Why Is My Husband the Villainous Schemer! - Chapter 57

—————
This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
—————

Episode 57
What kind of conversation is this, exactly?
Bewildered, I looked back and forth between Mother’s face and Carcel’s.
With identical features, they were locked in a staring contest, sparks practically flying between them.
By this point, it was clear that Carcel’s earlier discouragement about visiting his family home hadn’t been without reason.
This was apparently how things always unfolded between mother and son.
Finally, Carcel opened his mouth.
“I’ve been saying I won’t visit for a while. Though you did kindly suggest that, since Asha got married, I ought to come at least once…….”
He scoffed derisively.
“I was well aware that Asha and our daughter would be to Mother’s taste! Which is precisely why I didn’t want to show them to you!”
“Exactly. And why do you insist on hoarding such delightfully lovely things in that cramped little house of yours?”
“Because your tastes and mine have always been far too similar, Mother.”
They shared the same face, and apparently the same tastes too……. Me and Linea were their type……. I see…….
Against my will, I was beginning to grasp truths I’d never wanted to know, and exhaustion crept over me.
Fortunately, Carcel came over, scooped Linea up in his arms, and pointedly took my hand as well.
“We’ll be taking our leave now.”
“Next time, don’t you come. Just send my daughter-in-law and granddaughter.”
“How could I possibly send Asha and our daughter to this house if that’s what you’re saying?”
Carcel’s response was biting, his tone making it clear he was exasperated.
And I hurriedly bowed to Mother.
“I, I’ll come see you again next time, Mother!”
“Yes. Next time, come without that wretch.”
“What? Yes!”
I hadn’t expected a mother-in-law like this, so I bobbed my head frantically in agreement.
As we left the Reception Room, broken glass and splintered wood were scattered across the floor everywhere.
Carcel guided me far away from the debris.
“Mind your step.”
“Did you… break all that?”
“Yes.”
He admitted it readily, as though it were no great feat.
Like a scene from a film, save for the door, the entryway lay in ruins—devastated—and I found myself speechless.
Of course, once I followed Carcel outside, the front entrance was even more of a spectacle.
“Are those people… alive?”
Five sturdy men lay sprawled on the ground.
Carcel casually nudged one blocking our path aside with the tip of his boot as he spoke.
“They’re playing dead. If I find out they’re actually breathing…….”
Gulp.
It was unmistakably the sound of someone among those sprawled on the ground forcing down a dry swallow.
“They won’t be seeing much daylight after that.”
“Ha-ha, let’s go quickly. I want to go home.”
Linea, worn out like me, nestled against Carcel without a word.
Once we climbed into the carriage, the driver set off at once.
* * *
“Asha, I apologize for stepping away while you’re busy preparing Linea’s birthday party.”
Carcel apologized for his necessary absence shortly after returning home.
But Asha shook her head with a clear expression.
“No! If anything, I’m more sorry that our matters are keeping Carcel from his duties.”
Hearing this, Matt nodded enthusiastically with a moved expression.
Of course, the moment Carcel turned his gaze away, Matt quickly fell silent and composed himself.
“Still, we’re newlyweds—I’ll return before long.”
‘Newlyweds.’
At that single word, Asha’s cheeks flushed a rosy plum-red.
“Y-yes. Newlyweds.”
Asha was far too preoccupied with preparations for Linea’s birthday party tomorrow afternoon to dwell on anything else.
Knowing that she was throwing herself into the undertaking with extraordinary care as the mistress of the household hosting her first major event, Carcel was resolved to return home as swiftly as possible.
His present absence was itself necessitated by tomorrow’s event.
“We’ve arrived.”
After a long drive, he reached the Temporary Detention Facility.
It was also where suspects awaited trial.
Of course, being reserved for nobility, the conditions were far from squalid.
Carcel surveyed the interior with scorn.
“One would think they were on holiday. Both assigned private cells, visitation rights unrestricted.”
“Well, since they’re nobility, such arrangements are standard unless they’ve committed serious crimes.”
“But Asha and our daughter were locked in that cramped storage room, weren’t they? Surely you don’t think such accommodations appropriate for someone who did that?”
Matt had no reply and managed an awkward, strained smile.
“Still, the Duke did express his dislike of both of them, so I’m told he’s had them placed in the filthiest, most grueling cell available.”
“Tell them money is no object—don’t let them clean it, and keep them from seeing each other’s faces.”
“Understood.”
Upon entering the visitation room, Urigella rose abruptly, her expression heavy with the weight of her confinement.
“Goodness, you’ve come?”
As she spoke, her desperation was palpable.
Carcel sat silently across from her.
Urigella then asked with barely concealed hope.
“Has there been any progress clarifying the misunderstanding regarding the child abuse charges through my lawyer?”
“Clarify what? Child abuse isn’t some tangled thread you unwind.”
“No!”
She was deadly serious, yet he was making frivolous wordplay—she felt a surge of anger rising in her throat.
But Urigella quickly composed herself and began employing every manipulation tactic she could muster.
“Of course. I understand how grave a crime child abuse is. But I assure you, I never committed such acts against our Linea!”
“You’ve already seen all the evidence I presented.”
“The confession is something children are commonly made to write. The doll and clothing—that wasn’t me but my daughter-in-law.”
Her expression didn’t shift once as Urigella spun lie after lie.
Despite how easily her falsehoods would unravel under the slightest scrutiny, she appeared utterly unbothered.
At her brazen audacity, Carcel withdrew a Recording Magitech Device from his pocket.
“I have the most incontrovertible evidence I haven’t yet presented, right here in my hand.”
Of course, Urigella couldn’t possibly know that recording technology—not yet commercialized—existed.
“Whatever that is, it certainly can’t be proof that I abused my granddaughter.”
Ultimately, Carcel had to play the recording.
―So when you tear up all of Linea’s dresses and shoes like this, crumple all her books—that relieves your stress, does it?
Asha’s voice asking the question, followed by her own answer.
The sounds that followed were irrefutable evidence of abuse in anyone’s hearing.
“Still denying?”
“Where in the world did my daughter-in-law get such a strange contraption?”
“A Recording Magitech Device.”
“How well does the Duke really know my daughter-in-law?”
Urigella had now changed tactics.
With a dismissive air, she now sought to paint Asha as an oddity.
“That girl is truly abnormal, I tell you. If we’d only never married her, my son wouldn’t have died. She’s the one who killed him, I’m sure of it!”
“Asha Delmore—or rather.”
Carcel fixed her with a cool smile.
“The Duchess Asha Livandel wouldn’t take kindly to such language.”
“Duchess Asha Livandel……?”
Only now grasping the situation, Urigella’s eyes widened.
“So that commoner didn’t just seduce some nobleman—she seduced a Duke?!”
“That wouldn’t be the proper way to refer to my wife, would it?”
“Your, Your Grace. Even now, you should dissolve this marriage. I’m giving you sincere advice—that girl is truly abnormal!”
Urigella stared urgently, attempting to counsel Carcel.
Carcel naturally ignored her words and got to the point.
“You’re hardly in a position to offer opinions, being a suspect in a child abuse case. I came here for one purpose only.”
From the folder Matt handed him, he drew out a single document.
Guardianship and Parental Rights Waiver Document
“Sign this. Once you do, I’ll have you released. Of course, if you refuse, you’ll remain here until the trial concludes—for years.”
“Years?!”
Carcel continued to Urigella, who recoiled in horror.
“If I intervene personally, you should be prepared to spend your remaining days here.”
There was reason behind Carcel’s insistence on obtaining this waiver.
In the Caldtran Empire, if the elders of a household agree to transfer a child to another house, that alone is sufficient for the recipient to legally hold guardianship and parental rights.
But knowing these people would break their word, he had prepared the documents.
‘I’ve made considerable concessions myself.’
If Urigella and Earl Delmore held out here, refusing to yield not merely on child abuse but on guardianship—taking the matter to trial—it would take years at minimum.
Legally speaking, it would have been entirely within his power to simply take the child without formal documentation.
Yet no complications could be allowed to arise afterward—not for Asha or for their daughter.
‘If worse came to worst, handling both of them would be simple enough.’
Carcel’s eyes narrowed.

—————
This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
—————