〈 Episode 2 〉 Yandere Youngae 2

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"Why...were you talking to that other woman..."

As I was moaning in pain, I almost forgot the pain for a moment when I saw her eyes. They were...the kind of eyes you sometimes see in places where people like me live. They came in many flavors, but the do-or-die look...the dangerous kind.

It was the kind of look you saw when a drug addict ran out of money and went to his broker with a knife and stabbed him in the stomach, or when a gambler gambled away all his family's wealth. It was the kind of look that said nothing matters except what you see now.

"Why...

He grabs his left arm and slowly backs away. I don't understand. Why would Noel be so angry at me?

It doesn't make sense that he would suddenly become jealous of a servant he's only known for a day. I clutch my swollen arm and rack my brain to somehow match her mood.

"My servant, right?"

"Yes..."

"Then why are you talking to another woman...this is quite a big wrong."

"Now, what do you mean, a fault? I'm sorry, it's the first time I've ever been a servant!"

Noelle nudges me in the hair, as if she were a kindly neighbor sister teaching a young child a lesson.

"How do you think I feel about bringing you here, when you make eye contact with another girl, and roll around in the dirt?"

"...I think you'd hate it...a lot."

"Yeah. So, at all times, don't look at other girls, don't make eye contact, and don't...think about them. Okay?"

She strokes my chin.

"And if you run your mouth like you did today, what do you think will happen to you?"

"...I think you'll...punish me."

"I see. You're quick to understand. Tir."

"Yes, yes, I'm sorry, I'll try to make sure it doesn't happen again!"

I saw her smile of satisfaction then.

"You brought so much dinner, if you don't mind, why don't you eat it with me?"

Right now, I wanted to go downstairs to fix my left wrist, which seemed to be out of place. The words 'I'm sorry' were about to come out of my mouth.

"Oh.

Out of the corner of my eye, I saw her bite her bottom lip. A life of observation has taught me that when she bites her lip...it never ends well.

"I'm honored, young lady."

"Good girl."

Slowly, she begins slicing the steak on her table. I couldn't stand it, my arm throbbing with each stroke, but I managed.

"Today...the steak is good. Go to the chef and tell him how good the roast was today."

"Yes, sir."

"Tir."

"What?"

"Call me Noel when we're alone."

"Oh, no! How could I!"

I bite my lip again. It was the kind of behavior that would have gotten me in trouble if I'd been caught, a servant on her first day, calling her master by his first name...but I couldn't resist her now that she'd snapped her fingers and snapped my wrist.

"You have to...

If I didn't listen to her now, I was certain that my other right wrist would be snapped as well.

"Noel-sama..."

"Ha..."

I could hear her short breath in my ear. She was... choking for a moment.

"Ding!

But the next thing I hear is the clatter of a knife against a plate, and she looks up at me with a forked piece of finely chopped steak, smiling.

"Tir."

Her intentions were understandable. Before slicing the steak, I'd asked her to join me, and she'd pointed her fork in my direction.

"Your... mouth...

She didn't seem to mind, so I slowly took the still-warm steak from her fork and put it in my mouth. The flavor of the fine beef washed over my mouth, and its tender juices helped me forget the horrible present for a moment.

"Is it good?

"Yes, yes, it's delicious!"

Noel gave me a small smile of satisfaction. I grasped my throbbing wrist again and glanced over to see if I could back off.

"Hmm."

She took the fork I'd handed her and brought it gently to her mouth again. I took a big bite, intoxicated by the flavor of the steak.

"No, Noel!"

"Why do you ask?"

She smiles as she removes the fork from her mouth. Her smile was beautiful enough to make me forget for a moment that I had broken my wrist.

"...No."

I couldn't say, "You can't put a dirty fork in your mouth," because her behavior was too outrageous, too obvious, and there were too many gray areas to point out. A dirty back alley pickpocket who'd only been there for a day wasn't in a position to lecture her on manners, nor was he really in a position to talk much.

"Did you learn anything today?"

"Yes, yes, today I learned that as a servant of the Earl of Deckard, I must, uh, keep my shoulders and chest up, and my stride in sync with my master's..."

For a moment, her eyes were strange, but it was so quick, it was hard to tell.

"What's wrong?"

"Oh, no, it was a condition of his service that he should walk at his master's pace, and the first condition was that he should always have in his mind the manners that would not offend his master."

"I see," said the butler, "that was important to you. Now, will you pour me a glass?"

"Yes!"

I took the wine bottle from the ice bucket beside me, and reached for the cap...

"One hand...

Normally, you need both hands to uncork a cork, but I had a sprained hand. As I rolled my eyes in frustration, she said.

"Do it."

The wine bottle was in my hand, and the cork had suddenly disappeared.

"Magic?!

I'd heard that sometimes high ranking young ladies could work magic, and my heart was pounding with fear that the rumors were true. I quickly poured the wine into my goblet, fearing that my other wrist would snap.

"Uh, how are you?"

I asked, having learned a few manners in my life, as I poured the wine into the glass.

"Tir. That's what I ask after I've had a taste of the wine."

"Ah...ah...I'm sorry."

She starts to giggle, then holds out her wine glass to me.

"Uh, huh?"

Another drink?

"If you're a servant, shouldn't you make sure it's not poisoned first?"

She had a point. I took the glass with trembling hands and raised the wine to my mouth.

"..."

I don't know what to say. There was the kind of poison that spreads with a single, ewww, and then there was the kind that slowly paralyzes the other person in a Harlem street drink. I couldn't say with certainty that it was safe to drink.

"Pour it for me."

"Oh, okay!"

I tried to say, "I'm not sure," and then drunkenly poured myself a glass, drunk with fear and the mystery of her beauty.

"Then go, then. Oh, and stop by the butler."

I smiled, wanting to give her credit for finally giving me a toast.

"Well, I'll be off then!"

I'd have to come back at the end of the evening to pick up the plates and empty bowls, but I'd rather go back now and put a splint on my sprained wrist.

"Bang!

Forgetting the etiquette of closing the door quietly, she slammed it shut and rushed down the stairs.

"Hm? Didn't I explain to you that you don't run around the mansion unless it's urgent?"

"Gee, butler."

The butler glanced at my wrist, which looked uncomfortable.

"You're hurt, aren't you?"

"Yes. ..."

"I'll take care of it."

At that moment, I had to question the butler's willingness to treat me without saying anything. It would have been natural for him to probe or ask where or how he was injured, but without a word, he took him to the servants' room and splinted and bandaged him.

"Luckily," he says, "the bone didn't look too bad to the touch."

The butler closes the first aid kit again.

"Go, thank you."

"It's late today, you'll have to go to the church tomorrow for treatment."

"What?!"

The church was the kind of place where medical treatment was almost spine-tinglingly expensive by my standards; their miraculous powers of belief in God were so powerful when it came to healing people, and the number of injured people had grown so large that the church had become a place where you couldn't get treatment without paying a large sum of money.

"The Count will pay for your treatment, so if you get hurt in the manor at any time, go to him. Oh, except late at night, or mornings and afternoons on weekends when it's a service day."

"Go, thank you, butler."

You nod at the butler's words. It's inconvenient, but when else would a lowly pickpocket seek medical attention in a church? I'm only momentarily glad that I won't have to hobble around in a splint for at least a few weeks.

"But...

Despite knowing that she had injured her arm, the deacon didn't exclude me from going back up to her room to clear the dishes.

'Oh...really...'

Eventually, I stood in front of her door at about nine o'clock, near the end of the evening.

"Tsk, tsk, tsk!

I try to think of things she might not like, like if I break her other wrist. However, having only seen her for the first time today, I can't quite deduce what she dislikes or what she likes.

"Other than...she likes her steaks well done.

Worried that Noel might not like it if his orders weren't fulfilled quickly, he rushed to the chef and told him that Noel had praised the roast. I expected the chef to be pleased, but instead he frowned and avoided my gaze, saying, 'Is that so? I chalked it up to her shyness, but most importantly, she didn't grab a book.

"Come in."

I hear her voice. I took a deep breath, gathered myself, and stepped inside.

"...."

"What's going on?"

To my surprise, she was wearing a sheer, see-through slip made entirely of silk. The light blue slip showed the lines of her lacy bra and panties, and I turned my head sharply and took a step back, unsure of how to react.

"Ah...ah...I'm here to clear the dinner...no, I'm here to get the plates."

"Oh, I left them on the table, you can take them."

Avoiding eye contact, you hurry over to the table and put the plates on a tray.

"Oh, really...

Her underwear outfit seems to flutter before my eyes. She probably wears a slip like that to sleep. The image of her sitting on the bed, reading a brown book with an unreadable title, is so risqué that it makes my nose bleed.

"Tir."

"What?"

I answer her, avoiding looking up.

"Be nice to me in the future."

"I-I'll be good to you."

I hurry to open the door, but damn it, one of my hands is in a cast. I can't open this dirty big door with one hand on the tray and one hand in a splint.

"You look troubled."

Noelle's voice sounded close. I felt her silver hair ruffle, and her violet eyes on me, right next to me.

"Here."

Her face smiles. She stepped to my side, still in her underwear, and held the door open for me to exit.

"Thank you..."

She had hurt her wrist, making it difficult for me to open the door. It was a strange thing for her to help me, a slap and a pat on the back, but no one could fault a nobleman for treating his servants as he pleased.

"Ha..."

I return the tray to the chef's room and return to the servants' room, finally done for the day.

"Come, follow me, I'll show you where to wash and where to sleep."

Following the butler's lead, I slowly follow behind him.

"This is..."

"This is the room where Lady Noel's direct servant resides."

The room was smaller than Noelle's, to say the least, but it had the feel of a room that might have belonged to some nobleman.

"From here, the bell rings through the pipe that leads to it, and you can go to her."

This room was located directly below Noel's room. The pipe that came down from above was placed as a decoration on the side of the bed, and when Noel rang the bell from above, the servants were expected to respond to the sound and immediately go upstairs to fulfill her request.

"There is a washing area reserved for servants, but...basically, you will have to use the private bath that Lady Noelle uses."

"What?"

My eyes widened at the mention of a bath. Wasn't that the same bath that the nobility used, the same bath that Young Ae's body was soaked in?

"Direct servants are expected to devote most of their time to their masters, and maidens of great noble families are subject to murder, kidnapping, and crime at any moment, and the last place such a maiden would want to be is you, not the knights and guards here."

"...I see."

"That's why it's your duty to use the baths yourself, and to keep a close eye out for any oddities that might harm Lady Noelle and report them to me."

According to the butler's words, it was the servant's duty to go through Noelle's room, her living quarters, her movements, her bathroom, and everything else, looking for anything unusual.

"Gulp!

I swallowed dryly. The butler showed me to the bathroom as if it were no big deal, and as expected, I had the huge bathroom to myself for a luxurious bath.

"Hmm?"

I don't have a very keen sense of smell. However, perhaps it's because I've been on edge since entering the Count's house, but a scent I recognize wafts through my nostrils.

"What is it..."

Perhaps it was her experience as a thief, but she could sense someone's presence. I quickly got out of the bath and looked around.

"...Is it a mistake...

The sound of water dripping from the ceiling and the luxury of hot water that hadn't yet left the bathtub for Noel made me realize I was mistaken.

"Yeah, I was tired and...

He stepped into the bath, uncomfortably unwilling to remove the cast from his left arm, and stared at it for a moment, unable to forget the horror of that moment.

"I had a... thing happen.

I shrugged it off as a nervous breakdown.

"Put your underwear and clothes in this basket and leave it outside the door, and the maids will take it and wash it at dawn."

The butler told me that new clothes would be brought in a different basket each day. He left with an unintelligible greeting wishing her a good night.

"Whoa!"

Feeling the fluffy sheets of the bed, I do something I've always wanted to do: lie down on the bed. Even in expensive inns, I've never had sheets this fluffy.

"Do they burn incense?

I look over to the side and see a small incense burner with a gentle waft of smoke rising from it. It was said that noblemen with severe insomnia or unstable minds and bodies often burned aromatic incense, and I assumed that the butler had specially made it for me for today's difficult day.

'Ah... Is that why... I'm already tired...'

Dressed only in my underwear, I slowly closed my eyes.

It didn't take long.

'Uh...'

I opened my eyes for a moment and thought. In front of me, Noelle, in the see-through slip from earlier, was lying on top of me, body to body, her arms around my neck, slowly licking me, whispering something to me. I...can't quite make it out. I thought I'd dreamed it because her outfit from the evening was so strong, and my eyes closed again.

"Are you awake?"

The butler opened the door and entered.

"Ah, ah, yes, I'm sorry, I overslept!"

"No, that's quite understandable."

The servant had come in yesterday in a hurry, and with a broken wrist, he had to get up later than the appointed time.

"Ah, butler. Thank you for the scented candles yesterday."

"Scented candles...you mean?"

"Yes."

The butler looks at my hastily dressed form and nods.

"Very well, let's get you ready."

"What?"

"You're going to have to go for treatment, aren't you?"

"Oh, I see!"

Day two. I went to church and had to run away.

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