After I Died, My Husband Went Mad [EN]: Chapter 5

At that moment, Nathan experienced for the first time what it truly meant to be too angry to speak.

“I’ve indulged you far too much lately.”

Without a second thought, he threw her to the floor.

“Ugh…!”

She barely avoided hitting the bed, muttering softly, “Be careful, Brother.”

“What?”

She raised her head, her expression indifferent. “Perhaps it’s because it’s secluded and cold here… but my room often has uninvited guests.”

Just then, Nathan felt something crawling up his ankle.

“……!”

‘No way.’

Nathan’s face turned pale. Unable to lower his head fully, he barely glanced down.

Dozens of spiders were clinging to his legs, crawling upwards.

* * *

Thud!

“Ah.”

Sevelia stared blankly at Nathan, who had fainted and collapsed.

‘He really is afraid of spiders.’

She had been able to quickly create the illusion thanks to past experience.

[I told you not to say such stupid things.]

She remembered Nathan, eating meat in front of her while she was tied to a tree, having not eaten a piece of bread on a stormy day.

[Do you want to be abandoned at the monastery again?]

When she was young, Marquis Weden had abandoned her at the monastery once. It was intended to correct her behavior. Since then, she had become so distressed that she had difficulty breathing whenever she heard the word ‘monastery’.

He sneered at her with greasy lips, but his triumph didn’t last long. At the same time as lightning struck, a spider hanging from the tree fell onto his face.

“Come to think of it, he looks like his face back then.”

She looked down at Nathan, who was trembling on the floor, with an indifferent expression.

‘This is the first time I’ve seen his face like this.’

She had always been intimidated in front of him, unable to even raise her head. Sevelia stared blankly at Nathan and waved her hand in the air. Then, the swarm of spiders covering his body disappeared like dust.

Just then, voices began to be heard from down the hallway.

“What’s that noise!”

“The sound came from this way?”

It was the servants, who rarely showed their faces.

‘They’re fast. They must have been waiting.’

Sevelia sat down on the floor and waited for them. Soon, a butler, accompanied by the servants, opened the door without knocking.

“Oh my!”

“Lord Nathan!”

They rushed over to support Nathan with horrified faces.

“Lord Nathan, are you alright?”

Sevelia tilted her head at the sight of them taking care of Nathan without giving her a single glance.

It wasn’t that she suspected them of pretending not to see her. It was just…

‘When did they start taking care of him like that?’

Most northerners didn’t like people from the central region. The same was true for the central people, but it wasn’t a sentiment she shared.

She had hardly ever left the walls of the Weden Marquis’s residence from birth until her marriage. So, she was very confused when she arrived at the mansion after the marriage. Because she had no knowledge of the North, she couldn’t understand their animosity.

‘But I understand it well now.’

Sevelia leaned against the wall, her strength gradually leaving her body, and watched Nathan being carried out.

‘How strange.’

Those proud and haughty northerners are so protective of Nathan. What’s going on?

Sevelia strained her blurring eyes with curiosity. At that moment, the butler, who was directing the situation, sighed and questioned her.

“Madam, what on earth happened?”

The bespectacled, elderly butler was the one who had blocked Sevelia in front of the greenhouse. Gross, the head butler of Hillend Hall. He asked, twitching his mustache.

“For such an unfortunate event to happen while the Duke is away. Really…….”

Sevelia watched his stern face crumple and said casually, “Well, he seemed to have stayed up for several nights. Maybe that’s why.”

“Pardon?”

Gross glared down at Sevelia, raising his eyes. Sevelia didn’t get angry at the rude gaze, but rather met it head-on. Then Gross’s mustache twitched. He cleared his throat and turned his head.

“Well… you said you rushed here urgently, how about that.”

Gross deliberately let out a long sigh and shrugged his shoulders as if he was troubled. Then, he followed the disappearing servants and moved his feet.

“I understand. Then we will take care of Lord Nathan. Please rest.”

He glanced around the narrow room one last time, gave Sevelia a meaningful look, and left the room. And Sevelia, who had barely endured the pain while pretending to be calm, collapsed to the floor.

“…Hiss.”

Her forehead, with her cheek pressed against the cold floor, was covered in cold sweat.

“I need to leave quickly.”

With a bitter smile, blood flowed from the corner of her mouth.

* * *

“Departure!”

“Hey, don’t be late. There’s still a mountain of things to load!”

A port bustling with salt trade.

The flock of seagulls flying around and the shouts of the sailors tormented Dihart’s eardrums.

‘Noisy and filthy.’

Dihart pressed his throbbing head with his fingers and glared. Everywhere he looked, everything was chaotic and dirty.

Besides, what is this terrible smell? His sense of sight was already severely damaged, and if he stayed any longer, he felt like he would lose his sense of smell as well.

“Damn it….”

However, Dihart did not leave his spot even while cursing. There was a reason for that. Information had been obtained that the ore recently stolen from the mine had flowed into this place.

[Are you alright, Duke?]

Ryan, who was delivering the news, was worried that he might feel betrayed… but Dihart rather laughed.

[Yeah, there’s no way there wouldn’t be someone betraying me.]

What kind of expression did Ryan have at the dry words?

‘I don’t know.’

Dihart shrugged his shoulders and crossed his arms. The salty wind brushed past his shoulders.

“Ha.”

He didn’t trust anyone anyway. He was born that way. He didn’t feel any particular guilt about it either.

But betrayal? There was no way he would feel that way after being backstabbed by someone he had never trusted.

“It was bound to happen someday.”

Dihart twisted the corners of his lips and stared at the surging sea. In the end, this incident only proved that the thought he had been harboring was reality.

No matter who it was, no matter how long they had stayed by his side and devoted themselves, people were beings who could turn their backs at any time.

Yes, just like she betrayed him.

“…….”

Dihart’s face sank coldly as he thought of Sevelia.

His stiffened face turned as cold and sharp as a frozen ice wall. Then, the women who were shyly looking at him from afar were startled.

“Oh my, that person…….”

“He must have something bad going on. Let’s just go.”

The man with black curly hair and languid golden eyes instantly exuded a venomous aura. In particular, his two eyes, which had been as soft as gold, darkened as if covered by the moon, adding to the gloom.

“Master.”

At that time, Ryan approached him, deliberately calling him by a title other than Duke.

“We’ve caught the tail. What would you like to do?”

Dihart stroked his lips at the cautiously whispered words.

“I can’t keep them waiting.”

“Then….”

“Let’s go right away. If they’re so easily tracked, their situation must be obvious. If I leave them alone, I’ll be misunderstood.”

“What misunderstanding are you talking about?”

Dihart put on the black leather gloves that Ryan handed him and chuckled.

“Leaving a traitor to die comfortably only applies to my wife.”

“Ah.”

“I can’t let those bastards run around as if they’ve become my wife. Don’t you think so?”

Dihart raised his head at the shadow covering his head.

Dark clouds were gathering from the distant sea.

“Perfect timing.”

* * *

‘Doesn’t Nathan have any learning ability?’

Sevelia looked down at Nathan, who was screaming and being carried away in a carriage, as if he had regained his senses.

If he goes back like that, he will probably be scolded by his father. Nathan’s tendency to obsess over reputation was inherited from his father.

“I used to be like that too.”

In fact, she was more afraid of her own situation, where she could be abandoned because of her reputation.

“Why did I want to be loved so much?”

My father never gave me a warm look.

The tips of her fingers, which were holding onto the window frame, turned white.

“Why did I want to be recognized so much…….”

A painful smile broke on her lips. The words ‘no learning ability’ were one of the most common things she heard in the mansion. Her father always locked her in the closet, calling her a ‘vermin with no learning ability.’ Every time, Sevelia would repeat in the closet what she had done wrong.

[I must not put food in my mouth in one bite again.]

[Next time, I must use the utensils correctly.]

[I must not disappoint my father….]

After repeating it a thousand times, Denisa would cry and take her out.

‘But in the end, I was even kicked out of the dining table.’

Every time she saw her father’s face, her body trembled and she would drop the utensils. In the end, she couldn’t eat with her family until she married Dihart.

Well, it ended up being the same here anyway.

“Ugh…….”

Was it because she was reminded of that time? Or was it just her body sending her a warning? Along with the feeling that her organs were being dug out, it felt like someone was hitting her chest.

“Huff.”

She closed her eyes and took a deep breath. And she crouched down on the floor, curling up as much as possible. She swallowed the pain as if she was controlling her sadness.

“Haa.”

The pain subsided when her back was soaked with cold sweat.

Sevelia slowly opened her eyes. When she was young, Nelia used to come whenever she was crouching under the bed like this.

‘She used to scold me for relieving my feelings in such a foolish way.’

[If you’re in a bad mood, you can buy jewelry.]

She asked with genuine doubt. But that was a method only allowed for Nelia. Sevelia quietly caught her breath and turned her thoughts elsewhere.

‘Come to think of it, Nelia chose the jewelry I brought as dowry.’

Originally, Nelia was supposed to marry Dihart, so everything was tailored to her taste. Sevelia blinked as if she had a good idea when she realized that fact.

“……Then it must be quite expensive.”

She had forgotten about it until now because she couldn’t think of it as her own.

“I’m glad I didn’t leave that day.”

Sevelia sighed, thanking Denisa.

If she sold Nelia’s jewelry, she wouldn’t have to worry about money.

“I’ll have to ask the butler for the key to the underground vault.”

Sevelia smiled, soaked in cold sweat.

“Peep-”

The bluebird, which had approached before she knew it, leaned against her cheek.