Why Is My Husband the Villainous Schemer! - Chapter 73

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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 73
“No! What’s wrong with Mother?”
“She may not have been a good mother to me, but if she can be a good mother-in-law to Asha, I’ll settle for that.”
“Thank you. If Carcel can’t stand it, I won’t say anything either.”
Carcel shook his head.
“No. And Asha… what my mother mentioned earlier about the wedding ceremony.”
“Oh!”
Right. There was supposed to be a wedding ceremony, wasn’t there?
I spoke up before he could continue.
“Should we have a wedding?”
At my words, Carcel’s lips parted as he hesitated.
He seemed to be struggling to understand what he’d just heard.
“…Do you want to?”
“I don’t have any particular romantic notions about the ceremony itself, but we’re not planning to part ways anyway, are we?”
“What?!”
Carcel’s eyes kindled in an instant.
“Are you serious?”
“We’re already living together, kissing, sharing a bedroom—surely you haven’t been toying with me all this time?”
I asked mischievously, though I knew the answer.
At that, Carcel shook his head desperately and cried out.
“That’s not— I would never toy with you. Absolutely not. I would never.”
The man who ordinarily spoke with smooth eloquence, unbothered, now stood before me acting innocent.
I found it amusing and leaned forward toward him.
“Then what is it?”
“That’s not what I meant… Asha.”
Realizing I was teasing him, Carcel raised a hand to cover his face.
The sight of the man trying—and failing—to hide his embarrassment was endearing.
‘He’s cute.’
“I’ve told you that I would never give my place to another man, but if you truly desired it…”
“Desired it?”
“Then perhaps after I’ve outlived my usefulness, I might consider letting you go.”
Carcel lowered his hand and looked down at me.
I remained leaning forward, studying his face.
A slow, sensual light kindled across his features, replacing the embarrassment from moments before.
“But what if I have no intention of leaving, and I want to have a wedding ceremony with you?”
“Then I have no choice. Your choice alone will guide my decision.”
He leaned closer to me, his voice dropping to a murmur.
“But are you truly prepared to have your ankle bound to me forever?”
His low, languid tone carried an undertone of ragged intensity.
As if he were barely containing his excitement.
Carcel’s gaze was raw and unbearable.
I caught my breath at the weight of his slanted gaze.
“Mm…”
The tender atmosphere grew suffocating and thick in an instant, and I bit my lip.
My throat had gone dry.
“It seems fine for now. Don’t you want a wedding ceremony, Carcel?”
I pushed back against the choking tension and offered a light smile.
Carcel, in turn, looked at me and drew his lips back into the gentle expression I knew.
“Of course not.”
He whispered to me as if confessing a secret.
“I’ve been waiting for this moment—to declare before everyone that you are mine.”
“W-well, that’s a relief then! Our opinions align!”
“And I spoke with my mother briefly earlier.”
Carcel continued slowly.
Now that I thought about it, after the meal, Carcel and his mother had stepped away for a private conversation.
Contrary to my worry that they might quarrel, Carcel returned without incident.
“Mother wishes for your wedding to be held at the Daesinjeon, should His Majesty the Emperor permit it.”
“The D-Daesinjeon? Isn’t that only for the imperial family?”
“Among the ancestors of House of Rakan, there were those who intermarried with the imperial bloodline.”
Carcel continued speaking.
“Of course, we can only present ourselves publicly as a marquis, so we cannot appeal to that connection.”
“Then why bother asking His Majesty the Emperor at all?”
“Mother seems to want to give you everything of the finest.”
Carcel spoke with composure.
“At minimum, that’s why I haven’t told her to leave the house. She has genuine goodwill toward both you and Linea.”
“Honestly, I was worried she might dislike me because I have a child and I’ve been remarried before, but her kindness is much appreciated.”
“Even if you had ten children and three previous remarriages, I suspect Mother wouldn’t mind in the slightest.”
“Isn’t that exaggeration a bit much…?”
I spoke with exasperation at his tendency to use extreme examples to reassure me.
Carcel grinned and laughed brightly.
“So don’t worry about nonsense. Simply live as Asha—don’t concern yourself with my mother’s feelings.”
“Understood. Actually, I don’t want to do it at the Daesinjeon. The marquis’s residence would be fine, but since it also serves as administrative offices, Security Magic issues make it impossible, right?”
“The restricted areas are all thoroughly secured. Shall we simply do it at home?”
Home.
That word, falling from his lips, tickled something inside me.
I’d always wished to have a real home to return to.
Now, hearing Carcel say it, the reality of having a home finally sank in.
“Yes. I want to do it at home.”
“Very well.”
He simply nodded without objection.
“What about a garden ceremony? Honestly, whenever I think of a wedding, I only think of headaches, but now that we’re doing it at home, the pressure’s somehow lifted and I’m actually getting excited about it.”
“I like the idea.”
“And I think it would be nice to keep it simple, like just a regular social gathering.”
I asked him.
“When do you think would work? The sooner, the better.”
At my casual question, Carcel appeared momentarily flustered.
“Like a regular social gathering…? Just a wedding dress alone would take at least three months.”
I shook my head.
“The dress just needs to be white, so let’s just buy something simple.”
“…You realize you might be immortalized in a portrait for eternity, yes?”
I insisted firmly.
“I need to earn money right now, and I have too much to do. I don’t have time to commission and wear a custom wedding dress!”
Moreover, with Linea entangled with Lucian, I would inevitably become drawn into the assassination attempts surrounding him.
‘Even if not immediately, Dishulie will make his move.’
I needed to prepare before he did anything.
First, I had to nurture the Mana Stone Mine venture—it could become a weapon for me.
“Very well. I’ll inform Mother, so you needn’t worry about it separately.”
“She won’t be disappointed, will she?”
“If she is, so be it. It’s your wedding—do as you wish.”
He grasped my hand and met my eyes with certainty.
“Thank you, Carcel.”
The moment the wedding location was decided.
Elsewhere, unbeknownst to me, a conversation about the wedding was taking place.
* * *
At that very moment, the Emperor sat in the Imperial Palace, his face etched with fatigue.
“So the wife of the Rakan Duke is remarrying, and she comes with a child?”
The Emperor’s dark-circled eyes looked displeased.
“The duke rejected all the candidates I recommended, only to choose the former Countess Delmore as his bride.”
Deep lines marked the Emperor’s eyes, the result of prolonged sleep deprivation.
Tabes, regarding him with concern, nodded.
“From my inquiry, she has no particular personal history that would constitute a problem.”
“But the daughter that comes with her has grown close to Lucian, hasn’t she?”
“Yes. According to the reports of the honor guards, they met by chance in the Market and came to know each other that way.”
“That’s a strange coincidence.”
The Emperor believed there was no such thing as coincidence in anything.
His wife had happened to drink a medicinal tea known to be beneficial after childbirth, one whose properties happened to clash with her usual foods.
She died not long after giving birth to Lucian.
‘Those who covet the throne are always lurking everywhere.’
The Emperor’s suspicion had, fortunately, saved Lucian’s life many times over.
If he were to lose Lucian—the only one who reminded him of his late wife—
“By chance, the former Countess Delmore met the Rakan Duke, fell in love, and married him. And then, by chance, his stepdaughter met my son and they became close.”
“There is a saying that coincidence repeated becomes inevitability.”
“This is no mere inevitability. I suspect it may be something like a beauty scheme.”
Few knew that Riban Del was the Rakan Duke.
If this woman, the former Countess Delmore, had discovered that fact and approached him under the guise of coincidence…
And if she had then caused his stepdaughter to become entangled with Lucian under the pretense of accident…

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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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