Surviving As An Obsessive Servant

There was no conversation between the two.

But Edric was paying attention to Crimson’s hand holding the wheelchair. His hands were big and strong like a man.

He was also the biggest of all the servants. It was similar to Blivan, the knight.

That way, even in front of the horrible Duke, he doesn’t think he’d be discouraged at all.

On the contrary, he thought he might be able to stop him.

So, he started to ask questions that he wouldn’t normally ask.

“…How did you get so big?”

“Yes?” 

Crimson inquired, his tone somewhere between “Eh?” and “Yes?”

That sounded a bit silly, but Edric didn’t show it and asked more.

“You… You’re the tallest among the servants… How…can I be as big as you?”

In the past, he once imagined being healthy and strong. Of course, after learning that it was a useless dream, he stopped doing it and became insensitive to pain.

But when Lobel was thrown to the ground yesterday and back in the mansion, something he didn’t even know was tearing apart.

Edric, who was used to pain, was experiencing this kind of pain for the first time. He was afraid to think about it again.

To not suffer such pain and not let Lobel experience such a cruel thing again, he had to build his own strength.

It was the same with his physique. He had to do one more thing on his own.

Meanwhile, Crimson was about to die when he realized that Edric’s words weren’t just a joke. 

Usually, he’d say, ‘What do you mean, greedy. Live the way you look!’—it was hard to say because the opponent was him. 

While thinking, she remembered the guild leader’s advice that nothing good was going to happen while he was talking to a noble. 

The truths about the world that Crimson knew were mostly learned from him.

‘Yeah, as the captain said, it’s better to just listen to it without much thought.’

Then, suddenly, Lobel’s words came to mind.

[Even now, I wish the Young Master had his own life. It’s so unfair if he only gets sick in his life. ] 

Lobel’s expression became more unfair at the same time.

He felt sorry for Edric, who had no parents, no brothers, and no legs.

Then, while he was going up the stairs, he said.

[Hyung, please come to the capital with us as well.]

[….]

[Still, I think the Young Master like Hyung.]

He talked like a joke, but his eyes were full of earnestness.

Recalling that time, Crimson, who was trying to escape the situation, hesitated.

‘If I step back a bit….’

In the end, Crimson had no choice but to continue while clicking his tongue inwardly.

“As a matter of fact, men have to eat a lot of anything. Not picky about food, delivery, and self-confidence.”

“….”

“That’s how I grew. If you do that, the Young Master will be able to grow bigger than me.”

Edric didn’t seem to believe in him.

So Crimson hesitated and then cautiously brought it up.

“The Duke looks much taller than me and my father—” 

Unlike Crimson, who had a mercenary background, the Duke had a slender and graceful physique.

However, the Duke was taller than Crimson.

Crimson thought that Edric could be taller because he resembled his father.

It’s not just a simple guess, but looking at his bones in a wheelchair, they looked big and thick.

If he unexpectedly recovered from his illness like a miracle and grew up well, he had the possibility of becoming a great knight.

But Crimson slipped the word ‘miracle.’ Instead, he tried to give hope to Edric.

“…Of course, it’s up to you.”

“No. I’ll be taller than him at all costs.”

Somehow this time, this picky Young Master seemed to be pretty cute.

This is because he seemed to overlap with his hometown brother, who cried, ‘I’ll be bigger than Hyung!’ when he saw him.

He didn’t know it before, but he understood why Lobel liked this Young Master.

But then, Edric murmured grimly.

“So I’m going to throw that punk to the ground.”

Edric gritted his teeth as if the Duke was the enemy who killed his parents.

In response, Crimson couldn’t even sympathize with him and looked around.

When it came to Edric’s craziness, he wasn’t the bold Lobel.

He couldn’t do anything crazy, like cursing the nobleman’s father in front of the nobleman. He’s sure that if it had been Lobel, he would have done it. 

Fortunately, Crimson didn’t have to say anything.

The next moment, as if becoming someone else, the tone of Edric’s voice changed.

“Lobel?” 

As if he had killed a single person at any time, a soft and gentle voice echoed through the hallway like the breeze of spring.

*****

I couldn’t quite understand.

‘No way. The Young Master is going to the bathroom….’

Instead, it was more credible to say that the Young Master had been able to walk well and had deceived everyone and didn’t walk.

That’s because Edric isn’t like that.

They mentioned this point many times in the novel’s setting, so I remember it clearly.

I was left in the room alone, and I fully activated my brain.

‘There may be other reasons— Wait a second. Is he making an excuse to go to the bathroom?’

According to ancient stone slabs, the Diff race had hidden their identity entirely from their own people.

So, before going to the capital, I didn’t know if it was a method created by the Young Master.

The Duke is a sharp person, so he will have to hide his identity even more carefully.

‘If not… He didn’t go somewhere other than the bathroom, did he? Ah, no way.’

I thought and laughed, but as time went on, I lost my laughter.

Eventually, after thirty minutes passed, I couldn’t bear it any longer and ran out of the room.

Fortunately, there was no need to search through this large mansion the size of a royal castle to find the Young Master. 

“Young Master? It seems like he’s going to the Duke?”

Upon hearing this from the maid who was cleaning the hallway, I immediately asked where the Duke was.

Then she gave an easy answer again.

It was the largest place in Denkart, the office room on the first floor.

I didn’t even feel the joy of finding out the Young Master’s destination easily.

I put my hand on my forehead, which had become dizzy from shock.

‘—I’m going crazy! Why did you go to the Duke alone!!’

I ran as if the fire had fallen on my feet, but the Young Master was there as expected. 

In the distance, at the end of the hallway, I saw the Young Master in a wheelchair. It looked like he was talking about something with Rimson Hyung. 

But he recognized me right away.

“Lobel!”

Seeing his bright complexion, I’m glad that nothing happened, but—.

I had no choice but to be disappointed and frustrated. No, you obviously know I’m worried! 

“Where did you go without telling me? Hyung also—”

Even at my rebuke, Rimson Hyung had an innocent look.

I was about to say something to Hyung, but suddenly the Young Master said in a warm voice.

“Well done, Crimson. You may go back now.”

“…Yes.”

As expected, the Young Master likes Rimson Hyung too. 

I was moved by the changed face of the Young Master. Now that the Young Master is done, go and rest.

Rimson Hyung, who would normally have tapped me on the shoulder, went back quietly. I saw his expression on the way, and somehow he looked bewildered.

Anyway, it’s not something to talk about here. 

I pulled the Young Master’s wheelchair faster than usual, conscious of the servants moving around.

But as soon as I got to the room, the Young Master asked me as if I had been waiting the whole time.

“Lobel, when can we eat today?”

It was originally dinner time at this time.

However, the Young Master seemed to be really hungry, so I asked the other servants Hyung to tell them to make it as soon as possible.

Then we both sat face to face in bed as usual.

Silence cut heavily between us.

“….”

“….”

Actually— I had a lot of things to ask, but I held it in.

I didn’t show it—but because of the Young Master who had been watching me from the moment he came into the hallway, even though it was about to come out, it went back into my throat.

‘…What is it?’

Why did you chase the Duke alone without telling me, and what did you talk about?

I tried to read the room— but it didn’t work at all.

So even though it was frustrating, I calmly waited for the Young Master to tell me first. Because what he needs to learn in the future is not just knowledge.

Especially if the Duke is around after I leave, it will be difficult to learn about the characteristics properly, so I wanted to fill it up and leave.

‘Maybe he was angry or cursed at the Duke there—’

I guessed many things happened while waiting.

But what I actually heard from the Young Master was completely different.

“Before… My mother used to say this every day. The Duke… had to leave us behind because of something important. He never abandoned us.” 

The Young Master, who had been hesitating for a long time, began to talk while clenching his hands.

“My mother wasn’t a good liar—, but she lied about everything about the Duke.”

“….”

“If there were any letters or something left, she would have shown me. But there wasn’t anything like that. He just left us.”

The Young Master casually told me that his father had abandoned him.

His expression was dark and emotionless as if the cause had burned and left only black ashes.

My heart ached at that bluntness. How lonely and difficult the Young Master must have been felt—. 

“I thought the Duke would do that again.”

This time, it was the face of a boy who was expecting his father to abandon him at any time.

Perhaps it was a reasonable guess from the Young Master’s point of view.

Because he was the one who neglected the woman who had his children and the sick child all this time—.

When I heard it, my mood became so low that my throat stung, but the Young Master continued quietly. 

“Because you kept the first promise— I also wanted to keep it somehow.”

‘Promise?—Ah.’

Suddenly, I remembered the time when I joked, ‘Please accept me as the Young Master’s person.’

It seemed that the Young Master had still remembered what I had forgotten, buried in time.

The Young Master said with a faint smile. 

“I’m going to the capital with you, Lobel, no matter what happened.”

“….”

“To do that, I thought I should hold the Duke.”