The Male Lead Is Going Mad Searching for His Dead Wife, and I’m That Wife - Chapter 18

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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, but that wife is me. Episode 018
Countess Lowell came back to the castle three days after the first batch of Winter Clothing had set out on its journey.
When I opened the door to the reception room, the Countess rose from the sofa. Her reaction was different from before. Tension clung to her face as she looked at me. And what set this visit apart was that she had sent word ahead of time.
Last time she had simply barged in. This time she had sent a letter first, asking for permission to visit.
“Forgive me for showing up so suddenly, Duchess.”
“Not at all. What brings you here?”
“I’d… like this to remain between us and the other ladies.”
What on earth is she going to say?
The Countess had brought a bolt of white linen. Even at a glance, the weave was fine and tight. It was the sort of high-grade cloth that was hard to come by in the North.
“My daughter is to be married in the spring. And after the wedding, she’ll be leaving for the Southern Region. It’s so far away that I can’t say when we’ll see each other again.”
The Countess traced the edge of the linen with her fingertips. Her voice softened at the end, as if it had gone damp. She must be carrying a great deal of love for her daughter.
The Countess smiled bitterly and spoke.
“That tablecloth you had laid out last time. I haven’t been able to stop thinking about it since I saw it. If only our daughter could have one piece like that in her trousseau. I wanted to make something for her that would make her remember Actes. I know I have no right to come to you like this, after what I did to you that day. Still, when I think of my daughter… my heart gets ahead of my shame.”
The Countess bowed her head deeply.
“I sincerely apologize for what happened that day, Duchess.”
Whether that apology was sincere, or merely a sense of obligation toward the favor she was asking now, I couldn’t tell.
But what mattered right now was how much I could earn from this, wasn’t it? And it’s not as though the Countess and I had grown close.
Besides, I hadn’t held on to that incident. Truly, I was fine.
“Let’s look at the size of the linen first. Then we can figure out what it will cost.”
The Countess carefully unfolded the linen. It was large enough to cover a bed with plenty to spare.
“Will you be using it as bedding?”
“Yes. I intend to use it as a bed cover. I’ve heard that in the Southern Region it’s common to use blankets like this, since the weather is hot.”
The Countess hesitated for a moment before adding,
“As you know, our harvest last autumn was poor. I can’t make my daughter’s trousseau as lavish as the others’. Even if there are fewer pieces, I want to send her off with one thing that anyone would recognize as special.”
“What sort of things does your daughter like?”
“Pardon?”
“Since you want her to carry a memory of the North with her, I thought embroidery suited to that would be best. Does she like the North’s snow? Or its trees and scenery? Lakes, perhaps? There are too many possible motifs.”
The Countess blinked. She looked like someone who hadn’t expected such a question.
“…She loves Snow Grass Flowers. Ever since she was little, whenever the snow started to melt, she’d be the first to run out into the garden to see if the Snow Grass Flowers had bloomed.”
“Then how about Snow Grass Flowers along the border, with a winter forest stitched in the center, like the tablecloth from before? Adding a family of deer would express prosperity and abundance. If the Snow Grass Flowers bloom at the edge of the forest, it will look as though spring is arriving at the very end of winter.”
The Countess fell silent for a while. Her fingers, which had been resting on the spread-out linen, moved slowly.
“…Please do it that way.”
Then, after a moment, she asked carefully,
“What would the price be?”
To fill a piece this size, it would take a full two months.
I was busy with other work, so it wouldn’t be easy to devote myself entirely to embroidery. On top of that, this would require fine thread. If I charged a proper rate, it would be no small sum for a house suffering from a bad harvest.
Hmm, but we’re not on the sort of terms where I would work without fair payment, either.
I named the price I had calculated, just as it was.
The Countess’s expression stiffened for an instant.
It seemed the sum was a heavy one.
Yet the Countess didn’t ask me to lower it. Instead, she stared at the linen and pressed her lips tightly together.
“…Let’s go with that.”
“Are you sure you can manage it?”
“It’s a trousseau for my daughter.”
The Countess spoke with a face that tried hard to appear unbothered.
“Even if I can’t give her much, I want to give her what I can give properly.”
I looked at the Countess for a moment.
Last time, she had been so insufferable.
In front of her daughter, it seemed even this woman was just an ordinary mother.
“You don’t have to pay it all at once.”
“Pardon?”
“Pay half now, and the other half after your daughter’s wedding next year.”
The Countess’s eyes widened slightly.
“But still…”
“It’ll take two months to finish regardless. You can pay the rest at your leisure.”
The Countess gazed at me for a long while.
“…Thank you.”
It was a short phrase.
Considering what had happened before, saying even those few words must have been quite a blow to her pride.
The Countess held out the deposit. Unlike before, her hand moved to hand over the money without any hesitation.
Before getting up from her seat, she spoke once more.
“And… I’d like to apologize again for what happened last time.”
“It’s fine. That was ages ago.”
“Even so.”
The Countess bit her lip for a moment.
“I know it’s shameless of me to say this only now, when I’ve come to ask for help with my daughter’s trousseau.”
At least she seemed to understand that much.
“…Could you keep this matter between us? Please don’t mention it to the others.”
“I will.”
Relief and embarrassment flickered across the Countess’s face at the same time.
Outside the window, snow was falling thick and soft.
A bedspread for a bride who would marry in spring.
I resolved to stitch every single stitch with care. So that on the nights she slept beneath it, she could feel her mother’s love wrapped all around her.
* * *
The Northern Front, the Demon Beast Subjugation Army’s encampment.
Outside the tent, icy sleet swirled through the air, and the stench of blood and iron hung heavy over everything.
Lucian’s eyes were hollow from days without proper sleep.
“Your Highness, a reply has arrived from the capital.”
His aide held out a single envelope, still smudged with dirt.
Lucian’s hand stopped mid-motion.
Lisana. Just thinking that name made something in his chest grow heavy. He had never once imagined she would write back.
He set down his pen and tore open the envelope. A faint scent of lavender drifted out. Somehow, it was an odd fit for Lisana, a fragrance that didn’t belong to her.
He unfolded the letter, his nerves tightening.
“….”
Lucian’s brows knitted so tightly they nearly crumpled. He read the sentence again.
[I’ve been enjoying discovering new crops in the Rear Garden.]
…Has the Ducal House fallen on hard times? I can’t fathom why she’d fixate on crops growing in the back garden, the wild, unkempt things nobody bothers to tend.
“Your Highness?”
Theodore, the aide standing at his side and reading his mood, asked cautiously. It was because Lucian’s expression had gone so grim.
“What does it say? Has something happened at the castle?”
“….”
Lucian folded the letter slowly. Confusion passed across his face.
“I don’t know. She says she’s found some new crops.”
“…Ah?”
“And that Rita has been keeping the firewood well stocked.”
“Ah, perhaps… she was speaking figuratively, about how peaceful things are? Something like, ‘the soil is rich and calm enough for the crops to thrive’…”
The aide forced out a plausible interpretation. But Lucian knew better. No, he had a feeling he knew better.
The Lisana he had seen so far was not the sort to string together meaningless words.
“…Hah.”
A short laugh escaped Lucian. It was absurd, yet strangely, he wasn’t displeased. It was far more entertaining than the letters from other noblewomen, the ones that whined about loneliness, begged for jewels, or gossiped about whose wife had worn what.
“Find out who this Rita is.”
“Pardon? That’s impossible at the moment, Your Highness.”
“When we return, then. She seems to have taken very good care of the Duchess’s rooms, so I should reward her.”
Lucian tucked the letter into his inner pocket, the one closest to his heart.
“We need to head back quickly. At this rate, the Duchess will end up living on nothing but greens.”
“…I’ve heard she’s also fond of sweet potatoes.”
Lucian let out another humorless breath. Just to see what mischief his wife was stirring up now, he had to clear away these wretched demon beasts as fast as possible.
“And this is a separate matter, but…”
Lucian raised an eyebrow.
“That winter clothing we received recently. What on earth is so special about it? Everyone’s making a fuss over it.”
“Say something that makes sense.”
“They say the winter clothing is warm.”
“Of course it is.”
“No, I mean, ah! They say it’s hot.”
“Say something that makes sense.”
Lucian’s frown deepened sharply.
Just then, a knight approached and cut off their conversation.
“Your Grace. You have a visitor.”
An unexpected guest had arrived.

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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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