After I Died, My Husband Went Mad [EN]: Chapter 163

Side Story 1-11

“Bella?”

“Oh, Rosalyn. Were you awake and not sleeping?”

Rosalyn appeared from the bottom of the winding stairs. She was wearing a light shawl and looked noticeably embarrassed, but Sebelia soon understood why.

“Don’t tell me you were looking for a bookmark again?”

“Ah, well.”

“I told you not to wander around alone, Rosalyn.”

After collapsing from heatstroke the other day, Rosalyn had to stay confined for a while. Since then, she would often search the mansion alone every evening, saying she could look for them when there was no sunlight.

“You should just ask the servants.”

Rosalyn didn’t answer. Sebelia sighed at her stubbornness. Truly, they were similar siblings.

‘I can’t help it.’

She couldn’t keep persuading her forever as if she were a child. If she couldn’t change her mind, Sebelia couldn’t at least let her harm herself, so she wrapped her cardigan around Rosalyn.

“Wear this.”

“I’m fine.”

“Shh. Someone who’s been up all night playing has no right to make excuses.”

Even when treated like a child, Rosalyn only pouted and didn’t grumble. However, even after putting on the cardigan, she lingered around Sebelia for a while without leaving.

“Do you have something more to say to me?”

“Ah, um. Well, you see.”

Rosalyn glanced down the stairs and hesitated, biting her lip. Sebelia followed her gaze to the bottom of the stairs and tilted her head. Come to think of it, the noise had stopped at some point.

Rosalyn, looking much more relaxed, rummaged through her pocket and took something out.

“Actually, I found the bookmark today.”

“Really? Oh my, congratulations!”

“But I found something else too…”

Was this the reason for her hesitation? The hand holding the gold-leaf bookmark covered in dirt lowered, and an earring emitting a bright light appeared.

“This is…”

Rosalyn delivered the death sentence to Sebelia, who couldn’t bring herself to speak.

“It seems like it’s part of the set with the things Maya stole, right?”

Sebelia felt dizzy. As she groaned and leaned on the railing, Rosalyn, surprised, supported her.

“Are you okay? I just felt a little dizzy.”

“I’ll take you to your room.”

Rosalyn’s heart was pounding, likely because she was quite surprised. Sebelia smiled faintly and dissuaded her.

“It’s okay. I just need to go downstairs and have a cup of tea.”

“But wouldn’t it be better to go back and rest?”

“No. I might as well get some fresh air.”

Since she couldn’t sleep anyway, she thought it wouldn’t be bad to go to the annex and check things out again. After saying goodnight to Rosalyn, she was about to go down the stairs when Rosalyn suddenly stopped her.

“Rosalyn?”

“Bella, I have something important to tell you.”

“Now?”

“Yes, I have to tell you now…”

It was then. A sharp, metallic sound came from downstairs, followed by a suppressed groan. And Rosalyn gloriously failed her first request from Dihart: to keep Sebelia from leaving.

Thump, thump.

Sebelia quickly ran down the stairs and soon witnessed the vast space from the mansion’s entrance hall to the drawing room completely transformed.

“What is all this?”

The knights, who had been moving silently, stopped abruptly at her genuine question. Upon closer inspection, each of them was holding something. Flowers, wreaths, glass ornaments, an empty birdcage, and soft feathers…

Feathers?

“Ah!”

It was then that a golden feathered bird circling in the air flew up to the staircase. Startled, Sebelia flinched, and the bird chirped softly before landing on the chandelier.

“You saw it all.”

Dihart appeared from the drawing room with a hollow voice. He dismissed the bewildered knights and sighed.

He seemed quite embarrassed, constantly running his hand over his face.

“Haa…”

At this point, it would be strange not to understand the situation. Sebelia struggled with the urge to run away, trying not to look at Dihart. As she did, the situation on the first floor became even clearer.

‘Oh, what should I do.’

Anyone could see that he was preparing a proposal. Moreover, there were still unopened decoration boxes piled up near the entrance.

‘I can’t help it…’

It would be torture for Dihart to pretend not to know any longer. Now that things had come to this, she had no choice but to face it head-on. Sebelia quickly descended the stairs and grabbed Dihart’s hand, pulling it down.

“The no-meeting ban is lifted from this moment on.”

A bewildered light flickered in his golden eyes, which had been filled with exhaustion. Sebelia didn’t give him more time to think and tightened her grip on his hand.

“Wait, where are you going?”

Dihart asked in a weak voice, but Sebelia moved without a word. He sighed and soon realized she was heading to the back garden.

“Do as you please.”

He had no more face to lose. Dihart followed Sebelia with heavy steps, and she raised her eyebrows as she passed through the rose bushes.

“Is the annex ban also lifted today?”

“Shh.”

As soon as the door opened, a refreshing air rushed out, thanks to the leafy green trees decorating the entrance. Just as Dihart was about to say something about the different appearance, Sebelia pushed him into the drawing room.

Dihart was speechless at the sight before him.

“What is all this…”

The end of his slowly falling voice trembled gently. Just as Sebelia had immediately grasped the situation upon seeing the scene on the first floor, so did he.

He looked at the empty space on the altar across from the drawing room, the altar promising eternal love, and turned his head with a faint smile.

“Are you going to put the ring on me yourself?”

His faintly trembling voice was full of anticipation.

“You, to me?”

His tearful golden eyes shone beautifully in the dawn light. Sebelia took a step forward, gazing at the sight she would never tire of.

A soft hand touched his chest.

“If you allow it.”

Dihart opened his mouth slightly as if he had been stabbed in the heart, then burst into a hollow laugh. As expected, he took out a ring case from his inner pocket.

“How did you know?”

“Don’t underestimate my perception.”

Dihart stammered at her triumphant answer. Sebelia blinked at his face, which seemed to have a lot to say, but he shook his head.

“Later, let’s talk about it later. That’s not what’s important now.”

His exhaustion gone, he whispered, his face full of joy.

“Please, make me yours, Bella.”

He didn’t kneel this time. He demanded it while facing her confidently. As if he deserved to have it, as if he had the right to receive the love you would give him.

“Promise me.”

Amidst the sweet whispers, Sebelia opened the box. An unintended silence flowed, and Sebelia looked up at him with accusing eyes.

“Dihart.”

The ring in the box was similar to the one Maya had stolen last time. It even seemed to have the same gemstone embedded in it, so it must have been intentional.

Meanwhile, Dihart exhaled a long breath with a face that said, ‘I see you still haven’t noticed.’

“It’s ridiculous to say this now, so I tried to hide it as much as possible, but… I can’t help it.”

The story that started with tired eyes was shocking in itself. It all started when Maya opened the jewelry box and stole all the ceremonial jewelry.

“Those items were passed down from my grandmother to her ancestors. Uncle Bairon received them when he got married and passed them on to me, and I replaced the old jewels with new ones, thinking of giving them to you as a gift.”

Dihart continued, leaving Sebelia speechless.

“The jewelry box was a smokescreen. What was inside was the real thing. I managed to get a blue diamond that suited your eyes and finally completed it, but that dusty bastard did such a thing…”

The voice that had been calm gradually became more murderous towards the end, but Sebelia, who had been frozen in shock, didn’t notice.

“Then, then what about this?”

Sebelia, who had barely come to her senses, said, raising the ring. Dihart replied with a sad face.

“I know it’s not to your taste, but since it’s a family heirloom to be passed down through the Duke’s family, I had no choice but to mix in some old-fashioned tastes.”

“That’s not what I mean. No, wait a minute. Then you prepared all the wedding gifts from scratch again?”

“Yes.”

Dihart nodded as if there was nothing wrong with that. Sebelia was momentarily stunned by his easy acceptance, then shook her head violently.

There was no way a noble family, especially a ducal family, would have procured wedding gifts from just anywhere. At the very least, a renowned artisan, or even someone who supplied goods to the imperial family…

The Taryen Merchant Guild.

Sebelia’s eyes widened at the realization that flashed through her mind. She grabbed Dihart’s sleeve and asked as if cornering him.

“Was that why?”

Startled by her force, Dihart blinked, and she asked again.

“The rumors that you often meet with Lady Doren, was that perhaps because of the Taryen Merchant Guild?”

“Yes.”

Dihart admitted with a sad face.

“All the families mentioned in the article have ties to the Taryen Merchant Guild. Because of the petty clause that required their letters of recommendation to secure a deal, I had no choice but to go out and do the legwork myself.”

But he really didn’t know that each of those families had young ladies of marriageable age, Dihart added in a lonely tone.

“I swear to heaven, I have never met anyone other than the heads of the families.”

“Not even Lady Doren? You seemed to get along well with her.”

“Me?”

Dihart frowned as if even the suspicion was unpleasant.

“If you’re bringing up the time we met in the office, you’re mistaken. From the beginning, I knew she was the young lady from a family close to the Taryen Merchant Guild, so I treated her appropriately.”

Dihart clicked his tongue and added reluctantly.

“Besides, she’s Rosalyn’s friend, so it was bearable.”

Sebelia couldn’t help but believe the man’s furrowed brow as he said it was bearable. After all, there was no way a man who hated meeting people would get along with a young lady he was meeting for the first time.

“Are all the misunderstandings resolved?”

The voice asking seemed a little impatient. Sebelia wondered why, but soon realized the situation when she saw his eyes alternating between the ring and herself.

“Do you want it?”

“Very much, yes.”

He was in the mood to devour her whole if she didn’t put the ring on him right away. Sebelia simply smiled, facing a man who was only polite in words but whose aura was no different from a beast.

In front of the pure white altar, with evergreen flowers and branches, she spoke the words promising eternity.

“Then, will you marry me?”

His golden eyes crumbled and fell. His solid chest rose and fell sharply. Soft morning sunlight spread behind the man suppressing his hot breath.

“Gladly.”

His trembling lips pressed against hers.

“I will marry you.”

The voice flowing over her lips was electrifying. As Sebelia put the ring on his thick finger, she laughed without realizing it.

However, Dihart rumbled lowly in his throat.

“Now, everything is yours.”

“Yeah.”

“I’m going to give you everything.”

Feeling the sound of his pounding heart, Sebelia closed her eyes gently.

“I will never take it back. You won’t be able to give me anything back…”

The heavy voice falling near her ear was not scary at all. The solid arms embracing her were not frightening, but trustworthy.

“Okay.”

Repeating the two words that came out without hesitation, Sebelia raised her hands and hugged him back.

Yes, it was good.

No matter what I do, even if I fake my death and run away, it was good that you only wanted me in the end.

It was good that you only needed me.

And it was good that people would know that now.

“Let’s have a big wedding.”

Sebelia whispered in his suffocatingly warm embrace.

“So that everyone, even those who don’t know us, can know.”