After My Dead Ending

“Sir Diazi, his beauty is causing a fuss. Ho Ho! Somehow, no matter how you look at it, it glows!”

Received a report on the work from Ektra. When I asked if Sir Diazi was well served, an unexpected answer came.

From here, cracks started to form between my eyebrows.

“Everyone was excited to hear that McFoy was finally getting a hostess. Head of household, how much did I–”

I didn’t need to hear any more of that.

“What the fuck are you talking about? Who’s the hostess?”

“Yes…? Then why did you bring that beautiful person here? We thought it was natural and inevitable that you caught hold of them.”

The word ‘inevitable’ hit me twice like a fatal blow. What does being beautiful have to do with anything? What does ‘natural and inevitable’ even mean?

“Oh my… Of course, we thought you had taken a liking to that person–.”

Despite my face freezing up in a scary expression, Ektra tried to tease me until the end.

“A benefactor! Didn’t I say a benefactor? I asked you to serve him well, but what are you doing?”

Fuming, I only managed to stutter and yell back. Ektra covered her ears, saying “Oh!”

‘Well, that slick old man.’

When the people of McFoy visited, they sometimes behaved rudely, as if they were the niece or granddaughter of the Lord. Their rudeness came in two forms.

Please uphold the dignity of the Imperial Lady. And please get married! We also want to have a hostess and a housewife!

The talk of the Lord’s heir that started when I came of age was put on hold for a while when they set up a scarecrow fiancé, Phillip Mopock, who had only one well-known family name.

However, the visitors were not fools. They immediately realized that the ugly guy they didn’t care for was just a decoy. They wondered if Lord McFoy had put up with the cowardly, freckled Mopock at her side because she was tired. So they quietly held their tongues.

And recently, there was an implicit pressure to bring a proper match or to really marry that ugly Philip, with Mrs. Seymour at the center.

Mrs. Seymour was the mother of Erica Seymour, my aide, and because she had been my nursemaid in my childhood, I couldn’t easily refuse her.

In addition, because there were few people she could trust, she was in a position where she couldn’t retire and had Archie left in her hands, so Mrs. Seymour’s words were stronger than anything else to me.

“How come you try to stick to any healthy man you see?”

That’s how it’s been lately. Everyone was so interested in other people’s marriages.

Of course, from the position of a vassal, it is not an exaggeration to say that even my successor is only one Archie and a collateral descendant, so it is cause for concern. It was good loyalty.

Whether that or not, it didn’t matter to me. The vassals didn’t say it would be such a mess, but I had no thoughts of marriage or children.

“No matter how much you scream for your wishes to come true, I have no intention of giving you anything.”

My life plan was to retire when I was ready and enjoy my old age, leaving the position of Head to my cute nephew, Archie. Erica knew about my grand plan to some extent.

I got up without listening any further.

“Oh, my lord! Where are you going! No, you didn’t even wash your face!”

Where else would I go?

I walked quickly with a thumping sound, passing by a servant waiting with a basin of water.

I didn’t need to ask where they had put Diazi. It wasn’t difficult to find the corridor where the onlookers had gathered with murmurs. It was even easier to find out which room they were peeking into.

As I strode across the corridor, making a loud noise with my boots, the crowd that had been loitering in front of the door scattered quickly. It was a confident move.

Even knights were interspersed among the crowd. The knights from McFoy were brave and loyal, perhaps due to their origins. I didn’t expect any knightly behavior from them.

I knew they lacked dignity, but seeing them in such a pathetic state made me understand why other knights disliked the McFoy knights. Originally, being a knight was a noble and honorable profession where one’s origin was scrutinized and appointed in the empire. Of course, I didn’t care about their origin, so I chose them.

I glanced at them and bit my tongue. Suddenly, joyful screams came through the door.

‘Oh, my.’

Boom–!

The door opened, and Norma Diazi was standing tall among the small women.

I was overwhelmed by the maids who were bustling around Norma, and the knights who were busy glancing back and forth through the open door. Norma, who had been smiling awkwardly, noticed me. We were not even close, but he loosened his facial muscles and smiled widely when he saw me. I briefly thought that we had become very close friends.

“My lord.”

His smile, the first sunshine I had seen in nearly a day, was as radiant as ever. As he welcomed me, he seemed like someone who had found a way to be saved, and I couldn’t help but feel sorry for him.

The young servants who had noticed me late jumped up and down, not knowing what to do.

“Uh… everyone… get out,”

I managed to say, brushing back my unkempt hair. I was annoyed by the commotion downstairs. Maybe it was because I had been running and had lost all my dignity, but I found it hard to catch my breath.

The harried servants began to pack up the clothes and decorations they had brought. I leaned against the door and watched the scene unfold.

‘It’s my first time seeing it.’

Ah, they were even more impressive than I had imagined. The Diazi were humans who lived secluded in their fertile territories and rarely interacted with outsiders. They were like fairies from a legend, who held on to mystical beliefs.

So, the famous Diazi family, especially the direct descendants, were not people that just anyone could see. Everyone must be curious to death about whom this “Silver-haired Diazi” could be. For most people, it would be just their imagination to think that they might be from a less well-known family.

‘If they knew that ‘Norma Diazi’ disappeared ten years ago, they would be even more surprised.’

However, regardless of that, Norma had already turned this huge inn upside down with his beauty alone. He stood in front of the nobles’ rooms, without any pretense, making excuses, or a sense of propriety…

Yet, Norma received everyone kindly, and there was no sense of chaos. His appearance amid a group of curious and friendly girls was just like a princess from a fairy tale surrounded by animals.

‘I told them to take care of him, but they can’t play with dolls. They’ve all gone mad.’

“You treated me so well, and now you’re playing with dolls? Everyone has gone crazy.”

“Oh my, Your Grace. If you suddenly run like that, this old woman will…”

At that moment, the Ektra arrived late. She was also a wealthy woman who didn’t need to run like me, and even had age catching up with her as she gasped for breath. She stumbled and pushed her way through the servants who were hastily carrying luggage out of the door.

“…It’s Your Grace. Who told them to treat my guests like this? Mrs. Staunton, have they all lost their minds? It’s unbelievable even to see.”

I looked at Ektra with an incredulous expression and said.

“Ugh, these servants!”

As the maids fled the room, Ektra playfully slapped their backs and discreetly helped them escape, while still keeping an eye on me. She seemed very busy.

Lady Ektra Stang is great, but she can be too meddlesome at times. I couldn’t imagine what she might have said to the servants and knights. And she was too lenient with the lower ones…

It was the moment I opened my mouth to reprimand her.

“My lord, did you sleep well?”

Norma jumped up and called me over.

“Ah, yes. Well… Did you have any inconvenience last night?”

I didn’t expect Norma to interfere, so my tone was stiffer than usual.

Ektra often complained, “Our lady always talks to us old folks, so her tone has become that of a crabby forty-something.”

I don’t know what Ektra expected from her conversation with Norma, but she looked disappointed at once. She still seemed out of it.

Wake up, Mrs. Stang. My genre is not romance.

“Thanks for your concern, it was comfortable.”

Norma, who was exchanging greetings, was so sparkling that it was almost burdensome. From the morning, he could have been sent straight to the ball without any problem.

Even without looking, I could tell. The servants must have presented various things to the butler and excitedly dressed him up with them.

“No, did you accept all of this again? You could have refused it if it was bothersome.”

I sighed softly and spoke.

“No, my lord. They were all very kind. Of course, they recommended things that were too much for me…”

Norma smiled again, troubled.

“…You can keep everything you are wearing now.”

“Yes? All this…”

“More importantly, since we’re face to face, how about we tidy up the contract?”

“Oh, the contract… No, it’s not necessary, my lord.”

I tried to divert his attention by suggesting we tidy up the contract, but he refused by raising both hands

“I understand that you are very busy handling that man, Nyx. You can take your time. I have a lot of time.”

A lot of time? He’s not a child who wants to stay at home…

“Katam is new, so just looking out the window makes time fly by.”

“What’s so interesting about being stuck in this room that time flies by?”

As if the fact that she had brought Norma was meaningless, he was trapped in his room all day long due to security issues. Realizing this fact, she looked embarrassed and tried to change the subject.

“It looks like the festival is still going on outside the window. There are a lot of things to see, and a lot of them are new to me.”

“Because it’s National Foundation Day, you know. Hwangdo (capital city) may have failed because of Nyx’s actions, but other cities are probably enjoying the festival as usual.”

“Yes, it’s lit up with lights until night. Have you seen it, Lord?”

The tone of the voice looking out the window was so poignant and complex that I lightly bit my lips.

Come to think of it, it would be surprising to open my eyes after ten or twenty years. In ten years, the landscape can change dramatically, and everyone but me may have changed. I couldn’t even imagine how I would feel.

“Are you curious about the outside?”

Upon seeing a glimmer of anticipation in Norma’s golden yellow eyes, I couldn’t control my gaping mouth any longer.

“Well… we’ll provide you with a guard, so why don’t you go enjoy the festival for a bit and come back?”

Norma looked surprised and Ektra also widened her eyes, staring at me.

“May I really do that?”

“What can’t you do? Sit here quietly and keep looking out the window? It’s better for you to adapt to the changing world while enjoying the sights outside.”

As Norma listened to my words, his lips slowly curled upwards, blooming like they did when he had offered his hand to me to go to Katam.

“…”

“Would you like to come with me to the festival, Lord?”

I couldn’t help but feel a bit addicted to that smile, and Norma asked cautiously.

“As for me…”

Why would I go? Besides, there might be people there who recognize me, and it’s already troubling enough.

“I have a lot of things to do.”

In fact, other than the work I was waiting for, I had nothing to do. I didn’t feel like going to the festival anymore. So, I turned my back to him and said.

I knew that Norma wasn’t the type of person to push someone into doing something, but sometimes his expression made it seem like he was pleading with me. That’s why it was better not to look at him at all.

“Wear your hood well and go out. Mrs. Stang, give Sir Diazi an escort.”

I was about to leave, but an urgent voice called me to stop.

“Wait a minute, Lord!”