After I Died, My Husband Went Mad [EN]: Chapter 152

Did he create a maze with rose bushes? My simple guess was quickly proven wrong. Entering through the archway, Sebelia was speechless, blinking in astonishment.

What kind of magic had he worked in these two weeks? Inside the secluded space, surrounded by tall bushes that hid it from view, stood a charming, round building resembling a teacup with gold trim.

If her memory served her correctly, this was definitely where the greenhouse used to be.

“What is this?”

The question was filled with bewilderment. She met his eyes, silently urging him to answer, and Dihart bit his lip as if embarrassed. He simply tugged on their clasped hands without a word.

“Could we go inside first?”

His voice trembled, sounding almost desperate, and Sebelia’s resistance melted away.

The inside of the building felt much larger than it appeared from the outside. She wasn’t sure what to call this place, but it was clear that he had put a great deal of thought into it.

A round ceiling was painted with angels in purple robes, and pure white pillars were trimmed with gold around the edges. The cream-colored walls shone brightly in the sunlight streaming through the large windows.

“…….”

After they sat down, not a single word was exchanged. She was too bewildered, and he couldn’t quite believe that he had created such a space, so perfectly suited to her taste, in just two weeks.

Finally, Dihart, who had barely managed to compose himself, spoke first.

“I never imagined I would show it to you like this. I haven’t even finished decorating the interior yet, and there’s so much missing.”

Missing? Sebelia blinked in surprise. Misinterpreting her gaze, Dihart groaned.

“After reading the letter Losel sent, I lost my mind without realizing it. When I came to my senses, it was already like this.”

In short, he seemed to have been startled by Losel’s letter and brought her to an unprepared place. The thought that had occurred to her when she saw the backyard surrounded by rose bushes was becoming increasingly certain.

Perhaps this place was prepared for her.

No wonder there were dug-up dirt patches. Sebelia smiled faintly as she looked at the small lake and the half-finished garden visible through the back window.

She didn’t know what he was thinking when he created such a place, but his sincerity was undeniable. Especially since he had somehow managed to perfectly capture her tastes.

As Sebelia slowly looked around, she was surprised to find Dihart kneeling in front of her, and she gasped.

“Why are you doing that?”

“I thought this would be better.”

Dihart took a deep breath and raised his head to meet her gaze. Was he going to confess? Just as her heart began to flutter, Sebelia’s expression became subtle at Dihart’s next words.

“When I went to solve the strange phenomenon at the exhibition hall last time, I realized something.”

“Yes?”

“Your power, when confined to a space, creates illusions of the memories accumulated in that place.”

“That’s…”

Why was he bringing that up now? Tilting her head in confusion, Dihart said in a low voice.

“After your funeral, I saw your illusions for a while, Bella.”

“……!”

“I’m not talking about smoking hallucinatory grass. In the small, cramped room where you stayed. In that small, shabby room where there were none of your belongings, I saw your figure. In a room covered in fierce flames and smoke, you were calling the nanny’s name and shouting for her to run away.”

A look of pain flashed across Dihart’s golden eyes.

“I don’t know how many terrible things happened there that I don’t know about, how you endured those painful times, but as foolish as I am…”

Swallowing a trembling breath, Dihart earnestly clasped Sebelia’s hands and continued.

“After that day, I thought. I can’t take you back to Hillend Hall, which is full of only pain. That place is home to me, but to you, it’s just a place remembered as a painful and lonely time.”

Dihart said, leaning his forehead against the back of Sebelia’s hand and whispering.

“So this is a gift filled with my selfish desires. I can’t erase the painful past, and even the scars leave traces… but I wanted to give you a space where you could have such enjoyable and peaceful times that you wouldn’t even think about looking at those scars. I wanted to give you such a space.”

“…….”

“You may not know, but Inverness Manor will be yours in a few days. So even if you go somewhere else, I hope you’ll come back here.”

Dihart bit his lip and continued.

“No, actually, I want you to stay here. I want you to do everything you want here. I want it to become a home that you always want to return to and never want to leave because you’re so happy and joyful. And I want to stay by your side.”

Transparently shining golden eyes looked up at Sebelia. The trembling eyes were filled with earnestness, but at the same time, the hands holding her were firm and strong.

“It’s nothing special now, but if you wait a little longer, you’ll like it more. I’m going to make a garden where you can grow herbs, too.”

Looking into his eyes, which seemed as if he would burst into tears if she refused, Sebelia felt a tickling sensation inside her chest.

She forcibly suppressed the laughter that was about to burst out and tried to twist her captured hand free. Dihart frowned but didn’t hold on any longer.

Reading his sulky expression, Sebelia said in a playful voice.

“Come here.”

“Yes?”

“You’ll hurt your knees. Kneeling in front of me is now forbidden. I won’t even talk to you unless you sit next to me.”

Dihart, tilting his head like a puppy, quickly understood her words and readily came up and sat beside her. Sebelia felt that tickling sensation again at the way he clung to her without any space.

‘Oh, my.’

She was sorry to Dihart, but unlike his guess, she in the small room of Hillend Hall was not an illusion. Because that was her, not a fake.

‘I thought it was just a nightmare.’

The dream she had after faking her death and running away. Opening her eyes in a familiar room and spending a normal day, suddenly a fire and smoke broke out.

Sebelia remembered the moment she called Denisa’s name, telling her to run away, a faint voice calling her.

‘That was you.’

She remembered having strange dreams several times after that. The annex where she lived after being kicked out of the main building, and the greenhouse connected to the end of the old corridor. The man standing alone in it.

‘You were there too.’

What were you thinking in that place? How did our dreams become connected?

Questions that could not be answered filled her head, but they scattered in an instant. They fluttered like dust into the air at the warmth of Dihart leaning against her shoulder.

“Don’t go.”

“…….”

“Don’t follow him, Bella.”

Feeling his arms carefully wrapping around her back, Sebelia bit the tender flesh inside her mouth. Every time his voice reached her ears, her eyes stung, and the inside of her throat burned.

Sebelia clenched her lips tightly and exhaled slowly through her nose, as if something stuck in her chest would burst out.

Dihart, who had already hugged her tightly, raised his head. She couldn’t breathe as her eyes collided in the air, an inch apart.

Was that why? Because she was suffocating, because her whole body was burning, because the thoughts that had filled her head until just now had evaporated.

“My father killed your parents.”

The worry that had sunk deepest into her dark heart suddenly popped out.

“And you’re okay with that?”

By the time she came to her senses, the water had already been spilled [an idiom meaning the damage is done]. Dihart looked greatly surprised and gaped.

“Bella, what are you… haa.”

Seeing him sigh without being able to continue, Sebelia felt what it meant for her heart to fall to the ground.

“I, I misspoke. That’s not what I was trying to say.”

“I was the first one to suggest sending Silas Weden to Rookwood.”

“Yes?”

Startled by the sudden change of subject, Sebelia was stunned by the story that followed.

“It’s absurd that the price for what he did is only the death penalty. Bella, in Rookwood, he will slowly and painfully die in a prison without a single ray of light for the rest of his life. From time to time, shadows of unknown origin will tear at his skin and gnaw at his soul, driving him mad.”

“Ah…….”

“This time, I’ll ask you.”

After a moment, Dihart said in a low voice.

“I’m the one who made you lonely and eventually made you leave, even faking your death. And to make matters worse, I’m the man who tried to exile your father to a strange land and make him die there.”

Dihart raised Sebelia’s hand and whispered, lightly pressing his lips against the back of her hand.

“How about you? Do you hate me, or are you scared of me? Do you find me so disgusting that you hate me so much that you don’t even want to see me?”

It was a foolish question. A worthless and useless question. But that’s why Sebelia was able to realize it.

That her worries were also worthless and useless.

“Tell me, Bella. Why are you okay even with someone as terrible as me in front of you? How did you even think of keeping me by your side?”

Looking at his golden eyes sparkling in the sunlight, Sebelia swallowed. A faint smile hung on her lips.

‘I didn’t need to worry from the beginning.’

“Haa.”

Sebelia let out a slow sigh and whispered softly.

“There are many things to ban besides kneeling.”

Looking into his eyes, which were rounded with questions, Sebelia continued.

“Tell me something else besides that.”

“…….”

“The words you’ve wanted to say all along. The true feelings you’ve wrapped in the shell of asking me to stay by your side. I actually wanted to hear that.”

The short word with the heaviest weight in the world. Perhaps she had endured until now to hear that word that would be washed away in a moment’s whisper.

“Ha…….”

It was a request so sweet that her heart seemed to melt. With a smile so beautiful that she felt dizzy, Dihart lowered his head.

“I love you.”

Warmth spread from their touching lips. It was a lovely warmth that she had never felt in the North.

[My Husband Went Crazy After My Death (End)]