Chapter 10: The Blanket on the Chair

Leupen, his body rigid, kept his gaze fixed on the documents on the table, as if he had no interest whatsoever in Moma’s muttering.

After mumbling for a long while that it was fine, Moma, still unable to bring himself to turn and face Leupen, carefully made his way to a corner of the office.

‘Must not disturb Leupen.‘

Moma tried hard to rationalize that keeping his distance was to avoid bothering him. Then he subtly pushed aside the piled-up books and crouched down among them, hiding himself. The tower of books blocking his view brought him a small measure of comfort.

He didn’t want to be afraid. But fear was not an emotion that obeyed one’s will. Suppressing the urge to bolt out of this room right now was the best Moma could do.

Peeking at Leupen through the gaps between the stacked books, Moma found his tension gradually easing, thanks to Leupen’s indifference—as if Moma weren’t even there.

‘Leupen’s forehead is like a really pretty stone. His nose is as cool as Moma’s tree horns.‘

Comparing them to his own worthless ones only made him more envious.

‘Leupen is dashing.‘

Leupen couldn’t possibly be unaware of the heated gaze that looked ready to pluck off his features, yet his eyes remained fixed on the documents. If anything, it was strange how long he lingered on a single page.

When Eden returned to the office after finishing the cleanup, Moma was dozing, leaning against the pile of books.

For Eden, today had been far, far too long. He was beginning to doubt whether it was even possible for this many incidents and accidents to occur in half a day. And the one at the center of all those incidents—Moma—looked utterly serene. That fact made Eden even more exhausted.

“Since I need to teach him his duties going forward, may I take him out now?”

Leupen gazed for a moment at Moma’s face, buried among the books, hiding from him and asleep, then spoke in a low voice.

“……Do as you see fit.”

It was rare for the head butler to personally train a servant, but Moma couldn’t be carelessly entrusted to another servant.

Eden woke Moma, who was dozing with his mouth hanging open, and dragged him out of the office.

leaf-672696_100x100

“Explain what happened. Why on earth did you go to the study? Do you know that man, Kevl?”

The moment they entered the neatly tidied study, Eden came to a dead stop, spun around, and fired off question after question. At his words, the drowsiness drained cleanly from Moma’s sleep-filled eyes, but Moma merely kept his mouth firmly shut.

The horrific scene from earlier weighed heavily on Moma’s mouth. Even if the fear had faded, he didn’t want to speak with his own lips about the man’s talk of curses and such.

Kevl, the servant who had been hacked apart by Leupen’s sword, still hadn’t regained consciousness. He would never use his legs again, but more than that, even his life or death was uncertain at the moment. Even if he survived, he certainly wouldn’t be in his right mind. Perhaps it might even be better for him. Considering what was to come, it would be difficult to endure with a sound mind.

So Eden, who had to hear the full story from Moma no matter what, splashed water on his face and heaved sigh after sigh.

Whether Moma was aware of it or not, his body was trembling like a leaf in the wind. The comfortable nap in the office was nowhere to be found—he’d been in this state since the walk back to the study.

“I understand you were startled. But it’s something you’ll have to get used to.”

Eden knew that severed legs and blood splattering before one’s eyes were not things an ordinary person could easily grow accustomed to. The other servants, too, had been unable to shake off the shock for days when they first witnessed such tragedies. Eden well knew that pressing Moma in this state would be useless.

“Moma is okay.”

At his comfort, Moma smiled faintly and said he was fine. But his trembling body lent not a shred of credibility to those words.

“Leupen must have…… been surprised.”

At Moma’s words, Eden’s expression curdled sharply.

“Is that…… so.”

Moma was clearly no more sane than Leupen. Earlier, Leupen hadn’t slapped Moma’s cheek, or crushed it, or cut it. No matter how he recalled it, Leupen had been gently “stroking” Moma’s cheek.

After being lost in thought for a while, Eden composed his expression and made Moma a proposal—something every servant desired, yet something he had never offered to any servant.

“I will help you leave this place.”

But at Eden’s proposal, this time it was Moma’s face that went pale. Moma, who had been hanging his head low and trembling finely, snapped his head up.

“M-Moma will stay here. Moma can do well…….”

Moma, startled and desperately pleading that he didn’t want to leave, wore an expression of an even greater fear than before. Puzzled by his reaction, Eden asked.

“……What is the reason?”

This was a place everyone wanted to leave. The servants, too, had not come here of their own will—they had been forcibly sent to this mansion due to their own circumstances.

Moma, likewise, had been dragged here by Leupen’s hand against his own will. So it was only natural that he’d want to escape—yet Eden simply couldn’t understand Moma’s behavior.

“It’s nice here. Leupen and Eden are nice.”

Though he answered honestly, Eden didn’t respond. Confirming that Eden still wore an uncomprehending expression, Moma plopped down and began scrubbing the floor earnestly with his clothes.

“Moma is useful. Can make the floor clean.”

Just what kind of backing did he have, to be so desperate to stay here? Eden gazed down at him.

“From now on, no matter what happens, you won’t be able to leave easily.”

“I won’t leave! Moma is going to take root here……!”

At Moma, nodding vigorously without hesitation, Eden asked no more.

“Then there should be no problem with you working going forward. If you prove unhelpful, I’ll throw you out whether you like it or not—know that.”

From the perspective of a servant, every aspect of Moma was a problem, but Eden’s purpose in taking Moma in was itself different from that of an ordinary servant.

“Before the morning sun rises, you’ll receive a towel from the adjoining room. And…….”

There were many difficult words, but Moma nodded as best he could.

“Bringing necessary books from the study is also important, but what you must do, Mr. Moma, is to be at the master’s side, grasp what he desires, and act accordingly. When his water glass is empty, fill it. When the room is chilly, raise the temperature. When raising the temperature…….”

Though he understood only about half of it, one thing he understood clearly.

That now he truly had a place to belong.

‘Leupen is scary. But Leupen is nice. The first precious human.‘

Though he knew Leupen was the master of the domain and a cruel being who could kill him at any moment, Moma was classifying Leupen—who had saved him twice—among the things he had to protect.

And from that day on, strange objects began appearing in Leupen’s bedroom every morning.

leaf-672696_100x100

Having finished his early morning bath as usual, Leupen felt a subtle sense of incongruity. Was it because of the green-haired servant who held the towel tightly in his hands and showed no intention of handing it over?

“I apologize. It seems he’s still unfamiliar with the work.”

When Eden bowed in his stead, Moma finally snapped to his senses and held out the crumpled towels to Leupen.

“M-Moma…… towels, good at it.”

“……I see.”

There was no helping the unintentionally trembling hands. Still, having succeeded in delivering the towel to Leupen without dropping it, the corner of Moma’s mouth twitched slightly.

Even after Moma, having completed his first task, slipped out of the bedroom after Eden, Leupen still couldn’t shake the incongruity. It was a small incongruity. At first.

But from this morning to noon, and now, having arrived at the office—the trivial incongruity was growing difficult to ignore.

“……This is maddening.”

As always, the neatly organized documents lay on the table. But the pure white blanket occupying the chair where he was supposed to sit was a sight he had never seen before. Standing before the chair, Leupen stared blankly at the incongruous combination.

“Why is this here…….”

The chair wasn’t narrow, but neither was it large enough to sit in together with a big blanket, so the blanket was half spilling onto the floor.

In place of Eden, who had briefly stepped away, Moma stood guarding one side of the office, his gaze alternating between the blanket and Leupen. He seemed to think he wasn’t being obvious.

At that fervent gaze, Leupen was left speechless and swallowed a sigh as if it were a headache.

Being the object of fear and disgust was familiar, but this case was different. It was grating on him, little by little. Yet when Moma, as if afraid of meeting his eyes, averted his gaze the moment they made contact, Leupen felt displeased.

Leupen pushed the carefully rolled blanket onto the floor and sat down as if nothing had happened. Even without looking, he could feel Moma’s shoulders, who had swallowed a small breath, slump.

The sound of Leupen’s fingers lightly tapping the table echoed through the office.

That day, the paperwork took longer than usual, so he returned to the bedroom a little later than normal. Normally Eden would accompany him, or Leupen would return to the bedroom alone, but today was a little different.

“…….”

The green-haired servant, who seemed to have newly become his dedicated attendant, was following behind him at a distance.

No matter how uninterested Leupen was in others, when it came to Moma, it was hard to ignore him. His attention was drawn to the presence of Moma, who trotted along behind him in place of Eden.

“D-Don’t worry. Moma is good at it! Even at night, no problem.”

“…….”

I really did take in the wrong one.

Leupen’s sigh deepened.

📚 Also on NHV Novels

Our Guide to the Second World

CapableDevotedGuideverse

Read Now →
Not interested