ORCA 39

At that moment, Niah let out a choked sound as if his windpipe were being constricted, and he was lifted upward. His legs, forced to stand against his will, faltered, staggered backward, and soon lost their way. His back slammed violently against the greenhouse glass, which vibrated with a dull, heavy noise. His bones, crushed against the iron frame, pulsed with a stinging jolt. He didn’t even have time to suppress a groan of pain.

“Ah, ugh, hng…. Pe, Pepe….”

Dark shadows fell across Pepe’s face as he stood with his back to the sunlight pouring through the window. Murderous intent could be felt in his bloodshot eyes. Niah scrambled to grab Pepe’s arm, which was crushing the base of his throat. His ragged breath escaped his constricted windpipe in wheezing gasps. The struggle for air made his mind reel.

“Hrk, huff…. Why, why are you doing this….”

Just as his vision began to blur, the breath he had been suppressing was released all at once. At the same time, his heels were lifted off the ground, making it impossible to stand by his own volition. Pepe, holding him by the collar with brute force, interrogated him fiercely.

“What about the young master’s weakness? Why were you kicked out?”

“There is no such thing. Ugh. It hurts…. It hurts. Please, let go.”

“Are you not going to tell me straight? If you lie, you’ll be a corpse by today.”

“There isn’t any. There isn’t, really…. Pepe…. Ah, hng!”

“If there isn’t, then why until now…. Because of you, you stupid piece of trash…. Damn it! Why did you step in back then! If I get kicked out of this mansion, it’s all your fault. Do you hear me? Do you understand?! If that happens, I’ll…. I’ll, …you damn fool!”

Pepe slammed Niah against the glass wall. He couldn’t bring himself to utter the words, if I am killed and carried out of the mansion. Niah shut his eyes tight and choked, overwhelmed by the pain.

Pepe’s terror was no longer a question of whether or not he would be kicked out of the mansion. It had shifted, in an instant, to a matter of life and death—he was standing at the crossroads of existence. This was true even though he hadn’t received a direct death threat from Orca. The more he chewed over the cryptic question he had heard in the vegetable garden, the more his fear grew until it dwarfed him. He felt as if he would be crushed to death by his own anxiety.

The young master only needed a split second to kill a common human like him. The horrific sight he had seen in the hunting ground behind the mountain still haunted him. Even though it had happened quite a long time ago, it flashed through his mind with piercing clarity.

The mountain had reeked of a terrible, fishy smell. No matter how much he covered his nose, it couldn’t be masked. It was the stench of slaughter and death. There was no guarantee that he wouldn’t become the next prey. In fact, it felt as if it were rapidly approaching.

The cause of the problem was, once again, that stupid goldfish.

No matter how much he denied it, and no matter how much he thought about it, this was the only conclusion he reached. There was no other explanation but this idiot. At the very starting point of his fear, there was Niah.

The young master would crush the heads of animals without any particular reason. If the young master were to have a reason—whatever it might be—he, too, would surely suffer a similar fate. If that were to happen. If that were so.

“You won’t be safe either. Niah.”

Niah’s eyes snapped open. The warning was low and ominous. The title ‘Young master’ immediately hung at the tip of his tongue. However, it was impossible to force it past his tightly sealed lips. Only pained groans slipped through.

Adrian and Pepe seemed to have conspired to take turns cornering Niah. Pepe was in the same area anyway, but Adrian went out of her way to make the effort to visit him. She had been quite quiet for the past few days, except at the dining hall, but it seemed she thought this was her chance.

Even during work hours, she went back and forth near the greenhouse and the garden whenever she had a moment. Like a carnivorous plant with its jaws wide open, she poured all her energy into devouring Niah. Her tightly coiled venomous intent was unleashed without a second of hesitation.

“Stupid piece of trash. Can’t you do anything but cry your eyes out?”

She didn’t see why it was such a big deal that the person injured was the young master and not Niah. She couldn’t understand the other servants who were acting in such a fuss. Her gaze toward Niah became sharper than ever.

Everyone knew he was an idiot who cried more days than he didn’t—it made her blood boil to see everyone bowing and scraping in unison, as if it were some incredible event that the young master hadn’t taken another attendant into his room. Running up to Niah and berating him as she pleased was, in part, just a way to vent her anger.

After hearing Pepe mention ‘secrets’ or ‘weaknesses,’ she became even more ferocious. If it had been just venting before, now, ulterior motives began to crawl to the surface. She didn’t think the young master would have let his weaknesses be discovered by someone like Niah, nor did she think that such a formidable young master would have any fatal weaknesses, but she couldn’t stop herself from prying.

If Niah really did know some great secret, then the ‘special treatment’ the young master gave him—which the other servants were worried about—became a little more understandable. It would take a reason of this magnitude to even make her want to pretend to accept that nonsensical speculation.

Whether it was by helping Pepe or doing it on her own, she decided that she had to find out something. If a weakness truly existed for the young master, it might become the means to extend her own life.

Just as Roanna had advised, she was, by far, the servant most disliked by the young master. It was only natural, given that she had caused such a mess just a day after his arrival. Thinking back on Roanna, who had spoken with such sharp, biting words, annoyed her, but she couldn’t deny the truth.

However, she didn’t seem to be the only one who thought there was something hidden beneath the surface. Since no one had been close enough to hear properly, the exact details remained unknown, but it was certain that something worthy of being called an ‘incident’ had occurred in the vegetable garden. That was why Pepe couldn’t hide his anxiety and was creating such a scene.

Rumors that he had laid hands on Niah had already spread throughout the mansion long ago. Perhaps Pepe was in an even more precarious position than she was. Pepe himself seemed to think so; his appearance became more hollow with each passing day. He had been like that ever since the young master returned, but it was much worse now. It had started right after the other servants in the mansion began to treat Niah differently. It was only to be expected, now that even Luan had turned her back on him.

What is actually going on? What am I supposed to do….?

Adrian, who was wiping the water off a dish with a dry rag, clicked her tongue. Her sideways, jaded gaze suddenly darted toward Luan, who was sitting at a distance, busy planning the menus. It was because her frustration flared up again while she was organizing her thoughts.

The fact that she had to agonize and worry just because of one goldfish, the fact that Luan, whom she had trusted, didn’t take her side, the fact that her friend Roanna had changed, the other servants who had changed their attitudes—everything was simply disagreeable.

A strange feeling of betrayal washed over her. At this rate, the only other person in this vast mansion in the same position as her was Pepe. Adrian played the victim as she pleased, clenching her jaw. Her teeth ground together.

☀️🌊

At both ends of the glass greenhouse, there were double doors. Around noon, when both doors were flung wide open, the green fragrance, scattered like spores, spread in every direction. The breeze, now holding a fair amount of warmth, busied itself coming and going, coaxing the immature flower buds to bloom.

The woods and lakes, which had been holding their breath, were now sparkling, full of life, and the sprouts that had emerged in early spring were already growing tall and green. Impatient flowers hurried to show off their inner beauty. The mansion, which had begun to be colored by full-blown spring before anyone knew it, would soon be in full bloom.

Orca’s return, which had fallen like a lightning bolt across the quiet and peaceful days, had gradually become something they were used to.

In the greenhouse, repairs were in full swing for the pond. The pond in the very center of the greenhouse was a place that required a lot of care, as it was large, had many growing plants, and was home to carp. On top of that, word had just come in that a grand party would be held soon. In such a situation, they couldn’t afford to be sloppy with the maintenance.

The scale of the party was even increasing for various reasons. The servants, whose work had increased accordingly, had to bustle about day and night out of unnecessary anxiety. Of course, the commotion hadn’t come only to the garden servants. Everyone was running around, busy with no time to catch their breath.