After I Died, My Husband Went Mad - Chapter 101
“Enough. Just leave me alone. Please, even if just for a moment.”
Dehart shook his head and loosened Claude’s grip. He leaned against the railing and closed his eyes. The familiar darkness welcomed him.
“Ugh…”
But the pain didn’t fade. Instead, whispers filled his mind, telling him that she had abandoned him.
[She was alive. This isn’t some petty trick; it’s the truth—the truth you refuse to accept.]
[How terrible must it have been for her to go so far as to prepare a corpse to escape from you?]
Ha ha ha ha, a chilling laughter echoed in his ears.
“Shut up…!”
“Get a hold of yourself! Don’t curl up or bow your head. Breathe properly!”
With his mind increasingly unstable, Dehart’s defenses instinctively raised its head. A stubborn prejudice tried to convince him that she was a fake and that he didn’t need to have such thoughts.
But he knew he couldn’t do that. The moment he looked at Sebelia lying on the bed, he was unable to think at all. Deep down, he had already been considering the possibility that she might be real.
“Ugh…”
He couldn’t accept his own thoughts simply because everyone said he was crazy.
Fortunately, with Claude’s help, Dehart’s episode subsided. His once-white eyes returned to their original color. Seeing his golden eyes back to normal, Claude let out a sigh of relief.
“Cough…”
As Dehart exhaled roughly, Claude slowly rubbed his back. After seeing that Dehart had calmed down to some extent, he continued with his unfinished words.
“While your life isn’t in immediate danger, Miss Bella needs a guardian right now. But I’m busy, and so is Watts. Plus, for some reason, she doesn’t seem willing to mention anything about family or acquaintances.”
“…So in the end, I have to step in. I’m the only one who knows anything about her.”
Dehart said bitterly. Claude nodded in agreement. Dehart sighed deeply and ruffled his hair, looking quite troubled.
“Right. The conclusion of this long conversation is that you want to know what kind of relationship she and I have.”
Dehart splashed his face with water a few times before getting up from his seat.
“Fine. There’s nothing else I can do right now anyway.”
The two men headed to Dehart’s room. Moments later, Claude’s long sigh filled the space.
* * *
The next day, Sebelia sat propped up against the head of her bed, reading the book Watts had given her. It was an advanced edition of the book she had been reading in the garden.
[Let’s consider this a preliminary study. Since we can’t go into the forest for a while, let’s invest the remaining time in studying.]
Sebelia looked at the academic text filled with technical terms, her expression heavy with thought. Although it was an advanced edition, it seemed overly complicated. The tiny, meticulous print filled her vision, causing her head to throb.
“It seems Mr. Watts is overestimating me.”
Watts wasn’t a warm or considerate teacher. Sebelia didn’t expect that from him, so their lessons proceeded quite smoothly. The issue was that the level he expected from her was high.
“Ugh.”
Sebelia opened the book again but quickly slammed the cover shut. It seemed she had to stop for today. She tucked the book, marked ‘Advanced,’ under her pillow and lay back down.
“…I’m bored.”
Sebelia blurted it out, eyes widening in surprise. A playful smile crept across her lips.
In the past, lying here made me feel tired, lonely, and desolate.
Now, she felt relaxed enough to complain about boredom. Sebelia realized how much she had grown since leaving Hillend Hall. Her shoulders, which used to hunch, were now naturally straight, and she occasionally stood her ground against Claude.
“I’m glad I left.”
If she hadn’t had the ability to create illusions, it might have been impossible. Sebelia thought she was quite fortunate. If it hadn’t been an illusion, she wouldn’t have been able to remove her existence from the world so cleanly.
Knock, knock. At that moment, someone knocked on the door. Sebelia looked up and told them they could come in.
“Bella.”
The door opened to reveal Dehart. What was he doing here so early in the morning? Sebelia’s curiosity was quickly resolved when she saw the contents of the tray he was holding.
“I brought breakfast. I figured it would be hard for you to come to the dining room.”
Dehart carefully crossed the room with the tray. Sebelia blinked at his precarious steps, as if he was walking on the edge of a cliff.
“…What is all this?”
The food laid out on the table was far too extravagant for breakfast. There were three types of soup, five kinds of bread, and an impressive four salads made from fresh vegetables. When Sebelia looked at him with a face full of disbelief, Dehart appeared flustered.
“Is it not to your liking?”
“It’s not that; it’s just too much.”
“Oh. That was the problem. I was surprised.”
Dehart said, brushing his chest in relief.
“I prepared it so you could choose what you wanted, so it’s fine if you leave some behind.”
He handed her the cutlery with a smile. Sebelia looked up at him as if she was staring at a madman.
