The Male Lead Is Going Mad Searching for His Dead Wife, and I’m That Wife - Chapter 10

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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 010
The northern sky was fickle to the point of being unhinged.
Just moments ago the sunlight was so bright that I’d marveled, ‘Oh, the laundry’s going to dry crisp today.’ Then, out of nowhere, dark clouds rolled in and the sky tore open, pouring rain as though someone had punched a hole through it.
Still, I suppose it’s better than the snow that fell two days ago.
Pat-pat-pat-pat.
I was darning socks by the window, and I shot to my feet.
There was only one thought in my head.
My laundry!
I suddenly remembered the two pairs of socks and the loungewear I’d washed by hand last night and hung out to dry, my precious things. If they got soaked, I’d either be walking around barefoot tomorrow or wearing clothes that hadn’t dried properly and reeked of damp. It was unacceptable, both for hygiene and for my peace of mind.
Lucian had bought me a few new pairs of socks, but those fancy things were terribly uncomfortable to wear. I’d tucked them away carefully, intending to exchange them for cash if I ever got desperate.
They were a gift, after all, so surely it wouldn’t be wrong to sell them.
I tossed aside my sewing and bolted out of the room.
The Laundry Area was deserted. Only the heavy rain was soaking the garments hanging on the lines.
“Where is everyone? The laundry’s going to be ruined.”
The maids in charge had apparently gone off to have lunch. It seemed the rain had started just as they’d stepped away.
The lines were crowded with every sort of linen from the Grand Duke’s Castle, snapping and flapping in the wind and rain as if they were screaming.
Lucian’s finest linen shirts, the tablecloths, the maids’ uniforms, the Knights’ capes… And there, in a corner, I spotted my own modest socks and dress.
I plunged into the rain. The cold water soaked me through in an instant. It was hard to keep my eyes open.
I took down my own laundry first. Thankfully, it wasn’t drenched yet. Just slightly damp.
I hugged my clothes to my chest and was about to turn back. But the white fabrics fluttering before my eyes caught at me.
They were Lucian’s shirts. Those must be expensive. And they looked like the kind of fabric that shrinks when it gets wet. The tablecloth hanging beside them was about to slide into the muddy ground.
Should I just leave them?
But my body refused.
Watching perfectly good things turn into rubbish right before my eyes made my stomach churn.
I was living in this mansion doing nothing and eating up the household’s food, so what was the big deal about taking down a few pieces of laundry?
I clicked my tongue and lunged back at the lines. I yanked out the clothespins, took the laundry down, and tossed it into the baskets.
I weaved between the lines like I was dancing, snatching up garments as I went. Whenever one basket filled up, I shoved it under the eaves and fetched the next.
The rain kept pouring, and I moved through the Laundry Area like a berserker, my hair plastered into seaweed strands flying about my face.
Ten-odd minutes later, the lines were completely cleared. Under the eaves, three or four baskets were piled high with laundry, all safely landed.
I brushed back the wet bangs clinging to my forehead.
I gathered up only my own share of the laundry. It was cold. I should hurry and wash up. Ugh, it’s freezing, so freezing.
* * *
“I’m done for, I’m done for!”
Ann, the laundry maid, ran through the rain with the color drained from her face. She’d been gossiping in the kitchen and had only just noticed the thunderous sound of the downpour. When she glanced out the window, the storm was already in full force.
‘Your Highness’s shirts! The blankets, the curtains, the tablecloths! Aaaargh!’
This wouldn’t end with a mere letter of reprimand. If the fabrics were ruined, she might have to pay for them. She could practically hear several months’ worth of wages flying out the window.
Ann rounded the corner toward the Laundry Area, her face crumpled with dread.
“Please, please let it be only a little wet… huh?”
Ann stopped dead in her tracks. Her foot slipped on the wet ground, nearly sending her sprawling.
The lines were… empty. Not a single piece of laundry remained, though it should have been thrashing wildly in the storm.
“Did the wind blow everything away?”
It hadn’t. Neatly and quite obediently, the baskets had been set out in a spot where the rain couldn’t reach. Someone had even placed an empty basket over the top like a lid, so the raindrops wouldn’t splash in.
“What is… this?”
Who had done this? The other maids? No, they’d all been in the kitchen together.
Ann looked around in a daze. Through the curtain of rain, far off, she caught sight of someone’s back as they walked into the castle.
A small, slight frame. An old dress, darkened by the water. A shawl around the shoulders dripping steadily, and in one hand, a bundle of their own laundry clutched carefully to the chest.
“…Madam?”
It was the Duchess, Lisana.
Lucian’s shirt on top was, thankfully, not very wet at all.
Instead, the one soaked to the bone was Lisana. Ann saw her shoulders shaking with coughs. The maid swallowed hard.
“I-I didn’t ask her to do it. It’s not as if I told her to.”
No matter how she tried to comfort herself that way, the baskets only grew heavier, weighed down by the laundry inside.
* * *
Back in my room, I sneezed loudly.
“Achoo!”
Brr. Maybe meddling really is bad for your health. I should have just grabbed my own laundry and come back.
I dried my hair with a towel and peered out the window. I could see a maid who’d only just arrived at the Laundry Area, standing there blankly.
She’d found the baskets, so she’d tidy them up on her own. I peeled off my wet dress and tossed it into the laundry basket.
Humming a tune, I headed for the bathroom. Soaking in warm water should help me feel better.
That’s how you beat a cold, after all. I started running the bath water as I rubbed my body. Seeing the hot water gush out so vigorously makes me feel magnificent.
Goodbye to the days of washing up with cold water from a basin.
Compared to my old life, this is a five-star hotel.
I finished my bath at a leisurely pace and returned to my room. Drying myself with a clean towel, I felt so refreshed.
That was when I noticed something sitting on the table.
“What’s this?”
Did Head Maid Ritana leave it here? But without a word? Only two people ever came into this room. I tilted my head and picked up the thing on the table.
Liquid sloshed inside a brown glass bottle.
…Could it be poison?
So the pressure is finally coming from the Imperial Palace. The Emperor wants the Grand Duke dead. He won’t show it openly, but who doesn’t know that?
What fool would hate the Actes Grand Ducal House without knowing their place, and what would the Northern Front do about it?
Either way, this might be an order to poison.
I can’t quite remember whether the Emperor had Lisana do something like that, though.
I pulled the cap off the bottle. If Lucian drinks this, he’ll die on the spot, maybe… Huh?
“Strawberry?”
I blinked. A sweet scent hit my nose and stopped me cold. It smelled like the cold medicine I used to take as a kid.
I searched the table and spotted a tag of some kind lying there.
What was written on it was:
“…Cough and cold medicine?”
Why would something like this be in my room?
Tilting my head, I turned the bottle to show it. The thick liquid sloshed inside.
Did someone leave this here for me to take?
Who on earth would do this, and why?
I stared at the cold medicine with a grave expression.
Maybe it’s an attempt to poison me. That means there’s poison in here.
But if that were the case, every meal I’ve eaten so far has been perfectly fine. Are they really trying to poison me with something this sloppy?
What if I just don’t take it?
I paced around the room, leaving the bottle sitting on the table.
Then why would they leave it here in the first place?
Take it or not?
Not take it?
Take it?
“Achoo!”
Alright, I’ll take it!
No way would anyone try to poison someone with cold medicine. Looking at this, it’s obviously for a bad cold. I knew deep down that hot water wouldn’t be enough to beat this.
Better than feeling worse, anyway.
I tipped the sweet strawberry syrup, which clung to my tongue, straight down in one go. The feeling of it sliding down my throat was far too sweet.

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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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