After I Died, My Husband Went Mad [EN]: Chapter 129

A soft, sweet melody filled the banquet hall. Sebelia subtly raised her head, scanning the crowd. The Emperor and First Empress, the banquet’s main figures, had yet to appear.

“Let’s go over there.”

Diheart followed her as she approached the wall. The nobles hesitated but continued to glance at them, though the two pointedly ignored them.

“Haa.”

“Are you nervous?”

Diheart asked, noticing her stiff lips. Sebelia pressed her fingers against her eyes and shook her head, ready to leave at a moment’s notice.

“I was just a little surprised because people are staring so openly. I can handle it, so don’t overreact.”

“Your health is always something to overreact about.”

It was a silencing remark. Sebelia looked up at Diheart with curious eyes, noticing how he seemed to be growing more resolute. Diheart calmly met her gaze and seated her.

“We haven’t greeted anyone yet; is this okay?”

“The eager ones will come to us. I’ll get some water, so wait here. You can ignore anyone who talks to you.”

‘As if that’s possible,’ Sebelia thought, swallowing the words that rose to her throat, and watched him leave. As soon as Diheart was gone, the gazes intensified.

‘So this is a capital banquet.’

Hiding her discomfort, Sebelia glanced around the banquet hall. Decorated with gold and white, the hall was both splendid and elegant.

She was admiring the glasswork decorating the table when she noticed someone approaching in the reflection of the blue glass. At first, she thought it was Diheart, but their build and height were different.

‘Who is it?’

The blurry, distorted reflection didn’t properly show the person. When she saw the reddish eyes, she wondered if it might be Shatayian, but it seemed not, judging by the lack of white hair.

Sebelia took a light breath. The days she had spent trying to memorize the proper etiquette for an imperial banquet flashed through her mind.

‘Keep your shoulders relaxed but not slumped, your chin slightly raised but not too arrogant…’

Never forget that you are a commoner now. Sebelia repeatedly reminded herself of these precautions, watching the figure in the glass grow closer.

Just as she was plastering on a polite smile, an unexpectedly gentle voice spoke.

“Beautiful vase, isn’t it?”

Turning her head, she saw Hares Belkram, the Third Imperial Prince, standing there.

“It’s a colored glass vase made only in Rotureal, the First Empress’s hometown in the East. The color, which looks like it has captured the sea, makes it quite a popular collectible among artists.”

“Greetings, Third Imperial Prince. I am Bella Appenz.”

Sebelia barely suppressed her surprise and rose from her seat, curtsying. Hares chuckled and waved his hand.

His gray hair swayed gently with the movement.

“That’s enough. I didn’t show off my shallow knowledge just to receive a greeting.”

Sebelia silently stared at Hares. With gray hair and pink eyes, he had an overall vague and delicate impression.

If Shatayian was someone who stood out no matter where he was, Hares had the kind of presence that you wouldn’t even notice if he were standing on a platform.

‘His impression matches what I’ve heard, but there’s something subtle.’

Simple and innocent, the Third Imperial Prince was more engrossed in art and nature than in politics or power. But why would such a prince speak to her? Almost as soon as the question arose, the woman standing behind the Third Imperial Prince stepped forward.

“Your Highness, aren’t you going to introduce me?”

“Ah, I’m sorry. Miss Bella, this is Rosalyn Valery, who is attending as my partner.”

“Nice to meet you.”

Sebelia hesitated to take the hand Rosalyn offered with a smile. The blue eyes, which had been as calm as a lake, trembled slightly.

Gently curved golden eyes, slender black hair swept behind her ears. Her skin, slightly tanned under the sunlight, looked very healthy, a vibrant beauty rarely seen in the capital.

But why? The look in her eyes was so cold and ruthless, unlike her friendly smile.

“Miss Bella?”

Rosalyn tilted her head and stepped closer. Sebelia felt goosebumps at the piercing gaze and the friendly voice that clashed with it.

As she didn’t know what to do, Diheart pushed through the crowd from behind.

“What’s going on?”

Diheart and Rosalyn’s eyes met. Golden eyes as dazzling as the midday sun and cool gold eyes like the sun emerging through the morning mist stared at each other.

But it was only for a moment. Diheart casually averted his gaze, wrapped his arm around Sebelia’s shoulders, and asked.

“Bella, what’s wrong?”

“Ah, that’s…”

“I wondered who was bothering a woman resting alone without a partner, but it’s unexpected. Surely the person in front of me is the Third Imperial Prince, and then next to him… ah.”

Diheart raised his eyebrows and trailed off as if he understood. Rosalyn was about to say something with a smile when—

Hares’s voice clearly pierced the ears of the people.

“His Majesty is coming.”

Hares said that and disappeared with Rosalyn towards the head table.

The sound of a horn echoed, and the voice of a servant announcing the arrival of Agrend Belkram, the rightful ruler of the empire, resonated through the banquet hall.

“The Emperor is entering!”

A majestic melody filled the silence. An overwhelming rhythm moved like a wave from the grand piano placed opposite the banquet hall.

Sebelia unknowingly swallowed her breath. Through the wide-open door, the Emperor, the First Empress, and Dillian, the First Imperial Prince, appeared first. They were followed by the Second Empress, Shatayian, the Second Imperial Prince, and Hares, the Third Imperial Prince.

“It’s good to see your faces after a long time.”

Instead of formal greetings, the Emperor looked around the banquet hall with tired eyes. He seemed to be in quite poor health, despite rumors of his recovery.

‘Come to think of it, why did His Majesty’s health deteriorate?’

Until around the time he pushed for the political marriage between her and Diheart, he had been hale and hearty. Sebelia frowned, trying to recall if she had heard anything about his illness or disease when—

“……!”

The Emperor was staring intently in her direction. Sebelia was so surprised that she almost took a step back. She certainly would have if it hadn’t been for Diheart’s hand grabbing her from behind.

“He’s looking at me.”

A low whisper flowed into Sebelia’s ear. By the time she regained her composure, the Emperor had lost interest and turned his gaze away. He whispered something to the First Empress and immediately went to sit down.

The First Empress smiled and spoke in place of the Emperor.

“A pleasant word is more needed than a boring speech. His Majesty has spared his words to bring peace to your hearts, so let us all enjoy ourselves according to his honorable will.”

She thought all the formal procedures were over. Then Hares Belkram, who had seemed so lacking in presence, suddenly came forward and said something surprising.

“I ask the First Empress if I may borrow this moment to speak.”

“Hares? That’s unexpected. Do you have such business… aha.”

The First Empress, noticing Rosalyn standing with a flushed face where Hares’s gaze rested, smiled softly.

“Do as you wish, Third Imperial Prince. Good news is better shared with many.”

“Thank you.”

As the First Empress stepped back to the Emperor’s side, Hares took her place. He looked around at the nobles with innocent eyes, then called out to Rosalyn with a nervous face.

“Rosalyn Valery, will you come out here and be with me?”

“…Yes, Your Highness.”

The woman blushing and smiling shyly looked like a girl waiting for a proposal. People sighed sweetly at the warm premonition filling their hearts.

People unanimously wished for a beautiful fairy tale of a humble young lady from a rural family who captured the heart of a royal. The anticipation was so intense that even Sebelia could feel it.

But she sensed that their expectations would not be fulfilled. That ruthless gaze that seemed to see through her… it wasn’t that of an innocent country girl.

And as Sebelia expected, things started to go very strangely. Hares Belkram did not kneel in front of Rosalyn to propose, but instead faced Diheart.

“I declare in this place, with everyone as witnesses, that I, Hares Belkram, pledge on the name of true blood to restore the rightful rights and duties that my fiancée, Rosalyn Invernes, has been deprived of.”

The gentle and weak Third Imperial Prince, whom no one had paid attention to, was now, at this moment, the master of the stage and the center of the banquet.

“That unfortunate accident, that terrible day of tragedy… Duke Diheart Invernes was not the only one who survived. Rosalyn, my precious and beautiful Rosalyn, was there.”

The pink eyes, burning with intensity, had already turned as dark as Shatayian’s. Sebelia felt suffocated even though she knew his eyes were not directed at her.

“But she has had to grow up as the young lady of a poor baronial family, not even knowing who she was. Because her family never looked for her for a single moment, she was abandoned in ignorance, deprived of what she deserved.”

At that moment, Sebelia felt the hand holding her fall weakly.

‘Diheart.’

Before she could turn around and grab him, a desperate voice pierced her eardrums and dug into her heart.

“I will return what Rosalyn should have had. I will do what her family did not do. Even if the price is terrible!”