The Strongest Magician Can Only Love His Dead Wife — After I Reincarnated, My Cute Younger Husband Turned Yandere - Chapter 1

“Rubia! Where is Rubia?!”

“Yes, Lord Arsenio. I’m right here, Rubia.”

Rubia, who had been tidying the room, hurried out into the hallway at her husband’s call.

There stood Arsenio with a displeased expression on his face.

The moment he saw Rubia, he deepened the furrow between his brows and glared at her.

“I’ve told you to come within ten seconds when I call! Can’t you listen to your husband’s orders?”

“My apologies. I was tidying the room.”

“Leave that to the maids. From now on, drop everything and come quickly when you hear my voice. Understood?”

“Yes, as you wish.”

Despite his intimidating tone, Rubia nodded obediently.

A tyrannical husband and a submissive wife—watching this scene, the maids giggled from their hiding spots.

“Oh my, look at the mistress getting scolded by the master again.”

“Ever since she married in, it’s been like this every day.”

To any outsider, it would appear that the wife was being oppressed in her marital home, even looked down upon by the maids.

But far from getting angry or hurt, Rubia found herself almost laughing.

“Hehe.”

“What are you laughing at!”

“Well, it’s just that Lord Arsenio’s angry face is so adorable.”

“Wha… It’s not adorable! Just because I’m a bit younger than you, don’t treat me like a child!”

Arsenio’s face turned red with anger.

She refrained from pointing out that it wasn’t just “a bit.” Arsenio was eight years younger than the sixteen-year-old Rubia.

It was no wonder she found it amusing to see a child the same age as her younger brother back home sulking and fuming.

“Really, our master and mistress are such a heartwarming pair.”

“It’s so soothing to watch them.”

The maids giggled again.

Arsenio seemed to have heard them, as his face grew even redder, and he glared in their direction.

“You lot! Stop chattering and get back to work!”

The maids scattered like startled spiders.

Watching them flee, Arsenio crossed his arms with a sigh.

“Honestly… Ever since you arrived, this house has only gotten noisier.”

Even as he said this, Rubia could see in his expression that he didn’t entirely dislike the change.

And that made her happy.

(He’s truly become so much more expressive compared to when we first married.)

Rubia and Arsenio were what you might call a political marriage.

In the Merkius Empire, there was a clan called Tark that had ruled the southern region for generations.

They were a unique clan, indigenous to the south, who wielded ancient magic with the help of spirit power.

The southern part of the empire was a challenging land with vast forests and miasma-emitting swamps, so the state had granted the Tark clan the role of independent administrative lords, allowing them to govern the majority of the southern region. This was the current Southern Territory.

In exchange for defending the border with neighboring countries, the state had built a cooperative relationship by having the clan chief’s daughter marry into a prestigious magical family.

And in this generation, it was the Silva family’s turn.

The Silva ducal family, one of the seven great magical houses, had produced many head mages. Arsenio was its young head.

Having lost both parents at a young age, Arsenio possessed exceptionally strong magical power even among previous heads. The state, wanting to preserve that power for the next generation, desired an early marriage for him.

Magicians, influenced by such state intentions, tended to marry young anyway.

Still, an eight-year age gap was considered too much. Many voiced dissatisfaction, calling it a marriage like children playing house especially among the numerous nobles who had hoped for a marriage alliance with the Silva family.

But in the end, since no one else stepped forward to marry a clan princess without a title, their union was finalized.

Even though it was called a marriage, her partner was an eight-year-old child.

Naturally, she couldn’t see him as a member of the opposite sex, so Rubia interacted with Arsenio with the same feelings she had for her younger brother.

At first, he was quite hostile, but now, three months into the marriage, she felt he had grown much more attached.

“By the way, Lord Arsenio, did you need something from me?”

“That’s right! We’re having tea together today! I got my hands on some delicious sweets. You like sweets, don’t you?”

“Yes. I’m looking forward to it.”

“I-I’m not looking forward to it! It’s just that you have a sweet tooth, so I’m reluctantly keeping you company.”

Arsenio turned away with a huff, flustered.

Though he said that, Rubia knew he loved sweets himself. Being strict with himself, he couldn’t even indulge in his favorites unless he used Rubia as an excuse.

Arsenio probably had no idea that Rubia wasn’t actually all that fond of sweets. That she accompanied him during tea time because she wanted to see his happy face.

But that was fine.

(If having tea with me can ease even a little of the loneliness Arsenio must have felt all by himself.)

—The murderous eyes that killed his mother.

Rubia learned that Arsenio was called that behind his back soon after their marriage was decided.

Apparently, right after he was born, the magical power within him went out of control, killing his own mother.

Officially, her death was recorded as due to childbirth complications. But you can’t shut people’s mouths.

Moreover, when Arsenio was six, his father died suddenly, leading people to gossip about him even more maliciously.

‘Did he kill his father too, just like his mother?’

‘No matter how strong his magic is, I don’t want to get close to a cursed child.’

‘They say just looking into his eyes can turn you to stone.’

‘Oh, how dreadful.’

The rumors spread instantly throughout the empire and, of course, reached the Southern Territory as well.

Thus, when the marriage proposal with Arsenio was presented, none of Rubia’s younger sisters wanted to marry him.

In the end, her father, the clan chief, sent his eldest daughter Rubia as the bride, and that turned out to be the right decision.

After all, Rubia was optimistic and carefree by nature, with a resilience that didn’t let minor things get her down.

Above all, when Rubia first heard about Arsenio, she felt deeply sorry for him.

Even if the rumors were true, Arsenio hadn’t intentionally lost control of his magic right after birth. Yet he was slandered as a ‘matricide’—how painful must that have been for him?

‘Even though he’s a younger husband, now that you’re married, you must support His Grace the Duke.’

‘Leave it to me! I, Rubia, swear on the pride of the Tark clan that I will make His Grace happy!’

After such an exchange with her father, Rubia was sent to the royal capital.

At first, Arsenio clearly did not welcome his older bride.

To the bride who had married in quietly without even a wedding ceremony, he declared in a voice devoid of any warmth:

“I’d like to say ‘welcome,’ but this marriage isn’t something I wanted. Out of deference to the royal decree, I’ll treat you as the duchess, but don’t expect any love from me.”

But Rubia hardly heard his words.

Her gaze was fixed on his sparkling golden eyes.

“Hey, are you listening?!”

“My apologies, Your Grace’s eyes are so beautiful, I was captivated by them!”

“Huh?! Are you out of your mind?!”

That time, the always composed Arsenio let out a shrill cry and was left speechless for a long time. A story that was still told among the maids to this day.