Volume 1, Diary of a Butler 2: Assisting the Master in Learning How to Sing (2/2)

If I had not personally witnessed the young master singing with his mouth, I would have thought that it was the original singer singing… Seems like the young master’s secrets are not any fewer in number than the secrets held by that strange workshop of his.

“Th-then how am I supposed to sing?” The young master became even more nervous and stuttered, “I-I don’t know any other way to sing.”

I hurriedly comforted him, “Young Master, it will be fine if you use your own voice to sing. I will play the song again. Please relax and just use your speaking voice to sing the song.”

However, when the music played, the young master gripped the microphone and mumbled a few words, then stared blankly at the screen. Finally, he looked at me miserably and said, “Charles, let me listen to you sing first.”

“As you wish.”

I looked at the song selection screen, wanting to pick an easier song to allow the young master to learn while listening to me. At that moment, the young master drifted closer, and I hurriedly stepped aside to allow the young master to be able to see the screen clearly.

“Charles!” He cried out and pointed to one of the songs on the screen. “Look, this song is called ‘Vampire!’”

I looked at the screen, nodded my head, and said, “I know that song.”

“Sing it for me!” The young master’s eyes lit up.

“Understood.”

I selected the song and raised the microphone. When the music sounded, I opened my mouth and sang…

The ancient clock chimes twelve times

A shabby coffin lid opens

The charming sunlight of day

has been slain by the black shroud

Don’t scream

There’s nothing

Night is only the haunt of darkness gone mad

Don’t look

Just sleep tight

No blood-sucking monsters wander in daylight

Vampires stalk the streets; Strangers don’t come near; Fresh blood is my favorite drink

Don’t cry Hallelujah; God’s on vacation; Maria is also asleep

I coolly fling my cape aside; Bare my fangs at you; Don’t struggle I’ll be gentle

When you meet vampires, hurry and scream

God Bless You

When I finished singing, the young master was laughing so hard that he fell from the sofa and rolled onto the floor.

I took out a comb, helped to comb the young master’s disheveled hair, and then straightened his clothes. He laughed while commenting, “Charles, oh Charles, where’s your cape?”

“There are almost no more vampires in this era that would walk about on the streets wearing a cape.” I replied truthfully, “If I wear a cape, people would not think that I am vampire. Rather, it is highly likely that they would mistake me for a cosplayer and request to take pictures with me.”

Hearing this, the young master laughed hard for quite a while. Then he asked, curious, “Then do you really sleep in a coffin?”

The young master had never stepped into my room before. When I moved my things in, he was attending class at school, so he had yet to see the things inside. I nodded my head and gave a brief explanation, “I sleep in a metal cabinet similar to a coffin. It is far sturdier than a coffin. If it was attacked, it would even wake me.”

This time, the young master didn’t laugh. He frowned and asked, “A metal cabinet… That can’t be comfortable to sleep in, can it? Why don’t you sleep on a bed?”

“It’s too bright. Only complete darkness can help me drift off peacefully.”

Although this was something that I should not inform a human about, I had no intention of making the young master unhappy. This was, after all, not some grand secret. I explained in more detail, “If it is not completely dark, even if only a light as weak as starlight is present, my rest will be fitful. If it is for a short while, it would not be a problem, but in the long run, I would become very weak.”

“Oh.” The young master nodded his head and didn’t ask any more questions about vampires. He pointed towards the screen and said, “I want to learn how to sing this song.”

“Understood.”

After that, the young master started singing very happily using his normal voice. Just this song about vampires, he sang three times. I sneakily inserted the previous song with a heavy beat. When the young master heard it, he flinched but sang the first few lines reflexively. After looking surprised at himself, he continued on singing the song.

Starting after that, everything became a lot easier. I sang one song, and then the young master sang it once more. The young master’s ability to learn was very high. After hearing a song once, he could sing the song perfectly.

We sang like this for three hours until an employee came by to ask whether we wanted to extend our stay. I looked at the young master. He seemed indecisive. I was just about to tell the employee to extend our time by two hours…

The young master cried out, “Oh no! I forgot to call Gēge!”

I hurriedly changed my mind and told the employee, “There is no need. Please bring us the bill.”

When we walked out of the KTV, the young master seemed to be in a very good mood. He was even humming songs; mostly he was humming that song “Vampire.” Looks like I should buy that album.

We walked to the parking lot, and sure enough, the young master’s motorcycle was still around. His bodyguards were very dutiful. We walked toward it. The young master put on his safety helmet, and I was putting on my safety helmet as well…

“This is a robbery!”

I turned and saw two figures rushing toward us. They were both holding guns and eyeing the young master’s motorcycle, faces alight with glee. They roared at us, “Hand over your wallets and helmets, then scram!”

I frowned. The robbers are already aiming their guns at the young master. Why haven’t those hidden bodyguards appeared yet?

I looked at the young master. He had already finished putting on his helmet. It offered full-protection, and the visor appeared silver from the outside. I couldn’t see his face and thus I also could not see the young master’s expression. This made me unsure of what course of action I should take.

“Hurry up and move!” The robbers had already lost their patience, and it seemed like a bullet might fly out of their guns at anytime.

I frowned, wanting to stand before the young master, but I saw the young master calmly reaching into his jacket, his movements as fluid and as natural as if he were about to pull out a handkerchief… However, he drew out a pistol.

This massive discrepancy caused both the two robbers and I to stare. Just when the robbers were about to shoot, and while I was debating between stepping up to block the shots or leaving this matter to the hidden bodyguards who had yet to make a move, the young master fired without warning. His shooting speed was very fast; it sounded as though he had only made one shot.

However, I could distinguish that there had been four shots made: two shots at the robbers’ guns and another two at the robbers’ knees.

As the robbers fell to the ground and screamed, hugging their knees, the young master calmly holstered his gun as if he were slipping a handkerchief back into place.

I had no idea what to say and could only compliment him. “Young Master, excellent marksmanship.”

The young master raised his visor, smiled at me, and then yelled to the surroundings, “Don’t kill them, or I’ll make you regret it!”

I started, and after mulling it over for a while, I realized that the young master was speaking to the bodyguards hiding in the surroundings.

“Let’s go, Charles.”

I turned my head to look. The young master had already started up his motorcycle. I got on the motorcycle and thought that maybe I had been mistaken earlier. The young master must be a combat student in the actual combat department rather than the theory department.

The next day, when the young master returned home in the afternoon, he passed me a portrait. It was an oil painting and very realistic, almost like a photograph. The black-haired man in the portrait was wearing a western-styled vest with a tie. He had a gentle smile and a pair of gentle lake-green eyes.

I looked up at the young master.

The young master smiled and said, “This is you in my eyes, Charles.”

Hearing this, I could not prevent myself from looking down at the picture again. I could vaguely find some of my father’s looks in the features of the man in the picture, so it must be my appearance indeed, but how is it that the man appears so gentle?

Although I had never seen myself before, out of all the vampires I have ever seen, vampires were usually sinister and bewitching. Not a single one of the vampires ever gave off a gentle aura.

Or maybe, the young master unconsciously painted his own perception of me? Does he think that I am very gentle?

I looked up and was about to thank the young master, but suddenly I smelled something strange on him… It was the smell of food. A vampire’s food. Blood.

However, when I took a more careful sniff, I felt confused. The smell was a little strange. It didn’t seem to be very pure blood.

After some consideration, I could only ask, “Young Master, are you hurt?”

He gave an “mmh” sound and said nonchalantly, “I just cut my arm.”

I was stunned by his casualness but then remembered that the young master was part of the combat department. Getting hurt must be normal for him!

“Is the wound serious? Is there a need to call for a doctor…?” I was so worried that only halfway through my question did I suddenly remember that in the contact list of the cell phone Mr. Kyle had given me, there was no one addressed as a doctor.

Then, the young master rolled up his left sleeve.

I looked and drew in a sharp breath. The young master’s left forearm had a slash about twenty centimeters long. It was jagged, as if it were caused by some weapon that was not very sharp. This sort of injury definitely needed stitches and might even warrant a tetanus shot to prevent infection.

“There’s no need to look for a doctor. I just sprayed on some medicine to stop the bleeding. Later, I can use artificial flesh to create…”

The young master spoke nonchalantly but stopped abruptly halfway through his sentence. He raised his head to look at me, as if at a loss for words.

I noticed it and immediately changed the subject, asking, “Young Master, does Charles need to help you bandage it?”

“No, there’s no need to bandage it.” The young master hesitated, but ultimately shook his head.

It’s ‘no need to bandage it’ not ‘no need for my help bandaging it?’

I bowed my head and lowered my eyes, politely answering, “As you say.”

The young master stood silently, not making a move to bandage his own wound, but not giving me any signals to do other housework. So I stood there and waited. Sure enough, after a short while, the young master asked hesitantly, “Charles, do you feel that… I’m very strange?”

I lifted my head and looked at the young master. He looked back at me timidly. I smiled and instead of replying to him, I asked, “Young Master, do you feel that it is strange for a vampire to desire to be a butler?”

The young master blinked and then laughed.

“It is very strange! It’s so great that Charles is so strange!”