Why Is My Husband the Villainous Schemer! - Chapter 50

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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 50
“Drag them out.”
At those words alone, the knights hauled House Delmore and his mother down the stairs.
The two of them looked utterly bewildered, unable to comprehend what was happening.
“But why—why on earth are you doing this?”
“Who are you?”
Carcel looked down at the pair he’d dragged from their beds in the dead of night.
Truth be told, even with his rank as a marquis, Carcel rarely attended social gatherings.
And given how frightening his presence was, few people had ever gotten a good look at his face—so few remembered him at all.
Thus the pair standing before him with bewildered expressions did not recognize him.
“Who exactly are you to break into someone’s home in the middle of the night and carry on like this?”
Still, the count did his best to raise his voice, clinging to what little dignity a title could provide.
Carcel merely continued to stare at them with an expression of utter indifference, watching their lips move soundlessly.
Then Urigella spoke, her voice trembling with indignation.
“Are you robbers? Someone must have called the authorities by now—don’t you fear the law?”
“Fear the law……”
Carcel laughed softly through his nose.
“Do you know it better than I do?”
“You have to tell us who you are before we can answer that, don’t you?”
At Carcel’s casual tone, the count’s bluster faltered noticeably.
There were not many people in the Empire who could command ten knights as easily as extensions of themselves.
“Then tell me what you did to the late count’s daughter, Lynea Delmore, and to your daughter-in-law, Asha Delmore.”
Upon hearing those words, Urigella suddenly erupted.
“This madwoman is trying to destroy the family! What abuse are you talking about?”
“So something did happen?”
“What happened? I never starved her, never struck her, never denied her anything that other families have. What more could there be?”
The image of Asha’s face, gentle as a fox’s tail swishing back and forth, rose unbidden in Urigella’s mind.
‘This man must be someone that woman brought here.’
Perhaps Merry had been right about there being a man involved.
Urigella suddenly felt certain that this man—not the commoner she’d brought into the house—was the one her daughter-in-law had been meeting.
And so she lashed out.
“I don’t know where you’re getting your information from that liar, but even if there were accusations of child abuse, no one breaks into someone’s home in the dead of dawn!”
“So just one charge of child abuse isn’t enough?”
“Ask the child sleeping upstairs! Ask her what I’ve actually done!”
Urigella knew Lynea well.
The girl would clamp her mouth shut the moment she sensed danger—the timid sort, just like her mother.
It was the one thing she’d inherited perfectly from her mother: meekness.
And from the fact that this man had come in the dead of night, it was clear Asha had fled.
Realizing that her daughter-in-law was no longer in the storage room, Urigella raised her voice insistently.
“Go wake her up right now and bring her here!”
“It’s pointless. The child’s safety is already secured on our end.”
“What?!”
At this point, even the pair were lost for words.
“Y-you won’t even tell us your name? Then I’ll have an audience with His Imperial Majesty himself and report this outrageous crime!”
He had to size up his opponent while he still could.
If they were a house so insignificant they could only use threats, it would be better to shake this man’s confidence in Asha than to fight directly.
But Urigella’s hopes shattered immediately.
“I am Carcel Livandel, Marquis. I’ve come with a warrant bearing the seal of Duke Rakan himself, and from this moment on, I will be investigating accusations of child abuse that have occurred in this household over the past ten years.”
Carcel withdrew a warrant stamped with the ducal seal from his coat and tossed it at the count’s feet.
House Delmore scrambled to pick up the fallen warrant, and the color drained from his face.
He had heard much of Duke Rakan’s notorious reputation.
And that was not all.
The emperor himself trusted him second only to Count Tabes.
Carcel continued without pause.
“And I hear there are also charges of Gambling and Tax Evasion related to the count.”
“What?”
The count’s hands began to tremble violently.
Carcel merely laughed languidly down at them, indifferent to their distress.
“Accusations are merely accusations, but as of this very hour, we will be securing the household ledgers, any hidden accounts, and the servants, and we will begin a thorough investigation.”
“W-wait, if you could just give us some time—”
“And be advised that until the accusations of child abuse are completely cleared, Lynea Delmore’s welfare will be the responsibility of House Livandel.”
Carcel gestured to the knights, and they dispersed with perfect coordination.
The pair stood alone in their sudden catastrophe, unable to do anything but stare at each other.
But there was no one to come to their aid.
Carcel, who might have been their only lifeline, had long since ceased to care about them.
All he wanted was to see Asha, that soft, fluffy vision from just before he’d fallen asleep.
And so the chaotic dawn passed.
* * *
“Gasp!”
I jolted awake, my eyes stung by the harsh sunlight.
When I checked the time, it was already nine in the morning!
Well, considering how late I’d gone to bed yesterday, waking this early was hardly a surprise.
“What if the count’s family has put out a warrant for my arrest?”
If I made any mistakes in this fight for custody, it would naturally count against me.
Of course, Carcel wasn’t the type to sit idle, so he’d probably already been in touch with a lawyer last night.
‘But I can’t just leave everything to him. This is my problem.’
I threw off the covers and quickly washed up and brushed my teeth before changing into fresh clothes.
‘Lynea had such a rough day yesterday—I should let her sleep in. But I need to talk to Carcel and sort through the rest of this.’
As I thought this, something suddenly caught my eye on the vanity: a ring case.
A very luxurious velvet case.
“Oh, right.”
Yesterday, Carcel and I had agreed to the Contract Marriage and gotten engaged.
Although it was a rush job because of Lynea, so I’m not entirely sure it counts as a real engagement.
I carefully opened the ring case.
“In bright sunlight like this, I might actually go blind looking at this.”
With a ring like this, I could restart civilization from the Stone Age whenever I wanted.
Once I saw the ring, the reality of last night finally hit me.
Carcel and I—we were engaged.
“This feels strange.”
He’d said we’d register the Marriage today, so I was marrying just hours after the engagement.
Everything had happened so fast, like lightning and soybeans in a field, that it still didn’t feel real.
Especially since he’d called it a “Contract Marriage,” it didn’t feel like marriage at all.
Rather than excitement or anticipation, my thoughts were dominated by duty and necessity.
Or so I thought at first.
That is, until Carcel came back from somewhere early that morning and said this:
“I’ve taken care of the matter with House Delmore, so shall we register the Marriage?”
“You’ve taken care of it? How? My mother-in-law wouldn’t agree to give up Lynea just like that.”
“Well, people tend to have other priorities more important than their granddaughter.”
At those words, I found myself nodding involuntarily.
‘In the original, before Lynea married Lusian, the imperial court’s main issue with House Delmore was their various misdeeds.’
More specifically, it was about the various crimes of the count and his ex-wife.
The imperial court had meant to separate Lynea entirely and secure the Aethilini marquis lands and their mage stone mines instead.
‘Even if it’s not ten years worth, they definitely would have committed Tax Evasion at least.’
After all, keeping Double Ledgers was something even I was aware of.
“Shouldn’t your daughter come along to watch us register the Marriage?”
“First, I should tell Lynea about the engagement.”
Given everything Lynea had been through, I wasn’t sure how she’d react to the sudden news of my marriage.
Lynea didn’t open her eyes until the afternoon, her face still drowsy with sleep.
I’d been waiting by her bedside, and I greeted her as soon as she woke.
“You awake, sweetie?”
Her eyes were still puffy from crying so hard yesterday.
I approached her carefully and knelt beside the bed, studying her face.
“Yes.”
Today her face was especially swollen, puffed like a steamed bun—ridiculous and endearing all at once.
I gently brushed her tousled blonde hair back and asked carefully.
“Will you come with me today? Mommy’s getting married.”

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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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