Episode 2
Yeah, I get that you’re the crazy and obsessed regretful male lead.
But do you think I’ll just obediently die because of that?
“The runaway heroine will be caught soon anyway.”
Just how many times did I read escape and regret stories?
I’ve never seen a heroine who escapes completely and lives well by herself.
For whatever reason, the heroine always ends up coming back.
I’ll just prepare to catch her properly and rip off the male lead with the commission money.
Thinking like this eased some of my nervousness.
“Maybe this is actually a good opportunity?”
I never had a stable job, let alone my own home for my whole life.
But if I adapted well here, this office, this job could become entirely mine.
Then, I could start afresh with everything in hand!
I clenched my fists and vowed to overcome these adversities to enjoy a new lie,
“….Huh?”
And then, in front of me, a bright white light began to unfold.
* * *
“Let’s get a divorce.”
Chelsea whispered quietly in the quiet space where only the dishes clinked softly.
Clunk.
The Marquis of Grayden set down the dish loudly, as if intentionally.
Chelsea’s shoulders trembled.
“You don’t seem to have an appetite. It’s a bit early, but let’s have dessert.”
“Marquis.”
“This time, they sent us fruit harvested directly from Larmin Valley…”
“I mean it.”
Chelsea said in a shaky voice.
The Marquis could easily guess that she had summoned all the courage she had.
“Why?”
A firm voice cut through.
He hadn’t intended to scare her.
Yet Chelsea was still trembling pitifully.
He fought back the urge to run to her and hug her tightly right away.
“Now… it’s not needed anymore.”
“Not needed?”
“It was a prearranged agreement from the beginning, and no longer…”
Thud.
The Marquis suddenly rose from his seat, causing the pushed chair to fall down.
Startled, Chelsea looked at him, holding her breath.
As if there was nothing more to hear, the Marquis came around the table to Chelsea.
As he approached, her already pale face grew even whiter.
“So, you’re going to throw me away?”
“Marquis…”
“Because I’m of no more use?”
“I didn’t mean it that way… ugh!”
Chelsea’s chin was seized by him.
His piercing blue eyes focused on her face.
Chelsea’s frightened face was reflected in his faintly gleaming pupils.
“Everything in this mansion is mine. The food, the water, the clothes. Did you think you wouldn’t be included in that?”
The Marquis’ eyes slowly scanned Chelsea while she was trapped in his grip.
In a slow, deliberate motion, almost as if licking.
From the eyelids to the chin, neckline, down to the chest below…
The lingering gaze rose back up to her face.
Hot emotions roared from beneath his pupils.
“You won’t be able to take a single step forward.”
A deep, biting voice echoed softly over the quiet dining table.
“Without my permission.”
Chelsea’s eyes widened.
She could feel her fingertips chilling.
She had to say something. She had to…
“Um… Master. It’s almost time for you to attend the meeting.”
“Cancel it.”
The Marquis rose up, coldly responding to the butler’s interjection.
Even as he did so, he didn’t once avert his gaze from Chelsea.
Intense emotions were evident in his frustrated hand gestures as he clenched his fists.
“Cancel the entire schedule.”
“…”
“It seems I must spend some quality time with my wife today.”
Gently caressing Chelsea’s trembling cheek, the Marquis smiled wryly.
* * *
“Wow, isn’t this a different kind of beast?”
I exclaimed while reading the last sentence.
I thought he was like a dog, but he turned out to be a wolf.
Regardless, the fact that he was less than human remained.
“To think it was a novel I didn’t know…”
As expected, <CMD>*1 (abbreviation for the novel’s title – The Contracted Marchioness Seeks Divorce) was not a work I had read.
I felt it was familiar since the storyline was full of cliches, but everything from the characters to the detailed plot was new.
In summary…
“They had a contract marriage, the woman filed for divorce once the term ended and the husband didn’t accept it?”
Then his wife ran away so he came to me to ask me to find her?
A disappointed laugh escaped me.
Couldn’t he have just parted ways nicely?
“Well, even if he just let her go because she said she’d go, he’d still have regrets, wouldn’t he?”
I understood that. I understood, but…
To see him come fussing to find his wife within a week and promise to not let me see the rising sun again otherwise, it was just…
Would you like to read the next episode?
>Read
>Close
“Anyways, if I look into the backstory a little more, I’ll be able to see where this Chelsea lady ran off to.”
It’s a shame that I was possessed in a novel I didn’t know, but it didn’t matter since I could read it with the library system right away.
I’d been stumped ever since being threatened by the Marquis, so it was fortunate there was a solution.
This is it. If I’m stuck in this, I should at least have a cheat ability like this!
With that thought, I pressed [Read Next Episode].
However, what appeared before my eyes was…
Insufficient cash! Please wait, only 23:59:59 left until your free time.
Somehow, the message felt oddly familiar.
“Are you kidding me right now?!”
What kind of annoying system was this?
From the UI to everything else, it seems like a direct copy of those old web novel apps I used to use.
What do you mean wait? I’ll just pay in cash now!
Insufficient cash! (Current remaining cash: 0)
Would you like to recharge?
>Recharge Cash
>Wait for the time to pass
This message was like a nightmare from the void.
I felt strangely annoyed because the second choice seemed to be teasing me.
However, in a situation where my life was at stake, there was no time for me to complain.
The 500 cash I’d received as a reward seemed to have been used up earlier reading the original novel, so there was none left.
I didn’t know exactly how to recharge the cash, but I had to pour everything I could use.
I chose to [Recharge Cash].
The cash recharge station has been successfully activated.
Current Cash Recharge Station: Marquis Grayden’s Mansion.
Huh? Does it not charge right away?
Current Cash recharge station is active. What does that mean?
A cash recharge station is a place where you can recharge cash.
It goes without saying that a good detective must go around and search for useful information that can help. Let’s explore the cash recharge station and find the cash hidden everywhere.
※ One handy tip! The more places and items you find that are deeply related to the task, the more cash you can get!
The system that seemed to recognize my question threw open a new window.
So, I have to ‘go around’ the recharge station to find cash? Like a detective in a mystery novel scouring a crime scene?
“Is this how cash recharge works…?
It was a big difference from the instantaneous online payments the main characters in possession novels were able to make…
Especially annoying was the fact that you had to physically go to the recharge station.
But there’s no other way.
In the episode I saw so far, they were still only debating divorce, so when would I find the time to wait and see?
That damn Grayden only gave me a week!
“If this is how it’s going to be, then I’m going to the Marquis.”
That’s how my next goal was set.
* * *
“Come on in.”
After arriving at the mansion, I was allowed entry as soon as I introduced myself by saying I’d been commissioned personally by the Marquis.
They’d been strictly ordered to cooperate fully with my investigation, it seemed.
“This is the lady of the house’s room. If you need anything else, feel free to call for assistance at any time.”
The butler who guided me to the room said politely.
Following the system’s guidance, I first visited the ‘Lady’s Room,’ which seemed most relevant to the task at hand…
So, I could recharge my cash if I searched here, right?
I looked around and carefully entered the room.
The room of the female lead, Chelsea Grayden.
As a first entry benefit, 1000 cash was awarded.
Importance: A
Risk: D-
Hidden cash amount: 3000
Then, as if waiting, the system window popped up.
So relevant information appeared when you stepped into where the cash is.
‘Can I get 3000 cash from here?’
It seemed pretty good for a risk level of D-.
The cash it gave me as a first entry benefit was also sweet.
After roughly grasping the general information, I closed the system window.
First, I scanned the room as a whole.
Living up to the name of the room of the “Lady of the House,” the room was spacious and grand.
On either side of the huge relaxation and tea time space, there were rooms that seemed to be the bathroom and bedroom.
In other words, two rooms were attached to the living room.
It was so nice that it was hard to imagine this was a room for a contracted wife.
‘There must be some hidden circumstances. For example, in a place like this…’
