I Accidentally Resurrected My Dead Husband - Chapter 2

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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 2
“You are now the heir to the Rainhardt Family. Everything the Rainhardt Family owns is now yours.”
The Countess Title, a beautiful and storied mansion, and countless debts left behind by the Count—all of it.
‘The debt amounts to… two hundred million Gold.’
In truth, Udith had anticipated things might unfold this way to some degree. From the moment Cliff had handed her the inheritance documents and emergency funds, then fled like a thief. Or rather, from the instant he transferred the family fortune to her—a woman forced into marriage with a dying man—something had felt off.
‘I’m beginning to see how this all makes sense.’
According to Cliff, this marriage was arranged because—
“The Cadet Branch could not abide the Rainhardt line dying out, and we conducted the ceremony in haste. Please forgive us for the discourtesy shown to you during the process of bringing you into our household.”
That was the reason he gave, but it didn’t ring true.
They weren’t worried about the line ending—they were terrified the Count’s debts would fall upon their own shoulders.
‘Which is why they couldn’t very well bring in a commoner as Ern’s bride without losing face.’
They needed a noblewoman desperate for money. They must have discovered through their inquiries that Herrington, a baron, was drowning in gambling debts—and that he had an unmarried sister of marriageable age.
‘Sold away to cover my brother’s gambling debts, and now it seems I’m expected to pay off the Rainhardt Family’s debts instead.’
Debts. She was thoroughly sick of them. In her previous life, she’d spent years clawing her way out of debt. Her father’s debts from a failed business venture. Her mother’s debts from taking out loans to give to a fraudulent cult. Debts, debts, debts, debts!
And now, reborn in a new body, she faced her brother’s gambling debts and—
“My husband’s debt? My in-laws’ debt?”
It was technically the Rainhardt Family’s debt rather than Ern’s alone, so calling it her in-laws’ debt would be more accurate, but what did it matter whose debt it was? The important thing was that it had become hers.
The truth was, the moment Udith saw the Promissory Notes in the inheritance documents, she’d wanted to run. But somehow a loan shark had tracked her down immediately.
“Ah, congratulations on the marriage, madam. At last the day has come for me to collect the two hundred million Gold I lent to the Count.”
The loan shark Smith. One look at his face told her everything. Just how vicious he must be.
“The deadline is the end of this month. If you can’t manage the principal, bring at least the accumulated interest.”
“Look, Mr. Smith… that’s impossible. Where would I suddenly get the overdue interest? If you’d just give me a bit more time—”
“Ahh, madam, I’ve been quite generous already. A whole month to enjoy your newlyweds’ life. Never mind that your husband has… passed.”
Enjoy a newlywed life with a dead husband? Was that even something to say? Smith and his men laughed heartily at their own crude joke, slapping their knees.
“Madam, do you know what they say? Even a dry rag will yield water if you wring it hard enough.”
How would I show you water coming from a dry rag? Smith made a wringing motion in the air. Yellow teeth gleamed greedily between his thick lips.
“If you can’t bring it by the end of this month, you’ll pay the debt with your body, madam. I trust I don’t need to explain what that means.”
Paying with her body meant he’d sell her. Whether in her previous life or here, a loan shark’s threats were always the same. After that fleeting, hollow thought came a surge of rage.
Two hundred million Gold—when a week’s living expenses here seemed to be less than ten thousand Gold. Not twenty million, but two hundred million? Udith clutched at her head.
“All right. I’ll sell the mansion.”
Fortunately, the situation wasn’t quite the worst-case scenario. At least the mansion remained.
When the Count’s debts were settled after his death, the mansion had not been transferred. She’d found that somewhat strange at the time. Had the people from the Cadet Branch kept it for the sake of appearances?
Well, it didn’t matter now. It was hers, and Udith had no interest in matters of face. Her sole concern was liquidating this debt and living an ordinary life.
A life where one didn’t lose everything from a single mistake, where there was somewhere to return to on exhausted days—an ordinary life, simple but one that had never been easily granted to her.
‘Of course, I’d prefer to earn a lot of money and live comfortably. Now that I have the Countess Title, with enough money I could live quite lavishly anywhere.’
Imagining her distant future self, Udith gathered her courage. That’s right. If she’d paid back debt once, she could do it again.
“Then let me start by settling the debt.”
Fortunately, the Rainhardt Mansion was in excellent condition. Beautiful, elegant, steeped in history. Though it stood empty without a caretaker, it was as immaculate as if someone had been living there until recently. The garden was free of weeds, the windows spotless, corners untouched by cobwebs or dust. It appeared to have been maintained by someone just days ago. A well-maintained house always commanded a good price.
Udith sought out a property agent, anticipating a high valuation. But reality proved far less forgiving.
* * *
“I’m sorry, madam, but no one will buy that mansion.”
“What? Why not?”
“Because of the rumors. You haven’t heard them? The rumor that the mansion devours people?”
“I beg your pardon?”
“You truly don’t know.”
Well, that explained why you’d accepted a cursed mansion without hesitation. The property agent shook his head ruefully and proceeded to tell Udith the rumors surrounding the Rainhardt Mansion.
Long ago, the Rainhardt Family had been unremarkable—they’d lost their territory in the distant past and never managed to gain influence in the Central Court. But then, one day, they suddenly became wealthy. However, joy was short-lived. Misfortune arrived in tandem. People began to die.
The mysterious deaths were confined to the Count’s immediate family. They died one by one—the Countess first, then the Count’s daughter who returned after a divorce, and her son.
“According to the Count’s servants, they all had their blood drained—withered like dried fruit. Their bodies were covered in what looked like insect bites. Multiple people witnessed it.”
The mansion was responsible, they said. The cursed mansion had consumed the Rainhardt family.
“Because word spread that it’s a man-eating mansion, it won’t sell even if you put it on the market.”
Those who’d witnessed the strange occurrences had spread the tale that a cursed mansion had devoured the Rainhardt family, and everyone who mattered knew of it—everyone except the original Udith, who’d been too busy scraping by to survive.
“But surely there are people who don’t believe in rumors? If you priced it well below market value, someone might show interest?”
“I don’t know.”
The agent’s expression was pained. She visited other agents, but they all said the same thing.
“So that’s how it is. Such is my fate.”
That was why only the mansion remained. Since no one would buy it, even the loan shark hadn’t claimed it.
Udith shuffled home with listless steps, mulling over what the last agent had told her.
“The mansion doesn’t fail to sell simply because of the rumors.”
“Then why?”
“Don’t you understand? That mansion is obviously a haunted house.”
The broker’s words circled endlessly through her mind. Not an abandoned house, but a haunted one. You could tell just by looking.
“What’s the difference between a haunted house and an abandoned house?”
“Well, an abandoned house is simply a forgotten place. It’s filthy, rats nest there. You can clean that up, so it’s manageable. But a haunted house….”
He described a house that had stood empty for ages yet looked perfectly intact, as if someone still lived there yesterday—like the Count’s mansion, conspicuously free of even a single cobweb.
“Surely not. A caretaker must have been maintaining it.”
“You truly know nothing of this place, do you? No one has set foot in this mansion for nearly two years.”
Was that why the lawyer had hurriedly fled the mansion, afraid of catching the curse? But then—was the curse even real?
“Yet Ern died looking perfectly healthy.”
His corpse bore no insect bites, no signs of decomposition. Besides, in the original work, curses and witchcraft existed as real forces, but ghost stories did not. Not tales of mansions consuming people, nothing of that sort.
It made more sense to assume the curse was directed at the Count himself. If the mansion devoured people indiscriminately, why had the servants survived? The house would hardly distinguish between noble blood and common.
“Seeing how only the Count’s immediate family died while everyone else lived on, it has to be a curse targeting the Count.”
They’d supposedly made sudden wealth. Whenever large sums appeared, envy and jealousy inevitably followed.
Though Udith believed the mansion posed no danger, the moment she faced its unnaturally pristine state, her skin prickled with unease. Yet she pushed the door open with stubborn resolve. She had far more reason to disbelieve the rumors than to trust them.
‘It’s absolutely not because someone said I could rake in four hundred million Gold if this mansion regains its value.’
Well, that was true. Four hundred million Gold would easily clear her debts and reverse her fortune entirely. Real wealth, after all, came from property.
‘A truth in any lifetime, it seems.’
In this strange world, all Udith possessed was the mansion and the title—she could not afford to surrender either. A man-eating house was nothing compared to homelessness, and a haunted mansion seemed almost gentle beside loan sharks demanding interest.
“Endure it! Hold on long enough and the property value will climb!”
If Udith could survive in this mansion for just over a year, the ghost stories would fade. Then the price would return to normal.
“But I’ll still have to pay interest while I’m holding on. How am I supposed to manage that?”
Crossing through the dim, empty mansion and the silent garden where even the cry of a single cricket dared not sound, Udith fell deep into thought.
* * *
Days later, Udith approached a loan company with a composed expression.
“I’d like to borrow some money.”

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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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