Why Is My Husband the Villainous Schemer! - Chapter 55

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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 55
“As it happens, the responses to the invitations sent yesterday have already begun arriving.”
Carcel turned his head and gestured to a servant, who brought in a tray laden with letter envelopes.
“Are there any addressed to you mixed in?”
To my question, Carcel answered calmly, shaking his head.
“They’re all for Asha.”
“You mean all of these dozens of invitations came addressed to me?!”
To be honest, I’d never been one for social gatherings, and people had never bothered sending me invitations without good reason.
So receiving this many invitations at once was entirely unprecedented.
Carcel spoke as though it were nothing remarkable.
“Everyone already knows that Asha has become a duchess, and that the Delmore Count Family is under intensive investigation.”
At those words, I looked up sharply from arranging Linea’s meal.
“Under investigation? Since when?”
“From the very first day Asha came to my house, I’ve had the countess and all the servants detained and under questioning.”
“Is that possible based solely on a child abuse charge?”
The lawyer I’d consulted hadn’t mentioned anything like that.
Carcel nodded readily.
“It’s not merely a charge of sustained child abuse—there’s also tax evasion on the part of the Delmore Count Family, and gambling charges against the count himself.”
“They’ve been quite busy, haven’t they?”
“Beyond what concerns Asha, these matters have been under observation for some time already. As it happens, I serve as Inspector General.”
“Does that mean you know all the information?”
In response to my question, Carcel merely offered a cryptic smile.
‘So he chooses silence over lies.’
I suddenly remembered that when I’d visited the Information Guild, the documents the Master handed over contained not a single mention of the Rakan Duke.
No matter how classified, would the Information Guild really lack that much intelligence?
‘Did they simply refuse to sell me information because I didn’t pay enough?’
Even as I thought this, a fact surfaced in my mind.
The Master had told me something.
—A VIP of a rank I cannot disclose recently purchased information concerning your ladyship.
I had assumed that mysterious VIP was the Rakan Duke.
But the man standing before me was Carcel, the Rakan Duke himself.
“Carcel, tell me honestly. Did you ever purchase information about me from the Information Guild?”
If so, then everything from our first meeting might not have been chance—it might have been calculated deception.
To my question, Carcel shook his head.
“To speak truthfully, Asha is not someone I would consider worth investigating.”
“Is that so?”
It could still be a lie, of course.
Yet as I studied him carefully, Carcel shook his head again.
“Furthermore, I do not purchase information. Every piece of intelligence circulated through the Information Guild passes through my hands first.”
“What?”
This was entirely unexpected.
“So if I had wished for information about Asha, there would be no need to pay for it. Should I request it, every information broker in the guilds would provide me with anything at all regarding Asha.”
He means this sincerely.
Carcel was not the VIP who purchased my information.
Then who could it be?
‘If not the Rakan Duke, who would target someone like Asha Delmore?’
A mere supporting character’s information—why would any VIP bother acquiring it?
“Why that expression? Did someone purchase information about Asha?”
“No, it’s nothing.”
My confusion must have been evident, as Carcel replied with some embarrassment.
“I shall look into it. It appears someone has been misleading me.”
Carcel’s eyes curved like a crescent moon, a faint smile playing at their corners.
At that moment, Linea, who had remained quietly in her seat until now, finished her meal decisively and asked carefully.
“Have all the responses to the invitations come back?”
“Oh, let me check them now. Sorry.”
Even so, Linea refrained from interrupting our conversation and waited patiently.
I found this endearing enough to gently ruffle her hair, then sorted through only the invitations addressed to her.
“Let’s see—Lucian has accepted, of course. He says he’s genuinely delighted that you invited him?”
I opened each invitation and handed them to Linea one by one.
It seemed I had somehow become the center of high society gossip.
Even children who were not particularly close to Linea had hastily sent positive acceptances when invited.
“Still, it’s reassuring that Eloy and Lucian will be coming.”
“Yes, it is.”
With two who were reasonably close to Linea attending, she would surely blend in with the other children without too much difficulty.
I asked Linea a question.
“Would you like to come with me to visit your father’s mother today? It’s fine if you’d rather not.”
Linea seemed slightly startled at first, as if hesitant—likely because of Grandmother.
In her memories, Grandmother had always been someone who disliked her.
I patted Linea reassuringly.
“How about you stay home today instead? You can explore the house and play with the maids.”
But Linea fell silent in thought, her eyes beginning to move as though searching for something.
Then, as though reaching a decision, the child answered.
“No! I want to go.”
“You’re not forcing yourself, are you? You no longer need to do anything just because others might expect it of you.”
At those words, Linea considered further, then shook her head with conviction.
“It’s because she’s your father’s mother. I think she’ll be kind and good like him.”
Embarrassed by her own words, the child’s gaze lowered.
I laughed softly.
“Is that so?”
“She is not unkind. But I should mention to you that she is not quite as warm as all that.”
Carcel spoke with a note of worry.
“Then how about this—we visit today, and afterward we can decide whether to call again?”
“Very well. If that is your wish, Asha.”
Carcel nodded his assent.
“I shall inform Mother of our visit.”
A few hours later, I found myself arriving at Carcel’s mother’s residence.
* * *
“This is the Rakan Duke’s Residence. We own several properties, but this is the primary residence.”
“Honestly, I wondered if there could be any mansion to rival the duchess’s estate?”
The sheer scale of it was overwhelming.
“I could get lost just walking through this place.”
“I’ll have to be careful not to lose Asha. That’s actually why I insisted on carrying her.”
Linea was already nestled comfortably in his arms. There was no need for a separate carriage.
Though he spoke with playful teasing, Carcel was evidently concerned enough to extend his hand to me.
I hesitated for a moment, then finally took his hand.
By now, holding his hand was becoming increasingly natural.
‘What I’ll need to grow accustomed to is Carcel’s family.’
Though I didn’t expect to form any deep bonds, I wanted to show proper courtesy to his family, as they were his.
According to what Carcel had told us with some concern before visiting, my mother-in-law was the sort who found people troublesome.
‘Perhaps that’s for the best.’
After dealing with an overbearing mother-in-law before, I actually preferred a mother-in-law who kept a courteous distance with mild indifference.
And besides, surely even a mother-in-law couldn’t help but be completely charmed by Linea.
‘She’s absolutely adorable today!’
Before we came, noticing my confusion about what to dress Linea in, Carcel had taken us somewhere.
According to him, it was merely a temporary wardrobe.
‘But it was truly a graveyard of children’s dresses.’
Now that Linea was his daughter, it seemed Carcel had no concept of moderation.
With the help of the maids, I selected a pale yellow dress from among countless options, one that would make Linea’s cuteness shine brightest.
And that was only the beginning.
We styled her hair in twin braids and crowned it all with an adorable bonnet.
She looked like nothing less than an angel incarnate—the maids were so overcome with her loveliness that several of them actually nosebled, giving vigorous thumbs up.
I glanced around and subtly tested Carcel’s reaction.
“Won’t your mother’s heart soften when she sees Linea?”
“I cannot say. At least as far as I know, she does not care for children. But if she is my daughter…”
Carcel gazed down steadily at Linea in his arms.
Linea felt his gaze, and as she looked around with curiosity, she turned her head toward him.
The delicate lashes framing her round eyes were so impossibly adorable it nearly hurt.
Carcel nodded heavily once.
“Cuteness that melts the human heart.”
“Right? And I’m not saying that just because she’s my daughter—I’m being perfectly objective.”
Thanks to the constant stream of praise about being cute and lovely, Linea no longer found compliments as awkward as she once had.
Though her pale pink lips did part slightly as she fumbled for composure.
And so, at last, we were shown into the drawing room where my mother-in-law awaited.
The moment our eyes met, I felt a shock run through me.

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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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