ORCA 56

For the past year and a half that he had worked at the Ware estate, Niah had never once spent his wages, so the phrase ‘desire for money’ was a distant concept to him. Even when he happened to find out that while other lower-ranking servants received 18 pounds a year, he only received 13, he just accepted it. As long as he was not kicked out, everything was fine.

Niah stole a glance at Orca, who was surrounded by people in the distance. He would peek once after wiping a table, once after arranging a chair, and once after gathering empty plates into a basket, pretending he was not looking. Although he acted as if he were skilled at hiding himself, unfortunately, it was all too obvious. It was only natural, as he was just circling the same spot. It was a relief, if anything, that no one nearby paid any attention to this strange behavior.

Except, that is, for Hilda, who had been watching him closely for some time.

Hilda, who had been focused solely on observing Orca even while chatting with people, suddenly put a hand to her forehead. She furrowed her brow slightly, sighed, and put on a heartfelt performance.

“I think I need to go sit on that terrace and rest for a bit. I must have drunk the champagne too quickly.”

“How about calling for an attendant?”

“Or shall I escort you to your room, Miss Grey?”

“No. It’s alright. Please entertain Orca a little longer. Lord Orca is a very shy person.”

Light laughter erupted from beside her. Hilda left her seat, firmly tying Orca down, regardless of whether his gaze on her turned cold. A mischievous smile appeared on Hilda’s face as she turned away.

She had noticed without difficulty that the person Orca had been so diligently searching for was the orange-haired servant. It was no wonder, as neither of them had any talent for hiding things. Once she knew what to look for, it became even more conspicuous. It was fortunate that it was the first day of the party, so the nobles’ interests did not easily shift to a servant; if they had both been nobles, their secret would surely have been exposed in no time.

In truth, stories of affairs between nobles and servants, or of them becoming involved in such-and-such a way, were common topics of gossip. After all, in ballrooms and at parties where even nobles committed adultery amongst themselves, it was even easier for nobles and servants, with their class difference, to commit such acts. Servants had no choice, and for nobles, it was the simplest and most stimulating illegal act in the world, requiring just the lift of a finger. And the servants, struggling to make a living, were unlikely to report it to the authorities. Even if they did, it would be the servants who were ultimately kicked out, and they would be the ones to face immediate difficulties with food, clothing, and shelter.

Because of this, strange stories were not infrequently heard, such as one about a master living alone in a townhouse in the capital who made his servants live completely naked. The more bizarre the story, the more the idle provincial nobles, who loved to gossip, would cackle while sharing these low-brow tales. Only the attendants who had to listen to it all right beside them were disgusted.

As a provincial noble herself, Hilda was a born merchant who got more excited about the new products of foreign lands than this type of rumor, but the situation was different if the center of the story was ‘Orca Ware’. It would be a lie to say she was not curious about the fact that the man who looked down on her, the only daughter of the ducal family that ruled the Grizzly territory, as if she were an inferior creature, was fooling around with a servant from his own house.

More than that, she was greatly intrigued as to what it could be that he had found for himself, when he had shown no interest in any of the foreign goods she had shown him. There was indeed a reason why he had been stuck at home for two months instead of immediately running off to the battlefield.

The fact that the guy who said he would return around the end of summer was playing with a servant who looked naive at first glance was absurd, but she figured it did not really have anything to do with her.

In any case, Hilda, excited by the thought of using this as an excuse to tease Orca, took a seat on one side of the terrace. Although she had left the group on the pretext of being drunk, she grabbed a glass of champagne and even brought a large plate of accompanying snacks to the table in front of her. She even waved her hand at the distant Orca, as if to show him.

A murderous aura emanated from Orca, who felt a bad premonition, but Hilda just cackled and turned her gaze to the ‘orange-haired servant’. She knew that her rival, who was glaring at her as if he would kill her, would not be able to come over for a while. After all, standing there and humoring the guests’ chatter was surely what his parents had ordered him to do.

That guy is so subtly stupid. He just has no tact. For a hooligan.

Hilda, dropping a crystallized flower petal into her champagne, shook her head. Bubbles rose with a fizz from the long-stemmed glass, making a refreshing sound. Taking a sip, she popped a piece of Brie cheese into her mouth and then rested her chin on her hand. Her eyes were fixed on one spot and did not move.

She finished her glass of champagne while observing the orange head of hair lingering near the table that had already been wiped several times. For a moment, she wondered if he was doing it on purpose to be noticed, but she quickly concluded that was not the case. It was because Niah was diligently burying his face, intending to hide.

Hilda glanced at Orca. Orca, too, was occasionally stealing glances at Niah.

They’re really making a scene, the two of them….

Hilda, who had snorted, tapped the table and then put her hand to her forehead again. Then, she moaned distinctly. Unlike before, the awkward acting came out timidly, as if to prevent anyone from hearing, or rather, to prevent anyone other than the person who absolutely had to hear from hearing.

“Oh my, dear me.”

Niah, his mind elsewhere, did not catch the direct call to him at once. Hilda, thinking it was a bother and she should just go and get him, decided against it and cleared her throat. She had a feeling that if she just dragged him over, her foolish fish friend would get furious and chase after her. The Orcas were generally a possessive bunch, so if she was not careful, she might end up letting out a death cry in someone else’s territory.

‘If you keep pissing me off, I’m going to drown you in this mansion’s lake, so shut up.’

Dying by falling from the beautiful Sonnet Cliffs in the Robert Empire where she had been staying until yesterday was a somewhat tempting offer, but being drowned in the Ware family lake was not. Furthermore, she did not want to actually suffer a threat that was more than ten years old now. This time, Hilda pretended to be in pain a little louder.

“…Oh my!”

Only then did Niah whip his head around, blink a few times, look around, and then hurriedly climb onto the terrace. He was the only servant nearby.

“Uh, are you in pain somewhere…?”

Niah, looking down as much as possible, asked hesitantly. He was not used to initiating conversation with others, especially a noble he had never met before. Niah took a half step back, waiting for ‘her’ to give him some kind of order. He hid the hand holding the damp cloth behind his back, sniffed quietly, and then took another half step back.

Hilda grinned, her chin still resting on her hand. The naive-looking, gentle face and the simple-minded way of speaking, which matched her expectations without the slightest deviation, felt refreshingly new. It was because she had never expected Orca’s taste to be something like this.

“My head hurts. Is it because of the alcohol?”

Niah, who believed Hilda’s words, which were full of amusement, hook, line, and sinker, gaped in alarm. He thought of a doctor, then changed his mind to an attendant. The attendants who had accompanied the nobles should be waiting nearby. He had been startled more than once by them popping out from somewhere.

“Th-the attendant, if you tell me where he is. I’ll go, and call him for you….”

“I didn’t bring an attendant.”

His gaze, which had been fixed on the tip of his shoes, shot up. Niah immediately avoided the eyes that met his and bowed his head deeply. He swallowed hard and moved his lips. He began to regret not following Harriet and staying here. It felt a little unfair to be going through this uncomfortable situation as a price for being a little lazy in order to steal glances at the young master. He had been so far away that the handsome eyes, nose, and mouth had been a blur the whole time, and he had not been able to hear a single letter of his gentle voice, so to be punished for it was nothing short of baffling. Niah, feeling intimidated, opened his mouth hesitantly.

“Uh… then, in that case. Ummm… shall I, escort you up, to your room…?”

At the stammering, clueless response, Hilda bit her lip hard. The servant, who looked like he was about to die from the awkwardness, was just funny in her eyes. She thought that even a servant who had just started yesterday would attend to her more skillfully than him. She threw away her act of being in pain and swiftly pulled Niah to sit next to her.

“Forget that, just stay here for a bit. It would be a big problem if I suddenly collapsed, wouldn’t it?”

Orca’s taste, which she had learned for the first time, was so unexpected that she grew more and more curious. It was even more so because he looked like he would prostrate himself and do whatever he was told. The thought that perhaps Orca was a considerable pervert and liked that kind of thing made curses naturally form in her mouth. In any case, it seemed all nobles were the same.

Niah, who had been pulled along limply, obeyed the command of the nameless noble as if she were his own master. Whether he liked it or not, he had to, so he suppressed his desire to run away and sat down obediently. However, he could not easily shake off the wish that the person next to him was the young master. Niah gripped the damp cloth tightly in his hand and stared only at the terrace floor. He felt that if he looked at his young master now, he would feel sad for no reason.

Hilda pulled the chair Niah was sitting in closer to her side. She even adjusted the angle so that Orca, who was in front of them, could see clearly. Orca, who had been observing the two carefully as she had intended, became very displeased. He could not figure out what Hilda was plotting. Above all, the situation where that bear cub was touching his goldfish without hesitation was unpleasant.

But the most unpleasant thing was himself, who was stuck in his seat listening to pointless chatter even after seeing that crazy scene. The ‘king’ who was only glamorous on the outside was, in the end, only this much. Even if he was called a king, he was nothing more than a piece placed on a chessboard.

The owner of the chessboard was not the king, but the person playing chess. Therefore, he was not his own master. Nausea rose in him at the feeling of having returned to his childhood. This was why he did not want to stay at the mansion for long. If it were not for the goldfish, he would not have lasted even three or four days and would have gone back long ago.

Niah was slightly scared of Hilda, who moved him around so effortlessly. He had a feeling that this noble, who was small compared to the young master but huge compared to him, with her sharp features, was also a humanoid. Feeling fear towards a humanoid larger than himself was close to an instinct. It was similar to the class difference between nobles and the lower class.

Niah was on the average side among humans, but he was decidedly small among humanoids. Of course, the size in humanoid form was not always directly proportional to the human form, but compared to a goldfish, most were larger. In the mansion, the only ones Niah was taller than were Bailey the ant, Aki the squirrel, and Norma the Maltese.

Niah, who glanced at the somehow cheerful-looking Hilda, hunched his shoulders. He could not tell what kind of humanoid she was just by her appearance, which made being next to her even scarier. In fact, she did not even look sick, but he could not muster the courage to ask.

“What’s your name?”

“Pardon?”

Niah’s gaze, bewildered by the unexpected question, met Hilda’s and then fell to the floor repeatedly. Then it slid all the way down. Hilda, who had propped her chin on her hand again, looked closely at the thoroughly intimidated servant’s appearance.

His light orange hair and white face were like a watercolor painting soaked in water. The pale coloring made his gentle impression look even gentler. It was not just his appearance, but his actions as well. Even though she had not done anything, he was scared and flinching, and on top of that, he was cautiously observing her with a terrified expression. The sight of him not knowing what to do was amusing. He was acting just like a deer that had met a hunter in the mountains. This was his reaction even though she had asked in an unnecessarily gentle manner.

There was probably no servant in the world who was comfortable with nobles, but this one was being excessively fearful. It was a personality that idle provincial nobles, who wanted an obedient plaything that would prostrate itself at their feet, would definitely want to keep by their side. But to conclude that Orca’s taste was also like that was followed by a faint doubt.

Orca was a guy who could put anyone under him if he set his mind to it. Everyone knew full well that he could break a person’s bones without difficulty, so whoever he chose would have readily flattened themselves. To him, this orange-haired servant seemed utterly useless. He looked like he would pass out if hit once, so it would not be strange if he dropped dead after being rolled around by Orca. He was clearly too weak-willed to endure being his plaything.

Hilda, who was observing the still-frightened Niah closely, suddenly narrowed her eyes. It was because she had a thought that maybe he was being kept for that purpose in the first place. It was a rather plausible deduction.

Niah, barely enduring the burdensome gaze that was staring at him intently, gently parted his lips. It took a long time to even pronounce the few letters of his name. His tone was cautious, as if it were some great secret.

“Uh… Niah, it’s Niah….”

“Niah. Even your name looks just like you.”

“Th-thank you….”

“Hmm? That wasn’t a compliment.”

“Yes, yes? Ah, sorry, I’m sorry….”

As Niah shrank back even more at her remark, Hilda chuckled. Seeing his frustrating attitude continuously actually piqued her interest. She reached out and stroked his hair. She had never touched a servant’s head with her bare hands in her entire life, but thinking that this was something Orca had his eyes on made her want to touch it for no reason.

The curly, wavy hair was rubbed, swoosh, swoosh. She glanced at Orca out of the corner of her eye. The murderous intent in his dry, parched expression was clearly palpable even from a distance. That expression, in turn, stimulated her curiosity. It seemed he had indeed licked it and claimed it as his own.

Niah, while meekly accepting her touch, wanted to escape this situation as soon as possible. Being touched by someone else felt unpleasant, and he did not like being this close either. He felt an urge to brush off the part her hand had touched, as if dusting it off, and scrub it clean. The thought that he wished the young master would come and save him suddenly surged up. He knew he should not expect such a thing, so he tried to erase it quickly, but it was not easy. He just called out, young master, young master, in his mind. There was no way he would hear, but he could not stop.

Hilda, belatedly thinking that she really might get drowned, let go of the fluffy hair. Instead, she poured out all the questions that had come to her mind. The bland questions were added without delay, as if they had been prepared in advance. They were trivial things that would not matter to Hilda no matter what the answer was, such as when he came to the mansion, how old he was, and what his original duties were. She just blabbered on as they came to her because it was fun to see his dumbfounded reactions.

Niah had to work hard to open his mouth to keep up with the rapid-fire questions. He gave the best answers he could. He sometimes said he did not know, but fortunately, he was able to put a period at the end of almost every question mark. The only time he broke down and creaked was when he was asked questions about Orca.

He could not understand why she was asking him about the young master, but Niah’s answers were full of sincerity. Just thinking about his young master made him feel much better, and it seemed he had relaxed a bit. Hilda stubbornly and persistently dug into that part.

“What’s Orca like? He’s got a bit of a nasty personality, right? Right? You know it too, right? You must know. That guy has been a scoundrel since way back, so I was his only friend. He always went around with his eyes like this, completely crushing the other kids’ spirits, ah, well, forget about that. What do you think?”

She did not reveal that she herself did not have a particularly good personality and gave a smug smile. Niah, whose ears had perked up at the word ‘friend,’ glanced at her out of the corner of his eye. He wondered why she was speaking ill of him if they were friends, and then hesitantly refuted her.

While worrying about what he would do if he offended her and got hit, he could not stand her speaking ill of his young master. His stomach was churning for some reason. Contrary to that feeling, his small voice came out timidly, stammering.

“The young master, is a good person…. He’s… ah, not nasty…. He’s clean. I, the old days, I don’t know them well…. I like the young master…. He’s a good person. He’s kind, and also gentle,”

Niah, who was about to unconsciously say he was pretty, suddenly clamped his mouth shut and only fiddled with his fingers.

Hilda’s lips trembled. The words ‘kind’ and ‘gentle’ following the name Orca were so awkward it gave her goosebumps. She could not even imagine Orca treating someone gently. Even if she wracked her brain, all that came up was nausea. He was exuding such a murderous aura even now, yet he was kind? That was an absurd notion.

At this point, the nobles who were still holding onto Orca were also quite something. She felt a little sorry, wondering if they really thought he was acting that way because he was very shy. It was a good thing Orca was an adult. If he had been a kid in his teens, he would have come running to drown her. Perhaps the surrounding nobles would have become the target of his anger.