Surviving As An Obsessive Servant

As soon as it was dawn, the doctors started heading towards Denkart’s Young Master’s barracks.

They walked in a dignified manner, as expected of those who came from the capital. 

Their eyes were full of enthusiasm. They wanted to use this opportunity to be selected as the Duke’s household doctor.  

However, one of the doctors walking in the front had a dark expression on his face. 

‘Why— Why wasn’t he having seizures yet?’

He wandered around the Young Master’s barracks at dawn but there wasn’t any disturbance. 

There were only the older servants moving around, carrying packages, and trying to organize the luggage. 

‘Is it possible that someone exchanged the items in the barracks? Or were the effects somehow delayed—.’

How should he tell Madam—.

But then, there was a ruthless glint in his eyes.

‘Or— there may still be a way for me to use a stronger drug on him.’ 

Meanwhile, the medical staff had started seeing the Young Master one after another, and soon it was his turn.

The doctor examined Edrick’s condition very closely. 

He could find nothing special about the Young Master other than the fact that he looked more tired than usual which was probably because the bed was uncomfortable. 

There was no sign of a seizure, rashes, or extremely irritable behavior at all as he predicted. 

‘—Why does his condition seem even better?’

He thought in confusion and then he heard someone trying to hold back a yawn.

When he looked up, he saw that it was the servant he saw with the Young Master yesterday. 

He usually didn’t take note of anything other than his patient, but he couldn’t help but remember that face.

Because that servant was always sticking close to the Young Master. 

The same thing also happened this morning.

That servant was glued to the Young Master’s side. He didn’t seem to care even when the Young Master glared at him

At this moment, the servant blinked a couple of times, shook off his sleepiness, and looked at him. 

“Doctor, is there a problem with the Young Master?”

He had been examining the Young Master’s pulse without saying anything. So naturally, the servant must have been worried.

The Young Master was in good condition and he was going to answer that the treatment was over. But the servant interrupted him. 

“Or is it because there’s no problem with our Young Master?”

“….”

The doctor was flustered and couldn’t find anything to say. 

There was no hint of malice in the servant’s voice, but his question hit the nail on the head. 

No, this is not right. 

The doctor carefully put down the Young Master’s hand and pasted on a kind smile.

The other party was only a young servant. There was no need for him to panic and lose his composure.

“That’s not it. I’ve been taking a closer look at the Young Master just in case he’s not comfortable in places that aren’t visible to the eye.” 

His serious expression and calm voice usually inspire a deep sense of respect in his patients and their guardians.

In addition, he was an outstanding doctor who had many years of experience in speaking with patients along with his medical skills. 

The doctor tried to act as usual. 

Of course, he expected the servant to accept his words and follow along. Furthermore, he was no one but a clumsy servant. 

But the doctor couldn’t believe his eyes when he saw that the servant’s face showed no trace of the respect he was familiar with.

It was his first time encountering someone like him while treating a patient. 

Instead, there was a mocking look on his face as if he had already known the answer to his question.

But when he blinked, that look disappeared and there was only a bright smile on the servant’s face. 

“Oh, yes. I guess so.”

It all happened in the blink of an eye.

******

During the journey over the past few days, Edrick Denkart spent his days living closely with Rovel. 

If someone asked him if it wasn’t the same back at the mansion, the answer would be a resounding no.

Back in the mansion, he could have covered himself with a blanket, but it wasn’t possible here. 

He learned this about himself during the trip. He had carriage sickness. So it was even more impossible to hide under a blanket. 

He was a defenseless prey for the servant who was looking for opportunities. 

And Rovel wasn’t the kind of guy who would miss such an opportunity.

“Young Master, can you see outside the window? It’s not raining like yesterday.” 

“….”

“Young Master, Young Master—”

Who wants to be your Young Master—.

Perhaps the Duchess had hired him to annoy him to death.

Finally, he ordered angrily, “Shut your mouth.”And Rovel became quiet. 

However, his eyes were still sparkling with a strange exhilaration—as if they were filled with stars—it was surprising his purple eyes hadn’t fallen off of his face yet. 

It was very disturbing.

When he asked him to just close his eyes, Rovel gladly nodded cheekily. 

Soon after that, loud snoring filled the inside of the carriage. It was even louder than the sound of the carriage running down the slope. So he had to cover his ears. 

Besides, if he tried to exchange him with another servant, it would bring even more problems. 

Because there were very few servants who didn’t smell. 

He didn’t want to admit it, but it was true. 

If he brought in another servant, he would have to endure the disgusting smell. 

Finally, the most important issue. 

Even if Rovel was sent out—he had a strong hunch that that boy would just crawl back to him at all costs—. 

For such unfortunate reasons, he had to endure him along the way. 

However, the servant, Rovel, was more determined than he thought.

With a smile, Rovel threw away the medicine that the doctor had carefully prepared. But he still believed that Rovel was just overreacting about the older doctor.

He didn’t say anything because he wouldn’t be taking those medicines anyway.

At that moment, Rovel’s face looked exactly like the devil on the cover of a book his mother used to pick up to read in the past.

‘How is he sociable and innocent?—’

He snorted when he recalled the words the other servants used in praising him, which he overheard between the barracks. 

Then he heard Rovel ask in a cheerful voice. 

“Is something amusing you, Young Master?”

He thought about ignoring him, but he changed his mind.

Because he wanted to see that boy bewildered for once. 

“I was laughing at you.”

“What? You were thinking about me?”

—It shouldn’t be like this? 

He had forgotten that his servant was not a normal person.

Edrick was flustered by Rovel’s delighted expression, but soon he regained his composure and corrected him.

“Don’t be mistaken. I wasn’t thinking about you. I was laughing at you.”

“No, I mean, laughing at me means you were thinking about me.” 

That’s— That’s not wrong but—.

Rovel’s strangely convincing way of seeing things left him speechless.

Opposite to what he intended, Rovel became even more delighted.

“What was it? Why? What were you thinking?”

“I—”

He paused and tried to find his words.

He couldn’t just say that he overheard people praising him. 

If he said that, that servant would be like, ‘Haha. Don’t eavesdrop on them from now on, just listen in front of me!’ It was obvious that he would then start telling him painful stories. 

Seeing Rovel waiting eagerly for his reply, Edrick brought up what he used to hear in the village.

“—That outfit is sloppy and bad. It looks like trash.” 

This is not right—.

Edrick realized his mistake immediately and was mortified, but Rovel didn’t seem to mind. 

He asked him as cheerfully as ever.

“I’m kind of like that. Will the Young Master be so generous and let me borrow your clothes?”

“—Do whatever you want!”

It was his mistake trying to talk to Rovel in the first place. 

He didn’t want to continue anymore, so he stopped. 

“Then I thank you, Young Master.”

He just said it offhandedly.

But that shameless Rovel actually walked around in his clothes from the next day. 

Boldly showing off his new clothes.

Edrick had many clothes that he had never worn before. They were even more luxurious than the red embroidered clothes he was wearing now.

Rovel was also skinny, so he could somehow wear his clothes, but the clothes were still too short for him.

But Edrick didn’t mind. In the first place, it belonged to the Duchess, not to him, so he didn’t have anything to say. 

So when Blivan came to the barracks to report that he had cleared some bandits ahead of the road, he saw Rovel in his new clothes.

He had a strange look on his face as if he had seen something that shouldn’t exist in the world, but he didn’t say anything. 

And then, they finally arrived. 

Edrick pursed his lips watching the familiar yet unfamiliar view outside the window. 

‘—Is this really the place?’

Even though it was only a few months ago, the village, which was too large and spacious for him, now looked small and shabby.

‘That’s— where I went with my mother.’

The villagers looked surprised when they saw the Duke’s carriage. 

Among them, there were also some faces that he knew. 

But he closed the curtain because he didn’t have any good memories of them. 

When they arrived at the village cemetery, an older servant settled him in a wheelchair. 

But Edrick didn’t immediately order them to enter the cemetery because he saw the flowers arranged neatly on other tombstones. 

He only realized now that he had come empty-handed. 

It was a great mishap. 

Realizing his mistake, his face turned red. But then a Knight approached him. 

“Young Master.”

A tall blonde knight got on one knee in front of him and handed him a bouquet of chrysanthemum flowers. 

 He was the young knight who was in charge of escorting him into the village. 

This young knight gave him an inarguably good impression.

However, he learned that it was foolish to judge people by appearance only and that there was no goodwill in this world without a price. 

When he looked up with guarded eyes, the knight began to say something.

“Young—”

But it was then. 

“Young Master, look what I brought!”