After I Died, My Husband Went Mad [EN]: Chapter 11

It wasn’t long before she sold off her dowry to cover travel expenses. For the first time in a while, Sebelia and Denisa enjoyed a period of comfort and luxury in the detached residence. Gren’s servants occasionally loitered around the property, but they were easily chased away.

“Another one fainted again.”

Denisa shook her head, watching a servant convulse and pass out near the window.

“I wish they’d just stop.”

Denisa clicked her tongue and glanced to the side. The ghost of Velita was gruesomely bleeding in the exact spot where the servant had been eagerly spying just moments before.

“What on earth are they hoping to achieve?”

Sebelia dismissed Velita’s ghost with an indifferent mutter.

“I moved my residence to the detached house as they wanted, and now I’m nothing…”

What makes them so anxious that they feel the need to monitor me like this?

Sebelia sighed deeply, baffled by Gren’s behavior.

“Well, could I ever truly understand him?”

If I had known what he was thinking, I wouldn’t have been so easily deceived. Sebelia offered a bitter smile and turned to Denisa.

“How is the matter I asked you about progressing?”

“It seems it will take some time. I can’t sell it nearby,” Denisa said apologetically. Sebelia shook her head, reassuring her.

“It’s alright. There’s still time… um.”

Sebelia abruptly stopped speaking. Denisa noticed something was amiss as she saw Sebelia hurriedly try to leave the drawing room. Denisa quickly grabbed her wrist.

“Lady!”

“Cough… !”

Blood trickled between her fingers. Denisa’s face instantly paled. With trembling hands, she guided Sebelia to a chair.

“Please, lie down.”

“I’m okay…”

“Please!”

The desperation in her trembling voice was clear. Sebelia looked at Denisa’s red-rimmed eyes and decided to comply. Arguing that she was fine would be pointless.

Denisa bustled around, quickly gathering warm water, a towel, and first aid supplies. She knelt at Sebelia’s feet, biting her lip.

“I shouldn’t have told you about the ability. I should have just sent you away back then…”

A voice twisted with anguish escaped her lips.

“I was so foolish.”

Realizing that a precious person was sick and witnessing that reality firsthand were experiences of entirely different magnitudes.

‘I wish I could be sick instead.’

Feeling her knees weaken, Denisa barely held back the tears that welled up. To her, Sebelia was like a daughter she had raised. The sight of that daughter vomiting blood before her eyes was truly…

‘I don’t want to see it again.’

Denisa touched her sweaty forehead and spoke in a trembling voice.

“This isn’t what I wanted. I’ve only made things harder for you with my meddling…”

“No, Denisa.”

Sebelia quickly grasped her hand.

“This is just… like a side effect. It’s not because of the illness itself.”

“Then I shouldn’t have told you even more! I stole your time. I…”

Looking into Denisa’s eyes, which were clouded with pain, Sebelia squeezed her hand.

“Denisa, don’t say that.”

Her voice was firm, her gaze resolute. Her face was as pale as a corpse, but her expression was more determined than ever.

“If it weren’t for Denisa, I would have run away without a plan. And I would have died worrying about when my father would come to find me.”

She held Denisa’s hands in both of hers, speaking sincerely.

“I’m grateful just to have a future where I don’t have to constantly worry about that.”

“…”

“I didn’t lose time; I gained the opportunity to have more valuable time.”

Denisa took a deep breath, looking into Sebelia’s earnest eyes. She felt suffocated by the guilt within her.

“I mean it.”

Sebelia whispered softly, comforting her.

“Back then, I just wanted to escape so desperately that I couldn’t think of anything else. So, I didn’t prepare properly. If I had rushed, I would have ruined everything.”

Foolishly, she had tried to run away without sufficient travel funds.

‘How reckless I was.’

Denisa moved her lips as if to speak, but no words came out. After several attempts, she finally nodded slowly.

“…I understand.”

Sebelia’s eyes softened.

“Thank you.”

“Don’t mention it.”

Denisa smiled sadly. She soaked a towel in the warm water she had prepared and gently wiped Sebelia’s face.

“You really look terrible, Lady.”

Sebelia chuckled softly at the attempt to lighten the mood.

“You used to love playing in the mud so much when you were little. You would come back covered in it every day, and I would wipe you down like this.”

Denisa took her time wiping her face, as if trying to etch this moment into her memory.

“Yeah, I know.”

Sebelia closed her eyes and accepted her touch, secretly remembering that she had never enjoyed playing in the mud.

‘I just liked that Denisa cared about me.’

That’s why she could endure it every time Nathan pushed her into the mud. Because there was someone waiting for her when she returned to her room with a warm, wet towel.

* * *

Dehart knew that Rache was, objectively, a respectable person.

He had taken responsibility for raising his brother’s child until adulthood and hadn’t coveted the title, making him a commendable figure. But Dehart also knew that people had many different facets.

Just like now.

‘Well, this is a destination I’d want to hide from my nephew.’

Contempt was evident in Dehart’s eyes as he followed Rache through the darkness. It had been an hour since he began tailing his respectable uncle. Dehart finally arrived at an opium den, one of the worst of its kind.

Strangely, Rache bypassed the opium addicts sprawled throughout the alley and ventured deeper inside.

‘What on earth is he hiding?’

In alleys even more secluded than typical opium dens, those who profited by lurking in the shadows of the world tended to reside.

Rustle.

Suddenly, something snagged on Dehart’s foot. He initially dismissed it as trash, but he frowned and stopped. Ryan whispered to him.

“Master, if you’re concerned, I can handle this…”

“No.”

His golden eyes, gleaming in the darkness, slowly deciphered the letters on the paper. The paper, heavily scented with Rache’s perfume, contained disturbingly familiar content.

[Five rumors related to Sebelia’s unusual sexual preferences. (Omitted) After the results are achieved, spread content about her childhood eccentricities…]

“Aha.”

Dehart swept his hair back. Haha. A hollow laugh escaped him, and his golden eyes blazed with fury.

“So, that’s how it is.”

His voice was chilling. For a moment, it felt as if lightning had struck nearby. The junkies who had been staring at him with glazed eyes shrank back in fear. He quickly asserted control over the alley and pulled black gloves from his pocket.

Snap! He tugged the tough leather gloves up to his wrists and said dryly.

“I wondered what kind of sewer rat it was, but it was a rat that ate and slept with me in my house. Or is it the rat that raised me?”

“Master.”

Ryan called out as he continued to insult his uncle. Of course, it wasn’t to reprimand his harsh words.

Ryan pointed into the distance, where Rache was disappearing further into the alley. Dehart’s eyes narrowed.

* * *

A cold fire burned within Dehart’s eyes as he navigated the stench-filled alley.

‘How dare you.’

Rache was one of the few people he respected.

He was someone who considered it his duty to contribute to the family, going above and beyond simply raising him. But that person was leading the charge in insulting Sebelia?

‘No wonder he kept spouting nonsense about whether I had considered meeting other women.’

Rache had advised him to meet other women, claiming he was worried about his lack of an heir. Of course, it was nonsense. Even a stray dog would laugh and bite him at that suggestion.

[Dehart, a woman who cannot bear children cannot be considered a proper wife. Everyone will understand your choice.]

What kind of rubbish was that? He was the one who decided not to sleep with her in the first place. Why was that Sebelia’s fault? So, he calmly refuted Rache’s nonsense.

[I am young, and my wife is also young. The timing of having children is something we will decide together, so please don’t worry, Uncle.]

[How can I not worry? Your father passed away when you were only seven years old.]

But Rache stubbornly pushed his crazy talk, and in the end, he had to play his final card.

[…Okay, then let’s do this.]

[What are you talking about?]

[My heir will be the strongest child in the family. Even if I have my own child, if they are weak, they can never be the heir.]

At that moment, something flashed through the air and struck the ground near Rache’s feet before disappearing.

[You… !]

What kind of expression did Rache wear as he looked at the circular, burnt mark beneath his feet?

Dehart frowned in displeasure as he hurried through the narrow alley. He probably looked betrayed and wronged.

‘You shouldn’t dare to talk about betrayal.’

His clenched fist and tightly closed jaw betrayed his anger towards Rache. If someone was willing to do something so vile to drive Sebelia away, what else were they capable of?

Dehart quietly inhaled, recalling the embezzled minerals and the traitor who was murdered during torture. Rache was heading towards the road leading out of the city. Dehart drew his sword and carefully followed him, suppressing the pounding anxiety in his chest.

‘I need to finish this quickly and return right away.’

But the Sebelia he was so worried about had already finished preparing to leave the mansion.