After I Died, My Husband Went Mad [EN]: Chapter 84

“Your Grace!”

When I came to, I saw Ilay before me.

‘Where’s Sebelia?’

Dihart’s eyes widened. He shot up from his seat, his face pale. However, his body, weakened by two days without food, collapsed.

“Be careful!”

Startled, Ilay grabbed his shoulder. Dihart pushed him away, using Ilay as support, his gaze dazed. The cross necklace he’d been holding fell to the carpet with a soft thud.

Only when the necklace rolled on the floor did Dihart remember what had happened.

“Ah.”

He groaned, clutching his head. Yes, two days had passed since Sebelia had returned the necklace.

Her question – whether he had ever apologized properly – had shocked him deeply. His memory ended there, and he vaguely recalled Ilay and Wetz helping him back to his room when he came to.

“Damn it.”

Dihart hadn’t seen Sebelia in the two days since. He couldn’t bring himself to face her. Shame and self-loathing overwhelmed him. He felt nauseous, on the verge of tears.

‘How could I be so selfish and foolish?’

He’d mistakenly believed he was forgiven with a half-hearted apology. He ignored his wrongdoings, the actions that had hurt and deceived her, and simply wallowed in his own feelings, offering a vague apology and expecting her acceptance.

‘I knew it was too easy.’

The apology he tacked on as a bonus while confessing his feigned amnesia. That, in itself, was just another way of deceiving and belittling Sebelia.

“Ha.”

It felt like swallowing sharp thorns. Dihart sneered, feeling the pain in his own shamelessness. Cold ridicule poured out.

‘And I didn’t even realize it.’

He dared to mistake her anger for concern. He indulged in a strange feeling every time her angry blue eyes met his, entertaining vain dreams, completely undeserving of them.

Dihart barely managed to lie down on the couch when a knight rushed into the office. Ilay intercepted the two letters the knight carried, seeing Dihart was in no state to even open his eyes.

“They couldn’t have written it all in one… tsk.”

Ilay clicked his tongue, examining the envelopes. One was five days old, the other two. The real issue was the red ‘Express Mail’ stamp on the latter.

Something urgent must have happened after the first letter was sent, warranting express delivery.

“Your Grace, please take a moment.”

“……”

“It’s a letter from Sir Ryan. It seems the matter with Lord Lims and Miss Flora has been settled.”

“Give it to me.”

Dihart pushed himself up with one arm and reached out. Ilay hesitated before handing over the letter, sensing the fierce energy radiating from him.

Dihart tore open both envelopes as if ripping them apart. The first letter was lengthy, but he skimmed it, as it contained expected news. The second letter was the problem.

The letter from the ‘Express Mail’ envelope was short, just a few lines, but Dihart read it repeatedly.

Soon, his gaze chilling, he muttered, as if chewing on the words:

“…Silas Weden.”

The lips that spoke the familiar name tightened and twisted. Sensing the unusual atmosphere, Ilay asked without thinking.

“Silas Weden? Isn’t he the late Duchess’s father? Why is he mentioned in Sir Ryan’s letter?”

“See for yourself.”

Dihart scoffed, throwing the letter. Ilay snatched it from the air and read. His hazel eyes widened.

“What nonsense is this?”

“You said it.”

“Staying at Hillend Hall to manage the Duchess’s tomb, which has no one left to care for it… what is he thinking?”

It felt like someone had ruined a carefully prepared dinner. It wasn’t enough to derail the plan, but it was unsettling to leave it alone.

“Well, he could be a witness to Marquis Lims’s illegal seizure of the tower and extraction of the Lash family,” Ilay said, his face calmer. Dihart crossed his arms, neither agreeing nor disagreeing.

The diversionary tactic of trapping Lims and detaining Flora wasn’t just about chasing out Lims and imprisoning Flora.

“Either way, there wasn’t enough justification to keep the Lash family detained.”

At Ilay’s words, Dihart closed his eyes. He was right. Dihart had detained Lash and Gren on suspicion of attempting to assassinate Sebelia.

However, without clear evidence beyond the unsent request, dissatisfaction was growing both within and outside the family. So Dihart and Ryan devised a plan.

‘To use Lims’s arrogant personality to make him take out the Lash family, ignoring the procedures.’

No matter how much the head of the family imprisoned them for unreasonable reasons, it outwardly followed common sense procedures. But Lims wasn’t one to care about such things.

His arrogant and reckless nature was obvious from his forcible break-in into the sealed Hillend Hall.

“As expected, Lord Lims heard the news and turned toward his territory. He’s probably going to bring his forces to neutralize Hillend Hall and take out the Lash family. We just have to sit still and wait.”

Perhaps Lims, gleeful after obtaining the relic on the black market, was furious upon hearing that Ryan had betrayed him.

“Shall we send a reply to leave Marquis Weden alone, Your Grace?”

Ilay asked, crossing his arms and looking at Dihart, who had his eyes closed. Dihart, silent until now, suddenly opened his eyes. From within the shadows cast by his brow bones, his golden eyes shone with a hot, intense light, like a burning flame.

“Why doesn’t he know anything?”

“Your Grace?”

Ilay, who was choosing stationery, tilted his head at the sudden mumbling. But Dihart didn’t seem to hear him. His gleaming golden eyes were fixed on something in the air.

“Why didn’t she go to him in the first place?”

“Your, Your Grace……?”

Ilay, starting to feel chills, cautiously tried to approach. Dihart, who had been listlessly lying down, suddenly jumped up with tremendous force.

“Ilay Husfield.”

“Yes, yep!”

“Dispatch people to the capital immediately and gather all information about the Weden Marquis family. Limit the period to the past thirty years, but bring everything, from the maids to the Marquis, their trivial actions and relationships, rumors and gossip.”

“Yes?”

It was getting harder to understand. But Ilay was Dihart’s knight and vassal. After hesitating, he looked at Dihart’s clearly shining eyes and bowed his head.

At least it didn’t seem like madness.

“I will carry it out immediately.”

“Yes. And especially… focus on finding out how Sebelia lived in the mansion.”

Ilay frowned but obediently responded.

‘He hasn’t completely abandoned his lingering feelings.’

Ilay clicked his tongue as he left the office. He thought Dihart had forgotten, since the nonsense about the dead Duchess had decreased after putting Bella, who resembled her, by his side. It seemed he hadn’t completely forgotten.

‘Still, it’s a relief that he no longer says she was unfairly murdered.’

It was a great improvement to have gotten this far. Ilay shook his head, thinking of which spies to send to the capital.

Meanwhile, Dihart, alone in the office, knelt on the floor, staring blankly at the fallen silver cross, his eyes unable to shed tears.

“Please, please. It can’t be.”

The voice that escaped his throat was terribly low and rough. His eyes, stiff from lack of sleep, ached. But he couldn’t rest.

Because of the terrible delusion that occupied his mind.

‘Why, why didn’t you go to your family even though you ran away while faking your death?’

Sebelia Weden was the beloved youngest daughter of the Weden Marquis family. She was a treasure too precious to be exposed to the world, hidden away so her delicate cheeks wouldn’t be exposed to the harsh storms of the world.

That was Sebelia Weden as the world knew her, the only past he knew. Although he had been betrayed by her after receiving her father’s orders, and contact had been cut off, if she had grown up in love for over twenty years, she should have naturally sought out her family after leaving the North.

Whether it was the Weden Marquis, her siblings, or even distant relatives… She shouldn’t have hidden alone in this small city, suffering from a rare disease.

“Ah, Bella. Please……!”

However, she crossed the empire alone, as if mocking his thoughts. As if family didn’t exist, she relied only on herself.

And that was a terrible reality that shattered Dihart’s long-held beliefs.

[This is, this is a frame-up. I would never do such a thing.]

Sebelia might have really been used by her father. She really might not have known anything…….

[Why would I ever do such a thing? Dihart, think about it one more time. I wouldn’t do that to you.]

As if a scream would leak out, Dihart bit his lip until it bled. Bright red blood dripped onto the clenched cross.