After I Died, My Husband Went Mad [EN]: Chapter 130

The Third Prince Hares Belgram’s sudden action shocked many. Duke Inverness was the most surprised, of course, but the Second Imperial Consort was nearly as astonished.

“Stop! It seems the Third Prince has misunderstood something. Second Consort, take Hares back to the palace immediately.”

The First Imperial Consort, who had jumped up from her seat, rebuked the Second Consort, who remained seated and composed. However, the Second Consort, as beautiful as a flower and seemingly as innocent as a wildflower, did not lower her head. Instead, a sneer played on her lips as she stared back.

“Hares is simply doing what he must, First Consort.”

The First Consort’s eyes widened at the Second Consort’s defiant tone. This was a woman who had never once challenged her in decades. As she was struck speechless by the shock, someone shouted at Hares.

“Are you saying we should believe she is a Duchess of the Inverness family without any proof!”

It was a perfectly reasonable point. Hares glanced at the source of the voice and smirked.

It was one of the Eastern nobles who always flattered Dillian. Hares shook his head as if he was dumbfounded, then slicked back his hair.

“I knew that would come up.”

Hares reached out to Rosalyn, who had been silent all along.

“Rosalyn.”

Rosalyn’s golden eyes sparkled as she smiled brightly.

“You might want to cover your ears for a moment.”

With her eyes fixed on Dihart, Rosalyn offered the kind advice. She closed her eyes slowly, listening to the murmuring of the people.

Tsutsut-

Golden lightning danced behind her closed eyelids. The murmuring grew louder. Rosalyn smiled apologetically and raised her hand.

Kwang-!

* * *

That day, those waiting for the fireworks festival outside the Imperial Palace witnessed golden lightning instead of the colorful lights that adorned the sky. The magnificent and eerie sight instantly captivated the people and sent a chill down the spine of the Capital Defense Commander.

“Find out what’s going on!”

Fortunately, the commander was not summoned to the higher-ups for questioning. Thanks to the banquet ending earlier than expected, the exhausted people flocked to the salons and shared stories of the spectacle they had witnessed.

Those who had not been invited to the Imperial banquet were stunned by the stories they told.

Rosalyn Valerie, the Baron’s daughter, was actually a Duchess. That alone would have sold tens of thousands of newspapers. But interestingly enough, she was not just any Duchess, but the Duchess of the Inverness family, the representative of the North.

“Unbelievable!”

“Good heavens.”

Golden eyes and black hair were a combination that could be found quite easily if one searched the vast empire. But demonstrating the Authority [a unique magical ability or power] was another matter. That was an undeniable characteristic of the Inverness family.

“So Rosalyn Inverness, who was said to have died, has really come back to life.”

Some people sighed in disappointment. If they had known sooner, they could have tried to win the favor of Third Prince Hares themselves.

That was how attractive Rosalyn Inverness was. Not simply because of her appearance and abilities, but because she was a direct descendant of the late Duke Inverness and possessed an Authority as powerful as the current Duke.

“There will soon be upheaval in the North.”

Their predictions were not far from the truth. The day after the banquet, Third Prince Hares strongly asserted Rosalyn’s right to inherit the title against Dihart, saying he would keep his oath.

[In the first place, the late Duke Inverness did not designate an heir before his death.]

Therefore, Rosalyn also had the right to inherit the title.

The news swept through the capital in an instant, spread throughout the empire, and reached the North. Gren, who had been nurturing the idea of pushing out Dihart and placing her daughter in that position, could not escape the shocking news.

She was waiting for Silas to send good news that he had eliminated Dihart, but such an absurd thing had happened.

“Should I have acted myself….”

Gren groaned, belatedly regretting it, and rubbed her forehead when Flora ran in and shouted.

“Mother, have you seen the newspaper? Rosalyn, that girl, has come back to life!”

Gren barely managed to compose her distorted face and greeted her.

“Flora, calm down and sit down first.”

“But…!”

“Don’t worry too much. She may have used Authority, but we don’t know what kind of crude trick she used to deceive people’s eyes.”

“Then what’s the point? The article says there’s already unrest in the North. What if the Council of Elders tries to promote her to Duchess now?”

“That will not happen.”

*I* won’t let it. Gren swallowed her true feelings and instead gave Flora a convincing answer.

“A girl who is only relying on the Third Prince without proper backing cannot dare to swallow the Inverness family. The article you read was probably written to confuse us like that.”

“Then we don’t have to worry?”

Flora sighed in relief and hugged Gren. She gently stroked her daughter’s hair and spoke as if she had a good idea.

“Now that I think about it, it’s been quite a while since we stayed here. I should go to the capital soon to find out the identity of the girl who is lying about being Rosalyn.”

“Yes?”

“Why, don’t you want to?”

“No!”

The embarrassment was short-lived. The capital, Langre Ellisa, was a place of longing for Flora, who had only lived in the North. Her face was filled with pure joy. Seeing that, Gren strengthened her resolve.

*I can’t give up now.*

*Isn’t it just one more obstacle to remove? Moreover, unlike Flora, the woman who appeared claiming to be Rosalyn had no support base whatsoever.*

*So now was the perfect time to crush her.*

* * *

As the capital and the entire empire were shaken by the appearance of Rosalyn Inverness, the Inverness mansion was suffering an unexpected ordeal.

Perhaps it was because they couldn’t touch Rosalyn, who was protected by the Third Prince, but reporters and all sorts of people were lined up in front of the mansion.

“I feel like they’re increasing day by day.”

Even a quick peek through the curtains was unsettling. A sigh naturally escaped. But there was something more serious than that.

It was the Inverness men, Rosalyn’s family. As soon as Dihart returned to the mansion, he began working to invalidate Rosalyn’s claim to succession.

The study had become like a commander’s outpost before a war. He ate, slept, and stayed up all night there, and only those of the Knights who he trusted were allowed to enter the study.

*I don’t know if he’s even sleeping.*

In fact, even though I didn’t see it directly, I could feel the atmosphere inside just by looking at the faces of the knights who went in and out of the study with exhausted faces.

*And Claude…*

Sebellia frowned. Claude disappeared somewhere after hearing the news that Rosalyn had returned alive.

There was no time to stop him or catch him. In fact, Sebellia thought that even if she had the chance, she wouldn’t have been able to catch Claude.

Because she didn’t know what to say to him at that moment.

As Sebellia was struggling with worry, Claude returned silently. He entered through the back door for servants instead of the main gate where people were camped out, and happened to run into Wartz, who was passing by nearby.

“Oh, you….”

Wartz tried to call him, but it was a futile attempt. Claude, with eyes she had never seen before, passed by as if he hadn’t even seen him.

“…….”

Wartz watched his back as he disappeared up the stairs and let out a long sigh.

*It’s lasting longer than I thought.*

Rosalyn Inverness. She was someone he knew well. She was Claude’s most precious existence and the memory that remained as his most terrible wound.

Unlike Dihart, who survived, Claude devoted his entire life to finding Rosalyn, who disappeared without a trace. But for more than twenty years, he couldn’t find any clues.

Then suddenly, Rosalyn returned alive. With a heart full of hatred for the family who didn’t look for her.

In the end, she turned her sword against her family with the determination to bring down Dihart. It seemed that Claude was quite shocked by that.

“Ah, Mr. Wartz. Please sit down.”

When she went to the dining room, there was only Sebellia there. Sebellia smiled awkwardly at him, frowning and looking at the empty seat.

“Dihart seems to be busy again today, so I sent his meal up to his room. Claude, um. I still don’t know where he went.”

Wartz’s brow furrowed at those words. He muttered as if he was not pleased, but rather dumbfounded.

“That guy is having a full-blown adolescence.”

“Yes?”

“You don’t have to worry about Claude. I just saw him going up to his room.”

“Really?”

Sebellia smiled brightly, putting strength into the hand holding the cutlery. Wartz could easily feel that her smile was mixed with worry and anger at the same time.

As he guessed, Sebellia’s psychology was quite complicated.

Clearly, the other person cut off contact first and disappeared, and she was entitled to be angry about it, but for some reason, she felt like she would be the only bad person in this situation if she got angry.

*I don’t know what to do.*

Sebellia continued her meal and pondered. Dihart was still okay. She was worried about him being holed up in his room, but at least she could check on his safety from time to time.

But she couldn’t see Claude in a good light no matter what. It wasn’t about picking on him for being shocked by Rosalyn’s return. At least, she wanted him to think about the fact that there was someone who was worried about him.

While Sebellia was deeply contemplating how to treat him, a knight suddenly knocked and entered.

“Miss, as you requested, I have confirmed that Mr. Appenz has returned.”

“Ah, thank you.”

Wartz had told her in advance, but she was still grateful. Sebellia smiled and tried to send him back, but the knight hesitated.

“What’s wrong?”

“That’s… Mr. Appenz seems to be going out again. Unlike last time, he’s packing his bags, so I rushed here because it seems like he’s going far away.”

A heavy silence weighed down the dining room. Sebellia put down her cutlery and stood up. Wartz looked up at her. He didn’t seem to be trying to stop her.

“I can eat alone. Don’t worry and go.”

“Thank you.”

Sebellia smiled brightly and moved her steps without hesitation. The virtue of an illusionist is audacity, wasn’t it? She was going to faithfully carry out the teachings of her one and only teacher.