ORCA 7

Pepe looked down at the coughing Niah. His flushed cheeks told him that his claim of being sick was not a lie. He let go of the collar he was holding as if flinging it away and clicked his tongue.

Niah, who was thrown a couple of steps to the side, lost his balance and crumpled to the ground. He caught his breath, which had become ragged from making excuses, and dabbed the corners of his eyes with his sleeve.

“Stupid fool.”

Pepe grabbed the collar covering Niah’s nape and forcefully pulled him to his feet. He roughly shoved the staggering body towards the vegetable garden. Niah had to scramble to keep from tumbling forward. There was absolutely no trace of gentleness.

“Whether it’s night or dawn, you will finish your share. Why is everyone suffering so much because of you?”

Beside Niah, who had settled in a corner of the sprawling vegetable garden, various types of herb seeds and vegetable seedlings were piled up, forming a small hill. The sheer volume was draining just to look at.

Perhaps because he had been crying continuously since waking up, he was hungry and his head was dizzy with a headache. He no longer had the energy to calmly worry about what had happened yesterday. Niah began to gently dig through the soft pile of dirt, trying to finish his work even a little bit faster.

*

As soon as preparations for Orca’s afternoon teatime were finished, Bailey fled the room as if escaping. It was his first time meeting Orca in person as well, so every day was a series of tensions. He was all the more flustered because he never imagined the madam would single him out to attend to the young master. It had only been three days, but it already felt like three weeks had passed.

According to the rumors, as long as you did not loiter in front of him doing something stupid or make unnecessarily loud noises, nothing major would happen. So yesterday and today, he had kept his mouth shut and moved like a shadow.

Even Andrian, who was unmatched among the mansion’s servants for the loudness of her voice, was quiet. Even when she was angry with Niah, she never shrieked. She would grit her teeth and scold him quietly. He had also heard the story that the young master had tried to harm her by throwing a teacup, so he could fully understand Andrian’s behavior.

However, for someone in his position, who had to go in and out of the young master’s room at least five or six times, the advice from the rumors was not very helpful. He did try his best not to make any sound, but he could not finish his work without being in front of him. He was tasked with many jobs that would normally be shared by several people, such as drawing a bath, tidying the bedding, or preparing tea, all by himself.

Honestly, he also felt a little proud to be serving the young master whom everyone else was scared of and wanted to avoid. It felt as if he had a close relationship with the commander of the border guard, who had achieved high honor.

Above all, it was nice that when other servants praised him for being amazing, he could act puffed up and boast that it was nothing. Of course, in reality, he was busy rushing out as soon as his duties were over, but this was naturally a secret.

In truth, he had never had a proper conversation with the young master. He did not ask for various minor errands either. It was always just him greeting alone, reporting the work he had just finished, and then leaving the room. Because of this, he rarely had a chance to even hear his voice. He had only heard it once when he happened to be nearby while he was talking with the madam.

But today was very strange. The young master, who usually paid no mind and said nothing no matter what he did beside him, suddenly asked him as he was preparing the tea.

“Where is that goldfish now?”

“Yes, yes?”

“There should be a goldfish in the mansion. An orange one.”

“A goldfish…? If you mean a goldfish, in the garden…. Or there might be one in the greenhouse too. No, was the one in the greenhouse just a crucian carp…. O-or was it a koi….”

Bailey’s words trailed off under Orca’s direct gaze, and he subtly rolled his eyes downward. Then, suddenly, with the face of someone who had solved a riddle, he impertinently asked back.

“Ah, could you possibly mean Niah?”

Orca just stared without answering the question. Bailey, more surprised than anyone by his own loud voice, clamped his mouth shut and observed his mood. Thinking that if he stayed any longer, he would end up like Andrian, he hastily added more words with the intention of leaving quickly.

“If it’s Niah, he’s probably in the vegetable garden. The large one next to the east wing of the mansion. I heard earlier that they’re planting something there today. Niah is a garden servant, so he should probably be there by now.”

Orca, listening to Bailey’s rambling answer, scowled fiercely. At this, Bailey quickly bowed and fled outside. After he disappeared, silence flowed through the room.

Orca’s eyes, leaning back on the plush sofa, roamed the ceiling. His fingertips tapped a regular rhythm on the armrest. The more the sound of friction grew, the more displeased his expression became. As he closed his eyes to suppress his anger, an orange goldfish slowly swam into his pitch-black vision.

The goldfish, instead of continuing through the water, jolted its body and quivered its fins. After struggling for a good while, it soon turned deathly pale, showed its belly, and even began to float. Orca, feeling even more unpleasant for no reason, narrowed his brow and lifted his eyelids.

“To think I bothered to save him.”

A mutter like a sigh filled the void in the room and scattered. He sat there for a moment before finally getting up and striding out the door. He did not hesitate and stormed down the hallway. The tea, from which hot steam was rising, was still untouched by even a single sip.

*

While picking up the body that was rolling on the ground along with the shoes and returning to the mansion, he had carefully considered how to deal with this. For a very brief moment, he had even considered the option of taking him to his room.

However, even if he had been the one to touch him first, he was not at all inclined to let a dirt-covered goldfish sleep in his bed. This was also why he had taken him to the basement where the servants’ rooms were. He detested anything messy.

In conflict zones, unless it was a very urgent situation, he focused on naval battles as much as possible. Ground warfare, where being covered in the blood and flesh of others was a common occurrence, was so dirty it turned his stomach. At the same time, he felt disgusted by his own instincts being stimulated by the fishy smell of blood.

Feeling such emotions in his human form, not his animal form, was not a very pleasant feeling. It would be a different story if he could commit slaughter as he pleased, but for him, who had the duty to be responsible for the safety of his allies, it was nothing short of an ordeal. It was difficult to maintain the reason of ‘Orca Ware,’ the commander of the Orcus Battalion of the 1st Division of the Border Guard.

Occasionally, there were times when his instincts remained strong enough to tear enemies apart even as a human. That was quite tiring. He always needed to be on guard. On top of that, sometimes when new recruits would vomit nearby, he had to struggle to suppress the urge to kill them.

In any case, if he had anticipated that he would treat him this way after he had saved his life, he would not have ended it by just dumping him in the basement. At the very least, he would have thrown him on his room’s rug, or at the foot of his bed, or even in the bathroom, and watched him wake up.

If he had done that, he certainly would not be looking up at him with a face that said he knew nothing. It might have also been amusing to watch the goldfish have a seizure and grovel as soon as it opened its eyes and saw him. Anger and regret mingled.

Niah, sitting with his knees together, absentmindedly looked up at the man who cast a shadow over him. His hands, which had been moving out of obligation, stopped. His head was not functioning properly. His eyes kept closing and his mind grew distant. He was as powerless as a burnt-out candle. His vision was hazy.

The man was standing stock-still in that spot, staring at him as if he had some business. The other servants had gone for lunch earlier, so he was alone in the vegetable garden. Having no choice, he tried to ask the man his business, but his voice would not come out properly. Only hot breath slipped through his lips. A small cough followed.

“……”

Instead of a question, wondering if he might be someone he knew, he looked at the man more closely. As he caught hold of his focus, which was blurring on its own, he was finally able to see his face clearly. The man seemed familiar. He was too unfamiliar to be a mansion servant, yet too familiar to be a complete stranger. It was faint, but somehow familiar. It seemed to be hidden somewhere in his memory, but his mind was blank, so he just blinked his eyes. He could not even make a pretense of trying hard to remember.

The man continued to look down at him in silence. Then, he suddenly knelt down in front of him. His head, which had been held high, naturally lowered. It was the same that he had to look up because of his much larger build.

“You do a good job of acting like you don’t know.”

Orca’s low voice pricked Niah. Even though it was clearly a statement criticizing him, Niah could not answer. He could only heave a difficult breath, his chest rising and falling.

Honestly, he was more scared of Pepe, who would be back a little later, than this man he did not know. He was not in a physical state to think more deeply. Only simple thoughts, like wanting to lie down right now, or being hungry, or that the man’s face was very handsome, or that he might actually die if he stayed like this, floated around in his head.

“If I’d known it would be like this, I should have just swallowed you in the lake yesterday.”

The man’s words were hard to understand.

Lake…. Yesterday….

He repeated the words to himself, trying to guess what it had to do with him. He racked his dulled brain and went over what he had done yesterday again. Only then did he realize that he had done the same thing when he woke up in the underground hall this morning.

Now all his memories were a complete mess. He could not accurately recall even events from just a few hours ago. Even while he was doing such a foolish thing, the man continued to stare straight at him. A belated fear suddenly crept over him.

“It’s unfair that I went to the trouble of saving you. Huh?”

Orca, who had whispered quietly, slowly extended his arm. Niah squeezed his eyes shut at the large hand approaching him. He unknowingly pulled his chin in tightly and hunched his shoulders. It was because of an uneasy premonition that he would surely be hit.

Orca, regardless of his frightened attitude, continued to extend his arm and stroked Niah’s forehead. The tips of his fingers brushed aside the hair damp with a cold sweat. He did not stop at once but continued to slowly sweep it over. Thanks to that, the curly hair that had been stuck flat to his forehead fluttered lightly.

Niah cautiously lifted his eyelids and looked at the man sitting in front of him as if stealing a glance. His spine chilled at the eyes that met his. His skin, which had been burning with fever, also felt as if it froze in an instant. The unexpectedly gentle touch only amplified his nameless fear.

As he swallowed his saliva in tension, his throat throbbed and spewed out pain. A cough, like a rough gasp, also burst out. Feeling like he would be scolded for some reason, he lowered his eyes and held back the cough. The me who had said he was more scared of Pepe than the unknown man had become a liar.

The gentle touch that had been softly stroking his forehead until now was imbued with an oppressive pressure, as if pressing down on him. For some reason, this moment felt more eerie than when the other servants treated him harshly. It did not feel affectionate; rather, it was terrifying.

His clasped knees trembled. His head gradually drooped towards his dirt-stained hands. A sniffling sound escaped his throat. The tears that welled up in his eyes soon dripped down, leaving marks on his clothes. This was already a learned fear. Only then did he question the man’s identity. The man spoke as if he knew him.

Orca did not like it. Seeing him run away from him, who had done nothing, made him slightly irritated. It would be a different matter if he had intended to see him cry, but to burst into tears when he was going to the trouble of holding back was absurd. Somehow, he was more furious now than when he first witnessed the expression that said he had completely forgotten about last night. An uncontrollable anger stealthily rose up from beneath his feet.

Orca’s gaze became even more persistent. It passed over the light orange hair he was continuously stroking, to the wet eyelashes, and below them, the flushed cheeks, the lips exhaling feverish breaths, the finely trembling shoulders, the two knees stained with tears, and down to the dirt-covered hands placed on the ground, his gaze touching each part with extreme slowness and tenacity. After finishing his observation, his twisted insides became even more distorted. He was getting more and more heated.

All the while, Niah’s sobs showed no sign of subsiding. On the contrary, they worsened to the point of hiccupping. He wanted to beg for forgiveness, but with no memory, a plea did not come readily. If asked what he did wrong, he would have nothing to say, so it was also difficult to just prostrate himself unconditionally. Doing so might earn him an even bigger scolding.

Niah rolled around in the mire all by himself, only imagining bad things. It felt like the hard fingers sliding over his forehead without rest would suddenly strike him with all their might. At the approaching bad premonition, his vision quickly blurred. He tried desperately to hold back his tears, but it was not easy. The corners of his raw eyes stung.

“You said you wouldn’t cry.”

At the sharp-sounding voice, Niah started to lift his head but let out a hoarse moan. It was a sound born more of surprise than pain. The hand that had been caressing his forehead grabbed the nape of his neck and yanked him forward. His curled-up posture crumbled, forcing him onto his knees with his palms on the ground. Because of that, his neck felt like it would break, so he had no choice but to crawl forward little by little.

His pulled-up face stopped right in front of the man’s nose. It was barely a handspan away. His heart pounded. The eyes that met his were coated with the thin ice of midwinter. His jaw trembled so much his teeth chattered.

The man, still gripping his nape, extended his other hand. His eyes closed naturally. The approaching fingers pressed firmly on his eyelids and then pulled away. He was terrified, thinking he was trying to burst his eyeballs, and quickly opened his eyes again. He tried to pull his body back to beg for forgiveness now, but he could not move at all. His body froze under his gaze, and he clutched uselessly at the dirt. The sensation was not unfamiliar.