After I Died, My Husband Went Mad [EN]: Chapter 101

The second act concluded. The audience was thrilled by the Prima Donna’s spectacular comeback after a long hiatus, and they left the auditorium buzzing with excitement. A few glanced towards the box seats amidst the departing crowd.

“……”

Even as the grand theater emptied, Dihart remained in his seat, waiting for Sebelia to return.

[I’ll be back soon.]

Dihart recalled her whispered words, trying to contain his impatience. His restless body was itching to rush out, but each time, the little bird in his pocket seemed to chide him.

It was the welcome pet Sebelia had given him, a reminder to wait patiently.

“Haa.”

Dihart frowned, placing a hand over his chest. He felt the fidgeting subside. Claude, witnessing this, smirked.

Soon after, Sebelia returned with Wartz.

“Did I keep you waiting long? I’m sorry.”

“Not at all. More importantly… it seems you met Weden. You don’t look well. Are you alright?”

“It wasn’t as bad as it could have been. The reason I don’t look well… is probably because it’s unsettling to experience them casually asking to talk to me. That must be it.”

“I wondered why you didn’t seem surprised when our eyes met in the hall. It seems they knew you were coming.”

Dihart’s eyes narrowed. The fact that he was visiting the grand theater with someone wasn’t a secret. He had deliberately spread the rumors to make it obvious.

The problem was that the Weden family knew in advance that the ‘someone’ was Sebelia.

“I tried to leave as early as possible, but it seems Lady Licia was one step ahead.”

As Dihart clicked his tongue, Sebelia was already standing close to him. Dihart looked down at her, surprised.

“Bella?”

“Ah, I’m sorry. I think I was getting impatient without realizing it.”

Sebelia met his gaze with an apologetic expression. Her hand was already reaching inside Dihart’s coat. She bit her lip, seemingly surprised herself.

“I’m sorry.”

Her connection with the bluebird had grown stronger lately. She felt the bluebird’s emotions more intensely than before, which led her to act impulsively more often. Dihart suppressed his surprise and shook his head slightly.

“It’s alright. This little one welcomes your touch more than mine anyway.”

Dihart said, pointing to his chest.

Sebelia smiled gratefully. Soon, she casually opened Dihart’s coat. Dihart inhaled sharply at the warmth against his chest, busying himself with fixing his disheveled attire.

Pee-rit.

With a cute chirp, the tiny bird popped out as if it had been waiting. At the same time, Sebelia moved closer. Dihart bit the inside of his cheek, trying to keep himself composed.

Meanwhile, the unnamed bird sat on Sebelia’s palm, preening its beak.

“Oh, were you feeling cramped? By the way, Dihart, I’m sorry for touching your clothes without permission. I apologize again. I’ll be more careful next time.”

Only after Sebelia took a step back could Dihart regain his composure. He coughed quickly, hiding his flushed neck.

“No, it’s alright.”

“Yes?”

Sebelia, who had been stroking the head of the dozing bird, didn’t hear him properly. Dihart mumbled and changed the subject.

“Let’s go back for now. If we stay any longer, the staff might try to drag us out. Let’s go.”

“Ah, I didn’t think about the staff.”

Sebelia left the theater and got into the carriage with Dihart’s escort. Wartz and Claude followed her. The scene was clearly captured by the people waiting for the opera singers to leave work.

* * *

The carriage, emblazoned with the Inverness Duchy’s crest, moved slowly over the cobblestones. It was moving so slowly that one might protest, but no one, including Dihart, spoke up.

The carriage circled the city conspicuously before gliding into the grand mansion.

“So, what happened? What exactly did the Weden siblings say that kept you from returning until the second act was over?”

Claude asked as soon as they entered the drawing room, as if he had been waiting for this moment. His voice was laced with worry and impatience. He had probably been itching to ask the entire carriage ride.

Sebelia smiled silently and gestured for him to sit down. Wartz, feeling that this was a conversation he shouldn’t be deeply involved in, had already left.

“I’ll tell you without being rushed, so take a breath first.”

“Haa. How can you be so calm? Sometimes I feel like I’ve taken on a student who’s well over a hundred years old.”

Claude, who had been abandoned by his own family, was overly concerned about Sebelia’s situation as if it were his own. He had come all the way to the capital not only out of a sense of responsibility as a teacher but also because Sebelia reminded him of his past self.

“If they threatened you, don’t hide it and tell me honestly.”

“It wasn’t that.”

Sebelia shook her head cheerfully, glanced at Dihart, who was looking at her with concern, and then turned back to Claude. He had already shed his Karl Offen appearance and was now gazing at her with the same golden eyes as Dihart.

Sebelia felt a slight flutter in her heart at the worry and concern in his eyes. Her eyes stung for a moment at the sight of a look she had never received from her own blood relatives.

“Tell me quickly.”

Claude pressed again, and Dihart nodded silently beside him. Sebelia took a deep breath and began to speak.

“They said they didn’t realize my married life with the Duke of Inverness was so unbearable, and that they would never force me into a marriage like that again, and that they would welcome me back warmly.”

“What? Haa…!”

“Isn’t it amazing? I expected to hear something absurd, but I really didn’t think they would say that.”

“Ha.”

Dihart let out a short laugh. The sharp laughter cut through the silent air. His face was hardened, and he gritted his teeth. Crackle, crackle. The sound of sparks could be heard faintly.

Sebelia forced herself to look away from him. Looking down at her clasped hands, she continued.

“Listening to them, it didn’t seem like they were trying to revive ‘Sebelia Weden.’ They kept emphasizing a new identity, a chance to start over… When it seemed like I wouldn’t give in, they offered an unexpected condition.”

“There’s no way they could have any conditions to hold you back.”

At Dihart’s sharp remark, Sebelia smiled coldly and raised her head. Her piercingly blue eyes held a desolate light as she stared at Dihart. After moving her lips silently for a long moment, she uttered a heavy word.

“They said they would tell me about my birth mother.”

“……”

“Now, of all times.”

The inside of her throat felt blocked. A dirty flame was burning and swelling from the inside out, scorching everything.

Sebelia closed her eyes and calmly let the pain flow away.

“They never let me dream about her for a single moment, and now….”

To her, a mother was a word and an existence that had been taken away when she was very young. Mothers in fairy tales were always associated with warm embraces, gentle eyes, and blind affection, so Sebelia naturally thought of mothers as such.

‘Someday, when my mother comes back, I’ll be able to receive that kind of love too. I might be able to be held in a warm embrace and hear a gentle voice.’

And that sweet fantasy and expectation were ridiculed and trampled on by Silas.

[Your birth mother was a vicious and terrible foreigner. I’m ashamed that I was even briefly involved with such a witch.]

[Don’t you still understand why that woman abandoned you? To want such a sentimental emotion as maternal love, you’re as stupid as her bloodline.]

The shattered expectations tore at Sebelia’s heart. After that, Sebelia never wondered about her birth mother for a single moment. No, she couldn’t even do that.

‘Because my mother has become a vicious witch who abandoned her young daughter.’

But now they’re using that as bait. Sebelia couldn’t even manage a hollow laugh. Besides, she could already find her birth mother without their help.

Recalling Wartz, who had returned to his room, Sebelia calmed her emotions and lifted her heavy eyelids. She saw two men looking at her with worried faces.

“If it’s too difficult, it would be best to stop talking and return to your room.”

“Dihart is right. I’ll tell them to warm up the bedroom, so why don’t you go up?”

The two men, who were quite similar except for their hair color, were fussing over her with solemn faces. The sight was a little funny, out of place with the situation, and Sebelia couldn’t help but smile slightly.

“I’m alright. More than that, can you tell me about a famous tea house around here? It would be even better if it had private rooms.”

“A tea house? When I briefly visited the capital a few years ago, the Lake of Osla was the busiest place, but I don’t know if it’s still the same. But why there?”

Claude tilted his head and asked. Sebelia said in a calm voice.

“I’ve decided to meet Nelia again. I’ll decide the time and place.”

“You’re meeting alone? No matter how much you decide the time and place, it’s dangerous.”

“It’ll be alright. And… shouldn’t I find out why they’re trying to get me back, even to the point of telling me about the mother they were so busy cursing my whole life?”

If there’s something they desperately want, enough to pick up a chess piece they casually discarded, then destroying it would be the most meaningful revenge.

Sebelia swallowed the rest of her words and smiled brightly.