Why Is My Husband the Villainous Schemer! - Chapter 94

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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 94
* * *
I shyly held out the handkerchief to Mother.
“Mother, I was so scattered yesterday I didn’t give you this.”
“What is this?”
“Actually, yesterday was a day for the family to exchange gifts with each other, and you’ve taken such good care of Linea and me.”
Mother was more refined than her appearance suggested.
Like Carcel, she looked strong and stern on the surface, yet she was warm and kind.
Even now, Mother gazed down at me with a shrewd expression and gave a small, delicate cough.
“What, you’re calling it thoughtfulness that I look after my granddaughter? Isn’t that rather crude? It’s naturally an adult’s duty in this household to make children happy.”
“Hehe, you’re so kind.”
“Unnecessary talk.”
With that, Mother took the wrapped gift from my hands.
Though her touch was rough, the fingers that unwrapped the paper were remarkably delicate.
“You even wrapped it so prettily? How slyly charming you are, my dear.”
“Thank you.”
By now I understood this was Mother’s way of giving praise.
Finally, the handkerchief came into view.
I pressed my racing heart down and watched Mother’s expression carefully as she gazed at it in silence for a long moment.
“Is it not to your taste? Carcel embroidered a golden-horned stag, so I embroidered the huntress goddess Licarys with the golden-horned stag, trying to give it character.”
When I asked Uni, she said Licarys was the symbol of Mother’s birth family.
So I stitched that design to carry the meaning that Mother is the queen of this household.
“This, this, this…!”
Maybe she’d think me disrespectful!
Mother let out a sharp cry.
“How charming! You embroidered the symbol of my birth family!”
“Ah, yes! You’re the adult of this household, and I’ve come to wonder how I’d manage without you, so I tried to express that feeling.”
In truth, Mother had been looking after Linea’s studies, taking her out, and shouldering much of the childcare.
‘Though it does seem like she wants to see other grandchildren too.’
Yet caring for Linea together had indeed given me more peace of mind.
“Come with me.”
That was when it happened.
Mother took my hand firmly without hesitation and began leading me somewhere!
Holding her hand, which was much larger than mine, I followed her to a room I’d never seen before.
Soon Mother led me to a safe set into the far wall of the room.
“The password is 872034. Remember it.”
“Yes, of course!”
Was it all right for her to tell me this?
Even as I thought that, Mother suddenly opened the safe before me.
Inside were far more precious things than I’d imagined.
“My goodness! Mother, how can you give me the password to a safe with such enormous wealth!”
“Hmm? Expensive?”
With an utterly unconcerned expression, Mother withdrew gold ingots and a velvet-covered box, stacking them beside her.
‘No, just selling those alone could support three generations. Dear heavens.’
As I stood bewildered, staring at the precarious pile of gold ingots, Mother proudly retrieved something else from the safe.
“Look at this.”
“It’s Linea’s perfect spelling test and a framed picture?”
“She drew me so remarkably well?”
“…Ah, she drew you.”
Linea’s artistic skills remained as they were.
I thought she’d painted the nightmare I’d had the night before.
“Now, all we need to do is place this handkerchief in here.”
“Mother, what about all of these?”
Without so much as glancing at the stacked gold ingots and various ornaments, Mother shut the safe with a loud bang.
“Take them with you. Keep them somewhere safe, and when you need them, ask Uni to exchange them for cash. A woman always needs an emergency fund.”
“I… yes.”
“And it occurs to me you have precious few ornaments. My son is not thoughtful enough to know that such things must be arranged beforehand.”
“I don’t really need them…”
I wasn’t attending social events anyway, so there was no real need to adorn myself.
“Do you at least have proper clothes to wear?”
“Yes, I do!”
“That can hardly be the case…”
“Pardon?”
Mother shook her head as she spoke.
“Once you’ve had your wedding, you’ll need to attend various social events as the true mistress of the Marquis Household.”
“I suppose so…”
“The clothes for such occasions may seem expensive and excessive, but how well you’re respected in the Marquis Household shows in your appearance.”
Carcel had told me I didn’t need to attend social events if I didn’t wish to.
But thinking of Linea, I couldn’t refuse!
There would inevitably be essential events I’d have to attend.
“I hadn’t fully considered that I’d be representing the Marquis Household. I feel humbled now.”
“There’s no need for needless self-reflection. The Imperial Palace said they’d come this afternoon to take your measurements, so I arranged it.”
It seemed the Imperial Palace intended to have the wedding dress made in just that short time.
“I plan to have them take measurements today and then have ball gowns and other dresses for various occasions and seasons prepared befitting the mistress of the Marquis Household. If you have any preferences, tell me beforehand.”
“Well, as long as they’re not too dark or overly gaudy, I like anything!”
“Understood. I should instruct them to create dresses befitting the smallest and prettiest daughter-in-law in the world.”
Embarrassed by such sweet words, I laughed awkwardly.
And true to her word, a few hours later, someone from the Imperial Palace really did come to take my measurements!
Then came hours of chaos, buried beneath white fabrics, pearls, and lace.
* * *
“…Ughhhh.”
I lay buried in my bed, groaning softly.
‘I wonder if Carcel relayed what I said about him meeting with His Imperial Majesty today?’
I couldn’t go myself because the Emperor’s suspicion of me had likely deepened due to this recent assassination attempt.
Just then, I heard a soft knock at the door.
“Come in!”
The door opened, and Carcel entered.
“Carcel!”
“Asha, I heard they came to take measurements for your wedding dress.”
“I feel like I might die. I never knew there could be so many kinds of fabric, or so many patterns and laces.”
By the end, even looking at white made my head spin.
Carcel gave a soft laugh and held something up to show me.
“I brought this for you because I thought you might need it.”
“What is it?”
“A heat pouch. I’ll use it to warm your entire body, then massage out the tense areas.”
At Carcel’s words, I sat up.
‘Even if we’re before the wedding, we’re still newlyweds in a way.’
Sharing a bedroom with him had become routine by now, yet I was still embarrassed.
Last night, when I kissed Carcel, our gazes had tangled so intensely. The memory kept surfacing.
It was the first time I’d felt my mind dissolve completely just from our eyes meeting.
My face flushed at the mere touch of his fingertips.
Each time his fingertips brushed my delicate skin, I felt a tingling electric jolt, making me shiver.
“If touching makes you uncomfortable, I won’t, so please don’t worry.”
“Then could you massage just my shoulders a little? They’ve gotten so tense from sitting still all this time.”
As I pouted at Carcel, he let out a quiet laugh.
“Very well.”
* * *
Carcel gazed at Asha, who had turned her back to him, a heat pouch tucked beneath her calves.
Her long, slender neck was as elegant as pearl.
When he saw her fragile white shoulders, Carcel became aware of the dark desire within him.
That longing to admire a beautiful line and kiss it.
“May I touch your hair?”
“Everything above my shoulders is fine.”
Knowing his hands would be cold, he’d warmed them against the heat pouch beforehand to raise their temperature.
Carefully, Carcel pushed aside the brown hair that draped over her shoulders and placed his hands on her bare skin.
The moment he did, Asha’s body flinched.
Carcel’s mouth went dry.
Embarrassed, unsure where to look, he tore his gaze away from her shoulders.
But then Carcel remembered his purpose.
So he began to knead her shoulders—soft and pliable to the touch, exhaling a sweet fragrance—as gently as possible.
Her shoulders, which had been hunched with tension at first, gradually began to drop.
“Does it hurt at all?”
In that instant, his voice broke at the end.
Carcel shut his eyes tightly at the low, ragged tone that escaped him.
‘I’ve shown Asha something she shouldn’t see.’
He concentrated on the pressure of his fingertips, pouring all his focus into the release of her muscles.
“Mmm.”
That was when it happened.
A subtle sound of pleasure leaked between Asha’s lips.

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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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