TCSM 04

Chapter 4

The Count’s Damnable Master (4)

Taking care of my blind master was not easy.

For one thing, Vincent was far too suspicious of everything.

From what I had heard, I was the tenth person he had hired since he shut himself away in his room. He had initially hired male attendants, but at some point he switched to female servants. Most of them either quit because they couldn’t last very long or suddenly disappeared.

Putting aside the whole “suddenly disappeared” part, I could understand perfectly well why they couldn’t stay for long.

Perhaps because he couldn’t see, he was sensitive to every sound in the world, and he was just as sharp-tempered.

And he barely moved from his bed.

Except when he needed to move for a moment, he stayed buried in that bed all day. Especially whenever someone entered, he would immediately pull the sheet over himself.

On top of that, his temper was absolutely atrocious. Everything I brought him, he overturned without exception, making a complete mess.

And whenever I so much as moved a little, he would curl up as tightly as possible beneath the sheet, hiding himself.

He really was nothing but a cat.

There was only one time when Vincent became gentle.

That was when the steward came.

The steward was the elderly gentleman who had brought me here.

He visited Vincent’s room once a day, and during that time, the two of them seemed to have rather serious conversations.

At those times, Vincent didn’t cover himself with the sheet and actually behaved quite seriously.

Whenever I secretly watched them, I wondered if perhaps he was originally a serious and passionate person like that.

Then again, what good did that do?

Look at how he was acting now.

A plate flew past the side of my face and smashed against the wall with a loud crash.

I was too tired to even turn around and check it anymore.

“Get out.”

I let out a deep sigh and squeezed my eyes shut.

At the sound, Vincent hunched his body as much as he could, but his eyes remained fierce.

“I suppose you don’t like me, Master.”

“That’s right. I don’t like you at all. So get out.”

“Could you tell me what you don’t like about me? If you do, I’ll fix it.”

“Everything from beginning to end. Every single thing.”

Well, that was a problem.

“I’ll do my best to become someone you can like.”

“There’s no need. Just disappear from in front of me.”

Ah.

I really wanted to smack him just once.

When a disobedient child wouldn’t listen, they deserved at least one flick on the forehead to bring them to their senses.

I glanced toward his head.

Just………………one hit.

Would it really be so bad?

“What are you thinking about?”

“Don’t try anything stupid. I’ll kill you.”

So he’s sensitive about that, at least.

I shrugged and turned around to clean up the broken plate.

What a waste.

If I had sold it at the market, I could have gotten a decent price for it.

I clicked my tongue regretfully as I gathered the broken pieces.

Fine.

Forget the meal for now.

Let’s at least change the bed sheets.

“Master, I need to change your sheets.”

“Don’t come any closer.”

“If you could move aside for just a moment……………”

It happened just as I was approaching him to remove the sheets.

Something flew through the air and struck me in the forehead.

The impact was so strong that I momentarily lost consciousness.

When I managed to steady my staggering body, I saw what had hit my forehead lying on the floor.

It was a table clock.

I picked it up and checked it.

The hour hand had stopped, and the clock was broken.

I was dumbfounded.

“If you don’t like it, you could just say so. Why would you throw something dangerous like this……………”

“What? Are you scared you’ll die? Someone like you could die and nobody would care anyway.”

I lifted my gaze from the table clock and fixed it on him.

Vincent was unusually showing his face.

Even after throwing something that could seriously hurt someone, he looked completely calm.

No.

He was sneering.

“People like you are all the same. Beggars who’ll do anything as long as they’re paid. Filthy creatures obsessed with money. Do people like that really fear death? You came here because of money too, didn’t you? Otherwise, there’s no way you’d so easily accept an offer from a stranger you’ve never seen before.”

“Do you know why I hired you? Because you have exceptional abilities? Because you’re trustworthy? No. None of that. It’s because it wouldn’t matter if you died.”

“Someone who knows how to please others, is useful enough, and can be killed later without causing any trouble if they become a nuisance. That’s what you are.”

The words he spat out pierced my chest like blades.

The wounds they left behind cruelly tore through my insides.

How could someone be so nasty?

How could he say something so cruel?

And yet, I didn’t cry.

Because these were words I’d heard countless times before.

Blaming someone was easy.

It was easy to blame someone as naturally as breathing, and to comfort yourself by putting them down.

People had done it to me.

Sometimes my father had.

Even my only sister had.

They raised their own sense of dignity by blaming me.

That was the value of my existence to them.

So I wasn’t hurt.

It didn’t hurt nearly as much as when my father beat me.

Of course, being annoyed was an entirely different matter.

“You’re really mean.”

“What?”

“You’re such an impressive master, yet you live in such a filthy manner.”

At my words, Vincent’s face turned bright red.

Watching him glare at empty space was almost pitiful.

He gritted his teeth and muttered.

“You. Watch your mouth.”

“If I may add one more thing, you are absolutely right. I am obsessed with money. I do care about money.”

“What?”

“Just as you said, I’m someone whose death wouldn’t matter. Even if I suddenly disappeared, nobody would come looking for me.”

“If you ordered me to kill myself right now, I wouldn’t even be able to resist. So you don’t need to be afraid.”

“Still, if you really don’t like me, then just kill me. And if you’re going to kill me, I’d appreciate it if you killed me in one go. It’s cleaner than being tortured.”

“Oh, and even if I die, there won’t be anyone coming to avenge me, so you can rest easy.”

“You really did find the perfect person.”

He finally fell silent.

For a brief moment, surprise appeared in his eyes as he stared into empty space.

It was only for an instant.

When I approached him again, he immediately became wary.

“Well then, Master.”

He groped around with his hands as though searching for something to throw at me, but I paid no attention.

It wasn’t as though he had anything left to throw.

Taking advantage of his momentary confusion, I stopped in front of the bed.

“Excuse me.”

Then I grabbed the sheet and yanked it away.

He rolled across the bed without even having time to let out a groan.

Then—

Thud!

Vincent fell off the bed.

“What the hell are you doing?!”

“I’m changing the sheets, Master.”

I pushed him aside with my foot as he started shouting something and pulled out the remaining sheet.

Then I replaced it with the clean one I had prepared.

I pretended not to hear him screaming beside me.

Next, I sat down in front of him as he groped around on the floor and began undoing the buttons of his pajamas.

Vincent noticed what I was doing and reached out to stop me.

I deftly caught his hand, pressed it down onto the floor, and pinned it beneath my knee.

“What are you doing?! Don’t touch me!”

“Why? Are you hiding some incredibly precious body or something?”

“What?”

He seemed stunned for a moment.

But when I finished undoing all the buttons of his pajamas and started pulling them backward, he finally began twisting his entire body in resistance.

His strength was stronger than I had expected, causing me to lose my balance and tilt toward the floor.

With one hand freed, he grabbed my head and pushed it backward again and again.

But I didn’t back down either.

Although my head was forced backward, I held firmly onto his pajamas and refused to let go.

I pressed the hand trapped beneath my knee down harder, while twisting my own body along with his in an attempt to strip off his pajamas.

His hand kept writhing beneath my knee, making my own body bounce and twist along with it.

It was complete chaos.

After struggling like that for a while, he let his guard down for just a moment.

I seized the opportunity and yanked his pajamas back over his shoulders.

Hadn’t they said he had been blind for about a year?

And that he’d been shut away in his room and barely eating for around six months?

He was far too thin.

There was barely any flesh on his exposed body.

His ribs were visible.

He had lost a considerable amount of muscle as well.

From the outside, his build looked fairly decent, but underneath his clothes, it was completely different.

Sometimes, when I had grabbed his arm, I had thought that it felt like there was nothing but bone beneath his skin.

But I never imagined he was this thin.

There were small bruises here and there, too.

Come to think of it, his face looked far too gaunt and pale up close.

The hollows beneath his eyes suggested he wasn’t sleeping properly either.

His cloudy emerald eyes had no focus in them, and his cracked, chapped lips released labored breaths.

He looked as though he’d break if I so much as poked him.

It was strange to think that he was clearly a grown man, yet I couldn’t help thinking that way.

I felt sorry for him.

So, without realizing it, I reached out and stroked his cheek.

He flinched, then turned his head away from my hand.

His eyes lowered slightly as he pressed his lips tightly together.

Shame.

Watching him like that, I withdrew my hand.

I removed my knee from his hand and pushed his shoulder backward.

As his body fell limply, I pulled off his pants as well.

I left his underwear on, at least out of courtesy.

I stood up with his dirty pajamas in my hands and went to the wardrobe to get a fresh set.

He was curled up tightly, hugging his thin body with both arms.

His spine protruded sharply from his back, making him look painfully gaunt.

“If you insist on continuing to wear clothes that smell, I suppose I can’t stop you.”

“But as the person responsible for taking care of you, I sincerely hope you’ll understand my deep desire to keep you looking clean and presentable at all times.”

“And I would appreciate it if you could extend your arms so I can put your new clothes on.”

“I’ll kill you.”

“Yes. Please raise your arms straight up.”

I grabbed his thin arm.

He resisted as though refusing to extend it, but his strength was feeble.

I never realized a grown man’s strength could be this weak.

It seemed to show just how much his life trapped inside this room had taken out of him.

Rather than forcing his arm upward, I slipped the new pajama sleeve over his wrist.

Then he began feeling around and putting the pajamas on himself.

So he was embarrassed about being undressed after all.

Pretending not to notice, I adjusted the clothes so they would be easier for him to put on.

“Your pants are here. And your underwear, too.”

There was no answer.

I hadn’t expected one anyway.

I placed the remaining clothes into his hands and headed toward the bed.

I removed the pillowcase and replaced it with a clean one, then changed the sheets as well.

I felt rather proud looking at the freshly made bed before turning back toward Vincent.

Fortunately, he had changed his pants as well.

Looking pleased with his clean appearance, I approached him.

Vincent was trying to stand by feeling around on the floor with his hands.

When I reached out to support him, he slapped my hand away.

Then, groping around in the air, he stubbornly tried to make his way to the bed by himself.

He’s really stubborn.

“Master, you need to go to the right.”

“Shut up.”

Despite saying that, he obediently turned his body to the right.

I left him behind and picked up the clothes he’d taken off.

But why was this all there was?

Where was his underwear?

“Master, you need to change your underwear, too.”

……………The moment I said that, Vincent quickly threw himself onto the bed.

He pulled the fresh sheet all the way over his head, then squirmed around until he curled himself into a corner.

I was left speechless.

Just to make sure, I approached him and smelled him.

A foul odor wafted toward me.

Surely not……………?

“You didn’t change your underwear?”

“Get out.”

No, seriously.

That’s disgusting.

Excuse me, Master.

Just as I bent down toward him, the sheet suddenly fluttered.

Something shot out from underneath it.

A gun pressed against my forehead.

I froze completely from shock.

And then—

Click.

He pulled the trigger.