Translator: Nox

Chapter 5

5

5. The Baron family's Crazy Master (5)

"One more word and I'll really kill you here."

"……."

"Get out now."

I had heard that royalty and nobles kept guns in their bedrooms for self-defense. But I wondered where the hell the thing, which hadn't been there until just now, had come from.

And he was serious. Even knowing it couldn't be, I swallowed hard when I met his cloudy eyes that seemed to be staring right at me.

"Th, then I'll take the underwear."

Straightening my back, I picked up the pile of laundry I had gathered to one side and ran out of the room. Of course, my legs gave way as soon as I closed the door.

I slid down to a sitting position in front of the door. My heart was pounding. The feeling of the gun barrel against my forehead was vivid. Was he really going to shoot?

Why did I overlook this?

That the master of this Baron family was really a madman.

Lenika looked genuinely surprised as she took the basket of laundry from me. She usually only saw me bringing a pillowcase or sheet with a disheveled appearance and tired face, so she must have been surprised that I brought a perfect load of laundry today.

She was one of the few people I met every day since I came to this mansion. Every morning, she came to the Separate Residence to collect the laundry and bring new things to use.

"It seems like it went smoothly this time."

"Thanks to the master."

Thanks to him, I'm having a hell of a time.

My face wouldn't be visible because of my bangs anyway, but I raised the corners of my mouth that were visible. I had to pretend to be okay because I didn't know how my complaints would be conveyed. Lenika scanned me up and down with a look of renewed interest, then left for the main residence with the laundry.

As soon as she left, I sighed and trudged inside.

That was the only harvest this morning. Breakfast ended with it being overturned as always. I couldn't act forcefully this time because I remembered him pressing the gun to my forehead. I hadn't eaten anything last night either, but he didn't care.

No wonder his body was so thin. He didn't eat properly. As soon as he got something, he would throw it, so how could he?

Thanks to that, it was my job to dispose of the food he didn't eat. I tore off pieces of the cold Rice gruel and bread and had a slightly late breakfast. This was a luxury in its own way. In the past, starving was a daily occurrence, and the food left by Father and Alicia was all I had to eat.

Yeah, if I think about my life before coming here, what's so scary about the master's temper?

But Vincent's unlucky behavior continued after that. I was chased away without even being allowed to bring the lunch I had taken to his room. As soon as I went in, he started throwing things and making a fuss. It was as if he had deliberately gathered things around him, and he started throwing them as soon as I opened the door, so I couldn't stand it for even a moment. It was a mistake to have brought the clock and flower vase back when he was asleep for a while.

He threw and broke things like that every time, but they had to be replaced with new ones. I had asked Isabella if it was dangerous and if there was no need to do that, but she said that once, when she had removed all the objects, his whole body was covered in scratches.

In other words, he had self-harmed. Even though his nails were broken and the scratches were torn and bleeding, he didn't stop self-harming, and after that happened a few times, she explained that she had been refilling the objects ever since. He was probably relieving his dirty temper by throwing things. Thanks to that, I was having an even harder time.

And it was the same at dinner. There were no objects to throw like at lunchtime because I hadn't put them back, but the meal was overturned as always. When I brought it back, it met the same fate. Now he waves his hand as soon as I approach. And if I try to touch his body, he points a gun at me first.

The next morning, I couldn't even change the pillowcase. He threw all sorts of tantrums, and he insisted on feeding me the meal I had taken, determined to make him eat, by covering my face with it. It was a foregone conclusion that I would fail until dinner like that.

Two days passed like that. Isabella, who came to check on my condition, had a strange expression. It was as if she knew it would happen, as if she had foreseen this situation. I felt a chill as I watched her leave after letting out a soft sigh. Somehow, I felt a warning that I shouldn't hear her sigh again.

And that day, my patience reached its limit. I was no longer afraid of the gun he was pointing at me. What was scarier to me now than the gun was reality. I remembered hearing the story that 'a servant who attended to the master suddenly disappeared' last time. There was no need to ask what happened to them.

The bowl floating in the air landed on my head. The Rice gruel in the bowl wet my head and dripped down. That's how dinner ended with it being overturned. It wasn't surprising anymore.

I wiped the Rice gruel from my face and went into my room, hitting the pillow a few times and making up my mind.

Just you wait.

"You son of a bitch!"

Controlling my anger, I got dressed, prepared a meal, and ran to Vincent's room as soon as morning dawned. As soon as I went inside, I drew the curtains to let light into the dark room and cleaned up the things that had fallen on the floor one by one. Then, I turned over the dirty sheets.

Then, as if it were natural, the gun barrel touched my forehead.

"Do you want to die?"

"Just shoot me."

"What?"

"If I keep neglecting the master like this, I'll end up dying anyway. Before long, I'll disappear without a sound. I'd rather die from the master's gun than die like this or that. Come on, shoot me and end it."

"……Are you crazy?"

"Aren't you going to shoot? Then I'll change the sheets."

As I pulled the sheets, he grabbed them in horror. For a moment, the force trying to take them and the force trying to hold on collided. But the other person was a patient who hadn't eaten properly. I snorted and pulled the sheets with all my might.

"You're really crazy!"

Leaving Vincent, who was shouting after having the sheets taken from him, I brought new sheets.

"Get out now!"

"Yes, I'll leave when I'm done. Would you please get up so I can finish quickly and leave?"

I pushed Vincent, who was about to shout again, and pulled the bedspread. His body, which had been dragged along with the bedspread, fell weakly to the floor. I pretended not to notice and finished stripping the bedspread before putting on a new one. Then I quickly changed the pillowcase.

He stared blankly into the air for a moment, then came to his senses and crumpled his face. I cut off the words that came out, 'You!' in the middle.

"I'll bring breakfast."

The floor was cluttered with things, and he had such a terrible temper that I didn't know what he would do, so I put the meal I had brought down in front of the door, which was the farthest away. I deliberately made a clattering sound as I moved away, then picked up the meal I had left in front of the door and came back clattering.

Vincent groped around the floor and sat up on the bed. I grabbed the sheet he was trying to wrap around himself and gave him a spoon instead.

"What are you doing?"

"I've prepared a meal."

"I'm not eating."

He threw the spoon he was holding on the floor. I watched the spoon bouncing off the floor, then brought a new spoon. I had brought a few extra just in case.

"How old are you to be acting like a child?"

"Do you really want to die by my hand? Is that why you're acting so cocky?"

He was still holding the gun in his hand. I glanced at him fiddling with it and then stared at Vincent's face again.

"You can't even see, so do you think you can hit me?"

"My fingers are fine."

"I see you're confident you can hit me."

"I used to be good at shooting."

Wow, I see. I briefly admired him, then knelt down in front of him and placed the bowl of Rice gruel on my lap. Then I scooped up the Rice gruel with a spoon and brought it to his mouth.

"Open your mouth. I'll feed you."

"Get it away!"

Vincent waved his hand, but I quickly picked up the bowl and stepped back. He groped around for something to throw, but all the objects had been removed after he threw them last night.

Realizing there was nothing suitable, Vincent gripped the gun tightly. The veins on the back of his hand were bulging. But he still didn't think about shooting.

I put the spoon to his lips again.

"Come on, say ah—"

"Won't you get that away from me?"

"Just take one bite and I'll get it away."

"I'm not eating. Get it away."

"Just take one bite. Or would you like to eat it yourself?"

"I said get it away! Get out!"

"Perhaps you can't even chew?"

You're an adult, but I guess you can't even chew food in your mouth. I added kindly, and Vincent let out a hollow breath. I didn't stop there, and I even offered to teach him how to use his jaw if he wanted.

Suddenly, he kicked the bowl I had placed on my lap. The bowl made a loud noise and rolled across the floor. Rice gruel flowed down the path it was rolling along. I squeezed my eyes shut as I watched the bowl lose its balance and fall over in the middle.

This time, I couldn't hold back my anger.

"Are you scared of me?"

"What?"

"I asked if you're so scared of me that you can't even eat a bite of Rice gruel. Why, am I going to eat you or something? Are you that great? Oh, you are great. You're the master of this great family."

"……What are you trying to do now."

"I'm lecturing you."

The reason I had put up with him throwing tantrums until now was because his heart was sick.

He hadn't been cooped up in his room like this from the beginning after losing his sight. When he had just gone blind, he had lived his daily life without any problems. He couldn't see, so he listened to the butler's voice instead and tried to do his work, trying to live a life no different from when he could see, but after that, a few more things happened.