After a night of torrential rain, the lead-gray sky was still heavy with overcast clouds.
The rain was still falling, the manor was covered with damp vapor, the air seemed to be filled with the fishy smell of sea water, which made people feel a bit uncomfortable.
The butler came to the door of the old count’s room as usual, waiting for the old count to wake up and give orders.
But today the old count seemed to get up later, until the bright light outside the corridor shone on his face, the old count still didn’t utter a command.
The butler standing respectfully in the hallway felt somewhat uneasy for some reason. He wiped the cold sweat off his forehead and lowered his head to inadvertently see damp mold spots on the corner of the hallway wall.
He didn’t know if it was because of yesterday’s rainstorm.
Looking at the conspicuous mold spots, the butler panicked and asked the servants around him to hurry up and clean it up, so the old count wouldn’t see it.
The old count wasn’t a person who was easy to serve.
Sometimes even in the cleanly cleaned hallway, he could nitpick and criticize, and then use terrifying eyes to make people tremble all over, not to mention the large mold now.
The butler, who had become extremely sensitive in recent times, could no longer withstand the old count’s wrath, and he was so afraid that he kept urging the servants in a low voice to clean up the mess.
However, for some reason, the mold could not be wiped clean.
The maid dipped a clean rag in water and rubbed hard to no avail, the butler’s face turned pale, he thought it was the maid being attentive.
But when he wiped it with his own hands, he realized that although this mold spot looked like a small piece, as if it would be easily rubbed off, in fact, it was wet and sticky to the touch, more like moss than mold, and was very difficult to wipe off with a cotton cloth.
Just when the butler was worried and didn’t know what to do, the old Count’s footsteps came from inside the room, the butler was sweating coldly, and hurriedly got up, letting the servants stand in front of the wall to cover this mold spot.
“Quickly quickly!”
The butler was shivering with urgency, his cold sweat almost soaked his straight suit.
Click – the door opened.
The butler tried to restrain his trembling body, bent down respectfully and waited for orders, not daring to look up at the old count.
The servants beside him did the same, fearing that they would provoke the old count’s cold rebuke of displeasure.
Fortunately, today the old count seemed to be in a good mood, he didn’t notice the corridor corners of the mold, but coldly refused the breakfast prepared by the kitchen today and hurriedly left the room.
It seemed that he couldn’t wait to see someone.
The butler seemed relieved and habitually wiped the cold sweat from his forehead as his gaze fell on the old Count’s gradually fading back.
The old Count’s pace today seemed to be more relaxed and happy than ever before, no longer having the previous days’ gloominess, it actually gave the butler the illusion of seeing the still young old count from ten years ago.
At that time, the old count hadn’t yet worn a mask, and at the age of twenty, his handsome features and gloomy eyebrows made him like a vampire in a romantic novel, the object of many maids’ crushes.
But there was also some difference, because the old count at that time always had a cold and gloomy expression, as if he was tired of everything in this world and harbored disgust for everyone.
And now, the old Count’s pace was filled with a certain eagerness, just like any teenager who fell in love, harboring a hot fire in his heart.
No longer was there the cold repulsion of youth.
The butler felt a little uncomfortable for this analogy of his, it was hard to overlap the eerie old count with a young man of simple character, and sardonically tried to retract his own gaze, but in the next moment he suddenly gave a start.
He didn’t know if it was because of the recent period of nervousness, but for a moment, the butler actually felt that the old count’s faraway humanoid figure was gradually turning into a tall, twisted, horribly shaped bloated monster.
The butler cowered and withdrew his gaze, not daring to look again.
With imperceptible trembling, he continued to busy himself with the affairs of the manor, as if he could forget the growing fear in his heart.
At that moment, the old count who had gone far away had come to the door of the room where Jiu Shu was.
He looked at the time on the hallway clock, it was just eight o’clock, it seemed a little too early.
The old count was a bit annoyed, he didn’t want to disturb Jiu Shu’s sleep, so he had to wander around for a few moments, the mask on his face hadn’t been taken off yet, but in fact, he had already freshened up carefully.
The old Count wanted Jiu Shu to be the first to see his new look, he couldn’t wait to see the surprise and love on the face of his beautiful young lover.
The tall man seemed a little nervous as he stood in front of the door to Jiu Shu’s room.
He straightened his cuffs until every crease became flat.
Then began to straighten the fluffy white neckerchief at the front of his neck again, making sure it stayed in the most centered position, just as it had been in his youthful days.
Just like what Jiu Shu had seen in the family portrait earlier, the old count now deliberately dressed himself exactly like his younger self in the portrait.
Looking at the door in front of him, the corner of the old count’s mouth under the mask slightly raised, his dark pupils no longer had the former oppression, it was even brighter than when he was young.
He was looking forward to meeting with Jiu Shu at that moment.
After about ten minutes or so, he heard a movement inside the door of the room, the old count pursed his lips and his body involuntarily tensed a bit.
After taking a deep breath, he took off the mask on his face, trying to maintain the decency and reserve that nobles should have, and gently knocked on the door of the room.
Ka-da-
The door of the room opened, behind the door stood his extremely beautiful lover, his golden hair tied behind his head, occasionally some strands of hair plastered at his snow-white cheeks, revealing his exquisite features and those clear blue eyes.
“I ……”
Looking at Jiu Shu’s slightly widened blue eyes, the old count was suddenly a bit at a loss for words.
His pale face flushed a slight thin red, his nervousness caused his palms to sweat slightly, as if his mind had also become younger he had changed back to the self he was when he first met Jiu Shu.
“It’s me, I’ve changed back to my younger self.”
I’ve become more compatible with you.
The old Count’s eyes brightened as he said that, and he somewhat rustily revealed a smile with this rejuvenated face.
The deep, handsome brows didn’t carry the gloom of his youth, as if he had truly become a young, handsome youth.
However, compared to the sharp indifference of his youth, the current him appeared much more mature and introverted, and between his brows was still the calmness characteristic of an older man.
The dark pupils of his eyes were full of the stability and self-possession after years of precipitation, even if he tried to imitate his younger self, it was still difficult to cover up, but there was also a unique beauty.
Jiu Shu looked at the youthful disciplinary object in front of him, waited for a while but didn’t get his following explanation about the cause of his youthfulness, It seemed that he was really just trying to show him after becoming young.
Even the expression on his face was full of anticipation.
It seemed that he didn’t even realize that if he was really an ordinary noble youth, seeing his lover suddenly become young, his first reaction wouldn’t be happiness, but fear.
Jiu Shu blinked and looked at the old count in front of him, who had become a bit uneasy because of his silence, and suddenly smiled.
“Norman, you look good today too.”
The blonde-haired, blue-eyed lover’s voice was soft, smiling as he unfolded his arms and embraced the old count, who looked at the lover in his arms, the tension on his face gradually dispersed, revealing a happy smile like never before.
“You too, every single day you’re so beautiful that it mesmerizes me.”
The old Count’s deep black eyes were filled with almost mesmerizing love, he was finally able to embrace his lover in his arms without fear.
After becoming younger, the old count seemed to have become more direct in expressing his feelings, no longer like before, where if Jiu Shu took the initiative to kiss him, he would feel a deep sense of guilt and was therefore restrained.
Now he clung to the love of his life in his arms, his love no longer hidden.
“I love you, more every day.”
The old count usually didn’t say too many sweet things.
He just wanted to express the hottest emotion in his heart, so he carefully carried Jiu Shu into the room and tentatively moved closer to his face.
Jiu Shu smiled, not resisting the rare initiative of the object of discipline.
The moment their lips met, the old count, that was, Norman’s pale ears turned completely red.
His breathing was a little disorganized, and he tightened the large hand that was placed on Jiu Shu’s slender waist.
After removing the gloves, the palm of his hand clearly sensed the supple texture under Jiu Shu’s thin shirt, and gently rubbed it as if it was mesmerizing.
Jiu Shu was a bit ticklish, so he smiled and avoided it. Norman held him in his arms, and the distance between the two became even closer.
Norman tenderly embraced his young and lovely lover, sitting on a sofa chair, not willing to let go for a long time.
And Jiu Shu didn’t utter a word of urging, as he pressed himself against the chest of the target, he could hear his heart beating rapidly under the muscles of his chest.
It was as if it was silently saying something.
He raised his head and met Norman’s dark eyes that were full of tenderness, and gently wrapped his arms around his neck, his delicate snow-white cheek pressed against the side of his ear, intimate as usual.
It was as if there was no difference between the lover before him and the past.
To Jiu Shu, there was really not much difference, after all, he was in love with just the object of punishment, no matter what he looked like, in his eyes were the same soul.
For Norman, on the other hand, today was the beginning of his brand new life.
He embraced the young love in his arms, unshackled in his heart as if he wanted to completely reveal the love he had suppressed in the past, and stayed with Jiu Shu throughout the day, even when it was late, he was a little reluctant to part with him.
But it seemed like this was too childish, and Norman’s steadiness as an elder still prevailed. He reluctantly let go of his embrace, his eyes still sticking to Jiu Shu, and his tone was a bit low: “I should go now, see you tomorrow…”
Before the words were finished, Jiu Shu’s white and slender fingers tugged at the corner of Norman’s coat.
His blue pupils were still full of clear light, as if he had seen through Norman’s heart, and his voice with a smile tickled his ears, “Won’t you stay tonight?”
In fact, it wasn’t that Jiu Shu hadn’t invited him before, but the object of discipline had refused every time, upholding the thoughtfulness expected of an older person.
This time, he wondered if the answer would be different.
“!!!”
Norman stared blankly at his young lover in front of him for a long time before coming back to his senses, his fingers trembling a little as he hugged Jiu Shu tighter, his hot breath almost burning his delicate skin.
The embrace became closer than even before, as if touch-starved, he couldn’t wait to be pressed against every inch of Jiu Shu’s skin.
In the manor shrouded by night, the lights were dim.
The lights in the room where Jiu Shu was located were also quickly extinguished, and the unclosed window screens cast dim moonlight into the room, reflecting an ambiguous room.
The hot and humid air seemed to have suppressed gasps and low tearful moans.
It wasn’t until the sky turned fish-belly white that the room became quiet, and it seemed that someone finally inquired in a somewhat uneasy whisper, “Will …… you be afraid?”
Did suddenly becoming young frighten his young lover?
On the slightly messy bed, with sweaty blonde hair plastered against his beautifully defined spine, the blonde-haired, blue-eyed young man opened his eyes somewhat tiredly and looked at the uneasy-faced man in front of him, seemingly sighing wordlessly.
Reaching out his hand, his fingertips gently rubbed the man’s pale face, the youth’s full lips flushed with a rose-like red, slightly curved.
“…… won’t.”
“Because I love you.”
After saying that, the youth hugged the man, tiredly resting his head on the man’s smoothly muscled shoulder, soothingly whispering in his ear, “It doesn’t matter whether it’s the old you or the current you, the only one I’m in love with is you ……”
He knew that the object of discipline was very insecure, and he didn’t mind repeating those words of love over and over again that would fill his sense of security.
As soon as the words fell out of his mouth, the blonde-haired, blue-eyed youth went back to sleep, leaving the man to look at the love of his life in his arms with tender, deep love in his eyes, so thick that it was almost morbid.
He carefully hugged Jiu Shu tightly, and insatiably followed him to sleep.
In the days that followed, Norman became even more clingy than before.
No matter where Jiu Shu went, he would follow, he no longer considered the gaze of others, as if he really reverted back to his young spirited self.
No, he was even happier than his younger self, even the somber expression on his face disappeared, and he became gentle and elegant.
He no longer wore a mask, and his handsome young appearance caused a furor in the manor for a time.
But the commotion soon subsided, because Norman claimed that his family’s genetic disease had been cured, so he had regained his youthful appearance.
Although there were still some people in the manor privately discussing and quietly circulating the rumor that came from somewhere, that the old count might have sucked human blood to restore his youth, but it didn’t cause too much repercussions.
Because people’s attention soon shifted to the old count and the beautiful candidate’s love affair.
No one expected that the old count, who was always gloomy and withdrawn, would actually fall in love with a noble youth who was more than a dozen years younger than him, and this kind of news immediately overshadowed the impact of the old count’s sudden youthfulness.
After all, that beautiful young man was the focus of attention up and down the manor, but he wasn’t seen, he became a legend
Now he was with the old count all day, their intimate appearance was as if they were really just a pair of ordinary couples.
It was hard to believe.
Many servants felt that the old count had privately used some dirty tricks to force that beautiful youth.
After all, although the old count had gotten younger, his age was still there.
No one knew how long he would live after he was cured of his genetic disease, perhaps he didn’t have many years left to live.
And the young man named Angus was at his most youthful.
In the current society that prized beauty, beautiful looks allowed him to get everything he wanted, money and power, as long as he wanted, he could easily get it.
There was no need to follow the old Earl, an old man with an eccentric personality.
“Angus is so pitiful, he must have been forced!”
The maid sobbed, feeling truly unjust for the sake of the pretty young man.
“Maybe it’s a good thing that when the old earl dies, the property will go to Angus!”
“Bah! Why would Angus care for the old Count’s stinking money!”
The maid was on the verge of tears just imagining Angus being forced by the grim and ghastly old count.
People couldn’t help but pity and favor beautiful things.
If it wasn’t for the fact that the old count after restoring his appearance was also considered young and handsome, there would have been a maid who couldn’t hold back her grief and anger and quietly released that beautiful and tender young man out of the manor.
Just like the previous one that quietly opened the manor door for the beautiful Ms. Julie.
The maids were momentarily infected by the emotions, all red eyed and sobbing, not only feeling sorry for Angus, but also for themselves.
After all, they used to be able to fantasize about a chance encounter with that beautiful young man one day and then they’d spend a wonderful night, but now it was simply impossible.
With that pe.rverted nature of the old earl, he simply wouldn’t allow anyone else to get their hands on him.
The voices of the maids gathered in the corridor were thin and annoying, and the butler not far away seemed to be getting a little agitated.
He angrily came over and told the maids to quickly leave to clean up and finish their duties before gossiping.
The maids looked at the butler, who had recently finally removed his mask, and were so frightened that they hurriedly took their cleaning tools and cleaned up.
Recently the butler had become very strange, his face was pale and bloodless not to mention that his expression was always tense with nervousness, his eyes were always wide open and bloodshot, making people feel uncomfortable just looking at him.
Now he had replaced the old count as the most feared person in the maids’ hearts.
Looking at the maids who scattered in all directions, the butler finally calmed his anger.
He bent down and re-picked up the cotton rag on the side, ignoring the fact that his neat butler’s suit was stained by the stains on the floor and walls, and began to wipe the mold stains on the walls over and over again.
These lazy maids! They weren’t cleaning at all!
The butler nervously scrubbed the walls, constantly rubbing on those slippery mold spots, only to feel that his entire brain was trembling because of these mold spots that smelled damp and fishy.
It was getting more and more.
These mold spots were becoming more and more numerous.
It seemed to have started the very day the old count had left in a hurry, the damp air filled the manor, mixed with the rose’s scent that was so strong that it bordered on vile, was becoming more and more ghastly.
But everyone else seemed to be so focused on the old Count’s philandering that they didn’t even notice the changes within the manor.
He was the only one who noticed that something was wrong.
Thinking of this, the butler raised his head and looked at the long and winding corridors within this castle.
Scarlet carpets covered the floor of the corridor, the walls where various famous paintings were hung were damp and watery, and mold stains were constantly appearing.
Even the high ceilings above the corridor seemed to be starting to have some mold spots.
As the butler watched, he suddenly remembered the candidates who stayed quietly in the room.
It also seemed that from the appearance of the mold spots, they became quieter, as if they were different people.
And the old count who had gotten his wish and returned to his old age had also stopped paying attention to those candidates who had once disgusted him to the core, indulging in his love affair with his young lover and being unable to extricate himself from it.
What had happened to the manor and why had it changed?
The butler didn’t know, or perhaps he didn’t dare to think about anything related to that horrible old count.
He simply continued to scrub the mold from the walls, his fragile spirit no longer strong enough to support him further in his quest to discover the horrific truths.
At this time, in Jiu Shu’s room, he was sitting at the table looking at the letter in his hand, which recorded the series of actions of the male and female main characters.
Julie, the female lead who was locked up in the manor, seemed to be able to go in and out of the manor quite freely, and she met with the male lead, Reid, outside many times.
The most recent meeting was just a week ago, and it was also after that day that rumors began to circulate in the manor that the old count was sucking human blood.
“……”
Jiu Shu narrowed his pretty blue eyes and opened the next letter.
This one was about the recent actions of the Imperial Emperor, this world’s fragile intelligence system allowed him to easily detect anything that happened within this Emperor’s palace.
Including the fact that he had met with the male lead Reid.
But before Jiu Shu could open the letter, it was as if his nostrils caught a faint fishy odor from nowhere, somewhat similar to the salty smell of seawater, yet somewhat different.
Lifting his eyes thoughtfully, Jiu Shu looked towards a moldy spot gradually growing in the corner of the room.
The object of discipline seemed be a little late today.
Looking at the clock in the room, Jiu Shu narrowed his delicate brows and got up, ready to go to the room of the target to take a look.
He walked through the corridor that smelled of dampness everywhere, his eyes sweeping over the moldy spots, and soon arrived at the door.
“Norman? Are you there?”
“!!!”
In the dimly lit room, the pale-faced man seemed to have been looking down at his arm, his face clouded over, before his head snapped up at the sound of the voice, his dark pupils trembled a little.
He released the sharp blade in his hand, and at the cut forearm, the tight muscle texture was deeply cut open, revealing the thick black liquid inside and the slippery flesh that seemed to be wriggling.
Looking at these ugly and dirty flesh and blood, he painfully covered his face with a pale palm.
“Norman, are you unwell anywhere?”
Outside the door, the voice of his lover was still gentle and full of worry.
The man inside the door’s breathing gradually shortened, his pupils clenched, and after a moment’s pause, he finally opened the door and looked at his lover with a gentle expression, “I’m fine, I just got up a little late today, I’m sorry.”
The man hugged his lover full of apologies, promising to take a walk with him outside the manor.
“Is it really alright?” Jiu Shu caressed the pale face of the object of discipline with some concern, the man softly looked at his lover’s delicate fingers.
“Of course, let’s go.”
On his pale face was the same meek, natural smile as usual, as if nothing had really happened.
With that, his fingers on the doorknob seemed to tighten slightly as he closed the door.
Leaving the bizarre flesh and blood that had been stripped alive and stained with mold inside the room.
TN:
Poor butler 😬
See ya tomorrow ✌️
Thank you for the update~
Oh jeez…. I really love this story 💜😭 make amy brain tingle form the mystries
ngl I do feel bad for the butler but also he can just resign…? is it really worth it when you can get money from other jobs?