ORCA 18

Orca slipped his arm between Niah’s stomach and thighs, wrapping him in an embrace, then rested his chin on the top of Niah’s excited head. He had to admit his own foolishness for willingly drawing the ‘error’ into his arms. Perhaps the real fool was not the goldfish, but him.

His mind became complicated. He desperately needed a way to resolve this. He wanted to find a moderately leisurely solution, other than killing the goldfish or leaving the mansion immediately, even as soon as tomorrow.

He pulled Niah a little closer and buried his nose in the crown of his head. His mind and his actions were playing separate games. The goldfish smelled faintly of wildflowers. For some reason, it felt appetizing. It was utterly ridiculous to feel a surge of appetite from just the scent of grass.

Separately, the idea of the servants who had teased him by calling this a fishy smell was pathetic. Unless their sense of smell was paralyzed, there was definitely something wrong with them. Orca slowly lowered his head. He took a long breath, breaking through the obstruction of the collar that neatly wrapped the nape of the neck.

“Uh, uh-uh.”

Startled, Niah squirmed. At the action that was clearly smelling him, he hastily tried to escape the embrace. Bad memories poured down unexpectedly like a sudden shower. He had cried a lot today, he was in the water right now, and he was too close to the young master.

“Young, young master…. Please let me go, I, I do not like this,”

“You smell nice.”

Orca, who was holding Niah without much effort, spoke, still in the same position. When he inhaled again, he had the illusion that the scent had grown stronger than before.

Fresh grass, blooming flowers, the soil supporting the roots, and the warm air of the sun shining down on it all filled his lungs. It seemed that from running around the garden and greenhouse so diligently, trees had grown and flowers had bloomed all over the goldfish’s body.

“A nice, smell…. Uh… really…?”

“Yes.”

Orca immediately affirmed the cautious question and slid the fingers that had been holding his stomach upward. Fumbling with the stiff fabric, he slowly unbuttoned it from the very top. Niah could not bring himself to push him away firmly and tensed his body. His hands, which had been resting demurely on his knees, struggled feebly, making splashing sounds, splash, splash.

Orca only undid the buttons down to the second one and obediently backed off, but instead, he pulled Niah’s shirt to the side. His attire, though wet, had been neat, but it was instantly disheveled. Niah, who shrank back at the sensation of his collarbone and shoulder being exposed, rolled his eyes, swivel, swivel, trying to grasp the situation. But he could not figure out the reason.

“Uh, ah, young master….”

Goosebumps rose along his spine. The breath touching his bare shoulder was ticklish. His heart pounded with nervousness, thump-thump. The young master had stroked his cheek or neck before, but he had never exposed the skin underneath his clothes until now.

But now, they were so close he could feel every inhale and exhale. No, it was not just close; they were completely pressed together. He could even feel the young master’s lips moving every time he said something.

This was the first time someone else’s skin had touched this place. It was warmer than the water he was submerged in and softer than the foam.

“Do not run away.”

Orca pressed Niah’s chest, which was flinching and trying to pull away, firmly toward himself. Niah startled, flinch, and pressed his back against him. He was surprised by the unfamiliar act, but it was not unpleasant. In fact, it seemed rather nice.

Orca, who had his nose pressed against the nape of his neck, slid down and pressed his lips to his collarbone. He barely restrained himself from wanting to bite down hard, bone and all.

Niah swallowed hard, gulp. He tensed the legs he had pulled in close. He also clenched his fists tightly on his knees. It felt as if he would faint if he did not do at least that.

“You do not like it?”

Orca asked deliberately, even though he knew the answer would be no. The hand that had been pressing down on his chest moved to Niah’s knee and gently rubbed below the fist that was clamped shut like a clamshell. After prying open the wary fingers, he intertwined his own, one by one, and pressed their palms together. The skin, slippery from the bath bomb, easily tangled together.

Niah covered the back of Orca’s hand with his free one. He did not want him to misunderstand and think he disliked it.

“No. I do not dislike it….”

“Then?”

At the repeated question, Niah’s face turned red. His ears, neck, and cheeks all flushed red without exception. The feeling of the lips on his collarbone was strange.

“I, I like it.”

“You like it?”

“Yeees.”

“Really? I see….”

Orca was very displeased with his right hand, which had become useless wrapped in cloth. If he had his way, he would have plunged it into the water as he pleased, but he had to stop, thinking the goldfish would cry if he did. He had no choice but to pull out the hand that was being held. It slid down below the rolled-up pant leg and stroked his calf. The thin leg had so little flesh it seemed it would break if he gripped it too hard. It seemed even thinner than his own forearm.

The goldfish, unable to hide his flustered expression, clenched his fist again. When he was caressing his calf and called, Niah, his whole body trembled violently. Suddenly, he wanted to break the collarbone between his lips with his teeth and chew it to pieces.

“Niah.”

If he said he would bite and break it, the goldfish would cry, and he wanted to see him sobbing like that, yet at the same time, he did not. Or perhaps he wanted to bite him just a little to make him cry, and then lick his tears away until he stopped.

He knew he had long since crossed the permissible range, yet he could not control himself. The desires that surfaced in his mind were all a mess. He had already crossed the line. It was too late to go back, so he had no choice but to draw a new line in front of the one he had crossed. He could not think of any other way but to promise himself that he would never, ever cross this new line.

Orca, who had been continuously kneading Niah’s calf in the water, now lowered his hand to the bottom of the tub and circled his ankle bone. For now, he had drawn the new line far away. The priority was to slowly appreciate the goldfish he had lured, or who had rolled in on his own. He did not have the luxury to refuse.

“Hehe. Young master, that tickles….”

Niah held the hem of his pants draped over his knee with one hand and covered his mouth with the other. Laughter kept escaping, hehe. It was because Orca had deliberately touched and straightened his curled toes and was now fiddling with them carelessly.

Orca scoffed at himself for thinking the feet fidgeting in his palm were adorable, yet he kneaded them wantonly as he pleased. He regretted not injuring his hand instead, but there was nothing he could do about it now.

Niah leaned against Orca, who had buried his face in his shoulder, and burst into giggles. It felt like the first time he had ever felt so joyful. A moment ago, his heart was pounding, thump-thump, from nervousness, but now his heart felt soft and fluffy, and it was pounding, thump-thump.

The body heat where they touched was nice, the voice that called his name was nice, and being told that he smelled nice instead of fishy was nice too. On top of that, the same scent as the young master was now seeping into him. He liked the young master’s scent, which was fresh and verdant like a forest breeze. No, actually, he just liked the young master.

The other servants wished the young master would leave soon, but he hoped he would stay at the mansion for as long as possible. He wanted to keep seeing him until he left. Then, perhaps he could endure life in the mansion with this memory until he returned again. If he thought about the young master every single day so that he would never forget, he should be able to remember for longer than usual.

Then, if I do that, won’t the young master come again someday?

Honestly, he was not confident he could remember for three years, but he could try. Maybe next time, he would not return after three years, but after two, or perhaps even one.

Of course, he did not remember well what had happened last spring. But surely, even someone like him would not easily forget something so joyful and overwhelming. He must not forget. He did not want to forget.

Niah kept giggling and calling out, ‘Young master, young master.’ In the end, unable to hold back, Orca bared his teeth and took a tiny bite of the goldfish, having a little taste. Niah, finding even that ticklish, continued to laugh, hee-hee. Orca pressed his nose against the line of his shoulder, which was bobbing as he laughed, and took a deep breath.

“Ehehe…. That tickles, young master.”

He was engulfed by an uncontrollable feeling. An unfamiliar emotion tightened its grip on his chest. It felt as though he was about to understand the position of the prey, something he had never once considered. An inexplicable anxiety turned into fear.

For the predator reigning over him to be a mere goldfish was absurd. Therefore, he must not go any further. The new line was drawn exactly here. Trespassing any further was dangerous. He was sinking fiercely into the bottom of the deep sea, a place he had never experienced before.

“You can wash by yourself, can’t you?”

Orca, with a premonition that he should not stay with him any longer, quickly got out of the bathtub. While he rinsed off the foam, Niah kept his head bowed low and sneaked glances. He tried hard to resist, worried he would be called a pervert again, but his eyes kept wandering.

The young master’s large, thick build kept catching his eye under the light. This was the young master’s fault, not his. It was something he really could not help. Niah blushed for no reason. Orca had no lingering attachment to leaving such a Niah behind.

Left alone, Niah turned his body and checked toward the partition. Only after confirming that there was no sign of anyone did he slowly stand up. He had intended to sneak out quietly, but the water dripping from his wet clothes made a loud noise. Even after getting out of the tub, he was the one more surprised by the sound of water crashing onto the floor, clatter-thump-thump.

Water continued to stream down even as he hurriedly unbuttoned his clothes. To make matters worse, the wet fabric clung to his skin and would not come off easily. He started to feel anxious. The clothes, which had been turned inside out and rolled into a ball from being forcibly taken off, were shapeless. He squeezed the lump, not knowing if it was a top or bottom, threw it into a basket, and quickly slipped back into the tub to hide his naked body.

Niah swam through the tub filled with slippery, warm water as if he were swimming. It was the first time he had ever been in such a large bathtub. He thought it would be fun to turn into a goldfish and swim around. He wanted to cross the wide water as if it were the greenhouse pond. Niah giggled, hee-hee, and floated on the water. He also picked up some fluffy foam and blew on it, poof, poof. At some point, the bath became secondary.

Orca, who was listening to this whole situation from outside, rummaged through the dress room to find something for him to wear. Whatever he picked was too big for Niah, so there was really no point in choosing. He took the softest shirt off its hanger and set it aside, then tidied up his own appearance and dried his hair. While he re-tied the clumsy cloth wrapped around his right hand, making a new knot, the inside of the bathroom became even more bustling.

He stood there like a servant waiting with clothes until the master’s bath was finished. He listened intently to the sounds Niah was making from in front of the bathroom door.

From inside, only a continuous stream of sounds that made it impossible to tell whether he was bathing or playing in the water could be heard. Occasionally, he would hum or burst into light laughter. He was having so much fun by himself that it made one want to watch from the side.

Orca, who had unconsciously pressed his ear against the door, flinched and sighed.

“What on earth am I doing….”

He twisted his eyebrows crookedly and squeezed his eyes shut. Suddenly, irritation surged. If only he had just smashed his head in earlier, he would not be feeling this way.

But it was all in the past anyway. The one who had created this situation was not the goldfish, but him. The one who had diligently soothed the frightened thing and crammed it into his arms was none other than himself. He had done that four times today alone.

Orca thought he had to get the goldfish out of his sight as soon as possible. He had to drive him out beyond the newly drawn line. Otherwise, he himself could not predict what he might do next. He flung the door open.

Startled, Niah submerged himself in the water, and his eyes followed Orca. Orca only placed the shirt on the backless sofa near the tub and did not meet his gaze.

“Get out before the water gets cold.”

“Yeees….”

Niah drew out the end of his word and nodded his head several times. He chewed on his lip at the sight of Orca turning and leaving in an instant. He was worried he had done something wrong again. He wondered if he was angry because he had taken too long to come out.

Niah, who had been focused only on swimming and playing, belatedly came to his senses. He hurriedly drained the water and brought the bath brush. A subtle sense of disappointment lingered, but the young master came first. Being with the young master was, of course, more important. He did not want to be hated before he left.

Orca, sitting on the edge of the bed, wiped his face. He felt pathetic for sharpening his sense of hearing, even as he thought he should not go any further. It felt similar to when he used to patrol the disputed territories on the border, sailing the seas.

In the darkness and silence, the keener his sharpened senses became, the more they transformed into a strange excitement that stirred him up. Until now, he had only ever had one means of resolving this.

Slaughter, or massacre, under the guise of his assigned duty.

But this was not the sea, nor a disputed territory, and there was no enemy for him to destroy. Orca wiped his face several times, breathing agitatedly.

Things like this had happened quite often even before he graduated from the military academy and joined the border guard. Even when he was just the young master of the Ware family, he would be engulfed by uncontrollable desires. This was instinct. Of course, as the son of a noble family that valued decorum, he never showed it on the outside. This was because he had grown up learning first how to properly groom and suppress his turbulent nature.

The members of the Ware clan were generally gentle and had an affable nature towards all living things, but Orca had been different from them since he was very young. The only place where it was acceptable to reveal that heterogeneous nature was in the hunting grounds behind the mansion. On the days permission was granted, he would sweep through the hunting grounds all day long.

This ‘hunting’ was not followed by censure. That was why Orca entered the military academy. The sole purpose of his admission to the military academy was the reason that if he went to the battlefield, he could ‘hunt’ as much as he pleased.

Meanwhile, the bathroom, which had become bustling in a different sense, was alive with cheerful commotion. While rinsing his body and tidying up the area around the tub, Niah stared only at the shirt Orca had left for him. He had forgotten all his worries about whether he was angry with him. If he had been angry, he would not have given him something like that. It was a simple conclusion. The worry that would normally have brought tears to his eyes felt trivial. He just wanted to go out quickly.

After finishing tidying up, Niah took a towel from the shelf. His hands moved urgently over his wet hair and every corner of his body. Even so, his eyes were fixed only on the shirt placed on the sofa. After drying himself moderately, he quickly picked it up and sniffed it, sniff, sniff. A smile escaped him, chuckle, chuckle. Niah, who had excitedly put the shirt on over his naked body, passed the partition with a bouncing gait. The shirt, which came down to his thighs, fluttered.

Niah stood in front of the door and looked down. The only thing he was wearing was a single shirt, so contrary to his excited heart, he felt a little embarrassed. The wind blew freely under the shirt. The sensation brushing against his bottom was soft.