After I Died, My Husband Went Mad [EN]: Chapter 36

Calm silence permeated the air. The crackling of firewood eased the tension. This was the end of the sixth path, a quiet laboratory hidden in the steep mountains.

“Please, have some.”

It was Wartz’s house.

“Thank you.”

Sevelia held the steaming teacup and looked up at him. It had already been several days since she had stayed here. In that time, she had formed a distinct impression of Wartz.

Wartz was like a scholar who lived in seclusion, a character brought to life. [This implies he is wise and detached from the world.]

A man with long, dark green hair and indifferent eyes. He sat across from Sevelia, wearing a simple robe.

At that moment, a suppressed roar, like that of a beast, echoed through the house.

“……!”

Sevelia knew what that beast was. It was Dihart, the black-haired man who, after regaining consciousness, smashed furniture almost every day.

Thump, Thump-!

As always, the sound of something breaking and exploding followed.

“…….”

“…….”

Sevelia and Wartz glanced at each other and then avoided eye contact. An awkward atmosphere settled in the room. However, the sound of thrashing and roaring did not stop. Then, a savior appeared.

“Ah, sorry. He doesn’t want to take his tranquilizers these days.”

The man who came out of the kitchen looked similar to Dihart. He was a little older and had a gentler demeanor, but his overall appearance was strikingly alike. They could easily be mistaken for brothers.

Feeling Sevelia’s gaze, he smiled warmly at her, his bright golden eyes like marigolds.

“I’ll take care of him somehow. You two can continue what you were doing.”

The brown-haired man, Claude, waved his hand and went upstairs. Wartz and Sevelia were left alone in the living room again.

“…….”

Sevelia looked down at the teacup she was holding with serious eyes, reflecting on how things had come to this.

* * *

The sight of thousands of lightning bolts striking was magnificent. The blades of light tearing down from the sky felt like divine punishment.

Kwang-!

However, Sevelia was not foolish enough to ignore the danger of such power. She stared at the flames that were gradually consuming the darkness and stood up.

The forest was burning, and he was likely dying.

‘The epicenter…….’

It wasn’t difficult to find Dihart’s location. Lightning struck relentlessly around him, as if announcing his presence.

Kwaaaang-!

At this point, it was hard to tell whether he was trying to destroy this maze-like space or himself. Sevelia groaned, looking up at the sky that could no longer be called the night sky.

“……It’s dyed pure white.”

The North Sea, accessible from the Empire, was known for its auroras that beautifully adorned the night sky. She had only heard about them and couldn’t imagine what they were like. But at this moment, Sevelia could envision the aurora.

Strands of pure white light were intertwined and frozen above the jet-black sky. And the next moment, they mercilessly crashed down to the ground.

Kurrr-!

‘I’m almost there now.’

The closer she got to her destination, the more her ears rang and her eyes stung. With each step, dozens of lightning bolts scorched the ground.

“Ugh…….”

But Sevelia didn’t stop. She would soon find Dihart. In the midst of the pure white light stabbing the ground like thorns, he was kneeling.

As if repenting, as if confessing, he was groaning in pain, looking at the white sky.

“Sevelia, please.”

Sevelia stopped walking at the hoarse voice.

A momentary wave of emotion filled her blue eyes, but it quickly passed. Soon, a cold and chilling wind blew, calming her turbulent heart. It was a storm called the past.

“You never listened to me before.”

Even when he left after creating an illusion, she had a feeling this would happen because he had never listened to her words.

“……Why did you come all the way here? What were you thinking when you chased me?”

Sevelia looked down at the kneeling Dihart with a calm gaze.

He was still writhing in pain, muttering incomprehensible words. His sorrowful face was looking up at her, but his eyes were unfocused, lost in another world.

It was at that moment.

“Don’t do that, Sevelia.”

“……!”

“It was my fault, please. Don’t do that.”

The voice, twisted in pain, echoed through the wilderness. His distorted face looked at her and sobbed. Sevelia’s blue eyes froze. She stopped walking without realizing it. She couldn’t breathe. It felt like the lightning that was still striking her body was piercing her.

“Don’t die in front of me……please.”

“Ah…….”

A gasp escaped her lips. Everything became distant, and she felt dizzy. Her vision blurred, and her body became heavy. Sevelia groaned, holding her head.

‘Are you perhaps watching me die?’

Is that why he’s in so much pain?

“That can’t be. That can’t be happening.”

Sevelia’s face turned pale. She had never thought this would happen. The Dihart she knew, her husband, would never be tormented by her death.

But reality betrayed her expectations. The man kneeling in front of her and groaning was trapped in a nightmare of her death.

“Sevelia, no……!”

Kwarreureung-!

The pure white lightning illuminated the surroundings. In the light that burst out in white, Sevelia recalled her small, ridiculous wish that she had abandoned when she left the mansion. The wish that was so absurd she hadn’t even considered embracing it again.

‘I hope you regret it after I die.’

Even for a very short time, even once in my life, I hope you feel like you’re dying of heartache because of me. So that you miss my existence, regret your actions towards me, and suffer.

“Oh my god.”

Sevelia buried her face in her hands.

The wish, born from raw emotion, had become a curse mixed with resentment. She turned to look at the blackened forest, at Dihart groaning in pain, and swallowed her breath. It was as if her wish had brought about this terrible reality.

“I…….”

Yes, that’s right. She wanted him to regret it after she died, to writhe in pain, to despair at the irreversible reality. She hated him, resented him, and didn’t want him to be happy as if he had been waiting for her to leave.

“……But I never wanted you to die in front of me. I didn’t want this.”

Sevelia exhaled, her face pale. All she wanted was to return the hurt she had received. She just wanted him to experience the pain of being abandoned forever by the one he loved.

But there was a prerequisite for that pain, and she believed that prerequisite would never be fulfilled. Because in order for him to suffer after she died…….

‘He has to love me.’

“That’s ridiculous.”

The voice burst out like a scream.

“Why on earth would you.”

She couldn’t believe it. She didn’t want to believe it. To Dihart Inverness, Sevelia should be nothing more than a bastard from the Central [Referring to someone from the central region or government, implying lower status], a woman who didn’t know her place and betrayed his grace. She knew it was a contradictory emotion and logic, but it had to be.

‘I wished for it because I knew it couldn’t be achieved.’

Because I knew you would never regret it. Because you abandoned me without any regrets, saying you didn’t need my excuses.

‘So I couldn’t believe it even when I saw you running towards me….’

The moment her eyes met his in the plaza, Sevelia could feel his desperation with her whole body. But she desperately denied it. She had to deny it to escape. That was the only way to live.

“……I’m already dead.”

Sevelia Inverness is dead.

The priest officiated her funeral, and her relatives gathered and left kisses on her forehead. Flowers and soil were sprinkled on the heavy coffin, and finally the world completely let her go. She is dead. The dead can never come back to life.

The affection given to the person named Sevelia Inverness no longer has any value. Her existence is only meaningful in the past.

‘It’s already too late.’

We’re already too late. Maybe it was wrong from the beginning. Sevelia looked at Dihart, still wandering in a nightmare, with confused eyes.

“What should I do with you? No, what should I do?”

Sevelia muttered, dazed. Then suddenly her body stood up straight. Like being doused in cold water, the cold reality awakened her.

“Yes, I’m no longer Sevelia Inverness.”

I’m no longer the person he wants to find. So don’t be swept away by the past. Don’t be bound by what you abandoned. Sevelia Inverness, you are dead. You were buried in the ground with everything you hated and loved. So….

“His regret is not mine.”

Sevelia said, as if vowing to herself, and cast her gaze towards the bag she had left far away.

‘Maybe the magic on the written opinion will also chase away nightmares. I didn’t experience this.’

Sevelia looked back and forth between the bag and Dihart, then let out a tired sigh.

“……I have no choice.”

After hesitating, Sevelia reached out to him. His stiff body easily collapsed at her touch. Sevelia carefully laid Dihart on the ground.

At that moment, she suddenly felt a presence. Sevelia flinched in surprise and turned around. Soon, her blue eyes widened. The forest that had been burned down was clearly regenerating.

And someone appeared from within. It was a tall man in neat clothes.

“I’m sorry I’m late.”

The eyes of the man holding a lantern in his hand and smiling softly were shining faintly with gold.

“I came to pick up a guest…… Is that person with you?”

The face of the man who approached was very similar to Dihart’s.