ORCA 5

Seeing him twitching his back and acting feeble, he was probably among the weakest of the servants. It was easy to guess, seeing as he not only suffered the same thing as in the morning but also failed to get any food. The fact that the only place he came to, unable to bear his hunger, was a mere lake was incredibly amusing to Orca.

How moronic.

Even among the mansion’s servants, the strong and the weak were bound to exist. There was a clear hierarchical relationship separate from the ranking system based on position. This was sometimes visible, and sometimes not. Orca had just happened to see and hear it now.

In any case, he was a bit disappointed that the goldfish’s hobby was not jumping into the lake naked in the dead of night. He had been wondering what kind of reaction he would show if he used this as a pretext. He was genuinely curious whether he could cry and beg more than now, or if he would end up fainting and troubling him.

He slowly rolled his eyes and observed the naked goldfish. A hoarse voice, still seeking the young master, was leaking from the goldfish’s mouth. Occasional coughs were mixed in as well.

If he loses consciousness…. Well. If I throw him in the basement, he’ll manage on his own.

Orca concluded simply. Normally, it was none of his business whether a servant froze to death, starved to death, or was eaten by a wild animal. In the first place, if a human was so weak as to die from fainting outside for a day, it was better for them to die.

However, leaving the goldfish, whose end of life was obvious if left outside, was somehow a bit of a waste. Playing with the goldfish was quite to his taste. Orca, who had been lost in thought for a moment, lowered his upper body and whispered quietly into the goldfish’s ear.

“So, what’s the reason for being naked like a pervert?”

A wicked feeling rose up from the tips of his toes.

At his question, Niah reflexively raised his gaze and blinked his eyes blankly. He did not immediately understand the words he had just heard. He only heaved his chest as he tried to figure out the meaning step by step. His crying gradually subsided.

Niah, who was sitting quietly in that state and sniffling, suddenly opened his eyelids wide. A flush of heat instantly rose to his skin, which had grown cold. He belatedly realized that he was not wearing a single piece of cloth. He struggled to get out from between Orca’s thighs, where he had squeezed himself in.

“No, that’s not it. It’s not, young master. It’s not…”

He let go of Orca’s forearm, which he had been clinging to all along, and moved his legs to find his shed clothes. The clothes were lying not far away, folded just as he had left them. He slipped out from between the thighs and was about to crawl and stretch his arm when he was abruptly pulled back.

“Why bother now.”

Orca deliberately waited until Niah had completely gotten out of his embrace, and then roughly grabbed his wrist just as he was about to grab his clothes. Niah, who was dragged along, fell on his buttocks, facing him. Orca held up the wrist he had grabbed. The naked body, wearing nothing, was completely exposed.

Niah struggled, trying his best to hide his bare skin somehow. His tear ducts, which had calmed down, burst again, soaking his face.

“Let g-, let me go. Ugh…. Young master. Let me go…. Young master. Sob…”

Orca, who was watching the squirming and shrinking goldfish, raised his arm with the intention of lifting him up altogether. The fleshless body was easily hoisted up. Niah, who was suddenly forced to stand on his knees, was startled and struggled to pull his wrist free. Tears that welled up fell to the ground.

“Please let me go, sob… It hurts. It hurts, young master…. I beg you. Sob, let me go…”

Niah could not even look directly at Orca, who was clutching his wrist, and begged with a pitiful plea. He was ashamed and embarrassed, and it also hurt so much. Niah kept repeating the same words, covering his body with his free hand.

“A shameful hobby. Isn’t it? It’s amazing that you haven’t been caught by anyone until now. Should I praise you? Or, should I give you a punishment after all.”

“That’s not it. It’s not, young master…. Sob… It’s really not…. Please don’t say that. Ugh… I don’t want to be kicked out…. Sob… Please don’t kick me out. I was wrong…. It’s really not, not like that. I was wrong, young master…”

Orca, who was appreciating Niah spilling all his unasked-for weaknesses, slyly let go of his wrist. Niah knelt down and sobbed, clutching his wrist which hurt as if it were broken. Even so, he endlessly begged for forgiveness.

Orca was about to make the goldfish cry all night until he fainted, but then he thought of a better plan. He reached out and gently swept back the hair stuck to his forehead.

“Shall I keep it a secret?”

The goldfish was startled, then quickly nodded his head vigorously. The very one who had been begging that it was not so, eagerly took his offer. He crawled closer on his knees and even looked up at him.

So stupid.

“Alright. It’s not impossible.”

The goldfish, who had been terrified, was instantly relieved by this one sentence and acted like a puppy that had run to its master. He carefully rubbed his forehead against the back of my hand that was sweeping up his hair. The sight was so pitifully amusing.

The goldfish sat quietly and began to put on his clothes as he was told. Even though he had already been caught, his actions of putting his legs into his underwear were slow as he tried hard to hide his naked body. His eyes, cautiously observing, repeatedly touched and fell from the floor to the tips of my feet.

When he idly grabbed one wrist and pulled it up tightly, he let out a groan of ‘ugh.’ The light body, which floated up easily, struggled, half-suspended in the air. The fact that his knees were not touching the ground was clearly visible on his face.

Even in the midst of that, he struggled to pull up the underwear that was half-slung on his thigh. His hands were even desperate. He grabbed the hand that was moving in a hurry and held it up tightly with the opposite wrist. The two wrists were so slender that they could be easily subdued with just one hand. As he struggled to be let go, he was lightly gripped so he could not escape. It felt like it would break if he squeezed just a little harder.

The goldfish, who looked like a prisoner tied with chains and hung from the ceiling, let out a faint groan and shed tears drop by drop. He looked at the underwear that had stopped rising near his pelvis and pitifully moved his waist up and down. He also whined as if it was hard to endure.

Should I be amazed at the fact that he can keep crying like that, or should I laugh at him for being pathetic? In any case, it was not a bad spectacle. He thought he could understand why goldfish were always kept in the garden or greenhouse ponds.

“Y-young master, it hurts…. Let me go, sob…. Let me go, young master…”

Niah was suddenly scared that his arm might pop out. Then he would become a useless servant and might be kicked out of the mansion immediately. The young master had promised to keep his secret, but it would be useless if he was kicked out.

At that thought, tears poured down. It was also too hard to support his whole body with just his toes barely touching the ground. He had thought he had forgiven him for everything when he told him to put on his clothes, but it was all his delusion.

Orca’s empty, free hand suddenly reached out to Niah. Niah squeezed his eyes shut and his lips trembled. He became scared that he might be giving him a punishment from now on. If the young master hit him, someone like him would die instantly. But thinking about how painful it would be before he died, he wanted to kneel and prostrate himself right away.

Andrian and the other servants felt like angels. Even though they tormented him, made his life miserable, and did not give him food every day, it was not this frightening. He felt it would be better to hear Andrian’s scolding a hundred times. The young master was much more gruesome than Pepe, who would get furiously angry.

The incident from a few days ago when an angry Pepe had scolded him was still in his memory. So, it was certain. The young master was much, much scarier. He felt dizzy. He was anxious that if he fainted now and woke up, he would be abandoned outside the mansion. Sobs kept leaking out from between his clenched lips due to his anxiety.

“You shouldn’t be crying like this already.”

Orca gently rubbed the tear-filled eyelashes with the tip of his thumb. His finger lingered for a moment on the tightly closed eyelid and then moved away. At the subdued voice, Niah cautiously opened his eyes and raised his head. He could see the expressionless face right away.

He was not smiling, but he did not seem to be very angry either. He thought that if he were angry, he would have shouted and scared him. When people were angry with him, they all scolded him with loud screams. Therefore, Niah, while wondering if the young master was giving him a punishment, could not easily relax because of his aching wrist.

“I won’t, cry. Sob, I won’t cry…. I won’t do it again. Ugh, …I mean it, young master.”

To stop crying, he forced himself to constrict his throat. It did not work as he wanted, so he searched through his mind, looking for good memories. He hoped that happy things would come to mind, even if just a little. If he could shake off all the remaining fear, his tears would also subside.

First, he recalled the flowers, trees, cacti, and lithops he took care of one by one. He was confident that he would never forget these children, as he saw them every day. When he saw them growing up pretty and strong, a smile would unknowingly appear on his face.

And, and also…. Something happy….

But no matter how much he rummaged through his memories, he could not find any other happy things. There was not even a trace, as if someone had deliberately hidden them.

Niah, after a long deliberation, finally managed to think of one enjoyable experience.

It was a month ago, when other families had sent various gifts for the news of Orca’s return home. The Madam, while checking the arrived gifts herself, specially chose one kind among them and distributed it to the servants. It was none other than wild cherry blossom honey sent from the Grey family of grizzly bears.

All the servants had excited faces when they saw the brilliant yellow light contained in a small, fist-sized glass jar. Honey was very precious, a food that even the mansion’s butler could not easily taste.

‘Niah, you should be especially grateful. You know that, right?’

At the chef Ruan’s words, Niah nodded his head earnestly. Even though he hurt him by saying that he could only give him half because he could not do a full person’s work, it did not enter his ears at all. Niah swallowed hard. His mouth was already watering just by looking at the sticky liquid falling onto the sliced pancake.

Ruan put the plate down with a thud, as if he were giving it out of his own generosity. Niah bowed his head low and took his share, heading straight for the backyard. No one cared whether he did or not. Everyone was just preoccupied with the unexpected luxurious teatime.

He leaned against the wall and first sniffed the smell. The warm and savory scent of butter was heavily mixed with a deep sweetness. The honey also had a faint floral scent. Niah stuck out his tongue just a little and dabbed it on the honey. A strange sweetness spread across the tip of his tongue. It was a blissful taste he had never had before in his life. Since someone like him could not have tasted something this precious anywhere, it must have been the first time. It had nothing to do with his memory.

A smile escaped his lips. He tasted the sweetness a few more times, just dabbing the honey. Then, thinking the pancake would get cold, he quickly bit into it together. The happiness that melted on his tongue disappeared in an instant, melting away before he could even grasp it.

Niah made a sad face in disappointment. He had only taken one bite, but he regretted not eating it more sparingly as only half was left. He chewed the remaining pancake carefully over several times. It felt like being in heaven.

At the thought of the wild cherry blossom honey, Niah’s crying gradually subsided. Instead of sobs, the sound of coughing grew louder this time. As he just mumbled his mouth and breathed shallowly, Orca lowered his body to the ground.

Niah, who had hastily pulled up his underwear, covered his half-exposed buttocks and lower abdomen. His hand, which had lost circulation, started to tingle. His shoulder blades, which had been stretched out, also felt stiff.

“Put it on.”

At Orca’s short command, Niah hurriedly picked up his clothes. He moved faster than before. While buttoning his shirt, his hands fumbled several times, but he was not scolded. Niah, cautiously observing Orca who had been silent since then, pushed his legs into his trousers.

The familiar texture of the linen was scratchy. It was the thin clothes provided as everyday wear in the mansion. The other servants seemed to buy good quality clothes with the salary they received every month, but he did not have the money for that. He had saved up all his meager salary in preparation for the future.

For a goldfish, the best thing was not to be kicked out for being slow at work, and if he were kicked out, it would be hard to find a new job, so he only saved his salary and did not spend it well, just in case.

“I’m, I’m all dressed, young master.”

Fortunately, it was less cold than when he was naked. He still felt a chill because of his not-yet-dry hair, but it was bearable. The stinging in his throat and his runny nose were actually a bigger problem. If he caught a cold from this, he would surely be scolded by Andrian.

Not only that, he might be scolded by Pepe tomorrow. It was a day with a lot of work to do, as they had decided to plant herbs and vine vegetables in the vegetable patch.