The Problem Is, My Ex-Boyfriend and I Are Both Dating Other People - Chapter 7

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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 7

I ground my teeth as I shot back.
“Exactly ten years ago. Isn’t that right, Count Winston?”
“Well. I suppose the parting I remember and the one the Duke remembers aren’t quite the same.”
“How could you possibly remember it differently?”
“Depending on how you look at it, you might.”
“No!”
How could anyone interpret it differently!
“For heaven’s sake!”
Just as I was about to cry out, an excited exclamation pierced through the corridor, and suddenly everyone—including myself—was staring at Sasha, her cheeks flushed crimson with enthusiasm.
“Could it be that the Midnight Abduction from ten years ago that created such a stir in the Capital was……!”
“Enough.”
Just as that tedious romantic tale was about to begin, Daemon cut it off sharply, his displeasure evident.
“Why are you dredging up ancient history, Sasha? What matters isn’t the past—it’s the present. The important thing is that Bella is with me now, regardless of who she saw before.”
“Is that so?”
“It is. And since I’m the most noble man in the Empire, and among unmarried women, Bella has the best prospects, we’ll marry soon enough and make a perfect pair.”
Sasha tilted her head with a puzzled expression. It seemed she thought Daemon’s words were simply beyond her comprehension because she’d been away from the Capital for so long.
No, Sasha. That’s not it. It’s not that you don’t understand—it’s just that he’s the one who’s strange.
Fortunately, Sasha didn’t press the matter any further.
“Then at the banquet next week, will my brother’s partner still be the Duke? I don’t remember perfectly, but at such a grand affair, you give your partner a corsage as a gift, don’t you?”
What?
I turned to look at Sasha, then brazenly shifted my gaze to Daemon, who was grinning shamelessly.
‘What in the world are you telling your cousin when you’ve barely seen each other?’
A corsage is something only freshly infatuated lovers wear. And neither Sasha nor I ever made an entrance with flowers bound to our wrists at our first banquet as partners.
And why?
‘Where did that man who said he’d never do something so childish go?’
He’d told me he had no intention of mimicking what children did, yet here he was showing no shame whatsoever about it.
Daemon responded without a trace of embarrassment.
“Of course. I prepared the corsage as soon as the banquet was mentioned. Ah, and Bella—I’ve already selected several dresses for you. Why don’t we take a look while we’re at it?”
Gifts for me?
“……A dress?”
‘Surely not.’
Is this really it? No, could it really be? At twenty-eight years old, this can’t be—can it?
“I’ve always taken care of your dresses, Bella. Why the sudden surprise?”
……As they say, ‘surely not’ gets people killed.
So he was showing off after all.
For some reason, Daemon was making a concentrated effort to appeal to Richard right now.
The fact that I was his lover.
……Could he have actually forgotten that we weren’t really lovers?
A sudden intuition took root in me: my parting with Daemon wasn’t going to be smooth.

* * *

“You’ve finally arrived! I thought I’d die waiting. They wouldn’t even let me through the palace gates with just my credential.”
The knight leaning against the palace wall sprang to his feet the moment he spotted Richard, his face brightening. Richard’s expression darkened, however, when he recognized Philip, who had been at his side like a shadow in the Northern Region.
“Shouldn’t he be following Noah? What’s he doing here?”
“Ah, well, regarding the young master of the Beluoa Duchy—don’t worry. Asta went after him eagerly.”
At those words, Richard swallowed a sigh. So Noah still hadn’t given up on him.
Well, who could blame whom? Richard suppressed an urge to turn around immediately and rush toward where Isabella was waiting.
It was too soon. Even knowing it wasn’t right, he felt ridiculous at how he’d come running like a madman at a single word from Noah.
‘Bella hates Daemon?’
He wouldn’t deny being swayed by that statement. But even so, couldn’t Daemon at least refrain from looking so obviously smitten right in front of him?
How many times had he barely held back his fists at Daemon’s swagger? What made it worse was that the two of them looked remarkably well together.
Richard let out a deep breath and began walking. Philip trailed right behind him, chattering away.
“So what did the young master of Beluoa say that had you bolting like that? Given that you went to the palace, it must have something to do with the Beluoa Duchy rather than the Princess……”
At that moment, Philip’s gaze shifted to a carriage leaving through the main gate, and he changed the subject. Richard was about to strike him for it when he caught sight of the carriage and froze solid.
Philip watched Richard stare blankly after the departing carriage, tsk-tsking softly to himself.
“Ah, nothing but hopeless romantics in our order. The commander, Asta—why does everyone fixate on just one person like this?”
Richard had at least experienced romance, but what on earth Asta was thinking, Philip couldn’t fathom, and he shook his head with a grumble.
“Captain, do you truly believe a carriage will simply stop because you command it?”
Richard offered no reply to Philip’s barb. Philip would’ve wagered good money that the captain hadn’t heard a word—his entire attention had been consumed by the carriage rolling steadily down the central thoroughfare.
Why?
Because the man was clearly deaf to everything else, fixated entirely on the vehicle moving away at an unhurried pace.
“I don’t understand it—not Asta, and certainly not you, Captain. Why do you all cling so desperately to someone who’s made it clear she wants nothing to do with you?”
“If you’ve nothing useful to say, then ride out to Beluoa Territory yourself.”
“Come now. Assigning two senior knights to inspect a mere territorial estate is a waste of manpower.”
“And trailing after me like a lapdog isn’t?”
“That’s an escort detail, sir. Demons can emerge anywhere, anytime. Surely your adjutant must remain at your side.”
Richard shot Philip a look of disbelief. But Philip didn’t flinch beneath that piercing gaze—the resolve he’d honed through countless staring contests with demons sporting grotesque heads in place of proper skulls was now gleaming through.
“Even here in the Capital, demons can emerge anywhere, anytime.”
“You just said we’re in the Capital.”
“It was you yourself who said that as long as we don’t understand why demons arise, there are no safe places on this earth.”
Seeing that Richard was unlikely to absorb anything further, he abandoned the argument. He shook his head lightly and began walking toward his destination—though if he thought that would stop Philip, he was sorely mistaken.
“Running away, are we, Captain?”
……
“Don’t worry yourself. I understand completely. First love is frightening, after all. I still remember the little boy who pressed a warm potato into my hands when I was eight years old.”
Years of carefully guarded feelings were now equated with a street urchin’s potato.
……
“Ah—so you’re parting ways with the Princess? The gossip columns were saying the two of you would marry any day now.”
There was no need to ask which gossip column Philip was referring to.
Damn Troublelove.
It had tormented him ten years ago, five years ago, and never went under. Far from it—the scandal sheet had even built its own premises despite touching the royal family, and it thrived ever more.
The more successful Troublelove became, the better it was for him financially. But money and mood were two entirely different things.
“In any case, you’ll attend the Welcome Banquet, won’t you? I can accompany you as escort, yes? May I borrow formal wear? Yes? I’m asking if I may borrow it? If you change your mind later, I’m billing you for it?”
Richard, who hadn’t deigned to turn around or answer, suddenly felt Philip go silent beside him.
Why?
Because they had just entered one of the precious few spaces capable of unnerving someone as shameless as Philip had been even before the Imperial Palace.
Surely this wasn’t what he’d meant when he’d asked about formal wear. Philip’s voice came out pale and trembling.
“……Captain, you’re not seriously planning to enter here, are you?”
Only then did Richard turn to look at Philip. At his questioning gaze, Philip found himself at a loss for words.
What could he possibly say?
That there were elaborate lace dresses spread out behind him in every direction, billowing elegantly?
“It’s nothing…….”
Leaving Philip speechless with dread in his wake, Richard strode confidently into the empire’s finest boutique.
The next day, Troublelove’s front-page headline would be decided in that very moment.

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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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