After I Died, My Husband Went Mad - Chapter 166

It’s been five days since Sebelia returned the cross necklace to Dehart. Since then, she hadn’t seen him.

‘He hasn’t been showing up for meals either… He’s probably avoiding me.’

Thinking back to the devastated look in Dehart’s eyes, like a cracked gem, Sebelia turned her head silently. Outside the window, thick blue smoke was rising from the heart of the mountains.

“Are they working morning and night?”

The smoke was from the people sent to the sacred site and relic excavation.

Sebelia furrowed her brow as she recalled the smoke that had risen relentlessly into the sky even during the early hours of the morning. She had also just learned that Dehart had handed over the rights to the sacred site and relic excavation to Baron Suffredi.

‘He didn’t have to do that…’

Normally, the rights to excavate sacred sites and relics belong to the one who first discovers them. The law was created because aristocrats, who are reluctant to manage sacred sites, often try to cover them up if they’re discovered on their lands.

So, even if the sacred site was discovered near Suffredi’s territory, the rights should have belonged entirely to Dehart. But he blatantly transferred those rights to the Baron.

The reason, however, was because of her.

‘To keep securing the glass flowers…’

He must have felt deeply guilty. He’d already secured enough of the flowers to use as medicine, so why was he still going after the original site?

Sebelia shook her head, trying to understand Dehart’s mindset. No matter how much she thought about it, she couldn’t follow his logic. In her opinion, that wasn’t what he should be focused on right now.

[Since you pretended to have lost your memory, have you ever told me why you were sorry, or for what reason? Have you?]

That day, he just ran away. After hearing her cold words, Dehart had gone silent and trembled, leaving the room with eyes shattered by shock. He looked almost like he was possessed.

Sebelia had chosen not to stop him. She would wait until he found the reason, or at least until he came to her to explain it.

But instead of coming to ask her what he’d done wrong, he tried to make amends in his own way.

‘It was my mistake… I should’ve known better. I knew how stubborn he was.’

Sebelia swallowed her bitter smile as she fiddled with her teacup. But there was one difference this time. She had changed.

“The time left is two days, Dehart. I won’t wait any longer…”

A week—that was the maximum time she was willing to give him.

Sebelia absentmindedly blinked her eyes as she watched the smoke blend with the clouds. The same kind of smoke was probably rising from the lab right now, although it would be invisible due to Claude’s barrier.

‘Once Watts comes down, my treatment will essentially be finished.’

Watts had promised to return with the medicine two days after taking the glass flowers back to the lab. When that day came, it would be the final step toward her full recovery.

So, Dehart had to come before then. She had to end this awkward escape before the only remaining connection between them was severed completely.

* * *

Unaware that Sebelia was counting the days, Dehart was trapped by his guilt, spending each agonizing day in torment.

“Sigh.”

“Your Grace, Lady Licia has sent a letter requesting an audience.”

Eli handed over a small card. Dehart didn’t even glance at it, dismissing it with a wave of his hand.

“Tell her I don’t have time.”

Dehart spoke and then took another handful of medicine. His insomnia and headaches had returned, and he couldn’t bear it without the pills.

“I don’t even know what she wants. Last time she made a fuss about herbs, and now what does she want, trying to disturb me again?”

His voice was sharp and full of anger, almost sounded like it had thorns hidden within it. Dehart gritted his teeth, cursing himself for not pretending the sacred site hadn’t been discovered.

Of course, it was an impossible wish. The earthquake in the valley had been strong enough to shake even Baron Suffredi’s mansion, so hiding the truth about the sacred site was nearly impossible.

Eli spoke, shrugging under the glare of his angry superior, spoke.

“This time, it seems she wants details about what happened in the valley. She claims it’s for the report or something like that.”

“Tell her if she keeps prattling on about it, I’ll revoke the rights to the sacred site. I’ve given her a useless piece of meat and now she’s acting like she’s entitled to more.”

Hearing the growl in Dehart’s voice, Eli clicked his tongue in dismay. He didn’t know if his indifferent, foul-tempered superior realized it, but Licia Suffredi was clearly very interested in Dehart.

‘How else would she be so persistent?’

Dehart had already refused several times, saying he was too busy and uninterested. Any other woman would have taken offense and given up, but Licia kept pushing.

‘Is she aiming for the position of the next Duchess?’