Into the Rose Garden Novel - Chapter 17.3 The fate flows again

For some reason, he felt intensely serious anxiety. He had a feeling that something big would happen if he didn’t propose to Raphiel right away.

In a hurry, Kloff did his best to choose an appropriate spot. The area near the mansion, with countless servants attending to dozens of guests, was by no means a good location. Moreover, Raphiel wanted to be in the rose garden.

There should have been a suitable spot under the dim shadows where the lanterns didn’t reach, but for some reason, people who usually went unnoticed were occupying every corner. Sometimes, embarrassing sounds even came from the dark shadows, causing Kloff to cover Raphiel’s ears with both hands and quickly move away. Damn them. Why are they breeding in someone else’s house?

“I think there’s no one over there.”

He went to where Raphiel pointed. And there, two gleaming silver eyes, like a wolf prowling for prey, floated in the darkness.

“This is a wolf’s den. Let’s go back.”

Kloff grabbed Raphiel and led him away without looking back. After walking around for a long time, just as he was starting to get annoyed, he finally found a small, secluded spot. There were distant, indirect lanterns, and climbing roses formed an arch, making it a very beautiful place. The faint scent of roses was perfect. He stood Raphiel under the rose arch, where he seemed to belong, then Kloff, his heart pounding slightly, stroked his chest and released his hand.

“Raphiel Westport.”

When he called his full name in a soft, low voice, Raphiel clasped his hands to his chest in a tense manner, then lowered them and shyly replied,

“Yes, Kloff Bendyke.”

His blond hair shimmered faintly against the full moon. Raphiel dared not lift his head, looking slightly downwards, and his lowered fingertips trembled slightly. Seeing that, his already pounding heart began to race even more. Perhaps the small heart in his chest was doing the same.

He had to kneel and propose right away, but when it came down to it, it wasn’t easy. Suddenly, he felt infinitely insecure, and an inexplicable sense of guilt welled up. He even felt scared. He considered it the burden of making someone else’s precious child completely his own. But he couldn’t back down here. He would make a fool of himself, and most importantly, he would hurt Raphiel.

The flickering of the blue eyes looking at him wasn’t just due to the dim lighting. Smiling at the person looking at him, Kloff took out the box from his pocket. Raphiel gasped softly upon seeing the silk box. At the same time, Kloff took a deep breath and knelt on one knee before the person he would spend his life with. And just as he opened the ring box.

Suddenly, something rustled in the corner, and two people, not content with urgently kissing each other, groped each other’s bodies and rushed towards them. They were so engrossed in each other that they didn’t see Kloff at all. Kloff, who had just knelt, couldn’t avoid them as they rapidly approached. The intruders eventually tripped over him and fell spectacularly. Kloff was pinned beneath the two. As a result, the ring box he was holding flew off somewhere.

“Ah! What?!”

“Damn it! Who is it?”

“Oh! Kloff-nim!”

“There are people here!”

The two people lying on top of Kloff didn’t try to get up quickly, but struggled. Not only had they hit him hard when they fell, but while those beggar-like fellows crushed him like a cheap mat, Kloff thought.

Why, why aren’t they helping? Why did that wolf cub settle in just the right place to lead me here, and why did these pig cubs! Why did they try to mate, even though they can’t even reproduce, specifically today! Here! To interrupt my precious time. And why did I! Why did I have the foolish idea to propose at a concert hosted by that Count? This is all a curse. A curse.

Finally, the two men got up. Immediately after, Kloff also stood up. Raphiel asked with worried eyes, “Are you okay?” but Kloff silently pushed him back.

“How unlucky, having a romance here.”

“Damn it, the mood was good. Let’s go somewhere else.”

They tried to leave without apologizing, and Kloff grabbed one of them by the shoulder. The other man shook off his hand annoyedly and turned around.

“What?”

“Nothing much. Just a mad dog hunt, perhaps?”

Kloff grinned, grabbing the man’s collar with one hand and clenching his fist. And he swung it, pouring all the irritation he had endured today into the blow.

“Get up. You need more.”

“Gah. Stop.”

“Argh! Stop it! You crazy bastard!”

“Kloff-nim! Please!”

Ignoring Raphiel, who was beside him looking disgusted and trying to stop him, Kloff tightened his grip on the opponent’s collar, whose face was already swollen beyond recognition with bruises, and swung his fist. One of them was already half-crippled and rolling on the ground.

“If you Alphas want to get together, you should have done it where I couldn’t see you. You ruined an important proposal.”

The irritation that had been building up since he entered the mansion, the anger at the inexplicable hostility, and the increasingly annoying anxiety all mixed together and completely consumed Kloff’s reason.

He knew very well that there was no need to rage and crush them like this. However, strangely enough, he had found it difficult to suppress his anger lately. When an inexplicable emotion swelled up to his head, he felt like he would die if he didn’t vent it in some way, and most of the time, it ended with someone’s sacrifice. Usually, he wielded a cane from the ‘bottom,’ but today, his unfortunate opponents were just two Alphas.

The opponent’s nose bone broke from the repeated punches, and blood streamed out. Kloff’s fist was also not intact, and he probably wouldn’t be able to hold a pen properly by tomorrow. That’s why he usually used a cane, but since he didn’t have it now, he had no choice. His fist was already covered in blood.

Later, when the limp opponent exhaled a rough breath, the spattered blood speckled the enraged Alpha’s face. When red drops of blood also splattered on Raphiel’s face, who had been clinging to the strong arm holding the opponent’s collar, trying to stop him, the tender-hearted Omega gasped and ran away. But Kloff had no mind to care for him. He glared at the opponent, who was practically weeping and begging him to stop, with burning eyes filled with fury, and growled.

“Shut up, you filthy mongrel who mates with other Alphas. Or you’ll be eating soup for the rest of your life.”

The opponent trembled with fear and shut his mouth. And after a few more blows, Kloff shoved him onto his already unconscious companion. The two, piled on top of each other, passed out, unable to even think of escaping. What started as personal anger and irritation now escalated into a violent hatred for sexual acts between Alphas.

It was the worst display of decadent pleasure. He couldn’t understand how Alphas or Omegas could do such disgusting things to each other. Perhaps to avoid having children they couldn’t take responsibility for, or perhaps drawn in by protagonists in vulgar novels that could barely be called literature, or perhaps seduced by the rumors of how amazing it was, such casual encounters were becoming prevalent among the recently fallen aristocracy. Even those with spouses would indulge in one-time affairs or keep lovers.

But the revulsion Kloff felt now wasn’t because he was particularly fastidious in terms of social ethics or morality. As he painfully threw punches, Kloff realized where his recent anxiety and urgency had begun. And at the same time, the source of his current anger. It was none other than self-loathing.

What dominated his reason now was the person who had played the violin with a pale complexion, looking as if he would collapse at any moment. Why did he keep coming to mind?

Not only did he constantly annoy and bother him, but the moment the thought that he might like Raphiel crossed his mind, what surfaced was not jealousy towards him, but jealousy towards Raphiel. It was useless to deny it. He wanted to propose quickly and solidify their relationship, to cut off the budding feelings that shouldn’t exist, that couldn’t exist. But Kloff’s plan was ruined by an unexpected intrusion.

He shook his slowly swelling fist, cursing. His jacket was already crumpled, and there were probably a few bloodstains, which meant Martha would nag him. Loosening the tie that was choking him, Kloff ran a hand through his hair, which had fallen down during the one-sided beating. He sighed deeply, looking up at the sky. Even with the lanterns, it was far too dark to find a small ring. He slumped his shoulders and looked around. Raphiel was nowhere to be seen.

“Raphiel?”

Where could he have gone? He had to find him. And he had to find the ring right away. He must have been startled. He had been careful on purpose. Kloff nudged the two unconscious Alphas with his foot and fumbled in the dark shadow where they lay. He needed the ring. Even though it was a mess, he had to finish the proposal somehow.

Meanwhile, he heard several people approaching. Kloff half-rose and turned around, seeing the horrified host and butler, his tear-stained lover, and the wolf cub, whose presence he couldn’t explain. The Count, his eyes wide with surprise, let out an uncharacteristic loud sound.

“What have you done?!”

“I taught manners to those who were rude.”

A pale Aeroc rushed over and grabbed Kloff’s hand, who shrugged his shoulders nonchalantly. Then he frowned deeply and said, half-whimpering, “You’re hurt.”

“It’s nothing.”

“Nothing?! Your whole face is splattered with blood!”

“It’s not my blood.”

Aeroc glared at Kloff, about to say something, when Marquess Wolflake, whose presence was utterly baffling, spoke.

“He seems fine. But those two over there don’t look fine at all. Can we just leave them like that? It could lead to a major violence scandal.”

It was the butler who reacted. He instructed another maid who had just rushed over, “Fetch a doctor at once. You, bring the first-aid kit. Bandages, clean towels, and water too. Move quietly,” then approached the two victims. The butler first wiped the nosebleed of one of them with a handkerchief, clucking his tongue.

“How did you hit them, tsk, tsk.”

“They’re not dead.”

“Did you intend to kill them?”

As the butler threw a barbed remark at Kloff, footmen appeared and carried the two unconscious men to an inner room. The butler followed them with a maid. Another maid, carrying a first-aid kit, approached Kloff and said, “You need to treat your hand.” Aeroc snatched the bandages and began to wrap Kloff’s hand haphazardly. He wrapped it so tightly that Kloff groaned in pain, and Aeroc’s shoulder flinched.

“You shouldn’t wrap it like that.”

“Shut up.”

The maid also seemed concerned, looking back and forth between Kloff and Aeroc with worried eyes. But who could break Aeroc’s stubbornness? Kloff, the only one who could stop him, was very tired now, so with a sigh, he just let him wrap it. Instead, he looked at Raphiel, who was standing there swallowing tears. He was clutching his small chest and hiccupping, clearly startled. Kloff felt sorry.

“Raphiel.”

Even though he called softly, he flinched as if struck by thunder, then tightly pressed his trembling lips together and wiped his tears with the back of his hand. He approached Aeroc, whose hand was also stiff with surprise.

“Count, I…”

“Ah, yes. Of course, Raphiel should do it. Oh, right. Here.”

His hand, which was about to hand over the bundle of bandages he was wrapping, trembled, and the round roll of cloth rolled across the floor. As Raphiel picked it up, Aeroc glanced at Kloff with anxious eyes, then turned away. Raphiel unwrapped the haphazardly wound bandage. Then he asked the maid standing nearby, “Do you have a cold compress? I think I need to apply for a poultice.”

“Please come to the inner room. I will prepare ice water for you.”

“Thank you.”

Guided by the maid, Kloff and Raphiel left. As they passed the garden entrance, the gazes of the hitherto silent Marquess and the somewhat agitated Count were fixed on their backs. The Count, who was unusually emotional today, was one thing, but what on earth was with that Marquess?

Still feeling a lingering excitement despite having vented sufficiently, Kloff clenched his swollen fist and gritted his teeth. Raphiel, who was standing beside him, holding his waist and supporting him slightly, felt it and looked up at him with startled eyes again. Feeling guilty for constantly scaring him, Kloff suppressed his anger and forced a smile.

“I’m sorry. I ruined all the plans.”

“It’s okay. As long as you’re safe, that’s all that matters.”