After I Died, My Husband Went Mad [EN]: Chapter 35

“There’s definitely no proper path.”

Sevelia, having surveyed her surroundings in the dark forest as much as possible, was certain. There was no visible ‘path’ here. So, what should she do? As she pondered, something caught her eye.

“……?”

A faint light was leaking through the gap in the bag she had placed on the ground. It seemed she had missed it because it was on the bottom.

“What is it? I don’t have anything that would emit light on its own.”

She had brought tinder [easily flammable material used to start a fire], but it wouldn’t produce such a bright light. Besides, even if it were tinder, the bag would have already burned.

Sevelia carefully unfastened the bag. Various essentials and items from the general store were blocking the light. She took out the items one by one. Finally, the source of the light appeared.

“The written opinion… Ah!”

Sevelia then remembered that the physician from Earlsick had sprinkled something on the written opinion after writing it. She knew it was a magical treatment, but she had assumed it was simply to prevent others from opening the opinion letter.

‘I never thought it would be used like this.’

Perhaps the physician from Earlsick knew in advance the difficulties Sevelia would face. Well, they did seem close. Sevelia carefully picked up the envelope containing the written opinion. Then, an even brighter light emanated from it.

At that moment, a thin beam of light appeared above the seal on the envelope. Like the light of a lighthouse guiding the way on a dark night sea, the light created a path into the forest.

“……It’s there.”

A smile bloomed on Sevelia’s face, which had been filled with worry. She immediately organized her bag and carefully took a step forward. Though there wasn’t a breeze, the plants swayed, as if welcoming her.

Soon, darkness darker than before enveloped her.

* * *

“You illegally occupied land and messed around with strange things just because you hate people?”

“Yes. That’s why you must bring the necessary preparations.”

“That’s not the part I wanted an explanation for.”

Illei looked down at the items from the general store, and Dihart frowned. No matter how much he thought about it, he couldn’t understand the mindset of the people living in this city.

“Wouldn’t it be enough to just kick out the illegal occupants in the first place? Why did Baron Supredi let such a person cause so much trouble?”

Dihart clicked his tongue, deep lines forming on his forehead. He was troubled by the fact that he had to prepare ‘supplies’ to enter the Sixth Path, and that someone, possibly Sevelia, had fled there.

‘She was planning to go there even before she ran into me.’

In terms of timing, Sevelia arrived later than him and stopped by the general store to buy supplies for the Sixth Path. Based on that alone, she might not be a suspicious person sent to disrupt his mind.

“This is driving me crazy……”

Dihart slumped into a chair and groaned. Everything was a mess. It felt like the world was turning upside down and twisting around him. A fierce storm was constantly tearing him apart.

The sound of the world splitting. His eyes burned like lightning. He buried his face in his hands, isolating himself from the world.

As if waiting for that moment, her last words, which had disappeared like bubbles, echoed in his mind.

[Let go of your lingering feelings and accept reality. Sevelia Inberness is already dead. Even if she comes back to life, she will never return to your side.]

It felt like his heart was being torn out. Something surged up like blood. But it was a bitter liquid that filled his mouth, and only his soul was wounded.

‘I wish words had become a sword and stabbed me.’

If that had happened, he would have died without feeling anything at that moment. It was an absurd thought. But he was serious.

‘Even if she comes back to life, she won’t come to me.’

The words she whispered in his ear as she vanished like a feather were so terrible. So terrible that he wanted to die on the spot.

“The preparations are complete.”

A voice calling him came from afar. Dihart rose from his seat with empty eyes. Yes, it would have been better to die back then. He twisted his lips as he took the foolish baggage.

If what he caught was not Sevelia…….

‘I’ll make them regret being alive.’

The only person he could dare to forgive was his wife.

* * *

He couldn’t tell if it was day or night, or even if a day had passed. Sevelia squinted, looking at the dark sky with not a single star.

“I can’t tell the direction or the time……”

The only thing she could rely on was the faint path of light. For a long time, Sevelia walked aimlessly through the forest, not knowing where she was. Then, she suddenly realized that something had changed.

“The shadows……. Wait, then the light?”

She quickly looked up. A moon was already in the sky, which had been as vast as a large curtain. Her lake-like blue eyes widened, embracing the swelling moon.

“I can’t make heads or tails of it [understand the situation].”

Sevelia sighed. But the appearance of the moon was a good sign for her in many ways. Walking in the vast darkness, relying on a single ray of light, was mentally exhausting.

“Hoo……”

Should she rest for a while since things had turned out this way? Feeling the throbbing in her legs, she looked around. Fortunately, there was a wide rock nearby where she could sit and rest. She sighed in relief and slowly sat on the rock.

“Ugh……”

As she stretched out her body, fatigue washed over her. Sevelia then realized that she had been quite tense. As she relaxed her body, she felt aches and pains everywhere. To make matters worse, she was also hungry.

‘I guess I’ve been walking for quite a while.’

Is this what it means to lose track of time? Sevelia, who had been blankly staring at the dark forest, couldn’t bear her hunger and got up. She picked up the fallen branches from the ground within the moonlight’s reach, one by one.

After a couple of failed attempts, she managed to start a fire. Sevelia spent her time watching the stew simmer.

After satisfying her hunger to some extent, and while contemplating whether to get some sleep just in case, an anomaly began to occur.

Kwaang-!

“……?”

Startled, Sevelia turned her head to find the source of the loud noise. But all she could see were the densely packed trees, no different from before.

However, she had clearly heard a ground-shaking roar. Something was definitely happening in this space.

‘No one came out injured. So, what on earth is it?’

No sooner had she wondered than another loud noise tore through the air. Kwaang, kwang! The ground rumbled, and in the distance, an explosion-like flame spread from the opposite side of the forest.

And Sevelia realized what the roar was.

“……Dihart!”

One, two, three……. Against the backdrop of the black night curtain, hundreds of spear blades revealed their noble forms. They increased in number until it was impossible to count them, and then they plunged towards the ground.

Kwarreureung-!

Sevelia squeezed her eyes shut at the intense shock that shook her whole body. The storm of power, which had started from afar, rushed towards her like a raging wave.

* * *

The letter given by the physician from Earlsick had magic that showed the way to Worth, as Sevelia had guessed. But there was another magic she didn’t know about.

“No, this is all a lie. So, aaaaaagh. Damn it!”

It was magic that protected its owner from the nightmare of the black forest, which confuses people’s minds and casts the most terrible despair, making them unable to recognize their own existence.

And so, naturally, Dihart, who had set foot on the Sixth Path, despaired at the countless deaths that continued to block his way. It wasn’t the family he had abandoned and fled from when he was young, nor even the deaths of the knights who had entered the forest with him.

It was the repeated death of Sevelia.

“Ah, aah……”

His mind was on the verge of complete collapse, twisted beyond recognition. His soul, which had shown signs of crumbling from the inn just before entering the forest, was shattering into pieces.

Distinguishing between illusion and reality no longer mattered. After voluntarily taking hallucinatory herbs since Sevelia’s funeral, the two were no longer separate to him.

Illusion or reality, false or true. What he wanted was neither of those things. He just wanted a living Sevelia. He wanted her to forgive him, or even to hate him.

But his shallow expectations were not to be fulfilled.

“Aah……”

Kwarreureung!

Thousands of lightning bolts tore through the air and fell. In an instant, the darkness lifted and the cold reality was revealed before him. The countless corpses of Sevelia, hidden in the shadows, obscured his vision.

Sevelia, stabbed to death by a spear, Sevelia, bleeding from her entire body after taking poison, Sevelia, butchered by someone.

At that moment, Dihart regretted his terribly foolish thought.

‘Would it have been better for her to quietly die in my arms?’

Of course not. There was nothing ‘better’ about her death. Dihart burst into laughter as if having a seizure.

And this time…… his gaze turned upwards.

“Don’t do it, please. It’s my fault. I’ll leave as is. I’ll never look for you again. If this is the punishment you’re giving me, just end it now. Please……”

He even gave up saying that all of this was a lie.

Above the unreachable spire, in the place where the bell to announce the morning should have been, she was standing. With a rope around her neck and a creaking ladder beneath her feet, Sevelia indifferently looked down at him.

“Sevelia, please stop.”

Blood welled up to his throat. It was terrible. Whether it was an illusion or a lie, it didn’t matter. Having to witness her death with his own eyes, not being able to turn away from her even though he knew it was fake, was simply despairing.

At that moment, her hands gripped the rope. The moment of despair was once again cast before him. Dihart’s eyes turned white again. Thousands of lightning spears reappeared in the black sky.

“Keok……!”

The blood vessels in his entire body burst, and blood flowed backwards. His vision gradually blurred. Is this finally the end? Yes, it’s better to die together. It’s better to be with her, even if it’s a lie. He felt himself rejoicing.

But Dihart’s hopes were destined to be dashed.

“……I have no choice.”

Huu, a hot sigh tickled his face.