ORCA 9

It was a month ago, when gifts had arrived from other families to celebrate Orca’s return home. The mistress had personally checked the arriving gifts and specifically selected one type to distribute among the servants. It was wild cherry honey sent all the way from the Grey family of grey bears.

Everyone’s face lit up with excitement at the brilliant yellow glow contained in a small glass jar the size of a fist. Honey was extremely rare; it was a food even the mansion’s butler couldn’t easily taste.

“Niah, you should be especially grateful. You know that, right?”

At the cook Luan’s words, Niah nodded eagerly. Even though Luan followed that up by saying he would only get half a portion because he couldn’t do a full person’s share of work, the hurt didn’t even register. Niah swallowed hard. He had only watched the sticky liquid drip onto his sliced pancake, but his mouth was already watering.

Luan set the plate down with a thud, as if he were bestowing a favor. Niah bowed his head deeply, grabbed his share, and headed straight to the backyard. Nobody cared one way or the other. Everyone else was simply preoccupied with their unseasonably luxurious tea time.

He sat leaning against a wall and took a sniff first. A rich sweetness was mixed throughout the warm, savory scent of butter. The honey even smelled faintly of flowers. Niah stuck out his tongue just a tiny bit and dabbed the honey. A magical, wonderful sweetness burst across the tip of his tongue. It was an ecstatic flavor he was tasting for the first time in his life. Since there was no way someone like him could have ever eaten anything this precious before, it had to be his first time. This had nothing to do with his memory.

A giggle escaped his lips. He tasted the sweetness a few more times, dabbing at just the honey. Then, fearing the pancake would get cold, he took a bite of both together. The happiness that pooled on his tongue melted and vanished in an instant, far too quickly for him to grasp it.

Niah made a sad face, feeling a sense of loss. He had only taken one bite, and there was only half left, so he regretted not eating it more slowly. He chewed the remaining pancake thoroughly, savoring it over several bites. It felt like being in heaven.

At the thought of the wild cherry honey, Niah’s crying gradually subsided. Instead of sobs, coughs grew louder. As he sat there breathing with a wheezing sound, Orca lowered him to the ground.

Niah hurriedly pulled up his underwear, covering his bottom and lower abdomen, which had been half-exposed. His hands, where the blood hadn’t been circulating, began to tingle. His shoulder blades, which had been stretched to their limit, felt stiff.

“Put it on.”

At Orca’s short command, Niah scrambled to pick up his clothes. He moved faster than before. He fumbled and missed the buttons on his shirt several times, but he received no reprimand. Niah pushed his legs into his pants while keeping a wary eye on Orca, who had remained silent since then.

The familiar texture of the linen was scratchy. It was thin clothing provided by the mansion as everyday wear. Other servants seemed to buy high-quality clothes with their monthly wages, but he had no money for that. He saved every bit of his meager salary for the future.

For a goldfish, the best way not to get kicked out was not to be slow at his work, and since it would be hard to find a new job if he were fired, he only saved his wages and rarely spent them.

“I-I’m all dressed, Young Master.”

Thankfully, it was less cold than when he was bare. He still felt a chill from his damp hair, but it was bearable. It was more of a problem that his throat was stinging and his nose was running. If he caught a cold like this, he would definitely be scolded by Adrian.

Not only that, he might be scolded by Pepe tomorrow, too. It was a day with a lot of work since they were planning to plant herbs and vine vegetables in the garden.

After glancing once at Niah, who was no longer the “perverted servant enjoying naked swimming,” Orca stood up without a word. He turned his back, signaling with his eyes for Niah to follow. He strode briskly along the lake. Because of his long stride, the distance between them grew quickly even though he wasn’t walking fast.

Consequently, Niah had to hurry and trot, not even having time to put on his shoes. The grass that had tickled his soles soon gave way to rough dirt.

Busy moving his feet to keep up with the Young Master’s broad back, he realized he had already left the area around the lake. As the relief of knowing he could return to his room without being kicked out washed over him, a bone-deep chill set in.

He passed the lake entrance and entered a tunnel created by densely grown trees. Bright moonlight poured down like rain through the leaves filling the sky. It looked as if stars had spilled across the dark path. It was like looking at the night sky.

In all the many nights he had snuck along this path, this was the first time he had seen such a sight. It was strange that he hadn’t known until now that the scenery was this beautiful. To him, this had always been a lonely path where he would hold his breath worrying about being caught, or just run busily while clutching his hungry stomach.

Perhaps he was only noticing it now because of the Young Master. Because he had been caught by the very person he least wanted to find out, he was seeing things that hadn’t been visible before.

It’s pretty…

A sparkling galaxy appeared over the Young Master’s glossy hair, over his broad shoulders, over the robe he wore, and even over the hands that had caused him pain just moments ago. Being careful not to lose sight of the Young Master, Niah opened his palm. Moonlight, like shooting stars, fell onto him, too.

As he ran while looking at that, a hacking cough broke out from his stinging throat. He pressed his hand—the one that had been catching the shooting stars—firmly against his mouth. He couldn’t help it, as his other hand was holding his shoes. Whether the Young Master didn’t hear him or simply wasn’t interested, he didn’t turn back to scold him.

He kept his mouth tightly shut and followed the Young Master diligently. However, he suddenly felt his mind drifting. His head was spinning. He wondered if he was sleepy because it was late, but for some reason, even the Young Master seemed to be swaying wildly.

Why is he walking like that…?

“…”

The light footsteps that had been following behind him vanished, followed by the frail sound of someone collapsing powerlessly. Orca stopped walking abruptly. Even without looking, he could picture the situation perfectly in his mind. He turned around slowly.

Sure enough, the goldfish, having fainted late, was sprawled on the ground. He thought that if it was going to end like this, he should have just made him cry to his heart’s content. It was a goldfish that didn’t know its place, fainting now after all the trouble he had taken to go easy on him. He would certainly make him pay a high price for this.

Niah lay without a single movement. After watching for a while, Orca walked over slowly and bent his knees. Only then did he notice that Niah had been following him without even putting on his shoes. A strange sense of excitement crossed his face. It was a sight sufficient to confirm that Niah would do whatever he said.

He hadn’t intended to hunt a small, cowardly fish, but this goldfish had rolled into his hands far too easily. Of course, he had no intention of letting go of something he had already caught. It was far too late to let him go, having already finished “tasting” him. What was more immediately problematic was the goldfish’s condition.

Don’t tell me he’s dead.

Orca used his finger to push up Niah’s forehead, which was pressed against the ground. He didn’t look fainted; he looked dead. There wasn’t even a trace of weak, writhing movement. However, the skin he touched was burning hot. Orca furrowed his brow without realizing it.

When he pulled his hand away from the forehead, the head slumped back to the ground. He remembered Niah coughing by the lake. The coughing hadn’t stopped while they were walking, either. It was absurd that he would be sick enough to die just from being outside for a while. Orca’s face hardened ominously.

“…”

Orca brought his finger under Niah’s nose. After holding it there for a long moment, he felt a faint breath against his skin. Only after realizing he was alive did he hear the soft sound of breathing. It was as if his blocked eardrum had suddenly cleared. He closed his eyes tightly and then opened them. He scolded himself inwardly, thinking he should have just listened for the sound from the beginning instead of doing something pointless. His face went flat.

I hate things that require a lot of effort…

Even so, he picked Niah up. He slid his arm under his stomach, held him firmly, and fixed him against his waist. The delicate limbs, fluttering like flower petals in the wind, were nothing but fragile. Because of this, the corners of Orca’s lips curled in dissatisfaction. He thought that with so little flesh, there wouldn’t even be anything to eat.