Why Is My Husband the Villainous Schemer! - Chapter 22

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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 22
First, I checked Linea’s condition and found she wasn’t injured. She was simply startled.
After helping Linea to her feet, I turned to the child and asked.
“Hey there, are you all right? Did you hurt yourself?”
“I’m so sorry!”
The boy’s young face, exposed where the hood of his cloak had slipped back,
“Hm?”
bore a striking resemblance to the Crown Prince’s appearance in the original story.
Those violet eyes—a trait possessed only by the Direct Imperial Bloodline of this world’s royal family.
Not only that, but the rosy flush of his cheeks and that bright, puppyish face of his.
Looking more closely, even the partially visible tips of his hair were so pale they were practically silver.
‘Could it really be connected like this?’
In the original work, Linea was trapped inside her home and unable to move, then became lost because Asha deliberately abandoned her outside.
And by chance, she enters a Back Alley where she rescues the Crown Prince from a confrontation with other children.
Linea turned out to be surprisingly quick-witted, after all.
‘The way she thought to scatter coins at the other children to divert their attention—’
Afterward, the Crown Prince and Linea played together happily, and thanks to him, Linea was able to return home safely.
The Crown Prince was supposed to feel kinship and closeness toward Linea, given their similar family circumstances.
But here’s the thing.
“Ah, ouch. I’m so sorry I wasn’t watching where I was going!”
The boy, presumably the Crown Prince, spoke these words as he hurriedly scrambled to his feet.
Then he bowed to me repeatedly in apology.
“Are you all right? I’m terribly sorry.”
Meanwhile, I was watching the child with suspicion.
‘What a coincidence. Then again, unlike the original story, I never planned to abandon Linea.’
In that case, the opportunity for them to meet wouldn’t have arisen at all.
Moreover, since I wasn’t one to cling rigidly to the original story, I didn’t think Linea had any particular need to meet the Crown Prince.
In the original, the Crown Prince was in danger repeatedly, and Linea rescued him each time.
‘And her own life was in danger on occasion.’
I didn’t want to push my daughter into such hardship.
“My Beads!”
Meanwhile, Linea had belatedly noticed the Beads that had scattered from their wrapping, and she cried out.
Well, she’d spent her entire savings to buy them, so of course they were precious.
But the Beads had already scattered in all directions and vanished from sight long ago.
I wrapped an arm around Linea’s shoulders and stopped her from trying to pick them up.
“Linea, I’ll buy you new ones. All right?”
“No, it’s fine.”
Linea seemed to have given up on the Beads, which had already been trampled underfoot and disappeared beneath the Market Stall.
She brushed the dust from her dress with one hand, brisk and capable.
Even though she’d fallen because of the boy and lost her things, she showed no sign of blaming him.
“I should have put them in my pocket right away when I received them. I was careless.”
But I could see her hands turning over the few remaining Beads with lingering attachment, and it broke my heart.
The boy, noticing her expression, glanced back and approached Linea cautiously.
“Miss, since this happened because of me, would you allow me to take responsibility and make it right?”
“It’s all right. They’re just a few Beads.”
“But since you chose each one yourself, they’re no longer merely Beads—they’ve become something precious. Since this occurred because of me, please allow me to at least offer some compensation.”
As I listened to the boy speak with such formality, my eyes narrowed.
‘He’s the same age as Linea, yet he uses such language. That’s very Crown-Prince-like.’
The way he spoke to Linea with such mature politeness was suspicious.
I began gently coaxing Linea.
“Weren’t you hoping to have some of those? Pick out a few more if you’d like.”
With me chiming in, Linea hesitated for a moment, then finally nodded to the boy.
“Thank you.”
Linea didn’t forget her manners even in response, and I couldn’t help but pat her head affectionately.
At that, Linea’s round cheeks flushed bright red.
Soon, the two of them were happily browsing through the Market Stall, absorbed in selecting Beads.
The boy was even more enthusiastically engaged.
“I’m thinking of choosing these purple ones. What do you think?”
“They’d look even prettier together with those blue Beads.”
“May I ask what these are used for?”
The two small heads drew close together, whispering.
Linea even explained how to make accessories using Beads and thread.
“Now I’d like to try making something myself.”
“Then you should buy this cord too. It’s elastic thread, so it’s perfect for making bracelets or necklaces.”
“So you can tie knots like that to make a bracelet. The Birthstone Beads look quite nice as well.”
His overly mature manner of speech made me struggle to suppress a smile.
Both of them couldn’t be more than ten years old, yet they spoke like full-grown adults.
In the end, the boy selected the Beads he liked based on Linea’s recommendations.
“That will be ten Bronze.”
“Gasp.”
Linea gasped in surprise at the much higher price compared to what she had chosen earlier.
But the boy took out the money without hesitation, as if ten Bronze were nothing at all.
‘Ten Bronze is quite a lot of money for a ten-year-old.’
Linea, looking flustered, offered her thanks.
“I didn’t know it would cost so much. I’m sorry.”
“The items I selected simply happened to be more expensive. Please don’t apologize, miss.”
I decided to step in between them to confirm the boy’s identity.
“Well, if this is fate, why don’t we go get some dessert together?”
“Ah……”
The boy blinked several times, as if such a suggestion was unfamiliar to him.
Then his pale cheeks flushed red, and he nodded to me.
“Thank you for the invitation.”
“I know a delicious Dessert Shop. Come on, take my hand!”
In such a crowded throng, it would be very easy to lose two ten-year-old children.
Linea, now accustomed to this, quickly took my hand.
But the boy hesitated as he looked at my extended hand.
“Hurry up. If we don’t go now, we’ll have to wait in a long line.”
Urged by my insistence, the boy finally took my hand, though awkwardly.
* * *
“Does it taste good?”
Fortunately, it seemed to suit the children’s palates.
“Yes!”
Linea and the boy both nodded simultaneously.
Their mouths were smeared with chocolate.
The sight of the two doll-like, adorable children sitting face-to-face as they ate their desserts was utterly charming.
“I’ve never eaten dessert like this before.”
“Really? Actually, this is Linea’s first time here too.”
The Dessert Shop was famous for its Ice Cream and freshly baked Brownies.
Truth be told, not knowing good dating spots, I’d bought a newsletter and discovered both Oliveto and this Dessert Shop.
Since both restaurants had received positive reviews, I was secretly pleased and smiled to myself.
“Since this is also fate, may I ask your name?”
“Ah.”
Upon hearing this, the boy hurriedly bowed to me in apology.
“Please forgive my rudeness. I should have introduced myself first.”
At this, I bit my lip slightly.
It was amusing how a tiny thing spoke like a grown adult.
The boy formally stated his name.
“My name is Lucian. I must ask your understanding regarding my inability to reveal my surname.”
“Lucian……”
Of course. The name was the same as the Crown Prince’s.
Lucian Eisenhardt.
The sole Direct Imperial Bloodline left behind by the deceased Empress.
The Emperor, who had loved the Empress deeply, afterward refused to remarry, guarding her tomb.
Because of this, Lucian had naturally grown up receiving only protection as a precious heir of the Imperial Family.
But a child raised under such overprotection would inevitably develop even greater curiosity about the world he had never experienced.
Having sneaked away, he met Linea by fate and fell in love—a typical Cinderella story.
‘But the Crown Prince really does have an upright character, and he’s not the type to cause trouble.’
Now that it was certain this child was the Crown Prince, I began to wonder whether I should forcibly keep him and Linea apart.
But from the beginning, today was not a day they were supposed to meet.
It happened much earlier than the timeline written in the novel.
‘Perhaps they were always meant to meet, no matter what.’
Each time something like this occurred, I felt anew that I shouldn’t always think in terms of the limitations of a novel.
For me, this world was undoubtedly a reality.
A starkly real world in which I simply possessed information about the future.
Lucian, still with chocolate smeared around his mouth, offered his thanks.
“This dessert you treated us to today was truly delicious.”
After a moment of deliberation, I opened my mouth to respond.

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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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