ORCA 84

Niah had no appetite. He felt he could go all day without eating and be fine. While he ate well enough when Orca fed him, his appetite would vanish entirely the moment he sat in a chair in the servants’ dining hall. He didn’t know how to explain this feeling.

After picking at a few boiled potatoes, he scraped his plate with a fork. The steaming yellow omelet was slashed repeatedly before being mashed together with the bacon. A savory, delicious aroma filled the air, but his appetite just wouldn’t return. Niah, aimlessly chewing on empty space, swallowed hard. A lump of bold desire slid down his throat.

Orca was reflected in his gaze, which had drifted far away. Perhaps because he kept ruminating on similar situations and similar parts of their interactions, it felt as vivid as reality. He felt sensations so lifelike it was as if he were touching him right now. Niah recalled the sensation of that warm, wet, and slippery tongue. That unfamiliar sensation was one he couldn’t experience again anywhere else. Following the soft, supple feeling that was like crushing a ripe peach, the firm flesh of his lips had been felt at his fingertips. He imagined himself parting those lips and fondling that tongue over and over again.

Following a wish he could never ask for, his mind was filled with Orca’s solid, well-built physique. His large, thick body was nothing but muscle from head to toe. Whenever he helped him dress or bathe, his eyes would be drawn to the broad chest, the shoulder blades, and the sturdily constructed, solid forearms. The muscles, which seemed like they could be peeled off piece by piece, were hard and desirable.

In particular, the groove carved into his abdomen was thicker and deeper than the one on a pumpkin; it looked like he could even plant seedlings there. If he just sprinkled some dirt on it, it would be a perfect vegetable garden. Niah quietly giggled to himself, picturing tomatoes growing on Orca’s stomach. While doing so, he kept poking and pestering an innocent potato.

‘What are you thinking about?’

Niah, who had been chuckling to himself, suddenly shut his mouth tight. A gentle, whispered voice tickled his ear. A rough palm reached for his neck, stroking it affectionately before slowly moving to fondle his earlobe. He wrinkled his nose at the touch of Orca’s hand, which would ruffle his hair while calling him a dog over and over. He really felt as if he had become a dog.

He had only met a dog with an owner once, aside from the wild dogs in the forest. He couldn’t quite remember the guest who had visited the mansion, but the dog had seemed so cute and soft that he still remembered it vividly. The white dog had followed its master around, yapping, the entire time it was in the mansion.

That dog back then and he himself right now were the same. He only thought of his young master even while sitting in the dining hall, and he was even experiencing hallucinations; he was no different from a dog trailing after its master.

The problem was that his master, who had sent him here alone, was somewhere else. The master he was supposed to follow wasn’t by his side. It was only natural, but Niah grew sorrowful and stuffed all the remaining potatoes into his mouth, chewing them loudly. He wanted to eat quickly, go quickly, and meet him quickly.

Even amidst that, Orca constantly invaded Niah’s insides. If he groped through the young master who filled him to the brim, he could pull out every last scrap of memory buried at the very bottom. The hand that had gripped Orca’s thigh squeezed the fabric of his clothes. He recalled the sensation of stroking his back, rolling his shoulder blades, and caressing his lean abdomen. The grip strength of the fingers that had forcefully prodded his side and the breath that had reached his neck and shoulders came to mind in tandem. His chest burned with the body heat that had spread to every corner. He could never forget the warm sensation of being held in that broad embrace.

The low voice calling his name colored him with sparkles. It flowed into every hollow part of him and filled it without a single gap. Then, he became just a servant, not a stupid goldfish. When Orca called “Niah,” he simply became Niah.

So, it was fine even if the young master called him a dog. It would have been fine even if it were meant in a bad way. Since he wanted to follow him anywhere at the words “Come here,” it wasn’t a wrong statement. If he could follow him, he felt it might even be better to become a real dog.

The memory of being held by the young master in the bubble-filled bathtub was as clear as if it were yesterday. The splashing sound of the water, the fingers that had become entangled, the slow hand that caressed his body here and there, the ticklishness and shyness he had felt then, and the wet lips that had grazed his collarbone—they all revived one by one within him. As he listed them like this, he felt as if he knew the young master inside and out.

However, he couldn’t even vaguely recall the naked body he had seen under the dim lighting and moonlight of that day. Because he had turned his head away so hurriedly, it was almost as if he hadn’t seen it at all. He felt he had only seen his back for a moment. He suddenly grew depressed, as only the robe that had been draped over the bathroom sofa stood out clearly in his mind.

He didn’t have the courage to steal a glance at the young master’s body this morning, either, as he slipped out of his robe. Actually, he had tried to look secretly, but it hadn’t gone well. He had failed every time, morning and evening. He could only open his eyes properly once he heard the splash.

It had become common to see the forearms or upper body exposed above the water, but he hadn’t had the courage to appreciate anything below that. It felt as if his impure heart would be exposed without filter through the eyes looking at the young master. If he were caught, the young master would surely call him a pervert. He wanted to look without being caught, but there was no proper way to do so.

Niah, who had been chewing the last of the bacon and dinner roll, startled and dropped his head.

No, it’s not like I really, really want to look… I just want to look a little bit, just a tiny bit. Since the young master saw all of my body, I want to see his too… That would be fair…

While he muttered excuses to himself that no one had asked for, his cheeks flushed bright red. Harriet, who was sitting next to him, couldn’t hold back and acknowledged him. It was only natural, as he had gone from giggling to being gloomy, and finally, to being flushed and whining. She lowered her voice to ask and placed a hand on Niah’s forehead.

“Niah. Is something the matter? Are you sick somewhere? Do you have a fever….”

“Y-yes? No! I wasn’t thinking about anything!”

“Hm? About what?”

Niah was more startled by his own words and looked like he was about to cry. Harriet first patted his shoulder. Whether she listened or not, it was obvious it had to do with the young master. Niah, having set down his fork, curled his two hands into circles and attached them to her ear. She tilted her head slightly to the side to focus on the tiny voice.

“Harriet…. What do I do…. I, I think I’m really a pervert….”

“What?”

She spoke loudly. Because of that, the gazes of the other servants at different tables were all fixed on one spot. Among them were Adrian’s sharp horns and Pepe’s piercing eyes.

Harriet, suddenly embroiled in a concern about being a “pervert,” was extremely troubled. She hadn’t known Niah had such concerns, and she couldn’t gauge how much or where she was allowed to interfere. Since she had already heard it, she couldn’t pretend she hadn’t. It seemed she had become an undoubted matchmaker. Moreover, she was a pushy matchmaker who would persistently interfere, hoping for a success.

The two walked side by side down a secluded corridor. It was one of the corridors that servants rarely used unless there was a special reason. In the corner path that circled around the mansion, only the sound of Niah and Harriet whispering could be heard.

“So, to summarize… when he’s not by your side you keep thinking about him, when he is by your side you can’t do your work properly, time flies by, you can’t sleep well, and on top of that, you have no appetite?”

Niah, who had vaguely poured out his inner thoughts, nodded his head frantically. His hair fluttered wildly. His eyes looking at Harriet were desperate. Without realizing it, he clasped both hands together. He needed a solution that would magically fix his difficult situation.

Seeing the behavior that made it obvious what he wanted from her, Harriet looked elsewhere. The expectant expression was a burden. It wasn’t as if she had asked him because she had a brilliant plan herself. However, it was a very cute worry, so she racked her brain as much as she could.

“Hmm… Yeah…, I see. But isn’t this similar to what’s been happening until now? It doesn’t seem like it’s been a day or two that you’ve lost sleep because of the young master. It’s the same with how you only think about the young master all the time. It’s normal. It’s normally just your daily life, Niah?”

“Yes? No, no, it’s not. It wasn’t to this extent….”