◇ Chapter 76 Wine Cellar
Seeing the doctor sitting down on the edge of the bed, Imur was stunned and a little dazed.
Bai Yu sighed: "Don't you want to sleep? Go to sleep."
It's rare for him to be so soft-hearted.
Bai Yu took away the Duke's pillow and replaced it with his thigh, making room for sleeping.
Imur was still in a daze.
He stared at the doctor, sizing up his expression, then lay down very carefully, rubbing his cheek against the side, like a cat exploring its territory.
Can I sleep?
Just a minute ago, he saw irritation and displeasure in the doctor's eyes.
Yimuer lay down, holding his neck for support, not daring to exert any force. Bai Yu did not look at him, but took a book from the bedside at random, and read with his eyes down, just like he did every night in the clinic. Yimuer breathed a sigh of relief, and when he was sure that the doctor had no disgust or impatience, he gently rested his head on the bed.
The thigh muscles were of moderate hardness and softness, and he was used to sleeping there. Imur was like a cat returning to its familiar territory, surrounded by a sense of security. He closed his eyes and soon fell sleepy.
When he heard steady breathing, Bai Yu lowered his eyes and looked at the young man who was resting his head on his legs.
The rumored Duke was a deep-minded man who hated having others get close to him. He was a tyrannical figure who was always on the alert and would not allow others to sleep soundly beside his bed. But now, this handsome young man was sleeping on his lap as if no one was around, his bright eyes and eyebrows slightly closed, revealing a tired look. He was sleeping so peacefully, as if he was born to be like this, sleeping soundly beside Bai Yu.
“…”
The doctor pushed up his glasses and thought, "Strange."
The young man's neck was right next to him. If Bai Yu was really an undercover agent of the Black Robe Society, he could break the Duke's neck right now.
Thinking of this, Bai Yu stretched out his hand and placed his fingers on the Duke's neck. Under his fat belly was the artery, which was beating with the beat of his heart.
If the Grand Duke had been at all wary of him, he would have woken up at this moment and sent guards to arrest him.
But Imur did not.
He trusted Bai Yu wholeheartedly, felt his body temperature, and even turned his face to rub his hands.
Like a coquettish kitten.
“…”
Bai Yu sighed slightly and withdrew his hand. He pressed his forehead and thought to himself, "How on earth did a man with this personality survive in the treacherous Grand Duke's Mansion and inherit the title?"
He continued reading and waited until Imur fell asleep before Bai Yu got up and left.
Unexpectedly, the light in the butler's room was still on. Miller was sitting in the living room, staring at the door with a serious look on his face, not knowing what he was thinking.
Seeing Bai Yu, he raised his eyebrows: "Why? The Duke didn't let you stay overnight?"
Bai Yu passed by him without giving him any sympathetic glances: "Why did you ask me to stay overnight?"
Miller sneered: "I just didn't expect that you were so favored that you didn't even have the chance to spend the night."
His eyes lingered over Bai Yu's waist and hips, circled around his tailbone, and then looked at his thighs. There was something wrong with his walking posture there; it was not smooth.
Miller clenched his fists.
Bai Yu gave him a cold look.
——Imur slept for too long and his legs were numb.
Of course, there was no need to tell Miller all this. He went back to his room and went to sleep. Exhausted, he had a good night's sleep.
The next day, Bai Yu was awakened by the sound of scissors outside the window.
He pushed open the window and saw the gardener mowing the garden lawn. The Duke's Mansion was obviously busy today, with waiters coming in and out, and carts transporting goods, leaving marks of varying depths on the garden soil, as if they were preparing for an important party or banquet.
The Black Robe Society mentioned that the Grand Duke's Palace will hold a regular meeting of Illia.
Regular meetings are held every three months, during which the Duke convenes all nobles in Yelia, as well as authoritative figures in the fields of politics and justice, to discuss domestic issues, which is somewhat similar to the court meetings in ancient China.
Today, the old butler specifically asked Bai Yumieller to take charge of the affairs of the mansion. As a personal male servant, he needs to share some of the work of counting documents.
The etiquette of Illia is complicated. The wine used in the banquet varies depending on the titles of the participants. Bai Yu and Miller's job today is to check the needed wine in the wine cellar.
The Duke's Palace has a huge wine cellar with a constant temperature all year round. It stores both wine in oak barrels and liqueurs in small glass bottles.
Bai Yu stepped into the wine cellar, which covered a large area with many turns and was divided into fragmented spaces by oak barrels. There were many nooks and crannies, and there was no sunlight all year round, so a cold breath filled his face.
He narrowed his eyes slightly.
Bai Yu has poor eyesight and relies entirely on a pair of glasses on his nose. Without his glasses, he cannot distinguish between people and animals within 10 meters. The dim light in the wine cellar makes him a little uncomfortable.
Bai Yu stood in front of the wine cabinet and checked the wine list. 66 suddenly said, "Host, Miller is watching you."
The system was timid: "I feel like he is planning something bad."
Miller's little thoughts couldn't be hidden at all, but Bai Yu didn't care. He put the messed-up wine vessels back in place: "Let him see."
It would be best if Miller could use some tricks to make the Archduke dislike him and complete the task ahead of time.
When the butler assigned the task, Bai Yu was not there. It was given to Miller, who conveyed the message. Miller was holding the wine list at the moment, his fingers curled up nervously. He then stepped forward and took Bai Yu to the depths of the wine cellar.
The wine here is even more precious. Some are tribute wines from neighboring countries, and some are stored in cellars for many years. One bottle is equivalent to several years' food for an ordinary family.
Bai Yu copied the words as usual. The handwriting on the wine bottle was a little blurred and difficult to recognize after years of copying. Halfway through, his eyes felt sore, so he took off his glasses and rubbed his eyes slightly.
By this time, he had guessed what Miller wanted to do.
As he expected, he had been standing in front of the wine cabinet for less than two minutes when he felt a strong force behind him, hitting his shoulder hard.
Bai Yu was prepared. He just tilted his body slightly and staggered two steps, but he did not stand up straight. Instead, he followed Miller's wishes and let his body fall forward, hitting the wine cabinet directly.
The wine cabinet tilted, followed by the sound of glass bottles tipping over and falling to the ground. Following a series of continuous crisp sounds, the rich aroma of wine diffused. From the rich smell alone, one could tell that these wines were aged fine wines and were very expensive.
Bai Yu knocked over the most expensive cabinet of wine in the Duke's Mansion.
66 was startled: "Host, what are you doing?"
The host had clearly stood firmly, why did he bump into it?
Bai Yu stood firm and supported himself, his expression normal: "This is an opportunity."
The monthly meeting is the most important event in the Duke's Mansion. This is the first regular meeting held since Duke Imur was injured. It is of great significance. Bai Yu knocked over the most expensive wine at this time, which will definitely lead to blame.
He has been wasting too long in this world. Duke Imur's attitude is unclear and ambiguous, and it seems that he really has some unhealthy thoughts about Bai Yu.
In Illia, there are many upper classes who keep male pets. To be honest, the Duke is very handsome. If they had met in a bar or cafe in their previous life, Bai Yu would be willing to buy him a drink. Unfortunately, he is a pure top, and he will not accompany the Duke if he wants to attack him.
Complete the task as soon as possible and get out as soon as possible.
Behind him, Miller glanced at the messy wine cabinet, took two steps back, and then the sound of messy footsteps sounded and gradually faded away.
He left.
The wine cellar suddenly became quiet. Bai Yu focused his sight with difficulty. His eyes were blank. He looked around and could only see a faint white light at the entrance.
He raised his hand and pressed his nose bridge, but it was empty, with nothing on it.
The moment he was hit, his glasses fell off his hand.
Without glasses, Bai Yu is basically half blind.
Bai Yu held the wine cabinet, and his clothes were soaked with wine. The liquid stained a large area of wine red. He looked very embarrassed: "66, can you point me in the direction of the glasses?"
66 floated out: "Okay."
The ground was now full of broken glass, and the glasses were buried in it, making them difficult to find. After 66 scanned it, he said, "The host is at the 3 o'clock position on your right hand side, pressed under the glass."
Bai Yu then half-knelt down, groped slightly with his fingers, and pressed his fingertips on the sharp edge of the fragment. In an instant, a small crack appeared and a little blood oozed out.
The blood mixed with the wine was inexplicably gorgeous.
66 was startled: "Host, please stop turning over. Let's wait for a while. Miller must have gone to complain. Let's wait for the servants to clean up."
Running your fingers through a pile of broken glass is no different than self-harm.
Bai Yu: "Point me in the direction."
At this time, he was unexpectedly stubborn.
66 could only continue: "Host, it is exposed. The frame is 30 centimeters to your left, but..."
"but"
“But it’s broken.”
Bai Yu's original glasses were iodine-added to block blue light, but Illia's glass craftsmanship was not yet mature, so that pair of glasses would not fit in here. So he replaced them with the original owner's pair of silver-rimmed round frames. The lenses were made using the oldest manufacturing process, were not very strong, and were easily broken.
“…”
Bai Yu exerted force with his fingers and silently pinched the edge of the wine cabinet.
66: "Host, host, are you okay?"
The light in the wine cellar was dim, and 66 couldn't see his expression clearly, but he inexplicably felt that his face looked a little ugly.
Bai Yu paused for a moment and said calmly: "...It's okay."
The wine cellar was silent, and for a moment the only sound was his breathing.
66 looked at the screen and didn't dare to speak.
Bai Yu is different from his previous two hosts. His features are rather cold, and when he frowns and doesn't smile, he is particularly oppressive.
The vision was blurry and I couldn't tell east, west, south or north. All that was left were the vague shadows of the wine cabinets, like dormant beasts.
Bai Yu hated the feeling of being out of control.
He has liked planning things since he was young, from big things like life path and professional choice to small things like diet, fitness and reading, everything is in the plan. He is well organized and only in very rare cases will he deviate from the planned track.
For example, now.
66: "I feel like you're not feeling well right now..."
Bai Yu's expression was still calm and cold, as if no different from usual, but he closed his eyes slightly, and even a little cold sweat seeped out of his forehead, rolling down his chin to the ground. The fingers pressing on the wine cabinet did not unconsciously exert force, and his nails even sank into the wood lacquer.
Bai Yu took a deep breath and said, "It's okay. I just remembered some past events."
He has hereditary myopia and has had poor eyesight since childhood. He has been wearing glasses since junior high school. Because of his cold personality and unsociable nature, and his academic performance being often used as a benchmark by the teacher, he is the type of student that the boys in the back row hate the most. A classmate once took away his glasses as a prank.
It was a physical education class. Bai Yu wandered around the classroom like a headless fly for more than half an hour, tripping twice before he finally found his glasses hidden under the podium.
This happened several times later, and the teacher even called the gangster's parents, but they were all underage students, so what could the teacher do? In the end, the matter was left unresolved.
Bai Yu leaned against the wine cabinet and sat down quietly: "Wait for the waiter to come."
There is glass all over the floor and it is too dangerous to walk around without being able to see clearly.
The darkness and silence would stretch infinitely. The wine cellar was terrifyingly quiet. For a moment, one could even hear the sound of pouring wine, dripping, endlessly and creepily.
66 hesitated and said, "Shall we talk about something?"
Bai Yu was too quiet. The way he leaned against the wine cabinet made him look like a decorative sculpture. Although he was usually this quiet, 66 still felt that something was wrong.
Bai Yu shook his head: "Nothing."
His eyesight was still the same as before, but Bai Yu was no longer the young Bai Yu. He groped for the wine cabinet and stood up, saying casually, "Why not guess, what punishment will the Duke give me for knocking over such expensive wine?"
66: "Execution?"
Bai Yu habitually pushed his glasses, but he pushed nothing, and then smiled and said, "I hope it will be execution."
*
Imur had just finished his official business and piled up the documents and put them aside.
He deliberately sent Miller and Bai Yu away today and asked them to go count the wine cellar, leaving only the old butler and the guards to accompany him. The Grand Duke pretended to be casual: "Go check someone, a beautiful woman in her early 30s, who lives on Xike Street and went to the doctor's clinic yesterday."
This description is obviously about Madam.
Imur is not a fool. Bai Yu did not avoid him at home and his behavior was a little unusual. Although he did not suspect him, he still wanted to find out.
After explaining everything, he ordered the old butler and the personal guards to go down. From a distance across the windowsill, he saw Miller striding towards him, walking hurriedly and looking extremely anxious.
He walked around the guards and the butler, saluted hastily, and said anxiously: "Duke, you asked Bai Yu and I to check the wine cellar before, and something big happened."
Imur's eyebrows jumped: "What's the big deal?"
Since it involved doctors, he was more nervous than anyone else.
Miller pretended to be panicked and lowered his head: "The wine stored deep in your wine cellar was knocked over by Mr. Bai... and shattered all over the floor. I was watching from the side, and it should be impossible to save it."
Imur suddenly stood up.
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