The Fallen's Guide - chapter 20

After that, no matter what expensive jewelry Tang Nian tried to use to pry open his mouth, she was refused every time.

The servant’s face was pale, his lips tightly sealed, as if speaking out would mean a miserable, ugly death in bed the next day.

Unable to get any answers, she could only let him go.

The servant straightened his collar, clutching the earring as he walked out. After opening the door, his hurried steps came to a halt, and he froze in place.

For a long moment, there was no sound. Tang Nian turned around, only to see the servant with his mouth slightly open, cheeks flushed, his gaze vacant as he stared outside the door.

Through the crack, she saw the Slave-a barefoot youth in snow-white pajamas.

“What are you doing here?”

The youth’s gem-like eyes fell on the earring in the servant’s palm, then slowly moved upward to look at Tang Nian sitting by the bed.

She asked again, “Why aren’t you going to sleep?”

The bribed servant was a young man with delicate features.

His face was flushed, uncertain of what to do, nervously clutching the earring in his hand, his eyes betraying guilt.

The youth’s gaze was dark, like a cat whose territory had been invaded.

A water cup slipped from the tilted tray, landing on the cashmere carpet with a muffled thud.

Only then did the entranced servant snap out of his daze, his face red as he hurriedly picked up the fallen tableware, embarrassed by his own distraction.

The news that the young Lady Kali had brought back a new Male Pet had already spread throughout the Earl’s Villa, becoming the hot topic of gossip among the servants.

The Old Earl had fallen into a coma, locked away by the court physician in a room reserved for treatment. The servants simply assumed the beautiful young wife couldn’t bear her loneliness and kept a lover.

Their imaginations ran wild, but their eyes couldn’t help but be drawn to the pretty little Slave, as if iron attracted by a magnet.

But suddenly, they met a pair of extremely cold, dark purple eyes.

That gaze looked at him as if he were an inanimate object. The servant instantly froze, a chill crawling up his back, like a prey animal gripped by its natural enemy-unable to move at all.

Until the voice of the new Lady came from behind,

“Why are you here? Aren’t you going to rest?”

The darkness and indifference in those eyes melted away like thawing ice, replaced by a clear, innocent softness. The youth’s eyes widened slightly, filled with flustered panic.

He seemed too nervous to speak.

Those beautifully shaped eyes flickered, then lowered, as he said awkwardly, “I don’t have anywhere to rest.”

He was a completely different person from a moment ago.

The servant stared stiffly, an indescribable sense of strangeness and unease welling up inside.

It was as if, after wiping away the thick dust from a cloudy window, he discovered that the view outside was not a pure snowy landscape, but a dark, evil, and unknown swamp-making him feel uncontrollable fear.

The new Lady had already walked up behind him.

“Sorry, I forgot about you.”

She spoke softly, rubbing her brow in apparent distress, then comforted him gently, “It’s alright, I’ll take you to find a room now.”

The youth’s damp lashes trembled, tracing a soft, beautiful arc through the air, his pupils misted with a wet shine. He nodded obediently, looking like the purest, most harmless person in the world.

He lowered his gaze, glancing at the servant as if unintentionally.

The servant’s eyes darted away, not daring to meet his gaze at all.

Only after their figures disappeared did he finally breathe again, like a fish returned to water, exhausted and gulping for air.

That look felt like a warning.

……

Dawn began to break again.

The few people in the garden had vanished.

The vast Villa returned to silence.

In just a few short hours, it was as quiet as a tomb.

Tang Nian led the youth downstairs with her. He had no room, and she pondered how to settle a living person.
Following her memory, Tang Nian knocked on the Servant’s door. Through the door, a short, panicked scream sounded from inside.

She waited a long time, but no one came out. Patiently, she knocked again.

“Open the door, someone needs a room arranged.”

All around was silent.

Tang Nian was certain the person inside wasn’t asleep, so she knocked louder.

“Open the door.”

At last, the person inside could bear it no longer and opened the door just a crack. A pale face appeared behind it, voice hoarse and trembling, “Madam, please keep your voice down… It’s Morning Curfew.”

Bloodshot eyes watched the surroundings warily, as if some monstrous beast lurked in the daylight.

Yet the room behind the door was brightly lit, curtains tightly drawn, the entire Servant’s quarters aglow, with no sign of anyone preparing to sleep.

Tang Nian kept her voice even. “Find him a room, and some bedding. He doesn’t have any…”

“Why do you have to find it now!” The Servant showed no respect, speaking urgently, “Keep your voice down, it’s Morning Curfew.”

Before Tang Nian could reply, the door was shut.

The Servant’s fearful voice came through the crack, pressed low, “There’s a vacant shop at the end of the corridor, just cleared out a couple days ago. Take him there for now.”

The air fell silent again.

Morning Curfew?

Tang Nian took a deep breath and said to the boy, “Come, follow me.”

Dawn had just broken, the morning light faint, the corridor still dark. The boy walked with difficulty, stumbling, so Tang Nian reached out and took his hand.

He trembled, his whole body tense, like a soft hedgehog bristling its quills at strangers.

Tang Nian’s impression of the boy was still from the day she’d led him out of the ball, when he’d crawled on the ground, pitifully begging her to touch him.

He seemed very timid.

“Don’t misunderstand.” She deliberately stepped back two paces, widening the distance between them. “I’m just afraid you’ll fall.”

Afraid he wouldn’t believe her, she explained seriously, “Don’t worry, I’m not interested in you.”

She didn’t know what nerve that touched, but the boy’s face paled, looking even more dejected.

He bowed his head deeply, his slender neck like a swan awaiting the axe.

The corridor stretched on.

Following the Servant’s directions, Tang Nian found the vacant shop.

The whole Villa was oddly arranged; every room’s windows turned away from the sun, curtains thick, the rooms dark, not a trace of light getting in.

The shop didn’t even have bedding. Footsteps echoed in the empty space, as if someone was following her, lingering not too far away.

But when she stopped to look, she found that besides herself and the boy, the vast Villa was empty.

The boy withdrew his gaze from the window, showing a gentle smile.

So strange.

“I slept on the quilt for a while, it’s not dirty.” Tang Nian bent down, running her hand over the soft, smooth bedding, not noticing the boy’s eyes shifting again to the darkness.

In the shadow where the weak morning light couldn’t reach, secret black shapes squirmed, as if alive, stretching out tiny, slender tendrils, quietly reaching to touch and nuzzle the boy standing nearby.

Trying to wrap around his pant leg, like a bunch of ugly little pets hoping their master would notice them.

“Shh.” The boy parted his fingers, pressing one to his lips in warning.

“What did you say?” Tang Nian turned around.

She hadn’t expected that, turning so suddenly, the two of them were almost pressed together, so close she could hear his breathing.

The boy’s long lashes trembled, his gaze gentle, a faint blush rising in his eyes. “It’s nothing.”

Those living black shapes curled up, cautiously vanishing into the darkness, as if they’d never appeared at all.