
Rihardeu’s words trailed off as his gaze drifted past my shoulder. Noah, standing behind me, muttered as if struck with guilt.
“Ten years, and we meet like this, what of it.”
“I never said I went to meet him.”
“……Nor did I mention it to the Count.”
Why were they bickering like this? It was absurd. I waved my hand sharply, separating Noah from the verge of lunging at Rihardeu.
“Enough. So the House of Winston knows nothing whatsoever about Sir Asta?”
Noah, stepping back, grumbled under his breath.
As if asking the question would make him answer—the man was no longer the fool who hung on every word from on high.
I ignored Noah and fixed my eyes solely on Rihardeu’s lips.
The eyes of a man a head taller than me narrowed. Slowly, as if to meet my gaze, he bent his upper body toward me.
Rihardeu’s fingertips brushed the back of my hand. They traced downward in a straight line toward my wrist, moving with deliberate slowness. Unable to bear the maddening tickle, I flinched and clenched my fist tightly—to prevent him from pressing further.
His gaze lingered on my clenched hand before sliding smoothly upward again.
“Then I’ll ask you something. Duke Belua. Do you still have no intention of telling me what passed between you and the Crown Prince that night at the banquet? Ah, spare me the tired excuse about the Crown Prince being jealous of me.”
“…….”
When I fell silent, Rihardeu slowly straightened. His retreat was measured and deliberate, as if he were drawing an invisible line between us.
“That is my answer.”
So you won’t tell? Fine. I won’t either.
At the sheer pettiness of it, I grabbed the back of my neck.
So this is how you’re going to play it?
“I understand the Count’s position well enough. It seems there’s nothing more to discuss.”
Rihardeu caught my arm as I turned to leave—not forcefully, but with the urgency of someone grasping at a sudden impulse.
“……Is that all you wished to ask?”
“What…….”
“I’ve faced Monsters countless times in the North. I’ve slaughtered swarms of them without number.”
The seemingly random talk of Monsters was, in fact, not random at all.
Because this was a conversation held atop a lie that fooled no one.
Rihardeu knew that Monsters had appeared in the Hote Forest.
And he was certain they were real Monsters. He was telling me to ask for help. To say the words. If I did, he would provide it.
I don’t know where Asta is—what a ridiculous situation. I swallowed a hollow laugh.
“In the Capital, I know Monsters better than anyone.”
The hand gripping my arm tightened ever so slightly.
Rihardeu leaned his upper body toward me. His unkempt black hair drew near enough to brush my forehead.
“Bela, is there nothing else you wish to ask me?”
The fact that Rihardeu had extended his hand first—even a child could see that. If I took that hand, Rihardeu would help me without hesitation.
He would help me. And Daemon would……
I closed my eyes. The hired carriage stationed at a vantage point overlooking the estate’s main gate was already calculating when I would emerge from the House of Winston.
The moment something changed between us, it would notice keenly and dash to report to its master.
“There’s nothing. So let go of my arm, Winston.”
That wretched second-in-command of the Empire would smash the House of Winston to pieces the moment he heard.
“You seem unfamiliar with propriety for someone only recently granted a Title, Count. Show some respect.”
In that instant, the heat drained from his crimson eyes.
Rihardeu closed his eyes slowly, then opened them. With an expression gone hollow, he looked once at his own hand gripping my arm, once at my face, and then withdrew.
I left the Count’s house without accomplishing anything, speaking to Noah as we went.
“Release him.”
“Pardon?”
“He’s no knight of the House of Winston. So a wandering knight invaded the Duchy of Belua without prior notification—and you’re going to let that stand?”
Rihardeu had made a mistake.
He should have kept Asta under the protection of the House of Winston. The moment he pushed Asta outside that boundary, I was certain.
I could resolve this matter without Rihardeu’s help.

* * *

And several days passed.
“Didn’t I tell you so.”
“Be quiet.”
I ground my teeth and silenced Noah. But there was no fault in what he said.
“You said yourself that Rihardeu wouldn’t act like this without reason. He’s so confident because he’s already spirited Asta away to safety.”
True to Noah’s bold assertion, Asta remained missing.
In the meantime, I’d done everything I could. Every witness worth using was dead, so there was nothing left to hide. The problem was that I’d uncovered absolutely nothing.
I’d reviewed five years of Belua’s accounts in their entirety. Money always leaves a trail. If someone had siphoned off that much, there had to be something left behind.
The trouble was that without knowing the timing and amount, I couldn’t even begin. Belua was damnably vast—the sums spent each year, the goods purchased, all far too numerous. If he’d skimmed from the personal purse this way, I couldn’t even guess how long it would take to uncover any suspicious transactions.
I’d even searched the Hote Forest, but there was nothing left. What’s the conclusion? A complete failure. I sprawled across the chair back like a wrung-out cloth and grumbled.
“There’s truly nothing left behind at all.”
“That’s the nature of Monsters. They don’t die no matter how many times you kill them until the core is destroyed, and once the core breaks, they scatter like dust.”
“Monster Stones remain, though.”
I corrected Noah’s words. He shrugged and shot back.
“Asta would have taken those.”
“Why are you being so calm about this? If a Monster truly appeared in the Hote Forest, isn’t this supposed to be a major incident?”
“Right now this is more pressing than that.”
Noah gestured at the card I was holding. I wanted to ask why the Golden Card was being wasted on such useless business—hadn’t there already been a hole in the personal treasury?
I groaned and tossed it toward Noah. He caught the card out of the air and clicked his tongue as he examined its contents.
“When will this madman come to his senses?”
“You still believe such a day will come?”
“He’s going to be Emperor eventually, and Emperors are better off sane.”
I took the card back from Noah. The ornate card bore a hastily scrawled message, simple and direct.
[Let’s set the wedding date already, Belua.]
I stared quietly at the handwritten proposal.
He truly intends to marry me?
Surely he doesn’t think we’ve actually been courting all this time. I shuddered with distaste.
‘The problem is that this is tangled up with Rihardeu.’
Which meant I had to play along for now.
Daemon had made two demands of me.
Marriage. Distance myself from Rihardeu.
How could I manage to appear as though things were unfolding according to Daemon’s design while still buying myself time? I pondered for a moment, then let out a sharp laugh. Noah flinched and stepped back at the sight of my expression.
“……What are you plotting?”
“What am I?”
“Don’t play dumb. Look in a mirror if you’re going to deny it. Every time you make that face, it terrifies me, sir.”
At Noah’s exaggeration, I let out a soft chuckle.
“Just thinking it works out well.”
“……?”
Noah studied me with a deeply worried expression. He was clearly worried I’d snapped from anger.
Rather than deny it, I flicked the card into the fireplace and spoke.
“You need a betrothal before marriage.”
“Sir?”
“Where does he get off trying to swallow the Duke of Belua without so much as an engagement period?”
“Sir?”
“Write the reply as elegantly as possible.”
A short silence fell.
Noah seemed to be turning my words over in his mind. He looked up at the ceiling once, down at the floor once, then fixed me with a steady gaze and asked.
“What did you just say?”
“Write back to Daemon and say we should have the betrothal first. Actually, no—I’d better write it myself.”
Muttering as if to myself, I pulled paper stamped with the Family Seal toward me. Unlike Daemon casually tossing out a one-line proposition on a card, I had no intention of asking him to rush into a betrothal this way.
“The Social Season should be about the right length for the engagement period, shouldn’t it?”
Muttering to myself, I unconsciously ground my teeth.

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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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