ORCA 106

Orca found Niah in no time. After spotting him, his eyes diligently tracked the boy. The sight of him sticking closely to Harriet was a bit irritating, but thinking it was better than him being alone, Orca decided to overlook it. As Orca merely picked at his food, becoming far more aloof than at first, Hilda stomped on him once more. She was slowly starting to run out of things to talk about.

“Orca. Didn’t you have anything interesting happen? I heard you joined the border guard.”

“Yeah. What kind of fun would there be on a battlefield?”

“You could at least talk about the prisoners you captured.”

“Well. Prisoners aren’t my responsibility.”

“Right, well. If it’s not your responsibility, you might not know. How does it feel to be back in Rosselia? Putting myself aside, I heard it’s been a while for you too. Nothing has changed here.”

“It’s not bad.”

Orca bluntly shut down Hilda’s pleasant inquiry. She smiled so deeply that the corners of her mouth indented, trying to draw out a conversation somehow, but she failed completely. Curses surged right up to her throat. Forcing out a loud laugh, she raised her voice as much as possible. Even in the midst of that, Orca’s gaze remained focused elsewhere.

“Then tell me about how you’re doing over there. I heard everyone was curious. With your personality, it’s not like you would have blabbered about it, right?”

“I’m doing well. I eat, sleep, and fight.”

However, Hilda’s efforts were vastly insufficient to draw out Orca’s interest. To Orca, who had spotted the orange rolling around in the distance approaching his direction, nothing else mattered.

He pretended to focus on his meal, scooping up the potatoes resting on his plate. It was fortunate that the direction Niah was walking, dodging through the bustling crowd, was behind Hilda. If it had been diagonal or to the side, Orca wouldn’t have been able to endure it and would have turned his head.

He observed the rounded features that were slowly drawing closer. For some reason, he couldn’t understand why it felt as though they were meeting after a long time. Come to think of it, normally around this time, they would be having lunch together, or he would have rushed through his meal with his parents to watch the goldfish somewhere in the mansion.

Moving sluggishly and slowly, the goldfish repeatedly vanished from his sight and reappeared. He didn’t know what the boy was doing, but he looked busy. Just as he began to wonder if the boy had eaten properly, Hilda let out another loud laugh.

“Then at least tell me some heroic tale. You must have torn apart and killed a lot of them. You pie—”

“Hilda.”

Cut off by her father’s calm calling, Hilda laughed politely this time and brought her fork to the grilled salmon. As even she fell silent, the table grew harmonious once more with the quiet voices of the parents.

Hilda feigned clearing her throat and subtly glanced behind her. There was no way she didn’t know that Orca’s eyes had been staring intently past her for a while now. She took a quick look and went back to poking at her grilled salmon.

‘What on earth is that bastard looking at?’

Meanwhile, Niah, who had reached a spot a few steps away from Orca, halted with a start. He realized Harriet’s intention belatedly. The moment his eyes met his young master’s, Niah couldn’t help but beam into a smile. Orca tilted his head sideways. Tilting his own head in imitation, Niah’s cheeks turned rosy. A sense of delight seeped from his eyes, which crinkled in half. Afraid that his laughter might leak out, Niah firmly bit his lips and carefully shifted his steps toward his original destination.

After all, standing still in one place and grinning would surely look strange. Moreover, the master and mistress were sitting right next to the young master, which made him a little scared. There were probably few people who would remain unfazed upon seeing their beautiful, elegant appearances paired with their contrasting, massive statures.

Although they occasionally came to the garden or the greenhouse for walks, this was his first time seeing them from such a close distance. Furthermore, because he was a goldfish, he couldn’t help but feel an inherent dread toward beast-kin who were larger than him. The mere fact that the master and mistress were in front of him made him highly tense.

However, the young master was different. Even though he was taller and larger than the masters and they resembled one another in appearance, Niah’s very first thought upon seeing him was that he was beautiful and cute rather than scary. Of course, he was cool as well. It was especially true lately. Before he arrived or when he first came to the mansion, Niah had burst into tears out of fear because Orca seemed scarier than Pepe or Adrian, but that wasn’t the case now.

It wasn’t that he liked him because the young master treated him kindly or gave him gifts; rather, he just liked him blindly now, without any reason. It felt as though there were too many reasons to pinpoint just one. Even if the young master treated him meanly and mistreated him, he felt he wouldn’t resent him at all and would only continue to like him.

Because of that, greed kept creeping into his heart. When he had decided to return the shirt and blanket he received from the young master, he had firmly intended to scoop out his greed by the handful, but it wasn’t as easy as he thought.

He wanted to see him off while smiling, telling him goodbye, and wishing him to stay healthy without getting hurt. He wanted to see him off with a smile, without asking when he would return and without acting clingy.

Contrary to such wishes, as time passed, his plan gradually lost its strength. It seemed it would be more helpful to him if he just asked when he was leaving and started preparing his heart early. However, when he actually tried to ask, he lacked the courage. He felt pathetic for being that way and found himself foolish.

“Oh!”

“My goodness. Are you alright, milady?”

“Yes. It’s nothing. What about you?”

A small commotion broke out not far away. A plate clattered heavily onto the ground, scattering the food it had contained. A woman in a green dress and a man in an indigo evening suit stood facing each other, asking if the other was alright. It was because their paths had crossed, causing them to bump into each other. Although their clothes had become a bit soiled, no significant accident had occurred.

After standing dazed for a moment, Niah rushed over. The people nearby also focused their attention on the direction of the noise. The people seated at Orca’s table turned their heads as well. Orca merely shifted his gaze following Niah; he had no interest in the commotion itself.

Soon, an attendant trotted over and headed toward the mansion along with the woman. The man likewise vanished with his own attendant. The murmuring soon subsided. The gathered glances also returned to their respective places. The only things left in that spot were Niah and the fierce gaze of Orca watching him.

Left all alone, Niah bent his knees and set about clearing up the mess. His touch was busy as he picked up the food and placed it into the bucket he carried. Niah sat there like an isolated island. The servants of the Wair family were each busy, and the nobles who came as guests were not at leisure enough to care about the work a servant was doing.

Orca’s mood turned foul in an instant. Watching that small, curled-up body fumbling on the ground with bare hands while he himself sat upright in a chair made him feel incredibly petty and cowardly. He clenched his fists tightly. His heart thumped wildly. Niah was merely doing the work he was naturally supposed to do as a servant, but Orca felt a surge of anger as if he had witnessed something he shouldn’t have.

He had seen the goldfish work countless times before, but that was always in front of him. Tending to flowers or planting strange greens in the vegetable garden while chattering away was the goldfish’s work. Aside from that, it was more than enough for his other duties to consist of brewing tasteless tea and looking proud, or buttoning up his clothes.

Although the boy occasionally wanted to wipe the windows or clean the bathroom floor, Orca could stop him if he didn’t feel like letting him, so he hadn’t thought much of it until now. The goldfish only listened to his words and did only the work he permitted.

Therefore, seeing him clear up someone else’s mess felt incredibly foreign. A burning sensation erupted near his chest, as if something held in his hands had been snatched away without any resistance. His mood was spectacularly foul.

Having returned from the laundry room, Harriet scanned the surroundings. Managing to spot the crouching Niah, she sat beside him and helped clear up. Orca merely watched the scene as the two of them, after exchanging a few words, stood up together.

Covering the bucket containing the food remnants with a napkin, Niah left the area alongside Harriet. They were about to head to the kitchen to empty the full bucket and wash their hands. He deliberately turned his body toward the direction of the table where Orca was. Meeting the dark eyes that immediately locked onto him, Niah crinkled his eyes into a circle and offered a silent, beaming smile. Then, he took a wide detour, keeping his distance. His steps were placed lightly. Perhaps because he had seen his young master, even if briefly, his mood was bright.