ORCA 29

The goldfish could not stop crying for a long time. Fearing he might even faint, I pulled his small frame into my arms to soothe him. I patted every part of him that my palms touched, whispering, “There, there.” It took a long while for the goldfish, who had been burrowing deeper into my embrace and begging pitifully, to finally settle into rhythmic breathing.

Even after that, he would occasionally flinch and tremble, gripped by fear for no reason. It made it impossible for me to even take a proper breath. I simply kept patting him, moving my hand back and forth until the body that had gone rigid with tension in my arms finally went completely limp.

I didn’t like that the food on the table had gone cold, but I thought it would be better to feed him, so I picked one of the many menu items with my eyes. The soft egg dish looked decent enough. Since I couldn’t pick up the plate with my cloth-wrapped hand, I reached out with the left arm that had been supporting his back. The goldfish, thinking I was trying to push him away, clung to me in a panic.

You’re hungry, aren’t you?

When I offered him something to eat, the goldfish, who would usually beam at me, shook his head frantically and said he wasn’t hungry. It was a lie, obviously. No sooner had he finished saying he wasn’t hungry than his stomach let out a growl. His stomach didn’t listen to its master and begged me for food instead.

Ah…. I’m sorry….

Having been caught in a flimsy lie I hadn’t even believed in the first place, the goldfish quickly became dejected and hunched his shoulders. He clutched his stomach with both hands. Strangely, he looked pathetic. Never in my life had I considered anyone pathetic, not even for a single moment.

I hadn’t even felt that way when a troop member who had dragged his tattered legs back to the barracks died right before my eyes after not being able to hold on much longer. I had merely estimated and planned how to replace the personnel. And yet, feeling sympathy after seeing a mere goldfish who couldn’t even hide the fact that he was hungry—it was absurd.

This was an error. It was clearly a massively problematic error. It would be right to cut it out before it spread any further. It would be an extremely simple task to just swallow the goldfish, who wasn’t even a mouthful.

While I was lost in such ridiculous thoughts, the goldfish bit his lip and watched for my reaction. His tiny voice as he fidgeted with his feet between my thighs and said, “I’m sorry,” was once again tinged with moisture.

It’s alright.

Before I knew it, I had pressed my lips to the crown of the goldfish’s head. To soothe him and stop him from crying more, I stroked his body as I held him tight. The goldfish, who had obediently surrendered his body to me, tried his hardest not to fall out of my embrace. That made my chest feel unpleasantly blocked, as if something were stuck in my solar plexus. A warning signal struck my brain, telling me not to commit any more errors.

Young master….

Even so, I couldn’t easily stop.

The ravenous goldfish emptied all the food on the table by himself. With a spoon in one hand and a plate in the other, he ate quite well, nibbling away. If I set down an empty plate and handed him a new one, he would take it readily without refusal.

The thought that he must have had to jump into the lake every time because he couldn’t fill his stomach properly until now made a flash of irritation cross my mind. Regardless of my thoughts, the goldfish busily scraped his plate clean. It was certainly a lie that he wasn’t hungry.

Young master, aren’t you going to eat…?

There probably wasn’t another servant who would sit on my lap, mumble, and push a spoon toward me. I let out a dry laugh. Perhaps thinking I was smiling because I was pleased, the goldfish followed suit, lifting the corners of his lips into a gentle smile. When I accepted the food he offered as he wished, his round eyes curved into crescents. His simple-mindedness seemed to be innate. A dark, impure sensation began to crawl up from beneath my feet.

Orca, who had been listening intently to the sounds from the bathroom, rose from the sofa and headed to the dressing room. After undressing with neat motions, he wrapped a robe around his naked body. As he came out, loosely tying the waist cord, he stopped in front of the bathroom door. From inside, the same mysterious swish-swish sound continued. Exhaling a breath that filled his lungs, he hesitated to enter.

Keeping Niah waiting had actually been an impulse. He was worried that if he left him alone, Niah might cry his eyes out, thinking he had been punished again. He had even considered letting him continue to misunderstand.

Orca was deeply bothered by the fact that he had been acting so unlike himself ever since arriving at the mansion. He regretted breaking the boring peace. If he hadn’t gone to the lake that day, this error wouldn’t have occurred.

“Young master….”

A muffled voice slipped out. At the cautious call looking for him, Orca opened the bathroom door as if bewitched. Niah’s mouth fell open in wonder at the sight of the young master, who had appeared like magic the moment he called. He had spoken so softly that there was no way he could have heard him, which he found amazing. Truly, the young master was a magnificent person. He knew everything even without seeing it.

There was the noise of the door opening and closing, and he saw the young master pass the partition. The young master glanced at him, went to the sofa at the foot of the bathtub, loosened his waist cord, and let the robe fall. His naked body, bathed in moonlight and the dim light, was laid bare. Resting his chin on his knees, Niah stole a glance at the young master’s physique.

The young master was taller and had a larger frame than anyone else in the mansion. Unlike his own thin and flat body, the young master’s body, covered in rugged muscles, was so cool that he couldn’t take his eyes off him. Moreover, he had an enormous number of scars.

The young master stood facing the window, cracked his neck bones with a pop, and turned to look at him. Because they made eye contact, Niah had to quickly bow his head after having been so busy staring. Afterward, something fell into the bathtub with a splash, and there were sounds of water being parted, which soon fell quiet.

When he stole a glance at the tub, he found he was making eye contact again with the young master, who was sitting with his injured elbow resting on the edge of the tub.

“Pervert.”

Orca flicked his wet hand, scattering droplets across Niah’s face. Niah flushed bright red at the word “pervert.”

“I’m not. I was just, I was just looking….”

“You clearly were.”

Feeling slightly aggrieved, Niah bit his lip and quickly stood up to bring the bath brush. There was no point in denying it further; he had no way to prove otherwise. He also felt it was true that he had been watching like a pervert, so he had no words to excuse himself.

Watching the goldfish feel embarrassed beside him, Orca stirred the water. Rich foam billowed throughout the tub, and the scent Niah liked filled the bathroom.

Niah quietly sniffled, moved closer, and rolled up his sleeves. He then put the bath brush into the water, soaked it thoroughly, and began to gently rub Orca’s forearm. He hadn’t told him to wait just to make him do this, but he let him be.

After rubbing it a few times, Niah eventually set the brushing aside and devoted himself solely to tracing the scars etched into the firm forearm. He didn’t forget to sniffle secretly as well.

“It’s all healed.”

Niah’s gaze shifted from the scarred arm to the other hand, which was wrapped in cloth. Orca noticed this acutely.

“This will heal soon. Who are you to be worrying about anyone else right now?”

Feeling dejected at the scolding that wasn’t quite a scolding, Niah looked for the young master’s reaction out of habit. His hand, which had slipped away, began to fretfully toy with the bath brush.

Orca was not pleased with this reaction. It was only moments ago that he had nearly killed Niah. He found it detestable that the goldfish was worrying about him when he didn’t even know what kind of fate he had nearly suffered. Of course, he had absolutely no intention of telling him. The mere imagination of Niah being terrified and running away made his insides twist.

Orca silently watched the goldfish, who had shrunk away at his casual remark. Then, his gaze traveled to the feet fidgeting beneath the bathtub. His fingertips landed softly on the white socks.

“Look here.”

This was where he had stepped on him earlier to prevent him from running away. After a moment of hesitation, Niah set down the bath brush and slowly pulled off his socks. He was so embarrassed to show his bare feet to the young master that his toes curled. Orca didn’t care and gently stroked the soft, delicate skin.

“Does it hurt?”

“Yes…? …Oh, it doesn’t hurt. It doesn’t hurt at all.”

Only then remembering that his foot had been stepped on, Niah shook his head vigorously. It really didn’t hurt at all. What actually hurt right now was his side, which was bruised from being constantly poked by Pepe.

“Is that so?”