The Problem Is, My Ex-Boyfriend and I Are Both Dating Other People - Chapter 18

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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 18

Eyes still wide with shock fixed on me. Round eyes open in disbelief, watching. A chill of pleasure raced down my spine, almost sickening in its intensity.
“The Captain’s problem is being too honest. You still don’t understand House Belua’s Duchess? That woman…. Ah, I get it. I said I get it, didn’t I? She’s greedy. Jealous too, and I think her insecurity runs pretty deep. Her family circumstances…. Ugh, I told you I get it! Anyway, that’s why you exploit it! First, the Duchess has to acknowledge the Captain—then whether you seduce her or not is beside the point!”
One failure had awakened him to the truth. Now he had no desire to endure such bitter experience again.
So Isabella, don’t take your eyes off me. If you turn away from me once more, I won’t answer for what I might do.
Richard swallowed words he could not speak aloud and turned away.

* * *

“Richard!”
I managed to call his name only after following him to the place where the horses and carriages were kept.
Richard stopped as if he had been waiting. His expression—as if he had been waiting all along to hear me call his name—was utterly infuriating.
I approached him and lashed out.
“Are you serious?”
“Perhaps, Duchess, you should consider that we are still within the Imperial Palace, rather than question my sincerity.”
“Richard!”
I ground his name between my teeth in a low hiss. Only then did Richard seem to think it wise to abandon this pointless nobility, and he ran his hand roughly through his neatly combed hair, disheveling it.
A low sigh escaped him, and his gaze—cold as winter—fixed on me.
“What, Bella. Am I getting in your way again?”
“Does it seem like I’m the problem?”
“Well?”
“Betrothing yourself to the Princess means becoming an enemy to that damned Daemon.”
“I see.”
“It means wading into the sordid struggle for the Imperial Throne!”
Richard simply looked at me. Just looked.
I felt frustrated enough to stomp my feet.
He had betrothed himself to Sasha? This man clearly didn’t understand half of how dangerous this was.
Now it was beyond stopping. Everyone in the corridor had heard Richard speak. By now, Daemon’s ears would have caught it too.
“How could an offer possibly reach a Count of House Winston with no power or standing, when so many other houses were passed over?”
The cunning Emperor had made Richard a shield. He had chosen him as a sacrificial lamb for Daemon’s rage to fall upon.
Daemon will try to kill you.
Chewing on words I could not voice, I tried desperately to drag him back toward the Central Palace.
“Even now—go back—cancel it!”
“Bella, are you angry because you can’t become Empress?”
At Richard’s quiet question, the strength drained from my body.
But he was sincere. The moment I realized it, I held back tears that threatened to spill. I couldn’t break down after coming this far.
I spoke through the thick, sunken heaviness of my voice.
“……If I wished to become Empress, Richard, you could never stand in my way.”
“Then do you still love me?”
At his detached question, words failed me entirely.
“Answer me, Bella. Do you love me?”
I never imagined he would ask such a thing. I froze, and Richard moved toward me slowly.
My helpless face reflected clearly in his deep crimson eyes. His fingers intertwined with mine like a serpent’s coil. I held fast in his grip, unable to speak. Cold light flickered across his eyes as he watched me—neither affirming nor denying.
“If you’re not worried about failing to become Empress, and you don’t love me, why do you care who I’m betrothed to?”
……
Richard reached out and removed the Snake-shaped Hair Ornament from my head. The smooth motion gave me no moment to sense anything amiss. My hair, held in place, tumbled across my shoulders.
Silence hung in the air, waiting for an answer.
I could say nothing. I could neither confess that I loved him nor tell him that Daemon might kill you.
I had lost the confidence to deceive him with clumsy lies instead of truth, as I might have done in my thoughtless youth.
In the end, I became even more foolish than before and simply closed my mouth.
“Ha.”
Richard’s lips twisted, patient no longer.
“You won’t tell me a thing, yet you demand I do as you say.”
“That’s—”
“Then tell me. At the welcoming banquet, what did Daemon say to you?”
……
“Why do you care that I’m betrothed to Sasha?”
……
“You see. You won’t tell me anything at all.”
The hand gripping a handful of fallen hair felt it slip through. It was a rough touch, yet I couldn’t even feel the strands being pulled.
I lifted my gaze to follow his steps as he drew close. In his wounded eyes, I saw something sharpen.
“If it’s neither of those, then there’s only one thing left. You pity me, Bella?”
“Don’t you understand it’s not that kind of problem?”
“Ah. So that was advice from the Duke of House Belua, not Isabella? Then, Bella.”
Richard lowered his head. His gaze drew so close I thought he might touch me, and I drew in a breath.
Whether he felt my startled breathing, his eyes narrowed. A thin line of red-dark color drew between us.
“You shouldn’t have called me Richard.”
…….
“Next time we meet, it will be as a count and a duke, House Belua.”
The gaze that had hung so close suddenly withdrew. In the way he turned, I felt not a trace of hesitation.
I didn’t realize I was wounded until after Richard had ridden away. Yet there was nothing I could do.
I couldn’t speak the truth, nor could I deceive with falsehood—only one choice remained.
Silence.
Even now I had to go see Daemon, and at that thought I swallowed back a hollow laugh.

* * *

Daemon gazed at his lover sitting across from him, her face drained of color.
Isabella of House Belua. He already knew why she wore such an expression.
“There was a disturbance in front of the Emperor’s Private Quarters, I hear?”
At Daemon’s blunt question, Isabella blinked slowly. He watched her every reaction, missing nothing, and pressed on.
“A lowborn knight forgetting his place, now coveting my sister. What do you think, Bella?”
“It might be love.”
“You say that with tears in your eyes? Why—because you loved that wretch?”
No answer came. Isabella stared at her teacup, her expression unreadable.
Daemon rose from his seat, unable to contain his agitation. He couldn’t understand it at all.
“Why is everyone so obsessed with him? A lowborn knight with nothing but a sword to his name!”
“How odd. In the letter you sent me before, didn’t you hope they would come together? You said it would be troublesome if they formed ties with a powerful house.”
“Listen, Bella. It’s crucial you don’t forget the most important part. The premise that those two wouldn’t harbor any strange thoughts—you’ve overlooked that, haven’t you?”
“A betrothal isn’t necessarily tied to the Imperial Throne…….”
“Then think about who ordered it.”
Daemon leaned forward, gripping the edge of the tea table, and hissed savagely.
“His Majesty.”
Slowly, focus returned to her eyes.
“Right. Whatever ridiculous scheme the Emperor is concocting…….”
Daemon, speaking bitterly in the grip of emotion, abruptly fell silent. Realizing his slip, he clicked his tongue, then looked at Isabella again.
“Ah. Never mind. Let’s drop this useless talk. So, Bella—you’ve come to answer my proposal, haven’t you?”
Isabella didn’t point out the transparent topic shift, even as he posed the question.
“Answer me. After all, there’s only one answer you can give.”
“Because my father embezzled His Majesty’s private funds?”
“Even if that weren’t the case, if you abandon me—known to the entire world as my lover—and run to some knight, what do you think I’d do?”
Better to threaten me outright.
Isabella laughed. Daemon looked ridiculous—pressuring her with veiled threats while trembling with anxiety. And how pathetic she was, held captive by just those words.
“Well, if His Majesty is thinking of establishing a new heir, surely the Crown Prince wouldn’t dare lay a hand on the Count of House Winston?”
This was provocation. Isabella knew that clearly.
The Emperor’s intentions were ambiguous. He had made Daemon the Crown Prince but had not granted him the Imperial Throne. Greed among the powerful is hardly rare, but even accounting for that, the Emperor’s attitude toward Daemon was peculiar.
Had the Emperor possessed another viable option, Daemon would never have accumulated power as he had.
And now there was Sasha.
Hah!
Daemon’s eyes blazed with sharp menace as he strode toward Isabella.
“I won’t lose the Throne, and even if I did, do you think I couldn’t kill one knight?”
His voice as he spoke dropped low, like a snake crawling across stone.

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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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