After I Died, My Husband Went Mad [EN]: Chapter 56

After washing all five blankets, Sebelia was gone when Dihart returned. Dihart glanced at the half-empty cookie basket and went upstairs, assuming she had returned to her room.

“I hope she doesn’t get more agitated after receiving the letter.”

Dihart frowned and picked up a pen. He was uneasy, thinking Ilay might provoke Baron Supredy enough to invade the Sixth Road. But what could he do? It was his fault for forgetting them until now.

Scribble, scribble.

The letter was simple. It was an order to stay put and wait, as he was staying at the destination of the so-called Sixth Road and was fine.

“Hmm.”

However, sending only the letter with Claude would surely raise suspicion. Dihart hesitated, then reluctantly removed the pendant. He stared at Sebelia’s portrait for a long time before finally putting the pendant in the envelope.

‘If he still doesn’t understand, he’s fired as soon as we return to Hillen Hall.’

Dihart took the envelope and went downstairs, where he ran into Claude entering the front door.

“You’ve already prepared it?”

Claude looked surprised as he accepted the envelope.

“It didn’t take long.”

“Right… This is to be delivered to that knight, Ilay. Let me confirm once more. Dark blonde hair, hazel eyes, ornament on his waist, right?”

Dihart nodded silently as Claude recited the description again. Claude nodded along and put the envelope in his pocket.

“Leave the rest to me. Oh, can you go ask Bella if the dinner menu is okay? I’m planning to grill trout in butter, but I don’t know if she’ll like it.”

“She’ll probably like it.”

As Claude headed to the kitchen, Dihart knocked on Sebelia’s door.

Knock, knock.

“……”

People have intuition. A momentary sense developed through accumulated experience. In the short moment the knock echoed through the empty room, Dihart also felt it instinctively.

‘Could it be.’

Click. He opened the door. Sebelia was not in the room. His eyes fell upon the neatly arranged bedding, a small table, and a closet. It looked just like her small room in Hillen Hall. Dihart felt his vision blur. Trauma opened its mouth and swallowed him.

“Gasp.”

He staggered and leaned against the wall. For a moment, he thought he was in Hillen Hall. The desolate room without her, the burned furniture—he had returned to the moment he saw her illusion there.

‘Calm down.’

This isn’t Hillen Hall, and she’s somewhere else. Just because she’s not in the room doesn’t mean she ran away, does it? Be rational, Dihart. Damn it. Please don’t make a fuss.

He took a deep breath, feeling the restraining order in his ears burning hot.

“It’s nothing. She’s here. She hasn’t disappeared. Nothing happened. There’s no reason to leave, that’s right.”

It was a side effect of finding out that Sebelia was alive. He wasn’t this obsessed when she was fake, but after realizing the truth, his anxiety had worsened.

“Hoo……”

His heart was pounding like crazy, as if it would burst at any moment. He groaned, clutching his head, and fled the room.

He calmly searched every room on the first floor. Watts, who was rummaging through something in the study, looked at him with displeasure when he suddenly entered, but he didn’t care.

‘She’s not on the first floor.’

Watts wasn’t in the underground lab, so she wouldn’t be there either. Dihart forced himself to ignore his pounding heart and went upstairs, resisting the urge to shout her name.

‘She might be asleep somewhere. I shouldn’t make a fuss and startle her unnecessarily.’

He tried to act calmly and rationally. However, the movements of opening and closing doors became increasingly violent. Bang, bang! The sound of doors slamming one after another made Claude, who was preparing lunch downstairs, widen his eyes.

“She’s not here either.”

The anxiety grew larger and larger. His mind, worn down by Sebelia’s death, was easily shaken by even small shocks. He gripped the railing with trembling hands and headed to the third floor.

She has to be here.

However, Dihart’s expectations were never fulfilled. He opened the last room, his own, with faltering steps.

Whirr. A cold wind entered through the open window, scratching his cheek. No one was there. She wasn’t here either. Dihart was almost넋을 놓고 있었다 [넋을 놓고 있었다 (neogeul nohgo isseotda) is a Korean expression meaning to be stunned or to have one’s soul leave the body].

“There must be a place I missed.”

Dihart squeezed his eyes shut and opened them, about to leave the room again. A small scream entered his ears through the open window.

“…!”

It was the garden. Sebelia’s scream echoed from there. Dihart disappeared in the blink of an eye.

* * *

Before Dihart found her, Sebelia, who had returned from a short time in the forest, confirmed that the two were in the backyard and headed to the garden.

Watts’ words to stay inside for the time being came to mind, but she couldn’t bring herself to go inside. The stuffiness was sometimes suffocating.

“Ah, good.”

It was only separated by a single wall. Even though it was the same sunlight, what she felt in the living room window and in the garden was clearly different. Sebelia closed her eyes and let out a pleasant groan.

At that moment, something fell on her lap. Had a bird fallen? Sebelia was surprised and awkwardly stood up.

“Huh?”

A cat was rolling on her lap. Sebelia’s eyes widened. Suddenly, a cat? No sooner had the surprise subsided than a cat with thin gray fur suddenly tried to climb onto her shoulder.

“Wait, no. Baby, ouch!”

Sebelia was finally able to understand why the cat had attacked her. Pipit. With a small bird sound, a blue bird jumped down her arm and disappeared into her sleeve.

“Ah.”

I forgot to return you. The cat struggled at Sebelia’s sigh. Her hair became tangled in the gray cat’s hind legs, creating a mess. She didn’t know what to do.

“No, please…. Kyaa!”

The blue bird teased the cat, and the cat, enraged, hissed and stepped on Sebelia as if she were a cushion. When she tried to put it down, the cat, unlike its cute appearance, fiercely struck her hand.

Eventually, she saw blood.

“Ouch!”

Perhaps annoyed by the hands that kept touching her, the cat bit her wrist. Fangs pierced her skin and dug in deeply. Sebelia stared blankly at the scene.

She was too embarrassed to get angry. She was about to sigh and try to remove the cat.

“Sebelia!”

A man who suddenly appeared with hurried footsteps picked her up. As if the cat’s attack wasn’t enough, bizarre things happened one after another today.

She raised her voice in embarrassment.

“Put me down!”

“You’re bleeding. Who dares…! It’s you.”

Dihart’s golden eyes turned to the gray-haired cat. Even though it was just a beast, the glare was intense. Hiss-! The cat arched its back and threatened him.

Sebelia stopped Dihart.

“I don’t know what you’re thinking, but no. Leave it alone.”

“But.”

“And put me down too. Quickly.”

Dihart hesitated, holding her in his arms. His wavering eyes were clearly visible. Sebelia stared at him intently. Eventually, Dihart had to put her down on the ground with a soft sigh.

The cat had already straightened its folded ears and was circling around them. When Sebelia gestured for the cat to go away, Dihart frowned and said.

“Still, we need to do first aid. Let’s go to Watts right away.”

“That’s what I was going to do.”

She felt relieved when her feet touched the ground. Sebelia sighed and grabbed Dihart’s wrist. His eyes, which had been gloomy, sparkled like the sun.

“Let’s go together.”

“Ah, y-yes.”

Dihart followed her with a fluttering heart. Could she have developed some feelings for me? He walked as if he were flying, wondering where the anxiety that had been ringing in his head until just now had gone.

Of course, unlike his guess, Sebelia was dragging him along because she was worried that Dihart might harm the cat. She was worried about what to do if he said no when she grabbed his wrist, but that didn’t happen.

But there was another problem.

‘He called me Sebelia.’

He clearly said he had lost his memory. How did this happen? Has he regained some of his memory?

Sebelia headed to the lab where Watts was, slowly organizing her thoughts. It wasn’t a good sign.

Knock, knock.

She watched Dihart knocking on the door of the underground lab from a step away. His eyes looking back were gentle and kind. But now that the name Sebelia had come out of his mouth, she couldn’t trust him anymore.

‘I have to be careful.’

On the first day she reunited with him, she thought it didn’t matter whether it was amnesia or deliberate acting. But as she spent time with him, her thoughts changed.

Whatever the inside story, he was Dihart. Sebelia felt that the memories of the past kept coming back to her as she faced him. Of course, it wasn’t his fault. Dihart, who had lost his memory, was a different person.

It was entirely Sebelia’s own problem. So she was feeling a slight guilt towards Dihart, who didn’t know anything.

‘But if his memory comes back, the story will be different.’

At that time, I might really resent you. After abandoning the past called Sebelia Inverness, I might irresponsibly pass the responsibility on to you.

“That can never happen….”

“Bella, what did you say?”

“Ah, nothing.”

Sebelia shook her head as she followed Dihart into the lab. His kind eyes were looking down at her.

“There’s a lot of blood. What if it doesn’t stop? What if there’s an infection or something.”

“It’ll be okay if you apply medicine.”

Passing by his worried side, Sebelia steeled her heart.

Whether it was a coincidence that her name came to mind, or whether her memory temporarily returned.

It was certain that change was beginning.