After I Died, My Husband Went Mad [EN]: Chapter 80

It was quite a while later that Wartz led the lost Claude into the inner part of the canyon. The knight recognized Wartz and guided them to Dihart’s tent.

And there, they found a dispirited Dihart and Sebelia, who was cradling a blue bird beside him. Of course, as soon as he saw them, Dihart’s brilliant golden eyes turned irritable again.

“Claude… I mean, Mr. Cal. Why are you so late? Did you get lost on the way?”

Sebelia rose from her seat and greeted them. Her blue eyes glanced past the half-dazed Claude and turned to Wartz, a look that asked for an explanation.

Wartz nodded, helping Claude lie down on the bed.

“Just as you said. It seems he has physically proven that the collaboration of a simple-minded accident and foolish stubbornness only leads to ridiculous results.”

Claude couldn’t bring himself to argue. Instead, he moved his lips, which were chapped from biting them so much, to ask about Dihart’s well-being.

“I felt Alos being reverse summoned. Are you hurt anywhere?”

Unlike Sebelia’s blue bird, Alos was a summoned beast that had been given a name and fully recognized its own ego. Naturally, the size of its power was also greater, and the influence it could exert on its own was immense.

Alos being reverse summoned meant that it had exhausted all of its power. Claude scanned Dihart’s body with trembling eyes, and Dihart’s eyes twisted with displeasure.

“What are you doing, giving me the creeps? I’m fine, so stop looking me over.”

“He’s right. Aside from vomiting blood from overusing his power, he’s quite alright.”

A cold voice cut him off. Dihart glanced at her absentmindedly before turning his head away.

“Other than that, there are bruises from burst blood vessels in several places… and fragments of the relic were embedded in every wound. But if you say he’s fine even then, there’s nothing I can do.”

At the calmly spoken words, Dihart turned his body completely to the side. Sebelia, who had been glancing at him as he listlessly stroked the blue bird sleeping on the cushion, pointed to the desk.

“I’ve collected the large fragments. But it seems we’ll need Mr. Wartz’s power for the smaller ones.”

On the blood-stained gauze were scattered fragments of the relic. At the sudden mention of a relic, Wartz and Claude’s eyes widened.

“A relic? Why would there be such a thing…”

Claude, who had been speaking, frowned and groaned as if he had realized something. The place they were standing was Supradi, the city of the forgotten god. It was within the mountain range that still held mysteries that had not yet been uncovered.

“Then the earthquake and impact I felt earlier must have been because of that.”

Dihart’s lightning had also contributed to the roar that shook the earth, but he kept his mouth shut and remained silent. He cast an intense gaze at Wartz and gestured with his eyes to the glass snowflower carefully placed beside him.

“This is…”

Wartz easily fell for his trick. He had already heard from the knight that he had discovered a habitat for glass snowflowers while coming to the tent. He lifted the box with joy-filled eyes.

“So glass snowflowers were really growing below the canyon.”

Wartz said in a voice filled with emotion. Now he could cure Sebelia. He had been given the opportunity to restore his pride as a doctor, which had been cracked.

“Let’s go back quickly, Miss Bella.”

Wartz shouted boldly and rose from his seat. He had confirmed that Dihart was safe and learned that he had secured the glass snowflower, so there was no reason to stay here. All that remained was Sebelia’s treatment.

“The end has finally come.”

At Wartz’s words, Dihart and Sebelia simultaneously thought the same thing: once the treatment was over, they would no longer have any reason to be together.

* * *

Dihart hurried with the preparations. Descending the mountain was more difficult than climbing it, so he had to prepare thoroughly. Of course, in the meantime, he had to threaten Illei, who kept looking at Sebelia with suspicious eyes.

“Keep your eyes to yourself, Illei. And don’t leak what happened down there to anyone. Just say we accidentally touched a relic while collecting glass snowflowers.”

“Do you think Baron Supradi will believe that?”

“What if he doesn’t?”

Dihart sneered, raising one corner of his mouth.

“Looking at my current state, he wouldn’t be able to say anything even if I claimed the excavation rights to the holy site.”

“That’s… true. As expected of you, Duke.”

Illei delivered words that were hard to tell whether they were praise or insult, and gave a quick nod to Sebelia, who was standing far away.

“Then I will clean up the herbalists and the cave where the relic was, entrust the supervision to the Baron, and then come to see you.”

Henkit’s body had been incinerated at the same time as the relic exploded, so there was nothing much to clean up. Dihart nodded with an arrogant face and approached Sebelia in one stride.

“It’s all over, so let’s go down quickly.”

Just a moment ago, she had been teary-eyed like a lost child, but as soon as she came out of the tent, a cold wind blew. Sebelia watched his extreme change with interest and picked up the lamp on the floor.

Of course, the luminous stone lamp instantly passed into Dihart’s hands.

“It’s better for me to hold this.”

At the somewhat chilly words, Dihart blinked in surprise at his own words. When he lowered his gaze, Sebelia was looking at him with a blank face. He clicked his tongue inwardly and hurriedly added.

“I’m taller. You’re short, so the light won’t reach far enough…”

“Do as you please.”

Sebelia shrugged and approached Claude, pulling her cloak tighter as if she didn’t care. Dihart stared intently at her back and glared at Claude for no reason.

“Who… Ha, geez.”

Feeling the stinging gaze, Claude soon realized who was glaring at him as if they wanted to kill him. Claude scoffed.

Claude, with Cal Aphent’s face, said with a face that looked like he wanted to nag Dihart right away.

“Why are you looking at me like that?”

“What’s wrong with my eyes?”

The sarcastic voice was sharp and prickly no matter how you looked at it. Claude frowned in disbelief.

‘Is it because I said we shouldn’t go straight to the lab?’

Before leaving the tent, Claude had opposed Dihart’s suggestion to go straight to the lab. It was a full day’s journey just to leave the canyon and go down to the foot of the mountain. He couldn’t carry out such a forced march with two patients.

Wartz also agreed with his opinion, and Sebelia also agreed to the schedule of staying in the city.

‘Such a narrow-minded guy.’

No wonder Sebelia faked her death and ran away. Claude sighed deeply, thinking of what Dihart would do if he heard that. Dihart felt inexplicably bad at the sight.

But before he could shake off the bad feeling, the knights who had finished preparing approached and bowed lightly.

“We are ready, Duke.”

“…Okay. Let’s go down.”

“I will hold the lamp.”

“Don’t do useless things and just do what you’re told.”

Dihart glanced at Claude with an unpleasant look and passed the knight. The narrow cliff path that connected the canyon and the forest had already been widened enough for about three people to pass comfortably.

This was all thanks to Illei’s skills, who had been fiercely urged by Dihart.

“The others can take care of themselves, so think of the lady as the top priority.”

Dihart said without looking back. Sebelia’s eyes widened, and the two men frowned as if to say, “Of course.” The knights shouted loudly, “Yes, sir!” without knowing why.

Soon, a bleak darkness enveloped them. It was a darkness that now felt familiar. Dihart held the lamp and calmly watched the front.

‘The end is really approaching now.’

Once Sebelia’s cure was complete, he wouldn’t be able to easily stay by her side, no matter what trivial excuse he made. Dihart endured the burning inside and moved his feet.

‘I wanted to be by your side a little longer.’

That was why he had unknowingly made a grumpy expression. Dihart swallowed his regret and bit his lip. There was no strength in the hand holding the lamp.

* * *

Sebelia, who had returned to Supradi with the group, slowly blinked her eyes at the sight of her footsteps heading to a different place than the inn. Dihart’s attitude, who was walking ahead, was so firm that she couldn’t say anything.

The place they arrived at was not an inn, but the official residence that Baron Supradi would give to guests or delegations. As she looked at the wide and bright hall of the official residence, Dihart, who was standing behind her, cleared his throat.

“Ahem, ahem.”

When Sebelia’s blue eyes turned to him, Dihart seemed relieved and hesitated to speak.

“Go in and rest. I have something to do.”

After speaking in a voice that was half-mixed with inappropriate kindness, Dihart immediately turned around and tried to leave the official residence. At that moment, Sebelia grabbed his wrist.

“Ah.”

It was an unconscious action. Sebelia faced Dihart’s face as he turned to her, and only then did she realize what she had done.

‘Without me knowing.’

The image of him trying to leave the tent came to her mind, and she grabbed him without thinking. Sebelia bit her lip in embarrassment. Dihart quietly looked down at her and scanned the surroundings.

Passersby were watching them closely. They were the people of Supradi who worked at the official residence. Dihart was about to speak to her in a low voice.

“It is an honor to serve you, Duke.”

A woman walked out across the garden visible beyond the wide hall. She was a black-haired woman with a confident attitude and a dignity befitting it.

“As per my father’s instructions, I have done my best to ensure that your stay is comfortable. I hope you like it.”

She was Licia Supradi, the daughter of Baron Supradi and his successor.

She caught the attention of everyone at once, stared at Dihart, and then turned her gaze to Sebelia as if she had just discovered her. Only for a brief moment, an unpleasant emotion flashed in her green eyes.

“But who is this?”

A low voice brushed coldly against her ear.