After I Died, My Husband Went Mad [EN]: Chapter 6

“P-Please… I don’t know anything. I’ve never been to such a place, Aaaagh…!”

Dihart crossed his arms, his eyes indifferent.

Half a day had passed since they caught their lead. He hadn’t uttered a word, no matter how much they tried to coax him.

‘I can’t let it end here.’

Tsk, Dihart clicked his tongue and swept his hair back. At his gesture, his subordinate stopped the torture.

“Do it moderately and keep him alive. And…”

Just then, an unpleasant smell and a disturbing warmth spread through the blood-filled room. Turning his head, he noticed Ryan holding something. As he stared, Ryan offered it as if he had been waiting for the moment.

“It’s not good to keep skipping meals.”

Beyond absurd, Dihart identified the source of the unpleasant smell. He frowned, looking down at the red meat wrapped in packaging. The pungent, heavily spiced aroma assaulted his nostrils.

As the silence stretched, Ryan added nonchalantly,

“They were selling it at a nearby market. Quite popular, actually.”

“Do you think I care about that right now, Ryan?”

Dihart raised his eyebrows and stood. “You can eat that. I can’t understand your bizarre taste at all. You or her…”

Dihart, mid-sentence, stopped. He paused, reflecting on what he’d said, then let out a hollow laugh, as if dumbfounded.

“They say the smell of blood drives people crazy.”

Muttering, his hand covering his mouth, Dihart left the room with deliberately heavy steps. Ryan quietly watched him go.

* * *

Meanwhile, Sebelia was arguing with the butler.

“That is my right, Gross.”

“Even so, Madam, I cannot allow it.”

Sebelia stated coldly. The two were in conflict over access to the underground vault. Seeing her unyielding stance, Gross looked troubled.

Frankly, he didn’t understand Sebelia’s sudden insistence.

‘Is she trying to assert herself as the mistress of the house now?’

Gross had noticed Sebelia acting strangely lately.

Especially the way she glared at him in front of the greenhouse.

‘Something must be going on.’

Gross scanned Sebelia suspiciously. Her claim of retrieving her dowry felt like a flimsy excuse.

“As you know, there are many other valuables in the underground vault besides Madam’s dowry. So…”

As Gross dragged on, saying whatever came to mind, Sebelia cut him off.

“Are you implying I might steal something?”

Sebelia’s face was stiff. Gross shrugged, feigning surprise.

“Oh, my, you take it that way. You’re always so sensitive, Madam.”

He acted particularly prickly, as if compensating for his earlier deference. Sitting with his legs crossed, he stroked his mustache and said,

“Well, to be honest, I can’t say I’m not worried.”

“……”

“And it’s not like I’m doing this on purpose. I hope you understand.”

Sebelia, who had been standing and looking down at him, lowered her eyes coldly.

“Isn’t it all Madam’s reckless behavior that led to this situation in the first place?”

He looked up at Sebelia with a sneer.

“So, if you really want to enter the underground vault, get permission from the master [Dihart].”

Gross said this and immediately picked up a pen, focusing on his paperwork. It was a complete dismissal. Sebelia stared at him for a moment, then returned to her room without a word.

“Ha.”

Sebelia went straight to her desk and yanked open the drawer. If the butler was going to act this way, she had her own plans.

* * *

“It smells nice.”

Unlike Sebelia’s room, inside a luxurious and extravagant room, Flora was enjoying a leisurely tea time. The room was decorated to resemble a duchess’s chambers.

“I don’t know why Brother is letting such good things rot.”

She, Dihart’s cousin, was arrogant and presumptuous to the extreme. The bigger problem was that those around her knew her personality and indulged her.

“Hmph, I miss him.”

Flora pouted, whining to herself. All of this was possible because she and Dihart had grown up together like siblings. Rash, Dihart’s uncle, had taken in Dihart, who had lost his parents, and raised him as his own son.

“When he comes back, I’m going to ask him to give me the duchess’s room this time. It’s better than leaving it as a dust heap.”

Of course, she saw Dihart as more than just a cousin.

‘It won’t be long now.’

Flora hummed, pouring milk into her dark black tea. The hand stirring the spoon looked cheerful. She was enjoying herself, counting the days until the foolish country bumpkin from the central region would leave the mansion on her own.

She had just finished her milk tea and was about to pick up a cookie with her slender fingers when—

“Madam.”

The door opened carefully, and a maid with a familiar face stepped inside.

“Seeing you first thing in the morning doesn’t bode well.”

It would have been reasonable to feel offended by the grumbling words. However, the maid calmly greeted her with an indifferent face and got straight to the point.

“Sebelia visited Gross’s office just now.”

“……What?”

Flora’s face contorted as if she had heard the sky had fallen. Understanding her feelings, the maid quickly added,

“It’s just a rumor, but… according to the gossip, it seems Sebelia requested the key to the underground vault.”

“What did Weden’s bastard ask for? Seriously? I didn’t hear wrong, did I?”

Then she burst into laughter as if she had heard a joke. The red hair inherited from her mother rippled softly with her movements.

“This is the funniest thing that’s happened in ages. Ahahaha.”

Flora caught her breath, which had quickened from laughing, and asked the maid,

“So what happened? Did our eminent bastard enter the vault?”

At her question, the maid bowed her head and answered,

“No. Gross refused Sebelia’s request, saying she had to get the Duke’s permission.”

“Yes, of course, he should.”

“But Flora, Miss…”

Even as she spoke, the maid’s face was troubled. She was worried.

“I don’t know about now, but if it comes out later that Miss has touched Sebelia’s jewelry, things will get serious.”

Flora waved off the premature worry, looking confident.

“That won’t happen. And who said I touched it? I just borrowed something that no one uses and lent it to someone else for a while.”

Flora nonchalantly drank her tea and took a bite of her cookie. The maid almost forgot her worries at her shameless and brazen attitude.

“And who would dare to scold me?”

In fact, there was a valid reason for her extremely shameless and selfish attitude.

In the first place, it was Dihart who entrusted the key to the underground vault to his father. He had said he was asking him to manage his property while he was away.

Didn’t that mean he wanted her to use it as she pleased? Besides, she and her mother were managing the entire duchy instead of that bug-like bastard.

So, the real duchess was herself.

“I can bring it back anytime, so what’s the big deal?”

The maid glanced up at her, who spoke as if it were nothing, and said in a small voice,

“But what’s in there can only be disposed of by the duchess, Miss.”

The jewels that had been owned by the duchesses for generations and the dowry that Sebelia had brought were stored there.

According to the rules, Flora, who was from a collateral line, could not enter the underground vault without permission.

“You… whose side are you on right now?”

Flora glared at the maid, raising her eyes.

“Anyway, Brother won’t allow that bitch to enter the underground vault.”

Perhaps having regained some energy, Flora straightened her posture and swept back her disheveled hair.

She laughed boastfully.

“He wouldn’t give that right to the stupid bitch who not only stabbed Brother in the back but also tried to squander the duchy’s wealth on the poor.”

It was some time after the fact that Sebelia had betrayed him was revealed. One day, she tried to start a poverty relief project, saying she would fulfill her duties as a duchess, which she had been neglecting. However, her good intentions only made Dihart feel more uncomfortable.

‘Stupid bitch. Who knew you wanted something like that.’

Flora raised her chin, scoffing at Sebelia’s foolish and naive thoughts.

“The butler is carrying out Brother’s will, so there’s no problem. It’s okay.”

Flora said haughtily, raising her chin.

“So, you go and keep a close watch on that stupid bastard. Got it?”

Then she opened the drawer, took out a handful of gold coins, and dropped them into the maid’s hand. Greed colored the maid’s face as she witnessed the glittering gold.

“I will follow Miss’s orders.”

The next day, Flora was shocked by the news the maid brought in a hurry.

“She dared to send a letter to Brother?”

“Yes, Gross stopped her from going to the post office this morning…”

Flora was speechless and angry at the presumptuous behavior. The maid looked at her blankly and said,

“What should we do now, Miss? If the Duke permits it-.”

“……Was it true that she was crazy?”

Anyway, she had heard that Nate had been carried away and that she had completely gone crazy.

“I just thought it was nonsense out of embarrassment….”

Only then did Flora realize the seriousness of the situation and bit her fingertips.

“This won’t do.”

“Yes?”