After I Died, My Husband Went Mad [EN]: Chapter 34

The narrow path lay between the last two of the seven hills, a place so deserted and leading to nowhere that it was almost entirely avoided.

This place was infamous among the people of Supredy as the Sixth Road.

“The atmosphere is strange,” Sevelia murmured.

Tightening her grip on the suitcase, she looked around. As she passed between the two hills and reached the entrance of the Sixth Road, the scenery abruptly changed.

The weeds that had tickled her ankles were gone, replaced by vegetation that grew waist-high, surrounding her. The air crackled with tension, as if she were encircled by an unseen entity.

It was a feeling similar to the one she’d experienced with the knights surrounding the inn earlier.

*The illusion should be gone by now.*

“Ah.”

No sooner had the thought formed than she felt the string connecting her to the illusion snap. Sevelia clenched and then opened her empty hand, a tingling sensation still lingering.

“Dihart…”

The last image she had of him before leaving flashed in her mind: his desperate, mournful gaze fixed on the fake Sevelia, the way he painfully called her name.

“No.”

Sevelia shook her head, trying to dispel the thoughts. *We’re over.* It had been an incompatible match from the start, and it had come to a fitting end.

She clasped her hands together, as if to reassure herself. The plan to create a fake Sevelia to draw attention had worked perfectly. Even the knights guarding the back door had been completely fooled, unable to take their eyes off the illusion.

*I escaped in that gap.*

Running away with Dihart in sight had been far scarier and more frightening than running away from Hillend Hall. With every step, she had glanced back, terrified that they would realize the deception and give chase.

“…I just have to hope it ends like this.”

Sevelia couldn’t understand Dihart’s behavior. To him, she was just an illegitimate duchess from the Central region, an ungrateful woman who had betrayed his kindness.

But now he misses me?

Reason tried to convince her that he might. Everything she had seen and witnessed in Supredy, especially his affectionate and desperate demeanor, threatened to shake her resolve.

However, the door to her heart, which had been hurt and closed for years, did not open so easily.

“Regret that started after I died is worthless.”

Sevelia couldn’t bring herself to believe his feelings. She couldn’t trust his drastically changed attitude. To her, Dihart was a cold, cynical man who hated her.

[I have a weak stomach.]

The despair and humiliation she had felt at that moment, the shame and self-disgust that had washed over her, couldn’t be erased by Dihart’s affectionate voice alone.

“Hoo…”

Perhaps it was because she was dwelling on the past, but she felt nauseous. Sevelia put down her suitcase and sat on it, taking deep breaths. The tightly wound tension in her chest loosened, as if she were keenly aware of her condition.

“Haa.”

Sevelia took one last deep breath and opened her eyes. The queasy feeling had subsided somewhat.

*Okay, he’s someone I’ll never see again anyway.*

If she went to Doctor Worts’ lab, she wouldn’t have to return to the city until she was cured. Dihart, on the other hand, was the head of a family and the Duke who led the North, so he would definitely return soon.

Time was on her side.

“Let’s go now.”

Sevelia got up and carefully scanned her surroundings, wondering if there was anything that could help her before entering the Sixth Road. She would have felt relieved to see even a simple sign, but there was nothing.

“I can’t help it.”

It was a little unsettling, but the path that Doctor Ershik had described was the right one. Sevelia grabbed her bag and bravely took a step forward, sensing it intuitively.

“This is…”

The air changed instantly. A dense pressure surrounded her, and…

*There’s no light.*

Sevelia immediately raised her head.

A black sky greeted her, devoid of the sunlight that had been shining warmly just moments before.

“It’s a space separated from reality.”

Only then did Sevelia realize that the general store owner’s story was true: everyone came out crying, even though no one suffered twisted limbs or injuries.

This was an unrealistic space created by Doctor Worts to deter unwanted visitors—in short, a maze made of illusions.

“Hmm…”

Sevelia stopped and pondered.

Doctor Ershik had assured her that she would be welcomed as a guest he had sent. If his words were true, it meant that, unlike others, she could reach her destination smoothly.

*But how?*

Unseen by Sevelia, a faint light sprouted from inside the bag she was holding.

* * *

Dihart was lost in a nightmare. He stood in an endless, murky swamp, and with every step he took, black figures reached out and grabbed his ankles.

[Brother, stay with me. Brother.]

[Don’t go, baby. It’s so lonely here without you…]

They opened their mouths and shed cold tears, grabbing at him, shaking his guilt, appealing to his sympathy, and breaking down the firmly closed walls of his heart from the inside.

*After all, we’re the only family you have.*

A smiling voice pierced his chest. He came to his senses and found himself kneeling in the mud.

[You say we abandoned you, but you know it’s the opposite.]

[Dihart, my lovely son. Why did you abandon your mother and run away?]

[We all died at Uncle’s hands. Why are you the only one alive and trying to enjoy happiness?]

*This is the price.*

“Ah.”

With a chilling laugh, his body grew heavier and heavier. Dihart knew that dozens of black hands reaching out from below were dragging him down, but he did not resist.

“Yes, this is right.”

From the beginning, I was destined to be like this. From the beginning, I was not destined to have a warm and affectionate family.

I abandoned them with my own hands.

The black hands slowly pulled him toward the bottom of the swamp. The heavy, sticky water had already reached his neck. He closed his eyes, feeling himself slowly suffocating.

And then, he woke up from his sleep with terrible pain.

“Cough…!”

“You’ve come to your senses.”

It was an unfamiliar but infuriatingly calm voice. Dihart groaned in pain and barely opened his eyes, identifying the speaker.

“…Doctor.”

The doctor, dressed in a white gown, was holding a stethoscope. Dihart looked down at his rolled-up wrist and understood the source of the pain: a red injection mark was swollen, as if to flaunt its existence.

“It’s nothing. The medicine is poisonous, but it works well.”

The doctor glanced at him, as if asking if he hadn’t already confirmed it with his body, then put down the stethoscope. He realized that Dihart would not easily submit to the auscultation [listening to internal sounds of the body] after seeing his fierce gaze.

“Then I’ll call the guardian.”

“….”

*Guardian?* Dihart let out a hollow laugh in disbelief. The doctor maintained a calm face even after seeing that reaction and left the room. Soon, Illei opened the door and entered.

“You’re awake!”

“What happened after I lost consciousness?”

The last thing Dihart remembered was the scene of Sevelia disappearing in a puff of feathers. After she had spoken terrible words that threatened to tear his heart out, she had vanished like a bubble.

“No special events occurred after the Duke fainted. However, based on the possibility that the other party may be a wizard, we have placed a wizard or shaman at each entrance.”

“Wizard, wizard. Yes, that could be true.”

Dihart covered his face, repeating the word as if it were a chant. The moment Sevelia, whom he had barely accepted, disappeared so futilely had been a great shock. The terrible feeling of the loving being that filled his arms vanishing without a trace.

*I don’t want to experience it again.*

It was a level of pain unlike looking down at someone who had already lost their life. It would have been better if she had quietly died in his arms, rather than disappearing without a trace, leaving nothing behind.

At that moment, Dihart felt like he was in hell.

“Ha.”

Even breathing was painful, but he had to breathe. He had to live and move again. No matter who or what the other party was, he couldn’t simply sit idly by.

“Whoever it is, whatever the truth is… I don’t care anymore. I’ll catch her no matter what.”

If it was the real Sevelia, he would gladly endure the pain she inflicted. But if someone else had stolen Sevelia’s appearance and tried to deceive him… there would be no forgiveness.

“As a matter of fact, we have obtained a clue.”

Illei said, supporting Dihart as he rose. Dihart’s eyes flashed sharply. When he gestured for him to continue, Illei lowered his voice and whispered.

“Do you remember the wizard holding something in the square?”

“…I think she had a lot of luggage.”

“A woman cannot move for a long time carrying such heavy luggage. So, we focused our investigation on the stores near the square.”

Illei confessed that, in the process, he had hastily created a montage [composite picture] after seeing the portrait drawn on Dihart’s pendant. A vein popped out on Dihart’s forehead for a moment, but, unexpectedly, no bloodshed occurred.

This was because Dihart felt largely responsible for fainting after Sevelia disappeared.

“So, did you find her?”

“Yes. The owner of the general store remembers having a conversation with her.”

Illei nodded with a confident face. As he threw the door open, he announced,

“She said she was going to the Sixth Road to meet a doctor hiding in the Supredy Mountains.”