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CHAPTER17
The dishes that had been covering Myron’s head clattered back onto the table.
Suddenly, the huge man—two meters tall—stood up and looked down at me.
I stepped back a little, just in case he tried to attack.
“Good thing I left his knife in the hallway and pretended not to see it.”
“…No. The servants hated it so much that I tried to go inside the fountain. But the Duke stopped me, so I failed.”
Hearing this, Myron finally sighed in relief and dropped back into his chair.
Sweat rolled down from his forehead.
“Thank goodness… that was close. If you had gone in, your body would’ve melted down to the bones and crumbled apart. You wouldn’t even be here now. Hahaha!”
It was the first time I had heard Myron laugh so boldly.
But I couldn’t laugh.
“…Melt? Crumble? That fountain… was that dangerous?”
I thought it was just an old fountain full of dirty, black water.
What kind of crazy fountain melts bones?
Wait. Now that I think about it—
“But why were Jameson, Seeker, and Kelpie fine? Jameson even drank the water.”
I looked at Myron suspiciously. But instead of answering, he asked me something strange.
“W-wait. Did those people… tell you their names?”
“…Yes?”
He suddenly pushed his big face close to mine, so close I leaned back again.
Wasn’t this the same man who blushed too hard to look me in the eye just earlier?
Now he was being very aggressive.
“…As I thought.”
My answer had just been a simple “yes.” But he nodded seriously, as if he had just discovered something big.
His green eyes glittered, the dark pupils shaking.
“There are some who can enter the fountain without being harmed. …Probably.”
At last, it seemed he had collected himself enough to answer my earlier question.
So that was it.
That’s why Jameson had jumped out the window just to follow me. Because nothing happened to him in the fountain water.
“So… some of them are immune to it.”
I shivered at the thought of what could have happened.
“If the Duke hadn’t stopped me from going into the fountain…”
My throat tightened. My heart pounded faster.
Ba-dump, ba-dump, ba-dump—
Was it fear?
Or was it the thought that the Duke had saved me?
“Could this be that… what do they call it? The suspension bridge effect?”
In any case, my heart thumped every time I remembered his face appearing suddenly in front of the fountain.
I pressed my chest, trying to calm down.
“Well, as long as I don’t go into the fountain, I’ll be fine, right?”
“Yes. Probably…”
“I already told the servants to clean it. The black water is starting to disappear. It should be safe soon.”
“That’s… a relief.”
Myron still looked unsure, but he nodded.
Good.
The Duke had personally come to check after I started cleaning, so I had to finish the job properly.
And then—there was tea time to prepare.
I glanced at the clock. Myron would need to start cooking soon.
So I quickly asked:
“Myron, does the Duke buy supplies himself?”
“Uh, I’m not sure. There are special staff who handle the supplies.”
“…Monsters?”
Myron nodded.
“It’s complicated. Only they can leave this place without restrictions. They go in human form, of course. The Duke told us not to talk about it, since it would give us away.”
Finally, the mystery of the human-looking servants at the interview made sense.
“If I had known the staff were monsters, I probably wouldn’t have even come to the interview…”
Still, this meant only certain ones could go outside freely. My contract didn’t say anything about restrictions… but would the Duke even allow me to go out to buy things?
As I worried, I noticed Myron’s gaze shift to the book I was hugging tightly. He pointed at the tea leaf illustration on the cover.
“If you told the Duke you wanted to buy tea leaves yourself, he might actually like that.”
“…”
Shy as he was, Myron had sharp instincts.
I hugged the book even tighter.
***
Dinner ended quickly. To be honest, I only ate a few spoons of soup.
“I couldn’t focus on food. I just wanted to read the book Myron gave me.”
Even the juicy steak I had loved when I first arrived didn’t tempt me.
“Sorry, Myron. Your cooking isn’t bad. I’m just too curious about this book.”
I pushed my untouched steak toward Alex, who was sitting next to me.
“Would you like this too, Alex?”
“Really? Thank you, Head Maid!”
He snatched the plate away before I could even react.
…Normally, people refuse once out of politeness, don’t they?
Well. Whatever makes him happy.
Jameson might be working hard to take his spot, but Alex was still second place in my heart.
Besides, a big tree-like body must eat a lot.
At least, that’s what I thought—
Until I saw him eat.
Alex opened his jaw wide—too wide.
His mouth was three times the size of my face, and he swallowed the whole steak in one bite.
Inside, there was no tongue or teeth. It just looked like a hollow darkness.
“…I shouldn’t have looked.”
My appetite died instantly.
I stood up. Jameson hadn’t even done anything special, but suddenly Alex’s rank as second favorite servant felt shaky.
“I’ll head back now.”
“So soon? See you tomorrow, Head Maid!”
Alex swallowed the steak and smiled at me with bright, innocent eyes.
…All the more reason to hurry back to my room and read.
The book was so thick that if I didn’t start now, I wouldn’t finish even half before bed.
“After I finish reading, I’ll tell the Duke that I want to buy tea leaves and teacups outside.”
I was already planning confidently—
At least, until I actually opened the book.
