After I Died, My Husband Went Mad - Chapter 15
Dehart furrowed his brow, not expecting to meet Roger in a place like this. Roger looked at him, concern written plainly on his wrinkled face. Ryan explained how they came to meet each other.
“I was looking over the, ahem, ‘trash’ from afar when Master Roger spotted me.”
“When Ryan went alone with you, I got worried and decided to come and see if something happened.” Roger’s shoulders sagged as he recalled the sight he’d seen in the street earlier. For a moment, he seemed to carry the burden of an uncle.
He put his arm around Dehart’s shoulders and spoke. “Let’s change locations for now. I can’t leave you alone in this ramshackle place. I hope you don’t mind if we move on now?”
Dehart’s golden eyes bore into his uncle an inscrutable intensity, but Roger simply returned his gaze with a worried expression.
“Ah…” Dehart sighed, running his hand through his hair as he spoke.
“I understand. Please go back for now. Tell Ryan where you want to go and we’ll escort you.”
“I’m coming with you.”
“I have to take care of some things at home.”
“I can send a servant later to take care of those things.”
“No, I need to handle it myself.” Dehart spoke decisively, brushing Roger’s hand off his shoulder. “I prefer not having others handle what’s mine.”
With an irritated expression, Dehart ushered Roger out and closed the door behind them.
In that moment, a soft, delicate sound caught his attention.
“…”
His golden eyes widened at the sudden sound coming from the nameless bird. The bird locked eyes with him and, as if in response to his gaze, started singing.
You damned bird.
He was the one who bought it, and now it’s singing to him with its thin, wavy melody. It was like the bird was laughing at itself and mocking him all at once.
I thought it only looked like you, but you’re really alike.
Thinking of someone who couldn’t do a single thing he liked, Dehart lifted the birdcage.
* * *
“The manor is haunted?” asked Glenn, standing by Flora who couldn’t get up from bed. She had just returned from having to clean up the mess Roger had made.
The maid bowed her head, uncertain about what to say. “Yes… it’s said that the ghost of the first Duchess appeared.”
“You probably saw something else,” said Glenn, dismissing it offhandedly.
Flora, who was whimpering on the bed, opened her eyes and glared at her. “You don’t believe me?”
“Oh, Flora,” Glenn rubbed her temples and sighed. She wasn’t sure how to deal with her petulant daughter. “People often see strange things and hallucinate when they have a fever.”
“I didn’t hallucinate because of a fever!” exclaimed Flora, throwing away the towel from her forehead. “It was really Belita’s ghost. And you! Why haven’t you mentioned what happened afterward? It appeared several more times!”
“Is that true?” Glenn asked in an irritated tone.
The maid hesitated before nodding. “Yes, I didn’t see it myself, but there were a couple of others who claimed to have seen the ghost since then.”
“Look at that, Mother,” Flora, who had found a witness to corroborate her story, raised her chin. “It’s not just me who saw it, and I’m not just scared.”
“Hmm…” Glenn’s green eyes swept past the maid and Flora.
“It’s too convenient,” she remarked. She couldn’t help but suspect it was Sebelia. Belita’s ghost, unseen for generations, suddenly appearing before her daughter and exerting influence had resulted in them opening the safe and replenishing Sebelia’s stolen dowry.
And they wouldn’t have done it were it not for her frightened daughter…
“I can’t let the servants be cowed into siding with that bastard child,” Glenn thought to herself.
Until now, Sebelia had been left alone because she barely had a presence in the estate. But after the ghost appeared, servants voluntarily began treating her as the ‘Lady of the Manor’.
Her presence was growing, and for someone who had handled the ducal estate in her place, this was very dangerous.
I regret sending my husband away. I should have left at least one of us here to oversee things.
She knew he wouldn’t have been able to handle it anyway. He’s always been the kind of person who entrusts important matters to her. It was one of the reasons he had easily gained control of the estate. Still, she couldn’t help but be disappointed.
Frowning, Glenn rose to her feet. “Perhaps I should see it myself.”
“You don’t mean you’re going to meet a ghost, do you?” Flora muttered sullenly.
“Well, I suppose it would be nice to see one while we’re here. I’ve always been curious.”
“Mother!”
Flora trembled, and Glenn chuckled as if finding it adorable. “Don’t worry. What you’re imagining won’t happen.”
“Well, that’s a relief.”
“You’re worried about a mother going to deal with a mere bastard child? How cute.”
Glenn let out a smug smile. “Rather, I should take this opportunity and send her away,”
Glenn remembered the earnest look that was once in Sebelia’s eyes, the way she always gazed at her as if she was her savior.
“Welcome, Glenn.”
But when she saw Sebelia the next day, her demeanor was quite different from what Glenn remembered.
“It’s been a while. How is Flora doing?”
Emotionless eyes, formal greetings.
Glenn barely concealed her bewilderment at being treated as if she were just a passing acquaintance.
