After I Died, My Husband Went Mad [EN]: Chapter 160

Extranumeral 1-8

“You can look forward to it.”

What am I supposed to look forward to? Am I supposed to look forward to reconciliation between the North and the Center? As Sebelia was filled with confusion at the series of incomprehensible words, Ilay urged her from outside.

“Your Grace, we don’t have time!”

“I’ll be going now. Have a delicious dinner and sweet dreams.”

Diheart left a kiss on her forehead and quickly left the room. By the time Sebelia came to her senses, she was already left alone.

* * *

So what on earth is going on?

Sebelia, standing in front of the *Lynn Post* [a local newspaper], expressed her discomfort without reservation. The butler who brought the newspaper glanced at her and ran away.

“A night out…….”

The article that decorated the bottom of the front page was about her housemate, whose whereabouts had been unknown for the past few days. The title was .

The content was full of stories about him visiting different mansions every night and meeting young and lovely ladies of marriageable age. There was even an interview in the middle of the article in which someone expressed their hope that he would have a good relationship with their daughter.

“Hmm.”

What on earth is going on? Sebelia felt a strange feeling as she looked at the newspaper, which was filled with episodes that were nothing like Diheart. That man wiped the corner of a woman’s mouth and cut her meat?

Sebelia, Diheart Inverness’s ex-wife, who even proceeded with the marriage on the day they first met, was able to grasp the truth of the article at once. People won’t believe it if you talk nonsense within reason. It was nonsense from beginning to end.

But that didn’t make her unpleasant mood any better.

‘He clearly said he was busy with work, so what kind of work did he do to get this kind of article?’

She frowned slightly and said.

“What about other newspapers besides the *Lynn Post*?”

Several maids brought her a few newspapers from today. Daily newspapers, weekly newspapers, and even short newsletters with a single fairy tale. But even after looking through them from beginning to end, there was nothing about Diheart. She really didn’t know what was going on.

She would have grabbed Diheart or Ilay, or anyone she could meet, and asked, but she couldn’t. The two of them had left for the North a few days ago, saying they had to meet Bairen.

“Ah.”

She exclaimed as if she had realized something.

“So that’s why there were reporters hanging around the mansion.”

No wonder the guards were embarrassed this morning. Sebelia sighed and put the newspaper away. Her head was throbbing so much that she couldn’t bear to look at it anymore.

She leaned back on the sofa to rest when she heard a rustling sound. She opened her eyes and saw someone standing next to her.

“That’s a terrible title.”

“When did you come to work, Denisa?”

“Just now. But isn’t this article just trying to cover up the truth? Who else is in the capital besides Duke Diheart that they would write ‘anonymous duke’? Seriously, how dare they be so brazen when they played along with Silas!”

Denisa, who spat out with a thorny voice, poked at the illustration. The illustration on the right side below the title was a profile of a man, and his features were strangely blurred.

But even so, anyone could tell that the main character of the article was Diheart.

“But at least they’re being careful now. In the past, they would have put the real name first.”

After the rebellion led by Queen Il and Marquis Weden was exposed, the *Lynn Post*, which was their mouthpiece, was also hit hard. Thanks to Shateian’s leniency, it was not shut down, but most of the executives were replaced.

“That’s even more annoying, miss. If they’re going to be careful, they should be careful properly. I can’t stand how they’re just testing the waters.”

“Hmm…….”

Sebelia trailed off as she looked at the blurred features. Unlike in the past, the *Lynn Post* was leaning towards the pro-imperial family. That meant that Crown Prince Shateian’s influence was not insignificant.

Come to think of it, the timing of the article was suspicious.

‘It’s not like the two of them have a bad relationship, and they’re even discussing national policy projects together, but as soon as Diheart leaves the capital, they publish this kind of article?’

First of all, I need to find out whether this article was *Lynn Post’s* independent decision or not.

‘Chasing Diheart comes next.’

While waiting for him to return from the North, Sebelia wrote a letter to Shateian. She subtly mentioned the *Lynn Post’s* article and asked if there were any problems with the current project.

“How many days will it take?”

‘He’s a busy Crown Prince, so it’ll take a week,’ Sebelia thought, trying to erase his work from her mind. Otherwise, she felt like she would run to the Imperial Palace right away.

And, quite timely, Rosaline asked for help.

“Bella, I have something to tell you.”

“What is it?”

“I want to find the bookmark and return it before I go to the North. I think I’ll keep thinking about it if I leave it like this.”

Sebelia, who was already trying to get rid of the worries in her heart, gladly accepted her request.

So the two of them began to dig under the wall in the warm sunlight of the afternoon.

“It’s not here either.”

Rosaline, who was holding a trowel, spat out with a fierce momentum. It had only been three days since she started searching, but she had been working so hard that the tip of the trowel was already bent.

“That dusty cat…….”

Sebelia swallowed a bitter smile at her words and actions that were gradually resembling Diheart.

The two of them were still searching the mansion to find the bookmark that Maya had hidden.

Although Doreen said she didn’t have to return it, she couldn’t stay still when the day of her departure was confirmed. At first, Sebelia told her to talk to the servants, but Rosaline replied that she didn’t want to add to the work of those who were already busy.

So that was the result.

“I wanted to return it before I went to the North.”

“Don’t be discouraged. We’ll be able to find it by then. Here, drink this. You’re sweating too much.”

Sebelia said, handing her a cold drink.

“Haa. Thank you.”

While Rosaline was drinking, Sebelia looked behind her. There was nothing near the overturned ground except for a few large stones and tree roots.

“By the way, I didn’t know there were so many holes like this.”

“I know, right? If we widen it a little more, even a child could get through, right?”

“No way.”

Sebelia shook her head in surprise. Rosaline, who had finished drinking, renewed her determination.

“Then let’s go to the next place!”

Sebelia nodded and followed Rosaline. She could see the ribbon on Rosaline’s brim hat fluttering as she walked ahead. The light movement fluttering in the breeze was as pretty as a dancing butterfly.

As she shifted her gaze blankly following the movement of the ribbon, she suddenly thought that she had done well to follow Rosaline.

While moving her body following her, her sharp nerves were relaxed. Her heart, which had been beating fast for no particular reason, returned to normal.

‘There’s nothing particularly difficult.’

There were no family members who made abusive remarks, and there were no servants who ignored her with contemptuous attitudes. Now, she was surrounded only by good people. It was a peaceful and happy day that she could not have imagined in the past.

‘The article is probably a lie anyway.’

So it was as if nothing had happened. But still, she felt stuffy and her nerves became sensitive. Like a person living with unresolved anxiety.

“Hoo.”

People who have experienced major events in their lives sometimes suffer from this kind of stress even after the matter is resolved.

Sebelia thought that Wetz’s words were always right.

‘How long will it be before they come back?’

Wetz seemed to have completely adapted to life there, as if he was enjoying his time in Lockwood quite a bit. Sebelia smiled slightly as she recalled the crying sounds written in the letters that Claude sent from time to time.

The time they spent together was not very long, but perhaps it was because the density of the time they shared was high. After sending them away, Sebelia felt a little lonely. But whenever that happened, Claude and Wetz, as if they knew, would ask her about her health and well-being in detail, and then send her letters filled with nagging.

‘I wanted to get a recommendation for a good medicine.’

But Claude and Wetz flatly rejected her suggestion. They said that it might be because she was thinking too much, and instead told her to move her body.

‘A combination of a simple goal and simple physical activity.’

Certainly, perhaps because she had been a medical assistant for a long time, it was not a bad recommendation.

So today, Sebelia turned away the servants who begged her to leave it to them and searched the mansion with Rosaline.

However, even the simple repetitive labor to relax her sensitive nerves gradually lost its energy as the sun was in the middle of the sky. Since both of them had been seriously ill once, the blood began to drain from their already pale faces.

“The sunlight is strong. Shall we go in now, Rosaline?”

“I think we only need to look at one more place…….”

What dealt a fatal blow to the precarious balance between the screams of the body begging for rest and the guilt of treating a friend’s belongings carelessly was Shateian’s visit.

“Were you two playing with dirt?”

The Crown Prince, who visited without notice, looked as if he had just run away from a party. The man, who threw off his jacket that was so fancy that it was heavy, strode under the sunlight.

“Looks fun. If you don’t mind, let me join you.”

Sebelia was stunned by the sight of the man standing there in just a light shirt. Rosaline was the same.

“Ugh.”

“Rosaline!”

“Oh dear.”

It was Shateian who caught Rosaline, who was about to fall while holding her head.

“Let’s go to the drawing room.”

Under Sebelia’s quick instructions, Rosaline was moved to the cool drawing room. As she was about to order a servant to call a doctor, Shateian stopped her.

“The imperial physician came with me.”

“Yes?”

“He’ll be in the carriage, so have a servant call him.”

The servant who received his order brought a man called the imperial physician. What on earth is going on? She was suspicious, but she didn’t ask because the situation was what it was.

And the imperial physician said that Rosaline had simply collapsed from heatstroke.

“I told you not to overdo it.”

Fortunately, it was a disease that would be cured quickly if she drank water and rested well. Shateian clicked his tongue, as if he didn’t like the fact that she had collapsed. The two of them shared a moment of silence while looking at Rosaline.

Sebelia was the first to speak.