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CHAPTER 13
Even the grass, which should have been fine, was crushed and ruined by his footsteps.
‘What’s going on? Why is it like this?’
Until now, the grass had never shown any marks. I tilted my head in confusion. At that moment, Alex, who had run far away earlier, started coming back.
Then he said,
“I will go with you, Head Maid.”
He said it as if he were going to sacrifice himself in a dangerous place. His voice was lower and more serious than I had ever heard.
‘Wait… didn’t he just run away?’
Because of that, his words didn’t sound cool at all. I gave an awkward smile, but he looked determined.
Well, Alex really hates getting wet. On rainy days, we gave him different tasks instead of cleaning outside. He must hate the fountain water too.
I don’t know why—he looks like a tree, so why dislike water? Maybe it makes him feel sticky? Anyway, I decided to understand that even monsters have their reasons.
At least thanks to him, I could go to the fountain as planned.
“Thank you, Mr. Alex.”
But before we could go—
“Foun…tain?!”
A loud voice echoed. It was so clear and strong that it couldn’t be mistaken. Alex and I looked around but couldn’t find the source.
Suddenly, a shadow fell over us.
“Move aside!”
A voice shouted from above. I didn’t have time to look up—someone was falling!
“Ahhh!”
I slid across the grass to avoid them. But instead of scraping my skin, I was lifted up. Alex had caught me.
“Thank you, Mr. Alex.”
“You’re welcome.”
Such a kind monster. Right then, Alex ranked #2 in my heart among all the mansion’s servants. (Of course, #1 is still Eckie.)
After gently setting me down, I saw wriggling tentacles in front of me.
‘That’s… Jameson?’
Yes, the octopus-headed monster. The same one who cried on his first day because I made him clean with a rag.
And now, his tentacles wouldn’t stop shaking. He was excited. Really excited.
“Mr. Jameson… did you just jump out the window?”
The shiny brown octopus head turned toward me.
“Did you say, the fountain?”
Oh no. He ignored my question. His eyes looked strange. He wasn’t like this before.
“Yes, the fountain…”
“Then let’s go together. I don’t know why you want to go there, but I’ll join you.”
“What about your work?”
“I finished everything.”
I stared at him carefully.
Jameson was like my weak spot. I had once made him clean without realizing his arms were tentacles… He got bullied, even hated me because of misunderstandings.
But now? He jumped out of a window just to help me. His tentacles were still wet—he must have worked hard cleaning.
Such a kind creature.
“All right.”
I agreed. After all, being an octopus type, he should fit well with the fountain.
***
The moment I arrived at the fountain, I froze. My mouth fell open, and I dropped all my cleaning tools. My body shook so badly that I couldn’t even pick them up.
“As I thought, this would shock you.”
Jameson spoke gently, though his mouth looked suspiciously like he was smiling.
‘No, no, that’s just my imagination. He wouldn’t laugh while showing me this… right?’
My voice cracked as I tried to speak.
“How… how did this happen…”
Jameson nodded as if he understood.
The fountain wall was covered in something black. Not just one spot—the entire wall.
I gulped.
Even a fool could recognize it.
Jameson leaned closer and whispered,
“Even you think it looks strange, right, Head Maid?”
“Yes… this really is…”
We both spoke at the same time.
“A chilling aura…”
“Just horrible, disgusting water stains!”
I wanted to collapse and cry.
No wonder—there had been a strange smell in the air from far away. Who would have thought it came from here?
Eckie did say the Duke hadn’t visited in years. Of course no one had cleaned.
But still—
‘At least drain the water once! Who leaves it like this?!’
The water wasn’t just dark. It was pitch-black. So black I couldn’t even see through it.
I sighed and tried to stay calm, taking notes on my papers. Clearly, cleaning this fountain would take a lot of time.
Jameson had followed me here only because he worried I’d be shocked. That made me strangely touched.
“Mr. Jameson.”
“Yes, Head Maid.”
But maybe I looked more shocked than I realized. Jameson trembled nervously as if he’d done something wrong.
To ease the mood, I spoke firmly, holding my pen.
“Has anything ever lived inside this fountain?”
“Yes. Yes, there used to be.”
“I knew it.”
That explained the floating bits on the water’s surface. Probably fish. Of course, none could survive in this filth now.
But then Jameson added seriously:
“Something might still be alive in there.”
“What?!”
I almost dropped my pen.
“Don’t you feel it? This cold, eerie aura. Something terrifying that you’ve never seen before could still be in there.”
Come to think of it… he was right. This place was close to the garden, yet only here did I feel a chill.
I closed my eyes. My eyelids trembled. When I opened them again—
“Yes, something could be living in there.”
After all, in front of me stood an octopus-headed monster. Why not another one in the fountain?
But the real problem was—
“If anything is alive in this disgusting, smelly, slimy, abandoned fountain… then it’s not scary. It’s just dirty!”
Rotting water naturally gives people chills!
The stench hit me harder, making me feel sick.
And then… wait. Where did Jameson go?
He had been right behind me, but suddenly he was far away.
“Mr. Jameson.”
“Y-yes?”
“Come here.”
“…Okay.”
He shuffled back toward me, his tentacles dragging. We still had work to do.
“Are there stones or decorations at the bottom?”
“Probably not.”
“That’s good. It would’ve been even harder to clean if there were.”
I wrote again, then suddenly realized something unpleasant.
“Wow, if something is living in there, it must be thrilled. We’re about to clean its home for free!”
“…We?”
“Yes. We’re the ones cleaning. You have tentacles, so you can suck up this water, right?”
Jameson’s mouth opened wide in shock.
