After I Died, My Husband Went Mad [EN]: Chapter 133

The next day, Sebelia received an unexpected call. She had been racking her brain, preparing for the interrogation, when her eyes widened at the letter hastily sent by Shateian.

“This is…”

With a bewildered expression, she sought out Claude, deciding she couldn’t handle the situation alone.

Sebelia knocked and opened the door. He was in the middle of a conversation with Wartz.

“Could I have a moment of your time?”

Her tone was unusually serious. Claude, caught off guard, gestured for her to sit down while he finished talking to Wartz.

Sebelia slumped onto the sofa, sighed deeply, and handed the letter to Claude.

“Could you read this? It’s a message from Prince Shateian. I think I need to go to the Imperial Palace immediately.”

Claude frowned briefly at the sight of the Imperial Family’s ornate crest, but he read the letter with a serious demeanor. Wartz excused himself to prepare tea for them.

As Claude slowly read the letter, he ran a hand through his hair and frowned.

“I’ve never heard of strange phenomena occurring in the Imperial Palace before.”

The news was that bizarre phenomena were continuously occurring in the palace that had been used as an art exhibition hall. Shateian requested that she come to investigate and help find a solution, as it might be due to Sebelia’s illusion magic.

“It seems it hasn’t been happening for long. The First Empress seems to have caught wind of it and asked for a quick resolution.”

“That makes sense. Judging from the postscript, it says that illusions in the form of humans are appearing… It seems they decided it would be better to resolve it to some extent before bad rumors start circulating.”

Ultimately, Shateian’s judgment was correct. If rumors spread that eerie things were wandering around the Imperial Palace, the First Empress would likely seize the opportunity to portray Sebelia’s illusion magic as unpleasant and sinister.

“I guess it’s best to go and see for myself?”

Claude nodded, trying to recall if his master had taught him anything about such phenomena.

‘I think he said that strange phenomena occur when strong power leaves traces behind…’

In any case, it seemed he would need to examine the site. Claude turned to Sebelia and said,

“When is the first interrogation using illusion magic scheduled?”

“Tomorrow. It seems the First Empress sent me a letter before trying to make an issue of it.”

“Then we should go to the Imperial Palace right away. Let’s go before nightfall.”

Sebelia nodded and stood up. Wartz, who had returned with the tea, blinked and said with a hint of disappointment,

“Well… have a good trip.”

“Sorry, Wartz. I’ll see you when I get back.”

Leaving the room, Sebelia naturally headed to Dihart’s office to pick him up, but she stopped in her tracks. Claude, who was following behind, looked at her with a puzzled expression.

“What’s wrong?”

“After the exhibition, were there any other banquets or exhibitions held there?”

Since the day the dead appeared as illusions, people had been prohibited from entering the exhibition hall. Guards from the Public Security Bureau were stationed at the entrance, taking turns, so there was no chance to notice anything happening inside.

But how did rumors of strange phenomena spread? It would be impossible to notice that fact unless someone sneaked in, avoiding the guards’ eyes.

“Or someone bribed them…”

Sebelia muttered, frowning. Even if the occurrence of strange phenomena was a coincidence, it was clear that someone had a hand in spreading the word.

‘But it’s not the First Empress.’

If the First Empress knew, she would have quickly started a media campaign before Prince Shateian contacted her. So that left only one person.

The third prince, Hares Belkram, who had newly joined the battle for the throne, had been lying low and pretending to be harmless.

‘But why give us a chance to resolve it?’

Whatever the purpose, it didn’t seem good. But she couldn’t just stand by and do nothing because she felt uneasy. Having finished sorting out her thoughts, Sebelia bit her lip and threw open the door to the office.

“Bella, what’s going on?”

“Sorry for coming so suddenly. Are you busy?”

“No, nothing special.”

“Then can you come to the Imperial Palace with me? I’ll tell you the story in the carriage on the way.”

“Understood. I’ll have the coachman ready immediately.”

Sebelia got into the carriage with Dihart and forcibly swallowed a sigh that was about to burst out.

She had a bad feeling. She couldn’t shake the strong premonition that she would meet Rosalyn in the palace.

‘We have to meet someday, but not right now. The state I barely managed to hold onto might get worse.’

Let’s try to resolve the strange phenomena as quickly as possible and return. Sebelia steeled her troubled heart and explained to Dihart why they were going to the Imperial Palace.

* * *

Thanks to the coachman’s hard work, the carriage reached the Imperial Palace quickly. The passage procedure was also quick, as Shateian had been informed in advance.

“Lord Ludmil.”

“Welcome, Miss Bella, Duke Inverness, and Mr. Karl Apennz. His Highness is busy with other matters, so I will be guiding you.”

Ludmil was waiting for them in front of the palace that had been used as an exhibition hall.

“You know about what happened through the letter, right?”

“Yes, you don’t need to explain it separately. Can we go in as is?”

As Sebelia showed an eager attitude, Ludmil smiled, his eyes crinkling.

“It might be resolved sooner than I thought.”

After a small laugh, Ludmil took out a key from his pocket and opened the main gate. Sebelia glanced at the Public Security Bureau officials guarding the left and right sides of the gate.

As they entered the hallway, Ludmil said in a low voice.

“They are new to their posts today, so you don’t have to be wary of them. The ones who worked here before are being interrogated by His Highness Shateian.”

“…Was I acting that obvious?”

“Let’s just say I have a good eye. This way, please. Do you remember the way?”

Sebelia slowly shook her head and replied.

“Actually, I don’t even know how I left the palace back then.”

“I understand.”

After passing the central hall, they stopped at a certain corridor. On one side of the corridor, there was a familiar door. It was the reception room she had entered to meet her fake mother on the day of the exhibition.

“The illusions are said to appear around that place, circling the corridor. They are also seen from outside the glass windows.”

“Is the form just the vague appearance of a person, as you wrote in the letter, nothing else?”

Sebelia slowly examined the corridor. Claude stood three steps away, starting his observation without being noticed by Ludmil, and Dihart stood still, clenching and unclenching his fists, raising his senses in preparation for any possible situation.

Ludmil nodded and looked through the documents he had brought.

“Yes, they appear regardless of the time of day. I happened to witness it on the day I stopped by to check. I actually thought it was a remnant of the illusions Miss Bella summoned that day…”

He trailed off, looking at a certain spot. At the same time as the silence, people turned their heads following his gaze.

A vague figure was visible on the opposite side of the corridor. The young man with short hair and a tall height did not look like one of Nathan’s victims who appeared as an illusion that day.

“That’s…”

Who on earth is that? As Sebelia wondered, Dihart’s voice was heard.

“It’s Grand Duke Lizette, the Emperor’s half-brother. That’s strange. He’s in the border region right now, and… he’s not that young by any means.”

Grand Duke Lizette was already well past middle age. Thanks to that, Sebelia knew the identity of the illusion, but the confusion only increased.

At that time, Claude, who was looking around the reception room, exclaimed.

“So that’s why.”

“Uncle?”

“Your power is trapped here, Bella.”

Claude pointed to the floor where the double trap of the sorcerer was drawn. He took out something like powder from his pocket and scattered it.

Wooong-

Then, with a heavy reverberation, the remnants of the magic that had not been erased were revealed. Because of that, the power of the illusion that Sebelia had unfolded was trapped without being released.

“Once I erase it all, it will naturally dissipate.”

At his words, Ludmil’s eyes lit up.

“Then can I report to the Prince that the illusion will no longer appear?”

“Yes, once you call people to lift up the furniture and carpets and erase it completely, the strange phenomenon will no longer appear in less than two days.”

“Very good.”

With the satisfied Ludmil, Sebelia and his party prepared to return. Meanwhile, Dihart had a serious expression as if he was contemplating something after hearing Claude’s words.

‘A place where strong power is trapped, memories that remain in a place…’

Would it be unreasonable to connect Sebelia’s illusion that appeared in Hillend Hall with this incident? It was around the time Dihart was slowly sorting out his thoughts.

As the group returned to the central hall, a strange sound was caught in their ears. The sound coming from afar was a suppressed laughter and a small whispering voice.

“Are you really sure you saw it? Not just seeing the curtains fluttering?”

“I’m telling you, it’s real. Just don’t cry in surprise.”

As the voices got closer, the four stopped walking at the same time. Soon, young ladies who seemed to be about six in number appeared in the banquet hall.

“Oh my!”

“Kyaa!”

As if they had never dreamed that anyone would be there, the young ladies screamed in surprise, holding picnic bags and light blankets in their hands. Anyone could see that they had sneaked into the empty palace for fun.

Ludmil raised his eyebrows.

“Oh, my.”

The context was roughly guessed. Perhaps one of them came into the palace through the back door or a loophole and witnessed the illusion.

‘And she brought her friends, saying she witnessed something amazing.’

Those with weak hearts would have been surprised and ran away, but the opponents were young ladies in their curious age. Ludmil sighed when he saw that one of them was even holding wine.

While Ludmil was contemplating how to report this absurd situation to Shateian, Sebelia groaned.

There was a familiar face among them.

“Young Lady Rosalyn.”

Among the pale faces, golden eyes sparkled particularly brightly.