The Problem Is, My Ex-Boyfriend and I Are Both Dating Other People - Chapter 59

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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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Chapter 59

I could sum up my situation in a single word.
A mess.
I really couldn’t think of any other way to describe it. I couldn’t help myself any longer and swept my hair back, feeling the careful arrangement fall into disarray, though I no longer cared. I quickly changed the subject before Richard could say anything else.
“How did you end up tangled with Troublerup?”
“Like I said yesterday, I only invested. I had nothing to do with running it. I never touched the articles, and I couldn’t have.”
“……That’s all?”
Ah. My suspicion showed. I hesitated and studied Richard’s expression.
Richard rested his chin on his knee and smiled silently, the corners of his mouth lifting.
I couldn’t tell if the sunlight streaming behind him at that angle was intentional or coincidence. Wasn’t it too deliberate at this point? Could sunlight possibly pour down so perfectly, so precisely at that slant, by mere chance?
While I struggled to catch my wayward thoughts drifting in an odd direction, unsure how to recover, I stopped mid-thought the moment my gaze met Richard’s in the open air.
He spoke as though he’d read every thought in my mind.
“That’s all. But you’re the one who made a strange request to Troublerup.”
“…….”
“The Duke of Bella’s Estate, asking a cheap gossip publication to dig into the Crown Prince’s secrets. What were you thinking if word got out?”
“It didn’t matter. Actually, I wouldn’t have minded if word reached Daemon instead.”
At this point, there was no use hiding anything. I should have known it was finished the moment that chaos unfolded yesterday. I swept back my fallen hair again.
“You already know it, but Daemon is behind all of this.”
Richard tilted his chin, urging me to continue.
“You can’t create a Monster overnight without somewhere to hide it. It couldn’t be the Imperial Palace, so I thought he must have secured a warehouse or mansion somewhere in the Capital.”
“If he went far from the Imperial Palace, it would be difficult to move about?”
“Right. Even so, he’s the Crown Prince. If he’d left the Capital, he would have drawn attention no matter what.”
“So the Duke needed someone to move like his own hands and feet, without leaving traces. That was Troublerup.”
“Bingo.”
Drawing Troublerup in was a choice fraught with danger.
If by some slim chance the power behind Troublerup had been the Emperor, everything would have become hopelessly tangled.
This situation doesn’t seem perfectly clean, but at least I avoided the worst. I even learned about Troublerup in the process.
And Richard…….
I lifted my gaze from the table. The man backlit by the window filled my vision once more.
Richard met my eyes as naturally as if it were obvious, and he was certainly the Richard I knew. He was the same, yet different somehow. Before I could even gather my thoughts, words tumbled out of my mouth.
“I was a bit surprised, actually.”
“?”
“About investing in Troublerup.”
The Richard I knew would never make an investment like that. More than that, he’d always kept his distance from anything involving money. Where had that man who used to stash his salary in the bank disappeared to?
“Ah.”
Richard gave a small, knowing laugh. I stared at him intently, as if trying to read what he was thinking.
There had been a time, long ago, when we understood each other without speaking. But thinking about it now, I don’t think we truly understood at all—we just wanted to believe we did.
Those moments when we wanted to be perfect pieces that fit together.
The days when a glance would naturally meet mine, when a flick of my eyes could read his thoughts—all of that crumbled to dust.
I no longer knew what Richard was thinking. I couldn’t say why the man sitting across from me wore that particular smile. I realized this anew.
The corners of Richard’s eyes narrowed.
“You said it, Bella. There are people you want to give everything to, and there are people you want to take everything from.”
The moment I thought we’d been severed, Richard wove us back together with practiced skill. Isabella and Richard found their connecting thread in his hands and tied it tight once more.
“I intended to take everything. But once I realized it had no owner, I gave up.”
“If it had an owner?”
“Who knows.”
Richard laughed mischievously.
“I might have swallowed it whole and torn it to shreds.”
That Richard held a grudge against Troublerup like I did wasn’t particularly surprising. But hearing that he’d gone about seeking revenge methodically while I could do nothing—I burst out laughing despite myself.
“What’s that supposed to mean?”
“Back then, I thought that was the only way to satisfy myself.”
Fair enough. If I’d been the Duke of Bella’s Estate ten years ago, I wouldn’t have left Troublerup alone. So what if it was a gossip publication the Imperial family itself didn’t touch? I would have seen it through by whatever means necessary.
I felt like I’d found a fellow conspirator, and I lowered my voice to a whisper.
“I drew Troublerup into this for that reason too. I didn’t care if they got tangled up and ruined.”
“I figured as much.”
This was what conversation with someone whose heart aligned with yours felt like. Like stepping back into childhood, we shared knowing smiles—when suddenly, a sharp cough sounded from beside us.
“Ahem, I don’t mean to be rude, but I’m still here…….”
Looking at him again, Love appeared even more exhausted than before. The shadows beneath his eyes were dark as he lifted his hand slightly.
Richard answered Love’s unspoken request for consideration without hesitation.
“Weren’t you the one who wanted to do an investigative exposé?”
“Well, yes, but—”
“Then you’ll have to endure it.”
“What I wanted to investigate was whether the two of you still had feelings for each other, how you came to part ways—that sort of thing.”
Watching Love try to get away with so little, I smiled brightly at him.
“You’ll figure that out on your own.”
Richard, who had sided entirely with me on this matter, nodded in agreement. Love, watching us trade glances, let out a long sigh.
“You two really are perfectly matched, aren’t you?”
“Don’t say such frightening things.”
“Ah, I suppose that’s what comes from being a journalist—you develop an eye for these things.”
Finding our opinions at odds, I shot Richard a look. He shrugged lightly.
“I really don’t like you.”
“Lucky for me.”
“?”
“Once you’ve hit bottom, there’s nowhere to go but up.”
I gritted my teeth as I watched Love’s eyes suddenly brighten.
But dealing with a gossip columnist who’d spent years in the trade was no simple matter. Love spotted a crack in our united front and pounced, sinking his teeth in.
“This is quite surprising, actually. When I say surprising, I mean the nature of your relationship. You see, we had anticipated that His Excellency would be more… aggressive. After all, when one thinks of Bella’s Estate, doesn’t one think of a serpent who must devour everything it desires? Oh, forgive me—I do run my mouth. If you don’t mind, might we proceed with the interview?”
I suppressed the urge to strike Love across the mouth and asked instead:
“What’s your price?”
When I mentioned the clause that interviews only proceed when material is provided, Love laughed sharply.
“Of course it’s prepared.”
I was slightly taken aback by his certainty. I’d only made that request recently—how could he already have something?
Reading my expression, Love boasted:
“Troublerup is a trustworthy business partner. You remember the Courtesan whom the Crown Prince favored quite heavily from late last year?”
A Courtesan?
Though I didn’t answer, my expression alone was answer enough, and Love laughed again.
“Flower of Rowan.”
I recalled easily when I’d heard that name. It was a headline from Troublerup printed shortly after my father’s death.
[Will the woman to shine beside the sun be not the blue serpent, but the Flower of Rowan?]
Daemon’s reputation for romantic entanglements was well known. Each year he drifted among courtesans before settling on one.
The problem was that he always hid whichever Courtesan he’d chosen, where no one could see her.
The most recent Courtesan to vanish in this manner was the woman they called Flower of Rowan.

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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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