ORCA 27

Orca reached out and covered Niah’s eyes. He had intended to stop the boy from looking at him anymore, but instead, he was met with a stark, raw gaze. The fluttering eyelashes, as if startled, the ragged breaths, and the flushed lips were all directed solely at him. The heated cheeks were warm and toasty. Like freshly baked bread.

“Don’t hate me…”

The goldfish, who had been opening and closing his mouth while exhaling hot breaths, spoke slowly and deliberately. His hoarse voice vibrated faintly inside the palm of Orca’s hand. Something uncontrollable surged up from deep within his body.

Orca could not define it, not even with a lie. From the beginning until now, it had always been a nameless emotion. To chew and swallow it was a shame, to kill it would haunt his eyes. He couldn’t do anything to the goldfish. Now, even sending him out the door had become difficult.

Orca removed his hand. Niah was still looking up at him.

“…Come here.”

At that one phrase, Niah quickly approached and clung to his clothes. Time was too precious to hesitate. He leaned his forehead against the firm forearm and rubbed it to his heart’s content. It felt as if his empty stomach was filled to the brim. The suffocating tightness in his chest seemed to open up as well. Tears came and, at the same time, he laughed. The feeling, experienced for the first time in his life, was strange.

The young master was indeed a good person. If he asked, he would eventually grant everything. He gave punishments, but in the end, he also gave rewards like this, so it was okay. Niah carefully opened his fingers and wrapped them around Orca’s arm. He watched him for a while before tentatively hugging him. A sudden wave of drowsiness washed over him.

Orca stopped patting the goldfish’s back, grabbed his side tightly, and pulled him into his embrace. The slender frame felt insufficient even as his arm wrapped around the flat stomach to the other side. A light pressure was on his thigh. This time it wasn’t a hallucination; it was real. But he had no time to savor the cozy feeling of the small body fitting perfectly in his arms before he immediately became displeased.

“Ah, it hur, ahh! Uht.”

Niah twisted his body. Orca easily recalled a similar situation that had occurred before. When he intentionally squeezed his hand, the goldfish clung to him and whimpered. A shallow w**ness tinged his pained groans. He did not stop the boy from whining and burrowing into his chest.

Instead, when he lifted the boy’s shirt, the goldfish was startled and tried to escape his embrace. The arm strength he used to try and pull his clothes down was pathetic. He showed no sign of giving up. He just kept repeating the useless action.

“Oh oh, w-wait a moment. Young Master, Young, Master. Young Master.”

Unable to watch Niah struggling to cover the slightly exposed bare skin, Orca pushed him down. The leg resting on his body still didn’t know what to do.

Niah, flustered by the sudden change in posture, just blinked his eyes open and closed. His back was soft. The dark ceiling seemed too far away. It was an unfamiliar scene. The ceiling soon changed to the young master’s face.

“Stay still.”

Orca slipped his hands under Niah’s armpits and lifted him up in a flash. After moving him to the center of the bed and laying him down, he got on top and watched the goldfish lying beneath him. It was in case he struggled again. Before that could happen, he narrowed his knees to pin Niah’s lower body.

Niah quickly clutched the hem of his shirt. His heart pounded with nervousness. Orca leaned in close and patted the orange hair scattered on the white sheet. Niah was completely trapped in his shadow.

“You’re a good boy.”

The fear from the oppressive feeling coming from the large, thick physique was brief; the ticklish touch completely disarmed Niah. A low whisper gently pressed against his ear. Since he was being told he was good, he felt he should act good.

Niah gently rested his head on Orca’s hand, which was placed next to him. The large palm soon cupped his cheek and rubbed it gently. His heart calmed down.

“Go on.”

Niah fidgeted with a shy face, then relaxed his grip. Orca’s hand didn’t miss the loosened gap and slipped right in. Niah squeezed his eyes shut.

Orca, who had discovered the wound on Niah’s side, was persistent. It was because of Niah, who kept his mouth tightly shut and wouldn’t tell him who did it, despite having come with a fresh crop of bruises.

“Ah, euung…. It hurts, it hurts. Young Master…. Uht.”

Niah gently pushed away the back of Orca’s hand, which was busy tormenting his waist. But Orca only pressed down harder, the position unchanged. Tears welled up in his eyes. No matter how much he begged, leaning against the palm on his cheek, this time the young master wouldn’t listen. He knew why, but there was nothing he could do.

“You’re not going to talk?”

Niah just moved his lips, letting out soft, panting breaths. He even averted his gaze, avoiding Orca who was looking down at him from right in front of his nose. But even so, his face was in his hand, and his pelvis was still held down and fixed.

Furthermore, his waist was also occupied. He had no desire to run away from here, but even if he did, it was a position from which he couldn’t even attempt it, so he had to lie there quietly.

Meanwhile, the bare skin clearly visible under the hem of his clothes bothered him. The thick fingers and slightly rough palm moving over his bare skin made him feel strange. If that was the problem, it was the problem. It was a different feeling from the pain of touching the bruised area. Niah couldn’t bring himself to give his young master the answer he wanted and only flinched and m**ned from time to time.

He just couldn’t bring himself to answer the question of who did it. It was a question he had never been asked before. No one had ever been curious about where he got hurt or what he was doing. So he wondered if it would really be okay to say that Pepe had hurt him.

Maybe he would be found out by Pepe and get a huge scolding. Of course, he would be scolded by the young master if he didn’t act like a good boy now, but he’d rather take that.

“Niah.”

Orca was extremely displeased with Niah’s waist, which was colored with blue and red bruises. He was also getting angry at the goldfish who wouldn’t tell him the culprit. Since the boy wouldn’t talk and just rubbed his cheek, he deliberately and persistently kneaded the area.

He thought he was being gentle, but the goldfish looked up at him with tear-filled, resentful eyes. His moist breath was mixed with m**ns. As Orca brought his upper body closer, the boy called out desperately, ‘Young Master. Young Master,’ as if it were a habit. The small calls leaked out in round mumbles. His heightened sense of hearing swallowed every sound the goldfish made.

He couldn’t grab the slender waist as much as he wanted, for fear that it might burst if he squeezed too hard. He was careful, worried that the soft, tender skin might be torn by his fingernails. There was no way he could do anything worse than this to a goldfish that looked like it would die soon even if left alone.

He wasn’t sure how it had been at first, but that was how it was now. He didn’t want to kill him. And yet, the boy had shown up with these kinds of wounds after not being seen for a few days. For a moment, he became dizzyingly angry. The thought that he would have never known if he had sent him back earlier as planned made his irritation surge even more.

“Niah. If you don’t tell me, I’m really going to punish you.”

Niah shook his head vigorously at the terrifying words delivered in a gentle voice. It would be a disaster if he were kicked out of the room again or kicked out of the mansion altogether. Of course, it would be hard for him, a goldfish, to find a new job, but he hated not being able to see the young master right away even more. It had been so hard to get back in here; at this rate, it felt like he wouldn’t be able to be near him at all, let alone by his side.

As these worries rushed in one after another, the thought of what he would do if the young master got hurt like before suddenly terrified him.

He remembered the bright red pond created by pooled blood. The droplets of blood had flowed freely, staining the shirt and dripping down to soak into the carpet. The words he had said—that he might die from the pain, that it was a punishment for not listening—spun around in his head.

“Don’t, don’t… why, why…. I don’t want you to, Young Master. Please don’t disappear…”

To Orca’s ears, Niah’s answer was a considerable leap of logic.

The goldfish, whatever he had imagined for a moment, was in a tizzy all on his own, whining with a tearful face. He wrinkled his nose and sniffled, then kept shaking his head, saying he didn’t want to. His pouted lower lip trembled. The reasonless refusal was trivial and cute. Dominating that from a position of superiority, a wicked feeling slowly rose up and drenched the goldfish.

“Ah, it hurts, euung…. Young Master, this, heu, is this the punishment…?”

“Of course not.”

Orca tapped his forehead against Niah’s, who was looking at him from the corner of his eye while practically lying on his palm. His hands did not stop moving. He rubbed stealthily as if tickling, then stroked with a little strength in his fingertips. At that, the whining voice would momentarily grow louder, then fade.

The breaths he exhaled grew faster and faster. The heated breaths condensed on his palm, piling up in layers. The sorrow-drenched eyes were a bonus. The body heat, which had been radiating haphazardly, didn’t push him away but instead pulled him in, refusing to let go. Instead of pushing away, he tried to move himself to a spot that didn’t hurt even while being tormented.

As he was led along obediently, he could feel the ribs. The body, devoid of muscle, revealed its bones in detail. It was a defenseless sight. Following the outline his fingertips felt, he squeezed into the space between the bed and the small of his back. As he swept down the spine, he invariably felt the protruding bones. It was to the point where he could count each and every vertebra.

The goldfish flinched in surprise and arched his back. Not missing the gap that opened up, Orca slid his forearm in. The insignificant body was more than encompassed by one arm. There was enough space left to fit two of them at once. He didn’t much like that empty space. He pulled back the arm he had inserted a little and gripped the waist.

“Young Master…”

The goldfish’s hands, which had been flailing in the air, landed softly on his shoulder. The other hand fidgeted, trying to pull down the hem of his rolled-up shirt. As he rolled his eyes and watched him cautiously, Orca gently held the side he had wrapped his arm around. The hand immediately left the clothes and gripped the back of his hand tightly. A weak pressure could also be felt on his shoulder.

The goldfish reacted sensitively to his every move. He was completely flustered and didn’t know what to do. And yet, he couldn’t tell him to stop or push him away firmly.

The once silent room in the middle of the night was now filled with the goldfish’s shallow breaths, whimpering sounds, and pleas calling for him. Every time he fondled his waist, the sheets also rustled. The goldfish, like a ripe orange pulp, burst open with every touch.

A slight sense of unfairness and a flushed emotion were reflected in their locked gazes. The goldfish, illuminated by the moonlight from outside the window, glistened as if w**. All the jumbled words were directed at him. He smelled of flowers and trees. He was engrossed, all his senses captivated by the act of appreciating such a goldfish. Their pressed foreheads throbbed.

“…D**n.”

Orca, who almost forgot his original purpose and spent the whole night doing this, belatedly managed to pull himself together. It was because the goldfish, who had been constantly whining ‘Young Master, Young Master,’ began to breathe evenly with a face that looked like it would fall asleep at any moment. The strength with which he had been holding onto the back of his hand and his shoulder also gradually weakened. By the time he noticed, his hand was merely resting on him, not gripping him.

Orca pulled his forehead away. Niah’s head naturally moved along with him. Niah, who had exhausted all his energy just by lying still, looked at Orca with his eyes more than half-closed. He felt like a fool for being sleepy even in this situation, but he couldn’t help it.

Lately, he had been awake until dawn every day, and today he had also been to the greenhouse, and he thought he was tired from crying earlier, and also, the bed in his room was hard but the young master’s bed was so soft…. And the young master was warm and also…. The young master’s hand, a strange feeling…. I don’t know, I’m just sleepy….

“Niah.”

Niah, who was drifting off to sleep, forced his eyelids to roll up. His vision was blurry.

“…Young Master…”

“It was that b**t**d from back then, wasn’t it.”

Niah leaned his cheek against Orca’s palm again at the gentle pressure on his waist. The riddle-like words were of no interest to him. He couldn’t think of anything. He just wanted to sleep soon. When he clenched his jaw, a series of nasal sounds came from his nose. Thinking he couldn’t sleep like this, he twisted his body. But no matter which way he struggled, he was in the young master’s arms. After repeating the same action without much result, Niah soon gave up and went limp.

“Don’t do it…. Tomorrow, I’ll do it tomorrow…. Young Master… I’ll, tomorrow…. Heueut, Young, Master, eung…”

Niah, realizing he couldn’t escape with strength, this time whined with words. He babbled whatever came to mind and snuggled. The feeling of being rubbed against the rough skin of the palm felt good.

Orca, on the other hand, was losing his composure. He had to get an answer before the boy fell asleep. He thought a more honest answer would come out in a sleepy state.

“If it wasn’t that b**t**d from back then, was it that kitchen servant? What was his name…. Niah.”

“……”

“You have to answer.”

“Ah, heueu, yeees…”

“The kitchen servant did it?”

“Kitchen…? Luan…. Ah… Andrian…. Uht. No. No, it wasn’t…”

“Then.”

Niah had reached a point where he couldn’t even try to open his eyes anymore. He just moved his lips in time with the voice whispering in his ear. Even that response grew duller and duller. Orca urged him on, pulling his waist into a tight hug.

“It was that b**t**d, wasn’t it? The one who gave you the scar on your forehead.”

“Euung, I don’t, know…”

“What do you mean you don’t know.”

“I, I really don’t, heut. Young Master…”

In reality, he couldn’t deduce anyone else. Not because there were dozens of employees at the mansion, but because he had never felt any interest in anyone. The number of people worth considering was limited. It had been almost a month since he arrived at Roselphia, but he didn’t know the faces of even five employees.

The only name he remembered was the goldfish’s. If he had to add one, it was someone named ‘Harriet,’ but he only knew her name and she seemed to have granted the goldfish’s request last time, so she was excluded for now.

Anyway, after repeatedly filtering out and excluding the few people he knew, the only one left was ‘that b**t**d.’ Judging by his attitude toward the goldfish in the vegetable patch, it seemed almost certain. Besides, he had gone to the trouble of letting him walk around the mansion covered in blood; no one but a complete idiot would dare touch him. At least not while he was staying here, at Roselphia.

In that sense, that b**t**d seemed like quite an idiot. Considering how he would only answer after repeating the question, or how he couldn’t understand the meaning of his words at once, he was certainly a fool.

Orca, having arbitrarily identified the culprit, urged Niah once more. He was determined to get a confirmation. He pulled out the hand that had been supporting his cheek. At the same time, he gently caressed the area from the bottom of his ribs to above his pelvis.

“Why are you protecting him? After being treated like this.”

Only then did Niah slowly open his eyes and blink. But with a gentle hand brushing through his hair, they closed again not long after. It was a moment when languor overcame pain.