ORCA 76

Niah, not having heard his soft-spoken call, turned around in a hurry. His footsteps were quick and short as he walked toward the trolley he had left by the door. He was flustered, his mind racing. He wanted to finish his work quickly and get away from this place.

Orca, who had turned to follow Niah, let out a silent sigh. Words tangled in his closed mouth. As he pondered whether Niah would look back if he called him again, Roanna, who had been watching them nervously, darted out ahead. Her hasty footsteps clicked sharply against the distillery floor.

Roanna was just as eager to leave the distillery. Having to share a space with the young master and Niah made her uncomfortable, even for a moment. Since the young master was known to be overprotective of the goldfish who had been the mansion’s laughingstock, she had no desire to be anywhere near them. Of course, she had never bullied him directly, so she hadn’t left any bad memories behind. Even if she had, Niah was a “goldfish”—he likely would have forgotten everything anyway.

All the servants were banking on his poor memory. As long as they kept their mouths shut until the young master returned home, it would be fine. In fact, there hadn’t been any sign of a major incident occurring. Recently, she had heard the trivial news that he was just popping in and out of the gardens. Everyone hoped that things would just pass peacefully like this.

Although it was said he would be staying for a while, he wasn’t the type to linger for long. With wars, both large and small, continuing day after day at the border, he would inevitably have to leave soon. Even so, Adrian and Pepe seemed anxious every single day. Adrian, despite having been the one to criticize the other servants for being cowardly, would occasionally chase after Pepe and return having absorbed his anxiety. But that was their business.

In any case, she had no desire to catch the young master’s eye. She never wanted to get tangled up with him. Niah, who kept trying to be around the young master despite the terrifying rumors surrounding him, was strange. Perhaps he was just dim-witted; his mind seemed like a blank sheet of paper. She felt that if anything were to happen, he would be the first one to be taken down.

Well, if we assume Harriet hadn’t told him, Niah might not have heard any of the rumors at all. That wasn’t her concern, but in any case, she didn’t want to be in the same space as them for even a second. If she happened to be noticed and devoured, her life would end right there. Knowing that, and having already drawn his attention, she had to get out of there, no matter what.

“Hey!”

Roanna approached Niah and abruptly grabbed his wrist, dragging him along. Niah’s hand, which had been gripping the trolley handle, was yanked away. The teapot and dishes rattled. Niah stumbled backward. Unable to bring himself to shake off Roanna’s grasp, he managed only a half-step back. It wasn’t Pepe; he should have been able to break free easily, but he couldn’t put any strength into his arm. The lukewarm temperature he felt on his wrist was unpleasant. For some reason, Roanna, who was similar in build to him, felt incredibly threatening.

“I’ll do the dishes, so go ahead and help Harriet.”

“Yes? No, it’s, it’s fine….”

“Why? Don’t you want to do that stuff, too?”

Her demanding tone was desperate. Since Niah needed to agree so she could have an excuse to leave, Roanna kept pressing him persistently. The more she urged him, the more distressed Niah’s expression became. He couldn’t understand why she was so insistent on doing his work. Since this had never happened before, he wondered if she was teasing him or bullying him. He just wished she would let go of his wrist.

It feels unpleasant….

Niah wanted to shake off the warmth that was clinging to him. But knowing he would get in trouble if he did, he stealthily rubbed his other wrist against his clothes. The rough fabric felt like a bath brush.

“Roanna.”

Harriet, who had been watching, moved around the table toward the door. She pulled her hand away and stepped between Niah and Roanna. Then, she glanced at Orca. The young master’s cool expression made her hair stand on end. Harriet opened her mouth, speaking in a small, urgent voice.

“What on earth are you doing?”

“…What do you mean?”

“You just did something strange.”

“Strange? I just, well… I don’t know, whatever.”

Niah, standing behind Harriet, pinched his sleeve and scrubbed at his wrist. It felt sticky, as if something invisible was stuck to him. He hated that feeling; it was frightening and nerve-wracking, causing tears to well up. He held them back to keep from crying, which only made him feel more miserable. He didn’t know why he was like this himself. He just felt so uncomfortable that he wanted to scrub it off, no matter what. He rubbed so hard it started to hurt, but he couldn’t stop. He could see his skin turning red.

Orca closed his eyes and opened them. He hadn’t been able to do anything. He shouldn’t have done anything. He had already crossed the line many times, and even now, though he stood outside the line pretending not to be, he didn’t actually have the right to be there. The things a person who had already accepted a departure date could do were limited. His only choices were to kill all the mansion servants and bury them in the mountains, then hire new ones, or to bring the goldfish to him and soothe him.

The former was out of the question—setting aside the hassle, the mansion would be in an uproar for a while. It also bothered him that the goldfish might find out by mistake. Orca called out to Niah, who was trembling. He suddenly wondered if this scaredy-cat, too, had heard the rumors about him.

“Niah.”

The eyes of the three people standing by the door turned to him. As soon as Niah made eye contact with him, he pushed out his lower lip. The feeling of falling apart into a mess came to a halt. As if possessed, his feet found the floor and moved on their own. The sobbing he had been barely containing vanished entirely. The corners of his eyes were as dry as morning dew hit by sunlight. He pushed himself into the shadow of the young master, who stood with his back to the window. He hid himself away so that no one could find him. A pleasant warmth seeped into his wrist.

“If you’re going to keep bickering, go outside to do it, or otherwise, finish your work and be done with it.”

Roanna bowed her head and hurried off, dragging the trolley and Harriet out into the hallway. Harriet, who had been dragged out, couldn’t even shout because of Orca and could only distort her expression. Closing the door tight, Roanna moved a little further away and whispered in a smaller voice than before.

“Harriet, then I can go do other work, right?”

“What? Why?”

“Why? You know why. I’ll do the teatime dishes in the kitchen.”

“Yeah, well… do whatever… I’ll do this. It’s not that hard, anyway….”

“Thanks. See ya.”

Harriet scratched her head, watching Roanna’s back as she scurried down the hall. She thought she knew why Roanna was acting like that, but she felt that creating such a situation and leaving was only going to draw more attention. It would have been better to just stay put; she was really something else. Then again, it was only natural for servants who had many things to feel guilty about to be swayed by rumors and unable to make proper judgments. She felt awkward going back in for no reason.

Should I knock?

Stuck in a dilemma she’d never had to face before, she inhaled quietly. She decided that when she saw Roanna later, she’d have to give her a piece of her mind.

Orca looked at the sleeve, clicking his tongue. He gently stroked the wrist he had prevented Niah from scrubbing further. He blew soft, cool air onto the reddened skin.

“Does it hurt?”

“It’s just red. It doesn’t hurt.”

Niah nodded eagerly. Orca continued to blow cool air onto the heated skin. A dissatisfied gaze poured down onto the red marks.

“Sir… are you upset?”

Niah tilted his head, leaning in to get closer to him. He was trying to get into the young master’s field of vision, under his hard gaze, to look at him closely. Ever since the kitchen outing a few days ago, Niah had become sensitive to Orca’s shifts in atmosphere and expression, often peering up at him like this. He hated seeing the young master sad much more than he hated being sad himself.

The cool breeze that had been settling over them subsided. Watching the goldfish, who had asked if he was upset and then ended up looking teary-eyed himself, Orca bent his back. He continued to stroke the wrist while pulling Niah closer with his other arm. Niah, pulled in a step, naturally offered his neck. The heavy weight rested against the slender line connecting his neck and shoulder, near his collarbone.

“Then why did you do that?”

“Uh… I don’t know. Just, it felt unpleasant….”

“Why? Did someone bully you?”

“No. That’s not it, just… it just felt bad… so I wanted to wipe it off… nobody bullied me. …Really.”