ITOTIABSAM | Extra | 196
The significant difference in body size makes the act of "embracing" a bit challenging.
Bending his knees halfway, Gu Cong spread his palms and placed them diagonally in front of Xie Ye.
Lifting his foot, he steadily stepped onto the fingertips of the other, almost touching the floor. The black-haired Xie Ye carefully controlled his balance, step by step, using the man's arms as a staircase, gracefully settling on the left shoulder.
"The guests are still waiting downstairs," gradually experiencing the fun of role-playing, Xie Ye supported Gu Cong's crisp shirt collar and gave orders, "Don't just stand there like a fool."
Making sure the other wouldn't fall because of his actions, Gu Cong stood straight, smiling amiably:
"As you wish."
Snow was falling heavily outside, and the window showed a vast expanse of white, a rare sight in the city for decades. Only two maids came in to change the tea and snacks, and the middle-aged nobleman sitting on the far right reacted first. He stood up with a stern face but was startled by what he caught in his peripheral vision.
"Th-this...!" He exaggeratedly stepped back several paces, hiding behind the sofa, stuttering, "God bless, am I seeing things?"
Carole, who was bored doodling on her notebook, sat opposite the middle-aged nobleman, always eager for excitement. She quickly turned around and let out an exclamation full of admiration.
The perfectly tailored black tailcoat, the neatly tied tie with a simple knot, all exuded a strict and formal style. Such a handsome butler who embodied the word "propriety" from head to toe was sitting with a rather "improper" doll on his shoulder, palm-sized and upon closer inspection, somewhat familiar.
Carole had a good memory and quickly recognized the pair of emerald eyes that had coldly glared at her when she entered.
—Noah Blake, the master of this mansion, including the entire estate. It turned out that the other party was actually a narcissus, even the doll had to resemble his own face...
As her mind sarcastically commented, just as Carole was figuring out what pretty words to use to smooth things over, she suddenly noticed that the "doll's" eyes moved.
It seemed to glare at her.
With a clatter, the pen fell, and the guest who had shrunk behind the sofa turned into two.
The observant female lead's expression turned solemn, as she was certain that the clothes the doll was wearing were exactly the same as Noah's two hours ago, down to the smallest detail of the tie's knot.
Thinking about the bizarre rumors circulating in the city recently, the female lead had a vague guess in her heart.
And her fiancé, who is also the male lead of this story, calmly nodded to Xie Ye, "Master Noah."
As soon as these words were spoken, the already tense atmosphere in the living room became even more eerie and heavy.
However, Gu Cong, appearing unaffected, nodded in agreement with his words and smiled, "As you can see, there's been a little trouble on the estate. Evil spirits have been causing disturbances, with strange noises often heard at midnight, and we've lost seven or eight live fish from the kitchen. Fortunately, my master has dealt with it."
The middle-aged nobleman immediately raised his voice, "Evil spirits?! Are you joking? I've never heard of such a thing!"
"Yes," Gu Cong affirmed, "evil spirits."
As the youngest and most outstanding detective in the city police department, the male lead was aware of several suppressed cases recently, and the female lead had also learned many secrets through her family connections.
Therefore, at this moment, both of them remained relatively calm. The male lead even turned to Xie Ye and asked, "Is this the price that must be paid to exorcise?"
"Obviously," intentionally elongating his tone, the black-haired Xie Ye, now the center of attention, crossed his arms and snorted coldly, "Not."
"This is just a minor accident."
"Of course, if it were you ordinary people," trying to mimic the original owner's behavior, Xie Ye's lips curled into a sneer, "you'd probably be in a coffin by now."
Gu Cong's lips curled slightly.
Immediately after, he was warned by Xie Ye with a tug on his earlobe.
—His arms were too short. Although Xie Ye felt that running his fingers through the soft, radiant golden hair would be better, he couldn't reach, so he settled for the next best thing.
Carole, who stealthily peeked out from behind the sofa, sensed a different atmosphere.
Too close, too intimate.
He could poke, kick, or hit, so why tug on the earlobe? And the butler's smile...
"Enough! Enough! Evil spirits, haha, I've heard of them too. Anyway, everyone's goal is the gem," perhaps feeling that his previous performance was too embarrassing, the middle-aged nobleman adjusted his attire, cleared his throat, tapped the ground with his cane, and resumed his dignified demeanor:
"Noah, aren't you going to take us to see it?"
Despite his outward composure, the black-haired Xie Ye clearly disliked the loud and boastful tone. Without a word, he simply glanced over at the butler beside him and said, "I'm hungry."
The middle-aged nobleman's face stiffened, a hint of purple creeping up.
But he couldn't really get angry. After all, despite the young man's low title, both of his biological parents were not to be trifled with. Besides, he urgently needed to buy that top-grade emerald to please the king's favorite mistress and cover up some things for him.
With the roads blocked by heavy snow tonight, aside from here, he had nowhere else to go.
So, under the guidance of Xie Ye, the master of the house, everyone finished a dinner where each had their own thoughts.
Being too small in size, ordinary knives and forks were unusable for him. Xie Ye had to temporarily sit in a small porcelain plate covered with a napkin, sitting on a handkerchief pulled from his butler's pocket, and obediently opening his mouth as the other party fed him.
During this time, the female lead's best friend seemed to completely forget her initial fear, continuously observing with curiosity and a desire to explore, thinking she was being subtle.
Seeing that there was no malice in her actions, Xie Ye, who was too lazy to cause trouble, simply pretended not to notice.
After dinner, it was time to visit the original owner's collection room. Various colored gemstones sparkled on pure white or pure black velvet. Except for the most precious ones displayed in dedicated cabinets, the rest were arranged quite casually, some even piled haphazardly as if they had been played with by someone and then carelessly thrown aside.
Due to his profession, the male lead couldn't help but furrow his brows, seeming to think that such rudimentary security measures made it too easy for thieves to target, causing losses and trouble for the police department.
Xie Ye who had remained silent all this time, however, seemed to see through his thoughts and chuckled lightly, "They don't have the ability."
He is proud, arrogant, yet infuriatingly difficult to be angry at due to his excessively petite and delicate figure.
"Well, that's good." Besides money, there were many things that could be used as bargaining chips. Smart people wouldn't reveal all their cards upfront. Gazing deeply at the captivating emerald, the female lead smiled with a hint of meaning, "I really hope we'll have a satisfactory answer tomorrow morning."
Little did she know, the next morning, the first thing she heard was a piercing scream tearing through the silence.
The victim was the middle-aged nobleman.
There was no doubt about it.
Even though Xie Ye hadn't read the original work, he knew that such a cowardly and hypocritical person, who had undoubtedly committed many shady deeds, was the easiest target in detective novels.
Next was the original owner, this sharp-tongued and irritable little master, who easily made enemies.
Fortunately, the author still needed to use the original owner's hand to transfer the emerald to the female lead, so Xie Ye's room was very quiet last night, dangerously safe.
But he still didn't sleep well.
That was because a certain butler had enthusiastically spent the whole night sewing clothes next to him.
Leaning lazily against Gu Cong's neck, Xie Ye dozed off until the female lead asked about his alibi. Then, he slowly opened his eyes, "Alvin."
"We slept in the same room last night."
— Alvin was Gu Cong's name in this little world.
Carol's eyes shot over in an instant.
You see, nobles are always suspicious, and even a highly regarded butler would find it difficult to stay in the master's bedroom at night. Moreover, according to the implication in the words of this young master Noah, they were clearly lying on the same bed.
Furthermore, the clothes on the butler had been changed completely, from inside to outside.
"The current situation of the young master makes it a bit difficult to be alone," Gu Cong explained calmly.
However, this obvious answer, when deliberately pointed out, seemed to carry a hint of trying to cover up something, adding a sense of ambiguity to the already hazy situation, hinting at something unspeakable.
Carol's thoughts completely derailed.
So much so that when the culprit was caught, she wasn't as excited as usual because she knew that her good friend and his clever, brave fiancé would surely give her the truth. But the relationship between the Blake family and their butler was a mystery that would remain unsolved for a short time.
The culprit arrested was a female companion brought by another wealthy merchant. According to her testimony, the middle-aged nobleman was funding several churches, ostensibly to adopt orphans. However, in reality, these institutions were involved in illicit activities, specifically targeting attractive boys and girls, or even older teenagers, to satisfy his and other "like-minded" individuals' depraved desires.
Her younger sister, who had been separated from her at a young age, was one of the victims of his persecution. She managed to escape, but chose to end her life by throwing herself into the river, her body bloated and whitened.
Only a unique birthmark on her ankle allowed her to be identified.
It was at the moment when the ugly crimes were exposed that the middle-aged nobleman's blood-soaked corpse suddenly twisted eerily. The people gathered at the door of the guest room watched in horror as the pale soul of the middle-aged nobleman violently broke free from the constraints of his flesh, his features contorted grotesquely, baring his teeth and claws as he lunged towards the culprit.
Click.
As the bullet was chambered, the male lead instinctively pulled out his revolver, which he always carried with him. Before he could act, he witnessed the small boy sitting on the butler's shoulder lift his right hand and slap the terrifying specter back.
A real slap back.
—Just like a baseball being hit, the middle-aged nobleman returned to his body.
"The young master is quite talented in this regard." Amid the silent stares and wide-eyed astonishment, Gu Cong calmly pulled out a handkerchief from his chest and wiped Xie Ye's hands clean, saying nonchalantly:
"If you ever need it, feel free to bring the gemstone here."
Implicit in his words: it'll come with a price, and more beautiful stones will be needed to entertain the young master.
Watching the whole scene, Carol's eyes sparkled with excitement.
She was certain that she had stumbled upon a strange and dangerous new world, an experience that would probably only be believed if written into a novel.
The mysterious master and servant duo had completely sparked her creative inspiration.
But before she could start writing, there were some things she needed to confirm.
Using the excuse of leaving her pen inside the house, Carole playfully asked her friend to wait for her at the door. Silently apologizing in her heart, she walked out of her friend's sight and immediately turned around, quickly heading towards the direction where "Noah" had left.
The rose-filled glass greenhouse.
After his body attempted to revert to its original state uncontrollably following another encounter with the evil spirit, Xie Ye had no choice but to find the nearest room and have Gu Cong escort him there.
Sure enough, as his limbs elongated again, the new clothes hastily made by someone overnight were completely torn to shreds, to the point where the black-haired Xie Ye had to swiftly snatch the cloak with soft fur from his own butler and coldly wrap himself tightly in it.
If it had been his previous shirt and trousers...
The faint floral fragrance lingered in the air. Gu Cong, the tall and handsome butler, noticed the two faint blushes on Xie Ye's soft ears. He chuckled softly, his wrist turning as he produced a slender object from somewhere and handed it to Xie Ye.
A leather handle.
It was a riding whip.
The slender white fingertips subconsciously tightened, and Xie Ye, who had no time to be angry, suddenly looked up.
"As promised," the man apologized openly, his tone friendly, but with a subtle undertone of provocation, as if silently and innocently tempting, "but this time, the young master mustn't hurt himself."
The next moment, the riding whip turned, the leather tip pressing against his jawbone, deftly lifting his chin.
"Is that so?"
"Then I want to see just how tough the Blake family's butler really is."
"Hmm?"
...
"Carol," waited for her friend in the carriage for a full fifteen minutes before seeing her come out. The female lead leaned in, about to complain, but suddenly changed her mind, "What's wrong? Why is your face so flushed?"
Carol took a deep breath as her heart raced erratically.
She had found the answer she was looking for.
Five minutes ago, she had been standing outside the greenhouse flower room.
However, from her vantage point, all she could see was the butler's impeccably dressed, broad-shouldered, long-legged figure, and the layers of roses hanging from his waist, with the unmistakably fairer and slimmer, tightly stretched toes.
Adhering to the demeanor of a lady, she didn't linger or make a sound, but chose to silently depart.
"It's nothing," Carol shook her head, taking the maid's hand as they boarded the carriage. Her tone was light and cheerful as she playfully winked at her friend, "Just feeling like maybe I should write a new story."
The story of the young master and the butler.
Of course.
Unrelated to any evil spirits.
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