When the Villains Unite - Chapter 2; Part 1

Whether it’s Bellamy holding back tears when he hears of the Duke and Duchess’s death, or Damian lowering his head, they’re children who have just lost their parents. In addition to the death of their parents, they have been betrayed by everyone they trusted, and have fallen into a hole from which they can’t escape for another nine years. There isn’t much room to wonder why they blackened.

Now, Damian and Bellamy are sadly the only ones who are grieving the death of the ducal couple at the funeral.

The Duke’s relatives offer to comfort the Orca brothers, but a glimmer of greed briefly appears on their faces. Just as quickly as it appeared, it vanished, and I bit my lip to hold back the contempt filling me.

As expected, Count Wright approached us as soon as the funeral was over. He claimed that the death of the Duke and Duchess has destabilized the land and he ordered us to stay in the annex until things are normal.

A week into our stay, the front and back doors, as well as the windows on the first and second floors of the annex, were barred to prevent our escape. By not barricading the third floor of the outbuilding, it was as if the relatives wanted us to fall to our deaths from a great height.

Well, they probably had their reasons.

The supplies I stocked up filled four rooms of the annex. The Count and his soldiers tried with all their might to open the locked rooms, but they failed and gave up. I spent a large sum of the pocket money I was given to buy a powerful, enchanted lock.

I hid the key under the floorboards in the corner of the hallway where no one could find it. It was only when the Orca brothers had grown accustomed to this life that I would open the door. I will give them hope when they are tired and lethargic from our confinement.

That isn’t to say we aren’t lethargic now. The corridors we use to wander up and down were now filled with Damian’s lonesome cries, as if to remind us we were all stuck together. Bellamy stayed with Damian during the day and never came out of his room in the evening. It seems it was his only time to be alone.

The room he chose was the one I had been saving for myself, but I decided to give it to him because he was dealing with the pain of losing his parents. They were both depressed, and I was heavy-hearted as well.

“But, did they eat?”

It’s not good for children in their prime to go hungry. I’m going to have to use my cooking skills.

The once-a-day meal is served through a narrow opening in the front door of the annex. It was just big enough for a cat to squeeze through.

It isn’t like we’re training for an extreme event.

Normally, nobles rely on their servants to do all the cooking, cleaning, and bathing. They rarely get their hands dirty by doing things themselves. Count Wright would know this. He was a devious and conniving man who ate a hundred slugs, as depicted in the original novel. He hopes that by providing the bare minimum, we’ll make do. However, that won’t be happening while I’m here.

I carried the ingredients to the kitchen on the first floor and opened the cookbook. In addition to the room where I kept the supplies, I set aside books, wooden swords, and anything else we would need for immediate use. The same goes for the cookbook, of course. I may not be good at cooking, but if I follow it, maybe it will taste okay.

“Okay, I’ve decided.”

I picked a simple dish and started cooking.

The two brothers came down the stairs and entered the dining room, smelling food for the first time in a week.

I had a funny feeling about the Orca brothers, who looked at me like stray cats that are wary of people. I felt apologetic towards them because I had read about their unhappy future in the novel, but they wouldn’t believe it if I ever told them.

“Come and eat,” I urged, seeing their hesitation.

Neither I nor the Orca brothers had eaten a proper meal since coming here. At most, we had a few bread crusts. So, they were too hungry to ignore my offer.

They hesitated for another moment before sitting down at the table and looking at the bowls in front of them. They both frowned at the meal and voiced their displeasure.

“What is this mess?”

“Is this even edible?”

A little hurt, but undeterred, I informed them, “It looks like this, but it’s delicious, so eat it.”

Bread with stir-fried tofu pasta. It is a healthier diet with vegetables and protein than what we have been eating for the past week. Of course, it’s not as tasty as what we would normally eat.

Bellamy picked up his fork like he was a knight heading off the battle, tasted it, and decided it wasn’t so bad. Watching him eat, Damian joined him.

The sound of utensils filling the room loosened the awkward atmosphere. There were usually five of us, including the Duke and Duchess, and the small dining room didn’t seem to make up for the emptiness. Still, we have to get used to it being the three of us.

We had been eating for some time when I suddenly heard sobs coming from across the table.

“Heghh…”

I looked up and saw Damian with his head buried in the plate, tears streaming down his face.

I wondered if he felt the emptiness, too.

This wasn’t the first time they had to deal with a death in the family; their sister had died just a few months prior, and now they lost their parents.

“Damian, stop.”

“…”

Unlike me, who was taken aback by his sudden cries, Bellamy spoke in a firm voice.

At his words, Damian swallowed his tears and continued chewing the food in front of him. He ate so well that I was slightly relieved. I thought he might fast as a result of his grief.

“It’s not good…”

Please don’t blame your grief on my food. I’m hesitant to share my bread with you.

In fact, there were no carbs on my plate. I need to lose some weight to make it seem like I haven’t eaten properly.

Soon, Count Wright will summon me to the ducal residence and his men will retrieve me at dawn. It’s my job to look as pitiful and stupid as possible when he does.

The first meal with the three of us passed, the only incident being Damian’s sobs. He’s embarrassed by his tears and returns to his room first, while I finish cleaning the kitchen.

“You.”

I heard someone call out from behind me. I thought Bellamy had left with Damian, but he must have been waiting to tell me something.

“You don’t have to give us your share.”

I thought he wasn’t looking at me the entire meal, but apparently, I was wrong. I wasn’t sharing, though. I was eating less on purpose.

“It’s not like that,” I quickly replied, turning my head before finishing cleaning the kitchen.

For some reason, his words warmed my heart as I left for my bedroom. What he really meant to say there was ‘thank you.’

“No monstrous Duke would say such a thing.”

The Orca brothers were not what they appeared to be in the novel. Their fierce glares and stony expressions were sometimes intimidating, but they were still innocent children.

Sure, Bellamy is quite mature for his age, but at least he won’t be the kind of scumbag who uses magic to create tentacle monsters to taunt Aria. Damian, too, is not the unscrupulous character from the novel who will shove his penis into Aria’s gaping backside and wiggle it around.

In the short time I have been with them, I felt the emotional distance close.

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