Why Is My Husband the Villainous Schemer! - Chapter 83

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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 83
“Excuse me?”
Carcel looked at me with a vaguely confused expression.
Instead of answering, I pulled him close.
“When I was younger, I stayed at my grandmother’s house in the countryside, and I couldn’t sleep for days because it was such an unfamiliar place.”
During a period when my parents’ relationship had deteriorated badly, my father left me at my grandmother’s house in the countryside and departed.
Those days I spent there throughout the holidays had become my most cherished memories.
When I nestled in her arms listening to the sound of her heartbeat, I would fall into a deep, worry-free sleep.
“Just trust me once.”
“……If you sleep nestled in Asha’s arms. No, that’s not——”
“Quickly.”
I pulled Carcel’s head down to rest against my chest.
“A-Asha?”
“When you listen to a heartbeat like this, you naturally fall into deep sleep. It feels safe and comfortable, doesn’t it?”
Holding Carcel in my arms, I began patting his back.
And I hummed a lullaby.
“Sleep well, my little one.”
“Isn’t it a bit awkward for me to be called a baby, all crumpled up like this?”
Carcel laughed awkwardly.
“This is harder than I thought. It wasn’t quite what I imagined.”
His weight was indeed substantial.
I’d imagined myself nestled in my grandmother’s arms. But now Carcel was crumpled up in mine instead.
Still, knowing that he suffered from insomnia and hadn’t slept properly for days while handling his duties, I felt even more protective of him.
“You’ll get used to it eventually.”
Carcel, pressed by my urging, finally closed his mouth and even shut his eyes.
About ten minutes passed.
When Carcel began breathing steadily, I quietly asked him.
“You’re asleep, right?”
I was about to pull away from him to confirm.
“……Rather than that, just order me to die instead.”
Such a belated response came from Carcel.
* * *
And Carcel was now experiencing the longest ten minutes of his life.
To be held in Asha’s embrace with his cheek and ear forced against her chest like this.
‘Just kill me already.’
No matter how hard he tried not to notice, it was impossible.
The soft, downy warmth of Asha’s skin, the delicate sensation of her thin nightwear, and that distinctive fragrance like fresh flowers.
Everything was intoxicating, and with his cheek pressed against her and hearing her heartbeat, it was absolutely unbearable.
Asha seemed so certain that he would sleep soundly.
‘I’m garbage. Absolute garbage.’
For Carcel, it was a time of painful self-reflection on just how much of a scoundrel he was.
Carcel knew that Asha was someone who understood little about romance or men.
She couldn’t possibly imagine how provocative and stimulating this situation was for him.
So he endured the torturous moments, desperately careful not to make any inappropriate contact with her.
Then, suddenly, came a sound.
“You’re asleep, right?”
Asha’s voice, so certain that he must be in deep sleep by now.
Carcel answered with great difficulty, tears bleeding in his heart.
“……Rather than that, just order me to die instead.”
Asha seemed utterly unaware of just how lovable she was.
Every time their lips touched, he could see her pale cheeks, earlobes, and the corners of her eyes blushing a pale pink.
Even the way she pulled him close and held him.
Drowning in all of Asha’s charms that he could not help but love, and yet she innocently held him to sleep, unaware of his torment.
“Why aren’t you sleeping?”
“Asha, I know I’m trash, but……when I’m touching someone I care about.”
Carcel continued despite his concern about how ominous his words might sound.
“My body reacts. What I mean is, for you it might just be a sign of affection, but for me…….”
I wished she would understand without my having to explain further.
It was too explicit a matter to voice directly.
“Oh, ……ah.”
The moment I heard Asha’s sigh of realization, I understood that she had grasped what he meant.
“Oh! Oh no! I’m sorry!”
Asha pushed Carcel’s cheek away firmly.
Her eyes were trembling all over.
Carcel, apparently exhausted, put considerable distance between himself and her.
Asha’s face, visible even in the darkness, was flushed as though about to burst.
“I-I’m sorry! I truly didn’t think about that at all, I wasn’t thinking of anything!”
“I understand. Though I must admit it wounds my pride slightly that I don’t appear to be a man.”
“That’s not it at all!”
Asha shook her head vigorously, and then, unable to bear her shame any longer, buried her face in the pillow.
Seeing Asha’s face, so flushed it seemed rose juice would seep out if touched, Carcel eventually let out a bitter laugh.
“I’ll take a moment to step out.”
Asha was too flustered to even answer him, burrowing deeper into the blankets to hide her body.
After he opened the door and left, Asha’s spinning mind seized upon one thought with piercing intensity.
‘Was I really so completely oblivious?!’
Normally, no one ever told her she lacked awareness.
Having spent so long reading the room and picking up on every nuance, paying careful attention to such things had become second nature to her.
So why, of all times——
Asha clenched her fist hard and pounded the pillow repeatedly.
“Aaaaahhh!”
She screamed freely into the pillow as well.
Only after some time, once she’d sat up holding the pillow tightly, did Asha think that she should apologize to Carcel.
And when Carcel returned shortly after, he appeared somehow disheveled.
His hair was so mussed that it looked a mess, his complexion haggard—and Asha couldn’t hide her sense of guilt.
“Are you……okay?”
“Of course I am.”
Carcel answered somewhat stiffly and carefully lay back down on the bed.
Asha, for her part, did not disturb him, remaining in a proper posture pressed against the far edge of the bed.
After an awkward silence, Asha carefully ventured to speak.
“So……will you be going to the fireworks tomorrow as well?”
“Yes. I believe so.”
Asha fell into thought for a moment.
Then, as though something had suddenly occurred to her, she bolted upright.
As Carcel turned to look at her, she burst out.
“Wait—that day, could it be——”
* * *
Until just moments ago, my mind had been consumed by what had happened with Carcel.
But now it had suddenly come flooding back.
‘Now that I think about it, hearing the word “fireworks” brought it to mind.’
Over the next ten years, many assassination attempts will occur.
But there are only about three that I remember clearly.
Even among the assassination attempts, it wasn’t as though Linea prevented every single one.
Linea used her wits to save Lucian on a total of three occasions.
But since all of this would unfold over ten years, I’d vaguely thought there was still plenty of time.
Perhaps that’s why I let my guard down.
‘Linea and Lucian meeting, and me meeting Carcel—the timing for both was different.’
It had all been accelerated.
The timeline might have already changed.
And in the original story, there was only one assassination attempt during the fireworks that received significant weight.
An assassination attempt that occurred at the point when their romance began in earnest.
‘That was when they turned fourteen, and started to become aware of each other.’
The two children, entering adolescence, gradually began to feel a subtle, indescribable emotion.
Lucian had begun to like Linea first and invited her to watch the fireworks together.
But what might have been their first proper date quickly becomes a fight for survival.
First, while the fireworks were in full display, the Emperor was attending a ball with all the nobles invited.
‘Only Linea, Lucian, and the knights guarding him were on the Observation Platform in the Inner Palace.’
They thought they were safe precisely because it was the Observation Platform near the Crown Prince Palace.
The Imperial Palace wasn’t an easy place to infiltrate so deeply.
But the assassins had made up their minds to use the cover of the fireworks, when the commotion would mask the sounds of what they were doing.
After all, the Emperor and the nobles were in the Outer Palace, and security forces would be spread thin accordingly.
While the fireworks beautifully embroidered the evening sky.
Linea and Lucian could not approach each other with their usual ease; even when their fingertips touched, they blushed and startled visibly.
In that tender, early-summer heat of first love being savored for the very first time.
A loud explosion—Bang!—and suddenly a massive fire broke out below.

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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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