Why Is My Husband the Villainous Schemer! - Chapter 76

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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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Chapter 76
The moment my hand touched the feathers beside the beak, I cried out involuntarily.
“It’s actually warm and soft! Like touching hot ice cream? I thought my hand was melting!”
At that, Isaar laughed with a hollow sound and spoke carelessly.
“Yeah, right? Apricot’s been taking care of his feathers since he was young. Top one percent.”
“Apricot, but he doesn’t breathe fire at just any time, right? Since Linea was touching him, I wanted to be careful.”
Isaar froze at those words.
“…You know that too?”
“He’s a Fire Bird, isn’t he?”
I asked, gently scratching near the beak.
At that, Apricot closed his eyes as if pleased and nudged his head forward, asking for more.
But no matter how cute he looked, the species of Magical Beast that Isaar raised was a Fire Bird.
When fully grown, they would reach the size of a house, and the flames flowing from their breath were practically a catastrophe.
However, their basic nature was introverted and gentle, so I knew they typically hid deep in the mountains where few people ventured.
Yet they were classified as Magical Beasts solely because they consumed Magical Stones—an important imperial resource they fed on as sustenance.
“So… you’re going to run straight to Carcel and tell him everything?”
“Why would I? And even if I did, what could Carcel possibly do with such a tiny bird?”
“…He’d definitely kill it.”
“Don’t disparage Carcel like that! He’s actually kind and a good person. Isn’t he, Linea?”
When I asked Linea, who was hiding, the child nodded eagerly.
“See? Children are honest.”
“You don’t know how he acts around other people.”
Isaar muttered, avoiding my gaze.
“Regardless, you don’t know everything about him. I’ve trained Apricot so he never breathes fire in front of people, so it’s safe to touch him.”
Relieved, I turned back to Linea and asked.
“Want to touch him? He’s as soft as a sparrow’s chest feathers and warm to the touch.”
“Really, I can?”
Since Apricot showed no particularly negative reaction even to me touching him, Linea gathered her courage and stepped forward.
Isaar looked down at Linea intently, then dropped to one knee.
In one movement, the chubby bird came into Linea’s line of sight.
“His name is Apricot.”
“He really is apricot-colored. But he’s actually… round, isn’t he?”
Linea had been about to say “big,” but caught herself when she saw the cold glint in Isaar’s eyes.
Soon after, the child began to gently scratch from beside the docile Apricot’s beak up to his head.
Apricot closed his eyes contentedly and relaxed, and Linea’s expression brightened with relief.
“He’s really beautiful and cute. Starting with the apricot color, getting redder as you go down, it’s amazing.”
“Mm-hmm.”
When proud father Apricot heard this, Linea said with a bright smile.
“Like a giant chicken!”
“…A chicken?”
While Isaar looked baffled, I bit my lips hard.
The child’s expression was one of genuine, pure admiration.
“Never mind.”
Faced with that innocent look, Isaar seemed to have lost the heart to scold her. He simply let out a deep sigh.
“But Isaar, where is this place?”
After watching Linea enjoy stroking the soft feathers for a while, Isaar’s jade-green eyes narrowed slightly.
He set Apricot down on the ground.
“You two go play.”
“Yes! Apricot, come here!”
As Linea backed away first and beckoned him over, Apricot waddled after the child.
“Chirp!”
Apricot called out adorably, delighted.
The nest was spacious enough that I warned Linea.
“Don’t go too far!”
“Okay!”
I hadn’t noticed at first, distracted by Apricot’s appearance, but the place Isaar Teleported us to was, contrary to my expectations, something like a dense forest.
“This is… the Mage Tower?”
“There’s a forest like this inside the Mage Tower?”
“It’s magic. This is just an ordinary room, really.”
“This is?!”
The characteristic scent of the nest made from grass, as if we were inside an egg, was unmistakably strong.
And then there was the soft grass beneath my feet and the towering mountain range visible through the holes in the nest.
None of it seemed fake.
“It’s all fake. Well, the grass I laid out for Apricot is real, but everything else is fake.”
“That’s amazing. It’s so wide it really looks like a nest deep in the mountains.”
“Shouldn’t you be more amazed that a non-mage got into the Mage Tower?”
“Can I go look around the Mage Tower?”
Isaar glanced at me as I grinned.
“You think you should?”
Meanwhile, Linea was still playing tag with Apricot chasing after her.
It was such a lovely sight that a smile naturally bloomed on my face.
“By the way, Isaar, thank you. Even though it was for Apricot, all of this happened so quickly because of you.”
“Well…”
“Without you, I’d never have managed to repay that hundred percent interest next year.”
As I spoke brightly and cheerfully, Isaar gave me a look asking if I was serious.
“…Are you crazy?”
“What?”
“A duchess borrowing money from a loan shark and paying a hundred percent interest? How the hell does that guy think he can treat you?”
“I wasn’t a duchess then, and I was confident in my investment.”
Hearing my straightforward answer, Isaar trembled.
“You’re quite the lunatic yourself. I thought Carcel was the only madman, but it seems you’re just two of a kind.”
“Don’t worry. I borrowed that money because I’d sized up that person to a certain extent.”
At my continued smile, Isaar pursed his lips for a moment, then let out a long sigh.
Then he waved his hand through the air.
“Hey.”
“Yes?”
“Take it.”
When Isaar suddenly thrust something at me, my eyes widened.
“W-why are you giving me this?”
“So you don’t… end up sold off somewhere. Just hurry and pay back the money.”
What Isaar gave me was a Blank Check Book.
This wasn’t like him at all.
I looked up at him in surprise.
“Isaar, should you really be giving me a Blank Check Book like this? What if I write in thousands of Gold and transfer it to my account?”
“Are you rich?”
“…No, not really.”
“If a few thousand Gold is the best amount you can think of, then you can keep that.”
At his muttered words—”How limited your ambitions are”—I couldn’t hide my bewilderment.
“How much money do you have?”
“Probably an amount your small head couldn’t even conceive of. Come on, let’s go.”
Isaar gestured toward Linea.
“Before your daughter becomes the Grand Clan Leader of the Northern Mountain Range or something.”
“What are you talking about…”
I turned to look at Linea.
Her golden hair was studded with feathers.
Not like an indigenous tribe, but with apricot-colored feathers sticking out everywhere between her strands of hair—I burst out laughing despite myself.
“Oh, how cute! Isaar, have you seen Apricot do this before?”
“When he likes someone, he decorates them like that. It means he’s taken a liking to your daughter.”
Even now, Apricot was busily rummaging through Linea’s hair, inserting his own feathers.
“Oh, and before we go…”
I returned the check book to Isaar, who was watching me with a bored expression.
“I can’t accept this. It’s not that I’m dismissing your kindness, but I think I’ll have enough ability to pay it back myself.”
“You can’t even scrape together a few thousand Gold.”
“Listen. For some people, a few thousand Gold is barely enough even if they save their entire lives.”
Isaar slyly took back the check book and replied.
“Do as you like. Whether you get dragged off by a loan shark and end up like a gutted piggy bank, that’s none of my concern.”
“Were you worried about me?”
When I asked as he walked ahead, he responded incredulously.
“What?”
“Wow, I didn’t know Isaar had enough compassion to worry about other people!”
Tired of listening to me, Isaar rolled his eyes.
“Remember this kindness, and you’ll make sure to supply enough Magical Stones for Apricot to eat for the rest of his life.”
“…Whatever.”
The moment Linea approached me, he immediately Teleported.
“Kyaa!”
“Boss, my business card.”
Apparently Isaar had set the Teleport location to the sofa, because Linea and I both landed squarely on the reception room couch.
At that same moment, Isaar placed his Business Card on the table.
I gave him a look of reproach, startled.
“Linea’s here—couldn’t you at least give some warning next time?”
“I said let’s go. My time is gold. Can you pay 200 Gold per hour?”
“No…”
This guy’s salary is at least 40,000 Gold a year.
“I’m leaving. And those feathers Apricot left—”
Isaar continued as he looked at the feathers stuck in Linea’s hair.
“Don’t throw them away. Keep them safe. You might already know, but they have potency.”
“Yes, have a good day!”
Just as I suspected he was about to disappear like last time, I said goodbye, and Isaar simply gave a single nod.
Once again, he vanished in a flash of blue light.
Linea immediately began working to extract the feathers from her hair with soft grunts.
I let out a small laugh watching her.
“Linea, let me do it. Just a moment.”
I carefully removed all the feathers from her hair and placed them in my inner pocket.
“Come on, I’ll comb your hair back out for you.”
“Yes!”
I was smiling down at Linea’s hair, now fluffy like dandelion seeds, when—
Knock, knock.
Someone was knocking at the door.

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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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