Why Is My Husband the Villainous Schemer! - Chapter 20

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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 20
“Well then, that’s a promise, isn’t it?”
Karsel asked me this question as I spoke, feeling somewhat embarrassed.
“How would you feel about coming to our house for the next date?”
“Your house?”
Wasn’t that a bit fast?
“It’s not anything else, but… if Asha were to come to like me.”
The moment he uttered those words, his expression visibly crumbled.
He smiled softly, lifting the corners of his mouth as he continued.
“If I were to marry you, I would give you thirty-two Bank Accounts and five Property Deeds, as I mentioned.”
“Wait, you were serious about that? I thought it was just a joke.”
I’d assumed he’d only said it in passing.
Karsel added subtly to me.
“Actually, I have three more vacation homes, so there are eight Property Deeds in total. I didn’t want to mention it in case Asha felt burdened, so I held back…”
The way he watched my expression as he spoke made it seem as though he were confessing some grand secret.
I shook my head firmly.
“Please don’t lay out something like that with such serious solemnity, as if you’re making a confession.”
“In any case, if things work out that way, you would live at our house, so it might not be a bad idea to come see what the newlywed home looks like beforehand.”
Karsel spoke in a drowsy, languid voice.
It felt almost like he was seducing me.
“Your daughter would be living with us anyway, so it would be nice if she came along whenever you have time.”
“Linea would probably like that too.”
Linea had long been lacking in social skills due to years of abuse.
Since she’d never been close to an adult man before, I thought the picture of the two of them together would be adorable.
Karsel’s eyes trembled with tension as he gazed at me from across the table.
“When spring comes, the Rakan Estate gardens fill with spring roses. It would be even lovelier if you and your daughter came to see them in person.”
“Is that so?”
I looked around the room filled with pink roses where we were seated and asked.
“Could they be prettier than these roses here?”
“They’re from there… rather, they would be even more beautiful than these.”
Now that I thought about it, it had been a long time since I’d last gone flower viewing.
In my previous life, I was always rushing forward without a moment’s rest.
Wearing spring clothes and taking photos beneath the blossoms had always felt like a luxury to me.
‘Come to think of it, I should have enjoyed life a little more back then.’
I didn’t regret having lived so diligently, but at the same time, there were things I hadn’t experienced because of it, and I felt a slight regret about that.
“I’d like that.”
So in this life, wasn’t it all right to enjoy things a little more?
I smiled toward Karsel.
Unaware of how he was looking at me.
* * *
Karsel gazed at Asha across from him, who seemed unusually lovely today, like a delicate fawn.
She didn’t know it, but did Asha realize that her expression changed constantly?
When she found something delicious, her face would light up and she’d chew faster; when it wasn’t to her taste, her lips would press into a thin line and her chewing would slow.
Only Karsel, who loved Asha so much, possessed the ability to catch every fleeting shift in her expression.
He was so preoccupied watching Asha that he barely tasted the food.
“It really is delicious, isn’t it?”
“Yes.”
He nodded to her as she asked with that lovely smile, questioning whether the food suited his taste.
Honestly, if Asha liked it, he was confident he’d eat anything, even garbage.
‘I don’t want to go home.’
He wanted to take this small, adorable woman and lock her away in his own house.
If he were just a little more broken inside, perhaps he could have done exactly that.
The controlling, destructive desires he hadn’t known existed within him were welling up violently.
Asha—kind, thoughtful, honest.
She knew nothing.
Not that he was the Duke of Rakan. And while she might have felt guilty about using him, knowing he wasn’t a pure person, he hadn’t intentionally fostered such guilt in her.
‘I was even relieved that she was the kind of person to feel such guilt.’
That much, at least, hadn’t been deliberate.
But the moment Karsel heard her speak of what she grew weak to, he understood her vulnerability.
And he would exploit that very weakness, revealing his true identity as the Duke of Rakan, to make her decide to marry him regardless.
Before Asha, he would need to behave like a gentle lamb.
Karsel’s lips curved upward in a leisurely arc.
Asha still knew nothing, and she smiled at him with her guard even lower than before.
Finding that lovely, Karsel could only watch over her.
“The wine really is delicious.”
As a light buzz began to cloud her mind, Asha’s manner of speech grew more drawn out, making her even more endearing.
“Is it truly that delicious?”
“Maybe it’s because it’s expensive—it goes down so smoothly. Karsel, hurry and taste it too, come on!”
Unable to resist her urging, Karsel drank the Wine as well.
He nodded to her, who seemed to expect his approval of its taste.
“Extraordinarily delicious.”
“Right? It feels good to drink after so long.”
Asha wasn’t drunk so much as simply in good spirits, bouncing even more lightly than usual.
Karsel found her adorable and simply watched.
“Come on, let’s get up now!”
As nine o’clock approached, Asha rose to her feet with a pleasant buzz.
Though reluctant, Karsel noticed the drowsiness clinging to her eyes and nodded.
“I’ll see you home.”
“I’d appreciate that today. I’m a bit tipsy.”
For someone in that state, her diction was crisp and her gait didn’t waver.
Still, Asha seemed more animated than usual.
‘She shouldn’t drink in front of other men.’
Karsel thought this to himself, stealing glances at Asha, whose smile had grown wider.
In her improved mood, Asha began to grin broadly.
“Goodbye. Thank you for the lovely meal.”
As Asha left the privately reserved Restaurant, she greeted the staff brightly, perhaps concerned that someone might see them together.
Once outside the Restaurant, she began greeting passersby as well.
“Hello there.”
“Huh?”
Of course, the pedestrian merely glanced at her and passed by.
Karsel laughed silently at her cute drunken behavior.
But if she showed this side of herself to other men as well, surely no one could help but fall for her.
He carefully helped Asha into the carriage.
“Asha, are you all right? You don’t feel like you’re going to be sick, do you?”
As the carriage began to move in earnest, Asha kept bumping her head against the side.
“I’m fine.”
Though she answered matter-of-factly, Karsel grew increasingly anxious watching her sway with each jolt of the carriage.
“Asha, would it be all right if I sat beside you?”
he asked from across the way.
Asha simply nodded meekly.
So Karsel moved to sit at her side.
“Asha, you’ve been bumping your head in all directions since earlier—I think it would be more comfortable for you to rest it on my shoulder for a while.”
As the buzz gradually overtook her senses, Asha, without hesitation this time, rested her head lightly against Karsel’s sturdy shoulder.
Her head was so light it barely registered, so delightfully round, that Karsel had to clench his lips tightly.
“Thank you.”
Even as she murmured, Asha didn’t forget to offer her thanks graciously.
At first, Karsel had simply sat in silence with her leaning against him, but soon, hearing her soft, steady breathing, he finally let out a quiet laugh.
His chest fluttered as though a butterfly were dancing inside it.
His heart pulled with an ache.
“Mm.”
Asha had soon settled comfortably against his shoulder, her eyes closing.
Perhaps because she’d been so honest about everything.
She didn’t seem to harbor any particular wariness toward Karsel.
He gazed down at her for a long time.
Once she had leaned on him, accepting the inescapable fate that he could never move again.
He could only silently wish that this moment might last forever.
For Asha, it became something of a dark embarrassing memory; for Karsel, a precious memory he would never wish to change from their first date.
* * *
“Oh!”
I suddenly came to my senses.
“What, what time is it?”
When I opened my eyes, the room was bright.
There were times when I was bitter about having been reincarnated as a Villainess that I’d sipped drinks alone in the kitchen, but I’d never drunk with another person like this before.
I hurriedly sat up.
I was still in my outdoor clothes, not even changed.
I marveled at my own homing instinct, wondering how on earth I’d made it back to my room.
But that relief was short-lived as an ominous premonition suddenly swept through my mind.
‘Wait—I think I was a bit drunk yesterday. I didn’t do anything embarrassing with Karsel after that, did I?’
After I’d gotten in a good mood at the Restaurant, my memories became spotty, and I couldn’t quite remember how Karsel and I parted ways.
‘Did I… make a mistake?!’

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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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