After I Died, My Husband Went Mad [EN]: Chapter 17

‘Since when was it?’

Dihart rested his chin on his hand and gazed at Rache, who was slumped unconscious across from him.

‘Since when had he been plotting to eliminate Sebelia?’

In a room devoid of light, Dihart remained fixated on that question. It couldn’t have been a sudden plan. Dihart slowly blinked and bit his lip.

Yes, it must have been something that had been going on for a long time. Because…….

“Wake up quickly, Uncle.”

Dihart gave a cold smile as he stared at Rache, who was bound to the chair. His family, who had dared to play such petty tricks behind his back.

“Such a perfect situation, the optimal timing. Anyone can see this has been prepared for a long time.”

Dihart’s golden eyes coldly narrowed. Sebelia’s isolated situation in the mansion, the rumors that suddenly started circulating, even the internal affairs that made her leave him on their wedding anniversary.

“Ha.”

Dihart chuckled briefly. And with cold eyes, he stared at Rache, who was beginning to twitch slightly.

After sending Ryan away, Dihart knocked Rache unconscious and brought him straight here. Then, he locked all the doors and drew thick curtains over the windows.

So that no matter what terrible things happened inside, no one would know. Thus, Dihart waited for Rache to awaken, like a beast waiting for its prey to move.

Dawn passed, and the sun rose. At some point, Rache’s body convulsed violently, and soon his eyes abruptly opened.

“……!”

However, only darkness filled Rache’s eyes.

“Di, Dihart. Dihart?”

In a subdued voice, Rache called out to Dihart again. Dihart closed his eyes, savoring his trembling voice, before opening his eyelids.

“Uncle.”

At the cavernous voice, Rache’s shoulders stiffened.

“I can explain everything.”

He realized that the man before him was no longer a pushover nephew. He belatedly recognized that he was not the insecure child who clung to him, relying on the affection of family and the forgotten shadow of his father. But at the same time, Rache believed to the end that he valued Inverness.

The last conviction that he would prioritize the family over Sebelia, a bastard from the central region. That made Rache open his mouth.

“……As you’ve noticed, Gren and I opposed this marriage from the start.”

The story that began in that way gradually went further back into the past. And finally, when Rache coughed dryly, signaling the end of the story.

Thud-!

Blinding light that entered through the curtains, shaken by the impact, split the darkness.

“Do you know what your actions mean?”

The back of the man standing alone in the darkness, bathed in the cold light, stiffened.

“Not only did you dare to deceive her, but me……!”

“Dihart, it was unavoidable.”

“Are you saying it was unavoidable to tell her to help the man who killed my parents?”

Dihart’s eyes burned white. A roar shook the earth. That day, the villagers trembled in fear at the sight of dozens, hundreds of lightning bolts striking the ground.

* * *

When he came to his senses, he was on the road.

“Ah.”

Dihart swept back his hair, which was dripping with water.

The pouring rain was already beating hard on his body. He tied the horse he had ridden to a tree and sat down beside it.

“Damn it.”

Dihart struggled to remember what had just happened. He remembered taking the horse from the stable and running out of the city. But the memories before that….

“…….”

Dihart’s face paled. He looked like someone being strangled. The memories that had been submerged in shock resurfaced.

[Gren persuaded the child. He said it would win your favor.]

The uncle and aunt used Sebelia to satisfy their selfishness in the name of the family.

[You insisted on taking in a child who should have been cast out, so we were just doing what was best for the family!]

Knowing that he would be furious, knowing full well that he would be hurt…….

They deliberately encouraged her to help the disaster areas in the East.

“To make me completely turn my back on her, I suppose.”

Dihart covered his throbbing eyes and gave an empty laugh.

Yes, as they expected, he pushed Sebelia away. There was no reason not to.

“At that time, I was almost out of my mind….”

The noble ladies’ relief efforts are usually not directly delivered to the victims.

They hold simple parties or outings to organize fundraising events and deliver the funds to the lords of the affected areas. And the person Sebelia was trying to contact was Grand Duke Kalle.

One of the main accomplices of his youngest uncle, who was believed to have murdered his parents, and the person who refused to search the accident site.

‘Who would look kindly on a wife who was trying to help the person who killed my parents by pouring money into them?’

Moreover, she had already betrayed his expectations.

[I told you to know your place!]

So he treated her even more sharply and heartlessly. Still undried droplets dripped from under his chin.

“Ha…….”

Dihart buried his face in his hands. The rain and wind lashed his back.

[The first time, I could overlook it as a mistake. But I can’t overlook this one.]

What was her expression like then? He couldn’t remember.

[If you want to waste money so frivolously and without principle, then make sure it comes from the money you eat, drink, and spend.]

“Yes, that’s when it started.”

After that, Sebelia left the Duchess’s room and locked herself in that damned closet.

[I will take responsibility for my actions.]

She said that to him as he sneered, asking if she wanted to spread rumors that he was mistreating the Duchess.

Flash!

A huge lightning bolt struck the tree standing opposite him.

“…….”

Dihart lifted his darkened golden eyes and stared at the tree burning black. Everything was a mess.

“Haha…….”

Yes, they seduced her knowing all this.

The foolishly innocent Sebelia firmly believed their words in order to atone to him.

He couldn’t even laugh. He didn’t even want to waste the word pathetic.

“What a wonderful family. It couldn’t be better than this.”

He could do nothing but utter twisted words. Dihart stared with blurred eyes at the sky, where dark clouds were beginning to clear. The sunlight that pierced through the clouds softly touched the ground. In front of that brilliant sight, his misfortune drew an even clearer shape.

“Your Grace!”

At that moment, a desperate call came from afar. Dihart lifted his eyes, stained with heavy emotion. The golden eyes buried in the shadows grew larger and larger.

“……Ryan.”

He was covered in blood as he struggled to ride the horse. There were even places where blood was still flowing. Eventually, before Dihart could even get up, Ryan fainted on the horse.

“Damn it!”

Dihart immediately ran out and caught him as he fell to the ground. Before he knew it, all the dark clouds had completely cleared.

* * *

“Ugh…….”

“The emergency treatment is done… but he doesn’t seem to be waking up.”

Dihart frowned as he looked at Ryan, who was lying down with a pale face.

“His temperature….”

Dihart, who had been looking down at his bloodless face, got up.

Perhaps because it hadn’t been long since the rain stopped, the air was very cold. He approached the tree that had been sacrificed to his anger and the lightning and began to pick up intact branches. At the same time, Ryan was wandering through a nightmare caused by bleeding and high fever. It started from the moment he encountered Flora.

“Stop there! You must contact them immediately and have the gate sealed!”

Flora shouted at him as he barely evaded the knights and ran away.

She was so angry that her voice was so eerie that it made the back of his neck prickle even when he thought about it again.

“I have to break through as it is.”

There was no time to stop by the post office. Ryan grabbed the reins as they were and ran out of the mansion. Thus, he headed to the trading city where he had parted ways with Dihart without even treating his wounds. The problem was that Dihart was no longer there when Ryan arrived.

“……Damn it!”

For some reason, the room was all black and charred.

‘What the hell happened?’

Rache was bleeding in the middle of the burnt room, unconscious.

Clearly, something unusual had happened.

Ryan gritted his teeth, first bound Rache, and locked him in the basement. And before he could leave the mansion, lightning struck not far away.

Flash-!

It wasn’t a natural phenomenon. Ryan, who had assisted Dihart more closely than anyone else, could tell.

He squeezed out his last strength and headed to where the lightning had struck, and he was able to meet Dihart.

The reason he did that was, of course, only one. It was to tell Dihart about Sebelia’s death…….

“Heo…….”

At that moment, Ryan woke up from the nightmare like a person who had been doused with cold water. In his vision, he saw Dihart walking towards him with a half-burned branch.

“Ah…….”

“You’re in a pathetic state, Ryan.”

Ryan clenched his fingertips as he looked at his master, who was laughing with a smirk, even though his face was as devastated as his own.

‘Damn it.’

He closed and opened his eyes tightly. And he put his hand on his chest.

“Did you get internal injuries or something?”

Even as he felt Dihart approaching, Ryan couldn’t bring himself to speak. Inside his coat, two lines of sentences were written on thin paper.

He had come only to deliver that, but when he faced Dihart, Ryan felt his heart sink.

“……Your Grace.”

But his trembling fingertips finally pulled out the thin piece of paper.

“Please return quickly.”

Dihart had to accept the terrible news after all.