After I Died, My Husband Went Mad [EN]: Chapter 122

“I’m glad to meet you like this. Oh, forgive my tardiness. You can call me Valak. Actually, I wanted to say hello back then….”

The man, who introduced himself as Valak, seemed somewhat flustered. His rambling and slightly clumsy demeanor made Sebelia naturally lower her guard.

She had been on high alert after hearing Shateian’s words, but Valak seemed too nervous to be hostile.

‘He really wanted to meet me.’

Sebelia could see his sincerity in his pale face and wide, dilated eyes. Even the hand pouring the tea trembled so much it looked like it would spill.

Sebelia quietly watched the tea splashing on the table and casually said,

“Shall I do it?”

“No, no. Oh, I’m so sorry! How did it get like this…!”

Valak’s face turned pale when he saw the tea wetting Sebelia’s hand. Flustered, he took out a handkerchief and then suddenly took a deep breath.

“I’m sorry.”

The sky-blue eyes, which had been somewhat excited, calmed down. He forced himself to compose himself and slowly offered the handkerchief.

“Would you mind using this?”

“Thank you.”

Sebelia stopped looking at him with curious eyes and took the handkerchief. On the corner of the handkerchief, the name Valak and a small silver leaf were embroidered.

‘A silver leaf?’

Looking closely, it seemed to be a laurel leaf. Sebelia wiped the tea off her hand, wondering which family used the silver laurel leaf as a symbol. Since Valak had been pouring the tea so slowly, the tea was already cold.

In the meantime, Valak cleared the table and gave instructions to a servant before returning. When Sebelia looked at him with questioning eyes, Valak replied simply.

“I told them to bring fresh tea and refreshments.”

“There’s no need to go that far….”

“It’s only natural for our first meeting.”

Where did the trembling man from just a moment ago disappear to? Valak, who cut her off with a firm look, had a familiar air about him.

Before Sebelia could place the source of that familiarity, Valak cleared his throat. Sensing that he was about to get to the point, Sebelia straightened her posture.

“You must have been forewarned by His Highness the Crown Prince.”

“Yes, so I was honestly a little embarrassed. I didn’t expect you to arrange a separate meeting like this. When I was about to leave, the Crown Prince even tried to dissuade me.”

Sebelia decided to be direct.

“Why were you so angry at Nathan Weden’s claim that he found my mother, Mr. Valak?”

Valak’s eyelids twitched slightly before he sighed. It sounded like she faintly heard Shateian, that bastard, through his tightly closed teeth, but she couldn’t be sure.

“I see. His Highness told you that story….”

Valak lowered his head and covered his forehead, groaning softly. Sebelia stared at him with cold eyes, determined not to say a word until Valak answered first.

Valak raised his head and met Sebelia’s cold gaze. That stubborn face reminded him of his aunt standing up to his father, and he unconsciously smiled faintly.

“……?”

Sebelia’s eyes widened in surprise, but only for a moment. Valak took something out of his pocket and carefully placed it on the table.

“Bella, it’s as you heard. If Shateian hadn’t stopped me that day, the exhibition hall would have been in chaos before any commotion could have started. That’s how much I couldn’t contain my anger.”

“So why, Mr. Valak….”

“Because your mother is my one and only aunt.”

A heavy silence settled between them. Valak held onto the pendant under his hand, his grip tight.

“Bella, your mother has been asleep [in a coma] ever since she gave birth to you. She has never, not once, abandoned you. At every moment, even when my father tried to harm you, she protected you with all her might.”

Click. Valak opened the pendant with his fingertips and spoke, his voice cracking.

“So isn’t it natural for me to be angry? Isn’t it natural that I can’t stand someone insulting the person who protected you against death in such a way?”

Sebelia couldn’t think straight, overwhelmed by his emotional outburst. Valak was taking out something else from his pocket, saying he could provide more evidence if she didn’t believe him.

However, Sebelia didn’t even glance at him. After the pendant was opened, Sebelia simply stared at the small portrait inside, barely breathing.

‘I’ll look like that when I get older.’

‘My eyes didn’t resemble my father.’

A strong conviction washed over her. Her heart pounded and her eyes burned. Sebelia grabbed her neck, where a burning sensation was rising, and lowered her head.

“Are you alright?!”

With a crash, Valak stood up from his seat. Letters and piles of paper that he had stacked on the table scattered. Sebelia looked at them falling to her feet with blurry eyes and sighed.

[Silas, I’m still wondering. Why did you do that that day?]

Soft sentences written in a powerful and elegant handwriting. Sebelia blinked her stinging eyes as she saw the raw emotions conveyed in the script.

Those were the love letters her mother had exchanged with her father and the letters she had written alone after being betrayed by him.

‘You didn’t abandon me.’

‘At least I wasn’t hated by my mother.’ Tears fell onto the faded letters.

* * *

Valak wasn’t the only one who jumped up from his seat at the commotion.

“Oh, dear.”

Shateian sighed. They were sharing a suffocating silence in the room right next to the drawing room where Sebelia had gone.

“Is it already too late?”

Shateian rested his chin on his hand and watched Dihart’s back as he rushed out. Claude sighed and began to rise from his seat.

“Try to stop him. I don’t want anyone bleeding in my palace.”

Claude looked at him with a knowing expression before following. In the meantime, Dihart had already burst through the door of the drawing room.

“Bella!”

Dihart’s eyes flashed. He caught sight of Sebelia shedding tears. He didn’t spare a glance for Valak, who was standing flustered beside her.

“……!”

Of course, Dihart didn’t hold back at all. Before Claude, who followed, could stop him, something flew through the air.

“The rumors about him being crazy were true.”

Valak, who deflected the flying dagger, raised his head and glared at him. Claude was almost suffocated by the murderous intent he was exuding.

“What if she had gotten hurt?”

“You almost made her get hurt by deflecting it clumsily. Judging by your appearance, you’re not an imperial. What did you do to Bella?”

“The rumors about him being obsessive seem to be true too.”

Dihart frowned at Valak’s low muttering.

“You better stay away from her. Even if you’re the Second Prince’s guest today, you might be found as an unknown corpse with a broken neck by the river tomorrow.”

“I’m sorry, but I can’t do that.”

Valak blocked Sebelia and shook his head. His unusual sky-blue eyes shone stubbornly. He looked like a parent protecting their child.

Dihart felt a wave of unpleasantness rising in his throat.

No, this isn’t just unpleasantness. Dihart gritted his teeth. Sebelia was behind Valak the whole time the two were arguing. She was wiping her cheeks while crouching like a child under his protection.

Dihart felt an inexplicable anxiety.

So he puffed himself up even more, putting on a fierce front so that no one could sense his wavering.

“If you know who I am, there’s no need to waste any more time. Yes, no one would be surprised even if the mad duke tore someone to death in the palace.”

As Dihart growled and took a step, Valak held out his palm. Black shadows began to creep out from the corner of the drawing room.

At that moment, Sebelia stood up from her seat.

“Stop it.”

Her voice was still thick with tears. Dihart reflexively pushed Valak away and grabbed her tear-streaked hand.

“Bella, what did that bastard do to you?”

Valak blinked in surprise as he fell to the floor from the sudden, violent shove. And he realized that the dagger Dihart had thrown just now was simply for intimidation.

If he had thrown the dagger with all his might, he wouldn’t have been able to deflect it so easily.

‘That crazy bastard is strong….’

His quickness and judgment were also better than expected. He showed signs of wavering at the continuous provocations, but he generally maintained his composure.

‘But still, it won’t work.’

Valak clenched his fist and raised his head. A handsome madman, rumored to be out of his mind throughout the empire, was standing close to his cousin and whispering something.

He could understand being crazy in love. He wasn’t questioning being blinded by affection and being overprotective. The biggest problem was something else entirely.

That crazy bastard was her infamous ex-husband, who was notorious for mistreating his cousin.

“Get away from her, now.”

Valak got up, spitting out the words. Sebelia looked at him with surprised eyes. It was the moment when Dihart was about to hide her behind him, clicking his tongue.

Unbelievable words pierced Dihart’s ears.

“I don’t know what kind of shame you have to be hovering around her. I will never allow it as long as I’m alive.”

“What?”

“I’m late with my introduction, Duke Inverness. My name is Valak Ashrent, a member of the seven families that rule Lukkwood and the cousin of the child you’re holding.”

The anger in his sky-blue eyes was so cold and deep that it chilled his bones.