Manga UP! Global Licenses The Cruel King I'm Marrying as a Substitute Bride
The license adds another isekai romance to the Manga UP! Global catalog less than two months after the third Japanese volume shipped, showing the platform is keeping its English simulpub pipeline tight for ongoing Square Enix titles.
Reporting from 2 sources: Anime News Network, The Fandom Post.
Square Enix's Manga UP! Global service added an English simulpub of The Cruel King I'm Marrying as a Substitute Bride is My First Love?! on Wednesday. The series adapts Aoi's web novel of the same name, with art by Akira. The story follows Kanae Yano, a 28-year-old woman summoned to another world. A duke and his daughter, who looks identical to Kanae, ask her to act as a body double and marry King Eugene Eistalotte, a ruler known as the Cold-Hearted Wolf. Unable to return home, Kanae agrees. When she meets the king, she discovers his true identity, setting up a fantasy romance about reuniting with a first love. Akira began the manga on Square Enix's Japanese Manga UP! platform in March 2025. The third collected volume shipped in Japan on April 7. Aoi first published the web novel on the TellerNovel platform in October 2021. The Fandom Post notes Aoi has nine works to their name since debuting in 2007, while Akira has seven works since 2020.
Akira launched the manga adaptation on Square Enix's Japanese Manga UP! platform in March 2025. The third collected volume shipped in Japan on April 7. The English simulpub arrived on Wednesday, roughly seven weeks later. The Japanese title is Migawari de Totsuida Reikoku Kokuō wa Hatsukoi Aite Deshita.
The Fandom Post lists Aoi's debut as the 2007 work Kanojoiro no Kanojo. Akira debuted in 2020. The two creators have nine and seven works respectively across their careers.
The story opens with Kanae Yano, 28 and single, pulled into another world. Duke Zach Skrein and his daughter Rita, who shares Kanae's appearance, ask her to pose as Rita and marry King Eugene Eistalotte. The king is called the "Cold-Hearted Wolf." Manga UP! Global's description calls him "a cruel dictator feared as the 'Cold-Hearted Wolf.'" The summoning magic cannot send Kanae back, so she accepts the arrangement. When she meets the king, she learns who he really is, and a fantasy romance about reuniting with a first love begins.
Synthesized by Yomimono from the 2 cited sources below, including Japanese-language reporting where cited, then editorially reviewed before publishing.