Why Is My Husband the Villainous Schemer! - Chapter 6

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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 6
I tilted my head with an endearing smile and spoke sweetly.
“That’s right—if you’ve made money, it’s only proper to give as much as you please, since your daughter-in-law has been keeping your son fed, isn’t it?”
“Oh, I’m still young and don’t really understand such things. If you’d be so kind as to show me through your own actions first, I’d be happy to learn from you.”
The Mother-in-law’s expression began to crack, bit by bit, as she watched me smile foolishly.
I seized the moment and pressed on.
“After all, I am living in this house because of you. I’d love to stay here with you like a daughter, forever and ever.”
The Mother-in-law clenched her teeth so hard she looked fit to burst.
Just then, I felt a gaze upon me and glanced upward without thinking.
‘It’s Linea.’
A small child was peering down at me timidly from the staircase, barely peeking around the corner.
Over the past two months, Linea and I had not grown close at all.
Whenever I tried to approach her gently, she’d startle and dash away before I could even speak.
‘The Mother-in-law keeps her here without sending her back to her birth family because she wants me to act as Linea’s governess, but.’
Even if I’d wanted to, there was nothing I could do since Linea had spent two months avoiding me.
In the end, I could do little more than slip letters and gifts under her door from time to time and knock gently.
Linea was like a startled kitten with her fur all bristled up.
‘Still, I can say with certainty that she was beautiful as an angel even as a child.’
Even now, her face as she gazed down at me with curious eyes was dreamlike and lovely, just as the novel had described.
Except for how terribly thin she was.
If I were her mother, I’d have plied her with delicious treats until those adorable cheeks were round and full!
Lost in such thoughts, my gaze and the child’s suddenly met.
I beamed at Linea with a friendly wave, but she gasped in surprise and fled.
“You there, and you too…….”
The Mother-in-law was about to say something, but I cut her off by yawning widely.
“Mother, I’m tired. I think I’ll retire for the night. Have a pleasant evening.”
“It’s still early evening! What do you mean sleep! Wait right there. ……Oh!”
Ignoring her protests, I gave a slight bow and tripped upstairs, humming all the while.
I could hear the Mother-in-law shouting something behind me, but I didn’t catch the words.
Fortunately, the In-law Mistreatment I endured wasn’t particularly severe by my standards.
‘Starving me, deliberately letting bugs and rats loose in my room, tearing up my clothes so I couldn’t leave the house—just petty cruelties like that.’
Having been through everything under the sun, this didn’t even register with me.
I even found myself pitying the flat, one-dimensional villains, wondering why their wickedness was so half-hearted.
But Linea was different.
A girl born of Political Marriage, unable to become an heir.
Her father—my late first husband—was infatuated with his mistress and paid Linea no attention whatsoever.
After his death, the newly appointed Earl, Linea’s Uncle, made every effort to spend as little money on his niece as possible.
The only one who cared for her directly, her grandmother, used her as an emotional trash can under the guise of Discipline.
‘And then there’s Asha Delmore, the new stepmother.’
After I became her governess, Linea was even beaten under the pretense of Discipline.
Badly enough to scar that fair skin with marks that could never be undone.
So when Duke Rakan happened to notice the scars on her legs, true to his nature, he disposed of Asha without mercy.
This time, that wouldn’t happen.
But separately from all that, I wanted—needed—to save Linea.
As I climbed the stairs, I heard a door close at the end of the hallway.
‘She’s still refusing to engage, as always.’
I walked down the corridor and set down the pile of gifts I’d brought back.
Then I knocked gently on Linea’s door.
“Hello?”
No answer came from within.
I had no choice but to continue speaking to her silence.
“I heard that girls these days like dolls like this, so I bought one for you. Though I’m not sure if you like this sort of thing.”
I pressed my hand against the wooden door and hesitated for a moment before speaking again.
“But if Linea were to like it, I’d be so happy. I worked hard to earn the money to buy it, you see? I’m not trying to burden you—I just thought it would make me happy if you smiled for me sometime later…….”
It felt as though warmth emanated from beyond the door.
I stepped back to give Linea space to come out if she wanted.
“I’ll go now.”
With that, I went into my own room next door.
I closed the door behind me and waited in silence, listening for the sound of her door opening.
Linea was still like a feral kitten—she would never open her door if I was standing there watching.
But as I stood leaning against the door for some time.
Squeak-eee.
The hinge, which I hadn’t bothered to oil, made an eerie sound as her door creaked open.
“Oh!”
At the same moment, came the tiniest gasp of breath.
Then there was a rustling sound as she picked up the gift, and moments later, the door shut again.
But even that was enough to make me giggle with delight.
‘How adorable.’
I understand why Linea behaves this way.
‘She doesn’t want to open her heart only to be hurt all over again.’
Linea had once let her guard down briefly with a maid named Mary, who had shown her kindness.
—I think you’re a truly lovely and dear child.
—Me?
—Yes. And you know what I bought for you when I went out yesterday?
Speaking thus, the maid had gifted her fine Snacks as if sharing a secret between them alone.
But once the new maid realized that Linea was despised even within her own household, she quickly changed her tune.
—Ugh, I’m sick to death of her following me around like a puppy and pointlessly telling me everything she sees and eats.
—Hey. Why did you do such a useless thing and get yourself on the wrong side of the Mistress?
—That’s why. She looked easy to fool, so I tried to butter her up, but she doesn’t have a single piece of Jewelry worth selling. What a waste of money.
Linea, who had been hiding nearby to surprise Mary, overheard every word of this conversation.
From that moment on, Linea decided she would stop bothering anyone.
Looking after a lonely child like herself took far more effort than she’d realized.
‘I hope so much that she’ll come to like me.’
With that thought, I held the Check in my arms more tightly.
Tomorrow morning, I’d go to the Bank early, deposit it, and then withdraw cash.
From now on, everything had to proceed exactly as I’d calculated.
I clenched my fist with firm resolve.
‘I’ll earn enough money to leave with Linea, no matter what!’
* * *
Next door, Linea gazed down at the Doll in her hands for a long while.
Grandmother and Uncle would never buy her something so expensive.
“It’s so pretty…….”
The words escaped her, but Linea quickly clapped her hands over her mouth.
She shook her head firmly.
Her new stepmother was clearly an extraordinary person.
Linea herself could barely move properly in front of her fearsome grandmother.
Yet her stepmother never once cowered or showed deference before that terrifying woman.
For that alone, Linea found herself drawn to her stepmother.
And over the past two months of watching her stepmother try again and again to approach her, the walls Linea had built around her heart had long since crumbled.
But……, her father was dead.
Her stepmother wasn’t her real mother, and she could leave this house whenever she wished.
Linea had heard her grandmother say several times that her stepmother could leave the house at any moment.
‘And she even told me never to get close to her.’
She knew that if she opened her heart to the only person kind to her and her stepmother left, the pain would be unbearable.
Especially when those round, brown eyes—which watched over her like a true mother, always attentive to her every desire—met hers.
‘I just want to throw my arms around her.’
That’s why Linea had been running from her stepmother.
For fear that if she were caught, she’d be pulled into an embrace she couldn’t escape, and all her defenses would crumble in that warmth.
But she couldn’t allow that.
The only reason she was allowed to stay in this house was because she was an obedient child.
‘Later, she’ll think I’m just a bother…….’
Her grandmother, her Uncle, everyone who cared for her—they’d all been the same.
They called her worthless because she was a girl, a troublesome child who only cost money.
‘So I mustn’t bother Mother either.’
And so Linea made this vow, unaware that it would soon shatter.
But waves were already rushing in, relentless and strong.

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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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