Chapter 8: Behind the Locked Door….

It was a face of utter terror.

The butler, seemingly reluctant to even let the word ‘Rut’ out of his mouth, barely managed to convey the facts to me in a voice full of hesitation.

“The main building will be closed off. Once a day, bring food and water prepared in the annex and place them in front of the Duke’s door. …Can you do it?”

“Only once a day?”

He couldn’t answer my question and shuddered. With a pale face, looking completely seized by fear.

I turned my head. Sounds were coming from the main building. Faster. Someone’s shrill voice rang out desperately.

Soon after, indiscriminate footsteps were heard.

It was the sound of servants, who usually moved silently as if invisible as per the butler’s demand, running wildly.

Without caring that the butler was watching, they ran into their rooms. The butler also couldn’t hide the urge to lock his door and shut himself in just like them.

“Once a day is enough.”

The butler answered with a trembling voice.

Considering only the loyal image he had shown so far, it was an unbelievable answer. Perhaps after this Rut is over, he won’t remember the actions or words he did. Just like the people at the pub who laughed and chattered as soon as the King’s Brother turned his back.

“Understood.”

As soon as he heard my answer, the butler ran frantically up to the floor where his room was.

The hallway became silent again. The connecting passage to the main building was also firmly closed before I knew it.

Is it just my imagination?

It felt like I could hear the cry of a beast from afar.

****

My day became simpler.

At 2 PM, when the sun was highest in the sky, I ate at the dining hall where all the servants of the mansion gathered.

After a quiet meal with no words exchanged, the servants took bread, cheese, and pickled fruits that the chef had baked and piled up all at once, and returned to their respective rooms.

Even the chef.

And they didn’t come out of their rooms until the mealtime the next day.

I prepared the King’s Brother’s meal in the empty dining hall they left.

My daily routine ended once I placed the tray with fresh food in front of the King’s Brother’s door and brought back the tray I had left the previous day.

I couldn’t help but scoff as I put bread, cheese, pickled fruits, and stew with ingredients all mashed up like inn food onto the tray.

The exact same food as the servants’, or more accurately, the leftovers after the servants ate first, was the King’s Brother’s meal.

If you ask what the problem is since we are all the same humans, I have nothing to say.

But would the people working in this mansion really think the King’s Brother is a human like them?

Usually, he was a high-ranking lord whose face they dared not even look at properly, and at this moment, he was a monster threatening their survival.

Even the guy who entered this mansion later than me acted like other servants.

On the third day, I added one process to my schedule.

“Why are you still here…”

The butler, who entered the dining hall with reluctant steps perhaps because he forgot something important, trailed off.

His gaze wavered as he looked alternately at the kettle and dripper in my hand. He soon turned away from me. He picked up the pocket watch that had fallen on the seat where he sat and ran out.

I poured hot water into the dripper.

Since it wasn’t the coffee pot inside the locked cabinet but a kettle with a blunt and short spout, I had to pay more careful attention to controlling the location and amount of water dripping.

Carrying the tray topped finally with the strongly brewed coffee, I stepped out into the hallway.

Soon I stopped briefly in front of the firmly locked door. I unlocked three locks and crossed over the door to the main building. And I locked the three locks on the main building side.

What would happen if I left this door unlocked?

All the servants are inside their rooms, and the King’s Brother has locked himself in his room too.

I couldn’t execute the fleeting question. Because I felt like they might lock the door from the other side knowing I was in the main building.

The main building, which always boasted shiny marble floors and wide windows, was dark even though it was broad daylight.

It was because all the windows were covered with blinds before the servants fled from the main building.

The curtains, originally elegant in color, hung gloomily, obscured by darkness. Expensive lights using gems were naturally all turned off as well.

I walked forward relying on the light of the candle placed on the tray.

As I went up, the sound of my footsteps echoing in the empty space became inaudible. Instead, what filled the place were groans.

Or maybe screams.

Or maybe weeping sounds.

They were sounds made by the King’s Brother who locked himself in his room.

There was no locking device on the outside of the door. Yet, no attempt to open this door from the inside was felt.

Knock knock.

Just as the butler did before entering the King’s Brother’s room, I knocked on the door. At the same time, the sound filling the dark hallway cut off abruptly.

“I will leave the meal in front of the door, Duke.”

When I first stood in front of this door holding food, honestly, I was scared too. Because the sounds that seemed to spill out uncontrollably stopped abruptly. As if he knew I was standing here. Even though I hadn’t made any sound.

It’s a bit funny.

Even though the situation is the same, unlike three days ago, now I feel like the King’s Brother is hiding.

Like a young beast digging into a cave to avoid human hands. The tray I brought the previous day was left there, gone completely cold. For the third day, he hadn’t eaten anything.

“I brought coffee as well.”

Still no sound was heard from beyond the door. The sounds I heard just a moment ago seemed like a lie.

“The coffee I brewed is delicious even when cold, so please drink it later.”

I put down the tray with some warmth still remaining, and picked up the tray with completely cold food.

Outwardly, they looked exactly the same. Except for the cup of coffee I brewed.

I turned around and retraced the path I came up. When I stood on the landing, a loud sound resonated. It was a sound poured out because he couldn’t hold it back any longer.

He wants to subdue and dominate the opponent?

I stopped on the stairs and looked back.

To my eyes, he looked like he was rejecting people. So that no one could come near him.

****

“What are you doing?”

At the butler’s appalled tone, I lifted the spatula to show the well-grilled sausage.

“As you can see, I am grilling sausages.”

“Why are you doing such useless things…”

The butler must be right.

I nodded.

Since three days passed, food was disappearing little by little from the tray brought to the King’s Brother.

The remaining food clearly showed marks of being grabbed by hand and torn by teeth, and the amount gone was very small.

Usually, the King’s Brother’s table manners were very elegant, but the current him seemed to have even forgotten how to use utensils.

He clearly wouldn’t even know the taste of the food properly. He was just sustaining himself enough not to die.

So what I’m doing is definitely a useless act that only wastes food.

Still, only the coffee cup was being emptied cleanly for several days.

“If I make him eat the same thing every day, he might get angry later.”

“Do you think you are special?”

The butler spat out the words as if chewing them.

“That powerful force cannot be possessed unless one is a monster.”

Shuddering at his own words, the butler soon closed the dining hall door roughly and left.

The sausage I grilled diligently will also probably go cold and be thrown away.

The fried egg yesterday, and the grilled bacon the day before were also discarded without a trace of being touched.

Still, if he sees a different menu every day, wouldn’t he know that dates are passing?

Since he can’t know the flow of time in a place where not a single point of light enters.

That was the reason I was doing this foolishly useless thing.

****

Even if I say a different menu every day, simple grilling was all I could do.

After grilling bacon, eggs, and sausages, I couldn’t think of any new menus.

After that, I rummaged through the pantry and changed what could accompany the bread every day.

Strawberry jam, grape jam, apple jam.

I had absolutely no creativity when it came to food.

It wasn’t just for the King’s Brother. I also needed something to immerse myself in.

Spending time without thinking reminded me of the memories of the worst times.

When I spent each day meaninglessly. When I lost all my family. When, just like the King’s Brother now, I just huddled up and wished for time to pass.

So actually, it was all for myself. Because I hated my wounds being stimulated.

However, there was a limit to the types of fruit jams.

Exactly two weeks after the King’s Brother entered his Rut, I picked up condensed milk instead of jam and made Cafe Bonbon.

Although it’s impossible to create espresso with a hand drip, I cooled down the coffee brewed as strongly as possible sufficiently.

Because I couldn’t guess what temperature the glass of this era could withstand.

I poured coffee cooled enough not to be hot when dropped on the hand into a glass, and poured sweetened condensed milk generously on top of it.

It was a coffee fun to watch, where you could appreciate the milky condensed milk forming layers with the dark coffee and melting down little by little.

Usually, it’s a taste the King’s Brother would frown at, saying it’s too sweet.

Now, even the butler didn’t interfere with my actions.

I left the empty kitchen and entered the main building.

When I stepped up to the third floor where the King’s Brother’s room was, I felt the glass window covered with blinds trembling.

It was resonating with the sound the King’s Brother was making.

Are the symptoms getting worse? It’s already been two weeks.

My steps quickened without me realizing it.

Knock knock. I knocked on the door.

The signal that used to make all sounds disappear like a lie didn’t seem to be conveyed to the King’s Brother at this moment.

Vrrrr. The trembling of the window became more severe. The King’s Brother’s roar pierced through the door and struck my eardrums.

It felt as if the entire building was vibrating.

The ground beneath my feet shook as if an earthquake had occurred.