Why Is My Husband the Villainous Schemer! - Chapter 9

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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 9
The truth is, I’ve never seen what Duke Rakan actually looks like.
In the original work, the Duke had always hidden his face behind a mask for reasons unknown, passed down through generations.
The Silver Mask, which concealed even the color of his eyes, was said to be terrifying just to look at.
I’d heard he barely showed himself in society to begin with.
You might think it strange that the sub-male’s face remains unseen, but when he eventually removed the mask, Linea’s description was that he was “handsome.”
However, whether by intention or not, there was never a detailed description of his actual appearance.
I glanced up at Carcel.
‘He is handsome, I’ll grant that.’
But could this man really be Duke Rakan?
The truth is, there isn’t just one duke named Carcel in the Empire.
So logically, the reasonable assumption would be that he’s merely a namesake.
Still, I had no intention of naively trusting Marquess Ribandel’s mysterious kindness and dismissing it carelessly.
‘I need to go straight to the Information Guild and dig up some information.’
With that thought, I finished signing the contract.
Finally, I shook hands lightly with Countess Enisha and smiled.
“Countess, thank you so much for selling me this land.”
“Not at all. I benefited as well because of you.”
Countess Enisha’s expression had grown considerably warmer as she spoke.
Her tender gaze seemed to linger on Carcel, who continued to dote on me solicitously even as we divided the contract between us.
‘It’s all an act.’
I watched Carcel with suspicious eyes and carefully placed the contract in my bag.
I would need to use the remaining thousand gold to develop the mine.
Simply knowing that Mana Stones would be produced wasn’t the end of it—in fact, this was only the beginning.
From detecting and developing the Mana Stones to partnering with a reliable merchant guild and establishing distribution channels, there was still a long road ahead!
I kept smiling as though I were part of a happily married couple until we left the Countess’s residence, but only then, upon reaching the carriage, did I slip away.
It wasn’t that I disliked Carcel’s hand on my shoulder.
Rather, a growing certainty that I couldn’t trust him yet felt even more pressing.
‘But wait—he said he was Marquess Ribandel, so how could he possibly be Duke Rakan?’
I ventured the question carefully.
“Is your full name Carcel Ribandel, then?”
“Yes. Were you curious about my name?”
Once I allowed him some physical contact, he grew even bolder in his approach.
His crimson eyes were strikingly clear as he lowered his head to meet my gaze.
‘He doesn’t seem like a bad person.’
Besides, how could Asha Delmore’s past love interest—the man she even confessed to—be Duke Rakan? The man who would kill her with his own hands?
That was when it happened.
He suddenly reached out and very carefully tucked a strand of my hair behind my ear.
“I’ve been distracted by it since earlier.”
His low voice carried warmth as he spoke to me.
I flinched and shrank back, looking up at him, but I didn’t dislike it.
There seemed to be no hidden agenda behind Carcel’s touch.
He smiled at me with an arc of his lips and asked tenderly.
“Are you heading home now?”
I found myself resolving to learn more about this man.
“Would you like to share a meal with me?”
……
Carcel fell silent at my proposal. His eyes fluttered through empty air as though he were taken aback, and I blinked in response.
I had expected him to eagerly agree.
His answer came only much later.
“Is today my last chance?”
“I’m sorry?”
“I wanted to say yes right now, but I’m worried that if I agree, there might not be another opportunity after this.”
At his obvious hint that he wanted to leave room for future meetings, my cheeks flushed as red as spring strawberries.
“No, I… that’s not quite what I meant.”
“Will there be another chance?”
“Yes.”
I nodded emphatically.
The reason was simple: if his identity was confirmed, I would have a proposal to make to Carcel.
A Contract Marriage.
I wasn’t sure if he would agree, but I wasn’t entirely without conscience either.
I would find out what he needed starting now.
What I hadn’t yet noticed was how his face brightened at the mere suggestion that there would be another chance.
Carcel gave me a smile tinged with sensuality and continued.
“Then anytime is fine, ……Asha.”
Startled at hearing my name called so suddenly, I widened my eyes.
“Asha… you say?”
“Your name is beautiful. I wanted to call you by it just once. Is that not allowed?”
Well, it’s a bit much right now, but somehow hearing it in that voice doesn’t sound so bad, does it?
Like a snake smoothly crossing a wall, the man was advancing naturally while crafting an air of plausibility around himself, and I kept allowing him openings.
At the slow, whispered murmur of his low voice, I found myself helplessly swept along.
“Don’t you think my name is terrible?”
“No, no! Of course not!”
“Then would you call me by it? Just once. I really want to hear it.”
There was a quiet earnestness in his request, but the gaze fixed on me was sharp.
As though I could not refuse.
“C-Carcel?”
At the hesitant name I uttered, he seemed to falter as though the world had tilted, his right eye narrowing.
“Are you all right?”
Under normal circumstances, I would have handled this with casual indifference.
But a handsome man who so openly displays romantic interest in me was a first, and I found myself increasingly entangled.
“I never knew that having someone call my name could warm me like this.”
“You don’t have anyone who calls your name?”
“I don’t. My mother didn’t care much for me either, and my father passed when I was young. I’ve been living so frantically that I’ve hardly formed close enough relationships with anyone to have them call me by name.”
I’d only been fishing for information, but the answer was far darker than I expected, and I found myself blinking.
‘Our circumstances are actually quite similar, which is a bit pitiful.’
My heart was beginning to soften. Especially because his face was frighteningly persuasive.
His expression looked lonely as he laughed softly, as though the matter were nothing.
I found myself asking that melancholy face.
“C-Carcel, then would you join me for lunch today?”
At those words, Carcel’s eyes brightened visibly.
He tilted his head slightly, regarding me with an expression I couldn’t quite read.
“Anywhere is fine.”
“I only know of one restaurant, but would that be all right? Is there anything you won’t eat?”
“I eat anything.”
“Then let’s go.”
Carcel guided me to the carriage.
I called out our destination to him.
* * *
“Is this the restaurant Asha mentioned?”
By now, I no longer stopped him from calling my name outright.
“You don’t like it?”
“It’s unexpected. I thought Asha would frequent the sort of restaurants that most noblewomen prefer.”
“But the soup here is genuinely the best for clearing your head! They simmer the bones for hours until it’s rich and refreshing! If you come the day after drinking, it settles your stomach completely!”
As I spoke and looked up at the silent Carcel, he was staring intently at me.
Realizing I’d said something odd, I asked.
“Oh, you don’t drink…?”
Worried that my image might seem strange, I hastily added the clarification, and Carcel’s eyes widened for a moment before he let out a small laugh.
“No, I drink fairly often.”
“This place is delicious even without alcohol. And more importantly, the prices are reasonable.”
“It seems like you’d prefer somewhere reasonable.”
At that remark, I laughed awkwardly.
Now that I thought about it, I realized I’d brought him to the wrong place.
‘I should have taken him somewhere expensive. Now I probably look like a cheapskate.’
I quickly grasped the hem of his sleeve as he moved ahead to open a seat for me.
At that, Carcel turned to face me.
“There’s something I wanted to say.”
“Carcel.”
“Yes, Carcel. Actually… I think I’ve been mistaken about something.”
His gaze dropped from my face to my hand, which was firmly grasping his sleeve.
“Oh! I’m sorry!”
As I spoke and tried to release my hand, he caught it and placed it back on his sleeve.
“What did you think you’d mistaken? Surely you’re not saying dining with me was a poor decision.”
I shook my head in response to his question.

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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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