The Male Lead Is Going Mad Searching for His Dead Wife, and I’m That Wife - Chapter 1

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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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The male lead goes mad searching for his dead wife, and that wife is me. Episode 001
“Guild Master! Guild Master!”
I raised my head at the breathless call.
Yuel burst through the door, her face flushed, stamping her feet in excitement.
She already had a youthful face, and carrying on like that made her look even younger than usual.
“We’ve got a jackpot customer, a jackpot customer! Goodness, the clothes they’re wearing practically drip with wealth! I nearly drooled, I’m telling you! They’ve got to be loaded!”
“A loaded customer? Where are they?”
I’d sensed a windfall brewing ever since we came back to the capital. Could it really be about to happen?
While the Hermian Empire writhed under its war with the Demon Beasts, I had been living in the Southern Region.
It had the fewest Demon Beast sightings and was supposedly a pleasant town to live in, so I went down intending to stay a while, and it really was lovely.
Then, just one week after returning to the capital, it happened.
It was also the second day since I had hung the sign of the Information Guild, which I had run in the Southern Region, here in the capital.
Customers had never stopped coming in the south, but word apparently hadn’t spread this far yet, and the first day brought in nothing but flies.
And then the very next day, the customer who walks in turns out to be a big fish.
Yuel had an unmatched eye for customers. The way she was carrying on, this person had to be someone with deep pockets.
I licked my lips.
The more money, the better.
Our guild deals in anything short of the illegal. Information, precious metals, gowns, and so on. We handle nearly everything that turns a profit.
I quickly covered my face with a veil. If anyone recognized me, it would become a nuisance.
I had lived as a Grand Duchess once, and though I was an illegitimate child, I was still an imperial princess. Imagine how much trouble it would be if someone recognized me.
Just in case, I had even hidden a magical device inside my clothes to alter my voice.
Of course, it had been three years since I left the capital, and no one had come looking for me yet.
I had come back for one reason: money. Where there are more people, more supplies and information gather.
My ultimate goal was to leave the Hermian Empire with a thick purse.
A fresh start somewhere new. Preferably somewhere no one knows me!
After checking once more that the veil covered my face well enough, I headed for the room where the customer was waiting.
Yuel placed a hand on my shoulder and gave me a little pep talk.
I entered the room carrying the tea tray she had pressed into my hands.
“Sorry to keep you waiting. I am the owner of this guild. What business do you have for us today…?”
The moment I set down the tray and looked up at the customer’s face, I faltered.
The gloomy-faced man who had come looking for me.
His natural curls spilled softly along the lines of his finely shaped face.
Beneath his neatly trimmed bangs, long, striking eyes came into view, and within them gleamed golden eyes, as though light had been finely crushed and poured into them.
I swallowed hard and straightened my bent waist.
“W-what sort of business do you have, sir?”
My voice wavered thinly. I bit my lip, then let it go.
No, Yuel, how is this a jackpot? This is a catastrophe!
Of all the people to walk in as my first customer, it’s my ex-husband? What kind of situation is this?!
Lucian Lucius Actes, Grand Duke.
The war hero, and the male lead of this novel. And my ex-husband, too.
It’s fine, stay calm, Kam-down.
Let’s hear him out. There’s no way he knows who I really am.
I glared at Lucian’s mouth with wide eyes.
Lucian spoke quietly.
“…I am searching for my wife. Her name is Lisana Rosemarine Actes. She is my wife, and she is also an imperial princess. People say she is dead, but that cannot be true. No one has seen her body, and there is no grave. So she could not have died. Find my wife, and I will pay whatever you ask.”
“Hic.”
Without meaning to, I let out a hiccup and bit down hard on my lip.
Why is he looking for me?
And I’m dead? What is that supposed to mean? Why would I be dead?
In the midst of my confusion, a check was placed on the table.
I couldn’t even tell how many zeros were drawn on it.
“I’ve heard this guild has earned quite a name for itself finding missing persons in the Southern Region. I’m told you’ve located several people, too. Find only my wife, and that check is yours on the spot.”
…Should I just confess right here? That I’m right here.
Would he still pay that money if the person were me?
I swallowed and twitched my fingers.
But the situation was too strange for me to act on my desires.
The people who insist a living person is dead, and Lucian, who firmly believes I’m alive and keeps searching for me, both.
First, I need to figure out what happened after I left.
And the most important thing of all.
The meaning of that crimson aura spreading around Lucian’s golden eyes was only one thing.
The Berserk Corruption is still ongoing.
That he’s slowly going mad…
Maybe he’s searching for me only so he can kill me.
But this time I actually survived properly. I haven’t done anything that deserves death!
An ominous feeling made even my toes curl. My stomach clenched tight and my breath caught in my throat.
I tried hard to look composed on the outside, but I couldn’t hide the tension.
Lisana, this is a tiger’s den. One wrong move and you’ll be eaten alive. Get a grip on yourself.
“…I’ll do my best, Your Grace. I’ll be sure to find her. If she’s still alive, that is.”
At my words, Lucian gave a slight nod. Then, as if weary, he pressed two fingers hard against the bridge of his nose and murmured under his breath.
“I hope you’ll hold yourself to that.”
“But… why are you looking for her?”
At my cautious question, Lucian opened his eyes, which had a reddish tint, and fixed them on me for a brief moment.
Lucian spoke in a frigid murmur.
“A husband wants to find his wife. Is there a problem with that?”
“No, I’m just curious. Doesn’t someone who leaves have a reason for it?”
My heart thumped wildly.
Lucian planted a hand on the table and leaned his upper body forward a little.
That alone seemed to press down on me with a heavy sense of oppression. I held my breath.
“A reason? My wife took my hand and promised she would stay by my side for the rest of her life. My wife, even if she dies, must die beside me.”
His rough, low voice made my throat feel like it was drying up, and I swallowed hard.
…So he means to kill me if I go back.
He’s resolved to make sure my head comes off.
Why, though?
What did I do wrong that was so terrible?
Tears welled up, but I barely held them back. The ex-husband I’d finally met again after so long was acting as though he’d kill me right here and now.
What a rotten life this is.
It all began on the day I possessed the novel .
* * *
Cold eyes staring at me. A gaze full of loathing, as if he didn’t even want to exchange words with me. All of that man’s emotions pouring toward me.
“Grand Duke Actes must never forget the favor he has received from the Emperor. Remember that His Majesty has permitted the marriage to Her Highness Lisana, his only princess, precisely because he holds the Actes Ducal House in special trust.”
A lie. That was an outright lie.
The hand that Lucian, the Grand Duke of Actes, had seized trembled uncontrollably.
It wasn’t even a wedding hall. Standing in the lobby of the Actes Ducal House, with the servants watching, this was a shoddy wedding officiated by the Imperial Chamberlain.
Behind them, Imperial Knights stood packed in rows.
The moment we defied the Emperor’s will, they would execute us. The fact that their hands were gripping their sword hilts was proof enough.
And I had only just possessed this body.
I had staggered from a crushing dizziness and barely managed to open my eyes, yet I grasped the situation at once.
Lisana’s memories were flooding into my head.
Dizzy enough as it was, and now a wedding!
The male lead goes mad searching for his dead wife, and that wife is me
A full-length novel by Rina
Author
: Rina
Publisher
: Kwon Taewan, Woo Cheonje
E-book publication date
: 2026-10-29
List price
: 100 won (Episodes 1–5 free)
Provided by
: CL production
Address
: 62 Digital-ro 31-gil, Guro-gu, Seoul, Ace Art Forum 203
UCI
G720:N+A014-20261015111
This book was published as an e-book by KWBOOKS under a contract with the copyright holder.
Unauthorized reproduction of the contents of this book is prohibited under copyright law without the publisher’s permission.

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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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