As the transmigrated ancestor of Doyool, her favorite novel character, Seolryeon tries to arrange everything to make his life easier. But when she reincarnates as Yerin, his young bride, she finds that something has gone wrong over the years. The Frost Palace has fallen on hard times, and its people are suffering. Together with her new husband, she must right wrongs and root out the corruption that has befallen this once-great family. But how much can two young people do alone?

I Became the Young Wife of the Male Lead of a Martial Arts Novel has story by Chanok and art by lunadal, based on a work by Rana. Translation by ip and lettered by Cheryl Alvarez. Published by Tapas Entertainment (September 15, 2025).

Content warning: domestic abuse, bullying

Erica Friedman
Rating:

I know many folks think the reformed villainess genre is played out and, sure, it can be tired, but as “being a good person” is my favorite magic power, I still kinda like it. This webcomic still had a steep slope to grab me, in part because the 'martial arts” in the title was a bit of a misnomer. Hoping for a kewl kung-fu story, I had to ratchet back when “martial arts” turned out to be “gi cultivation.” I love naegong with the best of them – I studied and taught qigong/neigong for years, so once I realized I was mistaken, I settled in and found a story that was worth some time and attention.

Seolryeon/Yerin has a double-fisted knowledge of the characters, and at least one full adult life of leadership to draw on, so even aside from magical martial skills, she's prodigious. The story has a CW for domestic abuse and there is both domestic and abuse and some bullying and can feel harsh at times – especially when we are told that Yerin, who is being married off in the first scene, is twelve years old. Because Doyool is a genuinely kind person, he and Yerin make a formidable team as the story shifts into an arc of them doing ruler stuff and taking care of their people. Despite the rough, exposition-heavy beginning, the story kept my attention through all the available chapters.

I do not love vertical scroll comics; there's always a lot of wasted space between word balloons and scenes. Here words are often lettered with graduated colors and clothes are rendered with some attention, so the overall atmosphere is finding color and light in the darkness. Doyool and Yerin are cute and one hopes they will grow up and find happiness.