THDR 04

THDR

Posted by Bela, Released on October 9, 2025

Chapter 4

I clasped my hands together in front of me like a sinner and hung my head low.
The boss covered his ears tightly and grumbled in a fierce, trembling voice.

“I hate her. She snores too loud…”

If someone only heard that voice, they’d think I’d been torturing him, not just sleeping.

Mr. Veilt stared at me and asked,

“Did you get some sleep?”

“I’ll tell you one thing,” I began, exasperated.
“Do you think it makes any sense that I made it all the way from that mountain village to the duke’s mansion in just four days?”

“So what?”

“It was a forced march! I was exhausted! I fell asleep! I’m sorry! I won’t snore next time!”

We didn’t even rest before meeting the boss. Cut me some slack, please.

“She’s gonna fall asleep again…”

Apparently, my snoring had traumatized him. The recluse clutched his hair and kept muttering, as if still angry.

I muttered quietly,

“Humans need to sleep, you know…”

Grrrrrrrgle.

Oh great, now my stomach’s chiming in.

“Go—just go! Leave me alone!”

In the end, he snapped. Just like Hannah once did, he threw something at me—
and it hit me square on the forehead.

Thud!
Tap.

“….”
“….”
“….”

Silence.

Well—strictly speaking, the recluse didn’t care at all. It was Mr. Veilt who crouched beside me and helpfully commented,

“It’s bruised and bleeding a little.”

Of course—he’d thrown a tissue box, and the corner of it stabbed right into my forehead.

“It’s fine. When Hannah did it, my forehead actually cracked. This is baby stuff.”

The faint scar from that time was still there, but you’d have to look closely to even see it.

“…What?”

Ignoring the sharp tone of the recluse, I gestured to Mr. Veilt to come closer. He leaned in so I could whisper.

“Where am I supposed to eat?” I asked softly.

“With the boss. You need to observe him while he eats.”

“Has it always been that way?”

“Yes. And he’s never actually eaten.”

“Why do you think that is?”

“Because he’s a recluse.”

Do you really think that counts as a reason?

Excuse me, Mr. Sub-Male Lead, are you seriously okay with your right-hand man insulting you like that?

The boss didn’t even respond. Maybe he’d just given up trying to talk sense into Veilt long ago.

“Does the boss ever, uh… harm himself with the cutlery?”

“Absolutely not.”

“Then maybe he should just eat alone for now, even if he skips a meal or two.”

Veilt jumped in immediately.

“If he skips meals, that body will be ruined!”

“Sir, isn’t the point to get him to leave the room? Priorities, please!”

It’s not your body, why are you so worked up about it?

“I’ll make him a buff macho man later, so just leave him alone.”

Thud! Thud!

The recluse pounded the floor with his fists like a tantrum-throwing child. I guess that meant shut up and get out.

At least his fists still looked intact.

“You said I could handle this, right? Then let me. From now on, he eats alone. Peacefully.”

Veilt looked reluctant, his gaze rather irreverently sweeping over the boss’s frame.

“…Fine. Since I said I’d trust you, I will.”

He backed away, face full of regret.

I set the food neatly on the table so the boss could eat comfortably, then stepped outside and removed my glasses.

“You can keep wearing them if you like,” Veilt said. “They’re no different from normal glasses unless it’s dark. They protect your eyes and let you see farther. They’re a very expensive, expensive, expensive item.”

Yes, yes—I got it the first time.

✿ ✿ ✿

Everyone here had been so welcoming that I thought there was no such thing as territorial behavior.
I’d honestly been relieved.

Yeah, well—so much for that.

Consider this a warning to myself: Don’t ever let your guard down again.

I was heading to the garden to bring some flowers to brighten the boss’s gloomy room when—

SPLASH!

A bucket of cold water came down on me.

“Wow, and they even knew I’d look good wet?” I muttered.

I looked up sharply, but there was only an empty bucket swinging in the breeze. Whoever did it was already gone.

They were fast.
Suspiciously fast. Like they’d trained for this.

I wrung out my dripping black hair, took off my glasses, and was about to head to the linen room for a fresh maid’s uniform—then stopped.

Actually… maybe this was a good opportunity.

Smiling a little, I turned on my heel and headed straight back to the boss’s room.

I wasn’t an expert, but thanks to Hannah, I’d learned one thing:
to win someone’s trust, you have to chatter about everything, even the smallest things.

That’s how it worked with her.

I’d visit her for the silliest reasons, talk to myself, laugh alone—
and eventually, Hannah would laugh with me.

I gave her space when she needed it, but over time, she began to want me around.

She even followed me to the bathroom once.

The boss wasn’t like Hannah, but if I took it slow, maybe—just maybe—
he’d open up too.

Knock, knock.

“Boss, I’m coming in.”

I entered, put my glasses back on, and straightened my posture.
His hollow eyes—those of a man who’d seen everything and cared about nothing—didn’t change one bit.

“How do I look?”

The boss quietly pinched his nose and turned away.

Do I… smell?

Sniff sniff.

Nope. Not a trace.

“Lying is bad,” I teased.

His body shuddered. He bit his lip as though terrified, as if I’d just pressed some invisible button.

“I know. That’s why I—”

Okay, okay! I’m sorry!

I approached carefully, like stepping toward a burrowing animal.

“That’s not what I meant.”

When I gently reached for his hand, he jerked back violently, slapping mine away and retreating even deeper into the corner.

I suddenly felt like I’d done something awful.

“…You’re wet.”

Even terrified and miserable-looking, the recluse still found room to criticize.

“Listen, Boss. Someone threw water on me.”

As I stepped closer, he pushed me—hard—with that big hand of his.

“Just get out. Don’t come near me!”

He was very prickly.

I got up from where I’d stumbled and stood in front of him again.
He didn’t even look up at me. Instead, his large hand suddenly shot out and grabbed my ankle.

What the—

“Let go.”

He pressed his lips tightly together and, in a low, menacing voice, warned:

“I told you to get lost while I was still being nice.”

That didn’t sound nice at all.

“Then let go, so I can.”

He glared up at me, full of irritation, before finally letting go—
but when I tried to push him back, I slipped instead.

Water was still dripping from me, slicking the marble floor,
and I fell backward with a loud thump.

“Ow!”

“….”

Isn’t the polite thing to do to help the person you pushed?

I sat up, groaning, and he muttered:

“That was a lame show.”

“It wasn’t a show.”

✿ ✿ ✿

The next afternoon, I still hadn’t found out who’d dumped the water on me.

Instead, after getting permission from the gardener, I gathered a huge bouquet of flowers to take inside—
and ran right into a man.

Dark brown skin, black hair, golden eyes, tall and muscular—a handsome one.

He frowned at me.

“Your face looks weird.”

“I got stung by a bee.”

It hurt, too. Still does.

“Why’d you get stung?”

“Because it thought I was a fl—”

He brushed past me before I could finish.

I’d never seen him before, but judging by his looks, I could guess—
Danny Duffield, the boss’s other close aide.

He didn’t talk much, but when he was curious, he had to ask.

That’s why he’d asked about my bruised eye.

‘Everyone around the boss seems to have at least one screw loose.’

Maybe that’s why they gravitate toward him.

Still clutching my throbbing eye, I went to fetch a vase and ran into Jessica and Lynette.

The twin sisters were both over 180 centimeters tall, built like statues, with the same sculpted faces.
They spoke awkwardly but were sweet and kind—ever since we’d first met in the dining hall.

When they saw me, their eyes went wide and they rushed over.

“Y-your eye!”
“Your pretty eyelid!”

“Bee sting,” I said.

“How awful!”

They groaned together, and I gave the answer I hadn’t managed to tell Danny earlier.

“I think it mistook me for a flower.”

“Well, that explains it.”
“Anyone would sting a flower that pretty.”

Finally, a normal reaction.

That’s romance for you. The male lead, the sub male lead, everyone around them—
they only ever care about the heroine.

“But why were there bees?”

“The gardener usually catches all of them, even if they’re not dangerous.”

Their Imperial tongue was a bit clumsy, but easy enough to understand.

“There were a lot of bees, though?”

“…?”

They exchanged confused looks and tilted their heads.

So someone must have released the bees on purpose, then.

“Do you think there’s someone here who doesn’t like me?”

The twins looked at each other, then shook their heads quickly.

“We like you.”
“Yeah, we like you.”

“Thank you.”

The way they avoided the question told me they did know who it was.
But since they were covering for that person—and it wasn’t anything serious—I let it go.

Compared to what William had done to me before, this was child’s play.

“Did you get the stinger out?”

“Yeah. It wasn’t a hornet or anything.”

It was a species I hadn’t seen where I came from—looked like a bumblebee, but its sting was mild.
Even though it swelled up, the swelling vanished by the next day.

“By the way, do either of you know what the boss likes?”

The twins didn’t hesitate for a second.

“Swearing.”
“Stabbing things.”

“As expected of the Eclipse Guild’s master,” I muttered. “His tastes are… unique.”

After a grateful nod, I carried the vase into the boss’s room.
He didn’t even glance my way anymore when I came in.

I arranged the flowers, set them neatly on the bedside table, and took a look around.
In the quiet room, I reached into my pocket and pulled out an apple.

“For you…”

When he lifted a hand to slap it away, I quickly raised it higher.

“It’s just an apple!”

“….”

“A delicious one—but I’m not eating it today. Because we’re going to do something you like.”

I handed him a fork I’d snuck from the kitchen and placed the apple in front of him.

“They said you like stabbing things. So go ahead—stab the apple. Relieve some stress.”

Since I knew he’d never actually hurt himself, I figured it was safe.

He looked between me and the apple suspiciously, then cautiously took it in his hand.
He lifted the fork and stabbed—

Thunk!

The apple split clean in half. He dropped it without hesitation, but apparently that wasn’t enough.
He kept glaring at me while stabbing the shredded apple again and again.