After I Died, My Husband Went Mad [EN]: Chapter 15

“I will serve you with all my heart.”

The servants who followed Sebelia were handpicked by her father, mostly loyal and diligent individuals.

Denisa liked them, but Sebelia didn’t pay much attention.

“They are good people. Most of them used to work at the Lebloy mansion, so they are quite skilled.”

“Is that so?”

“Yes, just this morning, they styled your hair in a way I could only dream of.”

“…That’s true.”

They were also good at behaving in a way that didn’t bother her.

But who would have known that these polite and kind people were plotting cunningly behind her back?

* * *

The weather was sunny, and the breeze was sweet. That day, Sebelia finished breakfast with Dihart and returned to her room to rest. Her husband, whom she had seen for the first time in a week, was still taciturn, but his eyes held a hint of warmth as he looked at her.

‘He must be changing.’

Sebelia was thrilled by the pleasant weather and the heart-fluttering changes. Just then, a blonde-haired maid approached her with hurried steps and handed her something.

“Madam.”

Sebelia wasn’t surprised. It had been happening for the past few months.

“Father sent another letter.”

“Yes, and a jeweler from the capital has arrived as well. It’s the same man from last time. Would you like to go down and meet him?”

“…No, wait. Give me the letter first.”

The hand that received the letter trembled slightly. Sebelia noticed it and tightened her grip.

“Father is such a worrywart. I’m sure I’m doing just fine. Don’t you think so?”

“He just cares about you that much.”

As she said with a gentle smile, the maid nodded in agreement. Having arrived at the Weden mansion not long ago and then coming to the North, the maid was particularly friendly to her.

Sebelia smiled bitterly, knowing the basis of that favor.

‘She must think that all the love I receive comes from the heart.’

The maid, interpreting her smile in her own way, looked up with gentle eyes and said,

“It’s because you’ve come so far away, Madam. If my child went that far, I would send letters every day.”

“…Yes, that’s right. So he even sends people to take care of me.”

The Marquis of Weden sent jewelers and fabric artisans to the North whenever he had the chance, claiming it was to make things easier for her.

‘I sent back anything that seemed too excessive, though….’

In any case, she was the one involved in a political marriage for the cooperation between the North and the capital. Showing favoritism only to the North would be politically threatening, so Sebelia was careful to maintain a balance.

“It’s quite thick this time too. I wonder if he sent news from the servants’ families as well.”

The letter envelope in her hand was quite thick. Sebelia looked at the seal on the envelope with a subtle expression. Since she got married, her father had sometimes enclosed letters from the servants’ families. And he wanted her to act like that as well.

It was an easy way to enhance the Weden Marquisate’s reputation and, at the same time, a way to gain the servants’ loyalty.

“Thank you for always thinking of us.”

The blonde-haired maid offered her thanks demurely. Come to think of it, she had also asked her to write letters to her lover a few times, telling her stories.

“Yes.”

Sebelia suppressed a bitter smile and caressed the letter envelope. Seeing how grateful they were, it seemed difficult to refuse their request this time as well. Besides, she didn’t mind feeling a little closer to the servants.

‘I should worry about myself.’

Sebelia shrugged and placed the letter on the side table.

‘What kind of words should I write this time to make me a daughter who misses her father?’

Barely swallowing the sigh that was about to escape, Sebelia raised her head. She suddenly felt that her situation was quite ironic. She had wanted to be loved her whole life, but he had never once looked back at her. Only now, in this moment, did he need her.

“Haa….”

A wicked, rebellious spirit surged up like a fit. She wanted to ignore everything as it was. But Sebelia knew that she could never do that.

Because she was even happy with the attention of her father, who only contacted her when he needed something.

Because she kept his letters, full of news from the servants, in her letterbox, treasuring them.

‘Maybe this could become a real father-daughter relationship.’

Why, they say that families only realize their importance when they are apart.

Sebelia, who had never received a shred of affection from her family her entire life, clung to that last glimmer of hope.

The attachment to family, the obsession with affection, was like that.

A tenacious and tiresome bond that could not be severed by reason alone.

“Hoo…….”

“Madam?”

“Ah, no. The sunlight is too strong, and I have a bit of a headache.”

Sebelia waved her hand. Then the maid lowered a thin curtain over the window.

“I should read the letter when I’m alone. And I can’t keep the jeweler waiting.”

If her father had personally sent him all the way here, he must be someone important from the capital.

If she treated such a person poorly, all sorts of rumors would spread.

Sebelia frowned.

‘The North doesn’t have a good reputation as it is.’

Especially under her husband’s generation, the North had abandoned the pacifism that its predecessors had advocated, drawing even more criticism.

‘I have to make up for his shortcomings.’

Having made her decision, Sebelia said to the maid,

“Tell my husband that I won’t be able to join him for tea time today.”

It was her first time having tea time in the greenhouse, so she was a little excited, but it couldn’t be helped. Sebelia swallowed her disappointment.

“Understood. Ah, what should I do with the gift that the Marquis sent separately?”

“That… I’ll take care of it myself. I can’t entrust something my father personally sent to someone else.”

Sebelia spoke in a coquettish voice, pretending to be a spoiled daughter, and issued an eviction order. The maid politely retreated as she had come. Sebelia stared at the letter for a long time before getting up and going down to the drawing room.

“You are as beautiful as ever, Duchess.”

Sebelia accepted the jeweler’s greeting, her eyes lingering on one particular item.

It was a silver cross adorned with blue jewels.

* * *

It was a time when Dihart’s birthday was not far away. Sebelia was deep in thought, 고민 [Korean word meaning “worry” or “contemplation”], with the cross necklace in front of her. It was a necklace she had impulsively bought because she thought it would suit him.

‘Was I too hasty?’

Sebelia rested her chin on her hand and stared at the blue jewels of the cross with troubled eyes. The jewels, reflecting the light, were as shimmering as crashing waves. The jeweler said it was a worthless item, but Sebelia liked it very much.

‘I think it would suit him.’

Sebelia decided to be brave. It had only been half a year since she married Dihart. Now, he had even started to smile at her without hesitation when he saw her….

She might be able to advance their relationship further through this gift.

“Well, he wouldn’t throw it away, would he?”

Sebelia smiled bitterly, thinking of Nathan. When she was young, she had wanted to impress her brother, so she had saved up money and bought him a birthday present. Of course, that gift went straight into the trash can in front of her.

‘But my relationship with Dihart isn’t that bad.’

As a couple, they were desolate, but as a political marriage, it was quite decent. Having made her decision, Sebelia put the necklace in a box and got up from her seat. Dihart was waiting for her in the garden, where spring flowers were in full bloom.

* * *

‘I didn’t expect this.’

Sebelia suppressed a sigh as she looked at Dihart, who was sitting across from her, with calm eyes.

For some reason, he was dressed up much more than usual. He usually didn’t like it because it was uncomfortable, but for some reason, he had neatly combed back his hair.

He was even wearing gloves on the hand that was turning the newspaper. He had layered a jacket over his shirt, and thanks to that, his solid body, which was not visible under the loose shirt, exuded masculinity.

‘He wasn’t like this even yesterday.’

Her hand, tightly holding the necklace box, fidgeted awkwardly.

Dihart used to wear comfortable clothes inside the mansion, saying that he didn’t like the stuffiness of clothes that wrapped around his body. That appearance overlapped with the boy she had met when she was young, which allowed her to approach him without hesitation. But suddenly, a distant feeling overwhelmed her. In the unfamiliarity, Sebelia realized a fact she had forgotten.

‘That’s right. He is the Duke of Inverness. A man who wouldn’t even consider a bastard from the capital.’

He is just looking at me because he has to. Am I the only one getting excited and making assumptions?

For a moment, Sebelia felt like her heart was sinking.

‘Assumption is a sweet disease.’

She recalled the words of an old sage and carefully hid the box inside her sleeve.

Ah, assumption was a truly terrifying disease.

Everything looks beautiful through a sheet of colored glass placed over the eyes.

It was at that moment.

“You haven’t said a word today.”

A frosty voice pierced her ears. When she raised her eyes, a glittering golden eye was staring at her.

“At least chatter like usual, unless you want rumors of our discord to spread.”

Dihart, who spat out the words as if throwing them away, scanned her once like a fierce bird. It was as if he was looking for something. Sebelia clenched her hand, worried that her gift might be discovered. But soon, his beast-like intuition pointed out her suspicious behavior.

“Come to think of it, I heard you bought something yesterday.”

“……”

“I don’t know why you would buy jewelry unless you intend to wear it.”

Dihart put down his teacup and tapped the table with his finger a few times.

“Tell me, madam. It’s one of my duties to make sure you’re not wasting money.”

His golden eyes, as if condensing light, pierced through Sebelia. After hesitating for a moment, she placed the hidden box on the table with a small sigh.

It was a small box, just big enough to hold a necklace. In that instant, a small sense of satisfaction flashed across Dihart’s eyes.

It was too fleeting for Sebelia to notice.

“What is it?”

“……It’s nothing much, just… Your birthday is coming up.”

Sebelia waved her hand and tried to take the box back, but Dihart snatched her hand.

“Hmm.”

He opened the lid, glanced inside the box, and nonchalantly put it in his pocket.

“It’s not to my taste, but it’s passable. I’ll use it sometime when I want to become a clergyman.”

Did he dislike it, or did he like it?

Sebelia was confused. But seeing that he didn’t even try to put it around his neck, it seemed like he disliked it.

‘I shouldn’t do this again.’

Without knowing that she was regretting it, Dihart got up from his seat.