Into the Rose Garden Novel - Chapter 18.1 The Right One Runs Away

Whether the warning that he would break the contract if he held another concert worked, Aeroc was quiet. With the end of his relationship and the difficult client’s subsidence, Kloff immersed himself in work like never before. He lost track of time and date. Viscount Derbyshire, expressing great regret, brought several marriage proposals, but Kloff looked off into the distance with a lonely expression, pretending he hadn’t yet overcome his heartbreak. Even such a meddlesome gentleman, perhaps knowing a thing or two about romance, soon gave up.

Working only increased his wealth quickly. Before the year was out, he was able to buy a better house. This also silenced Martha, who had been nagging him. She deeply regretted the broken engagement but soon became engrossed in decorating the new house, paying no mind to Kloff.

Thanks to a very efficient and frugal housekeeper, his wealth was steadily accumulating. It seemed he could soon buy a grand mansion. Even more so, thanks to that count with no financial sense who had just burst into his office as if to break down the door, demanding, “Is it true that you’ve broken off the engagement?!” as if Kloff had committed some great wrong.

“Why do you always barge in unannounced in the middle of the night?”

Aeroc seemed not to hear Kloff’s complaint as he sat at his desk, reviewing documents. Aeroc was more agitated than ever, almost leaping over the desk. Not content with just being close to the desk, he leaned his body forward, causing several folders to sway. Fearing he might spill the inkwell, Kloff quickly capped it, while Aeroc pressed him again, as if to grab him by the collar.

“Did you break off the engagement?”

“Yes, I did, but why are you making such a fuss?”

Kloff retorted coldly, disliking that Aeroc had sought him out to stir up something he wanted to keep quiet, and disliking even more that the person doing it was Aeroc Teiwind. Yet, Aeroc seemed to miss the sarcasm entirely, his pale face looking somewhat drained, and he cried out as if the world were collapsing.

“You loved Raphiel! Enough to devote your entire life!”

Now it was Kloff’s turn to be flustered. Even the person who had broken up didn’t have such fervent emotions, and he couldn’t understand why Aeroc was acting this way. With a blank expression, he stared at Aeroc, unable to find the words.

An awkward silence fell, and Aeroc, realizing he had been overly agitated, belatedly seemed flustered. He closed his mouth and hastily stepped back from the desk. Yet, his pale face, as if he himself had been heartbroken, didn’t change. There was no trace of humor in his eyes as he stared at Kloff with an uneasy gaze, like a lost child abandoned in an unfamiliar place. Feeling that any more silence would make things irreversible, Kloff deliberately asked in a light tone.

“I don’t recall loving anyone that much. Who told you that?”

“Well, of course!”

Aeroc, who had been about to argue, couldn’t continue. He blinked a few times, opened and closed his mouth, then soon lowered his head. His shoulders trembled slightly, and he clenched and unclenched his fists, as if swallowing something internally. Kloff had no idea what he was trying to do. He knew well that Aeroc intended to ruin his boring but peaceful daily life, which was buried in work. Before, he would have gotten angry and chased him out, but now he was half-resigned. He even felt a desire to see how far Aeroc would go.

Noticing Kloff observing him, Aeroc soon raised his gaze from the floor and straightened his posture. He straightened his back, held his head high, squared his shoulders, and then put on a faint smile again. It no longer bothered Kloff that Aeroc was feigning composure as if he hadn’t just shouted. Rather, it was almost endearing how he tried to compose himself despite still being agitated. Aeroc, who had rushed so quickly that he hadn’t even had time to put on his gloves, swept back a few strands of hair that had fallen forward with his bare hand and apologized in a calm voice.

“I apologize for my sudden rudeness.”

He then gave a slight nod. Kloff let out a disbelieving chuckle.

Now, Kloff couldn’t stand it either. As he rose to his full height from the desk, Aeroc, startled, tried to turn and leave as hastily as he had entered. But Kloff couldn’t let him go easily. He had to pay the price for disturbing someone who had been quietly minding his own business.

Walking quickly past the office, just as Aeroc reached for the doorknob, Kloff, fully utilizing the advantage of his long legs, pushed the half-open door shut with a bang. Trapped between the door and the tall man leaning against it, Aeroc kept turning the doorknob without looking back. Kloff whispered with a hint of sarcasm.

“Why are you in such a hurry again? Since you’re here, let’s talk.”

“Come to the mansion next time.”

“Now.”

Aeroc’s pale nape came into view, his voice trembling as if he were nervous. His neatly arranged hair looked incredibly soft. Kloff took Aeroc’s waist with the hand not on the door and turned to face him. As Aeroc’s stiff body was half-forcibly turned, he looked up at Kloff with a terrified expression. As his blue eyes wavered, his body scent diffused. It was a very common, yet intensely stimulating scent, a mixture of an Alpha’s sharpness and an Omega’s sweetness, quite unlike a noble aristocrat.

At that moment, Kloff tried very, and he emphasized, very hard not to violate the person he had secretly and persistently lusted after right there and then. Aside from the fact that he was lusting after an Alpha, he genuinely needed to have a conversation.

Even before, this noble Count’s actions had been inexplicably bizarre. From suddenly inviting Raphiel recently, despite having almost no contact with the Westport family, to holding an overly extravagant concert, which he loved, to knowing too much about Kloff’s relationship, to crying like a heartbroken person during the proposal, and now making more of a fuss about the broken engagement than the parties involved.

Perhaps he had engaged in sexual activity with someone to the point of being covered in Omega scent to express jealousy. It was understandable for an Alpha whose heat was rising. Seeing him even pick up someone else’s engagement ring, it seemed he was trying to maintain some manners. But if he was going to be polite, he shouldn’t provoke an Alpha whose mood was already very sour due to a broken engagement, right?

Aeroc glanced at Kloff, somewhat stiff, then quickly averted his gaze. His head was held high, and he stood steadily without wavering. But it was useless, as the hand gripping the doorknob trembled uncontrollably. Kloff snorted and asked.

“Did you love Raphiel?”

The person, confined within a very private space, met his gaze directly and let out a short, hollow breath. Seeing him narrow his brows and stare with sharp, pathetic eyes, it seemed the answer was… not what Kloff expected?

“No.”

As expected, Aeroc responded coldly.

“Then how do you explain your incomprehensible actions up until now?”

“What’s wrong with my actions?”

Kloff meticulously pointed out Aeroc’s faults, who was now arguing with a faint anger, his trembling having subsided. He had to keep his voice as low as possible to avoid showing his agitation. Even so, standing so close, it would have been loud enough. Kloff could even hear Aeroc’s slightly ragged breathing. As Kloff spoke calmly in a slightly raspy voice, Aeroc’s complexion grew paler by the minute.

“Running here to confirm the truth of someone else’s broken engagement isn’t a normal person’s reaction, you know.”

When Kloff scoffed, Aeroc glared back with sharp eyes. But he looked as if he was about to cry. Just like when he had glared at Kloff under the cedar tree.

“Is it a problem to be abnormal?”

“I’d prefer a more sensible client, you see.”

“I don’t recall the words ‘normal’ or ‘sensible’ being in the contract, but if you don’t like it, you’re free to break it.”

Kloff couldn’t understand why the conversation had veered off in that direction. His already limited patience for the Count quickly ran out. Kloff grabbed Aeroc’s arm, who kept giving irrelevant answers, and growled.

“Don’t change the subject. What are you hiding?”

“I’m not hiding anything. Even if I were… it’s none of your business.”

Now, Kloff was starting to get angry, but Aeroc grabbed his wrist, pulling his hand away.

“Is this how an investment agent treats his employer? You’re going too far.”

A cold accusation poured out. Then he bit his lip and added in a slightly trembling voice.

“Step back. What are two Alphas doing like this? Maintain your aristocratic dignity.”

His discomfort was obvious. Kloff, who had no intention of backing down, even wanting to get closer, instead brazenly moved his body even closer.

“What… are you doing?”

The end of his desperately trembling voice was almost inaudible. Kloff chuckled and lowered his head, whispering into Aeroc’s ear.

“I just found out something the other day, you know. These days, the distinction between Alpha and Omega isn’t so clear. As a distinguished noble, you must be aware of social trends, right?”

At that, Aeroc looked at Kloff, his face drained of color. His sapphire eyes widened, and his trembling lips couldn’t close. Trapped by the tall Alpha, he was frozen stiff, looking like an anxious Omega just before heat.

With the engagement broken, his temper flaring, and this guy irritating him and acting like an Omega, his desires were constantly unfulfilled, compounded by mental pressure. That damn trend. Other guys were just repulsive, but Aeroc seemed perfectly plausible. His scent was cool yet sweet, and strangely familiar. Even his waist, encircled by Kloff’s arm, fit perfectly. For an Alpha, he was quite slender, and his waist seemed made for Kloff’s arm. It wasn’t excessively full, nor was it too thin. Kloff pulled him closer.