After I Died, My Husband Went Mad [EN]: Chapter 74

“Hoo….”

Thump!

A low breath accompanied the heavy body as it fell onto the canyon floor. They were herb gatherers, carefully touching the walls and examining the glowing stones placed at regular intervals.

A faint light, no bigger than a palm, was all they had.

“Damn it, I’m going to ruin my eyes at this rate.”

One of the men grumbled, shaking his gloves. Even in the dim light, he could see dust falling. Then, Sonsu, the leader, scolded him.

“Don’t be so fussy! Where else can you find a job with this much pay this time of year? No complaining.”

The man frowned. He knew Sonsu was shady, despite his words. As expected, once the herb gatherers were in place, Sonsu gave his usual orders.

“Okay, two-thirds of you stay here, and the rest will explore the cave we spotted last time with me. And Driken, you stay near the ladder and deal with that talking butterfly if it comes down.”

Sonsu pointed at the grumbling man. Driken nodded silently. He was getting tired of the same role, but he didn’t dislike it. If this job went well, he’d be set.

As if to prove his thoughts, Sonsu began his usual speech.

“Remember everyone, if we find just one relic, we won’t have to get our hands dirty for the rest of our lives. We can live a life those knights up there can only dream of.”

Under the faint light, the herb gatherers swallowed hard. Their wavering resolve was once again fueled by desire. Sonsu smirked.

He reminded Driken one last time and left for the cave, a new herb gatherer following him.

“That guy again.”

Sending the remaining herb gatherers to their places, Driken frowned. The new herb gatherer, who had joined a few days ago, was actually a porter. But he wanted to become an herb gatherer, so he clung to Sonsu, flattering him, and now he was even entering the cave.

‘Well, he must be good with his tongue to survive, since he can’t use his limbs properly.’

Driken clicked his tongue and pretended to look for glass snowdrops, taking out a glowing stone from his bag. But even then, he could only see a foot ahead.

Today, the canyon below was as deep and dark as ever.

* * *

He had a terrible dream – a dream in which his beloved family was massacred because of his arrogant choices. Claude woke up from a dream of searching for Rosaline in the endless rain.

“Ugh.”

When he opened his eyes, a soft ball of fur greeted him instead of the damp forest. Claude carefully moved Maya, who had been blocking his breath, and got up.

It was his familiar room.

“Damn it.”

Only then did Claude remember what had happened before he fainted. Alos’s condition had become strange during the lesson with Sebelia, and he had lost his composure because of it.

‘I was too eager.’

The strange signal that came just as he was getting impatient about the lack of news from Dihart had mercilessly cut off his reason. And after that…

“You’re awake.”

“Miss Bella.”

Claude turned his head away, feeling ashamed, and then looked back at Sebelia. He could feel his cheeks burning. Sebelia looked at him with tired eyes and said,

“First of all, I apologize for using an illusion on you without permission.”

“No, no. Please don’t.”

“But it’s true that I treated you carelessly.”

“It was a situation where you had to.”

Claude was grateful for Sebelia’s actions. He admitted he had lost his mind and thanked her for stopping him. Sebelia frowned, sighed, and nodded.

“That’s true. You ran out of here like a crazy colt [young, inexperienced horse] with its tail on fire.”

With a cool voice, she looked down at Claude with her arms crossed. Claude felt awkward as Sebelia accepted his apology so readily.

If it had been the original Sebelia, she would have apologized repeatedly and wouldn’t have known what to do, but now he felt a strange confidence from her. It was like the energy of a teacher dealing with a disobedient child.

“Do you know what? Claude, you have a lot in common with Dihart.”

“Really?”

“Yes, especially the tendency to suddenly lose your mind and go on a rampage.”

“……”

“I can definitely feel that you’re blood relatives.”

Claude’s eyes widened, and then he dropped his head. Sebelia recalled the day she had her first argument with Dihart and sighed.

[Think again. Are you worried about me, or are you worried about the future *you* that will suffer because of me!]

It was the first time she had raised her voice so loudly. Furthermore, it was the first time she had lashed out with such raw feelings.

‘I can’t believe I did that.’

Sebelia unknowingly blamed herself for doing the same thing as her father. But after that, she had a thought as she watched Dihart seem to come to his senses. She thought that getting angry might not be such a bad thing after all.

So, Sebelia suddenly thought that it wasn’t such a bad thing to take care of the fainted Claude and forcibly keep him here.

Men who were usually calm but overly sensitive to certain issues and suddenly went on a rampage needed to have their momentum broken first, no matter the method.

“Claude.”

The subdued Claude looked up at her with gloomy eyes. Sebelia sat down on the chair next to the bed and said,

“It’s not that I didn’t want you to go to the canyon. You’re also my teacher, Claude. Isn’t it natural for me to not want someone like that to run off to a dangerous place without any preparation and end up in a difficult situation?”

“……”

Claude blinked, opening his mouth slightly. Sebelia calmly pointed out the realistic constraints he had overlooked because he was caught up in his emotions.

“Besides, do you think the knights would let ‘Cal Apennz’ [Claude’s alias] into the canyon for no reason? Or were you planning to go in as Claude Inbernes? Neither is possible.”

Claude’s eyes trembled slightly at Sebelia’s calm words. However, Sebelia didn’t bring up those points to make him give up. She pointed to a palm-sized piece of paper on the side table and continued.

“I asked Watts to contact the knights to allow you to observe the glass snowdrop collection site as a doctor.”

“What did you say?”

Claude raised his head, his disheveled brown hair rippling in surprise. Maya, who had been curled up, jumped up from her seat at the sudden movement.

Sebelia hugged Maya, who was trying to attack Claude’s hair, and calmly placed the letter in his hand.

“While you were unconscious, Watts and I insisted that we needed to know the progress as the parties involved. This is the reply.”

“Oh my god. Miss Bella, I…”

Claude looked at her and the letter alternately with a disbelieving expression. Then, he brought his face close to the paper and devoured each word.

“It’s real.”

Claude, who raised his head, was beyond moved. Sebelia patted Maya, who was still struggling to tear at Claude’s hair, and said.

“Let’s go together, Claude. And don’t call me Miss Bella anymore. Bella is enough. You’re my teacher now, Claude.”

Tears welled up in her golden eyes. Sebelia sighed inwardly. *Oh my, the men in this family all do the same thing.*

* * *

“Is this what you’re reporting as progress? Are all the guys under me blind and reading numbers backwards?”

Dihart couldn’t control his temper and threw the documents down. He had been holding back for a long time. Illei admired the fluttering documents.

“But Duke, 0 is still 0 even if you read it backwards…”

“Shut up.”

Dihart glared at him and got up. It had been over half a month since he had broken through the narrow rock walls and entered the hidden canyon. He couldn’t stand by any longer.

“I’m going down myself.”

“That won’t do!”

Illei stood firmly in front of him, receiving Dihart’s murderous gaze.

“You know that even skilled herb gatherers can barely take a few dozen steps a day in that place. No matter how much of a Duke you are, in such a remote place…”

Crack.

At that moment, hundreds of white flames erupted in the tent. Illei quickly looked around in surprise and grabbed Dihart.

“That won’t do. Your body isn’t fully recovered yet…!”

“Does my body seem important to you now?”

With a cold laugh, Dihart shook off Illei. Illei stared at him, bewildered.

“That’s enough. I wasn’t the type to listen to people anyway. It’s a wonder I’ve lasted this long.”

A white line appeared in Dihart’s golden eyes, like lightning striking the sun. His golden eyes were gradually turning white.

“Because I was originally this kind of guy.”

Crack. The inside of the tent was becoming blindingly bright. The surface of the red jewel embedded in his earlobe cracked.

Thud. The severed control device fell to the floor. Illei’s gaze followed it. Passing by Illei, Dihart ordered in a cold voice.

“Send all the herb gatherers up here right now. Have those who are preparing for the next shift stand by, and bring them to me one by one so I can find out what the hell they’ve been doing down there that they’ve only been able to do this much…”

Dihart stopped talking. The blue bird that had been sleeping quietly on the cushion suddenly flew up and crashed into his chest.

“……”

“Duke?”

Illei called him cautiously. Dihart glared at the air with clenched teeth and opened his mouth again.

“Start the interrogation. Don’t use tools, just words!”

With a growling voice, Dihart left the tent. The blue bird hurriedly flapped its wings, following him.