After I Died, My Husband Went Mad [EN]: Chapter 106

As dawn retreated and morning began to break, a chilling silence enveloped the office. Claude, having heard the whole story, stared at the empty fireplace, wide awake.

“Things have taken an unexpected turn.”

The reason Silas wanted Sebelia, who wasn’t tied to Inverness. The reason he didn’t punish Sebelia, who had abandoned her identity and faked her death, but willingly offered her a new identity and tried to bring her in.

It was for the sake of changing the imperial power.

“To create a double for the Emperor. He’s really got some nerve.”

Claude said, sounding dumbfounded, and Dihart frowned.

“It’s not a far-fetched plan.”

If there were allies within the Imperial Palace, the burden would be greatly reduced. And if that ally was the First Empress, the Emperor’s family and wife, it would be even better.

“Yes, you’re right.”

The First Empress probably intended to install a double for the Emperor and then announce his son as the Crown Prince. A way to gain legitimacy without shedding a drop of blood. It couldn’t be anything but appealing.

‘How like them,’ Claude thought.

Claude let out a cold laugh and turned to Sebelia, continuing.

“Then shall we move on to the most urgent matter?”

What was she thinking? Sebelia, who had been lost in deep silence, felt his gaze and looked up. As their eyes met, she opened her mouth as if she had been waiting.

“Is the explanation over?”

“Yes.”

Dihart answered instead, approaching Sebelia’s side. Claude watched them with a profound gaze, saying,

“Let’s sort things out first.”

“Yes.”

“You want Bella to think that the illusion lying in the Marquis’s mansion is the ‘real Sebelia,’ right? You want them to believe until the end that the one they kidnapped was you, not a fake.”

“That’s right. There’s no need to tell them they’ve been backstabbed in this situation.”

Sebelia blinked her blue eyes and continued.

“So, I’d like you to cause a commotion before they get their hands on something to determine whether the illusion is fake or not. If possible, by today.”

“A commotion?”

Claude raised an eyebrow. Sebelia nodded as she looked at him.

“Yes, a commotion serious enough to make them think that the illusion in the Marquis’s mansion must be the real Sebelia.”

Judging by her confident appearance, she must have been thinking about it for a long time.

“What is it?”

“Ah, well.”

When Dihart asked, Sebelia suddenly hesitated. She glanced at him and bit her lip, looking as if she had done something wrong.

“Bella?”

Claude felt puzzled. But soon, upon hearing Sebelia’s plan, he understood why she had reacted that way.

* * *

The Weden Marquis’s mansion, located in the heart of District 3, was bustling from dawn. The servants, who had risen before sunrise to serve the demanding tastes of their superiors, began their work.

Charles was one of them. He was carrying a bucket and a rag, heading out to polish the front gate until it shone.

If the front gate hadn’t been half-destroyed, he would have certainly done his job perfectly and received praise from the butler today…

“What’s all this noise!”

“Butler!”

The old butler with a monocle rushed out and stood next to Charles. Soon, the old butler, taking in the scene, clutched the back of his neck. The front gate, which had once boasted great majesty, was split in two and covered the paving stones, with a cloud of dust rising above it.

“Th-This is!”

Charles, who barely caught the butler as he fell backward without finishing his sentence, wrung his hands, looking helpless.

‘Should I call the guards? But it’s too far from the mansion. No, first the head maid…’ Charles thought.

This was the problem with central nobles who didn’t have a knight order. It was the moment when Charles, with a pale face, was about to lay the butler down on the ground.

A faint figure was visible beyond the cloud of dust.

“…!”

Charles held his breath.

It was a man with radiant golden eyes. He kicked the tattered gate without hesitation and stepped into the mansion, and Charles felt like he was about to faint at the sight of the sword scabbard in his hand.

“Heok.”

Judging by the piercing gaze that reached Charles, he must have heard the sound of his breath. But he didn’t stop walking.

The man, who had stopped in front of Charles, reached out his hand. Charles trembled and awaited his fate. But what the man picked up was the butler’s collar.

“Keu, heok!”

“Looks like you’ve come to your senses,” Dihart said.

Dihart, who helped the butler regain his senses by shaking him, smiled irritably and continued.

“So, where is my benefactor’s niece whom you kidnapped?”

“Kehek… Keuk.”

The butler, grabbed by the collar, flailed in the air. Dihart pressed him again with an angry face.

“Did you think I would let it go after kidnapping her!”

“What kind of absurd slander is that…! The Marquis would never do such a thing!”

Charles shouted, instead of the butler who could only groan with his neck strangled. Dihart, recognizing the injustice in his eyes, smiled coldly and lowered his head.

“…!”

The moment their eyes met, Charles realized.

That was a madman.

The reddish eyes and the golden eyes with white lightning striking down could not be considered sane. Even he, who had lived his whole life distanced from magic and such things, knew at once that this was not a ‘normal state’.

“I-If you act like this, you won’t be safe either….”

Charles, terrified, trembled and slurred his words. Dihart chuckled coldly.

“So, you serve the Marquis.”

“Euk!”

Dihart threw the butler down and shook his hand. Charles crawled to the butler. It was the moment when he barely managed to support the unconscious old butler.

“Duke.”

Beyond the gate where the dust had settled, knights in black uniforms were visible. Ilay stepped forward among them, wearing the Inverness crest on his chest as if to show off.

“We will block this place.”

Ilay smiled and turned his back, blocking the wide-open gate. At the same time, the knights spread out and surrounded the Marquis’s mansion. Charles was speechless at the swift movement to seal off the mansion. Now he couldn’t even go to call the guards.

Dihart glanced at the scene and moved on. Those who noticed the commotion were sticking to the mansion windows. And among them, there was a gaze looking down at Dihart from the highest place.

It was Nathan, gritting his teeth and glaring at him with trembling eyes.

“Aha.”

There you are. The moment their eyes met, Dihart snapped his fingers as if he had been waiting.

Kwa Kwakwang-!

It was a moment when lightning struck the 200-year-old tree that Weden was so proud of.

* * *

Nathan felt like he was going crazy. This was beyond common sense and not acceptable at all.

He glared at the blackened tree and ran down the stairs. He spat out curses he couldn’t hold back through his clenched teeth.

“What the hell is that crazy bastard doing…!”

This was Langue Elisa, the flower of Belkram and the capital where the imperial family was located! Didn’t he realize where he was, daring to mobilize troops with a knight order? Did the Duke of the North want to have his head cut off like this?

At that time, he saw the servants falling like leaves. He also saw Dihart heading to the place where Sebelia was locked up.

“Damn it!”

Yes, whether he beheaded him or cut off his limbs, that was only possible after things were settled. First, he had to catch that madman.

Nathan cursed his father for being away at a time like this. The thought that he had left to find a way to confirm Sebelia’s authenticity was long gone from his mind.

Just then, he saw Dihart disappearing around the corner in the distance.

‘No!’

He couldn’t show people the sight of him holding Sebelia in his arms and leaving the mansion. He couldn’t let the title of hero be attached to that madman’s name!

But God was not on Nathan’s side. With a creak, Nathan’s eyes saw the state of the corridor that had turned the corner. Soon, Dihart came out through the tattered door. With Sebelia in his arms.

“Do you think you’ll be safe after this, Duke!”

Dihart smiled coldly at the shout that was spat out as if vomiting blood.

“What an impudent kidnapper. Should I thank you for saving me the trouble of finding you?”

“You’ve completely lost it. Who do you think that child is to commit such a bizarre act? That child is our family. It’s none of your business as a third party!”

Nathan glanced out the window and strode towards Sebelia.

“Put down my sister, Duke. She’s a child who needs treatment.”

Dihart, who already knew the source of Nathan’s courage, just found it amusing. He raised the corners of his lips, thinking of the knight order pretending to be on the defensive against the guards outside the mansion.

And he spat out resolutely.

“No, she is not your sister. How dare you utter the words that she is family with such disgusting people like you?”

“What…!”

“If you wanted to take care of your sister so much, you should have taken care of your already dead sister.”

Nathan gasped with red eyes at the insults poured out in front of him. It was the first time he had experienced the string of reason snapping.

He drew his sword at the rising anger, along with the increasingly close shouts of the guards.

“This is what you brought upon yourself, Duke!”

Thus, the moment he finally swung his sword at Dihart, all the windows of the mansion burst out.

“Aaaagh!”

His once splendid blonde hair was charred black, and smoke billowed from his body. Nathan, who was not dead but in a state worse than death, rolled on the floor.

“Kill, I’ll kill you… !”

Ignoring the panting sounds, Dihart stepped over the window as it was. And he left the mansion, trampling on the guards who were rolling on the floor in a similar state to Nathan.