After I Died, My Husband Went Mad [EN]: Chapter 113

I had an ominous feeling. Dihart frowned as he descended the stairs to the basement. His impulsive outing had yielded a fruitful result: the connection between Roden and Weden.

‘But why do I keep feeling uneasy, as if I’ve missed something?’

“Ugh!”

Dihart tossed the burlap sack onto the basement floor and pondered with a serious expression. He must have missed something.

“W-who are you? I don’t know what I’ve done wrong, but I’m sorry. I’m sorry, okay? But look, I’m an old man with not much time left to live.”

“…….”

“Hey, is anyone there? If you can hear me, please reconsider. There’s nothing to gain from harming an old man like me. Besides, not to brag, but there are quite a few superiors who won’t let this go if I disappear…!”

While Dihart was lost in thought and Roden was trying to appease his unknown kidnapper, Ilay locked the door after bringing the key. *Clang.* The chilling sound made Roden’s shoulders, which had been twitching on the floor, jump.

“Ah.”

Around that time, Dihart snapped out of his reverie. Now that he thought about it, he should have bought the tart Sebelia wanted while he was in the Marlene district. Dihart groaned at his painful oversight, burying his face in his hands.

And then, he unleashed a small lightning strike on Roden, who was starting to make threats.

“Ugh!”

The electrifying sensation running down his spine made Roden curl up like a worm. The mouth that had been spewing threats about how the Imperial Knights would hang them all if he didn’t return snapped shut.

Ilay, who was bringing the restraints, clicked his tongue at the sight.

“Who do you think you’re threatening? You’d better just stay quiet, old man.”

“You bastards! Do you even know who you’re messing with?!”

When appeasement and threats failed, Roden started to struggle. He was originally an old man who locked himself in his room to concoct drugs, so it was impressive that he had lasted this long.

But Dihart had no interest in his shallow patience. He only wanted one thing.

“Long time no see, Roden.”

“……!”

The sack was removed, and Roden’s face turned blue as he recognized the identity of the shameless kidnapper. Dihart smiled coldly as he looked down at the man, who was trembling like an aspen, his earlier bluster gone.

“So, will you explain who you’re messing with?”

“Y-Your Grace. I don’t know what misunderstanding you have.”

“Oh dear, is it because it’s been so long? You seem to have forgotten how much I hate the word ‘misunderstanding’.”

Dihart took the gloves Ilay handed him over his shoulder and murmured in a low voice.

“But you’ve been making that damn drug for me for so long, maybe I should give you a chance.”

*Snap.* Dihart released the tightly pulled leather gloves and raised the corner of his mouth. Roden, knowing his sins, was now on the verge of fainting.

Grasping his collar as he rolled his eyes back, Dihart growled.

“Tell me the truth. Who ordered you to plot here, what did you give Nathan Weden, and what are you planning to do with it?”

Otherwise, I’ll make sure you never see the light of day again. The chilling whisper echoed through the basement.

* * *

As the dawn embraced Lang Ellisa, Nathan returned to the mansion. Silas, who had been anxiously awaiting his return, summoned him to his office immediately.

“What happened?”

“As you can see, I retrieved it safely,” Nathan said smugly, placing a small vial on the table. The blue crystal vial contained the colorless drug that Nelia had tried to use on Sebelia.

“But is this really necessary?”

“What is?”

Nathan frowned and grumbled at Silas’s indifferent question.

“I’m saying, do we have to stick to this troublesome method? We’re already hiding the fact that Sebelia is alive, so why not just try to win over the old man or steal the recipe…”

“Nathan Weden.”

“…Yes, Father.”

“I’ve told you countless times since you were young, but you never learn. How is it that your ability to see the situation gets worse with each passing day?”

Nathan glared at Silas with a resentful expression, then lowered his head. Silas sighed as he saw the anger and shame boiling in his neck.

“Let’s say we got our hands on the old man as you said. Have you ever thought about what the next step would be? Do you think Mrs. Gren would readily agree and hand him over to us? Of course not. She’ll try to find out why we made such a foolish choice.”

Then Mrs. Gren would find out that Sebelia is alive. Nathan realized and shut his mouth. There was no room for argument.

Silas’s eyes narrowed. It was obvious without even looking.

‘He must have thought that Gren was no longer important after being kicked out of Hillend Hall.’

But she was still useful. Silas looked at his son with disdain and waved his hand.

“You may leave. From now on, I’ll send someone else as a messenger instead of you, so be aware.”

“But, Father…!”

“Am I supposed to stand by and watch a fool who only thinks about stabbing me in the back when the great work is right in front of us?!”

Nathan froze on the spot, pale, at Silas’s sudden outburst, who never raised his voice. Silas scanned him with cold eyes as he trembled like a frightened child and left the office.

*Thud.*

Something fell onto the thick carpet. Blood was dripping from the fist of Nathan, who was left alone.

* * *

Meanwhile, in the basement of the Inverness mansion, Roden was spilling all the truth, having succumbed to several threats, multiple lightning strikes, and a heartfelt threat to bury his entire family in the basement if he didn’t comply.

The beginning was why he hadn’t changed the prescription for the tranquilizers, even though he knew there were side effects.

“The side effects weren’t life-threatening. Your Grace knows that! I-I just followed Mrs. Gren’s instructions because she didn’t want the prescription changed. Doesn’t she treat Your Grace like her own son and cherish him?”

Roden trembled and looked up at Dihart as if seeking mercy, giving an awkward smile.

“P-Please consider, Your Grace. I’m just an employee. I couldn’t disobey Mrs. Gren’s orders.”

Dihart tilted his head as he looked at Roden, who had been prescribing tranquilizers with terrible side effects for over a decade and was now denying responsibility.

Mistaking that he was accepting his words, Roden went on and on about how difficult it was to be harassed by the higher-ups, telling stories that no one had asked for.

But Dihart wasn’t interested in such things.

*Bang!*

“Agh!”

The hem of his pants was charred black, along with a pungent smell. Roden’s face turned white as he saw the scorched skin through the tattered fabric.

“I clearly said you only had one chance.”

A heavy voice echoed through the basement. Beyond the cold darkness, golden eyes moved slightly. Ilay, receiving the signal, approached Roden with a refreshing smile, making a clattering sound.

“Now it’s my turn, old man.”

Shortly after, Ilay, having extracted everything he wanted from Roden, dusted off his bloodied hands with a cheerful face. And Roden, stripped bare from head to toe, was thrown onto a pile of straw, looking like a half-dead man.

“It wasn’t Uncle, but Mrs. Gren,” Dihart murmured beside him. Ilay glanced at Roden sprawled on the floor and handed Dihart a wet towel. Blood had splattered on Dihart’s cheeks and chin, where he had participated in the interrogation.

“Come to think of it, Mrs. Gren was from the East.”

“…Yes. It was so long ago that no one remembers her origins anymore, but she was.”

Dihart, wiping away the dried blood, muttered in a low voice and opened the basement door. *Creak.* With a chilling sound, the cold morning air rushed in, scratching his cheeks.

* * *

The mansion was silent at dawn. Ilay said he couldn’t sleep and voluntarily left to patrol the mansion. Dihart walked down the empty hallway.

“Haa.”

‘I don’t know what’s going on.’ Dihart ruffled his hair. It clearly started as something for Sebelia. To expose the true colors of the Weden family, who had undermined her self-esteem and used her, and to take revenge on them.

‘But at this point, Gren suddenly pops up.’

This complicates things. He had to find out when Gren had started working with the Weden family. And if their relationship had been going on for a very long time….

Dihart bit his lip tightly. He forced himself to move, trying to shake off the troubled thoughts. As he walked aimlessly, he reached an area he had never seen before.

“Here is.”

Frowning, he looked around and realized where he had come. It was near the kitchen, which he didn’t usually visit. Dihart seemed to be thinking about something and entered the kitchen.

He needed a cup of coffee so bitter that it would jolt him awake.

“Ugh.”

The coffee he made himself for the first time was, as he intended, absolutely terrible. Dihart felt the fog-like confusion that had filled his head immediately disappear.

“Haa.”

Now he could see the goal he needed to focus on right away. Yes, Gren and the North weren’t important.

‘Trying to repeat a failed plan.’

The information about the trap that he had extracted from Roden. It was a plan to borrow the power of the Imperial Concubine to summon Sebelia to the exhibition, and then have Nathan drug her again.

“I don’t know if they’re cunning or stupid.”

Dihart clicked his tongue and got up from his seat, walking out into the hallway. And then he ran into Sebelia.

“Dihart?”