Why Do You Obsess Even After Death (Completed Main Story) - Chapter 16
My shoulders were gripped by a firm hand, and I was so startled I nearly bit my tongue.
Crunch.
Well, I would have—if not for those fingers gently parting my lips.
“Count Deberti. It doesn’t look very becoming for you to follow one of my household staff around like a duckling trailing its mother.”
A familiar voice rang out strongly behind me, as if guarding my back. I tilted my head slightly backward, and the back of my head brushed against his chest.
I looked up to see Laches, who had been holding my shoulder.
He stood shielding me with his broad back, as though protecting me from Detor’s gaze.
‘How did he get here…?’
I blinked several times in disbelief. Laches, who had been looking toward Detor with only a sideways glance, seemed to sense my stare and turned his eyes toward me.
He pulled out the index finger I’d been stubbornly biting instead of my tongue. A clear set of teeth marks was visible on it. Despite having done something so absurd as putting his finger in my mouth, his expression remained perfectly calm.
If I felt reassured by that calmness, did that mean I’d truly gone mad?
“…Duke Violentus.”
I could feel Detor’s footsteps, which had been rushing toward me, falter and retreat into the distance. He clearly didn’t want to face Laches.
“…I only came to ask something.”
“Is that so?”
Perhaps because Laches had completely blocked me from Detor’s view—
strangely enough, the fear I’d felt just moments ago vanished completely.
Laches kept his eyes fixed on me as he exchanged light words with Detor.
I couldn’t look away either, as if trapped by his obsidian-black, gleaming eyes.
“But the servants in my castle tell a different story.”
Laches revealed his ferocious nature, speaking with unusual harshness.
“They say it’s hard to do their work because Count Deberti, like a beast in rut, relentlessly throws himself at them at every opportunity.”
His speech, now stripped of pretense and revealing his true colors, was refreshingly candid—so blunt it seemed he’d never learned proper etiquette.
Yet somehow, this felt far more familiar than those strange honorifics.
“What—what did you say? In rut? A beast? Your Grace, isn’t that language far too harsh?”
“It seems you didn’t receive the message from your fiancée.”
“Fiancée? …You don’t mean Delia? Were you with Delia?! She’s mine!”
He didn’t even seem to recall that just moments ago, he’d been flirting with the maids…
Detor flared up at Laches’s words.
“If you count last night, when she insisted on visiting me against my will to talk, then yes—I suppose she was with me.”
“Delia… went first?”
Detor muttered helplessly upon hearing that Delia had sought out Laches herself.
They truly made a perfect couple. May they never part and stay tightly bound until marriage.
“So I told your fiancée’s uninvited guest to behave properly and leave.”
“Duke Violentus. It seems you’re mistaken about something.”
“Mistaken?”
Laches turned his head back with a mocking sneer clearly written across his face. Finally freed from his unwavering gaze, I let out a long, held breath.
“Except for the late Referentia, all the guardian houses are the same.”
Hearing my name mentioned so suddenly made me freeze in shock. Worried that Laches might notice the strange tension in my body—since he was still gripping my shoulder—I grew anxious.
But Laches, seemingly oblivious, merely poked my cheek repeatedly with his extended index finger.
“The territory under Duke Violentus’s management just happened to be ideal for earning merit due to frequent monster incursions. That’s all I meant—we’re all the same.”
“Ideal for earning merit, you say….”
A cold, mocking laugh echoed. Laches seemed offended by the malicious insecurity Detor displayed. A chill ran through me, as if a biting wind had blown past.
Yet the warmth of his fingers, still gently touching my cheek, remained unchanged.
‘Is he getting back at me for kneading his face like bread dough before?’
Though admittedly, his touch now was far gentler than mine had been back then.
Such meaningless contact felt unfamiliar to me.
Afraid Detor might see, I couldn’t even tell him to stop—so I just lightly swatted away the hand aimlessly fondling my cheek.
Whether he understood my thoughts or not, Laches didn’t stop.
“Then you should’ve earned that merit. Why did you collapse at the sight of a monster and soil your trousers?”
“…!”
I couldn’t see Detor’s face since I wasn’t turned around, but from the sharp intake of breath, it was clear he felt deeply humiliated.
“If you still wish to talk, you may stay. I was just wondering why your trousers got so dirty back then. I’m sure everyone else is curious too.”
“…I’ll take my leave now.”
Thoroughly wounded, Detor finally admitted defeat. Laches merely watched silently as Detor walked away, a faint smirk on his lips.
The footsteps grew fainter and fainter. The danger that had been choking me gradually dissipated.
“…You can let go of me now.”
Only after Detor’s footsteps had completely vanished did I push Laches away.
“Not yet. He might still be hiding somewhere, watching.”
But Laches didn’t move away from me.
“Then at least stop touching my face.”
“Does it hurt? I was being gentle.”
“If I say it hurts, will you stop?”
The moment my words left my mouth, Laches immediately pulled his hand away from my face—as if afraid of causing me pain.
His reaction was so swift it left me wide-eyed in surprise.
“You say it hurts even though I was being this gentle? I’ll have to be more careful next time. Maybe even that could be dangerous.”
Laches muttered softly to himself. His frowning gaze fell upon the laundry basket I was holding.
He looked ready to snatch it and throw it away at any moment.
I couldn’t understand why—he basket itself was perfectly fine.
“Speaking of which, Your Grace.”
“Hmm.”
“Why did you hide me just now?”
Laches finally tore his eyes away from the basket.
He didn’t know who I really was—only that I was a maid.
So why had he hidden me when Detor came chasing after me? I couldn’t fathom what he knew or why he’d done it.
“I already said Count Deberti’s constant advances make things difficult for more than just one person. I assumed you were in the same situation and helped… Did I do something unnecessary?”
Laches chuckled softly, as if expecting an answer from me.
A man who always appears at the right moment, with a perfectly reasonable excuse.
Was this merely coincidence—or deliberate?
“…Thank you.”
“There’s no need to thank me.”
Laches drew a clear line at my words of gratitude.
“I’ve simply realized through this incident that your safety ensures my own.”
“Huh?”
Did he mean that as long as the people in the castle were safe, he would be safe too? Of course, that made perfect sense.
Yet he was such a strange man—always seeming ready to give space but never actually doing so.
“By the way—if your duties could be changed, is there any work you’d prefer?”
“Change my duties?”
“Yeah. I heard laundry duty is tough.”
Laches nodded toward the laundry basket I was holding.
“If I tell you what I’d like to do, will you really switch it for me?”
“It’s possible.”
“Is that another one of Your Grace’s whims?”
“No. This is pure goodwill on my part.”
Laches gave a slight nod. Though his manner was casual, his dark eyes carried an intense, shadowy weight.
Walking beside me, step for step, Laches was impossible to read—how much of him was sincere?
“Oh. The snow’s melting.”
At his brief remark, I turned my head. Beyond us, bright sunlight was melting away winter.
[This is the timeline separator]As the snow began melting in earnest, the maids found themselves with even more work. Several servants had been sent to assist with wine production, which had to be completed before the weather fully warmed.
The remaining staff had to cover the gaps, and I was one of them.
‘At this rate, I’ll collapse from overwork again.’
Still, it was somewhat fortunate that the maids no longer ignored me as they had when I first started working in the North.
Ever since I’d helped those maids who’d endured Delia’s verbal abuse, everyone seemed to have taken one bold step closer to me.
Not that it truly mattered to me, of course.
‘…The capital will soon be bustling.’
With spring’s arrival came the social season. Last year, I’d agonized over what excuse to use to avoid it—but that felt like a lifetime ago compared to who I was now.
“Lea.”
A voice called my name, as if reminding me not to forget who I was now. I turned to see Celly, dressed identically to me, running over with a smile.
As if to remind me that I wasn’t Referentia Niriel now—just a maid in the Northern Violentus Castle.
“Are you done with work? You’re late.”
“Yeah. I had some finishing up to do.”
“Have you eaten dinner?”
“I missed the time.”
“I knew it! Lea, you’re just like a young lady—whenever no one reminds you, you miss mealtime!”
Celly beamed as she handed me a paper bag.
“Everyone thought you’d skip dinner, so we saved you some dessert bread from dinner!”
Inside the bag was bread that had long since gone stale. It no longer carried the scent of freshly baked bread, yet strangely, it looked more delicious than any bread I’d ever eaten—and my mouth watered.
“…Thank you.”
I hadn’t realized I was hungry until I saw the bread. Back at the Niriel estate, I could easily skip a meal or two without feeling hungry.
“Of course you’re hungriest right after finishing work!”
I clutched the bread bag tightly to my chest and walked side by side with Celly toward our room. Just then, a strange animal sound echoed from the end of the corridor.
“Woof! Woof!”
A huntsman was struggling to hold onto a fierce hunting dog.
“Tom.”
Celly approached and called out the huntsman’s name. A burly-looking man stood there—imposing at first glance.
“Celly.”
The huntsman, Tom, sighed as he called her name. As Celly approached, I found myself drawn along beside her toward Tom.
“This is Lea. She’s new here. And this is Tom—he’s the huntsman. …Wait, you’re still taming him?”
After a brief introduction, Celly stepped back, eyeing the fierce hunting dog warily.
“Yeah. Maybe because we took him from a monster’s nest—it’s proving really hard to tame him. His Grace said since the dog survived the monster’s nest, we should find a way to tame him somehow….”
Tom made a pained face, clearly frustrated.
“I’ve only ever raised cute little chicks before.”
Though one shouldn’t judge by appearances, Tom seemed completely different from how he looked.
‘A hunting dog found in a monster’s nest…’
I stared at the dog struggling in Tom’s grip, unable to break free. It was much larger than an ordinary hunting dog—perhaps because it had grown up in a monster’s nest, it almost resembled a small wolf.
Baring its teeth and growling fiercely, it looked no different from a monster itself. Without its leash, it seemed ready to pounce and bite someone at any moment.
“Woof! Woof!!”
Suddenly, the dog perked up its ears and barked loudly. In that instant, Tom, who’d been talking to Celly, lost his grip on the leash—and the dog lunged straight toward where I stood.
It all happened in a flash.
“…!”
And then, something astonishing occurred—something I never could have anticipated.
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
Is this the guy that killed her then??? He also said something about loving her
Welp, sounds like it might be too late to be a good father. Womp womp
As a man??? This translation is iffy.