Why Is My Husband the Villainous Schemer! - Chapter 37

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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 37
Asha Delmore had long since fallen asleep in her bedroom—so why hadn’t she shown up yet? I couldn’t fathom it.
Where was all that confidence when she’d boasted about being a professional at this sort of thing?
Mary, who’d been waiting for the man she’d hired at her own expense to return, kept glancing nervously at her surroundings.
‘The mistress will be here soon. This is bad.’
From what Mary had observed so far, Urigella had no patience whatsoever.
Mary knew that if she failed to satisfy her, there were countless other maids ready to take her place.
‘Quick results, clear outcomes—or I’m out. And on top of that, I have to keep her in a good mood.’
But the man never came before Urigella returned.
In the end, Mary had no choice but to enter the master bedroom to help Urigella change, her mission entirely fruitless.
“Madam, how do you always manage to have such a glow in your skin?”
“A glow? Don’t be ridiculous. I’ve been going through the ledgers obsessively since this morning—my skin is parched.”
It seemed Urigella had been worried that her daughter-in-law might have sold off some of the household jewels or decorative items for money.
Unlike her usual habits, she’d woken early and meticulously cross-checked the quantity of valuable items with the ledger records.
But of course, nothing was missing.
“Yet here’s what’s strange—everything that should be here is still here. So tell me, how on earth did she earn so much money without touching a single thing from this house?”
“Well, yes. It doesn’t make sense.”
Mary echoed her sentiment.
Then Urigella turned to Mary with a tone of displeasure.
“So then, what did she earn it from? Is she making money from something unsavory?”
The way Urigella asked—as though she almost hoped that were the case—made Mary hesitate to speak.
It wouldn’t have been difficult to give her a plausible answer right then and there.
‘But if it comes out later that I lied…’
Mary knew that Asha Delmore, despite her appearance, was quite clever.
‘She’d argue back point by point and contradict me. I could end up facing serious consequences.’
Should she give Urigella the answer she wanted?
Or should she be honest and admit she hadn’t found out yet?
“You seem to know something but have no intention of saying it to the end? Well then, if that’s how it is…”
Urigella raised an eyebrow, her tone becoming subtly menacing.
Mary’s eyes widened.
“No, no, madam! Of course I had someone follow her to find out where she went!”
“So where did she go?”
“Today she went out alone without the young lady, and…”
As Mary recalled it, the dress Asha had worn today was the kind that could only be purchased at boutiques in Lombardi.
Mary herself sometimes visited the shops there on her days off because she wanted to buy such clothes.
‘You’d need at least two months of my salary to afford something like that.’
And seeing as she’d not only bought such an expensive dress but was also wearing a jeweled pin in her hair when she left…
Mary hesitantly opened her mouth.
“It seemed she had a man.”
Urigella’s eyes gleamed at those words.
“A man? She was meeting a man?”
“No doubt about it. It looked as though she was taking spending money from him.”
“What?!”
Once the lie had started, it grew more exaggerated with each word.
After all, Urigella’s goal in uncovering this wasn’t to drive Asha Delmore away.
It was to cut off her source of income.
There was no need to make a big scene—she just needed a pretext.
‘All I need to do is give her an excuse to keep Asha from going out, and the mistress will take care of the rest. No matter what Asha says, who’s going to listen to her?’
And in the world Mary had come to know, such things were commonplace.
After all, her story wasn’t entirely implausible.
“Since they’re not in a relationship with marriage in mind anyway, once you threaten to expose them to everyone, he’ll obey your every word.”
“She’s lost her mind. Since when does a married woman take a lover?”
Urigella shook her head.
“You find out who this man is. That way, she won’t be able to deny it.”
“Understood.”
“Ideally, he’d be married himself—that would be an even better weapon. Failing that, if she’s seeing someone who isn’t a nobleman, that’s scandal enough to be entertaining.”
Urigella’s greatest goal was to strip away the economic power of this daughter-in-law—a free laborer she’d paid a large sum to obtain—and keep her confined to the house.
“Yes, of course.”
Mary’s pupils wavered slightly.
Now she had to make it seem like Asha Delmore had a man, whether she did or not.
‘But if she doesn’t have one, I can always create one.’
If worse came to worst, she could take something personal of Asha’s and hand it off to a convincing actor to stage the affair.
With that thought in mind, Mary offered Urigella a submissive smile in the mirror.
‘Tomorrow I’ll tail her myself.’
* * *
The next day, I arrived at the Marquis Estate holding Linea’s hand.
I’d woken early and taken care of other matters first, so I was a bit tired.
“Asha!”
The moment Carcel saw me, his usually expressionless face softened, and I felt my fatigue ease considerably.
“Did you have breakfast?”
Carcel asked me. I nodded.
“I actually went out this morning and bought some food separately because I thought we could have a picnic.”
“I’d actually prepared something to eat as well, since there don’t seem to be any restaurants nearby.”
As he spoke, Carcel pointed to where two carriages were stationed.
‘Why are there two carriages?’
Seeing my confused expression, he continued.
“One is for us to ride in, and the other is for the servants to follow with supplies and equipment.”
“I didn’t think I needed to go this far…”
“I understand. Still, since Selsix is quite a distance away, it seemed better to be as thorough in preparation as possible.”
Carcel handed me a list he’d been holding.
“Here’s today’s Schedule Chart and a list of prepared items. Please review it, and let me know if there’s anything that seems problematic.”
‘It’s thick.’
All this for just a few hours away?
Thinking so, I skimmed the documents and shook my head.
“No, I don’t see any problems at all. It’s just perfect, and…yes.”
“If the schedule goes off track, I have backup plans B and C, so you don’t need to worry about anything—just come as you are.”
“Looking at this Schedule Chart, I’ve completely lost my sense of self.”
Carcel will handle everything perfectly on his own.
Now, the food Carcel prepared…there’s quite a lot. I wonder if I’ll get full enough.
I handed the documents back to Carcel and thanked him.
“Thank you so much for going to all this trouble for us.”
“Not at all. If we leave now, the timing should work out perfectly.”
With that, Linea and I boarded the carriage.
* * *
“Linea, we’ve arrived. Should we wake her now?”
Perhaps tired from waking up early to prepare, Linea had slept the entire way with her head resting on my lap.
Carcel and I simply exchanged quiet smiles as we rode, saying nothing.
Finally awake upon arrival, Linea realized she’d fallen asleep and felt embarrassed.
“I’m sorry.”
“What are you talking about? Was my lap really that comfortable?”
At my teasing question, Linea only nodded, her face flushing with embarrassment.
The moment Linea stepped down from the carriage, she let out an exclamation.
“Wow!”
Linea had been born in the Capital and had only ever lived there.
So she’d probably never seen scenery like this before.
I called out to Linea as she moved ahead of me.
“Don’t wander too far! Understood?”
From what I’d learned beforehand, there shouldn’t be anything particularly dangerous here.
Beyond a wide, untended meadow where grass grew wild, a low ridge of hills rose distinctly into view.
Carcel stood beside me as well, surveying the property.
“Wow, really…”
Desolate.

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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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