Into the Rose Garden Novel - Chapter 13.1 All Again

The monotonous tombstone was, at some point, surrounded by vibrant flowers that had bloomed around it. The man would occasionally visit the grave, always intending to say something, but in the end, he would turn away without uttering a single word.

This was not the ending he had wanted. He had wished to hold onto the person who was becoming as light as paper, to keep them by his side forever. Even if an end was inevitable, he had wanted to postpone it as much as possible. But by the time he realized this, it was too late. Though he had said this would be the last time, the person who could no longer endure without the white pills had, with their own hands, extinguished the last vestiges of their life, offering its fragments to their two children before departing. Would they have lived longer if they hadn’t had children? Probably not.

The two children, born addicted to drugs, were incredibly sensitive and slow to develop. They cried incessantly and constantly demanded attention. When he tried to soothe and embrace them, they would hit and push him away. Yet, with their small hands, they clung to him. Holding the children who cried as if their breath would give out, he knew he could not shorten his own life. It would take a long time for these children to stand on their own.

Because of the children, there was no time to feel misery or loneliness. But after the grown children, one by one, found their loved ones and left, and when the laughter and cries that once filled the grand mansion disappeared, the man sat in a chair, his body burdened by the years, gazing only out the window. Beyond the glass of the large balcony window, which stretched from floor to ceiling, a splendid rose garden spread out like a colorful tapestry strewn with jewels on a green carpet. And a hidden cottage nestled between cypress walls. Along with the sins he had committed.

Time flowed indifferently. The man always sat in that spot, looking at the cottage. One dark night, as a blizzard raged, the man, who had been staring out motionless, suddenly sprang to his feet. A faint light shone from the cottage. Without even thinking of putting on his coat, he rushed outside. He stumbled several times in the deep snow, but his gaze remained fixed on that desolate place, obscured by darkness and the blizzard.

Snow, whose color could no longer be discerned, now piled on his hair, which had once been a deep chestnut brown. The man didn’t even consider that his expensive clothes and shoes were soaked with snow. When he frantically reached the cottage and flung open the door, only dust and desolation filled the interior. He had clearly seen a light. A faint yet persistent light that wouldn’t extinguish even in the blizzard, a light just like him. But the cottage was merely enveloped in deep darkness.

Between the words he couldn’t bring himself to utter, unable to believe what he saw, he called out the name he had repeated countless times. But nothing could break the suffocating silence except the thunderous roar of the blizzard, chilling him to the bone.

With heavy steps, the man walked out and looked at the cold stone, buried in the snow, only its top visible.

Ah.

Realizing it belatedly, he impatiently brushed back his cold, damp hair. He stared at the tombstone until the sensation in his extremities vanished, submerged in snow up to his mid-calves.

That was the man’s first delusion.

When he opened his eyes, he felt tears streaming down his face. It seemed he had a very difficult dream. He had dreamed an absurd dream, a miserable and painful one, where he couldn’t even struggle in an unimaginable hell, slowly collapsing, consumed by madness.

“Damn it. What is this, suddenly?”

His chest still ached, and he roughly rubbed his eyes with his palm before getting up. Looking around, he saw unfamiliar, luxurious interiors. This was the guest room of the Count’s mansion.

Sitting on the bed, he rubbed his damp face again. Was it because he had slept in an unfamiliar place? He wasn’t usually so sensitive, but he felt strange. Though the room was empty, he felt ashamed that an adult Alpha had cried over a mere nightmare, so he quickly threw off the sheets and got down.

Dawn was breaking, and the enormous balcony window glowed bluish. Needing fresh air, he pulled back the delicate lace curtains, which felt as if they would tear with a touch, and opened the door. Stepping onto the balcony, which was barely more than a decorative space for one person to stand, the cold air touched his bare upper body, cooling the fever brought on by the nightmare.

He took a few deep breaths, brushed back his hair, which fluttered in the morning breeze, and cast his gaze far away. From the second floor, not far off, he could see a rose garden.

The sun hadn’t risen yet, so it was still bluish, but when he first entered this room, its splendid grandeur had left him speechless. It felt as if the scent of roses was already reaching him. He wasn’t particularly interested in flowers, but he was somewhat looking forward to that rose garden. Perhaps it was because it was a place that would offer him new opportunities. He glanced at it again, and in the distance, through a row of trees, he saw a shabby building.

‘A shed? Or the gardener’s cottage?’

In any case, it didn’t suit the magnificent rose garden at all. A wealthy Count’s family of this stature would have many servants, and residences or workshops for them scattered throughout the garden would be natural. But they wouldn’t have been built so conspicuously. It was usually concealed for aesthetic reasons, but that was not Kloff’s concern. This mansion belonged to Count Teiwind, so it was his problem to solve. Perhaps it was intentionally left that way due to the Count’s peculiar tastes, as rumored.

A moment later, from the corridor outside the door, came the sounds of servants waking up at dawn to attend to guests. Kloff turned away from the rose garden and the unusually desolate-looking cottage and re-entered his room.

The Teiwind family was a high-ranking noble house, famous for its ancient traditions rivaling the royal family and its immense wealth. In a changing world where new money was rising and classism was slowly crumbling, even egalitarians who shouted that no one was born a noble fell silent before them.

Teiwind was not merely an arrogant noble; he was truly a ‘monarch’ who fulfilled his duties as a noble. Even now, without direct obligation, they took the lead in poverty relief within their territory and sought to provide opportunities to as many young people as their power allowed. This was precisely why Kloff had come to the Count’s mansion today.

The Count’s family invited promising young people who had no inherited titles or wealth and connected them with sponsors. This patronage society, informally known as the “Rose Garden Tea Party,” was bustling with nobles who enjoyed the refined hobby of nurturing talent and young people who desperately sought success through this hobby.

At the same time, it was also filled with parents who, for the purpose of marrying off their Omega children, rather than pure sponsorship, scrutinized young Alphas with sharp eyes, as if choosing a stud horse at a stallion market. In some ways, they were terrifying.

Kloff, who had majored in law and economics at the National Capital University and graduated with honors this time, was naturally invited. He was the second son of Baron Bendyke, but since his elder brother was an Alpha, he was not in a position to inherit the family. Moreover, the family itself was located in a remote mountain village, little known, and consequently poor, with nothing grand about it.

All the family could provide was tuition. That alone was barely enough to cover living expenses during his studies abroad, but fortunately, Kloff was intelligent. Recommended by a professor who favored him, he became a national scholarship student and also used the dormitory for free in exchange for assisting the professor.

His school life had not been utterly destitute, but he had no intention of continuing a life of hardship. He aimed to become a legal expert in economics or an international investment specialist, but without reputation or connections, his immediate income was nonexistent. That’s why today was crucial for his future.

He washed himself with the water brought by the maid and put on a new suit tailored with his meager savings. He wore the cufflinks his father had given him, which he had rarely seen during his studies abroad but had been able to wear at his graduation ceremony. They were simple, even a bit rustic, but the patina of time added a gravitas to the young man that was almost excessive. He stood before the mirror, tied his tie, and smoothed back his slightly unruly hair.

“This isn’t bad.”

He had never thought himself handsome, but he also didn’t think he lacked charm. He had never been without an Omega lover since his university days. He wasn’t currently seeing anyone. And he hadn’t come here looking for an Omega.