ORCA 31

Orca laughed at himself for thinking the feet wiggling on his palm were adorable, yet he continued to knead them to his heart’s content. He regretted wounding his hand earlier, but there was nothing to be done about it now.

Niah buried his face in Orca’s shoulder and let out a giggle. It felt as if he had never felt this happy before. A little while ago, his heart had been thumping with nervous tension, but now it was fluttering with a soft, bubbly warmth.

He loved the body heat pressing against him, he loved the voice calling his name, and he loved that he was told he smelled nice, not fishy. Furthermore, he could now feel the same scent as his young master seeping into him. He loved the young master’s scent—fresh, verdant, and like a breeze through the forest. No, in truth, he just loved the young master himself.

The other servants hoped the young master would leave soon, but Niah wanted him to stay in the mansion for as long as possible. He wanted to see him constantly until the day he left. Perhaps then, he could endure his life in the mansion on these memories until the young master returned again. If he thought about the young master every single day so as not to forget, he would be able to hold onto the memory longer than usual.

If he did that, wouldn’t the young master come back someday?

Honestly, he wasn’t confident he could remember for three years, but he could try. Next time, it might not be three years; he might return in two years, or perhaps even in one.

Of course, he didn’t remember exactly what had happened last spring. But surely, even he wouldn’t easily forget something this joyous and overwhelming. He shouldn’t forget. He didn’t want to forget.

Niah kept giggling, calling out, “Young master, young master.” In the end, unable to take it anymore, Orca bared his teeth and bit down very lightly on the goldfish, tasting him just a little. To Niah, even that was ticklish, and he burst into a series of chuckles. Orca pressed his nose against the shoulder line that kept jerking as Niah laughed and breathed in deeply.

“Hehehe…. That tickles, young master.”

Orca was swept up in feelings he couldn’t control. Unfamiliar emotions constricted his chest. He felt as if he were beginning to understand the plight of the prey, a position he had never once considered. The inexplicable anxiety turned into fear.

It was preposterous that the predator reigning over him was a mere goldfish. Therefore, he could go no further. This was exactly where the new line was drawn. To cross it any further would be dangerous. He was sinking violently toward the bottom of the deep sea, a place he had never experienced before.

☀️🌊

“You can wash by yourself, right?”

Orca, sensing that they shouldn’t be together any longer, hurriedly pushed himself out of the bathtub. While he washed off the foam, Niah kept his head bowed, sneaking glances on the side. Even though he tried to hold back, afraid of being called a pervert again, his gaze kept drifting.

The young master’s large, thick build continued to capture his eyes under the light. This was the young master’s fault, not his. It was truly something he couldn’t help. Niah flushed for no reason. Orca had no regrets about leaving such a Niah behind.

Left alone, Niah turned his body around to check the partition. Only after confirming there was no movement did he sluggishly get up to his feet. He had intended to sneak out, but because of the water dripping from his wet clothes, he made a noisy racket. He was even more startled by the clattering sound he made as he left the tub and spilled onto the floor.

Even as he hastily unbuttoned his clothes, water streamed down. The wet fabric even clung stubbornly to his skin, refusing to come off. For some reason, he grew impatient. The clothes, which he had forced off and were now tangled and inside out, were a shapeless mass. He squeezed the lump—he didn’t know if it was a shirt or pants—tossed it into a basket, and slipped back into the bathtub to hide his nakedness.

Niah swam through the tub, which was filled with slippery, warm water. It was his first time in such a large tub. He thought it would be fun to turn into a goldfish and swim around. He wanted to traverse the water, which felt as vast as the pond in the greenhouse. Niah giggled and floated on the surface, picking up fluffy bubbles and blowing at them. Before he knew it, bathing had become an afterthought.

Orca, having heard everything from outside, rummaged through the dressing room to find something for Niah to wear. No matter what he picked, the sizes were all too big for Niah, so there was no real point in choosing. After pulling the softest shirt he could find off the hanger and setting it aside, he tidied himself up and dried his hair. While he re-tied the crude cloth wrapped around his right hand into a new knot, the bathroom grew even busier.

He stood like a servant waiting with clothes until his master’s bath was finished. He listened to the sounds Niah was making from the other side of the bathroom door.

From inside, only sounds that made it impossible to distinguish whether he was bathing or playing and splashing in the water continued to reach him. Every now and then, he would hum or burst into light laughter. He wondered what on earth could be so fun that he wanted to watch from his side.

Orca, who had been pressing his ear against the door without realizing it, paused and let out a sigh.

“What on earth am I doing….”

He twisted his eyebrows and squeezed his eyes shut. Suddenly, irritation flared up. It would have been better if he had just crushed his skull earlier; then he wouldn’t be feeling this kind of mood.

Regardless, it was all in the past now. The one who had created this situation wasn’t the goldfish, but him. It was none other than himself who had painstakingly soothed his fear and tucked him into his embrace. He had done it four times just today.

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 couldn’t even predict what he might do next. He threw the door open abruptly.

Startled, Niah submerged himself in the water, his eyes following Orca. Orca simply laid the shirt on the backless sofa near the tub without meeting his gaze.

“Get out before the water gets cold.”

“Okay….”

Niah dragged out the end of his sentence and nodded his head several times. He bit his lip at the sight of Orca turning around and walking away immediately. He worried about whether he had done something wrong again. He wondered if the young master was angry because he hadn’t come out for too long.

Niah, who had been focused only on swimming and playing, belatedly came to his senses. He hurriedly emptied the water and grabbed the bath brush. A lingering sense of disappointment remained, but the young master came first. Being with the young master was naturally more important. He didn’t want to be hated before he left.

Orca, who sat on the edge of the bed, wiped his face. He felt pathetic for sharpening his hearing while simultaneously telling himself that this couldn’t continue. It felt similar to the times he had patrolled contested border regions while scouring the ocean.

In the darkness and silence, his razor-sharp senses turned into a strange excitement that stirred him the more he honed them. Until now, there had only ever been one way for him to resolve this.

Slaughter or carnage, masked under the guise of an assigned duty.

However, this place was not the ocean, it was not a conflict zone, and the one he had to deal with was not an enemy. Orca wiped his face several times and breathed with agitation.

Even before graduating from the military academy and joining the border guards, these things had happened quite often. Even back when he was simply a young master of the Wair family, he would often be swept up by uncontrollable desires. This was instinct. Of course, as a scion of an aristocratic family that valued decorum, he never showed it on the surface. That was because he had grown up learning how to groom and suppress his volatile nature first.

The members of the Wair family were generally gentle and possessed a nature that lived in harmony with all living things, but Orca had been different from them since he was very young. The only place he was allowed to reveal that alien instinct was in the hunting grounds behind the mansion. On days when he received permission, he would sweep through the hunting grounds all day long.

This “hunting” was not followed by reprimand. That was why Orca entered the military academy. The sole reason for his admission was the thought that if he went to the battlefield, he could “hunt” to his heart’s content as he pleased.