ORCA 100

Orca watched in silence as Niah beamed at him, then imitated his expression. He toyed with the now-warm hand, admiring the neat, pinkish fingernails, the blue veins visible on the back of the hand, and the fine lines of the palm. Then, he kissed the soft, peach-colored skin.

The goldfish was white, touched with coral, and glowed with orange light. Those transparent, yellowish eyes gazed straight at him. He couldn’t take his eyes off the vibrant array of colors. He spoke while still keeping his lips pressed against the palm. Afraid that if he stayed like this any longer, he would want to taste every single one of those hues, he hurriedly changed the subject.

“Did Harriet say anything?”

“About what?”

Niah laughed “hehe” as he felt the soft sensation of his skin being rubbed against Orca’s thin lips. He secretly moved his hand downward to feel the master’s mouth. Orca swept his thumb over Niah’s thick, swollen eyelids. He warned himself not to bite the fingers that were playing with his lips, and spoke again.

“You left looking all puffy. I figured she must have asked. Since we’re on such good terms.”

“Ah… she asked who bullied me…. But I told her no.”

“‘No’? But it’s true that I did.”

Niah’s gaze, which had been fixed solely on Orca’s lips, snapped upward. He crinkled his already puffy, soft face. Orca was quite taken aback as the goldfish, who usually had such affectionate and shy eyes, suddenly displayed a new expression. Niah moved his fingers aside and tilted his chin upward. Their lips bumped together with a “pop.” Niah nearly cried out “ouch” from the pain, but held it in. He put on a deliberately angry face.

“Master doesn’t bully me.”

His voice was firm. Orca let out a sigh that sounded suspiciously like a laugh. It was ridiculous that Niah, who had no idea what kind of lewd fantasies Orca had on a daily basis, would make such a definitive statement. Orca wondered if Niah would curl his fins and run away if he ever found out, then cupped Niah’s cheeks. If he had intended to run away, he would have distanced himself long ago. He had plenty of opportunities. Even the day after he had sobbed his heart out because of Orca, the goldfish had come back of his own volition, calling out “Master” with a grin.

“Ah!”

A sharp pain spreading from his lips forced a scream out of Niah. Physiological tears welled up. Orca, face twisted in a grimace, pulled away immediately, and Niah hurriedly excused him.

“It doesn’t hurt.”

Orca blocked Niah, who was trying to creep closer, and wiped gently over his eyelashes. He pressed against the area around Niah’s eyes—which were literally goldfish-eyes now—and blew a gentle “huuu” onto the chapped lips. If he had his way, he would have detached those lips and kept them in a medicine jar all day long.

“Let’s put some ointment on. How did you manage to eat?”

“I ate a lot. The grilled chicken leg meat. But I’m really not hurting…”

“Get up.”

Failing in his persuasion, Niah was plucked up and stood on his feet like a pulled carrot. Orca ignored the goldfish, who was looking up at him with a pout, and led him into the room. It was a familiar habit to scoop him up in his arms when Niah complained that his legs felt tingly and walked slowly. Niah, who went limp in his embrace, secretly stoked his resolve.

I have to be all healed by tomorrow….

The feelings of unfairness had vanished without a trace.

☀️🌊

The mansion, having finished over a month of preparations for the party, was in an uproar from the early hours of the morning. Even after Orca’s departure, small social gatherings had been held a couple of times a year, but a party as grand as today’s was a rarity. The servants threw open the mansion gates leading to the tree-lined road and hurried to prepare to welcome the guests.

The musicians who would be staying at the mansion during the party arrived one after another, and deliverymen from various grocery stores lined up to enter. Carts carrying meat, fish, vegetables and fruits not harvested from the kitchen garden, and even an enormous quantity of alcohol—as if they had raided an entire brewery, in addition to the wine and champagne stored in the basement larder—encircled the garden.

Long tables were set up on the garden lawn to serve the food, topped with carefully crafted flower baskets. Round tables were draped with clean cloths and decorated with vases. The four chairs assigned to each table were lined up in perfect rows. Chairs and tables were brought from the warehouse on the central sixth floor, where Niah’s room was, and polished until they shone. The garden servants took charge of the work.

By the time Niah had made three round trips between the garden and the sixth floor carrying chairs, he was stifling “wuek” sounds. His legs trembled, and he stumbled. All the energy seemed to have drained out of him, as if the breakfast he had just eaten had already been completely digested. However, after moving all the chairs, he had to go and arrange bedding for the guests without a moment to rest. Harriet, who happened to run into him, comforted Niah—who had turned pale for a moment—before leaving.

The kitchen was busy making hundreds of appetizers to serve before lunch. The guest list handed over by the butler exceeded ten pages of square parchment. The densely packed tiny letters were enough to make one dizzy.

On the very first page were the names of the Wair family relatives returning from the town house. They alone numbered in the dozens. After making hundreds of servings of appetizers, they had to manage the schedule of lunch, afternoon tea, and the evening banquet. In between, they had to wash dishes, clean plates, and prepare ingredients. It meant they couldn’t leave the kitchen except to sleep.

Luan was extremely on edge as he commanded the kitchen. The party was just about to begin, but the servants were already half-dead from exhaustion. Despite everyone scurrying around busily, there was more work than they could handle. Now that the day had arrived, the month of painstaking preparation felt like nothing more than a prelude. It was terrifying to think they had to repeat this for the next ten days.

Orca’s birthday was included in those ten days. If an engagement were to be finalized, those days would be as good as a death sentence. Their master would surely want to showcase some spectacular cuisine. Roasting a whole pig or a whole deer would obviously be routine. On top of that, if they had to hold an engagement ceremony soon after, it would be better to just die.

Above all, serving hundreds of people was inevitably grueling. Having grown accustomed only to small-scale social gatherings with at most a few dozen guests during the three years Orca was away, it wouldn’t be strange for them to collapse from illness before the party was even over.

They trembled at the mere thought of one “Master,” so the idea of hundreds of other noble family members arriving was a number that made the horizon blur. It wasn’t just the cooking; tasks like laundry and cleaning would require tens of times more effort than usual. Of course, each family would bring a few of their own attendants, but that didn’t mean the workload would decrease. In any case, the host of the party was the Wair family, and it was natural that the Wair family servants had the duty to complete this party perfectly.

While everyone was busy, Pepe, who was planning to leave Rosselia somehow using the party as an opportunity, acted indifferent instead. Even though he was waiting for the party to start more than anyone, entertaining the guests was the last thing on his mind. Looking haggard, he just sat in a corner of the mansion shaking his legs.

The butler noticed this but passed by, pretending not to see. He knew about Pepe’s recent changes, as several servants had come to him to voice their complaints. However, fearing that a fuss might arise during a party to which the master and his wife had paid special attention, he decided to leave him be for the time being. If he acknowledged him and it turned into throwing kindling into a fire, it would be a disaster.

Pepe had cleaned up his appearance to make a good impression on the visiting nobles and the Wair family members from the town house, but he couldn’t erase the dark, heavy shadows that had lingered around his eyes ever since Orca’s return. His eyes were hollow, and his spirit was gone. The premonition that he had only ten days left hanging suspended him at the edge of a cliff.

He let out a long, musty sigh while coming up with a contingency plan in case things went wrong and he couldn’t leave as planned. He suffered from headaches all day because Adrian kept dropping by to pester him about what he was going to do. The back of his neck throbbed, frequently causing his vision to swim. He was struggling just to take care of himself, so there was no way he had the capacity to help Adrian manage his own affairs.

If it became impossible to move to the town house or another family, there was no other viable option but to leave this place. It was an open secret that the master would soon be leaving anyway, but in truth, no one knew exactly how long he would be staying. Niah, who was attached to him every hour, might know, but lately, the circumstances weren’t right for starting a conversation, and the timing was poor.