After I Died, My Husband Went Mad [EN]: Chapter 86

It was just a letter, but it felt like my heart was overflowing.

“It really is a letter from Earlsick.”

Joy flickered in Sebelia’s eyes as she saw the blue bird seal stamped in the corner of the envelope. She handled the small letter with careful hands, as if it were a jewel.

“I’ll take these.”

Claude took the two parcels with unknown contents and said. Sebelia led the way out of the post office. A cool breeze blowing from the mountains brushed her cheeks.

It was a pleasant sensation.

“Haa.”

Taking a deep breath of the cold air, her feverish body cooled down a little. Only then did Sebelia realize that she had been overly excited by Danisa’s message.

‘Oh, dear.’

Come to think of it, she had even dragged Claude along with her earlier. Realizing this, her face flushed again. Biting her lip, Sebelia hesitated and stopped walking.

“Bella?”

Claude asked, as if wondering why. Sebelia turned and apologized with an embarrassed face.

“I’m sorry for being rude. You must have been taken aback by my childish behavior. It’s not much of an excuse, but… I was secretly thinking that I wouldn’t get a reply. So I think I got excited without realizing it.”

Sebelia cooled her flushed cheeks with the back of her hand and barely managed to speak. Claude smiled and shook his head at her voice, which grew smaller as she spoke.

“You don’t need to apologize. I understand completely. It’s news from someone you’ve been waiting for, right?”

“Yes.”

Sebelia nodded with a much relieved face. Claude looked at her with kind eyes, as if to say it was a good thing, and then started walking again.

The mansion was slowly coming into view. Sebelia’s pace quickened as she wanted to go back to her room and open Danisa’s letter as soon as possible. Claude noticed this and smiled, matching her pace.

The feet that had been moving forward unhindered, as if flying above the clouds, stopped because of the appearance of an unexpected person.

“Does Baron Supredi have a four-horse carriage?”

He wouldn’t have enough money for that, Claude muttered.

As he said, what filled the avenue in front of the mansion was a huge carriage. Four horses were tied in front of the luxurious white carriage, striking the paving stones with their hooves.

‘Is she trying to cling to him no matter what?’

Claude frowned. He hadn’t had much of a chance to talk to Dihart while pretending to be Carl Ofentz, but he roughly knew how the situation was unfolding.

Baron Supredi, who was content with managing his territory well in a simple way, was not suited for such conspicuous behavior. It was probably the work of his ambitious daughter, Licia.

His guess soon turned out to be true. The coachman, who had been sitting in the driver’s seat, jumped down and opened the carriage door, and Lady Licia appeared.

Licia, with her black hair elegantly twisted up to reveal her white neckline, was as beautiful and noble as a lily. The silver-white dress that softly wrapped around her body was not excessive but elegant.

“Be careful, miss.”

Licia’s eyes met Sebelia’s as she stepped onto the ground with the escort of her maid.

“Oh, my.”

Licia smiled and nodded slightly to Sebelia, then straightened her posture. Soon, the mansion manager ran out to greet her.

“Welcome, miss. He was just about to take a break.”

“I timed it well.”

Licia was guided by the manager and naturally disappeared into the mansion. It was as if she was welcoming a family member who had returned home after a long time.

“Let’s go in, Bella.”

At Claude’s words, Sebelia realized that she had been blankly staring at the place where Licia had disappeared. She clutched the bag containing the letter and nodded.

“Yes, we should.”

As she stepped inside, she was greeted by an excited atmosphere. The whispers coming from the other side were all full of joy. Probably because they wanted Licia and Dihart to get along.

The back of her hand holding the stair railing turned white.

* * *

Sebelia’s prediction was correct. The servants of the Supredi baronial family, dispatched under Licia’s instructions, all hoped for a romance between her and Dihart.

“If we form a relationship with Inverness, it will be easy for Supredi to revive.”

“That’s when Lady Licia’s era will come.”

The revival of the family and the territory. The Supredi baronial family’s advance into the center. The servants accepted and wished for it to be fulfilled, just like Licia’s wish.

The fact that Dihart’s identity and the fact that he was staying here had not spread outside was actually thanks to them. Licia, who wanted to monopolize him, strictly controlled the servants’ mouths.

In addition, Dihart’s increasingly haggard appearance due to guilt toward Sebelia fueled the petty sense of superiority that had taken root in the servants’ minds.

‘A noble from the North who has received Lady Licia’s grace.’

The closed-minded people of Supredi, who had no idea about the situation in the distant North, ended up thinking that way. So they handed over his every move to Licia without any qualms.

“I heard that the Duke is taking a break. Surely he will meet the lady this time, right?”

The result was this. The mansion manager and Lady Licia, who were telling him to open the door as if it were natural.

“Do you know what you’re saying right now? Huh?”

For Ilay, who had barely appeased Dihart, who was barely maintaining his sanity in despair and self-deprecation, it was truly absurd.

‘I’m going crazy.’

After receiving the news from the spy he had sent to the center, Dihart seemed to be collapsing from the inside. It would be better if he could just explode his pent-up emotions like before. Dihart was just quietly rotting away like a priest who had committed a sin.

Just a moment ago, Dihart had almost suddenly gone on a rampage. Ilay realized through this incident how scary a rampage without warning signs could be.

“Hoo…….”

Ilay sighed annoyedly and swept his hair back. He didn’t have the 余裕 [room to maneuver] to deal with this noble lady who had a flower garden in her head right now.

“It’s not like the Duke is some kind of ascetic priest, or some saint who has to meet and bestow grace whenever someone wants him to. If you want to meet him, please contact us again and…….”

“If I thought of him as an ascetic priest, I wouldn’t have even lent him the mansion.”

Licia cut off Ilay’s words with a smiling face. Ilay’s hand, which had been doing a dry wash, dropped with a thud. His gray-brown eyes stared at Licia with a subtle light.

“I hear that you are not even going to take care of the residents in the position of lending a place to stay, so how should I accept Sir Ilay’s attitude?”

“…….”

“Step aside, sir. I have no intention of holding you responsible for what happens next.”

Her tone was as kind as ever, but the look in her eyes as she looked at Ilay was terrifying. Licia smiled slightly, as if it was a final warning, and gestured to the manager.

“Ha… You don’t have to go this far. You will definitely regret it.”

“Not being able to see the Duke right now would be a bigger regret for me.”

Licia smiled and gestured to the manager to continue. Soon, the sound of a heavy doorknob turning was heard.

Squeak, Ilay folded his arms without a word, leaving the opening door behind. He didn’t even turn his head, maintaining his position facing forward. It was a sign that he would not withdraw his position until the end.

“The Duke has a great loyalist.”

Licia chuckled at his appearance, not backing down or stepping aside, and passed by him.

Whoosh-!

And soon, a storm-like force covered her. The hinges of the wide-open door creaked, and suffocating air pressed down on Licia’s lungs.

“…Cough!”

Her back bent involuntarily. She couldn’t stand without touching the ground with her hands.

‘What, is this…?!’

She couldn’t even open her mouth. It was as if an invisible hand was pressing her down to the floor. Squeak, she heard the sound of the door closing. Her eyes, barely turning her gaze while lying on the floor, saw Ilay’s face disappearing through the crack in the door.

‘I clearly stopped you.’

Licia’s face turned pale as she read the words conveyed by her twitching lips. And soon, a chilling voice rang in her ears.

“…I clearly told you not to let anyone in.”

The shadow that fell over her head flickered ominously. Licia trembled as she barely raised her head. In the middle of his pale face, vivid golden eyes were emitting a chilling light.

“Why won’t you leave me alone?”

Crackle. Hundreds of lights scattered in the air. Small explosions that seemed to blind her eyes and burst her eardrums continued without ceasing.

The face of Dihart, standing blankly in it, had clear traces of blood that had dried black. Only then did Licia’s eyes tremble with fear as she recognized the pungent smell of blood that stung the tip of her nose.

A dry voice fell haphazardly over Licia, who was bowing her head.

“Lady, have you ever asked for forgiveness from someone who cannot be forgiven? Have you ever committed a terrible act while intoxicated with arrogance and confidently offered an apology?”

She didn’t know what he was talking about, but one thing was certain. The Duke was out of his mind.

“D, Duke. I came at the wrong time… I, I’m sorry. I’ll go back right away.”

“Did she look at me with this feeling too?”

Dihart gazed blankly at Licia and muttered to himself as if in self-deprecation. Pow! She heard the sound of sparks bursting.

“Hic…….”

“Did she want to crush me like this? Did she want to see me crawling under her feet, even though she wanted to crush me, insignificant, annoying, and wanting to burst me right away?”

Only then did Licia remember the nickname that was attached to Dihart’s name.

Yes, he was the cursed Duke. The mad Duke of Inverness, who had imprisoned his family in the tower with his own hands and turned the empire upside down in search of the murderer who killed his wife.

“Did you want to kill me too…….”

A cold voice fell over her head.

* * *

Suddenly, the mansion became noisy. Along with the sound of people running around, someone’s scream echoed through the hallway.

Sebelia, who was holed up in her room writing a reply to Danisa, was surprised and raised her head. Claude, who was with her, got up from his seat.

“I’ll go see.”

After a while, Claude returned with a subtle expression. Sebelia tilted her head at his somewhat comical face. Claude stared at her and shook his head.

“It’s nothing. Lady Licia was just making a fuss as she was leaving.”

“…Is that so?”

Something felt uneasy, but she didn’t feel like going out and checking. Sebelia picked up her pen again. Claude shrugged his shoulders with a sigh.