ORCA 8

Orca reached a simple conclusion. Normally, whether a servant froze to death, starved, or was eaten by a wild beast was none of his concern. In fact, if a human was weak enough to die just from fainting outside for a night, it was better that they perish.

However, leaving the goldfish alone—whose fate was so obvious—felt like a waste. Playing with the goldfish was quite to his taste. Lost in thought for a moment, Orca lowered his upper body, leaned close to the goldfish’s ear, and whispered quietly.

“So, why are you undressed like a pervert?”

A malicious impulse bubbled up from his very toes.

At his question, Niah reflexively lifted his gaze and blinked vacantly. He didn’t immediately understand what he had just heard. He could only heave his chest as he slowly tried to process the meaning. His crying gradually subsided.

Niah, who had been sitting quietly and sniffling in that state, suddenly opened his eyelids wide. A burning heat rushed through his chilled skin in an instant. Only belatedly did he realize he wasn’t wearing a single shred of fabric. He thrashed about, trying to escape from between Orca’s thighs where he had squeezed himself.

“No, no. No, Young Master. No…”

He let go of Orca’s forearm, which he had been clinging to, and moved his legs to reach for the clothes he had left folded nearby. They were sitting exactly where he had left them, not far away. As he scrambled out from between Orca’s thighs and reached out, practically crawling, he was suddenly yanked back.

“Why bother now?”

Orca had waited on purpose until Niah almost escaped his grasp before harshly pulling him back by the wrist just as he was about to grab his clothes. Niah, dragged back, landed on his bottom, facing Orca. Orca lifted the captured wrist high into the air. His nakedness was fully exposed.

Niah scrambled desperately, trying to cover his bare skin. His tear ducts, which had calmed down, burst open again, drenching his face.

“Le-let me go. Ugh… Young Master. Please let go… Young Master. Sob…”

Watching the goldfish squirm and cower, Orca raised his arm high, intending to lift him up entirely. The lean body was hoisted up with ease. Suddenly finding himself half-standing on his knees, Niah was startled and struggled with all his might to pull his wrist free. Tears flowed out, dropping to the ground.

“Please let me go, sob… it hurts. It hurts, Young Master… I beg of you. Sob, let me go…”

Niah couldn’t even look Orca in the eye as he pleaded pathetically. He felt ashamed, embarrassed, and was in so much pain. Niah tried to cover himself with his free hand, repeating the same words over and over.

“A disgraceful hobby. Isn’t it? It’s impressive you’ve never been caught until now. Shall I praise you? Or… shall I punish you, after all?”

“It’s not. It’s not, Young Master… sob… it really isn’t… Please don’t say that. Ugh… I don’t want to be kicked out… sob… Don’t kick me out. I was wrong… It’s really not, not like that. I was wrong, Young Master…”

Watching Niah spill every weakness without even being asked, Orca slowly released his wrist. Niah knelt on the ground, cradling his wrist—which ached as if it were broken—and sobbed. Even then, he constantly begged for forgiveness.

Orca had intended to make the goldfish cry all night until he fainted, but he thought of a better plan. He reached out and gently brushed the hair stuck to Niah’s forehead aside.

“Shall I keep it a secret?”

The goldfish flinched in surprise, then quickly nodded vigorously. Despite having just begged and insisted it wasn’t true, he grabbed onto the suggestion instantly. He crawled closer on his knees and even looked up at him with adoration.

How stupid.

“Yes. There’s no reason I couldn’t.”

The terrified goldfish was instantly relieved by those words, acting like a dog that had run up to see its master. He carefully rubbed his forehead against the back of Orca’s hand as Orca brushed his hair back. It was so pitiful it was amusing.

The goldfish sat quietly and began to put on his clothes as instructed. Even though he had already been caught, he was so clumsy, trying to hide his nakedness, that he fumbled as he tried to put his legs through his underwear. His eyes, constantly checking for Orca’s reaction, darted from the floor to Orca’s feet and back again.

When Orca teasingly grabbed one wrist and pulled it high, Niah let out a pained groan. His light body, easily lifted, dangled in the air, legs flailing. The confusion of his knees not touching the ground was written clearly on his face.

Even then, he struggled to pull up the underwear that was caught halfway up his thighs. His movements were frantic. Orca grabbed those hands, too, and pulled them high up with the other wrist. Both wrists were thin enough to be restrained easily with one hand. Orca gripped them just firmly enough that they wouldn’t escape, but lightly enough not to crush them—though they felt like they might snap if he squeezed any harder.

Dangling like a prisoner tied to the ceiling with chains, the goldfish let out faint groans as tears dripped down. He looked at the underwear stuck near his hips and heaved his waist in a desperate attempt to pull them up. He even whined, finding it difficult to hold the position.

Whether to be amazed that he could keep crying like that or to mock him for being pathetic, Orca wasn’t sure. In any case, he wasn’t a bad spectacle. He felt like he finally understood why people insisted on keeping goldfish in the garden or greenhouse ponds.

“Y-Young Master, it hurts… please let go, sob… let go, Young Master…”

Niah was terrified that his arms might be pulled out of their sockets. If that happened, 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 if he were kicked out, it wouldn’t matter.

At that thought, tears poured out. Keeping his whole body supported only by the tips of his toes, which barely touched the ground, was agonizing. He had thought that because he was told to get dressed, he had been forgiven, but it had all been a misunderstanding.

Orca’s empty hand reached out toward Niah. Niah squeezed his eyes shut and trembled. He was terrified that Orca might be about to punish him. If he were beaten by the Young Master, a weakling like him would die in an instant. But thinking about how much pain he would suffer before he died made him want to kneel and prostrate himself on the ground right then and there.

Adrian and the other servants felt like angels by comparison. Even when they scolded him, bullied him, or didn’t feed him, he had never been this afraid. He would rather hear Adrian’s reprimands a hundred times over. Even Pepe, who would fly into a rage, was nowhere near as terrifying as the Young Master.

He still remembered the time a few days ago when an angry Pepe had scolded him. It was certain—the Young Master was far, far more terrifying. His head spun. He was frantic, afraid that if he fainted and woke up, he would be thrown out of the mansion. The sobs kept leaking through his clenched lips out of pure anxiety.

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

Orca gently rubbed the tear-stained eyelashes with the tip of his thumb. His finger lingered on the tightly closed eyelids for a moment before pulling away. At the calm voice, Niah slowly opened his eyes and lifted his head. He saw Orca’s expressionless face.

He wasn’t smiling, but he didn’t seem particularly angry, either. If he were angry, wouldn’t he have been shouting and intimidating him? Everyone else would scream at the top of their lungs when they were angry with him. Because of this, even though Niah wondered if the Young Master was punishing him, he couldn’t easily set his mind at ease due to his aching wrists.

“I wo-won’t… sob, I won’t cry anymore… I won’t do it again. Ugh… I promise, Young Master.”

He forced his throat to tighten to stop the crying. It didn’t go as well as he hoped, so he searched his brain for good memories. He hoped for even the smallest, happiest things to come to mind. If he could shake off the remaining fear, the tears would surely dry up.

First, he thought of the flowers, trees, cacti, and lithops he tended to. Since he saw them every day, he was certain he would never forget them. Seeing them grow beautifully and healthily often made him smile without even realizing it.

And, and then… something else that was happy…

But no matter how much he dug through his memories, he couldn’t find many other happy events. It was as if someone had intentionally hidden them; there wasn’t even a trace left.

After a long struggle, Niah finally managed to think of one experience that had been enjoyable.