Why Is My Husband the Villainous Schemer! - Chapter 51

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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 51
At those words, Linea’s eyes—which had been drowsy and half-closed—began to widen gradually.
“Marriage?!”
It was the first time I’d seen Linea raise her voice like that, and I had to bite back a laugh.
“Well, actually… early this morning I received a proposal from the Duke.”
I leaned in like sharing a secret and held out my left hand to Linea.
The space around us seemed to brighten all at once, as if someone had lit a candle.
Linea gasped in amazement, her face full of surprise.
“Wow. Is the ring really this big?”
“It is rather large, isn’t it?”
Feeling a bit shy about it, I let out a soft laugh.
“The Duke must love Mother very much.”
As she said this, Linea smiled gently.
Her cheeks, which had filled out over time, were flushed with a sweet, innocent blush like a cherubic angel.
I pressed my fingertip gently against Linea’s soft, round cheek, leaving a light mark.
“You’re so adorable.”
“Mother, or rather… Mom……”
Linea’s eyes wavered uncertainly, as if asking whether it was all right to call me that.
I nodded with a broad smile.
“I’m Linea’s mom!”
“Hehe.”
Reassured at last, the child laughed, and I pinched her cheek lightly.
I released the soft, delicate skin gently and asked carefully.
“First, to register Linea under my household, we need to be married, so I was planning to go file the Marriage Registration today.”
“Can I come with you?”
“Of course—I was going to ask you to come along. You’re family, after all.”
At those words, Linea’s round cheeks flushed red as cherries.
She seemed embarrassed.
I smiled warmly at her.
“So let’s get up and get ready together?”
“Yes!”
As if forgetting yesterday’s unhappy memories, Linea nodded eagerly.
“Then let’s go!”
* * *
Normally, Marriage Registration in the Caldtran Empire takes place at the same time as the wedding ceremony.
“So you have to go here for the Marriage Registration?”
“Usually it’s handled at a nearby temple, but if you do it at the Grand Temple, the process moves a bit more quickly.”
“I see.”
I’d never had reason to visit the Grand Temple before, so I hadn’t known that.
“But how much longer are you planning to carry Linea?”
I ventured to tease him, noting how he showed no sign of setting her down.
Carcel avoided my gaze and offered his explanation with desperate earnestness.
“There are a lot of people around, and your daughter might get lost, or if she walks too much, her feet might hurt……”
“Honestly.”
“I’ll put her down once we’re inside.”
I shook my head with a slight smile.
“Let’s just go!”
“Yes.”
Carcel nodded, watching my expression carefully with somewhat deflated spirits.
The interior of the Grand Temple was surprisingly elegant, with high ceilings and refined marble finishing—nothing like what you’d expect from a place where Marriage Registrations were filed.
“It’s like an art museum.”
“Would you like to visit the Imperial Art Museum next time? It’s nearby, and the gardens are spacious—good for children to run around in.”
“That sounds wonderful!”
I felt our list of things to do together with Carcel and Linea growing, one item at a time.
Once we become an official family after this……
I watched Carcel lightly lifting Linea in one arm, and Linea nestled against him with newfound ease.
‘Somehow, I can actually imagine our future now.’
I smiled quietly to myself.
Carcel looked down at me and quietly offered his hand.
“You don’t have to hold it if you don’t want to.”
He said this gently, and I immediately took his hand.
“I don’t mind. Your hands are large and your body temperature is cool—it feels nice.”
“Then I’m glad. I’ll keep my temperature cool for you always.”
“…Is that even possible for a human body?”
He let out a quiet laugh at my bewildered tone.
“If Asha wishes it, I can make the impossible possible.”
“Honestly—Linea can hear you!”
Walking pleasantly alongside Carcel, we eventually arrived at what looked like a reception area.
The moment I released his hand, he stepped forward and spoke.
“We’re here to file a Marriage Registration.”
“Yes?”
For the empire’s upper classes, marriage typically involved signing the Marriage Registry under a Priest’s guidance at the same time as the wedding ceremony.
Perhaps because of this, it was rare for someone to file the Marriage Registration here directly, and the Priest blinked in surprise.
“Filing the Marriage Registration before the wedding ceremony—unusual.”
“Ah.”
The Priest glanced back and forth between Linea in Carcel’s arms and me standing behind him, and his expression shifted as if he’d picked up on something.
With a benevolent smile that seemed to say ‘I understand everything’, he continued naturally.
“Ah yes, in cases like this, many people choose to file the Marriage Registration without the wedding ceremony. If you’d just fill out these forms, that will be all.”
The Priest busily opened drawers, searching through unfamiliar documents, then suddenly looked up.
As if he’d just remembered something, he perspired nervously and asked us cautiously.
“Forgive me, but might I confirm the standing of both families? It’s… standard procedure. If I could just see the Identification Card of the gentleman first……”
“Of course.”
As Carcel briefly turned his attention to finding his Identification Card, the Priest gave me an awkward wink several times.
“Hmm?”
Tilting my head in confusion, the Priest hastily thrust a scribbled piece of paper at me, making sure only I could see it.
“This is a document only the wife should see.”
“There’s something like that?”
“Shh.”
I glanced at the paper the Priest had awkwardly handed me, making sure Carcel couldn’t see.
<If you are being forced into an unwanted marriage with your daughter used as a hostage, please nod now. I can help you.>
When I looked up again, my eyes met the Priest’s.
The Priest raised both thumbs and gave me a strained smile.
It seemed he’d misunderstood something—Carcel’s expression was intimidating enough to cause such confusion.
To put an end to the misunderstanding, I crumpled the paper and slipped it into my pocket where Carcel couldn’t see it, then shook my head.
“Dear, finding your Identification Card is taking a while, isn’t it? Should I help you look?”
Deliberately infusing my voice with affection, I linked my arm through his, and the Priest’s expression shifted to one of realization.
Satisfied that he’d understood, I smiled back warmly at him.
Though Carcel, for his part, had gone completely rigid like a statue.
“Dear! Why is it taking so long?”
He turned his head jerkily to look down at me.
With an astonished expression and lips that barely moved, I gave him a knowing smile.
“…I-I’ll get it out right now.”
Carcel, looking flustered, pulled out his Identification Card with a flourish, his ears faintly flushed.
“Here’s my husband’s Identification Card, and here’s mine. Please verify them.”
“Very well.”
In the end, both Carcel and I had to present our Identification Cards for verification before we could receive the forms.
We filled out the documents on the spot, and the Priest examined them thoroughly.
Once satisfied, his tone became noticeably more relaxed as he spoke to us.
“Everything checks out. Once these documents are officially registered, Marriage Annulment will no longer be possible.”
“Understood.”
I nodded.
“Congratulations on your marriage. And what a lovely daughter you have.”
The Priest handed a lollipop to Linea.
“Thank you.”
As Linea offered her thanks, she smiled shyly.
After taking care of that urgent matter, we left the Grand Temple, and it was already approaching lunchtime.
That’s when Carcel made a suggestion first.
“Since we’re out, would you like to have lunch before heading home? As a celebration now that we’ve completed the Marriage Registration.”
“That sounds good.”
Before deciding on a menu, I asked Linea a question.
“Linea, is there anything you’d like to eat?”
“Anything is fine.”
Today Linea had become even quieter than usual.
Whatever thoughts were turning in that small head of hers, I didn’t know them.
But there was no need to force them out.
I decided that if Linea seemed ready, I would gently ask her then.
“What about you, Carcel?”
“Does Asha want something light today, or something heavier?”
“Hmm……”
I was grateful he hadn’t said “whatever you prefer”.
I didn’t know any restaurants in this area, and I had decision paralysis.
Thanks to Carcel’s question, which gave me options, I was able to answer relatively easily.
“Well, since it’s still early, something fresh?”
“Then I know a seafood restaurant near the Grand Temple. How does that sound?”
“Sounds perfect!”
That’s how Carcel and I arrived at the restaurant.
Even though it was lunchtime and the place was clearly full, the Manager rushed over immediately upon seeing Carcel’s face.
“Oh my, it’s been so long! You got married? And you have a daughter!”
“This is my wife, the Duchess Asha Livandel.”

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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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