This Beast Never Sleeps at Night (Completed Main Story) - Chapter 14
Swish!
The cold blade grazed Eton’s face.
“Hwaaah!”
He screamed, his face pale as if about to faint.
Fortunately, what had been cut was only the gag silencing his mouth.
“P-please spare me, Count! You said just now you’d let me live!”
Now able to speak, Eton protested through tears.
Christine abruptly grabbed his chin and lifted it.
“Your drawing skills are quite impressive, Viscount Eton.”
His icy voice resonated deeply through the vast hall.
Realizing what Christine meant, Eton quickly made excuses.
“It was just… I was angry about being humiliated at Lady Hans’s party… just a prank…”
“You’re past the age for pranks like graffiti on someone’s wall.”
Christine had discovered the graffiti on Adele’s garden wall while returning to her after hearing the bell.
There, a naked woman was depicted entangled obscenely with a man.
Beneath it was written:
“Please spare me! I’ll do anything you ask! Please! Please!”
Bound to a chair, Eton begged incessantly.
“Answer every question I ask truthfully from now on. If there’s even the slightest lie, this blade will pierce you.”
Christine drew his rapier and ran a finger along its sharp edge.
At the chilling warning, Eton gulped audibly.
“O-of course!”
“Why torment the Marchioness?”
“It’s… because she rejected my proposal…”
“Proposal? You confessed before the funeral was even over?”
“To be honest, I’ve always loved her!”
“So you poisoned the Marquis?”
Eton quickly shook his head.
“W-what are you saying! Everyone knows it was the Marchioness who poisoned her husband!”
“There are only testimonies—no evidence.”
“But the Marquis ate every meal fed to him by his wife.”
Christine’s hand, stroking the rapier, paused.
“She fed him his meals?”
“The Marquis was bedridden, so his wife always had to care for him. Of course, they kept it secret to preserve the family’s honor.”
This was unexpected.
He knew Adele had married an elderly Marquis, but not that he’d been an invalid.
“…Since when?”
“Since their marriage.”
Then, forgetting his own predicament, Eton began chattering away.
“In truth, though she was called Marchioness, the Oswald family merely needed someone to tend to their living corpse of a Marquis. So they brought in a daughter from a humble house, made her Marchioness, and planned to exploit her—it’d look far more respectable than hiring a maid.”
“So she was Marchioness in name only?”
“Yes! Count Grills noticed this and placed his daughter in that position.”
Count Grills was Adele’s biological father.
“He married off his daughter knowing this?”
“He desperately needed business capital at the time—must’ve seemed like an opportunity.”
Christine stood dazed, as if struck on the head.
Adele… why on earth…?
You said you’d become nobility and live well.
You followed your father who abandoned you, never even looking back…
Was that all you lived for?
“The worst part is, he married off his daughter in exchange for receiving her inheritance share in advance. He didn’t care if she was cast out penniless after the Marquis died. In short, he sold his discarded illegitimate daughter for money. Only the poor Marchioness, married off young and clueless, was pitiful.”
Eton clicked his tongue, but quickly shut his mouth when his eyes met Christine’s.
It wasn’t his place to say such things.
“You seem remarkably well-informed about the Marquis’s household.”
“Well… my mother’s side is distantly related. Hehe.”
“So do you truly believe she poisoned her husband?”
“Didn’t I already say? The Marquis ate every meal his wife fed him.”
“When a husband is poisoned, who’s the first person suspected? Yet you still think she did it?”
“How could I possibly know the inner details…”
“No, you do know. If you truly believed she poisoned her husband, you wouldn’t have proposed.”
“T-that’s…!”
By now, Christine’s rapier was pressed against Eton’s throat.
That alone made Eton feel as if he couldn’t breathe.
“Do you know why I let you go at the party? Because I couldn’t kill you unnoticed there.”
But now was different. This was the chapel of a ruined monastery.
In winter, with its short, cold days, hardly anyone came here.
“If you die here, you won’t be found until winter passes—half-rotted into a mummy.”
“H-hah! C-count, please spare me! Spare me!”
Eton wept again, tears and snot streaming down his face.
“Then answer sincerely.”
“I-I truly don’t know who killed him. But the Marchioness was always devoted to the Marquis—I don’t think she’d poison him.”
“Then who did?”
“I really don’t kn—huh!”
As Eton vehemently denied it, he flinched upon meeting Christine’s gaze and whispered hoarsely,
“St… Stone…”
“The Marquis’s eldest son?”
“Yes. Someone saw them arguing on the day the Marquis died. Stone was also the one who immediately accused the Marchioness. Though it’s only my speculation.”
“I see… Stone was involved.”
Christine, who had been muttering to himself, suddenly glared fiercely at Eton.
“But why didn’t you defend her if you loved her?”
“What difference could someone like me make? Stone is the heir of House Oswald.”
House Oswald.
One of the five noble families comprising the Council of Elders.
With the Marquis’s death, Stone, as heir, automatically became a council member—far too powerful for a nobody like Eton to challenge.
But Christine saw right through Eton’s thoughts.
“No, you wanted her driven even deeper into despair. Once broken and ruined, she’d be much easier to take.”
“…!”
“Did I strike too close to the truth?”
Christine’s voice sank low and ominous.
Eton instinctively felt terror.
“I… I wasn’t entirely without such thoughts…”
“So did you really spend a passionate night with her?”
Eton lowered his head.
“In truth… the Marchioness never even glanced my way.”
“How unfortunate.”
“Then I assume you’ll spare me now…”
Christine shook his head.
“Didn’t I say? If there’s even a hint of falsehood, I won’t let you live.”
“But I told you everything truthfully! It’s all true!”
“What about the graffiti on the wall?”
“…!”
In that moment, Eton realized.
He’d never intended to spare him from the start.
“Have you already forgotten your own confession? That the graffiti was a lie.”
“T-that’s…!”
As Eton stared with a horrified expression, the corner of Christine’s red lips curled faintly upward.
“Of course, there’s not absolutely no way for you to survive.”
“What is it?”
“Pack up everything immediately and leave Greenhill.”
“But my family has lived here for generations! Anything but that!”
“Then die here.”
He was utterly resolute. There was no other choice for survival.
With a tearful face, Eton nodded.
“I’ll leave.”
Clang!
Christine tossed the rapier he’d been holding onto the floor before Eton and turned away.
Still tied to the chair, Eton stretched out his foot, pulled the rapier toward him, and easily sliced through his bindings with its sharp blade.
But holding the fine blade, Eton quickly succumbed to sinister temptation.
Christine now stood defenseless, his back exposed—and unarmed.
Even the mightiest warrior couldn’t do much against a surprise attack while unarmed.
Just as he’d said, if he died here, his body wouldn’t be found until winter ended. Everything would be buried without a trace.
“Yaaah!”
He thrust the rapier with all his strength toward Christine’s back.
But immediately, his face turned deathly pale and his mouth gaped open.
“Huh—wh-what…!”
His terrified pupils trembled wildly, then suddenly widened in shock.
Whoosh!
Christine’s enlarged shadow swiftly lunged toward him.
“Kraaah! Aaah!”
A horrific scream echoed, mingled with the stench of blood.
Christine emerged from the monastery completely naked, not a thread on his body.
His moonlit, translucently pale skin and flowing silver hair made him seem like a being from another dimension.
Red droplets speckled his deathly white cheeks—but even that looked strangely beautiful.
Zimmer hurried over and wrapped a long cape around him.
“Did you know the Marquis was an invalid, unable to move?”
Christine asked as he draped the cape around himself.
“Yes, well… it seems the Marquis’s household kept it secret.”
Christine’s eyes sharpened.
“Why didn’t you report it?”
Zimmer looked bewildered.
“Did you forget? You said investigations into the Marchioness weren’t necessary—since she’s a traitor…”
Remembering his own words, Christine frowned.
“No investigation into Adele—but look into the late Marquis Oswald’s death. And into Stone Oswald as well.”
“I anticipated that—I’ve already started investigating.”
When Christine paused and glanced at him, Zimmer smiled gently.
“I thought you’d eventually grow curious.”
What a perceptive fellow.
“And pack a simple bag and leave it at Adele’s house.”
“Yes, Captain!”
Christine was deeply annoyed by Zimmer’s grinning face.
It looked as if he’d known this would happen all along.
“It’s not what you think.”
“I’m not thinking anything!”
“You’re still an irritating fellow.”
Grumbling under his breath, he climbed into the carriage.
Zimmer quickly followed and asked,
“But are you really alright?”
“What do you mean?”
“It’s peak mating season in winter—and you’ll be living under the same roof as her. His Majesty seems to be considering marriage to Princess April—if something untoward happens…”
When Christine scowled,
“I’m just saying. Yes. I’m fine either way…”
Zimmer began vigorously polishing the window with his sleeve until the back of his head stopped stinging.
“It’s the Emperor’s order.”
“Yes?”
“I must find something from her—a blank document bearing the Emperor’s signature.”
Zimmer looked slightly shocked.
“So… you deliberately approached the Marchioness?”
“I already told you. I don’t like traitors.”
This time, Zimmer looked utterly baffled.
So it wasn’t because you liked her?
Even though your emotions go wild every time you see Adele? Even though your gaze burns so fiercely?
“Adele, don’t come! Stay there!”
“Good heavens! What beast could do such a thing…”
Blood staining the pristine snowfield crimson… and collapsed in the center of it…
“Haaah!”
Adele screamed and opened her eyes.
Looking around, she saw the familiar bedroom lit by flickering candlelight.
‘Phew… it was just a dream…’
She must have dozed off after tossing and turning from insomnia.
In that brief slumber, she’d had a nightmare.
The same dream again.
Adele got out of bed, brushing back her sweat-dampened hair.
Glug… glug…
She opened the wine bottle on the fireplace and drank straight from it.
Christine was mistaken.
She was no longer a girl who drank milk with sugar to fall asleep.
On sleepless nights, she relied on alcohol like this.
Feeling the sharp burn of the high-proof wine through her insides, she walked to the bookshelf beside the fireplace.
After pulling out the books from the bottom shelf and feeling along the wall,
Click.
The wall behind the bookshelf slid out like a drawer.
A small box emerged. Inside lay a red scroll.
It was something the late Marquis Oswald had hidden deep within his vault.
Thinking it extremely important, Adele had stolen it when leaving the Marquis’s household eight years ago.
Yet, absurdly, the document contained nothing—only the signature of Duke Valensia at the bottom.
Duke Valensia’s signature was somewhat surprising. She’d assumed he and the Marquis were on bad terms, given his strained relationship with the Council of Elders.
And shortly afterward, that Duke Valensia became Emperor.
A blank document bearing the current Emperor’s signature…
What meaning could it possibly hold?
Male lead is a Love-Obsessed Merman
When he discovers she has gone, he risks everything to pursue her on land, enduring agonizing pain to transform his tail into human legs…
One-line summary: Male lead chases female lead. The male lead’s love is a bit sick, an invincible love brain.
Synopsis
During a voyage at sea, Jiang Yang accidentally captures a merman.
Servant: I heard that mermen are fierce and brutal.
Jiang Yang looks at the merman obediently rubbing her palm like a puppy: “You call this fierce and brutal?”
Servant: I heard that mermen have no human nature.
Jiang Yang looks at the merman with wet puppy eyes, obsessively calling her ‘A Yang’ like a childish infant: “You call this having no human nature?”
With great difficulty, she releases the merman back into the sea and returns to shore.
Who would have thought that in less than half a month, the merman, who should have been freely wandering in the South China Sea, would shed his scales, endure the pain of losing his tail, transform into human legs, and come ashore to find her?
He kneels at her feet, rubbing her palm, with merman tears rolling down: “A Yang, don’t abandon me.”
_____
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MANGA DISCUSSION
1 Comment
Chapter Comments (25)
I was impressed by Zimmer’s honesty and integrity 🫠
I love how she handles it gently. 🫠🫠🫠🫠🫠🫠🫠🫠🫠
He seems determined to make her bathe in luxury 😩❤️
Inline Comments (1)
The bigger problem was that he had no memory of what happened during his transfo
Please don’t be you, anyone but you 😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭
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Anna Anna
Ah, it seems the emperor has a huge secret with the dead marquis