This Beast Never Sleeps at Night (Completed Main Story) - Chapter 16
“…Want to help?”
“Yeah, bring me a sack of flour from the basement.”
“Not that.”
“Huh?”
Adele was flustered by how deeply Christine’s gaze pierced into her.
It always felt as if he could read her mind—like he knew exactly what she feared.
“No, really. Just bring the flour, okay?”
Thankfully, Christine looked away first.
“Yeah, it’s a bit heavy for my delicate self to carry.”
“Ha, right.”
“Who was it that called me nothing but skin and bones?”
“Fine. I’ll get it.”
Surprisingly compliant, Christine headed downstairs.
“They used to call her ‘the Basement Lady’ in the Oswald household.”
She recalled what Zimmer had told her just moments ago.
“The Basement Lady?”
“Yes. She married Duke Oswald, but her bedroom was in the basement.”
“The basement? Was that the duke’s order?”
“No. The duke couldn’t move on his own and took strong medicine to dull the pain, so his consciousness was never quite clear. The lady would care for him and serve his meals whenever he was lucid. Otherwise, she lived alongside the maids.”
“Did the other maids live in the basement too?”
“Well… she was the only one there.”
“Why?”
“Probably to keep her in check—so she couldn’t act as the true mistress of the Oswald estate.”
It made perfect sense.
Adele, daughter of a bakery in a mining village.
She’d become the lady of a noble house at barely eighteen.
Moreover, most of the duke’s children were older than she was.
To those nobles, arrogant to the bone, the young girl was nothing more than something to use and discard at will.
“So in the end, they killed the duke and pinned a crime she didn’t commit onto her?”
“That’s uncertain. It’s true Stone and the duke argued that day, but the lady never claimed her innocence either.”
“She must have been threatened.”
“But after that, Stone was assigned as a diplomat to the Orbis Kingdom. He had every chance to defend himself, yet he’s remained silent…”
“So she killed the duke?”
Christine’s voice rose with unusual intensity.
“No! But if the lady won’t speak, we’ll never know who actually did it.”
It was incomprehensible.
Setting aside her marriage to the elderly duke—why had Adele stayed there, enduring such treatment?
And why did she remain silent?
“Good thing you’re here. I was wondering how I’d carry this up.”
Adele beamed as Christine set the sack of flour on the kitchen counter.
Despite having trembled so violently just moments before.
“Anything else I can help with?”
“The Hero of Kalime offering to help with kitchen chores?”
“The Hero of Kalime needs to eat too.”
“You’re not about to say you’re hungry again…”
Perched on the counter, Christine lazily nodded with a slow smile.
“Why do I get hungry every time I see you?”
“Do I look edible?”
“Yeah, you look really delicious.”
He licked his lips, wearing an expression that suggested he might devour Adele at any moment.
At that instant—
Squish.
“Ugh! What are you doing!”
Adele had stretched both of Christine’s cheeks outward.
“If you keep making those creepy faces, I’ll kick you out of my house.”
After giving him a firm warning, Adele released his cheeks.
“Are you insane?”
Christine snapped, rubbing his numb cheeks, but Adele just laughed brightly.
“If you stay calm and don’t get mad, I’ll make you pancakes. They won’t take long.”
“Ha! As if I’d be satisfied with just some pancakes…”
Yet merely watching Adele, now wearing a white apron and preparing to cook, made his hunger unbearably sharp.
“If they taste bad, I might really eat you.”
“Oh, how scary! First, crack some eggs there. Then open the left cabinet door and get the butter. On top of that, grab the vanilla extract and maple syrup too.”
“Can’t you ask for one thing at a time?”
He frowned, raising an eyebrow—
“Sorry, but can I ask for just one more thing?”
Adele sweetly smiled, carefully extending one finger.
“No!”
“Oh, come on—since you’re being generous, why not be a little more generous?”
“Fine, just one more thing.”
Christine still wore a scowl, but it clearly didn’t faze Adele—she was already asking for something like this.
“There’s a hair tie in my apron pocket. Tie my hair up for me.”
“Tie your… what?”
He’d cut hair before, but never tied it.
But Adele cheerfully held up both hands.
“My hands are covered in flour. Just tie it loosely—just enough so my hair doesn’t fall into the dough.”
“Why do I have to do this…”
Grumbling, Christine nonetheless pulled the hair tie from her apron pocket.
A faded green ribbon hair tie.
He didn’t know much about women’s hair accessories, but surely no woman would wear a ribbon this worn-out.
“How long do you have to use something before it turns into this rag? It’ll snap if I pull it.”
“About ten years, maybe?”
Christine’s hand, gathering Adele’s hair, froze mid-motion.
“Throw it out right now and buy a new one.”
“It’s still usable.”
“Being unable to throw things away is a sickness.”
“No. It’s precious because it’s worn from use.”
“Don’t attach meaning to trash and obsess over it.”
“Oh my! You sound just like Tanya.”
“Lucky for me, even a maid can be smart.”
“She calls me a hoarder—says I obsess over old things and can’t let them go. Come to think of it, I guess I really am like that.”
Adele giggled playfully.
“What about old people, then?”
A quiet voice suddenly came from above her head.
“…Huh?”
She looked up and met Christine’s somber eyes.
“Ten years ago… I wondered if there was a special reason you left like that. Someone who can’t even discard an old object.”
Adele lowered her head and bit her lip.
“I already told you—I wanted to become a noble.”
“So did you become the noble you wanted to be?”
Christine’s low, quiet voice sounded almost accusatory.
Given his network, he probably already knew how wretchedly she’d lived in the duke’s household.
“To put it simply, I was tricked. I thought marrying the duke would mean living in luxury.”
Adele replied casually, pretending to be cool.
Even though her emotions were spiraling wildly out of control.
“But why didn’t you run away then? You easily could have.”
“Where would I go if I ran?”
“Our house.”
At those words, Adele’s eyes suddenly stung, and she bit her lip tightly.
It sounded as if he’d waited for her—even after she’d left like that.
His immediate, unwavering offer of “our house” felt so warm and grateful.
Christine turned her to face him.
“Adele…”
“Sorry. I’ll make the pancakes a little later.”
Unable to hide her feelings any longer, Adele tried to push past him and run, but Christine wouldn’t let go.
“Tell me. What are you hiding? Did you really kill the duke?”
His voice was so gentle and tender that Adele felt she might crumble any second.
“Aren’t you even angry at me? I abandoned you when you needed me most.”
“I was angry. For a while, I even hated you. But back then, we were both just kids.”
So tell me everything, Adele.
Maybe I can understand you.
“He sold off his own illegitimate daughter for money. All I felt was pity for that young, clueless girl forced into marriage as the duke’s wife.”
Adele finally steadied her breath and looked Christine in the eye. Her eyes were red-rimmed and bloodshot.
“Yes, I didn’t kill the duke.”
“So it really was Stone?”
She slowly nodded.
“But I knew what he was going to do and pretended not to see it. So I can’t exactly say I’m innocent.”
“But that doesn’t mean you have to take the blame yourself! Let me help you.”
Adele shook her head.
“I haven’t been punished at all—it’s just rumors. If you really want to help me, just tie my hair up quickly.”
She shook her wavy chestnut hair.
But Christine just stared at her sharply, like a frozen painting.
“Hurry up! I need to finish kneading the dough and let it rise before I can sleep.”
Facing Adele’s urging, he asked in a low, quiet voice,
“You couldn’t possibly… have liked Stone, could you?”
“…!”
Adele’s expression visibly stiffened.
In that moment, Christine felt something twist painfully inside him.
“Ha! So that’s it? That’s why you stayed despite how you were treated. That’s why you’ve kept silent, even bearing the murderer’s blame. So the rumors about you seducing him weren’t just rumors after all?”
He couldn’t hold back the bitter words spilling out—though he desperately hoped it wasn’t true.
Finally, Adele covered her face with both hands. Her shoulders began to tremble as if she were sobbing.
Damn it…!
“Adele…”
At that moment—
“Pfft!”
A sound like air escaping suddenly came from between her lips. Then, she burst into loud laughter that nearly shook the kitchen walls.
“Sorry! This is just too funny—I can’t help it! Me and that guy? No way! Just thinking about it gives me chills!”
Adele shivered dramatically, rubbing her shoulders.
“…Never mind, then.”
Christine was flustered but oddly relieved.
“Chris, your imagination really is something. How can you even think such nonsense! Anyway, that awful guy was also my son, you know.”
“It was just one possibility.”
“Do you have any idea how much that guy tormented me? Every time lightning struck, I prayed it would hit him. I wish he’d never return from the Orbis Kingdom.”
“Want me to kill him for you?”
“I’d give you all my fortune if you did!”
It was abundantly clear that Adele loathed him to her very core.
Realizing his twisted feelings had already vanished, Christine felt slightly embarrassed.
“Alright. Turn around so I can tie your hair.”
Gathering Adele’s hair in one hand, he looped the old ribbon around it with the other.
After a moment, he cautiously admitted,
“Adele… your hair feels almost alive.”
He prided himself on quickly mastering any task—but tying a woman’s hair seemed the hardest thing in the world.
“No way. It only comes alive on full moon nights.”
“Then why is it all sticking to my hands?”
“Static electricity. Just tie it loosely so it doesn’t come undone… Ow!”
“Oh, that wasn’t an accident—it was on purpose.”
“Chris!”
“Hold still. I’m almost done…”
Christine paused while tying the ribbon knot in Adele’s hair.
His eyes had caught sight of her pale nape, covered in fine, neat hairs, and her slender neck—so sweet and languid, like milk with sugar, that his mouth watered without him even noticing.
“Done yet?”
Sensing his gaze, Adele turned her head, brushing her neck with her hand.
“…Pfft!”
The moment he saw her, Christine burst out laughing.
Adele, catching her reflection in the window, was speechless. Half her hair had escaped, and static electricity made strands stick out wildly in every direction.
“Anyone would think we’d been pulling each other’s hair in a fight.”
Christine kept laughing uncontrollably. And soon, she found herself laughing too—
as if his emotions had rubbed off on her.
“Since you tied my hair so badly, grant me one more request.”
Christine immediately stopped laughing and grew serious.
“Didn’t you say that was the last one?”
But Adele boldly stepped closer and grinned mischievously.
“Spend tonight with me.”
Christine’s Adam’s apple bobbed nervously.
“Spend tonight… doing what, exactly…?”
His voice came out strangely, he was so shocked.
“Now that I think about it, my hand hasn’t healed yet.”
Adele showed him the hand injured while swinging her dagger. It wasn’t a serious wound—just a gauze pad taped on and wrapped with cloth.
“You’ll knead the dough. With your strong arms, it’ll turn out extra chewy.”
“Oh! I just remembered—I have plans with Zimmer…”
Blocking Christine’s attempt to flee, she gave him a gentle, playful wink. After all, the wink attack wasn’t Christine’s exclusive special move.
“You’ll do it, Chris. You will, right? Huh?”
And then came round two of her pleading.
“I didn’t hear that.”
He turned away, but it was useless.
“Aww, Chris… please… please do it for me? Okay? Okay?”
The moment she unleashed her three-stage cute combo, everything was over.
Male lead reborn without memories — but he still falls for her.
The person he finds displeasing in this life turns out to be his cherished wife-master in previous life…
Xie Zhi and Fang Xianxing who had known each other for less than three days through a blind date sat in the same car in front of the civil affairs bureau. They had a disagreement and failed to get married.
Xie Zhi immediately took out his phone, slid through his contacts, and randomly selected the next marriage candidate.
The woman snatched his phone and hung up. Looking at his phone wallpaper, she awkwardly changed the subject: “An ancient painting, eh? It looks pretty good, it’s just that the person in the painting looks a bit like me.”
When he heard this, he sarcastically mocked her for being so delusional, completely unaware that, the person in front of him was the reincarnation of Wen Ru, the famous prime minister of Yuan Shun whom he most admired…
The female CEO who doesn’t want to get married with a divorce agreement in hand × The male archaeological researcher who will only get married if he’s sure he can get divorced
MANGA DISCUSSION
1 Comment
Chapter Comments (23)
He seems determined to make her bathe in luxury 😩❤️
I wonder if there are evil people in the world like Sera 😑
I thought you could say goodbye to your daughter’s marriage, Your Highness
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
I love how she handles it gently. 🫠🫠🫠🫠🫠🫠🫠🫠🫠