After I Died, My Husband Went Mad - Chapter 54
When Dehart finally regained consciousness, he found himself being carried back to his lodgings by the knights.
“I’m sorry, sir. We all fell for that woman’s words and…”
Denisa casually emerged, having stabbed herself, and said to them with a composed expression.
[The Duke said he wanted to read the Lady’s diary alone.]
The knights were naturally suspicious, but Denisa preemptively allayed their doubts.
[I was thinking of stopping by the post office for a moment. Could one of the knights accompany me?]
As anticipated, the knight fell victim to Denisa’s sharp pen, succumbing like the two burly men before him under the cunning of the middle-aged woman.
“I don’t know what to say.”
The knight at the forefront, his head bandaged, was in a similar state to Dehart.
“I can’t even laugh at this.” Dehart’s despairing golden eyes were closed and hidden. “…No, it’s just as well.”
The bowed knights blinked. They had secretly expected Dehart, who had regained his senses, to turn the situation upside down. But Dehart was not angry, nor did he lose his temper. He looked like a man who had just found his way through a fog-filled maze.
“From this moment forward, we will consider Denisa Roseanne as an accomplice in the murder of the Duchess and track her down.”
“I take it you mean we’re pursuing official action.”
“Right. We need to understand why the nurse, who apparently cared so deeply for Sebelia… would refrain from exposing the truth at the risk of her own life.”
Dehart rose abruptly from his seat and continued, “My ‘adoptive parents’ deemed her ‘unnecessary’ in Inverness. But if that were the case… why did she do it?”
The hollow question resonated in the air. Dehart’s eyes were dry and sunken.
He felt a pang in his chest for Sebelia might have been betrayed by a confidant.
“Trace Denisa’s personal history. Check if her family recently faced financial struggles or if someone fell seriously ill. I need to return to that house.”
There might be something left behind that needs searching. Despite the knights’ insistence that he should rest, Dehart paid them no heed.
“I’m fine.”
Dehart moved his legs without hesitation, soon feeling excruciating pain spreading from his side. The back of his neck stiffened, and he broke into a cold sweat.
“Damn it…”
“It’s primarily a sleeping poison, but it seems to be a mixture of several substances,” Eli, a knight who had been affected by the same poison, said with a pale face.
Eli was the knight personally assigned to Dehart by Ryan who was his distant cousin. According to Ryan, Eli had a promising future ahead of him…
But after this incident, it seemed that his future prospects might not be as bright.
“There are a few substances mixed in there that aren’t life-threatening, but it’ll cause a lot of pain.”
“….”
“Just in case, I applied the healing salve first, and it seems to have done the trick. Would it be alright if I remove the bandage and apply the salve again?”
Dehart clenched his teeth as he watched the Ryan lookalike bluster.
* * *
After applying something to ease the pain and dismissing Eli once, Dehart headed straight for Denisa’s house.
I hope we can find something of Sebelia’s.
Despite the significantly low possibility of finding any connection between Sebelia’s death and Denisa, Dehart couldn’t help but have some hope.
Regrettably, there weren’t many remnants of Sebelia left at Hillend Hall. No, it would be more accurate to say there was nothing left at all.
“It’s a shame I had such a noble aunt.”
In the time it took him to get the news of Sebelia’s death from Ryan, and while he was frantically riding his horse back to the North, Glenn dutifully erased all traces of her. She burned her clothes, books, and other items, believing that the cursed woman’s belongings should not be left behind.
I was able to salvage a pendant with her portrait on it, but…
It wasn’t enough. Dehart turned the corner, filled with regret and blaming himself.
Then, he was just in time to see a mailman leaving after putting something in the mailbox.
“…”
How fortunate. Once Dehart was sure the mailman was gone, he opened the mailbox appearing natural and at ease. His eyes widened as he pulled out an envelope the size of his palm.
[Peter Hansen]
“…Hah.”
He held his breath, a rough exhale breaking through like a dam bursting. A chilling shiver ran through him from head to toe.
Peter Hansen. He was the physician who signed Sebelia’s death certificate. A mysterious doctor who vanished as if he were a mirage, leaving behind only a single document.
But that doctor was in contact with Denisa.
It was strange how no one remembered who brought that doctor. Dehart’s face twisted in disdain as he recalled the testimonies of the servants.
It was the moment when it became certain that Denisa held some uncomfortable secrets related to Sebelia’s death.
Well then. If this person is so inscrutable, it’s understandable why I was foolish enough to let my guard down.
The disdain vanished, replaced by a cold indifference as he tore open the envelope.
Unfortunately, contrary to his hopes, the contents of the letter were disappointingly bland, devoid of any substantial information.
[The air here is quite pleasant. I’ve recently become acquainted with other physicians. They…]
Unless “air” and “physicians” were some form of code, the letter was nothing more than casual greetings to a close friend.
“Tsk.”
Dehart stared at the letter for a while, but the fact remained that there was nothing substantial there.
[…So, I plan to search for the place that’s said to be hidden where the highest hill meets the mountain.]
There was something odd about it, though.
At that moment, one of the knights who had silently awaited his instructions approached him and spoke.
“My Lord, we’ll search the house.”
Dehart glanced at the letter again, slowly nodding his head.
“Alright.”
The sound of them forcefully entering the house resounded shortly after. Dehart turned on his heel and spoke.
Turning on his heel, Dehart said, “Have the carriage ready.”
“Are you going back to the North?”
“No. I think I’ll go take a look at the southeast, where the air is so fresh.”
Thunk. Dehart stomped off, flicking the envelope in his hand.
