Atticus [BL]
Chapter 34 Where’s the Imp?

Chapter 34: 34 Where’s the Imp?

Pressing the black book close to him, Nathaniel left the balcony and walked inside towards his desk. He felt a little guilty for laughing at Nolan, but remembering what Nolan had said, a soft laugh escaped him.

He shook his head, still amused by the idea his brother came up with.

"Squeeakkk...."

Nathaniel paused on his feet, his ears instantly caught a faint sound coming from somewhere among his bookshelves.

"... Squeeeaakk."

After confirming the squeaking sound, he abruptly turned around, scanning his spacious library. Moving quickly, he weaved through the bookshelves, searching for the source of the noise.

Like his garden, his library was meticulously maintained. The servants followed a strict daily schedule to ensure it remained spotless, preventing dust from settling on his books.

Were the servants not doing their job properly?

A wave of anger immediately surged within him.

If he saw one of his books being gnawed by rats, he would not hesitate to fire anyone responsible for cleaning his library.

His books were precious to him. He would never forgive anyone who dared to ruin them, not even a tiny, brainless rodent.

"...Squeaak!"

Each time a squeak reached his ears, alarm jolted through him. Driven by panic and anger, he hurried through the library, making sharp turns in a desperate attempt to catch whatever rodent was lurking among his books.

"Squeaak! Squeaaak..."

The sound was getting nearer!

To the left.

Nathaniel turned left and stopped in his tracks.

There, on the table, lay an open book—and sitting atop its pages was a tiny creature.

"...Squeaaak!"

The squeaking sounds had been coming from it. Nathaniel’s face twisted in confusion and shock.

The small creature... was reading.

No—upon closer inspection, the open book wasn’t just any book. It was one of his graphic novel collections.

"Squeaaakk..kkkkk!"

The tiny creature, no larger than a hamster, collapsed onto the book, clutching its stomach with its tiny arms while its hind legs kicked in the air. It wheezed so hard that its squeaking almost sounded like laughter.

Nathaniel remained still, first ensuring the book was unharmed—no torn pages, no damage. Only after confirming this did he shift his focus to the small being, studying its appearance.

A tiny, red, mouse-like creature with elf-like features, small horns, and a sharp, pointed tail.

"... An Imp?" he muttered in bafflement.

With his vast knowledge of forbidden knowledge, it was no surprise that he was able to recognize the tiny entity just by examining its features.

The imp’s long ears twitched. It quickly jumped off the book and stood upright on its hind legs, facing Nathaniel with caution.

However, Nathaniel did not react. He looked at his book before darting his eyes back to the imp.

"Hello,"

The Imp gazed up at him with its pure black eyes.

Nathaniel smiled and stepped forward, but the Imp took a step back, its expression turning vigilant and curious at the same time.

"Are you with my brother and his friend? Don’t be scared,"

"Squeaak...!" exclaimed the Imp, as if to say he was not afraid of him.

"Did you like the book?" Nathaniel asked, his voice gentle, and glanced back at the graphic novel the Imp was looking at just now.

It was a graphic novel based on the written scriptures of the orthodox church. The Imp was actually laughing at it a while ago.

Did he find the story in the book funny?

"Please, don’t be scared."

Nathaniel maintained his smile and slowly moved closer to the table, pulling the chair and took a seat on it. The Imp watched him, its pure black eyes reflected Nathaniel on as it followed his every move.

Upon settling on the chair, he reached for the book and pulled it closer in front of him.

"Come," he called to the small Imp, tapping the surface of the table next to the book, "Would you like me to read this to you?"

*

Nolan headed straight to his room. Although he was feeling hungry, he had no appetite.

Remembering the embarrassing experience he had with his older brother, Nolan cursed himself under his breath.

Seriously, bride? If I were to on my brother’s shoes, I’d laugh too. Tsk.

He wanted to confirm his suspicion of his butler. With what happened the other night, he could not just ignore it, like how he had ignored rumors from their other servants about his personal butler.

Even if he asked Atticus directly about it, certainly, he would not give him a plausible answer.

His butler had always been loyal and attentive to him, as far as his memory of him told him. Atticus had always been with him, ever since he had gained consciousness of the world.

"Don’t be sad, Young Master, Atticus will be more than happy to be your friend."

With his gentle voice and warm smile, Atticus never fails to meet Nolan’s needs. Be it physical or emotional support. Benson and his wife would even feel like, they had to rival Atticus for Nolan’s affection, time and attention.

As soon as he closed the door, the faint aroma of his favorite brewed coffee drifted through the air, filling his senses.

Glancing at the bedside table, he noticed an assortment of food laid out. Confused, he stepped closer to inspect it.

A steaming cup of black coffee sat on the table, and beside it, a cup of hot chocolate. Nolan had always loved hot chocolate, but recently, he had stopped drinking it, choosing brewed coffee instead.

After finding out that brewed coffee was popular among gentlemen, Nolan quickly changed his morning beverage from hot chocolate to brewed coffee, with no sugar. As a grown up adult, he would always say this to Atticus, he would only appreciate a stronger, more bitter drink like coffee.

Atticus knew Nolan didn’t particularly enjoy the strong, bitter taste of coffee, but he said nothing, letting him do as he pleased. Still, Atticus always made sure a cup of hot chocolate was prepared as well.

In the end, it was always the cup of hot chocolate that went empty. At heart, Atticus believed Nolan was still a young, innocent soul, constantly shifting in his interests and needs.

Alongside the brewed coffee and hot chocolate, there was fresh homemade bread with butter and strawberry jam, eggs, and an already peeled orange. A book was also carefully placed on the table.

"But, I didn’t ask them to bring me food..."

However, he was feeling hungry, and the warm and sweet aroma of the food smelled like home back in the village.

He removed his suit, pulled the cravat that was disheveled around his neck, and threw it on his bed. Sitting on the edge of his bed, he began to eat and opened the book to read while he ate.

Knock. Knock.

Nolan paused and glanced at the door and heard Elwin’s worried voice after.

"Nolan, are you there? The servants told me you have not eaten your breakfast yet."

Before Nolan could tell him to come inside, Elwin’s head peeked inside and gazed at him on the bed. His face quickly turned slightly confused.

"Oh, you’re eating already, did they lie to me?" he asked and stepped inside the room before closing the door.

Nolan had not told Arnold or the valet about what food he liked, even Nathaniel was not aware of what food Nolan preferred during breakfast.

"I thought it was you who asked the servants to bring me my meal here."

Now that he thought about it, Elwin felt a slight guilt for forgetting about his friend, "I did not..." he muttered, watching Nolan eat his food using only one hand, holding a piece of bread while the other held a book.

"If Arnold sees you right now, he’ll surely have a heart attack for real." Elwin chortled, "You know how he is...?"

Elwin suddenly stood straight and mimicked the elderly butler’s reserved and somewhat snob demeanor, then looked at Nolan with wide eyes, his whole body went stiff.

"Young Master Nolan....pfft... ahahahaha!"

Watching his friend’s silly act, Nolan grinned in amusement before shaking his head.

He looked stupid, although he had the knack of copying the strict butler’s bearing.

Biting into his slice of bread, "Where’s that Imp? Did you throw it away?" Nolan asked when he noticed that Elwin was wearing different clothes from yesterday.

Elwin paused and stared at Nolan for a second before he felt his chest with his hand. But there was no pocket in there anymore and he felt nothing.

He gasped in surprise, his eyes dilated at the realization.

"I don’t know...perhaps I must have thrown it away at the laundry last night!"

Without saying goodbye to his friend, Elwin quickly turned his back to Nolan and immediately dashed off, leaving Nolan alone. Good thing he didn’t forget to close the door.

Either it was dead or had escaped, there should have been a commotion if a servant saw that Imp.

Left alone, Nolan enjoyed his meal while he continued to read the book in his hand.