After I Died, My Husband Went Mad [EN]: Chapter 30

When he opened his eyes, it was still before dawn.

Diheart wiped away the cold sweat and scanned the room, which was so neat it was almost plain.

“…It’s reality.”

Diheart rubbed his face roughly.

In his dream, he had failed to open the door to the greenhouse.

Afraid that she might be on the other side of the greenhouse.

He was afraid of repeating that terrible moment, so he ran away.

“How pathetic…”

Diheart, letting out a dry laugh, rose from his seat. He approached the window, just a few steps away, and leaned his shoulder against it, the towering hill filling his vision. The seven hills stretched upwards like hands supporting the sky.

Watching the remnants of the ruins shining white at the tips of those fingers, Diheart spent the night.

It was his first day in the fallen city of the gods, Supredy.

* * *

A city once believed to have been the dwelling place of the glory of the gods the ancients worshiped. The doctor emphasized that it was a simple city, but Sebelia had an image of a sublime place in her mind. Perhaps that was why.

“…Oh.”

The sight of Supredy that greeted her as she stepped out of the carriage was shocking.

‘Are they fighting right now…?’

In the open-air cafe, people of various ages were raising their voices and arguing with each other. Judging by the talk of divinity and sacred grounds, they seemed to be scholars staying in Supredy.

“Scholars argue too, huh.”

Having never met anyone in the profession of scholar, she was bewildered. She had imagined them sitting in their labs, diligently reading books and absorbed in their studies, so she thought they would be very still and calm.

She was showing her ignorance of the world again. Sebelia blushed and quickly moved away.

She had a lot to prepare in order to meet the person the physician from Earlsick had recommended.

* * *

The knights bowed to Diheart as he came down late.

“Master.”

As Diheart sat at the table, Illei approached and spoke to him. Like Lion before, they had changed their titles to avoid revealing their status.

“There is something I need to discuss with you urgently.”

Diheart’s eyebrows rose at his rather urgent demeanor. Illei leaned in and whispered.

“I’ve been thinking about it all night… but I can’t possibly keep you in such a plain place. I will request a separate residence from the Baron of Supredy.”

It was nonsense.

‘So Lion’s expectation that he has a promising future was just his own wishful thinking.’

If his cousin, who resembled him, was like this, even he would be ashamed.

Diheart ignored him and beckoned the employee with a flick of his hand.

“What’s the most remarkable thing here?”

It was quite arrogant asking for a recommendation like that. The employee’s face momentarily turned strange, but a painted smile quickly appeared.

It was obvious that the customer was a noble with considerable dignity.

“The most prized item on our inn’s menu is…”

Illei, who was ignored, protested with a sullen look, but Diheart gave him no chance. Eventually, he stepped out onto the street with heavy steps. He wanted to find a better place than the inn they were currently staying in.

He passed through the open-air cafe street filled with arguing scholars and physicians and scanned the inns built near the plaza one by one.

‘If it’s this old, they could have rebuilt it into a hotel, but it’s managing to hold on.’

Perhaps it was because the city prided itself on its long history.

The buildings, which still retained traces of the old era, did not satisfy Illei. The last inn he visited was quite far from the plaza, and perhaps because of that, it felt newly built.

“This is it.”

With a satisfied smile, Illei leaned against the inn’s counter. Perhaps there was already a guest, as a woman with short hair reaching her shoulders turned to look at him. The contrast between her blue eyes and dark brown hair was striking, giving her a mysterious atmosphere.

“Good morning.”

Illei greeted her first with a knightly dignity.

‘Oh dear.’

Perhaps it was because he was trying to be too solemn. The other person’s eyes fluttered, and she began to scan him up and down.

‘Could it be that I came out in my pajamas?’

Illei widened his eyes and checked his attire. But there was nothing strange. It wasn’t the uniform with the Invernese emblem, but a knight’s uniform with no particular features. However, the woman was frozen in place as if she had encountered a gang of thieves.

‘She must be very afraid of knights.’

That could happen if she’s from the countryside.

Illei remained calm and expressionless for the time being. He was afraid that the woman would scream if he moved even a little.

As a knight, he couldn’t let the woman go through such a shameful experience.

“I’m sorry to have kept you waiting… Oh, we have another guest.”

And finally, a person appeared who would end this strange standoff.

“What should we do? I’m sorry, but there are no rooms available. The young lady in front of you took the last room.”

The owner, who appeared with the key, clicked his tongue as he looked at Illei.

“The people staying now are also long-term guests, so it doesn’t seem like there will be any vacancies in the near future.”

“Oh… It was the only inn I liked. What a pity.”

Illei turned around with a heavy heart, but he kept thinking about the woman. However, she had already received the key from the owner and disappeared into the hall.

‘Should I have said something to ask if she was okay?’

He regretted it belatedly. But what’s done is done.

Like a hearty man, Illei abandoned his regrets without hesitation and returned to his lodgings. Just in time, Diheart, who had finished his meal, frowned as he saw him enter.

“Where on earth have you been? Everyone else is diligently carrying out their duties. Linton is even at that ‘Baron’ you mentioned, asking for cooperation.”

“Are you changing accommodations?”

“Think before you speak. Of course, it’s about seeking cooperation in finding that physician. I’m going crazy! What have you really been doing?”

Diheart snapped the pendant shut, scolding him. Immediately, Illei confidently recited his whereabouts.

“…I’m speechless.”

Is that really Lion’s cousin? Diheart’s eyes, looking at him, grew cold. But Illei didn’t care much. Because one thought was wagging its tail wildly in his mind right now.

‘Come to think of it…’

The Duchess’s portrait in the pendant that Diheart carried around every day and the woman he met today somehow looked alike.

‘Are they relatives or something?’

Illei bowed his head to Diheart, who was annoyed and told him to go out and investigate immediately, before heading back out into the street.

‘It would be a disaster if I brought up anything related to the Duchess.’

He was not without a sense of awareness.

* * *

She thought her heart would stop.

“Oh my god.”

Sebelia, who had come up to her room, kept saying “Oh my god” as she crossed the living room back and forth. She wandered around aimlessly for a long time, but she couldn’t calm down, so she plopped down on the rug.

The sound of her pounding heart felt like it was stuck to her eardrums.

“I thought Lion had come to catch me.”

The moment Sebelia turned around at the sound of the bell ringing as the door opened, she thought the world was splitting in two. Light blonde hair and indifferent grayish-brown eyes. A neatly pressed uniform and the talisman symbolizing good fortune that she always wore on her waist. All of that was instantly imprinted on her, shaking Sebelia’s mind.

‘But it wasn’t him.’

It didn’t take long for her to realize that the young man in front of her was not Lion.

“…Because he wasn’t surprised to see me, nor did he rush at me with a stern face.”

So she could immediately realize that the other person only looked very similar to Lion, but he was not him.

Having regained her senses, Sebelia carefully examined the young man again and confirmed that his hair color was a darker blonde than Lion’s.

‘It looked lighter in the sunlight.’

It all happened in the blink of an eye, but to be honest, she felt like she had aged ten years in that moment.

“Haa.”

Sebelia hugged her legs, which were still trembling slightly, and rested her chin on her knees.

“I hope this is just a jinx.”

She was already in a very disturbed state of mind because of the dream she had before arriving in Supredy.

A dream of waking up in Hillend Hall. After dreaming of the place she had left twice in a row, she felt honestly sentimental. It felt as if she had left a great attachment there.

‘But this time the place was different.’

In the dream, Sebelia woke up in the detached house where she had last stayed before leaving Hillend Hall. For some reason, it felt much more dilapidated and old than she remembered, but it was definitely the detached house.

“What’s going on…”

Sebelia was taken aback by the fog surrounding her. It felt as if it was forcing her to enter the detached house. Sebelia soon resigned herself and moved into the villa. And she blinked at the carpets she had never seen before and the interior decoration that had been changed to an unusually heavy and old style.

‘This is really strange.’

The bizarre events continued one after another. No matter how far she walked, she couldn’t see the end of the hallway.

“I wish I would wake up soon.”

Sebelia tried jumping in place and pinching her cheeks. But judging from the fact that she didn’t feel anything special, it seemed distant.

Just as Sebelia, exhausted, was contemplating throwing herself out the window, she finally reached the end.

She was speechless.

“…This is really embarrassing.”

The tall and beautiful glass door that always stood between Diheart and herself, blocking them. The door to the greenhouse was right there.