The Detective Agency for Regretful Male Leads Is Open for Business!

Chapter 2

Yes, I get it. You’re a maniacal, obsessive male protagonist. But I’m not going to go down without a fight. And the female protagonists who go on the run… Well, their freedom is always short-lived.

I’d read countless web novels in the genre. Things had not turned out well for any of the women who chose to run away. For whatever reason, the female protagonist was bound to return.

I’ll get you back and force him to pay me a huge fee. That thought calmed me down a little.

This might actually be an opportunity. I had never had a house of my own, much less a stable job. But if I could adapt, this office—and this job—would be mine and mine alone. That would allow me to start completely anew, with everything I needed.

I balled my fists, determined to rise like the proverbial phoenix from this tribulation and enjoy my new life to the full.

“Huh…?” I said, as a bright white light flooded my vision.

***

“I want a divorce,” Chelsea quietly whispered amid the silence.

The only other sound was the clinking of tableware. Then, Marquess Graydon slammed down his cutlery, purposefully shattering the quiet with a loud noise. It made Chelsea flinch.

“It seems as though you don’t have much of an appetite. Though it is a bit early, we can move on to dessert.”

“Marquess Graydon—”

He interrupted her. “The House of Larmin has sent us some of their home-grown fruit again—”

“I’m serious,” she said, trying to steady her voice.

The marquess could easily guess that she had summoned all the courage she had to say this to him now.

“What is the reason?” he asked, his tone harsh. He hadn’t intended to scare her, but she was quivering pitifully all the same. He fought to repress the urge to rush over and wrap her up in his arms.

“This is… no longer necessary.”

“Not necessary?” he asked.

“Look, this is what was promised from the start. I no longer—”

The marquess shot to his feet, the chair flying off behind him. Chelsea jumped and held her breath as she watched him. He walked around the table as if there was nothing more to hear. Her already pale face gained a deeper pallor as he moved toward her.

“So you mean to abandon me? Is that it?” he asked.

“Marquess Graydon…”

“Because I am of no use to you?!”

“That isn’t what I meant— Augh!”

He grabbed her chin, and his piercing blue eyes were fixed upon her face. His pupils seemed to glow subtly, and Chelsea’s terrified face was reflected within them.

“Everything, everything in this manor, is under my control. The food, the water, the clothing. Did you not think that everything also included you?”

She had been rendered immobile. His eyes ran over her slowly, his gaze deep and hungry, almost as if it were his tongue that was traveling over her. He stared at her eyes, then her chin, and then moved to her neck before studying her chest. At last his gaze moved back up to her face. Hot emotions welled up from deep inside his eyes.

“You are not setting a single foot outside this place.” He spat out the words like he’d chewed on them over and over, and they hovered over the quiet table. “Not without my say-so, anyway.”

Her eyes widened. She could feel her fingers growing cold.

I need to tell him. I must…

“Ahem… Marquess Graydon. You have a meeting shortly.” A butler had entered and interrupted them tactlessly.

“Cancel it,” was the cold response. The marquess rose. His eyes had not moved away from Chelsea for a moment. He twisted his cravat as if annoyed, and it showed the intensity of his emotion. “Cancel everything.”

They stared at him, astonished.

“It looks like I’ll have to spend some time alone with my wife today.”

He felt her cheek quiver and gave a dark smile.

***

“Well, well. Isn’t he a beastly man?” I said, marveling at the last sentence.

I thought he was a dog… but he’s more like a wolf. In either case, he was certainly something less than a gentleman.

“To think it really was something I hadn’t read before…”

As I’d guessed, The Contract Marchioness Requires a Divorce was a novel I’d never picked up before. It read familiarly enough, given how many clichés it used, but I didn’t recognize any of the characters or the details of the story. So simply put…

“The two of them entered into a contract marriage, then the woman requested a divorce after the contract ended. The man refused.”

Then the woman ran away from him, after which the marquess came to me to ask that I go after her. A hollow laugh escaped me.

Couldn’t you have just let her go?

“I suppose he wouldn’t be a regretful protagonist if he did, though. In fact, he’d be the opposite.”

I get it. I do, but… The man had threatened me with death if I failed to find her within a week. That man is so disgustingly obsessive…

Read the next chapter?

> Read

> Close

“I suppose if I read further, I’ll be able to find out where Chelsea went.”

It was disappointing that this wasn’t a novel I knew about, but this library system was letting me read it directly now. It wasn’t really a problem. I had been feeling quite frustrated after the marquess’s threat, but it seemed there was a solution to the situation.

This is more like it. Any real transmigrator should have an advantage like this! I pushed the button that said “Read.” I wasn’t prepared for what happened next.

Not enough Cash! 23:59:59 remaining until your next free chapter.

This message seemed quite familiar.

“Are you kidding me?!”

How annoying is that? Even the user interface resembled a certain web novel app I’d used in the past. It seemed like this was a direct copy.

What do you mean, wait? I’ll plow through your paywall with my wallet!

Not enough Cash! (Remaining Cash: 0)

Top up?

> Top up Cash

> Wait

This brings back nightmares about my empty bank account. And the second option ticked me off. It made me feel as though I was being made fun of. But my life was on the line, and I didn’t have much choice.

The five hundred Cash I had received as a reward had been used up by the five chapters I’d read just now. I had nothing left. I had no idea how the Cash system worked, but I needed as much as I could get.

I selected the first option.

The Cash Station has been successfully activated.

Your current Cash Station: Graydon Manor.

Huh? So it doesn’t happen right away?

What does it mean, it’s “activated”?

A Cash Station is the location where you can replenish your Cash.

As everyone knows, any detective worth her salt should be out there doing the legwork, searching for useful information. Take a look around the Cash Station and search for the Cash hidden in various places.

※Pro tip! When you find places or objects that have a bearing on your case, you will receive Cash based on its relevancy—the more relevant the clue the more Cash you earn!

A new system window had appeared, answering the question on my mind. Apparently I was supposed to “look around” at a “Cash Station.”

Something like a detective searching the scene of the crime in a mystery novel?

“You call this… topping up?”

This felt very different from the usual second it would take me to buy credits online, or from the way protagonists in other novels accumulated currency by having special beings watch over them from above, helping them. It was especially bothersome that I would have to physically go to the location. But there was no other way.

The recent chapter had not resolved the matter of the divorce. I didn’t have the time to wait for the next chapter to unlock. That darned marquess had only given me a week after all!

“Fine. I’ll go to the manor.”

And so my next destination was decided.

***

“Please, come in.”

When I arrived at the manor, I was immediately allowed in after explaining that I had a job from the marquess. Apparently the head of the family had commanded that I was to be given everything I needed for my investigation.

“These are the marchioness’s quarters. Please let me know if you need anything further,” said the butler who had shown me in. He was very polite.

I had arrived at the female protagonist’s living quarters, which seemed the most relevant to this case. The system had said something about relevancy.

So I can top up my Cash by looking through here? I looked around for a moment, then carefully entered the room.

You have entered the quarters of the female protagonist, Chelsea Graydon. You have received 1,000 Cash as a reward for entering it for the first time.

Importance: A

Danger rating: D-

Hidden Cash: 3,000

A system window had appeared again. It seemed like it would alert me with relevant information whenever I set foot in a place with Cash in it.

So I can find 3,000 Cash in this room? It seemed quite lucrative for a place with a D- danger rating. The Cash I’d gotten for coming here for the first time was a sweet bonus too.

After I’d read most of the window, I turned it off. Then I started by scanning the room. It was broad and spacious, as one might expect of a marchioness’s quarters. There was a large space meant for relaxation and tea-drinking, while on either side were rooms that appeared to be a bathroom and a bedroom. It was basically a living room with two rooms attached.

It’s unimaginably nice for a woman in a contractual marriage. There must be more to the story that I don’t know about. Right here, for instance…