Why Is My Husband the Villainous Schemer! - Chapter 98

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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 98
I gradually withdrew the smile I’d been wearing until now.
And this time, I continued speaking without expression.
“So I want to let Linea live as she wishes.”
Yet Valter seemed displeased that his opinion wasn’t being accepted, even now.
“A stubborn woman is unpopular wherever she goes. Who would want a woman who can’t adjust to the other person’s mood appropriately?”
“…….”
I stared at the boy without speaking, letting my displeasure show plainly, and Valter looked startled.
Still, some last vestige of pride remained in him—he held my cold gaze steady.
Then Linea spoke up carefully.
“I like what I’m wearing right now.”
I nodded at Linea’s words and looked at Valter.
“If my daughter is satisfied with how she looks, I think that’s quite enough. Surely any gentleman who’s studied even the first chapter of Basic Etiquette would understand such courtesy without my saying more?”
But it seemed that for Valter, a situation that wasn’t going his way felt foreign.
The boy heaved deep sighs, his displeasure obvious.
“She really won’t listen.”
I openly ignored Valter’s words.
“Linea, shall we switch places with Mother?”
“Yes.”
I was about to exchange seats with Linea when it happened.
Whether from anger or impulse, Valter reached toward Linea and suddenly ripped the Ribbon Decoration from her Dress.
“Yelp!”
Caught off guard by his rough touch, Linea let out a startled cry.
At the sudden scream, the Banquet Hall, moments ago full of conversation, fell silent.
Only then did the Grand Duchess turn her gaze toward Valter.
“My goodness!”
Idellin, seeing what had happened, let out an exclamation of shock.
And I pulled Linea, frozen with surprise, into my arms.
Idellin rebuked Valter sharply.
“Didn’t Mother tell you not to put your hands on other people? What if you tear the Dress!”
“But if she’d just listened to me from the start, I wouldn’t have done this. The Marquess’s daughter kept saying only what she wanted.”
“Go apologize to the Marquess’s daughter at once.”
Glancing at the stares of those around them, Idellin urged Valter to apologize.
But instead of heeding his mother, Valter reached toward Linea again.
I held Linea tight and swiftly knocked Valter’s hand away.
Crack!
With a sharp sound, Valter’s approaching hand was deflected.
And I warned him in a cold voice.
“Minor Duke, I apologize, but please do not put your hands on my daughter again.”
This was likely the first time Valter had been rejected so openly with such a cold tone.
His bewildered expression made it clear he’d never felt such a pointed gaze of disapproval before.
“No, it’s not even a big thing to make such a fuss over…….”
Screech.
Just then, the sound of a chair scraping came from somewhere in the Banquet Hall.
Carcel approached and placed his hand on my shoulder.
With a physique a full head taller than others, I didn’t stop Carcel as he leaned his upper body toward Valter.
“Minor Duke, is there anything else you wish to say to my wife and daughter?”
“…….”
Valter, who had continued to make excuses before me and Linea,
couldn’t utter a single word to Carcel.
“My wife and daughter say they are quite satisfied with how they appear.”
“Yeah, I get it.”
Valter answered curtly, his voice small as a mosquito’s buzz.
Nestled firmly against his mother, Valter looked around nervously.
He seemed to be searching for his father. But Grand Duke Dishulie already looked mortified by the very fact of this commotion at an official gathering.
He had buried his face in his hands, letting out a shallow sigh.
“Rather than worrying about my daughter’s appearance, it would be better for you to worry more about the discourtesy you’ve shown to others at a banquet with the Diplomatic Delegation present.”
“……I’m sorry.”
Valter finally offered Linea an apology, though it rang hollow.
Linea’s expression was unenthusiastic, but she accepted the apology with indifference, as one might brush past something unpleasant.
With a single nod.
Carcel turned his head toward the Emperor, seeking permission.
“May we step away briefly, as my daughter’s Dress has been damaged?”
The Emperor nodded once, seeming ashamed to have suffered humiliation at a diplomatic banquet of all places.
The Grand Duchess, too, gritted her teeth at her son’s uncontrollable behavior.
“Valter Dishulie, we’ll talk when you get home.”
Hearing the Grand Duchess’s low whisper, Valter’s shoulders shrank.
Yet his expression remained defiantly unrepentant, as if he didn’t understand what he’d done wrong.
“Linea, are you all right?”
Carcel lifted Linea from my arms, cradled in his embrace. He then tilted her face up and asked gently.
Linea nodded more brightly than before.
“Linea, don’t be hurt. And dear Marquess, see you later.”
Amira, who had stood behind us throughout the exchange, offered her farewell.
I gave her a quiet bow in greeting. Then I quietly left the Banquet Hall.
If we lingered any longer and drew more attention, the looks of censure would shift from Valter to us.
But what we didn’t know then
was that Raphael had been observing this entire commotion with keen interest from nearby, from beginning to end.
* * *
That evening, Raphael waited for someone, Mask in place.
His thoughts drifted to yet another person.
‘Asha Rivan del, Marquess Consort.’
Until just weeks ago, there had been no reason to pay her any attention.
She’d had no presence at all.
Carcel Rivan del, no.
“Not until she married Carcel Rakan.”
Raphael’s lips curved into a smile.
That ‘that’ Duke Rakan had ardently courted her and married her, no less.
What charm could she possibly possess?
Raphael turned over the day’s events in his mind.
The tiny woman had proven to have more spirit than expected.
‘Rather cute, though…….’
Raphael, who had been leaning loosely forward, straightened at the sound of a knock.
“Come in.”
A masked woman entered through the open door.
“I’m here.”
“Did you do as I asked today?”
The formal politeness of public settings disappeared in this place.
The woman nodded shyly.
Raphael’s characteristic manner here—not quite kind, but not unkind—held a particular charm.
He chided her in a tone of gentle reproach.
“The Minor Duke took it too far. What parent would be happy with someone touching their child?”
At those words, the woman suddenly bristled.
“My son did nothing wrong! If that girl had just said she understood, it would’ve been over. She brought it on herself by being stubborn.”
Raphael decided to humor the woman’s complaint appropriately.
“Asha Rivan del is no ordinary woman, either.”
“Right. How did someone like that end up with Duke Rakan? I guess that’s his taste.”
That’s right. The woman who’d entered the room was none other than Idellin.
Idellin removed the Mask she’d been wearing and tossed it carelessly to the floor.
Then she approached Raphael, who sat on the sofa, and reached out her hand.
“Let me see your face.”
“Only if the person I want to see asks me to take it off.”
Raphael reached out and took her small hand, guiding it to his Mask.
Deep steel-blue eyes gazed at her steadily from behind the Mask.
Her heart raced at just that alone.
“Mmm?”
At his languid murmur, Idellin came to her senses and slowly removed his Mask.
The beautiful face beneath held a satisfied smile.
“Still, don’t let personal feelings cloud your judgment. Get as close to her as you can.”
At these words, Idellin nodded.
“You mean use the fact that the Emperor still suspects her, right?”
“Exactly.”
As if pleased, Raphael drew her hand closer and pressed his lips to her fingertips.
He gazed up at her with steel-blue eyes, his handsome lips gradually trailing from her palm down to her wrist.
“Just bring her to the salon. I’ll handle the rest. Pretend to be close to her, and make it look like you’ve scolded the Minor Duke.”
At his words of gentle persuasion, she nodded as though entranced.
Then, suddenly coming to her senses, Idellin asked him,
“Don’t tell me you have some other interest in that woman?”
“As if.”
Raphael let out a low, amused chuckle.
He soothed Idellin with a languid tone.
“Why would you think such a thing?”
“I know you have many other lovers. I just pretend not to.”
“Mm…….”
Raphael only smiled awkwardly without denying it, which Idellin always found frustrating.
She thought they were of one heart.
But this man always stepped back at the crucial moment, leaving her longing.
And yet she couldn’t bring herself to leave him—they were already too deeply entangled.
And…….
“Lately I haven’t met other women. Not since I’ve been with you.”
Raphael tilted his head loosely and smiled.
The biggest problem was that she couldn’t bear to leave a man who spoke as if she were special.

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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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